Destined to Adapt, or Doomed to Despise?

Gotta deal with it
Ahatake was sitting in the bright living room, looking outside the window. It was hard to believe this place could be in the Soul Society. It seemed...so human. There were cars and people in what humans would consider "normal clothing". But that was Yuurei. The Human World in Heaven.

Outside in the bustlin sidewalk, people were up and down the sidewalks, as usual. They smiled and waved hello to each other occasionally, before going about their own ways to wherever they were going. Occasionally, they'd stop by one of the officers and nod to them as well... and surprisingly, the officers were nodding back, in a display of politeness. Despite their obvious ferocity, no one seemed afraid of them.

One would say that it was a utopia for humanity... if it was not in the Spirit World.

Ahatake tore his attention away from the window to look around his new home. He chose it's size but only Midoriko would choose such colors. Looking completely around the living room, which was giant in itself, Ahatake concluded the room must have originally been multiple rooms and the walls were merely taken away. It was a beautiful house indeed and the region they lived in was even more so.

But he couldn't shake off a feeling that someone was watching him and his family.

"For someone so optimistic, you look a bit concerned."

It would've been considered a rare moment, for his white-haired son to step through to greet him. Many times, it would've been the granddaughter, or even the wife who would come to see him in such a state and attempt to quell him. Outside of being with the family, the son would've been busy with something else.

But, this time, he was the one that came for questioning... as well as possible counsel.

Ahatake started. He hadn't expected company since he thought everyone was out. "I look concerned?" He asked.

"To anyone else, it'd be less obvious, of course..." Taiki stated, arms folded his chest and his back leaning against the wall. "But I've been around my father long enough to know him a little better."

"I see." Ahatake said. "Well, it isn't much. It's just a...feeling I get from this place. Something off."

"Whenever you get "the feeling", you're usually right." He muttered, cocking an eyebrow in skepticism. His eyes scanned over the man carefully. "You mean, beside from the overzealous enforcement?"

"It's not them." Ahatake replied. "I feel that someone, three actually, all of which with high spirit energy, are paying annoying close attention to us. The problem is I can't get a glimpse of them. At all." He shook his head, as if trying to rid it of bugs. It's FRUSTRATING!"

A small, amused smile played across Taiki's face. "Well... I can't say I'm surprised if they are. The way you spoke to the officers wasn't exactly going to make them go easy on you." He pointed out. "I'm guessing these "three" you're talking about must be at least leaders of these police, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'm not so sure." Ahatake replied. "I mean these police have next to no spirit energy. These three have spirit energy on at least your level. And they could just be suppressing it."

"Hmmm..." Taiki muttered thoughtfully. "What would be considered the next level, when the police cannot control the situation?"

"I'm not sure." Ahatake murmured. "I have yet to look into it."

That caused Taiki to sigh, placing a hand on his forehead in exasperation. "It's not obvious? The military!" He supplied immediately. "When the police can't take control of a certain criminal, or group of criminals, the troops have to step in to do it."

Ahatake sighed. "So we have soldiers watching us?"

"I can guarantee it. Your spiritual energy probably tipped them off to a high state of alertness."

Ahatake laughed. "Eh, I have no reason to kill them." He thought for a moment. "Yeah no reason, s'long as they don't take my blade again."

"They might." Taiki reminded. "Or worse."

"They take my blade, I'll take their heads." Ahatake replied calmly.

For a moment, the white-haired boy said nothing, reflecting on what had been said. Ahatake was more than strong enough to contend with a group of ragtag police officers. But if these three were able to easily evade the Kurosaki's senses, then it was obvious that they could pose a threat if encountered in battle. He would have to look further into it in order to figure everything out...

Outside in the fresh air, Aoi was walking down the street with Kyuui. She had never felt more comfortable before and thought Yuurei was actually a fun place.

"Hey Onee-chan, what do you think of this place so far?"

Unlike her sister's, Kyuui's voice was rather desolate, though not to the extreme. "A bit frightening..." She replied softly, folding her arms across her chest.

Aoi put her arm around her sister. "Frightening. This place looks fun! And we're as free as God knows what until we become 21. Then we have to get jobs. Wonder what jobs they have in a place like this?"

"I'm more concerned about the cops..."

"Concerned about them?" Aoi asked. "Why? S'long as we don't get on their bad side we are ok."

"Yeah, but what would be considered actually getting on their bad side? You saw how they shot down those civilians! Sure, they would've escaped, but gunning them down in cold blood..." Kyuui trailed off, unable to say anymore.

"That was just 'cuz they did something wrong I bet." Aoi said. She saw a nearby officer. "Why don't we see for ourselves if the are nice?"

"Aoi..." A bit of fear crossed Kyuui's eyes, and she stepped back once involuntarily. "I...I don't think we should..."

"Well I'll go." Aoi said cheerfully. She was certain the officer's couldn't be all bad as long as she had the right attitude.

"Excuse me, Officer-san?" Aoi said as soon as she approached the man.

The man simply craned his head towards the girl to reveal a completely masked head, save for the eyes. He remained silent, passing only a simple glance towards the girl before looking the other way. Kyuui stayed right where she was, clearly concerned.

"Be careful, Aoi..." She thought.

Aoi smiled. "What's with the mask?" She thought. "Kind of odd." "Um..Officer-san, I was wondering is you could is the largest attraction in this city? I'm new here and kind of lost." She chuckled weakly.

The man nodded to his left. "Five blocks left of me. You have to make a right at the third one." He instructed calmly.

"What's it look like?" Aoi asked. "Is it easy to find?"

"The largest attraction isn't hard to miss."

Aoi laughed. "Of course." She said, smiling. "Thanks alot."

Kyuui finally gained the courage to stand and walk towards Aoi, with the officer still in the range. Still, she couldn't help but give the officer a nervous glance before turning towards her sister.

"C'mon Onee-chan!" Aoi said. "Let's go find that place." She said cheerfully. She turned the officer. "Thanks again."

The officer simply gave a brief nod in her direction, before resuming his standing patrol, eyes searching for any trouble.

Aoi and Kyuui resumed their walk. "I told you they were nice."

"...ok, maybe I was just a little anxious..." Kyuui allowed herself to relent under the statement, folding her arms across her chest.

Aoi grinned. "Yeah. I just wanna know what was up with the mask he was wearing."

"...maybe it's some sort of regulation? I've seen some police in the Human World wear the same things too..."

"Still, I couldn't tell from his face whether he was annoyed with me or not." Aoi said.

"Well, does that really matter? He was nice enough to give us directions, and he acted like he didn't care most of the time, so I think he wasn't annoyed."

"Alright." Aoi said, putting an arm around her sister's shoulders. "So we head to this attraction then?"

Kyuui couldn't help but roll her eyes. "If we weren't, then why would you go through the trouble of asking where it was?" She asked, putting on a small smile at her sister's attempt to converse.

"To see if the Officer was nice." Aoi replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"There could've been other ways..."

"Like what?"

"...I donno.... a regular conversation?"

"How do you suppose I have a regular conversation with a stranger?" Aoi asked,

A nervous chuckle escaped Kyuui's mouth, followed by a reply of "Well... 'good morning', or 'good evening' would be a good start..." She said, almost as if she was joking about it.

Aoi grinned. "Yeah, as if I would know where to go from there. "Good morning. Nice Weather we're having." and then the cop'd stare at me like I was some sort of idiot."

"Like I said... a start!"

"If you say so." She said, her arm still around Kyuui and steering her to the right. "Wonder what this attraction is? A theme Park? A Theater? Hopefully a resturant."

"Please..." Kyuui muttered. "I'm hoping for something out of the ordinary."

"Like what?"

Kyuui frowned. "I don't know!" She insisted. "Anything other than a simple theater, restaurant, or theme park! This is the Soul Society, so at least something in this place should be... out of the ordinary..."

"I would love to see something out of the ordinary but I want someplace where I can eat!"

"Aoi..." Slight exasperation was evident in her sister's tone. "You always think of food first, then everything else later. You should at least think about where we're going first!"