The Boy and the Bell

The Meeting
The sun merciless already in the late hours of the morning as its beams reached down from the sky, enveloping all of Rukongai in a hot, humid atmosphere while steadily rising higher and higher. Nevertheless, the streets were as busy as ever with vendors yelling their offers, children—the pickpockets, the orphans, the street rats—dashing in between both buyers and sellers as their shrill shrieks, laughs and cries mingled with the thousands upon thousands of other sounds already present in the markets. However, while everything seemed peaceful, tranquil, some might even say, chaos still existed right beneath the very nose of the Seireitei.

Cloaked in the shadows that filled the narrow alleyways and the streets at night, a man dragged off with a spitting, thrashing boy, his hand having a firm grip in the child’s hair and a scowl plastered on his face as the two of them disappeared into a dark alley not that far from the main market street.

“You little punk!” the man growled as he aimed a swift kick at the huddling, dirty boy in front of him, “You think that stealing from me goes without punishment, huh? I bet you didn’t know just why those stealing rats, just like you, avoid my shop, but then allow me to explain!”

Another kick connected with the abdomen of the boy, drawing out a grunt from him as he flew back a few paces.

“I believe that is quite enough,” a young, female, voice spoke firmly from behind the man as a hand grabbed onto the raised arm above the shopkeeper’s head, “It would seem that your opinion on this matter has sunken through for the boy.”

The shopkeeper froze as he turned his head to look over the shoulder, lips thin in displeasure and fury flickering in his eyes as he locked gazes with the woman who had grabbed his arm.

“Shinigami…”

“Indeed,” the woman growled as she calmly dug the tips of her fingers into a specific spot on the man’s lower arm, making him hiss in pain as flares of agony ran through the appendage, “If I’m not mistaken then the midday rush of customers will be beginning shortly. You should return to your stall now so you won’t miss any customers, don’t you think so?”

The vendor slowly stepped away from the still huddled boy on the ground, shifting between shooting the shinigami and the boy withering glares as the woman let go of his arm and instead nodded to her partner.

“Run along now, big guy,” the other shinigami said dully as he rolled his shoulders, the joints popping audibly as he shot the vendor an annoyed glare, “Let’s not have you dig your hole deeper in Makinami’s eyes than you already have.”

Spitting on the ground before uttering a vile curse the vendor pushed past the pair of shinigami, shooting both of them poisonous glares before turning the corner of the alley and disappearing into the mass of souls not far away.

“Well, that takes care of that,” the woman sighed as she stretched her arms backwards, “For a moment I thought he wouldn’t give in.”

“Oh, for the love of all that’s holy!” her partner growled, “Makinami-san, you can’t just run off like that and play the hero of justice! Someone is bound to take it the wrong way some day!”

“That man was harassing a kid!”

“And that kid probably stole his own weight in sweets, idiot! Things like that happens all the time out here in the Rukongai!”

“That doesn’t make it right to beat the poor boy half to death!” the woman, Makinami, said curtly as she looked down at the boy on the ground.

The woman was quiet as she knelt down in front of the boy, her face slowly lighting up with a soft look in her eyes, a bright smile on her lips and her small hand held out towards him, “Are you alright, little guy?”