The future is different...

Erg... The redheaded Shinigami sghed as he looked around the futuristic city that was now known as Karakura. This was nothing like it was 400 years ago, hell, t was certainly nothing like it was when he first became a Shinigami... Yet he still looked as young as he ever was. Something about a condition where his body aged as a far slower rate than his mind - that was what he thought, at least. He sighed softly, and took a seat on some bench.

He was in gigai -a cheaply-made, obselete gigai, but a gigai nonetheless. Most gigai these days were able to mask the wearer's presence - not this one. This was just a normal gigai, anyone wth a shred of Reiatsu would be able to sense him... He sighed, and leaned back on the bench he was seated on. What a day he'd had.. Luckily he had been given some leave, huh?

A sudden burst of Reiatsu alerted him to someone... It wouldn't have been a Hollow... So what was it? His eyes narrowed, and he sat forward, loking around for the source.

Shuffle Shuffle Shuffle Thin strips of tough paper flit through the air between two dark-skinned hands, falling in perfect order for his gain. The shuffling man stood behind a large table, and waited for any passerby's to approach him. "Come to me one and all, The show is about to begin! Step right up ladies and Gentlemen, it's going to be a wonderful spectacle!" He called to the crowd, a glint of mischief in his eyes. As a crowd approached, a single black butterfly floated in the air above where the crowd would casually look.

"Guess the card and win a prize! Only 2 Dollars a pop!" Behind him, a row of stuffed animals lined a shelf. The dark alley he stood in front was blocked off by a large poster of Joyd 'Rust' Edreihn, and proclaimed of his magician-like skill. Several more butterflies clung to the poster, awaiting instruction. One passerby approached the table, and the game soon begun. Passing him the deck of cards, Rust told him to shuffle and pick a card, any card. The dark butterfly that had been floating above landed on his head lightly, he would not feel it.

As soon as the card had been picked, Rust felt the presence of a being down the road. It was quite powerful. The scars on his left hand from a Hell Butterfly bite burned slightly, but it was of no matter. After reshuffling the deck, Rust looked the man in the eye. His gaze barely flickered to the butterfly on his head, which kicked off of his head and flew onto Rust's oustretched hand. The crowd 'oohed' at the butterfly, for it was truly beautiful. "The card you chose was the 9 of Clubs!" He proclaimed suddenly, launching the butterfly into the air. It flapped for a moment or two, the light wings rippling over calm air currents, before joining it's brethren on the large poster.

Sighing in defeat the man nodded before turning away, a fresh two dollars on the table. "Who's next?" He asked the crowd with a smirk as two butterflies unattached themselves from the group. The first flew above the crowd nonchalantly. It would be his money-maker. The second flew towards the presence of the reiatsu. It would be his scout.

Dai's eyes narrowed, as he scanned the sky for something he'd noticed. As he finally locked onto it, he sighed softly.

A butterfly? Strange... It wasn't a Hell Butterfly, but it sure was close to it. So the reiatsu source might well be a Shinigami, for all he knew. He sighed, and stood up - the butterfly appeared to be moving towards a large group of people... He blinked, and walked over to aforementioned group of people, when he saw the source, finally.

Some guy, sitting at the table, dealing cards of some kind. He remembered swindlers like this... These people weren't worth the ground that they stood upon, let alone the lives that they lived. His eyes narrowed, and he approached the table, watching the crowd slowly begin to disperse, and the butterflies on the poster... He looked down at the man before him, and sighed once more.

"Yannow... People usually don't appreciate being swindled." He tilted his head to the side.

"I've been alive long enough to understand that fact... And to recognise a Reiatsu when I see it." His eyes narrowed - usually he wouldn't be bothered by an insignificant Reiatsu. But this guy pinched a nerve. First with his butterfly, and then with his swindle... He sighed again, and put a hand on his forehead.

"You shouldn't be allowed to do this, you know?"

But not Dai.

He'd listened to this man's words, hung on every word... Or so he acted. But as he got up and walked away, he began to snigger. That snigger turned into a laugh. Within seconds, Daigoro Ito was almost doubled over in laughter. This guy was too much! He stood back up, studying him properly. His mannerisms, the way he'd tried to pull the crowd into his side of the field, they fact that he was speaking aloud in almost 'holy' tones. All classic signs of a con-man. Again, 800 years did that to ya. He tilted his head to the side, and then back, and then sighed softly, calmed from his laughing fit earlier.

"You're truly pathetic. You have no sense of honour, no idea of what life was like in the early 21st Century. You think it's difficult to get a job now? At least life is comfortable, even for the homeless down here. Trust me - life is different wherever you go, you may find oppurtunity in the smallest place. But I can't condone cheating people out of their money. It truly disgusts me to see people like you." He shook his head - the crowdwas still booing him. His morals... they were something that made him a lot of enemies, but they were also the things he stuck to, no matter what.

His right hand crackled slightly, and he jumped. That was unexpected... Both the fact that it came out of the gigai, and the fact that he was getting emotional about this. He sighe, and shook his head.

"You're lucky... I don't harm humans, nor do I harm other beings of the like without reason. If you had been inhuman yourself, it might've happened, and you wouldn't be standing there.." He had stepped closer to Rust, and his voice was low. He was trying to save ths man's life, and that was something he wanted to do.

The explosion alerted Dai to the man's true intents, and he suddenly escaped form his gigai, leaving it burning on the ground. He grimaced, and jumped back. No matter what he could do... This guy was... Mad. That's all Dai could say. He sighed, and jumped back from his position... Even though he'd been utterly insulted, it wasn't worth the man's worthless life. He sighed, and turned away.

"Don't think I'll forget you." He flash-stepped away, and into the distance, his burning gigai alerting civilians, who began to shout angry words, not at Dai, but at Rust. He'd basically committed murder in their eyes... He wouldn't be able to show his face in this part of town again, now would he? Dai laughed to himself, and opened a Senkaimon into the Soul Society. He smiled, and walked into the burgeoning light...

Fool. Some things aren't meant to happen. I know that personally. So don't think on it - just forget I ever came to you. Maybeyou'll learn something from this experience, fool.

{Thread LEFT}

LOCKED aND ARCHIVED