Chapter 1: Fuck, my head hurts....Where am I again?

[Jin Chisoku]

The transistion had been a hopeless feeling of ripping and shreading, as if every fiber of your very being was being taken apart, looked at, and put back. Kutsuu, didn't know where he was, he didn't understand what he was going through, but he had been in this seemingly endless tunnel for God knows how long. He looked down, if there was such a thing here, and saw his body was slowly reforming. He looked "up", and sighed, he just wanted it to....end.

As soon as he finished he long drawn sigh, he saw that he was now in a small room. He started to look around, quickly looking for some explaination of where he was. The last thing he remembered was getting hit by that car.

'That's it, I'm in a dream, a coma.....Yeah, a coma dream, if that's what they call it....or maybe, I'm dead?', Kutsuu thought to himself, 'No, no that still doesn't make any sense...if I was dead, ah, is there anyone to explain something to me?!'

And just like before, as if his thought had caused him to appear, an old man carrying a massive book with him walked into the small room. He was dressed in a tradtional black kimono, and grey hakama. He was bald, but still wore a white beard that was laced, and ended just at his belt line. He smirked, and slammed the book down on the small table, and opened it. He put on a small pair of glasses, and sighed, running his finger down the page. He stopped, and smirked. He looked up, "Sukai Kutsuu, well, you're right on time...and this may be hard to believe, but you're dead."

Kutsuu looked at him for a moment, and fell into a deep glare as he thought to himself, 'I can't be.....dead.....'

The old man started to laugh, "I'm just kidding, you're not dead! You're in between death and life..."

Kutsuu slammed his foot down, and broke the flooring underneath him. The old man sighed, and slowly muttered, "You shouldn't damage your room like that, Madam Aki will grow frustrated, and kick you out...."


Kutsuu interrupted, "Wait...a room? My room....?"

The old man nodded, "If you will let me explain you'll understand the situation. Well, partly...You're in a place know as Purgatory no.23. You're part of a group of men and women who haven't found their place in....Well, the true afterlife. So, you're burdened with that task. To find your own place for enternity, and you have the option from staying in Purgatory no.23, or what reality you've known. It's very simple really..."

Kutsuu stared at him blankly, "Simple...."

The old man lifted his glassed, and rubbed his nose in frustration, "You're going to aquire your spiritual talents, Kutsuu, how you use them is up to you. It's simple, you find your way through Purgatory no.23, and at the end you should know what to do."

Kutsuu lowered his head, and looked at his hand. He started to think about something, and he quickly clinched his hand into a fist. He sighed, and answered, "Ok, I understand."

The old man perked up, and smiled, "Good, well, then I'm off for now."

The old man picked the book up, and quickly ran out of the room. Kutsuu simply watched him with a confused expression still across his face. He looked down at what he was wearing. A simple outfit, shorts, t-shirt, nothing special. He looked around the room, wondering what he should do next. He found a small closet with clothes in it. Much like the old man's simple, tradtional attire, there hung a kimono, and a set of grey hakama. He sighed, and managed to fit into them clothes quite well, and put them on. He looked around, and saw that there was also a small neckless. He grabbed it, and held it in his right hand. He looked out side of his room. All he saw was an empty hallway. He slowly stepped out on the bamboo flooring, and found that his grip wasn't quite ready. He slipped, and landed square on his back. He saw his socked feet just over his head, and sighed, grunting a bit in pain. He pushed himself back up, holding on the the edge of his door frame. He looked around, making sure no one saw the embarassing display of grace. He pushed himself to the other outter wall, and saw there was a small window just at his face. He glimpsed outside, and saw a smaller woman dressed in a white kimono, and set of red hakama. She had a wooden tag on her hip that read, "District no.7 manager." She was talking to the old man who was quickly nodding. He rushed off, and his footsteps could be heard coming up the other end of the hallway.

He tilted his head, and thought to himself as he careful slid down the hallway, 'District no.7? Where the hell am I in this Purgatory no.23?'

He quickly found himself at the top of a stairwell. He looked down, and saw that he only had to go down a floor or two before reaching solid ground, or rather soft ground. He looked around once more, and picked up his hakama like a woman would with her skirt, making sure he wouldn't trip over it. He made it this time with much better luck. He looked around, and slowly leyt his hakama fall to its respectful posistion. He stuck his head out of the doorway, and looked both right, and left.

He heard a raspy voice yell at him from across the way.

"Hey! What are you doing?!?"

Kutssu turned, and started to make his way back up the stairs. He felt his kimono grab, and he turned around to see the woman who was talking to the old man. She was tan, and looked to be of asian decent. She was glaring at him, as if he had done something he shouldn't have done. She pulled him down the stairs, and dragged him into the courtyard he was just looking at.

She sat him down, and pointed her finger at him, shaking it, telling him, "Don't move!"

He could hear her mumbling as she walked off. He didn't know what he had done to frustrate this woman so badly, but he decided that he would soon find out. He looked around, and started to see that this was a very tradtional courtyard, much like everything around this place. It was as if he was sent back in time. The woman rushed back out at him, and started to gaze at him, as if she was making sure he was someone.

She smirked, "What are you doing out of your room?"

He shrugged, "Leaving? What else?"

She smacked the top of his head, "Don't get smart with me!"

He rubbed the top of his head, and answered, "For real, I was told I could go back home...."

"OH, were you?", she sighed, and rubbed her forehead, "Well, you're far too weak to make that dream become a reality, Kutsuu."

"Too weak?", he asked.

"Yes, see, to make that transistion back to the world of the living you have to atleast become a AA-class, and you're, well, you're a D at best..."

"What do I have to do to become a AA-class?"

She laughed, "Well, I don't know if you can become an AA-class, some people from this district have come close, but it's a very rare thing."

"Why's that?", he ignorantly spat out.

"Well, it's simple....there are D-ranks, C-ranks, B-ranks, which I am, A-ranks, AA-ranks, AAA-ranks, which only some humans have achieved, and S-ranks, SS-ranks, SSS-ranks, which, well, if you see one, run. But I doubt you'll ever come close to seeing one of those."

He tilted his head, "So...what do I do?"

She smiled, and placed her hand on his shoulder, "You train."

[Jin Chisoku]

Yeah, I'm following up on my idea, and I'm gonna put some of our members in the story, like another good writer choose to do with some of his stories.