| abstract | - "G-Gah..." The wind howled throughout the dark night, tearing through the murky blackness which was flowing over Rukongai. As he tossed and turned, memories flowed back into Gai Nagareboshi's mind- or were they memories? Truly, a perculiar phenomena occured. Not quite a 'flashback', not quite 'time travel', somehow, the Mototsu returned back to the night of the incident- the Mototsu Massacre. Floating through a serene 'neutral zone'- a bridge between the past and the present, Gai Nagareboshi's feet touched down upon the glass floor. Gazing up into the sky, he witnessed the state of Soul Society four thousand years ago- a city formed from past and present architecture- complete with crystal spires. However, it also retained a 'futuristic' feel to it, with floating vehicles and cybernetic veins. Overall, it looked like the perfect utopia, but as everything else that the Mototsu had witnessed with his own two, er, one eye, anything that looks nice is probably extremely dangerous. By swirling around, the Mototsu could determine the span of this seemingly perfect utopia- it was as wide as the eye could see. It was almost as if this was Soul Society in its entirity. However, something was amiss- the atmosphere was almost too perfect; as if this place harboured a deep, dark secret. Not just the crystal spires, but darn near everywhere had the imagery of a dragon-like snake biting its own tail; the Ouroboros. Yet another one of the 'perfected' Mototsu's motifs; the Ouroboros symbolized infinity. ...Then, Gai saw the people; the former members of his race. And that's when things got... weird. Actually, weird didn't cover it at all. It was just plain insane. "Unghh..." This feeling. This feeling welling up inside of his stomach almost made him regurgitate his dinner in disgust. "W-What the hell...!? They're all the same! Not a single difference between any of them, not even different clothes!" An entire city of Gai Nagareboshi. Not a single thing that makes one differ from another; sort of like clones. However, the distinction was their different voices and more subtly; their personalities. "Oh, what happened to your figure!? Are you okay? Do you need some medicine? Here, take this." A young woman exclaimed at the 'perfected' Mototsu, who backed up in surprise, still unable to comprehend what was occuring at the moment. "...!! What kind of freaky shit is going on!?" The Mototsu's train of thought departed, as Gai summarized what had occured, "...They all look exactly like me, well how I appeared three years ago physicallu. They even wear the same damn clothes. What kind of sicko would do such a thing!?" Gai continued to slowly step back, intending to haul arse outta there, when... "Ahh, come here! Stop making a scene, he will call you back, Gai." A strangely familiar voice resounded through the air from behind Gai, trying to get him to follow it. He wasn't about to follow some random person on another world, though. Luckily for Gai Nagareboshi, it wasn't a stranger at all. "...Huh? And you are...?" "What? You can't tell by looking?" Upon further inspection, this young lady appeared strikingly similar to Yuuki Kaburagi. They even had the same voice. The only visible differences were her slightly larger chest and magenta within blue eyes. The clothes that she wore were of the highest quality, featuring, which feature a sleeveless dark crop top, exposing a large portion of her abdomen, and a light hakama, that was tied using a white obi sash. The large piece of darker fabric that hung from the center of this sash was embellished with the image of two light circles merged together, with two circular cutouts. "Why, I'm Yuuki Kaburagi. But right now, I'm Yuu Kimitsu." Wait? How was someone in the past supposed to know of events which have already transpired in the future? Of course, this wasn't any ordinary time-travel nor flashback- it was impossible to define properly. Perhaps it was like Neon Genesis Evangelion- it would be sheer madness to even attempt to comprehend what was transpiring. A mind screw at its finest, to the point that Gai could even hear the words "Congratulations, Gai Nagareboshi~!" being whispered in his ear. With that, Yuu Kimitsu showed Gai Nagareboshi the various locales of this area. It was the worst place that the Mototsu could imagine. There was no freedom here, none at all. "You do what you're told when you're told to do it, every day, until the day you die." These thoughts raced through Gai's mind, as he observed several people nearby; his ears focusing in on numerous conversations. A prim-faced young man murmured, "Have you been working for the greater good? Live for Soul Society, die for Soul Society. That's what I say." Distraught by the youth's words, Gai continued on, noticing a young woman- disturbingly enough, she appeared as if she was younger Gai with gigantic, C-cupped breasts. "...This is the fourty-second child to be born on the streets of the Haguro district. So I named it Haguro Fourty Two. I'll take care of it for a few months before taking it to a child facility. It's true, this child did come from my body. But it belongs to everyone. Live for Soul Society, die for Soul Society." -The words, "live for Soul Society, die for Soul Society" were uttered like a broken record. But that wasn't the main problem here. "Oh god, even the damn babies look exactly like me! I need to get out of here. Fast." Gai Nagareboshi thought; there was no waking from this state- as it was not a dream. Entering a shop, Gai snooped around, searching for something delicious- it had been a while since he had eaten; even now, hunger affected the Mototsu. While such a sight would normally be wonderous to gaze upon, wintessing his favourite food- fried shrimp with pork cutlets, curry and rice made the Mototsu sick in his stomch. It was the only thing the resteraunt was selling. As if the chefs knew of his favourite food and wished to weed out all other potential customers by distrubuting only a single product; Gai noticed that several other Mototsu were happily chowing down on the dish, hearing declarations of the dish being their utmost favourite food. "...Oh-okay...This is just wrong..." Gai motioned to Yuu, asking, "...Is fried shrimp with udon curry, rice and tonkatsu everyone's favourite dish?" Yuu merely nodded, as Gai recoiled in disgust. "That cleaver! You must be a Red Citizen! Us Blue Citizens aren't permitted to carry weapons. I'm glad you're here to protect us from danger!" Boomed a store clerk from across the road. Gai's eyes widened, as Yuu answered, attempting to retain a stoic tone, "They can't buy kitchen knives or scissors, either. How can you live without a good pair of scissors? The government gives them all their clothes and meals. Everyone eats the same meal every single day..." Heading to the church, Gai and Yuu noticed a young man bent down, praying. "I have a short while left in my peaceful moments before death. Thirty years...It's been so very long." Providing exposition, Yuu answered, "They usually stop aging around 16 or 17. Then, around 30, they start dying. Doesn't that just creep you out?" Gai nodded, obviously. The young man continued, "The Soul King blesses us with his grace each and every day. I take each day as a gift from the heavens. Live for Soul Society, die for Soul Society. Until the blessed age of thirty..." "I've heard that line so much already. What does it mean, Yuu?" Gai asked, curiously. Yuu, being an endless barrel of exposition, answered while attempting to keep a poker face, "The Soul King runs this world using the energy he harvests from the souls of the Mototsu. Just like your Soul Society, I guess. But no... I don't think it is the same. Don't you agree?" Of course Gai didn't agree, who was fed up with this world which lacked free will, screaming, "T-This place...No-one has a sense of individuality! They look the damn same, they have the exact same interests, they all speak in the same tone! This place is little more than a graveyard full of dead bastards who haven't stopped moving yet!" "Shh." Yuu placed her pointer finger upon Gai's lips. "If you complain that loudly, then people will catch on that you're not one of them." Upon hearing that, Gai immediately became silent, but such a silence was interrupted by a loud, booming voice. "Damn clones! Get the hell outta my way!" The voice that resounded throughout the air sounded rough; as if it was violent and malicious. Pushing their way through a hoarde of Mototsu, a singular figure emerged. They had slightly demonic appearance, possessing ivory skin and long, jet black hair that jutted out at all directions in the back. Their bangs on the right side of their face covered their eye. They constantly sported heavily exaggerated facial expressions and possessed sharp incisors. "W-Wha...? Who the hell are...?" Gai stuttered, bewildered to witness someone so unruly in their physical appearance, especially at this moment just waltz up to him. "Ah, Gai. Yes, I remember that very well. Though, you sounded much more vicious when I killed you so long ago. Heheh, sounds like you've mellowed out." There was nothing this man could do that couldn't confuse the Mototsu utterly. "W-What the hell are you talking about!?" "Haha! You really do look just like a Mototsu! I didn't think you'd be this similar." This man continued to prattle on, as Gai and Yuu looked on in bewilderment. Yuu remained silent, as Gai quieried, "Yeah, about that... who are those people?!" Surpised, the man responded, "Huh. She didn't tell you? Wow, seriously, she really doesn't care, does she? Didn't she tell you anything?" Gai could only stutter, "Umm... I don't know what to say." Concluding, the man finished, "Oh, that's right. Your memory's gone. I guess you have an excuse, then. You're um... how do I put it? Boy, did she choose the wrong guy to inform you...Listen up..." "...You're not a Mototsu, Gai Nagareboshi."
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