To heir is human pt 2

It was warm. Arawn was glad he had choose to not wear long sleeves. With his blue flannel shirt open the small breeze was refreshing to his skin. Despite this his white under shirt was still sticking to his back in places. The red haired man ignored this minute discomfort as he gazed up at the sun beaming down above him. This was his first time in the city, but already he must look like a tourist with the way he stopped and looked at the various tall buildings. What had brought him here was the report of the massive battle that had taken place between the captain of the 2nd squad not too long ago. This incident was covered up by the humans as a freak storm. A storm that had tore through the city. It was amazing to see how quickly the city was recovering from the devastation. Silently he wondered how much the reconstruction had cost the citizens. Still the people seemed fine about the large cranes that worked to rebuild the fallen towers. There were large sections of the city that were blocked off as the construction workers toiled away. As he toured the streets he could still see the huge holes in the ground. For a moment a tarp was shifted by the wind to show half a building still missing. What a fight it must have been. Arawn wished he could take a closer look, but being in a gigai restricted his severely. He had wanted to visit the city as a shinigami, but had been warned against it. There had been several incidents in this city. Shinigami had gone missing when patrolling the area. While normally invisible to the human eyes there were other things that could see him. For instance the hollows. Much like the one that the captain had confronted. Arawn shuddered to think what would have happened if he had met up with that creature instead. Chances were the city would have seen less destruction, but Arawn wouldn't have survived the encounter. A monster capable of keeping a captain of the 13 Gotei at bay wasn't something to sneeze at. Although he had tried to test his skill against that very same man twice it was obvious that the 2nd Squad leader had been only toying with him. Arawn sighed, slightly depressed when he thought about how severely he was beaten in both of those occasions. The fact he was trying his best at the time of both encounters was equally disheartening. He gave his head a slight shake and decided to try and focus on something else. A growl from his stomach gave him such a subject; food.

That was one thing that Arawn enjoyed with his trips to the human world; all the food. The world was indeed wide and there were as many flavors and tastes as there were stars in the sky. Being a spiritual being he needed to feed to keep up his strength. Thus he had an excuse to consume various delicious dishes. Sanagu City was truly a great place to be. Even in it's current damaged state there were plenty of shops to choose from. It was midday and the smells were mixing with the slight smell of car exhaust. Arawn wondered what specialties he could look forward to. He had seen many different places on his way to the battle location. Open air cafes, delis, even a few vendor carts. Arawn fished into his pocket to make sure his wallet was still there. He was worried that someone had taken his money leaving him to starve. So many people filled the streets even on the construction places. Casting one last look skyward he decided he'd seen enough of the sights. It was lunch time, or at least his stomach felt that way. Who was he to question it? After looking up and down the street he decided to head north.

With luck the first place he found was indeed a deli. The people shouted the orders as they came up. At first he thought it was annoying, but it gave the place a special kind of flare. Some people smiled as they called back for his tuna melt sandwich. It was embarrassing to have everyone know what he was eating. Still it didn't really hurt him in any way. He got a ginger ale to wash it down with. The warmth of the day faded as he put the bottle to his lips and drank the cool liquid. The bubbles tickled his throat, but that was part of the appeal. He wasn't one for sodas, but once in a while they were nice. He didn't like the sugar rush and the inevitable drop after it had ran it's course. Sitting outside he had a good view of the cars passing by. People moving about their day without a care in the world. For a moment he wondered what he would be doing if he hadn't died so long ago. He gave a wry chuckle. Even if he hadn't died on the street that day he would still be dead. The average life span of people wasn't 200 years. There was no way he'd be around and about to see the various marvels of the current society. Perhaps dying was somewhat a blessing in a way. But what if he had died and not become a shinigami? Could he have been content with the life in Rukongai? Honestly he didn't know. Some people he saw in the districts seemed happy enough, but it was hard to tell. Were they just putting on a show for the passing shinigami? Possible. In other regions he would get grimaces and frowns from anyone that laid eyes on him. The people on the street didn't look unhappy. It was just as difficult to tell. There were some talking on their phones, laughing with friends, listening to music. So many people. Rather than dwell on it longer Arawn hurried to finish his lunch.
[TBC]