Chapter Text
Pain, that was all Sajin Komamura could register.
The feeling of his bones and muscles crunching and compressing as he suffered from the draw back of the humanification technique. The horrific price of the power he sought after for revenge.
What little humanity he had was painfully and forcefully stripped away from him before he could make one final swing at Yhwach with Dangai Jo.
This was his punishment, he witnessed what revenge could do to someone, the blind ambition, the repercussions, the nothingness that it leaves.
He saw all of it in his late friend, Kaname, and here he was at the same destination. Left with nothing and without being able to exact vengeance on his target.
Yamamoto-dono was gone, he had lost his bankai, lost most of his men, lost his heart, lost his humanity, lost his ability to be a soul reaper.
All of it, gone.
Shame soon consumed him as the thought of his loyal lieutenant, Iba Tetsuzaemon, hit his mind. Someone so loyal and had brought warmth to his life was now going to be forced to clean the mess that he left behind in the wake of his selfish actions.
As he lay there on the ground, now in the form of a common wolf, all he thought was how he couldn’t live in a world like this anymore…
…he…didn’t…want…to…live…
*DING*
A sound filled his ears and light began to consume him, a cascading rainbow light stretched out before him. He was too tired to move, to fight. All he could do was just accept what could possibly happen next as the colors were replaced by darkness.
CHAPTER 1: Regrets and a New World
Pain. It was the first thing Sajin registered. It was dull and throbbing all over his body. The next thing he could register was cold, wet grass against the side of his body, slight due to his fur but still noticeable. He wasn’t in the Soul Society anymore, he still remembered the broken, jagged rubble digging into his pelt before passing out.
He couldn’t be dead either, otherwise he wouldn’t have his memories as Sajin, he would have been reborn into a new life as someone else. Ignorant to the fool of a beast they once were. Just what happened to him? He should open his eyes, he should get up, but he didn’t want to open his eyes, not yet, he just wanted to rest some more. He didn't want to do anything. The dull ache in his body pulsed again.
He could still feel pain. He was still breathing, he was still living. If he could still breathe, then he can still do something. He made a promise, an oath that would give his life to Soul Society like Yamamoto told him. That means if he could, he would do whatever he can to help his home! This didn’t prevent a pitiful whine of pain to come out of his muzzle however.
He opened his golden eyes to see the land before him, groaning as his eyes adjusted to the light, his head throbbing from the reflex. Instead of destruction and shattered buildings, he saw trees and paved concrete, electric street lights illuminating the area. One thing was for certain. This was not the Seretei!
He tried to stand like he usually did, only to fall back down from not only another debilitating headache but, on closer inspection, he found that he now had four legs instead of the usual two. It looks like he still suffered the drawback of the humanification technique. If he focused, he could feel the distinct lack of heartbeat in his chest. The image of Tousen in his resurrection form flashed in his mind. The irony was not lost on the wolf.
But, now was not the time to loathe himself again. His training kicked in and he examined his situation. He had defeated Bambietta, tried to attack Yhwach as the drawback of humanification took hold, he (shamefully) failed and collapsed as he turned into a wolf. After that….huh…it was a blur. No, it was more like that memory was blank. Like it just disappeared. Between then and when he woke up there was nothing. It had to be recent otherwise he wouldn’t have felt so beaten up otherwise. He wasn’t dead either, but he was still missing his heart. The only logical explanation was that he had to have been teleported somewhere but by what and by whom? Just what happened to him?
He would take a breath and steady himself. Slowly he sat up on his hind legs as his new front paws helped to keep him steady. Thankfully the aches were getting more tolerable. After a few pants he would get up on all four, legs shaking as he regained himself. He took a few test steps, memories falling back to when he was still a pup to learn how to walk right. It was difficult at first to get the coordination, but it came back to him with ease, like he never forgot it in the first place.
He walked forward on his shaking limbs, lingering pains making it difficult to move around so freely. Hopefully he could find some clues on his new whereabouts.
He looked around to see that he was in some kind of public park, one that was incredibly modern. Large fountains, curving pathways, even a waterfall fixture which was lit up by underwater lights that made the tiles on its wall glitter in the night. Was this…the world of the living? It had to be, nowhere in Soul Society and definitely nowhere in Hueco Mundo could have fixtures like this. Just how did he end up here?
Before he could go deeper into analyzing his thoughts, the sound of footsteps began approaching through the trees and bushes. On instinct, he got into a defensive stance, awaiting whoever approached.
“Huh, I’m sure I saw the gate open here.” The voice of a young man filled the night air. With the wolf’s night vision, he could see the male figure standing before him. He was on the shorter side than average, very chubby as well, messy brown hair on his head and he seemed to be wearing a black school uniform with the blazer unbuttoned to reveal the white undershirt he wore. In all honesty, the boy felt incredibly unassuming…kind of like Hanataro in hindsight. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel like there was something unique about the high schooler, unique but familiar. Enough with the musings for now, what did this boy mention about at ‘gate’?
“You sure this is the right place, Salomon-kun?” The boy addressed someone Komomura couldn’t see. Suddenly, what appeared was a small goat-like spirit. A hollow?! No, there was something fundamentally different between the new entity and what he knew about hollows.
“Of course it is Master! I’m never wrong about this!” The boy fixed the goat with a disbelieving look.
“I-I at least get the gate right…Uh-LOOK! That must be them!”
Sajin was surprised that not only was he spotted by the small spirit but was able to be seen by the boy as they locked eyes.
“Salomon-kun…that’s a dog.”
He’s a wolf!!!
Without thinking, or perhaps out of instinct, Sajin let out an annoyed bark in response, startling the duo. As he walked forward into the light, the boy squinted as he saw something on the underside of Sajin’s chest.
“Hey, easy there big guy. I’m not gonna hurt you. Just need to check something.” The boy kept a hand up to try and calm the wolf down, slowly inching closer to not make the wolf run off.
Sajin was, of course, weary of this strange newcomer. A human who can see spirits and being the apparent ‘master’ of a small familiar. He had no idea of the capabilities of this human. At the same time, what could he even do? He was a stranger in a new (to him) world and without any way to defend himself besides his fangs and claws.
He eyed the boy warily before sitting down. The boy gave a relieved sigh before kneeling in front of Sajin. As he got a closer look at his chest, the boy found what he was looking for.
“Huh…It looks like a flower.”
What looks like a flower?
“It’s an iris, Master! They usually mean heroism and loyalty!”
An iris flower? Sajin’s mind was immediately taken to the symbol of Squad 7.
“Did you just look that up?”
Just what was that doing on his chest?
“I-I’ll have you know that flower language is part of my training as a butler!”
Just what happened to him?
“Welp, with this we know you’re a transient.”
Transient? “Aroo?” Sajin wolfishly replied.
“Can you translate Solomon-kun?”
“I know flower language not animal language, Master!”
“This is gonna be hard...”
Well at least Sajin wasn’t being treated as a common wolf. But how was he going to communicate with this boy?
A thought occurred to the quadruped wolf and gave a small bark to the boy. Once he was paying attention, Sajin began moving his paw into the dirt, drawing a rectangle before pressing his paws into the square a couple of times.
“Huh? A phone?”
Do telephones look like this in the living world???
“No, probably some paper.” He said after recognizing Sajin’s confusion. Said wolf giving a yip in response.
“Alright Boy, I’ll take you to the guild then.