She always knew something in her life was different than everyone else's. One way was her family cat, a sleek black feline with golden eyes. She named her Kuro, mostly because that was black in Japanese. The second was the strange occurrences that always happened near her, like things would suddenly have a very heavy frost on them.
Three would have to be the fact that she had bright teal eyes that always won a staring contest. She was quite proud of them, others called them unnerving but she found them unusual and unique. Just like her name Kiori.
At the moment she was looking out her window with Kuro in her lap. She purred as Kiori scratched behind her ear. "Ne, Kuro? Do you think life will ever get exciting, its too boring here." She asked, pausing in her petting and she rumbled in annoyance and then Kiori thought she heard someone chuckle. She paused and looked around, confused.
Then she shook her head and continued petting Kuro. She purred and stretched and got out of Kiori's lap. "Where are you going?" She asked and the feline looked back at her with what could be the equivalent of a flat look on a cats face. "Whatever." She said, rolling her eyes as she continued walking away.
Later that night Kiori was getting ready for bed when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. Confusion flashed across her face, considering the fact that her parents were dead and she was living alone. Kiori cautiously walked over to the door and opened it, only to have a pair of arms pull her through a glowing doorway. "Whaaaaa!" She screamed falling into the arms of a mysterious person. Suddenly the person poked her in the neck and she fell unconscious. But not before she saw golden eyes underneath purple bangs.
"Yoruichi! You're back from your trip? It's been, what, 14 maybe 15 years? And you came back just in time to help me with something!" A man with blonde hair wearing a green and white striped hat called out to the woman carrying a teenager in her arms. "Urahara, how have you been? Me, I've been fine, acting as a family pet to this girl right here." Yoruichi stated, nodding towards the girl in her arms. "Oh~! I see, so how is she special? I could tell from the moment you walked in that her spiritual pressure is higher than a normal persons and darn near close to a Tenth Seats reiastu." Urahara waved his fan and motioned for the dark skinned woman to set the girl on a fuuton.
"Her name is Kiori, and yes Kisuke, I am aware of the fact that Kiori's reiastu is abnormally high, that is why I brought her here. Mostly to train her, her reiastu has been getting out of hand and actually fluctuating erratically." Yoruichi stated glaring at the shop owner.
A groan brought their attention to the pale girl unconscious on the ground. "Ne? Where am I?" She stuttered, looking around. "Hello Kiori, how are you feeling?" Yoruichi asked, kneeling next to the confused girl. Kiori snapped her head towards the purple-haired woman and glared, "YOU! You're the one that knocked me out! Where the hell am I!?" She yelled.
Yoruichi looked amused, "You're in a shop, in Japan." Kiori did a double take, "Japan!? How the heck did I get to Japan?" She exclaimed, standing up, "A portal?" Yoruichi said with a smile. Kiori glared coldly at her, and the air got colder and the ground around her started to freeze. "Just who exactly are you? And why am I here?" She hissed between her teeth, cracks coming from the ground that had frozen.
"My name is Shihoin Yoruichi, and the reason you are here, well to put it bluntly, is to be trained in controlling your spiritual power. Or that will happen more and more often, and then eventually your body will tear itself apart from the strain of it." Yoruichi gestured to the ground. Kiori looked down and her eyes widened in shock, "B-but how am I doing this?" She looked up, her teal eyes wide with fear.
Urahara sighed when Yoruichi gave him a look and snuck behind the younger girl and held up his cane. "Its your spiritual pressure or reiastu. And at the moment, its out of control. Now listen to me, breathe in and calm your mind. Imagine the air around you is cold, now pull that cold back in. Good." Yoruichi smiled as the air returned to normal. Kiori sighed in relief when she saw the smile on Yoruichi's face.
She gasped in shock as she felt herself being shoved foreword, and barely had time to react as she hit the ground. She moaned in pain and laid on the ground gasping and attempting to catch her breath, but finding it difficult. She sat up and noticed a chain attached to her chest. She followed the chain back to a still form of a dark haired girl. Her teal eyes widened in shock when she realized it was her body.
"W-what did you do?" She asked, looking up at the two adults, one of which was holding a cane and looking at her curiously. "Simple! I separated you soul from your body! The only thing holding the two together is the Soul Chain attached to your chest." Urahara explained, with his usual flare. Kiori deadpanned and then stared at him in complete shock, "WHAT! AHHHHH!" Her sentence was ended with a scream as a huge man came in behind her with a axe on his shoulder.
"Tessai, try not to scare our guest to death." Urahara grinned as the unsuspecting girl looked back at him. He nodded once and Tessai heaved the axe up and slammed it down onto the Soul Chain.
A chill went through Kiori's body as she fell to her knees in shock, eyes widening and looked behind her to see the Soul Chain chopped off. Her words were swallowed as Kisuke slammed something into the ground and a hole opened up beneath her. Teal eyes widening even more as she fell.
Above her Yoruichi deadpanned at Urahara's tact. "Do you really need the Shattered Shaft for this?" She questioned as Urahara walked over to the edge of the Shaft and called down, "I just wanted to tell you that you have 72 hours before your soul is consumed and you become a monster. You should probably try to awaken something inside of you." He said, starring down at the pale teen.
"SHUT THE *#%$ UP A**HOLE! WHEN I GET BACK UP THERE I'M KICKING YOUR ASS FOR KILLING ME! AND WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'AWAKEN' SOMETHING? HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT BASTARD!" Was yelled back up at him, causing both him and Yoruichi to cover their ears against the loud voice. Yoruichi sighed and peered over the side of the Shaft. "Think about it this way… delve into you consciousness and try to find the brightest spot there. That will be your Soul Terrain. Someone in there will help you. Good luck Kiori."
Down below Kiori growled in frustration and then clamed down slightly, her heart still beating out of fear. 'Delve into my mind?' She thought as she closed her eyes and focused her concentration inward. Suddenly she saw a blinding light in front of her and she reached out with her mind-form only to be blinded into unconsciousness.
Time seemed to pass as her teal eyes opened to a divided sky, night and day. She blinked and sat up to look around. Snow seemed to be falling from nonexistent clouds as she stood and the ground seemed to be covered in a never-ending frost. But as Kiori walked through the landscape, the grass beneath her feet didn't crackle as frosted grass usually did. Instead it gave underneath her weight and then came back up perfect.
"This is my Soul Terrain?" She asked aloud. "Beautiful isn't it?" She jumped in shock as a male voice sounded from behind her. She turned and gaped at the tall man behind her. He had light grey-blue hair and teal eyes that matched her own. He smiled and bowed slightly, his long hair spilling over his shoulder. "Its nice to finally meet you, Kiori-chan." He said, causing Kiori to blush and look away.
"Um, its, uh, nice to meet you to…" The man's eyes widened and he smiled widely, "My name is-" Kiori blinked as the man's mouth moved but no sound came out. She winced as a sad look crossed his face, "You can't hear my name yet? Well that's a bummer." The guy sighed and ran a hand through his hair, causing it to shorten to just below his ear tips. "Did your hair just get shorter?" She asked, shocked when he grinned and nodded, "Did you like it longer?" She shook her head.
Suddenly the guy's eyes widened, "I should probably warn you that you only have 20 hours left on your time limit." He stated, shocking girl to the core. He expected her to freak out, and maybe pass out, but she just narrowed her eyes and sat stiffly on the ground. She propped her chin on her knuckles, "What am I supposed to do now that I'm in here?" She muttered.
The man chuckled at her thinking pose and then sat down in front of her, "Here, let me have your hands." He said, pulling her hands into his bigger ones. Kiori's eyes widened as energy swirled around them, "Focus your mind in sync with you soul." Kiori nodded and closed her eyes. A white light shone from between them and the man smiled as something he recognized formed in-between them. "Let your mind form a 'Soul Cutter', imagine yourself protecting those weaker then you with the blade and push you thoughts into it. Let it take form." He gently prodded her as the sword formed between them. "Do you have the image in your mind?" He asked, Kiori nodded, "Good, now open your eyes and seize the object in your mind before it disappears." Kiori's eyes snapped open and she pulled the still forming sword from the air.
Yoruichi frowned as she watched the chain eat away at itself on her soon-to-be student. Surprisingly the girl was calm and was so deep in her trance that she didn't even feel the Soul Chain being devoured. Suddenly the pressure in the air increased and Kiori's teal eyes snapped open as she stood all at one time.
The teal eyes glowed with power as the girl grasped the air in front of her and caused the surrounding area erupt into fog. Yoruichi and Urahara blinked in surprise as the fog cleared and showed a chainless Kiori who stood there with her eyes closed and a teal scabbard in her hand. But unlike a normal Soul Reaper's uniform, she had on a tight fitting black tank-top and the usual uniform pants. Dark blue gloves with teal trimmings adorned her hands and black elbow gloves fit around arm elbows.
The girl's teal eyes opened and narrowed in on Urahara who waved at the glaring girl. Yoruichi watched as the girl charged at the blonde man, albeit slowly. She chuckled as Kiori punched said man in the stomach, making his eyes widen in shock and double over. "Bet you weren't suspecting that!" Kiori grinned down at him with her hands on her hips and sword attached to her back with a light blue cloth.
Her head cocked to the side and then she laughed even louder. Her laughter was stopped by Urahara saying, "Congratulations, you have passed the first test. Now for the second, well, try to get my hat. Awaken, Benihime." He stated, drawing the quickly changing sword from the cane. Kiori's eyes narrowed and she sped forward at him with a still sheathed sword. Urahara blocked her rieatsu enhanced fist with Benihime.
Kiori gasped in shock as a cut appeared on her arm, another quickly following on her leg. She gritted her teeth and put her hand behind her to grab her sword. Drawing it quickly she blocked Urahara's vertical slice, but barely. Her eyes widened in shock as a crack appeared on her blade. 'Call my name now Kiori-chan! It's-' Kiori froze and shouted, "Cover in Frost, Ryuu-Furosuto!" Her normal blade grew slightly and turned blue-white with a white hilt. She brought her sword down and a blast of cold air hit Urahara, causing him to grab his hat and turn a little.
'Good job Kiori-chan! Next, divide and conquer!' Ryuu called from her mind. 'Hai!' She replied, focusing her rieatsu into forming what he had in mind. She rushed forward and didn't block the swing that came from Urahara. Yoruichi shouted in shock as Benihime sliced through the teen but froze as a pale hand grabbed the hat from Urahara's head and placed it on their own.
Urahara turned in shock, partly from watching the figure in front of him turn into snow and fade away, and partly at the laughing girl who had his hat on her head. She grinned at the blond shop owner and tossed his hat back. "Soooo, did I pass?" She asked mischievously. Urahara nodded and swiped his hat from the air and quickly placed it back on his head. "Yes, and tomorrow your real training begins." He smiled and turned back to see the girl collapsed on the ground snoring lightly.
"Nice girl, nice Zanpaktou. You hear its name? Ryuu-Furosuto, otherwise known as Frost Dragon. Powerful. Are you satisfied Yoruichi?" He asked looking up at his dark-skinned companion. The purple-haired woman smiled, "Just wait until I start training her, then she'll show real potential." Urahara waved her off with a smile and carried the girl back to her body.
The blonde shop owner looked up with a gleam in his eyes as Kiori's body and soul came together again, "Yoruichi…" The dark-skinned woman looked over at him. "Hmm, I noticed as well." Urahara sighed and stood all the way up, "It seems we will have to work quickly if we want to complete her training before they action begins." Yoruichi nodded with a solemn look on her face, "Two and a half weeks. Since she has her Shikai, we'll work on controlling her rieatsu and maybe strengthening her fighting skills and also work on her speed and sword-fighting skills." Urahara nodded and watched as his long-time friend stooped over and picked the pale girl up and then held onto his hat as she Shunpoed into the shop to put the girl to bed.