Chapter 2

Emi stood well away from Kaito when he started meditating again and it didn't take her long to realise that the atmosphere in the room had changed drastically.

She had been expecting something like the last time, but this time however, there was no wind, not even the slightest breeze. She wondered about the sudden change, when she suddenly noticed small arcs of lightning jump off Kaitos body. Immediately she jumped back even further to avoid being struck should the lightning get stronger, something she expected to happen.

The cloud that had been in Kaito's inner world had changed drastically. Instead of lazily floating around, it was now swirling violently, steadily growing in size and getting darker by the minute, as if a miniature thundercloud was forming right in front of him. Flashes illuminating the inside, giving it a surreal appearance and the larger it grew, the brighter they became.

He gave a stifled gasp as the air began to stir, rippling as with excessive heat, as if it had become too heavy for it to support itself. He noted that the cloud had begun changing shape, slowly taking on the form of a creature, causing lighting to arc in every direction, shattering rocks and charging the surroundings with electricity, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. As the form of the could became clearer, he felt his grip on reality slip more and more, for what he saw in front of him defied all common sense.

He looked up at the creature, his eyes trying to take in even the most minute detail. The long, reptilian skull with spikes protruding along it's entire spine, the huge body covered in rough scales, it's teeth and talons glimmering in the vibrant display of lightning that occurred with every sway of it's massive tail. Wings extending from it's back, moving slowly in the ever increasing wind.

"A dragon", he whispered in awe, "it's a real dragon".

"So you're the one who awoke me from my slumber", the dragon's voice suddenly boomed.

The sheer force of the sound making his entire inner world reverberate.

"I hope you're prepared to face the consequences of what you did little one", it continued.

It grinned, the sheer sight of it making Kaito shudder.

"I suspect you want to use my power, and so you shall, but only if you've proven yourself worthy. Only after passing my test will you be able to become a true shinigami."

"You're right", Kaito replied, shaking off his fear.

"If I'm to pass this guy's test, I'll have to keep my cool, stay calm. Come on Kaito, don't let his appearance get to you", he said in his mind, "he's still my own power, so I know I can beat him".

"So what is it that I have to do in order to pass your test?", he asked the dragon.

"It's simple, just try to stay alive", it grinned.

Having said this, the dragon waved it's tail, causing lighting to arc in Kaito's direction.

He jumped aside, the lightning disintegrating the place he had been standing on only a fraction of a second earlier.

"Not bad", it commented, "but you should be able to do much better".

This time the dragon raised it's claws, and Kaito could clearly see the lightning arcing between them. Pointing it's claw at him, it launched another barrage of attacks towards him. With no viable alternative, he jumped out of the way, the bolt missing him by a hairs width, causing a massive explosion when it hit the rocks, sending him flying along with quite a bit of debris. As he came down, he saw the dragon launching even more attacks. Rolling out of the way, he somehow managed to get back onto his feet again and started running towards the dragon until it suddenly spread it's wings. The sheer increase in size made him stop dead in his tracks. Not even noticing the huge bolt that came crashing down upon him.

The lightning hit him, his eyes blinded by the huge flash. The pure energy entering his body causing him to convulse violently, he felt the shock coursing through his body, seemingly turning each cell on it's path inside-out, altering it's structure down to the most basic of particles. Without warning however, the blinding light that had enveloped him vanished, his eyesight suddenly returning. Shocked, he looked around and saw the dragon smiling.

"And so you've survived my test", it congratulated him, "you're probably wondering what happened to your body, so I'll explain it to you. As you might have noticed already, I can generate lightning, and using my power, so can you. The downside however is that if you try to generate lightning that is not a kidō spell, the consequences can be disastrous because your body can't handle the huge currents that come with throwing around small sparks like the ones I used on you, not to mention the bigger lightning strikes. You probably felt a change occurring throughout your body when the shock passed through you right?"

Kaito nodded, the aftermath of the test causing his mind to go blank.

"This change was necessary, for otherwise you'd die while generating lightning. Once again, I congratulate you for surviving the test, but be warned, the next time you come here, it won't be that easy."

As the dragon said this, he could feel himself being pulled out of his inner world and back to the training room in the academy.

As the dragon watched him disappear, it smiled, "next time, it won't be that easy".

Having said this, it began to fade, until it had returned to being a cloud in the sky of the vast world that was inside Fujiwara Kaito.

As he returned to his body, he felt someone shaking at his shoulders. He slowly opened his eyes and stared up at the open sky.

"Where the heck is the ceiling?", he wondered, but he didn't have much time to think about it for he suddenly felt himself being hauled up. He opened his eyes completely and noticed Emi sitting in front of him.

"Are you all right?", she asked, looking at him with a straight face.

"Yeah, I think so, but what the heck happened here?", he replied as he looked around the room.

It had been utterly devastated, the walls had scorch marks all over them and looked as if they had been sliced with a ridiculously oversized sword. The roof had been blow away, the edges of the walls still glowing with residual heat.

He tried to get up, but as he placed his hand at his side, he noticed a sword lying at his side. He picked it up and admired it, the pitch black sheath, the intricately woven pattern on the hilt, the magnificently crafted guard shaped as a curled up dragon.

He held his breath as he slowly drew the blade, sparks arcing across the length of the blade. He noticed Emi was staring at the sword the same way he was, fascinated by it's beauty.

Suddenly, their focus on the sword was broken by voices coming from the hallway.

"Let me guess, we better hightail it out of here right?", he grinned at Emi.

"We better, if the teachers find us here in this room they're going to raise hell", she replied, an equally wide grin forming on her face.

They got to their feet, the voices in the hallway coming closer, the door of the training room being planted halfway through the opposite wall of the corridor.

"Damn, looks like we can't go out through the hallway anymore", he cursed.

"No problem, since you were so kind to create another exit during your meditation, we can escape without a problem", Emi told him as she pointed to the place where the roof used to be.

"Now hang on", she said as she placed an arm around his waist, "you don't know anything about Hohō yet, so I'll have to help you, but only this time all right?"

He placed his arms around her and held on as she leapt in the air and much to his amazement, started leaping off what seemed to be invisible platforms in midair.

He wanted to ask her how she did it, but he figured that he would learn how to do it in the near future, so he decided to stay quiet while they ran.

Nakajima Hatsuharu hated surprises, especially the unpleasant ones and the sight of the demolished training room was something he would categorize under extremely unpleasant.

"First the clearing in the woods near the dormitory, now this. What the hell is going on here", he wondered.

From the corner of his eye he noticed a couple of students approaching the scene of destruction, looking dumbfounded at the door which had crashed through a wall.

"You there", he barked at the students who jumped at the sound of his voice, "yes, you, did you see who did this?"

"No sir", one of the students replied, "we just saw an incredibly bright flash, followed by a huge crashing sound, it seemed as if lightning had struck the room."

"Lightning eh", he thought as he walked into the room.

"Something's not right here", he pondered, " if it had been lightning, it wouldn't have caused this type of damage, at least not a normal lightning strike. More so, the sky has been clear for the entire day, so that leaves only one possibility. It must have come from inside the room, which would explain the roof being blasted clear off. But in order to do all that, what in the world could generate that much power?"

He heard a sound behind him and noticed the students come into the training room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?", he said to them, a dangerous undertone clearly audible in his voice.

"Go to your quarters, classes are over for today and I don't think you're the type to train afterwards."

The students hurried out of the room, not wanting to unleash the wrath of one of the most feared teachers at the academy.

"Sometimes I wonder about our future, with students of that calibre", he thought as he watched them dash safely out of range of his spiritual sense, "then again, if there's a student capable of doing this, I might need to reconsider that opinion. But I'll find you, you can be sure of that".

He turned around and started walking away as part of the teacher corps came running to the scene, he couldn't care less about their findings, he had all the information he needed to track down the one responsible for the destruction.

"Hang on", Emi yelled as they were flying through the air, "I'm going to perform shunpō, so make sure you don't let go".

She had barely finished speaking when Kaito could feel himself being pulled forward at an incredible speed, the environment turning into a blur. They reappeared not too far from the dormitory, but the added weight from his body screwed up Emi's already unsteady balance, causing them to crash into a couple of bushes.

He managed to move his body underneath Emi's in order to cushion her fall but kind of regretted it when he felt half a dozen branches poke painfully into his back.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry", Emi yelled as she tried to push herself off him, the added pressure only causing the branches to poke even deeper into his back.

"You really need to train some more on that move", he winced as he felt a particularly pointy stick cut through his skin a bit.

She was about to comment on him not even being able to do shunpō when she suddenly heard giggles behind her. She quickly jumped off Kaito and turned towards the source of the sound only to see a few girls running into the dormitory.

"Great", she muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, except the fact that within ten minutes the whole frigging academy is going to think that we're a couple because of this little mishap".

"So much for trying to keep a bit of a low profile", she sighed, "soon everyone's going to know my face, not to mention yours".

"Is it that bad to be a little well known on the academy?"

"It is, for people like myself at least".

"What do you mean people like you?"

"You'll find out soon enough", she smiled cryptically, "come on, let's get to our quarters before the rumour spreads any further."

As they went towards their quarters, Kaito was amazed at the speed at which the rumour had spread, for a lot of people were standing in front of their rooms, waiting for them to pass by. Some even whistled at the so-called couple. He decided ignoring them was the best course of action and Emi seemed to agree with him, for she didn't respond to a single remark made by one of the other trainees.

"What the hell is that new guy doing with a zanpakutō?", one of the other students suddenly shouted, pointing at the blade tucked safely in Kaito's belt.

The laughter and whistles immediately stopped as every other trainee looked at the sword at the same time. They continued down the hallway, but now they only heard nervous whispers coming from students that had grouped together. Kaito suddenly whished he could make himself invisible, he hadn't liked the previous kind of attention, but he hated this even more. He noticed some students looking nervously at him but they turned their head as soon as they noticed he was looking back at them. Emi however didn't even seem phased by the change in behaviour with her fellow students, she just continued along as she had bee doing before, ignoring all comments.

"I'll come pick you up around six in the morning tomorrow, so make sure you're ready", Emi told him as they arrived at his room.

"Why so early?", he complained.

"Because the lessons start at eight and I want to teach you a thing or two beforehand", she told him, "so make sure you're up or I'll come and drag you out of your bed".

"All right, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then", he said as he opened the door to his room.

"Good night Kaito"

"G'night", he said as he closed the door.

As he closed the door, he felt fatigue creep over him. So much had happened in such a short time. He sighed as he placed his zanpakutō on his desk, slipped out of his clothes and walked into the shower. He could still feel the pulse of his power inside him. He raised his hand, wondering how to use the power that dragon had given him. He smiled as he held up his hand, imagining sparks arcing from one finger to another. He didn't have a lot of time to imagine it though, for soon enough there really were sparks arcing from one finger to the other. Taken aback by this sudden development, he immediately dropped his focus, causing the sparks to disappear.

"What the…", he whispered, not knowing what exactly had happened.

He decided to try it again, but this time the lightning started to encircle him, arcing precariously from one arm to the other, running along the length of his back. It was behaving as if it were trying to protect him from some sort of danger.

"It's just as I imagined", he breathed.

"So this is how I can use my power eh, pretty neat".

He wanted to try out some more things with it, but decided otherwise, his body was complaining about a lack of sleep. This however couldn't stop him from thinking up uses for his newfound powers. After having taken a shower, he started rummaging through his closet until he found something that seemed to be pyjamas to him. Putting them on, he let himself fall onto the bed and drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

"So the student that transferred in on recommendation of Yoshikune Taichō was responsible for this?", Nakajima Hatsuharu asked the director, the revelation of the identity of the perpetrator causing his excitement in hunting him down personally to be cut down in a matter of seconds.

"Indeed, he is also the one responsible for damaging the trees near the student dormitory. I believe he, if trained correctly, will possess a power strong enough to become a seated officer at least", the director explained.

"He was recommended by Yoshikune Taichō, and this alone was a good enough reason to assign Shimizu Emi as his personal tutor. She is the one best suited for educating him to become an excellent shinigami. Because of this, I kindly request you ignore these little accidents Nakajima-sensei and that you make sure he receives the best training as possible, for this reason I'll be assigning him to your class".

"Understood sir", Hatsuharu saluted.

He turned around and left the meeting room.

"Let these accidents slip? What the hell is the headmaster thinking. I don't care if he's incredibly powerful or if he has a lot of potential. He broke the rules and I'll make sure he pays", he thought, swearing that he'd catch that roughneck doing something wrong. He'd make sure he'd get what he deserved.

"Who the hell does that new guy think he is, trying to steal the spotlight from me", Akimoto Momiji cursed.

He was one of the most promising students of the senior year, no one could beat him in terms of raw power, not even the great Shimizu Emi had as much reiatsu as he did. Then why did she hang around with that new guy instead of him, what was so special about him? He hadn't seen him personally, but he had heard he had only transferred in today and that he already had his zanpakutō.

"Bullshit", he thought, it took even the most talented of shinigami trainees several weeks to get their zanpakutō to materialize, even he had taken well over a week.

He'd find the guy and he'd prove that he was the best in the entire academy.

Kaito opened his eyes at the annoying sound of his alarm clock.

"God I hate these things", he muttered as he slowly raised himself out of his bed. His mind still felt a bit foggy and his muscles strained as he walked around his room.

Twenty minutes, a shower and a light meal later, he heard someone knock on his door.

"Oi Kaito, time to go", a familiar voice shouted.

"I'm coming, just a second", he replied as he put on his shihakushō and hurried out of his room.

"There you are", Emi said when he opened the door, "I was about to break it down and come drag you along you know".

"Right", he said, obviously not believing her threat, " so what's on the menu for today's training?"

"Well, since there's an examination on Hohō coming up, we'll practise that".

"Let me guess, it's so you can get in some practise as well right?", he teased her.

"Oh shut it you".

Laughing, they walked out of the dormitory towards one of the training fields.

Kaito struggled to fight the urge to tell her about his powers, but he held on, deciding that it would be better to keep it hidden from her, so that he could surprise her with it when the time was right. There weren't too many people up at this hour, so thankfully, they only needed to endure a few weird looks as they walked.

"Right, so the principle of Hohō is to use reiatsu to move at either high speed, a technique called shunpō, or to solidify it underneath you so that you can use it as a sort of platform. In general, you could consider Hohō to be a sort of advanced movement technique, allowing you to reach the most impossible places. Advanced techniques of Hohō can even allow you to fly without the need of having formed a platform to stand on. This of course can give you a distinct advantage over your opponent. Since you're new to this, we'll start with one of the basic techniques, forming a platform to stand on. You can feel the reiatsu in the air around us right?".

"Uhu", Kaito nodded.

"Good, now, gather this reiatsu using your will, gather them beneath you and solidify them, that way you'll be able to create a platform. It's quite easy actually, you just need to focus enough", Emi explained. She jumped into the air and landed onto what seemed to be an invisible platform.

"See, it's easy".

"To you perhaps", he grumbled as he focused on sensing the reiatsu, finding it, he gathered as much as he could and forced them to collide with one another so that they would solidify. After having tried it out on the ground for a few minutes, he found that it was, as Emi had said, quite easy.

"Right, now to put it to the test", he said as he jumped into the air.

Emi's eyes widened when she Kaito leap into the air and land on thin air not too far away from her. She had expected him to learn it quite quickly, but not after a single try.

"Ok, that's that, so what's next?", he asked her, his voice slightly mocking her.

"Ok, since you're soooo good at this, let's try something more difficult", she shot back.

"The next technique is called shunpō, it's, as you've seen already, a technique that you can use to move at extremely high speeds. It's one of the most difficult moves in the entire Hohō segment of techniques. And yes, as you've seen already, even I still have some difficulties with it. Basically, you just gather your reiatsu at your feet, the rest almost happens by itself. Just remember to keep your balance when you land."

"I see, and is there a limit to how far you can go?"

"Not really, basically, the most you've mastered the technique, the faster and further you'll be able to go. For now, I can move up to a maximum of about twenty meters in one step."

"All right then, let's give it a try", Kaito said as he started gathering his reiatsu at his feet and stepped.

Doing so, he felt himself being pulled forward at a dazzling speed. As he watched the environment fade into a blur as he sped by, he involuntarily lost his focus, causing the reiatsu at his feet to dissipate and thus, ending his step. The sudden stop causing him to skid over the ground as he desperately tried to stop himself from falling flat on his face.

As he came to a halt, he turned around and found, much to his amazement, that he had covered well over a hundred meters in a single step.

Just as he was about to try to perform shunpō again, he heard a swishing sound behind him, the thud following it giving away the identity of the person who had just appeared behind him.

"How the hell did you do that?", she growled, rubbing her arms on the place she had landed on.

'I've never seen anyone perform that kind of shunpō on their first try. Are you sure you've died only yesterday?"

"I don't know how I do it, I just did as you told me to and everything just happened".

"Kaito-kun, I know you're exceptional, but now you're scaring me", Emi said, the expression on her face indicating shock, even fear.

"Just what are you?"

"I don't know, I just do as you tell me to and then I can do these things".

Just at that moment, they heard a bell, indicating the start of the first class. Exchanging glances, they started heading towards the training room. Kaito consciously keeping his distance as he walked behind Emi. At first he had wanted to continue talking about what had happened, but as soon as he'd seen the look on Emi's face he'd stopped dead in his tracks. As they continued on, he pondered about what Emi had said, the words still resounding in his mind.

"What am I?", he asked himself, "I'm just another shinigami right?"

In vain, he tried to convince himself over and over again that he too was just a normal shinigami, perhaps a bit better than average, but he just couldn't do it. The scenes when he had finished meditating, the shock on Emi's face when he had performed those Hohō techniques successfully at his first try kept on coming back in front of his mind's eye. The last scene unnerving him above all else. "She's the best student of the senior year for Christ's sake, how come she's afraid of me?"

The usual bantering that was present in the classroom fell dead silent the moment they entered. Kaito could feel the looks of all 27 student fixed on him and Emi, the feeling of being observed by so many people mingling with the fear of himself that had been growing steadily on the way towards the classroom. The result of this mix only adding to his uneasiness.

Hearing a cough behind him, he turned around to find a teacher standing behind him, waiting for him to move out of the way so that he himself could enter.

"Oh, sorry sir", he apologised quickly as he moved out of the way.

"Thank you Mr. Errrr, who are you?".

He opened his mouth to respond and tell that he'd been admitted on recommendation of Yoshikune Taichō, but Emi beat him to it.

"He's the new transfer student everyone's been talking about sir, the one who got in on a recommendation of Yoshikune Taichō, I was assigned to tutor him during our free hours so that he would be able to catch up with the rest of the senior year".

This comment causing quite a bit of a stir with the other students. Some beginning to whisper to one another, others just laughing.

"And it's something that I personally believe he is quite capable of".

"So, you're telling us that this new guy here, fresh from the living world would be able to wipe the floor with us in a few months eh?", one of the more muscular students present in the class sneered.

"Not months", Emi said calmly, "days would be more accurate".

"Right, and we're supposed to believe you, oh how low the high and mighty Shimizu family has fallen, now their heirs are starting to spout nonsense."

"Kaito-kun, ignore that idiot's comment and do as I say right now, you can feel that pulse inside of you right?" .

He nodded.

"Good, feel it, grasp it and amplify it, as much as you can, right here, right now", Emi told him as she braced herself for what she expected would come.

As Kaito felt the pulse, he did as she had told him, grasping it firmly with his mind, then focussing as hard as he could, causing it to grow stronger. Struggling to keep control, he continued to raise it's power until he felt that he would lose control if he were to keep on strengthening it.

She had felt it coming before anyone else, even the teacher, had even picked up the slightest hint of it. Even so, nothing could have prepared her for what he unleashed.

The blast tore through the classroom, making papers scatter like leaves on an autumn wind. The weaker students collapsing almost instantly from the intense spiritual pressure, the mediocre ones following not too soon after. It had taken him only three seconds to put everyone besides the teacher and some of the more powerful students on their knees, gasping for breath, sweat dripping in streams from their faces.

"Kaito-kun, stop!!", Emi yelled at him. Even she was being pushed to the limit by the pressure surrounding him.

Noting the concern in her voice, he immediately subdued the pulse to it's previous state. As he released his focus on his inner self, he started noticing what he had done. Practically the entire class was on it's knees.

"What the …", he breathed, but he was interrupted by the teacher.

"Well now, I believe everyone here won't forget who this young man is. So now let us start with the examination that we had planned. I suppose that you will be able to participate as well Fujiwara-kun", the teacher said, acting as if nothing had happened, but secretly wiping away a drop of sweat that had formed in his forehead.