Chapter 6

I couldn't figure out where I was.

In fact, for awhile, the nurse kept having to remind me who I was.

"Dude, come on," Hiroki said, sitting on the end of my bed. "We've both been better since last night, I don't know what your deal is."

"I don't know, I'm still pretty cold," Hideki said. "You're saying you aren't feverish at all?"

"Well, I'm a little warm," Hiroki said with a wave of his hand, "but it's no big deal. Quit being such a wimp, Taiki."

"Taiki. Oh, hey, that's right. I'm Taiki!"

Hiroki buried his face in his hands. "This is pointless."

"Masuyo-san's vitals are returning to normal, however slowly," said a 4th Div shinigami on nurse duty who walked into the room and pulled a curtain around my bed. "I'm quite sure he'll be well enough to leave in a few hours. Is his memory coming back at all?"

"Yeah, sort of," said Hideki. "Then again, it's not like he remembers his own name when he's healthy either."

"Hey!" I said. "I'm pretty sure that's not nice. Remind me to beat you up later."

"Yeah…I'll get right on that."

"Taiki, bro," Hiroki broke in. "You remember what happened?"

"We were…fighting, right? Each other?"

"We were going to," Hideki began, but the nurse cut him off.

"I'm afraid you all suffered spirit-pressure poisoning. We see it often in 8th Division recruits, but it is shocking to see it cause such an effect. You must all have had nearly direct contact with Captain Koga for it to…"

"Koga-taicho!" I sat straight up in bed. "He attacked us!"

"And you lived through it?" the nurse suppressed a laugh. "Hardly possible. Although if you have incurred the wrath of the taichou, I pity you kids." She reached over me to switch some knobs on the monitor connected to me. "In any case, if you're remembering, you'll be free to go as soon as your blood pressure stabilizes. I'll check back in an hour or so." She left the room, curtain still shut around my bed.

"You guys remember, right? He totally attacked us!"

Hideki nodded. "I thought he was going to, also. But the 4th Div guys who brought us in told us he didn't even touch us. We all passed out, dude."

Hiroki sighed. "That is so weak."

I shook my head. "Whatever. He obviously did something to us." The something occurred to me. "Oh man! I have to be on this Division!"

Hideki raised an eyebrow at me. "You really think we passed when we passed out just looking at the captain? You're crazy, man."

"But we won before that, right?" I countered. "Anyway, this is the only squad I tried out for."

Hiroki snorted. "You pissed off the Captain and now you're stuck with him? This is too good."

"That's only if he gets accepted," Hideki added.

"Damned if I do, damned if…umm….what was I saying?"

The twins burst out laughing.

"Looks like he's still a little confused," Hiroki gasped between laughs. That set them both going again.

"Whatever," I grumbled, sticking a pillow over my head. I hate laying in bed; I couldn't wait to get out of there.

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The twins hung out for a few hours, but right as I got the okay to leave, they took off.

"Sorry man, we totally forgot about 12th Div ride-along," Hiroki shouted over his shoulder.

"Yeah, and I really want to get in there," Hideki added, "so we need to get there early!" The two of them disappeared around a corner.

"Aww, man," I said to no one in particular. I'd wanted to be on 12th Division for years…or at least months. Well, maybe I'd only decided for sure like a few weeks ago, but I'd been thinking about it since first year.

Oh well. Guess that wasn't going to happen.

The nurse led me out to the front desk and checked me out of the hospital barracks, reminding me to avoid any serious battles or kidou for the next few days, to avoid further reishi poisoning.

Right, like I was planning to go attack the nearest Captain for fun.

Anyway, by the time I got out of that stupid hospital, I had very little time to get to the cafeteria before the lunch lines shut down, so I jogged all the way there. When I arrived, out of breath, at the outdoor lunch tables, Akemi, Kaede, Ran and Raiko sat at the usual spot, with one addition – Tamotsu.

The mousey-haired kid joined our little group back in 4th year, at Kaede's invitation, and ever since the Rebellion had been "part of the group." I say that in quotations because he still sort of did his own thing, and only came around once in awhile, but he was welcome with us when he did. I didn't really care one way or another about him, but Kaede once told me she thought he saved my life once during the rebellion when I wasn't paying attention, so I thought I ought to be grateful.

In any case, Tamotsu being there didn't throw me off for long, because there were more important things to worry about – such as not having eaten for a little over a day. Luckily, it seemed as if word of my return had arrived before me. Akemi motioned me over before I could run off to the lunch line and pointed at a full tray.

"I met the twins on their way to the ride-along and they said you were on your way," she explained, as I shoveled salad into my mouth and washed it down with miso soup. "I was worried you'd get here too late, so…"

"Yur za besht," I said through a mouthful of potatoes.

On the other side of Akemi, Ran, Raiko, Kaede and Tamotsu were engaged in some sort of serious discussion.

"I'm quite sure that's what I heard," Tamotsu said.

"No way!" Ran shook her head, and translated for Raiko. "She doesn't think so either. Roka wasn't even that strong."

Tamotsu shook his head. "It's not about strength though, right? It's about communication."

Kaede nodded. "That's right. And you have to admit that if nothing else, Roka was always really good at mediation. I think that may have given him an advantage."

"Okay, okay," I said finally, breaking to take a couple of deep breaths before inhaling the rest of my lunch. "I'm curious, what are you guys talking about?"

"6th Year Non-Advanced Class's Roka released his shikai today," Tamotsu said in a nice, level voice. He never seemed to get excited about much.

I, on the other hand, spit the miso soup I'd just slurped all over the table.

"What?? You can't be serious. We've only had them a couple days!"

"He's serious," said Kaede, taking a lengthy sip from her milk box. "I heard it too."

"People are even saying that the Commander General himself came and recruited him for the 1st Division!" Ran added. "New recruits never get chosen for 1st Division."

"I think that's a lie," Tamotsu said with a wave of his right hand. "About Roka, that is, not about the Division. He may have good communication, but his combat is still pretty sub-par, from what I've seen."

I nodded, gumbling, "I beat that punk all the time. I don't know how he could…" But I let that sentence end there, because gorging myself on the remaining potatoes seemed more important.

"Raiko wonders which one of us will get our shikai first," Ran translated. "Well, aside from Akemi of course."

"What do you mean aside from me?" I heard Akemi say under her breath, but the others weren't really paying attention.

"Isn't that obvious? I will," I volunteered, having shoved the last of my lunch into my mouth. I checked the clock. It was a new record – I'd never finished a full meal so fast.

Ran erupted into peals of laughter. Across from her, Tamotsu tried to hide a smile.

"Ouch," I said. "You don't need to laugh at me."

"But…it was….so funny!" she managed to squeak out between laughs.

"Whatever," I grumbled.

"I think it'll be one of the twins," Akemi said, out of nowhere.

"Raiko says it's gotta be Hiroki, then, since he's in the higher class."

"You're biased." Akemi grinned playfully. Raiko stuck out her toungue.

"She may be right though," Kaede offered.

"Well we know who it won't be," Tamotsu said, seriously at first, but then a grin slipped through.

"Who?" Ran asked.

"Me, of course," said Tamotsu, and everyone laughed.

Tamotsu was a mod soul – one of many stationed throughout Academy and Soul Society, many on a need-to-know basis. Tamotsu was technically still undercover, and most of our classmates thought he was a normal kid like the rest of us, but Kaede had guessed back in Year 4, so all of us knew. Mod souls, of course, couldn't form Soul Slayers; Tamotsu carried a basic Academy-issue katana instead, though it's not like he was defenseless. He's a mod soul, after all.

Something occurred to me. "Hey, that's why we didn't see you in the Swords final, isn't it?"

Akemi shot me a dirty look for some reason, but Tamotsu nodded. "Of course. Can't blow my cover. That many people, it's not like anyone would notice one student missing."

I thought he looked a little sad, right then…but it's probably just me.

"Hey," I said suddenly, something else occurring to me out of the blue. "Hideki and Hiroki are twins, right?"

Raiko gave me a withering look.

"Raiko says, duh," Ran translated helpfully.

"Yeah yeah," I said, waving off the comment. "What I mean is, are their Soul Slayers gonna be the same, or what?"

Everyone looked around at each other, then at Tamotsu. He had a knack for knowing things.

Tamotsu shrugged. "As far as I know, there have never been twins at Academy before. It may very well be unprecedented, and certainly undocumented."

I paused. "Well, those are big words, but I think I get it…"

Beside me, Akemi snickered.

"Raiko thinks they'll be different for sure," Ran said. "She says they're really different people, after all."

"Hmm," Kaede started. "I wonder…I mean, no one really knows how Soul Slayers are formed, after all. If there's some sort of genetic tie, then it would probably be the same."

Beside me, Akemi blinked really hard suddenly, as if she had an idea, but didn't say anything.

I chose to ignore it. "I'm with Kaede. Fifty bucks says their releases are the same."

"Raiko says you're on," Ran said. "I'd bet with her too, but I don't have any money."

"I don't really know," Kaede said, hesitating. "But…put me in the 'same' pile, with an extra 10 that says they discover their shikai on the same day."

"Ooo! It's getting exciting," I said. "Fine, I hear your ten, and I'll bet on the same day too."

"Different for Raiko."

"Toss me in with different release, but same day," Akemi said distractedly.

"Why not…I'll go with same, and same," Tamotsu said finally.

"Then it's settled." I grabbed a piece of scrap paper from my pocket and scribbled down names and bets. "Nobody goes back on their bets though, you hear?"

"Yeah yeah," said Kaede, and the conversation turned to other matters.

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I had one last exam that night – it was this stupid class called "Division Membership Preparation." Only the non-advanced class had to take it, and it was always some sort of "know your strengths, work together" mumbo-jumbo. Basically I'm pretty sure they were just preparing most of the class for the reality that they'd never be in a leadership position. But of course, that didn't apply to me. I was at the top of my class.

Well, the top of the Non-Advanced class. But still. It's not like I wanted a leadership position anyway. Too much hassle.

Anyway, I didn't feel like studying for such an idiotic exam, so I just went back to my room to rest for a bit, play some ping-pong against the wall, the usual. I was expecting Hideki and Hiroki back before dinner time rolled around, but they didn't show, so at dinner I just went back down to the table. Everyone was there who had been there that afternoon for lunch – total déjà vu.

Dinner was what we called "Bowl of Stuff". Akemi always complained that it was just their way to get rid of leftovers, by dumping all sorts of random crap over the top of rice and calling it good. But hey, I'm not picky – food is food.

Before I even had time to get settled and dig in, however, we were assaulted on both sides of the table by a very overly-excited Hideki and Hiroki.

"Guys, guys, you won't believe it!" they said at once, then glared at each other. "No, my news is more awesome! No, mine is!"

"Okay, chill out a moment, boys," Kaede said, standing and holding her arms out to silence them both. "Take a deep breath. Now, Hideki, you start."

"He was always your favorite," Hiroki said, sticking out his tounge.

"I'm going in alphabetical order, you idiot," Kaede retorted, then turned back to Hideki. "Well?"

"I got my shikai!"

"What? No way! I got my shikai!" Hiroki shouted. They burst into argument.

"Interesting," said Tamotsu thoughtfully. "Guess you were right, Akemi."

Akemi nodded, appearing amused.

The twins were still arguing, until Raiko cut them off with a glare and signed.

"She says, no way guys, that's great!" Ran translated. "How'd it happen?"

"Well we were at the 12th Div Ride-Along," Hiroki started, "and Captain Izumi asked us how our finals had been."

Hideki jumped in, cutting him off. "And we told her about the 8th Division and the Captain attacking us and getting us sick."

"And," Hiroki jumped back in, with a glare, "she laughed and said, 'It's so like Koga to bring out people's abilities in such a violent way.'"

"And I said, 'What do you mean?'"

"And she said, 'His spirit pressure is so high that it makes people feel their own even more. Why do you think one of you was cold and the other was hot? Different spirit pressures.'"

"Wait, wait, hold on a minute," I jumped in. "How come that didn't work for me? I just got all confused and amnesia-y."

"That's because you're an idiot," said Hiroki. "Clearly it brought out your latent stupidity."

"Not like it's that latent," Hideki added with a snark.

I went to punch them both, but Akemi held me back. "So? What then?"

"Well, I don't know about this idiot," Hideki said with a jab at his brother, "but when I got home just now I was thinking about it, and I decided to try meditating with that weird poisoned feeling in mind. Remember what it felt like, you know? And suddenly, it came to me."

"No way!" said Hiroki. "That's how it came to me!"

"Like you're even capable of having an epiphany," Hideki retorted.

"Like you're even capable of having a shikai!" Hiroki shot back.

"Boys, boys!" Kaede cut in again. "Who really cares?"

"We do!" they shouted at once.

Raiko sighed, and "spoke" to Ran. "She says that either way it's really impressive, and you guys should be proud. Oh, and she wants to see them. Yeah, me too!"

"Fine, but I'm going first," said Hiroki.

"No way, I got mine first! I should go first!"

Kaede rolled her eyes. "It probably happened at exactly the same time for both of you…though that would mean I would win ten dollars from Raiko," she added with a smile. Raiko's lips pursed. "Either way, we can't do it here. What if something gets damaged? Too many people."

"What about the park?" said Tamotsu. I jumped. He hadn't spoken for so long, I almost forgot he was there. That seemed to happen a lot with him.

"Yeah! Let's go! I'll beat you there!" the twins said in unison.

"Wait a minute!" I said, jumping up. "We just sat down for dinner! I haven't even touched my Bowl of Stuff yet! That's an outrage."

"That may be a bit of an exaggeration," said Akemi, "but he's right. Let's finish our dinner, and then we can run over to the park before the 13th Div ride-along. There should be time."

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As soon as we finished dinner, we all rushed over to the nearest park outside the Academy grounds. There was only a little bit of time until Kaede, Tamotsu, the twins and Akemi all had their last ride-along exam with the 13th Division; at the same time, Raiko and Ran and I would be taking our DMP class exam, so we didn't exactly have time to loiter.

Nonetheless, I had to admit, I was kind of excited…not to mention a bit jealous. Then again, I was about to win a whole lot of money when the twins released identical Soul Slayers. And why wouldn't they, when they released at exactly the same time? I'd already been right about that.

We all formed a line in the middle of a clearing, and Hiroki and Hideki stood facing each other in front of us.

"All right, boys," Kaede said. "To avoid arguing, we'll have you both go at the same time. Ready?"

"Ready," they both said, swords drawn, starting each other down.

"On three. One, two….THREE!"

"Ganshoumaru!" shouted Hiroki.

At the same time: "Toppuumaru!" said Hideki.

"See, different," said Akemi.

Then we looked to see what happened. Both swords had transformed from simple katanas into their shikai forms.

Hiroki's was a pirate-esque saber, blade sharp and intricately decorated, sash flowing from the handle.

Hideki's was….the same.

"HaHA!" I said. "I was right! They're totally the same!"

"STOP COPYING ME!" both boys shouted.

"Nu-uh," Ran said, pointing. "Raiko says, look carefully."

Sure enough, as both of them brought their swords over for closer inspection (so we could see whose was better, of course), we saw the slight difference. Hiroki's blade was tinted red, his sash red and orange; Hiroki's was blue, the sash blue and green. The decoration etched into Hiroki's blade flared like petals or flame; Hideki's was also etched, but his flowed more, like wind or water. Both were very stylized, but looked pretty deadly.

"So…" said Akemi. "What do they do?"

"Do?" said Hiroki, looking confused. "What do you mean, do?....um, what I mean is, well mine is totally awesome and…"

"We don't know," Hideki broke in. "At least, I know I don't."

Hiroki looked as if he was about to argue, but nodded.

"Come on, guys," said Hideki. "It's not like we've really had time to train with

them yet. We've had them like an hour!"

Kaede glanced at me, and leaned over to speak so the twins couldn't hear. "You know what this means, right?"

"Right! Er…what does it mean?"

She sighed. "We'll have to put off the bet. If we don't know what they can do, we don't really know if they're the same, do we?"

"Oh," I said. "I guess not. But Raiko still owes us money for it happening on the same day…"

The twins both transformed their swords back. I noticed both of their hilts and sheaths retained unique designs, despite being normal katanas. It reminded me of how Akemi's was always all blue and silvery.

"Raiko says they're both really impressive, and you guys should be proud."

Raiko nodded, and planted a kiss on Hiroki's cheek, which turned red.

"Yeah, guys, that's really cool," Akemi said. Something bugged me when she said that, but I couldn't place it. "We'd better hurry though, or we'll all be late."

Everyone agreed, and we broke off into two groups, one group headed back to the Academy for our last exam, and the other toward 13th Division Headquarters on the opposite side of Seireitei.

I didn't realize what was bugging me until way later that night, but while I was sitting in my room after my exam, it came to me. The way Akemi congratulated the twins right before we left…it sounded kind of, I don't know…sad.