Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha nor Bleach, so lawyers can go screw the pooch, literally.
Hello peoples, and welcome to another chapter of A Life After Death Situation! I know it's been a while since I've updated, but then again I've been doing so many other things—hanging with my girlfriend, trying to complete classes to get my diploma, etc…. but anyway, sorry it took so long to update! Now that I'm out of school though and my girlfriend is going to school, I'll be able to update more frequently, so that means more from me on a regular basis! W00T! Lol anyway, please enjoy this chapter and please R&R!
There was a moment of silence before Yamamoto spoke,
"Now Miss Higurashi we will begin the second portion of the exam, hakudo. This will be a show of hand to hand combat. You will spar with another shinigami, just as you did the last task. The goal also remains the same; you must either defeat the shinigami you are matched against or last fifteen minutes against them. Should you fail to do either, we will move on to the next portion of the exam immediately. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
"Very well. Now, would the opponent shinigami please enter the field."
As his command was given, the same girl as before, Miyuki, appeared,
"Miyuki, what is the meaning of this? You have already sparred once with Higurashi, therefore you are not to spar with her again for the duration of the testing."
"W-well, Yamamoto taicho, there's actually been some… complications of sorts…"
"Complications? Explain."
"W-well… unfortunately, most of the other Shinigami have been gravely injured or killed, and all the able bodied shinigami have been subdued. The only ones left were myself, "
"Why have I not been notified?"
"Sir, the reason we could not get in touch with you is because the barracks was surrounded with a barrier that killed any hell butterflies we sent out. It didn't affect us shinigami however. Although for some reason, any witnesses outside of the barrier either don't recall seeing anything wrong or say they didn't see anything, including a couple of captains. I was simply told to come back and complete the testing in the place of the other shinigami by Soifon Taicho."
"This is absurd! You are not allowed to battle the student a second time. Do you not understand that?"
"I understand perfectly Yamamoto taicho, but you have to understand that it was my captain that told me to come here!"
"I demand to know what Soifon Taicho's reasoning is for this nonsense!"
"Sir, all of the other valid opponents for the exam have been injured or wounded!"
"I don't believe that—wait, what is this?"
The elderly man looked over to see a hell butterfly coming in his direction,
"Hold on one moment."
The man listened intently to the message, his expression getting more and more anxious with each passing moment. When the hell butterfly flew away, Yamamoto looked slightly peeved,
"Please forgive me Higurashi, but there is an important matter that I must tend to. I also apologize to you Ito-san; it was improper of me to assume things I knew not of. I digress however. Listen closely then! I will appoint a Shinigami captain to proctor in place of myself. It will take but a moment."
Using the same hell butterfly, he passed on the news to one of the Gotei 13 captains. Not long after the hell butterfly disappeared, a captain appeared. He was short, and looked relatively young. He had snow white hair, and icy blue eyes. Despite how young he looked, he looked very mature for his age. He slowly walked over to the commander of the Gotei 13, and began a short conversation. Not long after their short talk, Yamamoto taicho disappeared. Standing in his place, the new proctor looked in Kagome's direction, and began looking directly at her. After a few moments of silence, he spoke,
"So, you're Higurashi?"
"Yes, I'm Kagome Higurashi."
"Well in that case, let me introduce myself. I am the captain of squad 10 in the Gotei 13, Hitsugaiya Toshiro. You will refer to me as Hitsugaiya taicho from this point on. Now let us proceed with your exam! Now I have been informed that you are on part two of your exam, Hakudo. Is this correct?"
"Uh—yes, that's right."
"Good. Have you ever fought hand to hand before?"
"I guess… I'm not the best at it though…"
"You'll be fine. The rules are that—"
"I know the rules! I have to either defeat the shinigami I'm faced against or last fifteen minutes with them. If I can't do either, I'm going to move on to the next part of the test."
"Okay, now that you've stated the rules, you will now begin this portion of the exam. This shinigami will be your opponent. On my mark, you will begin the test, alright?"
"Yes sir."
There was tension in the air; the slightest breeze sounded like a windstorm, breaking the silence. The leaves of the trees fell in the breeze, and landed upon the ground between the two combatants. They looked at each other unwavering, the leaves being no distraction. The smell of fresh air and tea seemed to waft through the air, tickling the noses of the fighters. Neither paid the slightest attention to it. The tenseness they felt was thick and heavy, and could only be cured by making a move. Kagome continued to stare deep into Miyuki's eyes, seeing what soul she had before fade from them only to be replaced with the soulless, dark pits of a trained killer. Just looking into her opponent's eyes gave Kagome the chills. Trying to focus on the glint in Miyuki's eyes, she found none; the evil eyes she had stared into for what seemed eternity had also lost their glittering highlights. Even so, as scared as Kagome was, she needed to fight her opponent or else she would be done for.
A minute passed; there was still no movement, not even the twitch of a finger. Each test proctor watched with bated breath as the two students continued their extended stare down, their breath releasing once the first attack was initiated. Hitsugaiya waited anxiously as well, observing them carefully for anything suspicious or out of place. Throughout the next minute, there remained silence and thick tension, until finally one of the shinigami made a move; it was Kagome, who leaped forward to attack Miyuki with a jab to the stomach. Her strike was blocked and she was thrown to the ground, where she skidded across the ground like a skipping stone on calm water.
Getting up from her prone position on the ground, she had hardly any time to brush her kimono off before an onslaught from Miyuki came. Each combo, every punch and kick, and every other movement that flew at Kagome was either blocked or dodged, although she was only narrowly able to defend herself. While defending, Kagome searched for any opening she could find, even just a small one where she could get a little jab in. However she found no openings, not a single one. Miyuki's offensive was very strong, and all possible openings were either covered up or they were corrected with certain movements by Miyuki. Kagome was slightly jealous; after all, if she knew how to fight like that before, there would be no reason for her to have to struggle with the demons she met in the feudal era. Despite her jealousy, she focused on her dual with her entire mind, body and spirit.
Miyuki's onslaught ended after about a minute, to which Kagome decided to go into an instant offensive. Throwing wild punches and kicks, she thought she had a good fighting strategy. Her ideas were shattered however when a punch to the solar plexus floored her. Kagome clutched her stomach, and curled up into a ball. Not long after her injury, she proceeded to vomit her breakfast on the ground next to her. She continued to hold her stomach in pain. In her mind, she was wondering how the hell Miyuki was able to throw a punch that hard. She also wondered how Miyuki was able to break her little offensive so easily. Then Kagome realized that she was new to this whereas Miyuki was a veteran. Realizing this, she slowly stood up, her knees quivering and her stomach aching. She vomited once more before she took her hands away from her stomach and got into a defensive position.
However just as she got into position, she was surprised to find Miyuki back off and stand straight up. The glint in her eyes that had faded had returned, and the deep darkness in her pupils turned into deep wells of love and kindness, her soul returning to them. While it caught Kagome off guard, she stood up straight as well, and began walking in Miyuki's direction. All of the proctors, including Hitsugaiya, assumed the position for face faulting, as they knew what would happen next. Kagome continued to get closer and closer to her 'opponent', not noticing any animosity emanating from her. Just before they came face to face, Miyuki's character instantly changed and she brutally attacked Kagome. Kagome, being caught off guard yet again, was not prepared for Miyuki's next siege, and she was instantly floored. She lay upon the ground in pain, her body riddled with bruises and scratches, all of which hurt to the touch. Kagome tried once more to stand, but she was in no condition to stand.
Kagome waved her hand in the air, signaling her defeat. Now thoroughly in pain, she laid there waiting for someone to help her. Her prayers were answered when Unohana taicho appeared and began giving her basic treatment,
"It's alright dear, we'll have you fixed up in no time!"
"T-thank… you…" squeaked Kagome. As she was being healed, Kagome could feel her wounds repairing themselves. The pain seemed to wash away as if someone poured holy water on her skin and the cuts, nicks and gashes seemed to wash down her skin and into the ground below. She felt her muscles, once tense with the spirit of combat, relax and let in a sense of peace. Her headache also washed away with the healing sensation. In fact, some of her earlier anxieties seemed to detach themselves from her soul. As the healing sensation began to ease, Kagome felt the weight of her earlier pain suddenly lift, and an inner peace ensued. Finally it was done. What only took about two minutes seemed to last an eternity to Kagome. Kagome lay there for a moment in pure bliss; her intense pain and suffering was gone, and now she was completely healthy again. She slowly sat up, reveling in the healthfulness that she now had. Looking around, she found that Miyuki was looking at her intently and Hitsugaiya was staring at her intensely. When her attention shifted to him, he spoke,
"Well, if you're feeling good enough to move on, then we will do so. Are you prepared?"
Kagome thought for a moment before replying,
"Yes, I'm ready for the next test!"
"Good. We shall move on to part three of the exam! The third part of the exam is a test of your hoho, or your skill in shunpo or also called flash step. In order to take this portion of the test, you must know the technique behind shunpo. Do you know the technique?"
Kagome stayed silent, hesitant about answering the question. Before she could get the courage to answer, she was prodded for an answer by Hitsugaiya,
"Well Higurashi?"
"N-no…" she replied timidly,
"Okay, in that case we will simply put you in a beginning class for shunpo skills."
"O-okay…"
"With that determined, let us move on to the final portion of the quiz, kido, or demon arts. As you know, kido is magic that shinigami use as a weapon to bind and damage enemies, and heal fellow shinigami. The three types are bakudo, or binding spells, hado, or damage spells, and healing spells. Bakudo and hado must be performed with an incantation, whereas healing arts are used at will. This test will determine your skill with each form of kido. Are you ready?"
Kagome was slightly confused, but understood well enough to continue,
"Yes, I'm ready!"
"Alright then; in that case, we will start with hado. I would like you to hit this target using hado 31, Shakkaho. Are you right or left handed?"
"Uh… right handed."
"Okay then, raise your right hand and repeat after me."
Hitsugaiya motioned for Kagome to hold her hand up, to which she held it up hesitantly. She was a little bit nervous, because she didn't know what was going to happen next. Even so, she needed to keep going. She replied with a simple 'okay', to which Hitsugaiya nodded his head affirmatively and began the incantation,
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado 31, Shakkaho!"
Suddenly a flaming ball of inferno shot out of the captain's hand and straight at the target, hitting it dead center. Kagome was mystified, and didn't really know what to think. However she quickly remembered that she needed to do this as well. She was good at memorization, so she didn't think she would have any trouble with this. Looking straight at the target, she began to chant the incantation,
"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado 31, Shakkaho!"
Suddenly an even bigger ball of flames shot out of Kagome's hand, only it didn't fly straight at all; it spiraled out of control, hitting a nearby wall and completely blowing a hole through it. Kagome's cheeks became hot pink, and the embarrassment was evident on her face. Giving her a sympathetic look, Hitsugaiya patted her on the shoulder and said,
"That's alright, it happens all the time with beginning class kido users. Now, you are allowed two more tries. If you can hit the target both times, then we will put you into an advanced beginner's class. If you hit it once, we'll put you into an intermediate beginner's class, and not hitting it we will put you in the beginning class. Alright, begin!"
At Hitsugaiya's demand, Kagome began to chant the spell once more, while trying to aim at the target. She shot the fireball a little straighter than she had before, but it was still very far from where it was intended to land. It ended up destroying the back wall behind the target. Now Kagome was getting a little peeved; this should have been a lot easier than it was! Kagome looked at the target once more, and raised her hand and aimed it directly at the center of the target. Closing her eyes, she slowly began to say the incantation, and in her mind she pictured herself hitting the center of the target. As she finished the incantation, and yelled 'Hado 31, Shakkaho!', a fireball bigger than it had ever been erupted from her hand and flew forward. Kagome peeked with one eye at the projectile, and found that it was flying much straighter than the other shots she had fired earlier. It wasn't straight enough however, as it simply nicked the top left corner of the target square, and ended up spinning out of control and blowing a gigantic crater in the ground next to the target stand. Kagome looked dumbfounded for a moment, then her face fell and she bowed her head to look at the ground.
Hitsugaiya walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, and spoke some words of encouragement,
"It's alright Higurashi, as I said before this is normal for someone who is just beginning to use Kido. It's hard to learn. You'll get the hang of it in no time though. With the progress you made here, I can tell you have some great potential. None the less, potential can't be unlocked without a little bit of coaching and some guidance. –Ahem—Now then, I will review your exam scores with the judges. When I have your scores in order, I will present them to you and conclude your exam. From there, I will give your scores to Yamamoto Taicho, who will ultimately select your classes for you. With this schooling, you will become a fine Shinigami. Now wait here and read this pamphlet; it will tell you more about the schooling here at the academe, what teachers teach what classes, etc. It also lists the hours of each class, and it will provide lesson plans for some classes. If the classes don't have a lesson plan or do not have very much information on them, it is because it's a newer class, and in some cases, it may be an experimental new class. Now then, I will go review your scores. I'll return shortly."
Using shunpo, Hitsugaiya went to the judges, and began to converse with them while collecting the scores. Now that Kagome was alone, she could reflect on this whole experience. The first thing she thought of was the Kido testing. She didn't understand how something so simple looking could be so hard. All she had to do was hit the target dead center with a projectile, yet every time she shot a fireball, it would spiral out of control. It just didn't make sense how she could shoot something straight and have it turn into an out of control projectile that flew every which way. She decided she would drop the issue and worry about it when she got into her next class.
Now she began thinking about classes. She looked down at the pamphlet that Hitsugaiya gave her, and opened it up to reveal A short introduction. Reading the introduction, she came to like how the academe was run; the teachers were available after class every day for after class assistance, and the classes were only about ten to fifteen people in size, making it easier for the teachers to teach each student individually as well as in a group. Kagome had a feeling that she would be relying a lot on her teacher's help, since that was basically all she was able to do back in the… living days… 'Wow' thought Kagome, 'I can't believe that I would be saying something like that! I mean, it's only been a couple of weeks since I've been here, and yet I'm still not able to get used to be dead…'
Just remembering the time she was 'alive' was hard enough for Kagome, let alone coping with death. She barely scratched the surface in the way of coming to terms with her death. She was so attached to the living world that she didn't realize how negatively death would affect her in the afterlife. She didn't really have a particular image of heaven, and that was mostly attributed to the fact that she was mostly agnostic. While she practiced Shinto customs and culture, she was not particularly fond of it. She simply did it for her mother and grandfather. She didn't want to disappoint them. That being the case, she took every opportunity to practice Shintoism in front of them. She researched some of the other religions she had heard about, and found that the ones she had the most interest in were Judaism and Christianity. While she never truly agreed with everything either religion stated, she particularly sided with the Christian Religion simply because there was so much freedom with it. Doing more homework, she figured that Protestant Christians had much more freedom than Roman Catholics, so she sided with the Protestants. Since she believed the most in Christianity, her image of heaven was somewhat like this: A place high above in the heavens where you felt no pain, and experienced no sickness, and the streets were paved with gold, while she simply enjoyed the luxuries of heaven with dead relatives and such. After her death however, that view changed.
No longer did she believe in the Christian's form of the afterlife; she didn't believe any of the others anymore either. Simply stated, she was dumbfounded and perplexed at how every person on Earth had some wrong idea of what heaven was like, or if there was a heaven and such. There was a hell alright, but not so much of a heaven as just simply another dimension upon which Kagome's existence traveled onto. When she thought of it as being a matter of dimensional transportation, she had an easier time understanding why she was in the Soul Society. What bugged her the most was that she didn't know how in the world the people of this dimension managed to control this ability to move between the dimensions; if these people, who were of equal or lesser technological advancement as her world, were able to take hold of this ability and use it to do what they needed, or possibly wanted to do, then why in the name of Christ was Kagome's world so lacking? Why were they so… behind? Kagome couldn't figure it out on her own, so she began moving to another topic in her mind.
Just before she could move on however, she was startled by Hitsugaiya suddenly flash stepping right in front of her. In her excitement, she dropped the pamphlet and fell straight back on her butt,
"Sssss…. Ouch…. Owwwwie…."
"Forgive me Higurashi-san, but I've reviewed your scores with the three other judges, and I found that you qualified for these classes: Advanced beginner's Zanjutsu, Also Zanjutsu 103, intermediate beginner's Hakudo, also Hakudo 102, beginning Hoho, also Hoho 101, and beginning Kido, or Kido 101. Congratulations on making it into these three classes. One more thing Higurashi; Congratulations on making it period. It's a truly hard task to get in on your first try in the physical portion. Before you ask, there is no written test for class qualifications. However in order to further analyze your knowledge of the subject, you will be required to take a test covering the four subjects we covered today. What will also be covered in the written is the history of Soul Society. In order to serve as a Shinigami in the Soul Society, one must know the history of its beginnings and why it is here now. Now then, if you will follow me I will sign you up with a time in which you can take the written portion of the test."
Nodding affirmatively with a quiet 'yes sir,' she followed slowly behind him as he walked her through the Seireitei into the squad 1 barracks, where they returned to the office of Yamamoto Taicho. While there, Hitsugaiya spoke to the squad 1 captain and Gotei 13 General to find a time for Kagome to take a written test. Kagome was nervous for her next challenge, but for now at least she had gotten over her first trial in the long set of trials that would make her into a true Shinigami.
Hello peoples! Long time no post! For those of you who read, thank you for your patience, as it's been a long time since I've had the time to truly write something… as of the last month or so, I've vowed to continue all of my fics whether or not I have time or not, because now I have a lot more extra time! So, for those of you who don't like to do any waiting, I will have good things in store for you, and in a shorter time period! Anyway, thank all of you who read this, please leave a kind review, and have a wonderful day!
-JT Jewels
