Chapter 8: Shikai – Cause for Investigation

This continued from the black sandstorm, Todd walked, holding the ring blade vertical in one hand, with Kikokoroko breathing heavily. "You done!" he said. "when you come?"

"Huh?" Todd said. Very proud of himself. He never had time in the genie boot camp to think about things like when he came here, but he remembered what he saw before he arrived at this world. Apparently Kikokoroko could see his thoughts because he snapped his finger and he awoke from his dream briefly to see Mira coming towards him at a run. But he fell beneath a great weight and was once again dreaming. A woman was standing in shinigami robes, with black hair and thin framed glasses, and a very petit Asian look to her, but in a way, most people here did too. She almost looked like Aki, but that may have been because to Americans like him, a lot of Asians look the same. Her stoic appearance broke as she knelt down, suddenly in front of Todd. The words were lost in a white noise, but he heard the motherly kindness in her voice. "Odd…Todd…" she said, eventually breaking the barrier. He rose to meet her, but his body was heavy and he had trouble doing more than simply sitting. "You need to get up, hun. I know it's hard, but can you stand?" Her hand was upon his elbow, tugging him up and for that moment he felt weightless. When he stood, he towered over her by nearly a foot. He wanted to collapse onto the floor once more, but her smile gave him strength.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She smiled, saying, "Do you not recognize me?"

With three suns, heat seems the norm, but until now, it had not affected him. As he started to answer her, the heat wave blurred her, though she was barely a foot from him. "No, no. I don't. I can't even see. Who--" Her hand was reaching towards his cheek, and it reached it only for a second. And then he was awake. Mira was standing over him as was Iwambo who had his hands out over Todd. They were glowing.

Todd sat up but couldn't stay that way. He felt heavier than he had in a long time. Probably the gravity since Kikorokokour hadn't been to keen on keeping it on. That was when he first thought of the dream world. He wasn't sure if it was real or not. "Stay down, young man." Iwambo kept his hands glowing, but also forced them upon Todd's chest so he could keep Todd from sitting up anymore. Turning to check if anyone else was near, he noticed Mira had sealed her shikai back up and it was just a long katana now. He also noticed that Mira was just about to fall out of her top and he turned away in embarrassment, only to find himself incapable of resisting and he kept peeking. She must have noticed because she closed her robes a little more and stood up. He should have apologized. He would have too, if he wasn't so tired.

Iwambo finished healing Todd's body but he still wasn't ready to stand up yet, though lying down wasn't real comfortable either. When he did force himself to stand, he was a little wobbly, he realized why he was so uncomfortable lying down. His zanpaktou had been lying under him, right along his spine. It had resealed itself on its own.

"You idiot," Mira said finally. "I told you it was too much for you. But you didn't listen, you just had to push—" Iwambo held up a hand to silence her.

"I guess I kind of fainted. But I know I can do it if I just have another chance. I had this dream and I saw it!" He had already picked up his Zanpaktou and was pulling it out.

But she ignored his last point. It was irrelevant. "What do you mean another chance? You already did it, you idiot." Then she added, "But don't try it again. The Captain-Commander sent his 3rd seat to investigate and do you realize how much explanation I had to do to keep them from locking you up again?" All he could do was stare blankly at her. Her robe was falling open again and he was doing his best to focus no lower than her lips. He was so distracted that he didn't even re-sheath his sword until she told him to. "We have to report to the Captain-Commander when you recover, and from there he'll decide what to do with you."

"Are you ready?" Iwambo asked. "Or do you need my services any longer?" Todd waved him off, until he thought of something. "Hey, Iwambo," it felt weird saying his name. "What's your shikai like?" Iwambo grew grave. His smile was now a stoic frown.

"It is unbecoming of my position," was his only answer.