"Kaien!"

A smiling face came into view, causing the frown that had creased his face before to vanish.

"Ah, my darling Miyako, It is nice to see your lovely face first thing in the morning!" A genuine smile spread across the dark-haired man's lips as he looked up into the face of his wife as he lay in bed.

Miyako smiled before leaning down and planting a kiss on the lieutenant's forehead before jumping off the bed. He noticed she was already in her uniform. "Don't forget your lieutenant badge. I'll see you at the barracks."

Kaien slowly pushed himself up in bed a few seconds after she left, the smile slowly fading from his face.

Something was not right.

The mood of the scene swiftly turned into that of impending doom. The room felt quiet, deathly so, and the shadows seemed to stretch and grow longer then they should be. The black-haired man quickly detangled himself from the covers, still in his night clothes, and started to frantically search for his zanpakuto.

Nejibana was not where she should be.

A creaking at the door signified the presence of another. Paranoid, Kaien quickly shot up straight and turned to face the intruder.

"…Miyako?"

Where he could have sworn the love of his life had stood in the doorway, one glance proved that point wrong. Where did she go?

"Right here…"

Kaien whipped around, jumping from his skin at the sudden noise in the quiet room.

Before him stood his wife, with black strands of hair covering her eyes. A glance down proved there to be a long sword, her zanpakuto, in her grasp. He gasped when he noticed the shiny substance dripping from the tip.

"M-Miyako?"

The woman tilted her head to the side, the hair moving out of the way to reveal dark holes where her eyes should have been. She knelt down, clutched at her chest, and started to scream.

Kaien backed up. This wasn't Miyako. This wasn't-

The thought was cut off as he watched with a horrified expression as the one and only love of his life lifted her blood-coated blade to her stomach and thrust it in.

Kaien gasped as he felt the cool metal of a blade slide through his stomach. He slowly lifted his gaze as rain started to fall and absently noticed that the scene had changed to that of a dark night-covered forest.

The last thing he saw as his vision faded out was that of the scared eyes of Rukia Kuchiki.

"Thank you…"

[Meow]

I shot up in bed, panting heavily. Heavy sweat stuck to my body, drenching both my night clothes and the sheets around me. I quickly pushed myself into a sitting position and threw off the sheets, holding my head in my hands.

Nightmares are not something I enjoy.

After finally catching my breath for after what seemed like an eternity, I pushed myself off my bed, only to fall back into the uncomfortable thing as I banged my head against the metal bar that lined the bottom of the edge of the bunk on top of me.

Hissing, I got up once more, rubbing the rapidly growing lump on my head. Of course, I was careful to avoid another head injury this time.

I quickly ruffled through my duffle, grabbing an almost new pair of blue academy clothing before then donning it and swiping my plain asauchi from its place leaning against the white wall. The sound of snoring reached my ears just as I left, causing me to turn around and locate the source. A fond smile lightly flitted across my lips before returning to wherever it once came as I notice who it was. Nobuo never could breathe properly in his sleep.

Walking out the door of the dorm and quietly shutting it, I glanced around and noticed that the sun probably wouldn't be up for about another hour. I suppose that was lucky for me.

Not wanting to waste time, I ran to the end of the hall (Quietly, mind you) and rounded the corner, giving my eyes full view of the courtyard.

I quickly made my way to the edge of campus and jumped over the thick stone wall, using my right hand for support.

After a few minutes had passed, I made it to a familiar training field near the edge of the thirteenth division. Kaien had taken me here one time, had glanced at me and told me people weren't allowed to train here because of the wildlife (Some Shinigami Women's Association crap). He told me he only took me here because he wanted to get it through my head that I couldn't train here even if I wanted to. Pfft, yeah right. That guy is such a terrible liar.

Unsheathing my asauchi, I got into the proper stance that had been taught to me by Muto-sensei. I adjusted one foot here, my grip there, and then bam! A wave of nostalgia washed over me as I started to swing the zanpakuto wannabe in half-familiar moves and such.

I felt adrenaline flowing through my veins as the sword pierced the night air, sending chills down my spine.

It had been two months since my first day at the academy, and I had already soared to fifth of the advanced class.

My reiatsu control was almost flawless, my kido perfect. The only problem was my zanjustsu. Sure, I was good at it, but not nearly as great as I wanted it to be. Thus the reason I was out here.

Sweat started to return to my skin for the second time that night as I swiped, stabbed, and jabbed with the piece of useless metal within my grasp. Moonlight glinted off the tip of the blade as it cut through the air like butter.

I cracked a grin as I felt the exhilaration of a blade in my hand, pretending that I was fighting some opponent.

I couldn't help but wonder if being the reincarnation of a lieutenant of the gotei 13 had something to do with my high scores and my amazing ability in the shinigami skills. It was a high possibility; one that I highly doubted wasn't true.

A swipe and stab cut the air once more. A small leaf fell from one of the large trees bordering the training ground.

The grin changed into that of an absent-minded scowl as concentration set in and a routine of attacks was set.

Swipe, stab, cut, lash, jab, swipe, lash, cut, stab, clang! The sudden noise of metal-on-metal met my ears as a vibration ran up my right arm. I quickly looked to the source and noticed a small figure standing there, holding a glimmering katana against my own.

"I didn't expect to see you here," the figure said, "Shiba-dono."

I quickly disengaged and backed off, confused as to the presence of the girl that I had met months ago, but quite irritated at the honorific. "…Kuchiki right?"

The girl returned the zanpakuto to the sheath attached to her waist. "That is correct."

I leaned backward a bit and scratched the back of my neck. "So… what did you want?" I asked, not sure how to continue the conversation.

The girl looked down to the ground. "I just wanted to know… if you could help me a bit on my zanjustsu skills… Kaien-dono has been very busy lately and hasn't had much time to train with me. Plus, I have heard through him that you are quite good in your classes, and I was kind of hoping…" her voice trailed off as she noticed his gaze on her. Nervousness was evident in her features.

"Train you? But you've have a lieutenant working with you for who knows how long. Besides, I'm only an academy student, and you're a real shinigami. How can I help?" I questioned her, confused as to why she would go to me for help.

The raven-haired midget shuffled her feet as she looked up once more. "I was pulled out of the academy after only being in it for a year. If I was still there I'd only be in my second year…" she murmured quietly.

I scowled. The image of her scared watery purple orbs from the nightmare flashed before my eyes before I groaned and clutched my head. Now was not the time to get a headache. "I'm n-not as good as zanjustsu as I am with kido, but I can at l-least try." I ground out as a searing pain lanced across my vision.

Her eyes lit up, a small smile making its way across her face. "Really? That's wonderful! Thank you, Shiba-dono!"

I simply nodded as she ran back from wherever she had came from, hand still clutching my head. The pain started to ebb away. Huh, strange headache.

Standing up straight, I returned my asauchi to its dull wooden sheath and started to walk home, the sun starting to rise on the horizon.

The sunrise's long, colorful fingers stretched across the sky, the beautiful orange and reds reflecting off the lazily drifting clouds hanging in the sky.

By the time the sun had made it completely in the sky, I had already been in bed for five minutes. This time, however, I was the one snoring.

[Meow]

Sorry for making short chapters! I guess I have a bad habit of doing that… Anyways, enjoy!

Please review, favorite, and follow! Thank you. ~~Turtle~~