I was nervous, today is the day of the exam and I felt trapped. I felt as if I was growing up just too fast. I swear it was only yesterday that I entered this academy and now this test will determine if I leave today or not. I was aware that most of the other kids did not like my sudden rise in placement, even Kimamora seemed jealous of my rise to fame. I had not yet achieved my shikai but neither did most of the entire sixth year class. Actually only the top of the class had achieved their shikai and he still was struggling with his newly attained power.

I woke up the morning of the exam in an empty room. The other students had already left for the break because their exams ended yesterday. Even Kimamora had gone home for two months before school began again. I put on my academy uniform for possibly the last time. My room was on the fourth after two years. I had grown to love this dorm, like one time in my second year here a couple of the sixth years threw a party. They brought alcohol, which is totally prohibited on school grounds, and a ton of kids got drunk; Kimamora included. It went on for about two hours before the noise alerted some teachers. As soon as the girls heard the teachers were alerted we cleaned up everything in less than two minutes and headed back to our rooms. The teachers came in to see what all the noise was but there was nothing there.

I chuckled to myself at the times that I had here. I was kind of upset that I wouldn't get the chance to make more memories. At the same time I was happy to be leaving; nobody really liked me here except for Kimamora and I was feeling like she was pulling away. I had no regrets about taking this test today; so I packed up my stuff and I closed my door. I walked down the steps and headed to the testing grounds.

The test was taking place in an open field. Most of the students were already there and stared at me as I approached. I must have been a sight, my hair was slightly messy from running and my sword was still a little long for my 5'5 height. Actually my sword had always been too long for my, even when I received it at twelve it was long but now it was still very long. Our graduation exam was being tested by two captains. One of the captains was Hitsugaya, I noticed him immediately because of his white hair. I hadn't seen him in two years and he had grown taller, his face was more mature. The other was Captain Ukitake. Once everyone gathered together Ukitake cleared his throat.

"Welcome everybody to the final exam" he said "This exam isn't a pass and fail; it is a demonstration of your abilities so that we can determine what squad you can be placed in"

"Or if you make it into a squad" Hitsugaya said "Some of you may not be accepted into the Gotei 13, others might make it into Kido corps, but a few of you may not make it into anything." I can't believe that some of us might make not it into the Gotei 13 and they'll just be sent home. "The test will be a one v. one match; there will be two going on at a time. Ukitake will be watching one and I will be watching the other."

The matches began and the fights ensued; each matches lasted anywhere from 10-45 minutes. The boy who had obtained shikai only managed to unleash his shikai for a few minutes before the strain of releasing it made him too tired. I was the last match of the day; it was about five in the afternoon. My opponent was seated twelfth in his year so I know it would be a tough match. It was just my luck that Hitsugaya had just finished his last match and came over to view mine; everybody else decided that it would be fun to watch the little fourteen year old fight.

My opponent was tall and muscular but not huge; he had a more lean muscle. He had short choppy honey-blonde hair and dark brown eyes, he reminded me of Leon. I remembered the day that I had finally beaten Leon. I had trained extra every day after my defeat to Leon on the first day of school. It was the end of the school year when I had finally worked up the courage to ask for a challenge, he accepted. The fight was supposed to just be a private fight between Leon and I but someone gave the word out to people and a huge crowd showed up to our arena.

The fight began and this time I was able to make the first move. I could tell that Leon had already thought that he had won the fight but quickly realized that it would be different than last time. I had grown stronger and more confident in my sword fighting skills. We battled it out for a bit, testing each other and seeing where we were at, then the real fight began. It was an intense battle and I'm proud to say that they had to make a few patches in the floor from when we were fighting. I eventually caught Leon off guard and was able to take him down.

"Oi, kid quit daydreaming, your match is about to start" some random from the person crowd yelled. I jolted back to attention and focused back on the kid ranked twelfth. He held his body in a cocky manner, like he had already won the fight. I hate people who are cocky, they know nothing about their opponent and expect to win; cockiness only leads to greater humiliation after a loss.

"Ready" Ukitake announced. I got down into my beginning fighting pose. The boy opposite me did the same. "Begin!" I charged at the boy ready to initiate the first strike but my zealousness got over me because he was able to slip behind me and hit me in the back with the butt of his sword. I stumbled for a little bit, and ignored the laughter from the crowd. I put my sword in one hand and pointed the other at the boy.

"Hado 31 Shakkahou!" I shouted and a red cannonball of energy shot at the boy. He blocked it with his sword but it took some effort. He retaliated by putting his sword in one hand and pointing at me. I got ready to avoid his attack.

"Bakudo 1 Sai" Suddenly I was unable to move, I knew of this Bakudo and yet I did I could do nothing to evade it at such close quarters. He walked over to me and kicked me in the ribs. "This will be all over once you just give up" he kept kicking me in the stomach. "You wanna give up now girly" I spat on his shoe.

"Never" I said, he just laughed at me and continued to kick me. I said never but I was pretty sure I felt a crack in my ribs. Then I heard Shi in my head 'Call my name out Hitomi, it is time for you to call my name. This time I am sure you'll hear it.' I felt beginning to rise, it was faint but it was there. I used what little strength I had to grab my sword firmly in my hand. 'My name is-' I stuck my sword into the ground "Hahanaru Shizen!" I shouted. That building energy erupted like a volcano and the binding spell broke. The boy flew backwards, as did a lot of the crowd watching. I stood up and faced my opponent; I was bathed in a green glow.

I looked down at my sword; the hilt itself stayed the same except for a vine that was attached to the butt of it. The blade itself had split into three branches, but they weren't stiff like wood should be, they were limp like vines. My opponent was soon back on his feet, outraged at the developments. He picked up his sword and charged at me I held up my sword and the previously limp wood stiffened and blocked his strike, just like a regular sword would. He stopped attacking me and put some distance in between us. Now I was ready to fight.