"Ow," Kage thought to himself, his mind clouded. "My neck is really sore." Blearily, he forced his eyes open to find himself still sitting on the couch, his head lolling awkwardly to the right, the source of the pain. He lifted his head, rubbing the sore spot with his right hand. Hid left hand, he noted, was gone. It felt as though it had been severed from his body just below his shoulder. Looking to his left, he found it was stuck under a mound of blonde hair, tanned skin, dressed in a Karakura High School uniform. Taylor was curled in a tight ball, knees pulled into her body while her hands and head rested on Kage's chest. Her long blonde hair fell over her face, concealing her features from Kage's gaze.
Grabbing a few pillows with his right hand, Kage gently slipped them between himself and Taylor, slowly sliding his left arm from beneath the girl. He smoothly slipped away from the sleeping girl, leaving her with a mound of pillows which Kage hoped would suffice as apt replacement for himself. Hopping up as quietly as possible from the couch, he made his way to the kitchen.
Ryuu must have stayed at work or with a friend, and Akira and Sakura hadn't come home yet, so the house was quiet. He turned on the radio as he entered the kitchen, turning the dial to the news channel.
"... multiple roads are closed today due to fallen telephone poles and trees. There have been power cuts in multiple parts of the city. All schools in the greater Karakura area have been asked to remain closed to keep the amount of people on the roads to a minimum. Emergency services have been sent to clear any rubble, but it could take up until midday to late afternoon."
Kage smiled to himself happily as he pulled a bowl and a box of cereal out. No school, no parents, nothing to do and nowhere to go. It was going to be a nice day.
Sitting down at the island in the centre of the kitchen, he switched the radio to the local music channel. He tapped his foot rhythmically on the stool as he munched on the cereal.
Suddenly, there was a loud thump from the sitting room. A few moments later, a bedraggled looking Taylor appeared in the doorway, a pout on her face.
"Good morning sunshine," Kage said playfully, smirking at the moody girl.
"I rolled off the couch," she answered sulkily, taking a seat at the island beside Kage. Kage kissed her gently, cheering her up almost immediately.
"Your hairs all messy," Kage said suddenly, causing Taylor to return to her previous pout. Laughing heartily, he slid off the stool to put his bowl in the dishwasher.
"So do you want breakfast?" he asked as he came back over.
"What is there?" she asked, fiddling with her hair.
"Well, I'm no chef, so its basically toast or some cereal," Kage stated matter-o-factly.
"Your finest cereal then," Taylor answered playfully. Kage quickly got it ready for her, music playing in the background.
"So do your parents know where you are?" he asked as he brought the bowl over.
"Well I texted my dad that I was at a friends house, and that I was alright. I'd say he wasn't overly happy about it but he'll live." As she finished, the doorbell started to ring impatiently.
"What the hell is Rokuro doing calling?" Kage asked to no one in particular as he made his way to the door.
"Alright, alright I'm coming!" The doorbell still had not stopped ringing, much to Kage's annoyance. Kage was going to have to talk to the boy about his doorbell antics, they had gotten much worse.
Angrily pulling the door open, he ready himself to shout at Rokuro. He was, however, greeted by the sight of one Yorouichi Shihoin leaning on the door frame, one finger pressed to the doorbell.
"Yorouichi, what are you doin here?" he stammered, glancing back towards the kitchen.
Taylor finished the cereal and proceeded to tidy up after herself. She didn't want to seem like an ungrateful guest, so she put away her bowl and clear away the crumbs on the island. With nothing else to do, she made her way out of the kitchen, intending to say hello to Rokuro. She didn't expect to see Yorouichi standing in the door way, chatting nonchalantly with her boyfriend.
"My boyfriend? When did I become the possessive type? When this bitch started flirting with my boyfriend, that's when." The thought had come out of nowhere, surprising herself with the venom with which the voice in her head had spoke in. "No. I'm not going to become the obsessive girlfriend that hates every girl that even looks at Kage." Steeling herself, she made her way down the hall.
"... not right now Yoruichi, now is not a good time!" Taylor overheard Kage say as she approached. He was speaking urgently but quietly, almost as if he didn't want to be overheard.
"Hey Yoruichi," Taylor said with all the cheeriness she could muster, effectively announcing her presence, as she plastered a broad grin on to her face. Yorouichi and Kage turned to Taylor as she went to stand beside Kage. Kage's expression was unreadable, but Yoruichi made a large 'O' with her mouth, before breaking into a large grin.
"Oh, so that's why you can't come training right now Kage. You should've just said you were busy," the tanned woman said with a cheeky grin coupled with a wink.
"No, no, it's not like tha-"
"Oh yeah, sure. Taylor just stayed the night, and nothing happened right?" she said sarcastically. Kage and Taylors faces turned bright red, staring the floor. "So don't worry, I'll leave you to alone to do 'nothing'." Kage and Taylor were lost for words, and just stood in the house gobsmacked as they watched Yoruichi walk away.
"Well... That was interesting.." Kage said, slightly shell shocked. He swung the door closed and turned to Taylor.
"So, what do you want to do?" Kage asked as they walked back down the hall. Taylor's face split into a small grin.
"Nothing," she said with a smile as she pushed him into the sitting room.
"I really should get home Kage, my parent's will be worried sick," Taylor said as she stood up, dusting herself off.
"Awww," Kage said making puppy dog eyes up at the girl. Her hair was messy and her uniform creased a million different ways, but she still somehow managed to look beautiful.
"Thanks for letting me stay the night, I'll see you tomorrow." She made her way out of the room, giving Kage a brief smile as she went.
"God she's amazing," Kage thought in disbelief as he heard the door slam shut. "How did I pull her again?"
"Beats me," Kagehime said sarcastically. "What the poor girl sees in you, I have no idea."
"Hello to you too," Kage replied, matching her sarcasm. Suddenly the doorbell rang, pulling Kage from the argument with his Zanpakuto. He quickly made his way to the door to find none other than Yoruichi Shihoin standing there waiting for him.
"Well you two sure took a while. I thought she was never gonna leave," she said with a grin. "You sure did do a lot of 'nothing,'" Yoruichi said with a cheeky wink. Kage felt his face turning red as he started to blush. Despite the amount of time Taylor and Kage had spent together, they hadn't actually done anything except make out.
"C'mon, we've got work to do," she said, turning swiftly and motioning for him to follow. Kage jogged off down the path after her, not wanting to be left behind.
"Where are we going anyways?" Kage asked when he caught up to her.
"Training of course," she replied curtly. "We've got to get you some proper practice, especially with you nearly getting killed the last time you fought a hollow."
"Hey, no fair, there was way too many at the mall!"
"Any self respecting SoulReaper with the same level spiritual pressure as you would've easily handled them, your problem is you don't have enough skill," she snapped, cutting him off. "You may have achieved shikai, but that was only because Kiskue would've killed you if you hadn't. And on top of that, we're still not really sure what your shikai even does! So we've gotta get some proper training done!" she said as the duo entered a large park. Kage had no reply to the statement, and the rest of the walk was in silence, Yoruichi striding briskly ahead.
They eventually reached a clearing in the centre of the park, shielded from view from the rest of the world. Before Kage had time to ask what they were going to be doing, Yoruichi's hand was on his face, then pushing him out of his body. Kage flopped onto the soft grass, landing beside his limp body.
"A bit of warning would be nice next time," he stated, as he picked himself up from the ground now clad in a black shihakusho. "So what are we doing today?" the boy asked as he unsheathed Kagehime.
"Put it away, we're not going to be doing any swordplay today," Yoruichi said as she herself exited her body. She was now clad in a pair of black pants with an orange top, the light breeze tossing about her purple hair. Kage reluctantly sheathed the blade, as he had been looking forward to trying his shikai again.
"So what are we doing?" Kage asked, exasperated.
"Today, I'll be teaching you how to do a flash-step on shunpo. It's a Soul Reaper technique used to move at high speed," Yoruichi explained, gesturing vaguely with her hands.
"So how do you do it?" Kage asked inquisitively. He liked the sound of this.
"Like this," Yoruichi said with a mischievous smile, before she disappeared. Suddenly Kage felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to see Yoruichi standing behind him, a smug grin on her face.
"How did you..?" Kage mumbled, the question dying in his throat before he could get it out, too shocked to finish the sentence. Yoruichi laughed at his reaction, giving him a friendly pat on the back.
"The best way to acquire flash-step is to first learn to track another's movements, then perform the technique yourself. So I'm going to try tag you, and you have to try dodge or avoid me," she explained to Kage. "You ready?" Kage nodded resolutely.
"Let's go," he said, backing away slightly. Then she was gone, and Kage felt a sharp jab below his ribs. He looked down, surprised to see that Yoruichi had already tagged him once already.
"You're going to have to do better than that Kage," she said smugly, before disappearing and reappearing a few metres away. "Ready?" Kage merely grunted in acknowledgement, as he was concentrating very hard on studying the woman's movements.
He watched for any sign, any indication of when she was about to move. And then he saw it, a slight blur and then she was gone. Kage blocked below his ribs, but the hit came from behind this time and Kage was knocked flat onto his face.
"Better," Yoruichi stated as she returned to her spot a few meters away. "But you're still not tracking my movements properly. You're gonna have to do better than that." Kage just grumbled in response as he picked himself up from the ground. Taking his position, he nodded that he was ready again. With a barely audible 'whoosh' Yoruichi disappeared again. Kage saw more of the movement now seeing how she traveled just above the grass. Kage noticed she was moving to his right before he lost track of her movement as she picked up speed, so he blocked to the right. But the blow was high and Kage received a palm to the forehead for his efforts.
"Nearly there, you were able to track me a little bit there weren't you?" Yoruichi asked rhetorically, a genuinely happy smile on her face. "Ready for another round?" she asked, the same smug demeanour returning to her. Kage nodded, before preparing himself.
The situation was akin to a showdown from a western, each party watching the other intently. And then Yoruichi made her move, launching herself into the air so she was just above Kage's head height. He watched her float through the air, as if in slow motion, tracking her progress with new-found skill. He saw her pass over his head and he turned to see her drop behind his back. She swung her palm forward to hit Kage, but he blocked the blow with ease. Yoruichi jumped back, not expecting to have her blow blocked so easily. Her shocked expression was suddenly cracked however, by a wide grin.
"Well done Kage, you've got it now. You accomplished that part of the training faster than Ichigo as well," she added as an afterthought.
"You trained Ichigo?" Kage inquired, scratching his head.
"Yes I did in fact, though that was awhile ago," she stated pensively. "Anyways, onto the next part of the training." She flash-stepped up onto a sturdy branch about 4 metres off the ground. "C'mon, climb up already," she taunted as she dangled her feet over the side. Kage sighed, before reluctantly scaling the large tree. Once kage was up on the branch with Yoruichi she began to explain the next task.
"All you have to do, is get from her," she pointed at the branch. "To here," she finished as she appeared on another branch ten metres away.
"So how do I do that exactly," Kage asked, scratching his head in a confused manner. even though he could track flash-step now, the concept still completely baffled him.
"You'll have to figure it out yourself," she replied, much to Kage's annoyance. The tanned woman proceeded to lie down on the branch, leaning against the bark of the tree, making it clear she wasn't going to be giving Kage anymore advice. With a sigh, Kage started mulling over what to do.
He envisioned himself moving the way Yoruichi had, passing from one branch to the other, but that had no effect. Next he tried focusing his spiritual pressure into his feet, but that only served to make his toes tingle like he had pins and needles.
'Oh c'mon, this is pathetic,' said a harsh voice in his head. The intrusion shocked Kage so much, he nearly fell off the tree branch. The voice was different, a man's voice, definitely not Kagehime's. It also had a strange layered quality to it, as if there were two people speaking, one slightly behind the other.
'Who are you?' Kage asked nervously. This new presence in his head was unnerving him.
'Who am I? You don't know? I guess you wouldn't, you were too young to remember, too young to see. But I saw it all. I watched, and then I understood who I was. So I know who I am, which in a roundabout way means you know I am. But you haven't realised who I am yet. And where would the fun be in just telling you, huh?' the new voice said maniacally. 'But enough of this, I've lost track of myself. Here's how to get to the branch.' And suddenly Kage knew how to do it. It was like he'd known all along. It was almost instinctive.
'Thank you?' he thought uncertaintly. But the voice was gone. Shaking himself, he readied himself for the crossing.
With a 'boom' noise, Kage disappeared, reappearing on the opposite branch. Yoruichi sat bolt upright, an expression akin to horror on her face.
"Hey, it's not that much of a shock that I figured out how to do it is it?" Kage asked lightheartedly. Yoruichi's expression shifted after this statement to a broad smile.
"No no, it just startled me, I think I nodded off a bit," she said as she continued smiling widely. Something about the smile was off though, almost as if it was forced, but Kage glanced over this detail, too pleased with himself to care.
"Could you do it a few more times?" Yoruichi asked as she hopped to her feet.
"Sure," Kage said with a smile, before disappearing, accompanied by the same 'boom' sound. He moved back and forth between the two branches a few times before Yoruichi motioned him to stop.
"Ok, looks like you've got it. We'll finish there for today. I'll call around again if we're still off school tomorrow, ok?" Yoruichi said as the pair hopped to the ground, making their way towards their respective bodies.
"Sounds good," Kage answered as he stood up off the ground, dusting off his creased clothes. As he walked out of the clearing, though happy with his achievement, Kage was unnerved by the voice in his head. It definitely wasn't Kagehime, without a doubt. So what was it? Shaking himself, he rid himself of the eerie thoughts. a problem for another time.
A/N: Okay, it's been awhile since I've last updated, and I know you guys are probably expecting a really long chapter, or a really interesting one, but alas that's not the case. But I do have a valid excuse!(this feels like I'm trying to explain to a teacher why I don't have my homework done) So when i started writing this chapter, my exams were coming up and I had to stop writing for two weeks so i could study for them. Afterwards when I got off for my summer holidays, I had a lot of training and matches, so I was much too tired to do any writing, and then the week after that my cousin came to stay so I couldn't do any then. But now I'm in Italy and I've decided to start writing again! Yay! I bet you're all so excited! No? Oh, okay then... But anyways moving on. In a few chapters time I will probably begin updating and editing the older chapters, so this chapter will be improved then. I decided though I should just get this chapter out, as it was dragging on. So I apologies for the substandard quality of this chapter, but bare with me, please. Also, I'm thinking of starting a beta so anyone interested in partaking, just send me a private message. So goodbye for now!