Learning About Basics
"Oh! What a pleasant surprise this is!" eyes wide in mocked surprise, Kisuke covered the lower half of his face with his fan. "Not that ten-year old kids appearing out of thin air is such a shock these days… On the contrary, it's quite ordinary!"
"Are you still spouting that nonsense?" Keiji asked with a glare, his right eye twitching in irritation as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Cut the crap Kisuke!" Yoruichi punched her friend's head, making him fall on his knees while holding his abused head.
"That hurts, Yoruichi-san!" he pouted childishly. "You haven't done that in decades!"
"And?" Yoruichi raised an eyebrow as she rested her hands on her hips.
"N-nothing really… Hehe…" Kisuke chuckled pathetically, his fan covering the lower-half of his face like usual as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I think I just missed you doing that!"
"Hey oldies! I'm still standing here, you know!" Keiji exclaimed indignantly, getting the full attention of the two. "I don't have all day…"
"Of course, of course, Keiji-kun!" Kisuke remarked jovially, folding his fan with a snap. "Why don't we go inside and discuss things" he gestured to his shop.
"Fine…" Keiji replied as he followed the two adults inside the shop.
The three settled in what Keiji assumed was the living room. It was modest with only a table in the middle and small cushions for sitting. Keiji sat on the cushion nearest to the door, placing his zanpakuto on his lap as he did so. Yoruichi sat opposite Keiji as Kisuke excused himself to prepare refreshments.
Minutes later, Kisuke returned with a tray of hot tea, which he then served to Yoruichi and Keiji as the latter immediately stated the purpose of his visit.
"Last night, you offered to train me together with my brother but I turned you down…" Keiji started, looking at his tea instead of Kisuke as he knew that the older man was grinning victoriously. "Is the offer still open?" he asked grudgingly.
"Of course…" Kisuke answered right away, a grin on his face. Then with mischief in his eyes, he continued. "Though I'm still wondering how you attained your shinigami ability… I'm very sure you weren't a shinigami before you left the shop last night…"
'Well, well, well… Looks like Kisuke hadn't given up on the boy's secret after all… I thought he would have been more considerate of Isshin's feelings about the matter… Contrary to what this kid thinks, Isshin was always protective of them... It will offend him if he finds out that Kisuke is studying his son like a laboratory specimen...' Yoruichi thought with a smirk as she took a sip of her tea. 'This should be fun… I wonder who'll get to know the kid's secret first…'
"Hnn…" Keiji made a noise of irritation, his forehead furrowed as he rolled his eyes.
Knowing that he could not squeeze answers from the boy just yet, Kisuke gave up for the time being.
"Well… That's your secret to keep I guess!" he chuckled lightly though the flash of mischief in his eyes did not go unnoticed to Keiji.
"I just need someone to help me master my ability… What I lack is experience in battle…" Keiji stated seriously. "I need to polish not only my skills with the sword but also my hand to hand combat and kido… Up until now, I've only fought hollows. I haven't had a real fight with a shinigami yet…"
Yoruichi seemed to be thinking, a playful smirk was still playing on her lips. "It's quite early… Why don't we assess your skills now…" she said, standing up and looking down on Keiji. At seeing the boy's look of surprise at her proposition, she immediately reacted. "Don't get me wrong, kid… I'm going to know about your secret. I think beating you to a pulp will do the trick!" she added with a large grin.
Keiji gave her a calculating look before smirking himself. "Bring it on, werecat!" he exclaimed, standing up and taking a fighting stance in front of the woman, his zanpakuto held in his right hand..
"Ohoho!" Kisuke had his fan in his hand right away, fanning his face vigorously. "That's the spirit! That's the spirit…" he remarked before his expression changed to almost begging. "But could you please take your fight somewhere else! Tessai-san will kill me if he finds the living room in pieces!"
"We'll use the training ground…" Yoruichi simply stated as her eyes still focused on Keiji dangerously, like a predator watching its prey. "Follow me kid…" she said as Kisuke lifted a removable panel on the floor, revealing what appeared like a trapdoor.
Maybe because of his curiosity of what was inside that trapdoor or simple inattentiveness at the moment, but the next thing Keiji realized was Yoruichi pulling him by the front of his shinigami clothes before dumping him brusquely inside the trapdoor.
"YOU BITCH OF A WERECAT!" he yelled on the top of his lungs as he fell down in an alarming speed, taking a glimpse of something blue before he turned his body the last second before hitting the ground. He was fortunate to land on all fours, his zanpakuto held tightly in his right hand as he cursed fervently when he heard Yoruichi laughing nearby.
"Damn cat…!" he kept on cursing as he slowly stood up and then looked around, stunned as he realized that he had landed on a dry and barren land. He looked upwards and noticed that the blue hue he saw earlier was the sky.
'That can't be… Was that door like a portal of sorts?' Keiji thought before he turned around and noticed the stairs behind him that led up the shop. 'Or maybe not…'
Yoruichi was still laughing at the look of irritation in Keiji's face.
"What's the problem, Kei-chan? Cat got your tongue?" she asked, laughing at her own pun as Keiji turned to her, irritated.
"Shut up, bitch of a werecat…" Keiji spat, folding his arms across his chest as he scowled at the cackling woman. "Could you just tell me how we'll do this assessment thing? I wanna get home as soon as possible…"
Yoruichi stopped laughing although she was still wearing a mischievous smile on her face. "Hnnnn… Where to start…" she mumbled more to herself as she scratched her chin while thinking. "Do you know anything about the basic shinigami fighting techniques?"
Keiji furrowed his brows, recalling his memories of the old shinigami Akihara if the man has so much slipped a thing or two about the matter. "I think it's the first time I heard about it…" Keiji answered truthfully.
"Alright…" Yoruichi turned serious as she folded her arms across her chest before starting what seemed like a lecture. "Listen carefully then. Most shinigamis use four basic techniques in fighting. First, the most important of all the four, Zanjutsu or sword fighting techniques… Then Hakuda or hand-to-hand combat skills… Hoho, which refers to all high-speed fighting movements… And of course, Kido or fighting techniques based on advanced spells… I think you already had an idea in each. But just how much? We'll find out…" she added with her smirk back on.
"Kisuke!" she called out all of a sudden, after which, her friend landed behind Keiji. "First basic technique… Zanjutsu…" she said, looking at her friend with a conniving grin. "He's all yours Kisuke!"
And just then, a flare of reiatsu hit Keiji from behind. He turned around sharply just in time to see Kisuke pulling out his zanpaktou from his cane, a dangerous smirk plastered on his face.
"Awaken, Benihime…" he calmly commanded. His zanpaktou glowed red as it changed its form to a smooth, medium-sized sword with its tip ending in a sharp diagonal cut, appearing like a severed blade.
"Now… How about you release that beautiful and magnificent zanpaktou of yours… Ouch, ouch, ouch…" he whined in pain as Benihime suddenly flared its reiatsu at its hilt. "But of course Benihime-chan is still the most beautiful of them all!" he immediately appeased the raging zanpaktou, caressing its blade to soothe it.
Turning back to Keiji who merely watched him with a deadpan look, he cupped his hands near his mouth in a gesture like whispering. "She is quite sensitive… and easily gets jealous…" he said in a low voice as the younger shinigami just raised an eyebrow in reaction.
"Whatever…" Keiji uttered vaguely as he stretched his right arm outwards, his zanpakutou in his right hand as he directed his reiatsu a little unto Homusubi. The zanpakuto's sheath gradually dissolved, revealing its elegant black blade.
'Get ready, Homusubi…' he told his zanpaktou as his right hand tightened on the hilt.
'I already am…' his zanpaktou assured.
"Burn all creations, Homusubi" Keiji exclaimed, his normal black eyes changing to ruby just as his zanpakuto changed its form.
Keiji bent his knees slightly before pushing his right foot hard against the ground, shooting straight at Kisuke with his sword ready for a vertical slash.
"Ohoho!" Kisuke chuckled as he blocked Homusubi with his Benihime. "Quite forward are we!" he stated as he pushed Keiji, sending the boy flying straight at a boulder to his right.
'So this is what fighting a shinigami means…' Keiji thought with excitement.
Before Keiji collided with the boulder, he flipped his body mid-air and then pushed his feet against the large rock, gaining back his momentum as he shoot straight at Kisuke once more. As he neared the older shinigami however, he suddenly flash-stepped and then appeared in a crouching position behind the older man, springing like a predator attacking its prey and delivering an upward slash.
Kisuke flash-stepped forward to avoid the attack, only for Keiji to appear before him with Homusubi poised to deliver a thrust. He immediately blocked the incoming blade with his own zanpaktou, pushing his reiatsu on Benihime as they both landed on top of a boulder.
'This kid is frighteningly good… He can read my movements well…' Kisuke thought. 'I wonder if it has something to do with his eye…'
'Whoah… It's like I can read what he's about to do next!' Keiji thought as he realized that Kisuke's movements produced image-like scenes of what the older shinigami was about to do next.
'Sharingan… That's the name of our eyes…' Homusubi started to explain. 'And your observation is true… It gives us an edge in perceiving our enemy's next movement' the zanpakuto added.
'Cool…' Keiji thought excitedly, certain that he will win this battle with the rare ability of his zanpakuto.
'Don't rely on it too much though… You still need to develop physical skills along with it…' Homusubi warned as he felt his wielder became smug.
'Why?' Keiji asked, suddenly becoming worried as he felt Kisuke's reiatsu flared more.
'You'll soon find out…' Homusubi simply stated.
"Well, Keiji-kun… Let's kick it up a notch, shall we…" Kisuke simply said as he once again pushed on Keiji's zanpakuto with his own. This time however, he did not hold back even a little.
Keiji was thrown away swiftly by the more experienced shinigami. He collided with a boulder before crashing on the ground.
"Damn…" he mumbled as he got on his feet, panting slightly. He then saw Kisuke disappeared in a flash-stepp, his Sharingan enabling him to see where he'll appear next.
"Front…" Keiji muttered just as Kisuke materialized. He then saw that the older shinigami was about to punch him in the stomach.
Keiji tried to move as fast as he could but still he was caught by Kisuke's fist. The force hurled him straight to a large rock, crashing through it before he landed violently on the ground.
'Damn…' Keiji inwardly cursed as blood trickled down his temple. His whole body was in pain, mainly where Kisuke hit him.
'I knew he was about to hit me… But I was too slow to move out…' he thought as he slowly sat up. 'I now understand… Even if I can predict my enemy's attack, if my body can't react fast, then it's useless. I'll still get hit like what just happened… I'll try to be faster next time…' he grimaced as he stood up, panting heavily as he dusted himself, just as Kisuke appeared by his side.
"Oh… You're still alive…" Kisuke said in a tone full of sarcasm.
"Hnnn…" Keiji glared as he wiped the blood on his temple with the back of his hand. "Sorry to disappoint…" he spat, his tone was full of sarcasm as well. "Bastard" he mumbled.
"Just as Yoruichi-san said…" Kisuke said in a serious tone. "You seemed to already have an idea in all the basic shinigami techniques. Your form in Zanjutsu is already good."
"No need to rest up!" Yoruichi said harshly as she appeared beside Kisuke. "Next phase, Hakuda…"
"Fine…" Keiji mumbled, wobbling a little when he walked. He then placed his zanpaktou on his back. Its form, going back to its unreleased state as its sheath gradually materialized around his blade, along with a sash that tied the zanpaktou to his body.
Without any warning, Yoruichi made the first move, delivering a kick aimed at Keiji's chest.
With his Sharingan, Keiji clearly saw Yoruichi's movement. But like with Kisuke, he was too slow to move out of harm's way.
Yoruichi's foot connected with Keiji's chest, sending him crashing through another large rock.
"Hnn…" Yoruichi smirked as she landed beside Kisuke who was watching the fight from a nearby boulder. His zanpakuto was back inside his cane.
"Oi!" Kisuke shouted for Keiji to hear. "Are you still alive? If you keep this up, you'll eventually flatten this whole place!" Kisuke added, vigorously fanning his self.
Keiji did not answer back immediately. "Uh-oh… Yoruichi-san… I think you buried him alive…" Kisuke said as he glanced at Yoruichi's direction.
But then suddenly, Keiji appeared above them, poised to kick the two.
Kisuke and Yoruichi immediately flash-stepped, the former went to Keiji's left while the latter to his right.
'Calm yourself Keiji… You won't defeat them if you're too impatient…' Homusubi chided him.
'I know…' Keiji admitted as he landed on top of the boulder where the two stood just a second ago. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as he composed himself. He flared his reiatsu as if warning the two to treat him seriously. 'Alright… Let's get that cat…' he decided before doing a flash-step after Yoruichi.
'He's after me…' Yoruichi realized, sensing Keiji's increasing reaitsu quickly closing in.
She decided to stop on her tracks and wait for him. 'Let's finish this here…' she thought just as Keiji appeared before her. He looked calm, his face not showing any kind of emotion.
"So, you decided to play serious, huh… I can do this game too, you know…" Yoruichi looked at Keiji in the eyes, realizing that the three tomoes in his ruby-colored eyes were spinning fast.
Yoruichi flash-stepped, appearing before Keiji, her right foot in mid-air and was about to hit Keiji's face.
Keiji flash-stepped as well to avoid getting hit, appearing behind Yoruichi and delivering the same attack aimed at her head.
His attack did not make contact as Yoruichi appeared several feet from him. "Hakuda and Hoho…" she stated simply before they started delivering punches and kicks to one another.
'He can keep up with me… And he's mimicking me…' Yoruichi realized as her fist was blocked by Keiji's own fist. At first, she noticed that Keiji was merely blocking her punches and kicks, before attacking her in the same manner. But as the fight went on, Keiji started to move in the same manner as her. When she delivers a kick, Keiji would also attack with a kick at the same time. Kick versus kick and punch versus punch.
'His eyes can read my every movement…' Yoruichi thought. She got perturbed by what she realized that she became distracted from the fight, which gave Keiji a chance as he twisted mid-air and delivered a kick aimed at the side of her head.
Yoruichi blocked the kick with her arm, the force of the impact sent her flying from Keiji. She flipped mid-air and then landed gracefully crouched on the ground.
Panting slightly, she then regarded Keiji who was merely watching her, his face still showing no emotions. "Last basic technique…" Yoruichi said. "Kido…"
Yoruichi flash-stepped and then appeared above Keiji, her right hand extended forward, palm facing the boy below who simply looked up, unworried.
"Way of Destruction 31, Red Fire Cannon" she uttered. A red condensed ball of energy formed on her palm before it shut straight at Keiji.
The blast that resulted when the kido hit the ground was enormous. The ground shook and a crater was formed as rocks were turned to dust.
"Yoruichi-san…" Kisuke started, his voice sounding a little worried as he appeared on a nearby boulder. "Don't you think you're getting carried away? Isshin-san won't be happy if you seriously hurt our little Keiji…" he said, looking like he was about to beg Yoruichi to end the fight.
"I don't think so…" Keiji answered instead, appearing exhausted but fortunately unhurt by the kido. "Go bury yourself somewhere old man… The werecat and I have unfinished business to deal with…"
"You took the words out of my mouth…" Yoruichi said, smirking as she landed on the ground. "Next… Hakuda, Hoho and Kido…"
Sighing in relief at seeing Keiji still fighting fit, Kisuke flash-stepped at a good distance from them, knowing that in the next few minutes, the fight will be more vicious.
The fight continued as they exchanged blows after blows. And just as Yoruichi has observed earlier, Keiji was able to read her every movement, even reciting a kido spell the same time with her.
'What the hell…' Yoruichi was perplexed as her Byakurai connected with Keiji's Byakurai.
'Should I do that technique?' she thought as she contemplated whether to use her special technique or not… 'Maybe next time… That might be too much for him… Although he kept up with me, it has taken a great toll on his body…' she noticed as Keiji looked like he was about to faint any moment.
"You're good in all the basic techniques… I commend you on that. But in order for you to keep up with me and Kisuke during the battle, you had to use too much reiatsu. If we continued the fight, I would eventually win…" Yoruichi uttered as Keiji landed before her, panting heavily. "Your body could not cope with the battle much yet… Earlier, your survival instinct kicked in and you increased your reiatsu, pushing your body to move as fast as me and to receive powerful attacks without too much damage. But if the battle goes on, even with reiatsu as strong as the Captain Commander of Gotei-Thirteen, you sooner or later will run low on it…"
"I know…" Keiji admitted. "So, what should I do next?"
"Well… There is still the matter about your brother needing to restore his shinigami powers… So I'll be focusing on him for a couple of days…" Kisuke said as he appeared between the two. "I know I promised to train you both together but with the current situation… With you already a shinigami and all… I think it would be best to focus on him until he gains his powers back… Then you both can train together here… I'll call you up in a few days time…"
Keiji did not say anything but instead looked at Yoruichi. She merely shook her head, understanding what he was thinking.
"Sorry kid… As much as I wanted to train with you, I need to do some errands for Kisuke here starting tomorrow…"
"And on that matter…" Kisuke interjected. "Yoruichi won't be able to look after you and your siblings as we had told your sisters. But don't worry… We had arranged someone to do the baby sitting instead…" he assured Keiji in his jovial manner when he noticed the boy frowned.
"Fine then…" Keiji accepted, grimacing a little as he felt muscle strain and bruises in his entire body.
"Go ahead in the shop and look for Tessai-san. Tell him that I sent you and he'll surely patch you up real good…" Kisuke said, gesturing towards the stairs. "We'll catch up later…" he added.
'It has been another interesting day…' Keiji thought as he did what Kisuke told him to do.
"He's a frightening kid…" Yoruichi stated when Keiji was out of sight.
"I know… I've been thinking of ways how he became shinigami on his own but I can't come up with any…" Kisuke said, his voice sounding a little worried.
Yoruichi glanced at him as she continued. "I'd thought that you've given up on that matter with the way things occurred last night."
"I know that I should probably wait for Isshin-san… Or at least wait for his consent to further investigate his son…" Kisuke started to explain. "But in his current condition… he's feeling too guilty to do anything right now… And Keiji-kun knows that… He took advantage of his father's guilt to avoid queries about his secret…"
"His eyes are frightening…" Yoruichi uttered, remembering how the Keiji seemed to pierce her very soul with his ruby-colored eyes. She glanced at Kisuke, noticing how her friend became more worried.
Keiji was tired from yesterday's fight that he slept in again. It was almost mid noon and he was still peacefully snoozing on his bed, not noticing the figure of a man hovering above him. The man was perched on the headboard, watching him with a bored look on his face.
"Ya really don't look anything special like what Kisuke and Yoruichi said…" the man started to mumble. "Man, this is even more annoying than watching Hiyori dance… Not that I've seen that little shit dance…" he continued to mumble to himself as he scratched his chin, looking like thinking deeply. "But just thinking about her dancing… Or just thinking about her annoys the whole shit in me…"
After minutes of staring at Keiji, Shinji has reached his boredom limit and decided to wake him up, poking the other's forehead with a finger.
Keiji slowly turned to his side, muttering incoherently as he did so, before opening his eyes. He then groggily turned upwards, finally noticing the man hovering above his face.
"Ohayou, Keiji-kun!" the man greeted with a Cheshire grin.