Chapter 12: Early Graduation, Brawl Destination
Throb.
Throb.
The headache was getting worse. Five days after the fight with Reidyn headaches became a normal thing for her.
'Reidyn, whatever you're doing stop. You're causing a killer migraine here.'
'I have to add a little bit of myself to this world or it's going to reject me. We're one person now so get used to it.'
This was her new life with this mysterious 'Reidyn' girl. With each conversation the two would have, Youhna would always ask her one question.
"Just what are you?"
And Youhna would always get shot down with the same reply.
"That is a question that will be answered later in time."
If there was anything that would irk the girl more than Reidyn's constant 'blending' it was that she would never reveal any of her identity about herself. Her name is Reidyn. That was all she knew.
'Sorry Youhna, but I don't have any data on the little parasite either.' Xiomara said, sighing sadly.
'Hey! I'm not a parasite!'
'You search for hosts, worm your way into their worlds while also attaching yourself to their souls, and make yourself at home while causing destruction to the victim. Trust me, you're a parasite and besides, this is a private conversation.'
'You can't keep secrets from yourself. Don't forget that I'm apart of you now!'
'You're not an official part of us and how can you say that when you've been your identity from us these past five days?'
Silence.
Youhna broke the bond between her Xiomara and apparently Reidyn to continue packing her things. An early graduation alright, she along with twenty other people was to be taken to the Siritei for the Captain's Initiation Exam. She closed her suitcase and looked at her work, smiling happily. A year flew by fast and she was getting a chance to become a captain. Her smile widened. What if she actually achieved captain level? She would be in charge of her own division yes, but from what she heard there was a whole lot of paperwork to be done. As in stacks that were almost as tall her.
Who else would be there to compete for one of the three spots as captain? Everyone would give everything they have for the position to be a leader of the third, fifth, and ninth divisions.
Something slammed into her door and threw off her thoughts. She opened the door to see Lindsay on the floor in the middle of the hallway with her giant rolling book bag on the wall.
"Sorry about that, I'm such a klutz."
"Welcome to my world."
Youhna helped the brunette up and handed her the handle to her book bag.
Hayden stumbled out of the dorm with a duffle bag strewn across her left shoulder. Long blond strands were stationed in a state of disarray as she pushed her glasses back on her nose.
"Somebody waited to the last minute to pack."
"Shut up. I can do that since I'm one of the greatest procrastinators that this world has ever seen."
"What a great accomplishment."
"You can shut up too Lindsay."
Down the hall, a girl with purple hair ran out of her dorm and made a sharp turn. Two seconds later, a glass vase exploded into the wall.
"You worthless pathetic excuse for a soul!"
The first girl continued to run down the hallway clumsily when her pursuer walked out of the room. Yes, it was the infamous Mai Honshu gliding through the hallway with all the fury in the world as her entourage.
Her scarlet eyes simmered with pure hatred for her roommate as she attempted to wring the girl's neck, but was cut off by both Youhna and Hayden.
"If you want her you'll have to go through us first."
"That can be arranged I assure you." Mai was about to jump when she thought about what would happen if she killed her roommate.
With one last glare, the bluenette stomped back to her room with the promise of torture to her roommate when she returns.
The purple haired girl was on the floor with her hands holding her upper body up. Her pink eyes were wide with fear and she seemed a bit frantic.
"Sh-she's gonna kill me! What am I gonna do? I might have to sleep with one eye open tonight…" The girl shook her head, causing her frameless glasses to tilt and slide down her nose. "I'm doomed."
Hayden, Youhna, and Lindsay stared at the girl as if she was crazy. No one should be that afraid of one of their peers. Especially if they achieved their zanpukto as well. Yes, the girl had a magenta hilted sword at her side. Lindsay turned her attention to her.
"What's your name?"
"R-Rin Nakamoto."
"Rin, what the heck are you so afraid of? You've got a zanpukto, fight her!" Hayden said, punching her hand with her fist.
"I can't…she's way stronger than me. I've earned my zanpukto yes but, Yuhime isn't strong enough to take on Aquina."
Youhna raised an eyebrow.
"So you've fought her before?"
"No, but I've seen what she can do and-"
"And what? You'll never know what you can do if you don't try."
"N-no I can't I…" Rin hung her head in shame.
"Someone has some self-esteem issues…" Hayden muttered. Lindsay helped the girl to her feet.
"Show us what you can do. There's no way you could've gotten into this school and have a lousy zanpukto."
"O-okay…"
Lindsay put her arm around Rin's shoulders and led her to the barracks.
"Alright, we have to make this quick. We're to leave for the Siritei in an hour.
Lindsay, Youhna, and Hayden flocked to the side of the field and Rin stood in the middle.
"What are you waiting for? Release your sword already!"
"That was a big help Hayden."
"I know right?"
Rin continued to stand there.
"Okay…I can do this…I can do this…" She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Hinder all enemies, Yuhime."
The sword turned into a long shard encrusted whip that was braided with strands of silver. A truly dangerous combination for a weapon.
"Baffling Fog."
A thick fog covered the entire field.
"Crap! Lindsay, Youhna, you guys still there?"
Silence.
Hayden looked down at her zanpukto and saw trails of ice crawling up her sword. Her feet were starting to feel numb also.
"Rin you can stop now! Rin? Rin!"
No matter how many times or how loud Hayden yelled, she couldn't get the girl to stop. No one could hear her. It was as if this fog blocked two of the essential senses in the body. Sight and sound. Hayden tried to stand when she only managed to wiggle her finger. She was paralyzed.
"Damnit…"
The blond struggled more and finally freed her zanpukto.
"Stir the stormy atmosphere, NinaSky!"
The staff now lay in front of her facing the opposite direction. Good, at least she wouldn't take the full effect of her own attack.
"Lightning Strike!"
It got darker. Yep, the sky was preparing for the attack and it released a large streak of lightning that crashed into the ground, jolting her nerves back to life.
"Ow!"
Hayden stood up, running through the fog as the ripples of her first attack kept shocking her feet back to life until she saw Rin's figure and tackled it.
Both girls hit the ground and the fog faded in the sunlight. Youhna and Lindsay were frozen to the ground by their butts. Hayden looked back at Rin who seemed to be in another dimension and shook her.
"Rin, Rin!"
The girl's pink eyes gained their sparkle of life before the girl looked around.
"Huh? Hayden?"
The girls felt a surge of heat and Rin turned towards Youhna while Hayden kept her eyes on Rin. She looked paler than usual…was that normal for her?
The ice melted away from their bottoms and the two girls climbed to their feet, stunned.
"I thought you said that you're zanpukto sucked!" The blond said to the other girl with glasses.
"I-it does…" Hayden showed the girl her bruised arms and legs.
"I had to shock myself to get my body to respond to my commands. Your zanpukto's wicked awesome!"
The girl blushed and Hayden got up as did Rin. Lindsay looked at the clock.
"OMG! You guys we've got to get our stuff and get to the front of the school now!"
Everyone rushed back to their rooms, grabbed their things, and raced each other to the front of the academy at break neck speeds. Rin got there first followed by Lindsay and Youhna. In dead last was our feisty blond, Hayden.
"You guys cheated."
Lindsay nodded sarcastically.
"Explain."
"I have more stuff then you guys and it weighed me down so I win!"
There were twenty-four other students that were chosen for the exam ranging from freshmen to seniors. Everyone had split up into their groups; freshmen were in*-vaded the far left, sophomores were populated next to them, juniors were stationed in the middle, and seniors dominated the far right. Among the seniors' section was Heather who was talking to one of the other seniors.
"Hey, Heather!" Hayden and Youhna shouted running up to the raven-haired senior.
"What's up guys?"
"Nothing except for this exam… so are you ready for it?"
"Yeah, I'm confident that I'll win my fight against my opponent." The freshmen blanched.
"I thought this was an exam-"
"Don't tell me you guys thought it would be something similar to the acceptance exam. This is going to be a tournament for the three vacant captain positions and other seats ranging from second seats to fourth seats. Everything we've learned at the academy is riding on this moment…"
Three captains suddenly appeared in front of the four groups who seized their conversations under the leaders' presence.
The first one was a woman with short black hair that had longer locks of hair bound together in strips of white cloth with medium sized brown hoops at the end and a body that seemed made for speed. The second one wore a sadistic smile on his harsh face. A beady black eye stared at the students with a resolve to kill while the other eye, (much to the student's relief.) was hidden by a black eye patch. The last one was definitely an heir to one of the royal families of the Soul Society. His long black hair danced in the wind along with his white scarf.
Wanna know their names?
"I am Squad Two's Captain Soifon." The woman said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I am the current die hard Captain of Squad Eleven, Kenpachi Zaraki." The man introduced himself and flashed the candidates another sadistic smile. The last man turned his nose up at the other captain's antics.
"I am the Captain of the Sixth Division, Captain Kuchiki."
Star struck was the perfect word to describe the students at that point. How lucky were they to be in the presence of three of the toughest Captains of the Gotei Thirteen?
Soifon's smirk caught their attention.
"Follow me. We're taking this brawl to Squad Two's barracks."
The crowd followed her to the barracks where there was enough room for everyone.
"Let the brawls begin."
Author's Note: Alright you guys I stopped the chapter here because I seriously need your help. I can't decide who should be a captain along with Youhna. Please submit your votes and the majority will win. Here are the candidates…
Mai
Cree
Tara
Hitaro
Rin
Heather
Lindsay
Hayden and Akira are out because I decided to give them the positions of a lieutenant.
