Another chapter is here!
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"Hurry up!" Rukia yelled as she sprinted through the giant gate, the light of the morning sun spilling over the white-laden stone and buildings that composed the Court of the Pure Souls. It was a strong contrast to their neighborhood, but neither had time to really take it in. "We're going to be late for the entrance exam!"
"You're the one who slept too long!" Renji claimed, following behind her. The giant that guarded gate told them nonchalantly that the exam was about to begin in about ten-minutes and if they missed it they would have to wait another month. Screw that. "We don't even know where we're going. We were supposed to wait for an escort!"
"There's no time!" she exclaimed. "If the exams are about to begin, they'll just tell us to come back later! Besides, we just need to find the biggest gathering of non-Soul Reapers, right?"
"Maybe, but how are we going to do that?" The Seireitei had been massive even from the outside, so they could only guess where they were going without some kind of guide. It was then that Renji caught the grin forming on her face and understood. "You wouldn't!"
Rukia ran off into an alley and closed her eyes. She expanded her senses, feeling for the souls of others around her now that they were isolated within the Seireitei. They condensed and meshed until they formed ribbons, loitering around her in thin strips that seemed to disappear into nothingness three feet away from her.
"What are you doing?" Renji hissed, looking around to make sure that they weren't seen. "He told you that was a high-level technique and you shouldn't do it before we're taught."
"Yeah, but I need to find where to go and even if I can't sense out anyone's specific spirit power, I can search for where the largest group are and—" She grabbed a bundle of them and focused her awareness in that direction, leaving the others to vanish as she mapped out the distance between the ribbons and their owners. "Found them!"
"Did you hear something?" said a voice close-by, around the corner. When Rukia focused in that direction the pair of ribbons that appeared was red. They were Soul Reapers.
"Crap!" Renji whispered. If they were caught outside of the area where the entrance exam was being held, they could be kicked out before they got started or imprisoned. He grabbed Rukia by her collar and ended up using Flash Step to get away, reaching the back of one of the buildings that made up the alley and out of their line-of-sight.
"And you're getting on me?" Rukia whispered, once the Soul Reaper pair brushed it off as their imagination and left. There was a petulant and teasing smile on her face. "Hypocrite."
He glowered at her, creases forming into a frown above his brow. "Whose fault is it that I had to do that?"
"Keep telling yourself that." Rukia freed herself of his grip and pointed in a direction. "We're going there. Not too far. Five minutes if we hurry."
The red-haired young man relaxed his face as his anger at her dissipated while they ran. He followed Rukia until they arrived at a certain building, nestled behind a gate. It was a large, ivory structure with a gate bearing the academy's emblem on the walls outside of it. And the opened doors, revealing a packed courtyard inside of it, were closing.
"Wait for us!" Rukia called out to the one shutting it, before they could completely close it.
"Hurry up!" barked the dark-robe clad man as he opened the door wider for them. When they crossed the gate, he turned his nose up at them. "Being punctual is an important quality of being a Soul Reaper. If you can't even do that you've got no business even trying."
Renji gritted his teeth behind his closed lips to avoid swearing at the man and instead turned his focus on those in front of him. It was a big crowd of people of all ages and genders, dressed in different clothing. You could tell the ones who came from the outer districts from their clothes being torn, ragged, or well-worn. You could see the more privileged ones from how they carried themselves and were well-kempt.
A few academy students dressed in red and blue went around asking for information, mostly names and the district they came from given what he could hear. After getting an answer they were given a ticket of some kind. Was it for determining the order they tested in? One of the students approached the pair from the Inuzuri district.
"Name and District?" the girl student asked him.
"Renji Abarai," he said. "South Rukongai's 78th District, Inuzuri."
The student nodded her head and handed him a ticket. It ranked him as 613th in line. He figured it would take all day, considering they hadn't even started yet. She then turned to Rukia. "And you?"
Rukia's brows creased in thought and she tapped her cheek with her finger out of habit. "Huh… I don't think I actually have a last name."
"We can use your district as your last name," said the student. "Should I?"
Rukia shook her head. "I'd really rather not have my last name translate into Howling Dog. My sister would likely get on me for it not being feminine enough."
"Just use his last name," Renji said, figuring she would get the point. "I doubt he'll mind given you're practically family."
"Yeah, that'll work!" She nodded. "Rukia Kurosaki. South Rukongai's 78th District, Inuzuri."
"Okay." The information was scribbled down and Rukia was given a ticket. It was the number right after his. "Good luck on both of your exams."
"Question," Rukia said, before she could leave. "Do you know how the exams are done?"
"When your ticket is called, you'll be brought inside and made to touch a device. It'll forcibly draw out your spiritual power and determine if you have enough. If you don't have enough spiritual power, you'll be dismissed from this testing. If you do have enough, you'll be allowed further inside until the first round of testing is complete. Then you'll be led to temporary housing to rest until the second round of testing tomorrow. Do well on those and you qualify for entrance."
"Thanks," Rukia said, allowing the student to continue her duty without further questioning. She then turned to Renji. "So, the hard part doesn't start until tomorrow then. We can be sure we'll pass, but I wonder how many here will?"
"Hmm…." He crossed his arms and looked around. "I can't tell. Most of the people here have some power, but we don't know the base requirement needed. If we weren't as capable as we were, even we wouldn't be sure."
"Well, there's no point in thinking too hard on it." Rukia shrugged and took a seat where she was. "We may as well settle in until we get the call."
Renji couldn't find it in him to argue with her. He plopped down onto the ground next to her and waited with as much patience as he could muster….
[-o0o-]
Hisana stared blankly at the ceiling of her bathroom from inside of the bathtub, paying no mind as the water turned her skin pink from the warmth soaking into it. It felt so quiet in her home now, even if she could hear the more boisterous residents of the district through the walls. While she had gotten used to it when she had more pressing concerns on her mind, she entertained the thought of moving to get away from it now that her sister was far away.
With the kids gone, the expenses for food and clothing would drop. If she saved for a few years, then maybe she could afford to relocate to a closer district. At the very least, it would put her in contact with other women around her age and she could perhaps find a hobby to fill in the void.
She got out of the bath and dried herself with a towel, running it softly against her skin, before dressing for the night. Things around the home felt empty with her little sister as a constant fixture. Rukia had been gone for almost a week now, and was likely undergoing the testing. There weren't many public means of communicating from such a great distance available this far out, so she couldn't contact her to see how it went.
Once she was ready to go to bed, she entered into the main room. To her mild surprise, Ichigo was already there. He hadn't visited during the night as often as he did before he took guardianship of Renji, and he had been working on a major project a few districts away after he had seen them off.
"Welcome back," she told him. "What brings you by so late?"
"I came to check up on how you were doing," he said, stretching in front of the hearth. The coals were still smoldering and leaking tepid warmth into the air. "How have you been since the kids left?"
"I've been… a bit lonely, I suppose." She cast her gaze towards where her sister's futon was nestled in the corner. It was folded up after going without use for the last week. "I knew it would be like this when the time came, but I miss her."
"I sort of feel the same way about Renji," he told her as she moved over to his side and took a seat next to him, folding her legs and leaning her head against his shoulder. "I think we did well, all things considered. They can take care of themselves, and they're literate. I'm sure they'll do fine."
Hisana agreed with a slight sigh. Even though both of the kids had been less than eager to have schooling thrown into their lives, they took to it well. That was more than what most of the people in the district were capable of. She looked back once more, over to the unused futon. "Ichigo?"
He met her eyes with his. "Hm?"
"I know you stopped coming over as much because there wasn't enough space with Renji here." She pulled herself off his shoulder and grasped his hands with hers. They were rough and calloused from both work and sword-training. "But, since they're gone and we are in a relationship …would you move in with me?"
He didn't answer with words. Instead, he pulled her in close and pressed his lips to hers. The message carried as Hisana accepted his affection by reaching around his waist and holding him dearly while they kissed.
[-o0o-]
By the next morning, the number of eligible candidates had dropped down from what had to have been several hundred people to less than two-hundred. The duo from Inuzuri were woken along with the others and offered a complimentary breakfast before being brought back to the courtyard. That was where they had essentially set-up an obstacle course overnight.
The challenge was simple. It was an assessment of their physical prowess above all else, likely to rule out anyone who couldn't get through it within a reasonable amount of time, Rukia figured.
She was going in the next group, after Renji. He had done well for the most part. He managed to get through all of the obstacles rather quickly, but she had her concerns on how well he did at the part where they pelted him with small balls of spiritual power.
It was similar to what she had done to catch Ichi-nii off-guard, only with far less power as to not hurt anymore permanently. Considering the strikes he weathered from Ichi-nii's wooden sword and fists when they trained, they may as well have been pelting him with water balloons. It was just that she suspected they were supposed to dodge them instead, and he didn't make any effort of doing so.
What if he lost points for every hit or something? Despite the constant distance he tried to keep from her, she still considered him her friend after all these years. After watching everything he'd went through, it would hurt her to see him not get in because he didn't do well. Not that she would tell him that.
When her turn came, Rukia flitted across the part of the courtyard that had been turned into shooting range using more than her eyes as her guide. Unlike Renji, she couldn't simply power through the barrage without slowing down. But she didn't need to.
Ichi-nii had taught her to feel the spiritual power surrounding her, and the pressure that could be exerted. Thus, she could feel it somewhat—the sensation of spiritual power being condensed, the bursting expulsion that fired it towards her, the intensity increasing as they grew closer to her. It made it easy enough to dodge, to weave in and out of the shots before they could touch her.
That included one that was specifically being curved towards her with advanced control, just so slightly but still enough. Did one of them want to make it a personal goal to hit her? It didn't matter. She let just a little of her power leak through her feet to move a smidge faster, screwing up the timing, so the shot hit behind her without exposing her full talent.
Rukia completed the course without being touched, which was an accomplishment in itself as the test administrator noted. She cheered as she approached Renji. "See Porky, that's how you're supposed to do it."
"Stop calling me that." Renji huffed as he dusted himself off. Even though the shots had little-to-no power, because he had simply taken them head-on they had singed his clothing a bit. "And what, you want me to praise you or something?"
"Of course not," she said, smiling smugly. "I just want you to acknowledge my superiority to you in every way."
Renji couldn't help but sigh. "Fine. You were amazing. I'm in complete awe at how you managed to avoid being hit with very slow and weak balls. Happy?"
"Not when you say it like that." Rukia's cheeks swelled as she pouted. She wanted sincere acknowledgement. "You have to mean it."
He smiled wryly, enjoying her agitation, and began to rustle her hair. "How about this? Better?"
"Stop treating me like a kid!" she whined, pushing him away and turning to hide the blush of embarrassment on her cheeks as others laughed at her in good humor.
[-o0o-]
Aizen Sousuke looked down from a classroom inside of the building at the examination as it continued. He wasn't alone. There were others from different divisions there as well; trusted members who were expected to give an unbiased report of the potential recruits. Those who were exceptional would be scouted at a later date if their training panned out well.
Aizen was still the only Lieutenant there. This was something relegated to lower-ranked seated officers. He had come of his own will instead, using it as an opportunity to find others he could use in his goal of breaking the boundaries limiting his power… then he would usurp God.
However, he was not expecting an actual Captain to show up. In specific, it was the leader of the 10th Division, Isshin Shiba. He was the head of a branch of one of the Great Noble Houses, and a powerful combatant in his own right as well. It was how he got his position, despite being an inattentive seated officer, after the incident that killed his predecessor.
The man strode into the room in a lazy manner, arms thrown behind the back of his head. He stood at the window, remaining seemingly ignorant of the others seated officers around him. It was Aizen who spoke first, grabbing his attention.
"Captain Shiba," he said. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Ah… Lieutenant Sousuke, wasn't it?" He nodded in confirmation. "I thought I would personally come out to inspect the new crop of students. There are some things a man has to see with his own eyes, after all."
Aizen presumed that meant he left his own subordinates to deal with the paper work while he came to simply get away. It wouldn't be the first time, from what he learned. He had cultivated his personality so that others were likely to be open when they had a matter to discuss, making him seem trustworthy. Because of that, gossip easily reached his ears.
"Huh," Isshin muttered. "So those two made it after all? Good, I was hoping to see them."
He followed the Captain's line-of-sight to the red-haired young man and the black-haired young woman next to him. He'd observed them and marked them as targets of interests prior. The girl was clearly sensing the shots as they came and moved accordingly, while the young man had endurance that had been built up beyond the average examinees.
Aizen had went through the testing roster and picked out their names. Nothing about them was suspicious, and none of the names were tied to nobles or anyone important. Any training they were likely to have had must've been self-taught in that case.
He turned to the Captain. "Do you know them?"
"I met their guardian when they were just kids, years ago," he explained. "They had a good amount of spiritual power even then, and I liked the guy looking after them. We talked every so often during the subsequent festivals, after I told him they should consider signing up when they get older. It was the last festival that I noticed they reached a point where they would likely pass the initial part of the entrance exam with flying colors and made the suggestion."
"Hmm." It was another point of interest that they came from the same district he had lost track of his Hollow in. If they possessed a measure of inherit power at such a young age, as the Captain was implying, then they would have been fodder for it. The fact that they survived meant the Hollow was killed before it got to them, but it was likely they had seen something just the same—he'd ask them at a later date.
"How well did they do?" Isshin asked, before chuckling a bit as he watched the girl get flustered at her companion's prodding. They couldn't hear them, but it must've been something funny considering the people they were near were laughing as well. "Where do you think they'll end up?"
Aizen adjusted his glasses. "I can say that, unless extenuating circumstances arise, they'll both be in the advanced-class. They have among the best time on the obstacle course, and while the initial testing of spiritual power doesn't show the results in a numerical value, it does flag individuals that go above a certain threshold. I'd wager they crossed it. In addition, compared to the others, they actually seem to have a handle on regulating how much they output."
Isshin let out a low whistle. "They'll probably complete the curriculum early if they've got that much of the basics out of the way."
It was likely, Aizen would admit. They had potential, and it was likely that every single person there had taken note of it. It wouldn't hurt to make a good impression upon them early. They could be a boon, depending on where they ended up.
"About this guardian you mentioned?" Aizen asked, as an afterthought. "Did he possess any spiritual power?"
Isshin shook his head. "He said he was sensitive to spiritual power, enough to sense mine at that. But he didn't have any spiritual power. Why?"
"No particular reason," he said. "Just curious… that's all."