It had been hours since Kana had sat down in what had felt like the most natural position fkr meditation. She had figured that, since she had been making good progress everywhere else, she thought this would be easy. That Renji guy had gone on and on about zanpakuto being a part of a shinigami's soul, yet having it's own name and personality and everything.

So if it was a part of her, why was it ignoring her? She had worked so hard to get to this point, and she was being ignored? How fuckin' rude was that? With a groan, Kana jumped up from her spot and stretched, peering out to where she could faintly make out the forms of the others. She would be lying if she said she wasn't worried about Ichigo getting himself out of that pit, but she apparently had more faith in him than the others did. While Ichigo had been cutting it close, he had manged to escape and regain his powers. Sliding her foot backwards, it only took two quick steps before she was with the group again. Ichigo was running from Urahara in circles, with a look of shock and surprise on his face. Uraha had a fairly blank expression in comparison, swinging his Zanpakuto lazily. Apparently, Kana had arrived just in time for something interesting to happen. Ichigo's reiatsu, normally flowing like a waterfall into a lake, pulled taut and close to the teenager and he stood stock still. Urahara was even kind enough to not slaughter him where he stood, eyeing Ichigo with a strange wariness. There was a tremble to Ichigo's reiatsu and Uraha leapt backwards into a defense position. There was a glare of red as a shield formed in front of the older Shinigami, and Kana started walking towards the two. Urahara seemed to have gotten that shield up in the nick of time.

"Getsuga...TENSHO!" Ichigo's spiritual pressure burst forwards in an arcing wave of energy, crashing through ground and rock, and Kana lifted her arm to shield her eyes from the dust and debris. Once the gust settled Kana continued her way towards the two, whistling lowly at the massive chasm in the ground. Her cackling just got louder at the sight of Urahara standing there looking a bit worse for wear with no hat on to hide the surprise in his eyes. With a few short flashsteps she was plucking his hat from the ground and standing beside him, spinning it with her finger and raising and eyebrow at Ichigo's kneeling form. Urahara plucked the hat from her fingers, frowning at it and dusting it off, not that that would do anything for the slice going through it.

"How scary." Urahara mumbled beside her.

"If I didn't get my shield up in time, I would has lost an arm. I didn't think he would put that much into one swing." Putting the hat back on, Urahara grinned widely.

"Lesson Three, complete!" Kana chuckled and shook her head, fingers brushing the hilt of her Zanpakuto.

"Now," Kana blinked, tilting her head to look at Urahara as he turned to face her. There was a flash and Kana unsheathed her blade for the first time ever to block the downwards swing of his blade.

"Until Kurosaki-kun wakes up, let's dance."

Kana really wished she had been able to make contact with her Zanpakuto. Urahara had let her lead him away from Ichigo's sleeping form after she had realized he didn't care if he killed Ichigo in the process. Urahara was just aiming to make someone bleed, and he didn't care who. While Ichigo had feared this, running in fright from the pale haired mad man, Kana would have been laughing had she not been more focused on dodging. She hadn't had a single chance to get in a single swing of her own blade. On the bright side, she was getting very good at both dodging and blocking, but this was nowhere near good enough. How was she meant to defeat a Shinigami and get Rukia back if she couldn't land a single blow? How would she even compete against someone with a released form if she couldn't even hear her Zanpakuto? How was she supposed to fight if she was so much weaker in comparison? Kana's grin dropped into a vacant expression as he thought.

"Ahh, not having as much fun now that you know you can't win?" Urahara mocked, moving faster still and cutting upwards, causing Kana to flashstep backwards and swing her blade to cut into his and knock it aside before pulling her sword tight to her body again, ready for her next defense. She would have to do something drastic in order to change this backwards movement they were dancing to. She wanted to move forwards dammit. Urahara raised his blade again and Kana knew this was her only chance. Sliding her right foot behind her, Kana pushed off hard, spinning her blade and bringing it upwards as fast as she could.

Urahara's eyes widened and this time he was the one to leap backwards and Kana's eyes locked on the bead of blood forming on the under side of his chin.

'...blood...'

Kana' eyes widened at the faint whisper in her mind, but ignored it in favor of pushing forwards again. Urahara leapt back once more, and Kana swore when he stopped and held a hand up. Kana dropped her blade back down to her side, and glared at the older male. He ignored her in favour of running his finger along the underside of his chin, looking at the small swipe of blood he collected on his finger.

"Interesting. Although Kurosaki-kun had more power, he didn't draw blood, and you did." Kana rolled her eyes.

"Well duh. Ichigo knows you're an ally, he wouldn't want to injure you. Besides, his main goal was to knock your hat off."

Urahara's Zanpakuto flashed a it unreleased, and he slid it into it's sheath, hiding it a a cane once more.

"And what was your goal then?"

"Isn't it obvious, Kisuke? Kana has the same goal every time." They both looked over at a low rumbled voice and Kana smiled slightly at the sight of Yoruichi.

"She wanted to win, and she wanted you to suffer in the process." Kana cackled at Yoruichi's laughter, spinning her blade up to rest on her shoulder.

They hadn't seen Urahara, Yoruichi, or Tessai in days.

They meaning Kana and Ichigo, that is.

"Time's almost up," Ichigo said with a small frown in front of her as he swung his blade forwards in front of himself. Kana had wasted almost an entire day trying to get him to par with her, but he had declined, saying that he would never fight her as he didn't want to injure her. It was definitely the thing about Ichigo that pissed her off the most. So instead of sparing, Ichigo had been playing swordsman alone, practicing the power between his swings and trying to figure out how to control the strength of his Getsuga Tensho. Kana had gone back to meditating, eager to try again after she had heard that whisper, but it was no use. Today, both teenagers were tense. Last night they had been given the chance to go home and rest and say goodbye to their friends and families before they left today. Ichigo had gone, but Kana had remained, stating she had no-one at home anyway, and she could use that time to practice. Pausing, Kana felt something at the outer edge of her reiatsu and pushed forwards to feel with a frown. Yoruichi was back, and it seemed like she had brought people with her. Standing, Kana headed towards the entrance of the training grounds. Ichigo followed, probably curious as to what she was doing.

"W-Wow! All this space beneath the shop! This is like a secret base!" Kana's eyes widened and she flashstepped the rest of the way towards the familiar voice.

"Hime! What on earth are you doing here!?" Kana demanded as she stopped in front of the younger girl, who jumped at her sudden appearance.

"Ah! Kana-chan! Ohayo!" Kana's eye twitched and she brought her hand to her forehead.

"Don't 'ohayo' me! This isn't school!"

Ichigo came up behind Kana, sounding more surprised than Kana was at the sight of who was there.

"Inoue...Chad...Ishida..." Yoruichi jumped up onto Kana's shoulder and everyone looked to her.

"Is this what you've been busy with?" Kana asked, and Yoruichi nodded.

"Yes. While you and Ichigo were busy honing your abilities as Shinigami, your friends were training their own powers." Kana frowned, turning to look at Orihime again. Holding her hand out, the shorter teen looked confused for a second before placing her own hand in Kana's own. Kana's reiatsu leaked down her arm, following the connection of their palms and encasing Orihime, pulsing at her hair clips.

"I see. Well," Kana pulled Orihime to her side, ruffling her hair.

"We could use all the help we can get. Don't worry, Hime, I'll protect you."

"Hai, Hai! Can I have your attention please?" Everyone looked towards Urahara as he clapped, looking very excited to be in the spotlight. He gestured to his side in a grand movement and there was a rumble as a large gate appeared, the borders looking as though they were wrapped in talismans.

"This is your way to Soul Society! A Senkaimon. This gate has a layer of Resishihenkanki, which makes it a spirit-particle Conversion Machine on top of a normal Senkaimon!"Kana'oohed' and clapped as Urahara paused, and he waved his fan at her, clearly happy someone was playing along as he showed off his creation like he was Bob Barker on the Price is right, revealing the grand prize.

"Soul Society is the world of spirits, so of course you can only enter if you are in the form of a spirit. With a normal Senkaimon, only Takahashi-san and Kurosaki-kun can cross as Shinigami. So I built in a special little feature to convert the rest of you into spirits."

"Easy enough! Let's go!" Ichigo stormed past her, and got jabbed in the side with Urahara's cane as a reward.

"However, the time that we have to open that gate and get you to Soul Society is four minutes." Everyone looked shocked, and Kana shrugged.

"If you can't cross over in that time, you will be trapped forever between the Soul Society and this world." Everyone looked worried and Yoruichi leapt down from her shoulder, causing Kana to stretch and head over to stand by Urahara. She wasn't worried for herself in the slightest, knowing that with the flashstepping Yoruichi had taught her she could get there in seconds. The others, however...

"You go forward. I told you that the heart and soul are connected. The important thing is what you feel in your heart, and the will to move it forward. I will be your guide." Everyone seemed to relax at that, and joined Kana in front of the gate. Tessai and Urahara each moved to kneel on either side of the gate, and it glowed a harsh blue.

"Listen! As soon as it opens, you have to move forwards! Do not stop! Do not enter if you have any doubts." Ichigo grunted a 'right', and with another flash the gate opened. Ichigo sprinted ahead, the others at his heels, and Kana flashed a wide grin at Urahara before she followed them in, running at the back of the pack.