training the recruits
Ichigo and Uryu stood on a building overlooking the courtyard where the new militia force were assembling in, they were suppressing their Reiatsu so the students wouldn't notice, but they knew that at least Mizuiro had detected Ichigo, yet wasn't that odd, his senses shouldn't have been that developed yet. Ichigo still couldn't figure out whether he should be happy that his friends had joined him or not, on one hand it was great to have people he trusted backing him up and to finally show them this huge part of his life, on the other they were failing, how on earth did they start failing the first year?
"Maybe we shouldn't have got them involved in this Kurosaki, if they can't handle the first year then they're never really going to be able to keep up with us, no matter how much they wish otherwise." Ishida said wearily
Ichigo nodded in agreement but felt he had to point out, "It was their choice to make, as it stood all three could see spirits so leaving them in the dark wasn't really a good option to take. What I don't get is, Tatsuki is one hell of a martial artist and Mizuiro already knows we are here, by all accounts they shouldn't be failing."
"Guess all we can do is ask why after the assembly."
With that the pair flickered down into the courtyard and had the satisfaction of watching the near equivalent of half a division jump in shock as they were spotted. Ichigo watched as Tatsuki and Mizuiro began to approach him only to be stopped by Keigo, he shot his friend a grateful look. As much as he or they may not like it, when on duty he was their superior first and friend second, to take any other stance toward them would have a harmful effect on morale and group unity, a lesson Toshiro had drilled into him repeatedly.
"Alright people form into ranks." Ichigo ordered. He was grateful to see it happen with no questions asked, he still wasn't too sure if people would be willing to follow his orders. "I've seen all your files and have a few questions, most of it's what you think your strengths and weaknesses are then we will be moving on to basic training, yes I know, the stuff you already know," he said with a small smile at the groans "but this won't just be the areas you've covered, I'm also going to introduce stuff from higher grades and skills needed by the average Shinigami. The whole point is to get you all to a point where you all have the same basic skills, later on we will work on grouping you according to your strengths and abilities." from there he and Ishida made their way through the group asking what each student thought they excelled in and if they knew why they were failing. He couldn't help the malicious smirk that crossed his face as he came face to face with Tatsuki.
"I've seen your file Arisawa 'I've trained against you Tatsuki', care to tell my why you're failing?"
"Simple, I flunked the last test" she replied glibly
"How? It was Hakuda!"
"I let the wimps beat me so I could join this program, since you're only interested in people who are failing."
Ichigo really couldn't help the face palm that followed
"Ya really should have seen that coming partner, ya warned them all this was gonna be hard and offered them all training if they needed it, did ya really expect them to miss out? Ya basically said "Hay guys there be a shitstom abrewing and I'm headed straight into it, I'll prepare anyone who's willing to join me, wanna come along?" really Ichigo it's like I know your friends better then you do." the hollow voiced inside his head, Ichigo chose not to respond and moved on to the next person
"...blondie" Ichigo hid the smirk that threatened to break out over his face as he watched the young woman twitch in annoyance, his hollow simply burst out laughing.
"I have a name you know, I even told you it a few days ago." Alice snapped back
"Yeah, but I'm no good with names or faces and this is so much more fun. So do you know why you're failing and what do you think are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"You jerk!" the glare was easy to translate, as was his answering smirk
"I know but I'm not gonna stop"
Alice sighed "I don't quite know why I'm failing, I'm rather good at Kido and Zanjutsu but if anyone disarms me I'm in trouble, also I'm not that fast so it would be a bad idea to put me on a rapid response team"
Ichigo nodded in acceptance before moving on. Once the pair had made their way through the group they made their way to the front once again.
"Alright people don't expect us to remember your names and all, I'm real bad at that," Ichigo ignored the collective sweat drop "but from what I'm hearing your skills are all over the place, that's why we have the basic training coming up but the point was so we can get an idea of what you all think you excel in. Yes what is it?" he finished pointing to a raised hand from Mizuiro of all people
"If you can't remember our names how can you remember what each of us is good at, taicho?"
Ichigo glared at him in response "I don't need to know your names to know your skills mister radar."
His friend just blinked at him and smiled for a response
Alright anymore questions, no, good let's get started" he finished, ignoring the half a crowd of raised hands. What followed was the most brutal training session any of the former students had ever been through.
"My legs are numb," Keigo said weakly "and I can't feel the left side of my face, is that supposed to happen?"
"I think he broke my rib" Alice whispered in shock
The group had collapsed at the side of the training yard to nurse their collection of bruises and complain about the pace of the training.
"He warned us he wasn't going to go easy on us but this is ridicules, it's like he's actually trying to drive us into the ground!" Tatsuki grumbled as she watched the inflictor of their injuries approach
"Don't just sit there and moan we arranged for a unit from the fourth to be on standby in the building out that way" Ichigo instructed as he pointed the way
"What's the deal Ichigo, isn't this a bit excessive!?" Tatsuki snapped at him as she looked around the yard, they were far from the only ones who had been injured
"Not in the slightest, I'm showing you what the human limits are short of real injury, you can't just stop at this you need to go further. You need to be stronger, faster and tougher than the average human soul because they will kill you out in the higher districts, and that's if they feel like being kind. It only gets worse the deeper we go, but I will be honest that I'm going a bit harder on you all then most trainers would, the last thing I want to find out is that someone who willingly followed me into this died or suffered worse because they weren't trained to the best of my ability," he firmly stated before rubbing the back of his head and continuing sheepishly "besides I went through far worse and as they say the best way to learn is to do."
"That's barbaric!" Alice exclaimed "I think I would rather be instructed by your friend in white"
There was a sickening pop thought the courtyard followed by a agonised scream
"No, no I don't think you do, he has a bit of a vendetta against the average Shinigami"
"We're all going to die, aren't we?" Mizuiro whispered as Ichigo left them and headed towards another group
Ichigo and Ishida were making their way home after the day training the new militia forces, they were currently deep in a discussion about the direction the next few lessons were to take and the overall quality they should realistically expect from the group by the end before they split up for the night. What the man following them didn't see was the young Quincy duo keeping close tabs on him.
AN. hey people sorry about the later then usual update. it was a mix of finishing uni for this year, my ever awesome beta reader (joker619) being busy and failing in communication between us. hope you enjoy and as always constructive criticism and other stuff is always welcome