Chapter 10: Vice-Captain of Squad 6
Kiara was practically bouncing up and down from excitement. Shortly before Makoto left 3 days ago on the end of last week, he had told her that he had organized a little surprise. For this day, Kiara would be able to spend some time training with lieutenant Abarai Renji, vice-captain of the 6th division.
How he had pulled it off, she had no idea, but she wasn't about to look a gifthorse in the mouth. She was just happy that she could move around Seireitei freely and not in the direction of Squad 4 for a change (she knew that way by heart now).
It took her about the same time, just in the opposite direction, straight through the grounds of the 10th division. She had heard some things about this squad's captain.
Hitsugaya Toshiro. Appearantly, he was the youngest person to ever become a captain. She had also heard something about a Bankai or whatnot, but that didn't really make sense to her. She had also heard that he was the strongest Ice-user around, so that must mean something.
She made her way through there rather fast, she didn't want to be late.
As soon as she reached the entrance of Squad 6, she was encountered by two guards.
"State your name and task", one of them firmly demanded.
"Rokusan Kiara, of squad 11. I'm supposed to have a meeting with vice-captain Abarai?"
"Check the list", the guard commanded his colleague.
"Are you sure that you have a Meeting with the vice-captain today? We only know of one that is organized and-", he was interrupted by the other guard, which pointed to the list he was holding. The guard who had spoken to her suddenly had an understanding look, turned towards her and said: "Of course, you may pass. Head for the vice-captain's office, its right this way", he said and pointed her in the direction.
"Show this at the entrance, or else they won't let you in", the guard said and handed her a piece of wood with the word "visitor" engraved to it. "Lieutenant Abarai is awaiting your arrival. Have a save trip."
She thanked the guards and went on her way.
Damn these people are polite and uptight here.
The guards from the 4th division didn't really have a list as to who was allowed to pass and squad 11 didn't even have a guard, since they were, well, squad 11. She wasn't used to this kind of formality. Everytime she paid a visit to the hospital in squad 4, the guards just gave her a greeting and a simple handwave, since she was almost a regular there.
While she was heading towards the Vice-Captains office, she noticed how busy everyone was, it was a stark contrast with squad 11. Then again, every division was a stark contrast to the 11th, no one really compared when it came to doing nothing.
Still, she had been to other divisons, or had at least walked through them on her way to the hospital, and none really compared to the 6th.
Finally, she had reached the building and steered towards the entrance. Again she was stopped by the guards, but she had already taken out her visitors pass and showed it to them.
They took it to examine its authenticity, and when they turned it around, a look of surprise appeared on their faces. "Top floor", one of them said tightly, while the other opened the enrance.
Kiara took a glance at the building to examine how many floors there were and stopped halfway through with a sigh. This was gonna take a while.
After she entered, she took a closer look at her pass and examined the other side. She hadn't noticed that something was written on there as well. It was just one word.
Guest of the vice-captain.
Well, that was a surprise. She started to climb the stairs and after what felt like hours, finally made it to the top. She took a moment to catch her breath and stood in front of the door. Then, with a deep breath, she knocked twice.
"Yes?", came the reply after a few seconds from the inside.
"Request permission to enter, sir", Kiara said with a stern voice.
"Granted", was the short answer from the inside. She opened the door and was greeted by a wide room, which showed that order clearly reigned here. Everything looked cleanly categorized, every file maintained with care. And in the middle of it was sitting one man. His body was decorated with tattoos much like Makoto's, only that they reached further than just the arms.
His hair was long and of a slightly brighter red than hers. He also appeared to be wearing a sort of snow headband with a tigerlike marking over his head, while his hair was tightly bound together at the back top of his head.
Think, what did Makoto say comes next? Ah, right, announce myself.
She cleared her voice, bowed and said with a serious tone: "My name is Rokusan Kiara and I am from the 11th division. I have been informed by my superior that I would have an assignement with you today, lieutenant Abarai Renji, vice-captain of the 6th division."
Oh damn, I hope I didn't forget anything, she thought to herself nervously.
Appearantly she hadn't, because her opposite answered with a calm voice: "Ah yes, I've been expecting you. Be a chap and close the door, will ya?"
She followed his request and immediately noticed from his manner of speech that he wasn't as uptight as all the other people she had met in this squad.
"Do you know why you are here today?", he asked her, after she closed the door and took a seat across from where was sitting at his table.
"I have been told that I would spend a day training with you, so that you could supplement my knowledge about the art of fighting, both with the sword and with Kido", she answered as formal as she could.
First, it got her a little chuckle from lieutenant Abarai, after which he asked her amused: "Did Makoto tell you to speak as if you had a stick up your ass?"
"Sir?", she asked confused, as he had nailed Makoto's choice of words to 100 percent.
"Of course he did. Listen, kid. Even if I'm the vice-captain of this division, you don't have to treat me as if polishing my boots would be the greatest honor in your life. We're just two normal people, having a casual conversation. Now, I'm gonna ask again. Do you know why you are here?"
A little embarrassed, she answered with a slight blush on her face: "Makoto told me he organized a training day for me with you."
"Ain't that better?", he asked with a little smile.
She had to smile a little herself and felt incredibly relieved. She didn't know if she could have spent an entire day speaking like that.
"Don't get used to it though. I'm pretty much the only person who will allow you that. Call it solidarity, I've been in squad 11 once too, you know."
"Yeah, vice-captain Madarame told me when he told me where to go this morning. He said he was tutoring you for some time until he had nothing left to teach you. After that, you were relocated to squad 6."
Vice-captain Abarai stared off into the distance for a few moments and then replied with: "Yeah, something like that. I'm gonna let this story be as it is, if he didn't give you the specific reasons, then I am in no position to do so."
"If you don't mind me asking", Kiara started, then stopped to choose her words carefully.
"Yes, what is it?", Lieutenant Abarai asked.
"In what relation do you stand to Makoto Souken? I mean, there must be something. I know he was in this division a while ago, but to be able to get me, someone rather insignificant, a trainingday with the vice-captain of another squad, he must have pulled some strings."
"You didn't fall on your head, that's for sure", was lieutenant Abarai's first response. Then he continued with: "But you're right. Makoto actually was to me what I was to Ikkaku Madarame and what you are to Makoto now. A personal disciple. He was a serious pain in the ass, really. Constantly mouthing off, doing things his own way and always with his head through the wall instead of simply opening the door, sometimes literally."
Kiara had to snicker at that last comment, as it was just too similar to a certain training session she had three days ago.
"He was hopeless. But I saw that he had talent and a lot of potential. That's why I took him in after he dropped out of the academy. He turned out to be a really talented and he suddenly improved a lot under my guidance. He even achieved his Shikai, and a pretty nasty one at that."
Kiara didn't want to be rude and interrupt him, so she simply raised her hand to signal she had a question. He noticed right away ad called her out on it.
"You got another question?", he asked.
"Yeah, more like several. Makoto didn't really fill me in that much about any of the work that Shinigami actually do besides maintaining peace among the worlds. My point is, I don't really get what you're talking about when you throw around words like the academy and Shikai and so on and forth."
Vice-Captain Abarai looked at her a little dumbfounded. "Are you kidding me?"
"I've only been a spirit for about three and a half months", she said, almost apologetically.
"Yeah, I mean, I know that, but didn't Makoto tell you anything?"
She lifted her shoulders and said: "Nope, nothing at all. I'm practically a blank canvas."
"Oh my god, now I understand what he meant with 'needing all my patience'. Fine, fine, it's not your fault. I'll explain everything you wanna know as good as I can. What do you wanna know first?"
She thought a bit about it and then answered: "The academy."
"Alright. The academy is a place where every Shinigami goes to normally, to hone their skills in the use of Zandatsu and Kido, as well as learn the ways of the Shinigami and learn about the other worlds that exist and their rules. There are exceptions though. The captain of your division for example didn't go to that school."
"Then how did he become captain in the first place?", Kiara asked curiously.
"By killing the former captain", lieutenant Abarai stated bluntly. That was a little mood killer, but he quickly carried on. "He however proved to be a valuable asset and despite the fact that he's loathed by some of the other captains, he's given it his all every time when it came to defending Soul Society. And after what happened 4 years ago, I think he also changed a bit."
"What happened 4 years ago?", she asked carefully.
"It's a reeeaaaallly long story, but to get straight to the point: the biggest war ever happened in Soul Society, in which we lost our former Captain-Commander, one of the only persons Kenpachi Zaraki ever payed some respect to. In the same war, in order to attain the strength he needed to defeat the enemy, he had to kill a person who he had looked up to. In those events, he also lost his former vice-captain, one of the only persons he deeply cared about. Long story short, he may be a rough, fierce, sometimes uncultured and pretty violent person, but even he has his soft spots and the last war did quite a number on him. From time to time I even see him paying his respects at the grave of the former captain-commander."
He took a deep breath before he continued. From what Kiara could tell, he had also didn't walk away unscathed from that war. "That's a story for another time however. It's not something of your concern, so no need to burden yourself with it. What other questions do you have?"
"Are there other examples of people who dropped out or have never gone to the academy that still made splendid Shinigamis?"
"I'm sure there are some examples in squad 11, but I couldn't name them, even if I tried. The only ones I can think off the top of my head is Kenpachi Zaraki, Makoto Souken and of course, you. Makoto told me all about you. He sees quite the potential in you."
"He does?", she asked surprised.
"What, he never told you?"
"All he ever talks about is training. He did make some remarks about it the last time we 'exercised', but I didn't think he held me in high regards."
"Well, it's really more his responsibility than mine to say this, but for some reason he holds you very dearly. None of my business though. Moving on. Next question", he commanded.
Even though his remark took her a little aback, she immediately knew what her next question was. "What's a shikai? And while we're at it, what's a Bankai?"
"Ah, now we get to the interesting things. Shikai and Bankai are terms for a swordrelease. Let me explain", he said with a calming expression as soon as he saw her confused face.
"What you are carrying around with you, that sword? It's called an Zanpakutou. The sword has a spirit, or, if that sounds easier to understand, the sword is alive and fights your battles with you as a companion. Eventually, when you're strong enough, you will start hearing your swords voice, as it tells you what its name is. When you speak that name out loud and mean to, you can awaken your sword's hidden power, and also raise your own. A so-called swordrelease. A Bankai is a little more difficult to attain. First you have to be able to summon the spirit of your sword into this world as a material being. Then, you have to fight and defeat that spirit, so it can reveal it's true form and power to you, its final form, the Bankai. A Bankai is a Shinigamis last resort and absolut trump card. Few have ever mastered it. Among the only ones currently in possession of the skill is every Captain, logically the Captain-Commander and some exceptions who aren't captains, like me, who have already mastered their Bankai but don't wish to become a captain. Being able to use Bankai is actually one of the qualifications."
"Does Makoto have one?"
"What, a Bankai? I have no idea. He once bragged about having achieved it something over 6 months ago, right before he went on a mission in the human world, but I've never really heard him speak of it since. I don't think so however. Achieving Bankai takes a lot of focus and commitment. Over the time I've trained him, I've rarely seen him display these traits."
"Is that really the only way to achieve Bankai?", she asked very interested.
"There is a method that doesn't take nearly as long, yes. It was developed by a man named Urahara Kisuke and with it, achieving Bankai only took up about 3 days instead of the usual 10 years. I've actually seen it work once. The current Shinigami Substitute Kurosaki Ichigo reached what was then his Bankai this way. I think the research department has been looking into it under the tutelage of the Captain of the 12th division himself."
She thought about other things she could ask him, but not much came to mind, so she thought she'd start focusing on the actual reason why she came here.
"Did Makoto say something about what we would do today? Did he give you any kind of advice or something?"
"Nope", Lieutenant Abarai said, slightly stressed. "The scatterbrain just told me to pick up where he left, I'd know what to do. Seriously, the dude has no organization. Alright, what do you want to focus on first, Kido or Zandatsu?"
"Wait, I can choose?"
"Of course. Training cases like you is a special endeavor. First we should focus on your strong points and improve on the weaknesses later. And since you know yourself the best, you should know what you're good at and what not."
Kiara thought about it a few moments and then remembered the bet she had made with Makoto a few days ago. "Kido", was her answer.
"Alright then, show me what you already know", he demanded.
Proudly, she stood up, took a few steps back and with a smile, released her spiritual pressure. Over the last few days she had trained a lot and now, she could release it a little bit faster and more contolled.
"Alright, at least we don't need to go over the basics. Now, focus your Reiatsu into one point."
She looked a little confused at that request, but thought she knew in a certain way what he wanted. She put her hands together and tried to move the outstreaming Reiatsu towards one point. Surprisingly, it did not go the way she thought and she instead lost control. She looked somewhat dumbfounded, but picked up her focus again and started to release her Reiatsu.
Again, she tried to focus her Reiatsu into one point, again to no effect. She tried one more time, only to fail once again.
Vice-Captain Abarai laughed softly and asked: "You want me to give you a hint?"
She was about to say "yes", but stopped at the last moment, remembering Makoto's words. "Learning effect is best when you do it yourself". As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. So she answered: "I'd like to keep trying myself."
"Even if it'll take you the whole day?", he said challengingly.
"Yes. It's a lesson Makoto taught me. 'The best way to learn how to do something is figuring it out yourself'."
Vice-captain Abarai raised an eyebrow and replied: "That's not always true, but there is a significant truth to it. You may try by yourself until you succeed, then we will continue, do you agree with these terms?", he asked.
"Yes, absolutely", she answered.
"Would you mind if do some paper work while you practice? I can stop as soon as you are ready or need help, but I've got some important things to take care of", he nudged towards a rather high stack of papers.
"Of course", she replied. "I wouldn't want to keep a vice-captain from doing his work just because I need to practice, by all means."
"How very understanding of you", he said in a thankful tone.
And that was in fact how the day went by. Him filling out the paperwork and her failing again and again to fullfil the one task he gave her.
She tried various different approaches, several varying methods. Slowly, fast, with force, with care, but no matter what she did, she didn't succeed.
And so the day actually ended with her not having accomplished a single thing.
A little disappointed in herself, she said goodbye and headed towards the exit. Just as she was about to open the door, he said: "Come back tomorrow, then we'll either continue where we left off or look at something else."
She turned around delighted, to which he added: "I was able to do quite the workload today, so I'll have some spare time to spend. Come back at the same time. I'll have everything organized."
She thanked him and went out the exit more cheerful. She had another chance. With these happy thoughts, she made her way back to the squad 11 grounds.
ooo
Renji waited until the girl closed the door, then he let himself fall on his back.
"Damn it Makoto", he said out loud. Not only was the education he gave to that girl incredibly faulty, it was completely out of character for him to do something like that in the first place.
Makoto was free-spirited, gleeful, a bit sadistic and full of joy and always wanted to live his life his own way. Never, in the time that Renji was tutoring him, did he seem like the kind of person that would just take care of someone else all of a sudden.
Renji had seen that he had the potential for many things, which was also why he took him in.
When he had first heard of Souken Makoto, it was in form of a document that said "academy drop-out breaks into academy". The tagline itself sounded ridiculous and at first, he even thought it was a joke.
He was sent to investigate and when he found the culprit he was surprised. He didn't get the kind of vibes from him that would give one the idea that this kid would drop out simply because he failed entry tests, or was not talented or intelligent enough.
On the contrary. Makoto was a pretty smart kid. When Renji had asked him why he had broken into the academy without actually stealing something, Makotos answer had been: "When they kicked me out, I voiced complaints over the faulty security. They said their security is top-notch and looked down on me with that "you're nothing"-look in their eyes, so I proved them wrong. Also to prove that I can", he had added selfstatisfied. "I've got nothing to lose, especially with my recent drop-out."
Renji had seen that with different education, this kid might become a splendid Shinigami. So he had taken him in and trained him. He had flourished better than Renji could have had imagined. He once asked Renji why he took him in and when the latter named his reasons, Makoto, for the first time, sincerely payed his respect to Renji and said he could never do such a thing. Taking responsibility was just not his type.
"So what changed?", Renji asked himself out loud. When Makoto had contacted him, it came as somewhat of a surprise. When he said he'd like Renji to train his protegè, he was taken aback and confronted him about it. He had acted all mysteriously and kept it to himself. Something was off. There had to be more to it then a sudden change in attitude. Makoto wasn't that kind of person, Renji knew that much.
He had no other choice but to confront him the next time he saw him.
ooo
The next morning, Kiara was almost too early. She had been so full of excitement, she almost didn't sleep the whole night.
This time the guards didn't demand for her objective or name, they just stopped her to hand out the "visitor"-tag.
She made her way to the vice-captain's office without any further ado, passed the guards, climbed up all the stairs and knocked at the door.
"Yes?", resounded the answer from the inside.
She opened the door and didn't announce herself this time, as she figured it probably wasn't necessary after their last conversation about this topic.
"Ah yes, close the door and sit down", Lieutenant Abarai. She did just that and after she sat down, he quickly finished his work and put it aside. "So, do you want to continue where we left of yesterday, or would you like to start something new?", he asked.
"I'd like to start something new", she admitted a little embarrassed.
"Are you sure?", he replied a bit surprised.
"Yeah, I am. When I left yesterday, I kept practicing after I got back home and I still didn't get any further than at the beginning. I'll certainly keep practicing that, as it's definitively gonna help me improve, but for now, I'd like to try something new. I feel like I'd be wasting your time otherwise."
Lieutenant Abarai just nodded and said: "I've actually prepared something for today, if you'd like to polish your swordtraining."
At first she wanted to decline, but then she remembered that the person sitting in front of her wasn't Makoto, but someone who'd probably be more restrictive.
"Yeah, sure, why not", she answered.
Apparently, she didn't overplay her discomfort too well, because Vice-Captain Abarai raised an eyebrow and asked: "You don't seem overly thrilled. Is something wrong?"
"I… combat with the sword isn't exactly my strong suit, or favorite topic to be honest."
"Makoto's training methods?"
"Makoto's training methods."
"Yeah, restraint was never one of his strengths. Don't worry, I'm not as harsh as he is. But, just to be sure; what has he taught you up until now?"
Kiara didn't have to think long. "Mostly how to defend myself and one or two actually valuable lessons lately."
"Really? And what would those be?"
"The last time we fought, he let me use a raised spiritual pressure so I could have a little advantage, but he still put me down with relative ease", she rubbed her right shoulder while she was speaking. Luckily, she had been able to hold her concentration before Makoto had catapulted her to the ground. That dampened the damage she would have taken from that hit quite a bit, but her shoulder was still a little sore.
"He taught me that, if raw power wasn't absolutely overwhelming and basically from another world, it would always lose to deception and skill."
"That's absolutely right. If you don't know what to do with your power, then it's wasted", the lieutenant concluded. "Ânything else i should know?"
"Nope, not really."
"Good, then get up. I've prepared a training ground not far from here, there we can see how fleshed out your skillset is and polish it a little."
She nodded and both got up. He walked around the table and as soon as he passed her, she followed him.
They went outside the door, down the staircase and outside the building. Then, he turned to the right and started walking at a moderate pace. They walked for a good ten minutes until the training ground he spoke of came in sight.
Kiara had expected another dojo, but it was actually a vast green field, with wooden figures put up.
"From what I've heard, you have to put up with numerous figths on a daily basis and most of those end with you either winning or in a draw right?", he asked.
She simply nodded.
"From that I can gather that you are a pretty passable combatant already. What we will look at today isn't really combat though, it's more your form. Your stance, the way you hold your blade, if there are any wasted movements in your attacks and defences and so on and forth. For that, we will use these", he said and pointed at the wooden figures.
Now that she was closer, she could actually make out what the figures really looked like. They were made of three parts. The top part was shorter compared to the other two and most likely represented the head of a person. The middle part was longer and had two arms sticking out of it, positioned exactly at the opposite of the other, while both were holding a sword.
The bottom part simply two poles sticking out straight, also completely opposite of each other.
"It works like this", Vice-Captain Abarai said and drew his sword. He stood in front of one of the figures, positioned his foot to a line drawn in the ground and gave one of the swords a hit. It started moving around, with the other sword closing in on him. He deflected it and the part moved the other way around. He did that a few times and nothing happened, until the bottom part suddenly sprung around and aimed for his feet.
He simply stepped back and evaded the attack with absloute ease.
"Inside of the mannequin is a spring-mechanism. If you attack the upper part which is supposed to be the arms, you wind up the spring until it snaps. When that happens, the mannequin attacks with its 'legs'. There are several springs inside, which exchange their position once used. Like this, the attack pattern is more sporadic and wild and trains your reflexes. The goal is to always stand on the line in fornt of the mannequin and not move back like I just did", he explained very thoroughly.
"You ready to give it a try?", he asked.
She nodded, stepped in front of a mannequin and drew her sword. It was a ^strange Sensation to actually Train with her own sowrd, since when she fought other People she always used a bokken or her sword with the scabbard still on. As soon as she took her stance, he said: "Wait, stay just like that."
He moved around her and studied her from top to bottom. Then he said: "Your feet are a little too close together. You can't properly move around or evade. The chance that you'll stumble over your own legs is too high. Bend both your knees about the same amount, but not too much. Also straighten your back and loosen up your upper body a bit, you're too tense."
She made all the corrections and as soon as he was statisfied, he signaled her to start.
At first she went at a slow pace, to get used to the new training method. She put most of her focus on the two swords and kept attacking and deflecting them, but also kept an eye on the "legs".
When they snapped the first few times it was easy to evade or block. She made a simple jump or deflected the hit with her balde. Then she picked up the pace and started to attack harder and faster, until she got hit by a swing from below that was way faster than the others.
In one fellow swoop, she was knocked off her feet and fell to the ground.
"Naturally", the vice-captain started to explain, "when you start to be more aggressive, so will your opponent. The contraption has a mechanism that reacts to stronger attacks and takes different springs the stronger the attacks get."
It sounded obvious and Kiara felt stupid for not thinking of that herself. She got back up and took her stance again, realized that a few things were off and corrected them by herself. Then she took a deep breath and started again.
It went like this for the whole day and for the entire time, vice-captain Abarai stood there with crossed arms and watched her carefully. Sometimes he stopped her and showed her how to do certain moves more efficiently. She noticed how she moved around way too much with a few of those maneuvers.
It went on and on, until another Shinigami showed up and ran up to lieutenant Abarai to deliver a message to him.
"Vice-Captain Abarai, Sir. I am here to inform you that your meeting with captain Kuchiki has been moved from tomorrow to the present day. He is awaiting your report in his office in an hour."
Lieutenant Abarai clicked with his tongue and mumbled something to himself before responding with: "Thank you for delivering the message. You may fall out."
"Sir", his opposite answered and made his way in the direction he came from.
After he left, the Vice-Captain turned around and told Kiara: "It appears we've run out of time. I'm sorry but this is all I can teach you. You're gonna have to practice on your own until Makoto returns from whatever he's doing."
"Thank you very much. Your teachings helped me a lot", she responded.
"Don't sweat it, I didn't really do much", he replied. "Well, I'll be off then, I have some things to prepare. Take care", he said.
"Thanks, you too."
After he took off, she slowly made her way back towards squad 11 and for once she actually hoped that she'd get some challenges. That way she could practice what she just learned.
Author's notes:
So, a few words regarding this chapter. Let's start with the obvious: Renji. Why was Makoto Renji's disciple? Better question is, why not? I thought it was a fun way of working in a character we know and like. As to why he acted the way he did? Well, since this does take place four years after Ichigo defeated Yhwach, i thought it would only be natural if Renji matured a little and became more... refined. Now many of us know Renji, but the lore shows that he's actually only being himself around his friends and is actually a pretty dutyful Person, hence the actual fucking reason why he's Byakuyas right hand in the first place. That's why I thought his working place wouldn't be chaos incarnate, so it isn't. I ain't got much else though, so that's that.
If you`ve got your own opinion, PM me, or, better yet, review the Story. I`ll always welcome constructive criticism.