Chapter 9: Fight! Fight! Fight!

I was well aware of the eight idiots approaching in the darkness even before my eyes could see them, mainly because I was on a constant high alert (I had been half-expecting Kenpachi to drop from the sky and try to kill me at any moment during the past week).

Of course, in comparison to him, they were barely a blip on the spiritual-sensing radar, so I wasn't too concerned.

I'd had a good training session over the last couple of hours, and I was rather beat up - those training mannequins seriously packed a punch. And it seemed they had a limit to the number of times they would reflect my power back at me; half of them had already blown apart into useless pieces from the relentless pounding of my strikes. In contrast, my condition was oddly better: sure, I had bruises up to my ears and blood dripping from facial orifices that should probably be professionally looked at, but I didn't feel finished. Instead of exhausted, I felt intoxicated, kind of... buzzed. I felt like I was floating. If not for my insane spiritual power I was pretty sure I'd be face-down in the grass, but still the energy surged within me. The little control I'd managed to learn since my arrival in Seireitei was quite beyond me at this point, and I was a little worried by the reiatsu leaking out of me all over the place. The fact that Kenpachi hadn't sensed it and found me made me think that the training grounds probably had some kind of barrier around it.

Seeing the students approach, I turned away from the last mannequin I'd been beating up and rolled my shoulder experimentally. Something crunched in the joint before settling, but I ignored the pinching pain that accompanied it. I still had full mobility so it can't have been important.

I shook my head and waited for the ringing to go away - it sounded like a crazed violinist was sawing away in my ears. I squinted - Ah, I recognize some of them, I mused, noticing with interest that my vision also seemed effected by my condition; colours had gotten strangely bright and almost fluid-looking. My extremities were numb, giving me a weird sense of disconnection to my body. Regardless, my mind at least was quite lucid - I could deduce who they were and guess why they had arrived. Especially since they were approaching me with such obvious hostility. I felt a momentary twinge of guilt- I had been booking out the field for almost three days solid now, and that surely inconvenienced people - but the twinge faded. My reasons for being an inconvenience were sound; it was nothing more or less than my very life on the line here. Perhaps if I explained, they would understand.

Though they were dressed like students of the academy, their ages varied from young teenager (one spotty youth with a pinched face) to the oldest, a bulky man who looked to be in his thirties and also seemed to be the ring-leader. His muscles bulged in his arms and neck as he scowled, as if hoping he would intimidate me by virtue of size alone. He stomped forward until he stood directly before me.

"Uh... 'Sup?" I nodded at him, folding my arms. The casual motion made my abused muscles scream but I kept my face neutral.

The other seven hung back, seeming somewhat reluctant to approach so recklessly. At least some of them could sense my very obvious reiatsu leaking all over the place like a punctured kiddie-pool. I caught the slightly nauseated expressions of the dudes just behind the ringleader and belatedly scrubbed my face with my sleeve, hopefully clearing the majority of blood from my nose and split lips. Coupled with the bruises and general dirt from being tossed around by the explosive mannequins, who knows what they must think of me, I thought somewhat giddily.

"Oi, girly," growled the ring-leader, flexing his fists meaningfully, "I gotta bone to pick with you. Every time me n'my mates here want to use the grounds you're signed in!" he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the gatehouse in the distance.

"I have a good reason." I sighed. "And anyway, if you've already seen my name, then why don't you use it?" Girly just wasn't appropriate for a future Captain and Kuchiki Byakuya's future lover.

"As if I give a shit about a nobody like you," he sneered. "Just get lost before I really get annoyed!"

"My name is Raen," I responded, feeling a twinge of annoyance. "Try to remember it." Introducing myself was becoming such a pain. Repeating the shortened version was becoming my catchphrase. "You see, I'm actually in mortal danger from the Captain of the Eleventh Division, who's trying to kill me, so I've been training in order to-"

"I don't give a shit," he interrupted harshly, showing no sign he'd even heard me. "Now get the hell out." he indicated his buddies with a nod. "We're training here."

There went my attempt at an explanation. What about negotiation? "By all means," I said generously, waving an arm at the expansive field. "Train away. But I'm afraid I'm in the middle of something, so I'm not leaving. If you want to use the training posts we can divide them up-"

He stepped forward threateningly, until his face was right in mine. "Didn't you hear me?" he barked, spittle flying. I flinched away, mostly from his breath. He took it as a sign of my defeat and smirked in triumph. "And if you know what's good for you, you won't let me catch you here again!"

"Dude," I gasped, flapping a hand, "Have you ever heard of breath-mints? Like, seriously!"

For a moment he gaped at me, clearly enraged by my continued defiance, and then with an outraged bellow, he swung his meaty fist at my face.

Pathetic, I thought, flash-stepping behind him easily. It felt like he was moving in slow motion. Even if he'd hit me I could tell it wouldn't have had much of an impact. He wasn't using any spiritual energy - because he didn't seem to have much.

I watched his battle-cry trail off into a confused "...Uuuaahh?" as he whipped his head left and right to see where I'd gotten to.

"Behind you," I said helpfully.

He spun around with a girlish shriek, stumbling back.

I chuckled. For a rude oaf, he really made some interesting sounds.

"Here's an idea," I said conversationally, turning to the seven other guys watching with open mouths, "Let's train together!" I made a fist with my right hand and caught a slow punch with my open left palm. Just that simple movement made my bones creak from the power released by my muscles, and the air trembled around me. My spiritual energy doubled, then trebled in anticipation, causing an unnatural wind to lift strands of my hair. "I must warn you, though," I said sheepishly, "At the moment I don't think I can hold back."

The seven guys seemed reluctant, to say the least. Most were frozen in the face of my awesomeness. The skinny, youngest one was outright quivering. I shot him what I hoped was a friendly smile, and he turned tail and actually ran, disappearing into the treeline. (At the time I was confused, but later I realized that I'd probably had blood on my teeth).

The others weren't as smart, and exchanged nervous glances, but decided not to budge. I remembered that they were all members of the "Advanced Class" at the academy, and probably had issues of pride to deal with. Their zanpakuto's were at their sides, and some of them were anxiously resting their hands on the hilts already. I excitedly wondered if any of them had attained the release of their swords yet - I hadn't had the opportunity to see one. Using zanpakutos outside of class or without shinigami supervision was Rule Number 1 at the Academy; I'd been threatened with expulsion if I tried. The training ground was one of the few exceptions, but I was still pretty sure the Academy wouldn't condone us fighting each other.

I heard a whisper of steel from behind me as the big guy drew his own zanpakuto. "Last chance to leave, little girl," he sneered, bravado back in place.

"Right back atcha." I drawled, but left my zanpakuto where it was. I had no desire to be expelled.

At my words the others also drew their swords, shifting to create a ring around me. Their superior numbers seemed to give them confidence despite the steam that was now curling up from the grass around my feet. This was so exciting! My first fight.

With a yell the biggest dude charged at me, swinging his sword clumsily at my back.

Once again it seemed like he was moving in slow motion, only this time I didn't avoid the blow. He'd been aiming for my shoulder - trying to wound, not kill, at least - so I raised my hand and caught the blade with an anti-climactic thwack.

He froze in shock - they all did.

I peered at my palm, still gripping the sharp edge of his blade, and snorted. It hadn't even broken the skin. It felt like catching a stick. I squeezed it experimentally and instantly felt the fragility of the blade - it shivered like glass under the pressure. And swords were conscious - the poor thing was probably terrified. Before I snapped it I let go, hastily, feeling like a bully.

He jumped backward, but shook himself out of his shock remarkably quickly. "Just a fluke," he announced confidently, and charged again.

With a sigh I stepped around him and gave him a small, experimental push in between his shoulder blades.

With a muffled yelp, he flew head over heels for several meters, before coming to a halt in a crumpled heap. He looked a little cross-eyed, but otherwise quite intact.

I flexed my fist, pleased. I hadn't killed him!

The others filled the air with surprised exclamations, calling out if their friend was okay. A couple of them whimpered and backed away, but some looked outraged.

I grinned and made a "come hither" gesture.

"Who's next?"

Twenty minutes later, and all but three were groaning on the ground around me beside their fallen ring-leader.

The three that remained were a little more interesting.

Tall and serious-faced, the three young men had managed to avoid my blows with exemplary flash-steps, and so far had remained quiet, observing my movements with eyes more experienced than mine. They had drawn swords, but hadn't attacked just yet...

"You guys are different from the rest," I commented, folding my arms and relaxing into a standing pose. "Do you even want to fight me? We could learn a lot from training together." I was hopeful they would accept my offer. Their zanpakutos seemed packed more densely with reiatsu than the others - it seemed they might actually have achieved the released form!

One of the guys had shoulder-length blonde hair, and he was the one who spoke now, scowling. "Not after what you did to Kenji-san!"

"Who?" I asked, confused. I followed their gaze to the bulky ringleader, who seemed to have regained his wits and was struggling to his feet at last. "Oh, him." I gave him a cheerful wave. "Sorry, Kenji-san!"

He staggered to his feet, his thick fingers gripping his zanpakuto so hard they turned white, "... Unforgiv-..." he panted, "Unforgivable!" He drew himself up and puffed out his chest. "For you to lay a hand on the great Kenji-sama is UNFORGIVABLE!"

I sighed, sensing an incoming rant. "Here we go..."

"JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

"As I mentioned before, my name is-"

"SHUT UP! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST ENTER THE ACADEMY AND DO AS YOU PLEASE-"

I cast a look back at the three others still standing, and saw them nodding, agreeing. "Why do you follow this fool?" I asked them, exasperated.

"Don't interrupt Kenji-san!" hissed the blonde guy.

Well, 'Kenji-san' hadn't even noticed our little exchange.

"-SKIPPING CLASSES AND BOOKING THE FIELDS! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE IN THE ADVANCED CLASS! JUST WHEN HAVE YOU PROVED THAT-"

Perhaps it was time to change tack.

"I totally agree you." I said simply, nodding sympathetically.

"YOU SHOULD NOT- wait... what?" I'd completely derailed his ire with my unexpected answer.

"I agree." I repeated.

"You - Are you tryin' to screw with me?!"

I sighed in the face of his hysterics. "I agree that I probably shouldn't have been given special treatment."

He gaped soundlessly.

"I'm pretty sure the entire system here is flawed." I stated calmly. "The fact that I can actually skip an entire class every day and still get special treatment is appalling. I have a lot of reiatsu, but I don't know shit about actually using it. I'm sure you guys have worked really hard with the amount of spiritual energy you can use, honing your talents over time. While I just walk in and basically do whatever. It's blatantly saying only power matters, and nothing else." I snorted, "It's no wonder people keep trying to take over Soul Society and change stuff." I'd read up on the events of the past couple of years. Aizen was just the worst of many cases of shinigamis going bad and abusing positions of power. And just the fact that they'd relied on a Substitute Shinigami to save the day instead of the many talented and clever Captains among the Gotei 13 told me the Captain-Commander didn't have faith in the system either.

They all just stared at me.

"However, that said," I continued, "I do have an issue with you targeting me because of your annoyance at this injustice. Clearly, something is wrong at an institutional level. At the moment, I'm afraid I can't do anything to change it. You'll have to wait until I become a Captain, and then rest assured I'll address all your concerns directly to the Captain-Commander."

This (extremely generous) statement seemed to enrage their ring-leader even further.

"You?" he boomed, his face going an unattractive red with temper, "Become a Captain?!"

Perhaps all of my very well-thought-out and rational arguments went over his head, and he'd just picked up on this. "Yes." I said in a long-suffering voice.

"You're a hundred years too early to even think of it!" he smacked his own chest proudly, "That's coming from a man who has spent sixty years perfecting his skills and honing his talents!"

Now I was struck dumb, but only for a moment.

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Sixty... YEARS?! You've been a student at the academy for sixty years?"

"Now you understand just how unprepared you are to face-"

"Pfft!" I couldn't help it.

"DID YOU JUST LAUGH?"

"Dude," I said, unsuccessfully trying to stifle my snorting, "You took sixty years to get into the special advanced class? Look, I'm halfway impressed by your... uh... determination... But seriously, don't you think you should start considering another career path? Like... perhaps this isn't for you..."

With an outraged bellow he charged for a third time, swinging his sword wildly.

And behind me I felt an explosion of reiatsu as the three others released their swords.

This was precisely the opening they'd been waiting for!

I felt their killing intent spike, as all three flash-stepped together while my back was turned.

My eyes widened.

I had no time to escape or block.