AN:

So sorry it took so long for the new chapter but I had an existential crisis over the realization that I have no idea how to writing fighting scenes. Please bear with me I will work on improving them while the story progresses!

Enough of me, hope you enjoy the chapter :)

After Usagi's success Urahara called the girls together.

"Now that all of you have a certain control of your spiritual energy it is time for you to learn the first kidō spell. Kidō might seem impractical in battle at first because it demands a chant to use. In fact, there are a lot of Shinigami that never use it outside of class. If you are familiar enough with a spell though," he raised his hand and pointed his index finger at a rock, "you can shorten the chant… or skip it all together." A bright light shot from Urahara's finger hitting the rock with enough force to make the girls step back. After the dust settled they could see a small but clean whole all the way through the rock. "If you use a kidō spell without the full incantation it will lose a lot of its power, which you have to counter by putting more energy into it."

"So you have to have a certain level of reiatsu for kidō spells to be useful during battle?"

"Good question, Amy. Yes and no. The more powerful a spell is the longer the incantation. Low level spells like the one I showed you can be easily used by every Shinigami even without the full incantation."

"I assume that this spell is not as destructive when we use it?" Rei pointed at the rock.

Urahara smiled.

"Not a bad guess. My reiatsu is a little above average even compared to that of a Shinigami. So my spells are a bit more powerful."

Urahara had given each girl a piece of paper with the chant for the spell written on it and like he expected Rei was a natural. She got the spell working within the first fifteen minutes and with a decent amount of power packed behind it as well.

"This is actually really similar to what I do to get rid of evil spirits."

Amy succeeded shortly after. "It's like using the correct formula for a math problem, once you have it, it works every time."

Both of them were working on shortening the chant in between helping their friends. Minako got that hang of it the following morning. Watching them practice until nightfall Urahara decided to tell them about his idea. He approached them at the group of rocks they made their corner.

"I was thinking of letting you go up against a hollow soon."

Minako choked on the water she just drank and Usagi almost dropped her rice ball.

"What?"

"But we have no swords."

"And Usagi and I haven't managed the kidō spell yet."

"It will be a good exercise. Some people find their Zanpakutō through meditation and practice, that's true, but some also find it in battle. We cannot leave this option unexplored, can we? I won't let you die. Don't worry."

"Why is it that him telling us not to worry makes me worry even more?"

Urahara woke the girls in the middle of the night, telling them he felt the spirit pressure of a weak hollow. In the span of only a few minutes they were out of their bodies and running through the streets of Karakura. The hollow was indeed quite small, smaller than the one they faced back in Tokyo. It turned towards them and let out a howl.

"Just like we practiced girls!" Minako yelled.

The hollow attacked and the girls scattered, surrounding it in the process. Rei, Amy and Minako aimed at it and spoke the short chant but only one of their spells graced the hollow as it jumped up high in the air. It landed right behind Minako. She spun around, barely avoiding its attack. Rei aimed at the hollow again but it jumped up in the air once more.

"Dammit. Why can't it just sit still?"

"I've had enough." Makoto bend her knees slightly and once the hollow touched the ground again she sprinted towards it. With a yell she jumped and punched the hollow right between the horns of its bone mask. Small cracks formed and the hollow let out a blood curdling scream. It slammed one arm into Makoto, sending her flying into a lamp post. Usagi screamed and ran to her friend's side. She held Makoto close to her.

"Don't worry Usagi." Makoto coughed. "I'm fine, just a few bruises. Nothing I haven't had before."

Usagi blinked away tears and smiled.

"Don't scare me like the Makoto! You can't leave me. Promise me you won't leave m-"

"Watch out!"

Usagi looked up at the rapidly descending arm of the hollow. She held Makoto closer and stared the hollow dead in the eyes.

"Not again," she whispered. A bright light erupted from her forehead, blinding the hollow and everybody around. With a pained howl the monster stumbled back and disappeared into a dark cloud which vanished shortly after.

"What the hell is going on here, Urahara?"

A boy with bright orange hair stood where the hollow had just disappeared, holding a sword almost as tall as himself in his hand.

"Kurosaki. You interrupted their training." Urahara hid a pout behind his fan.

"Who's what?"

"Though… the training seemed to have succeeded partially."

The girls stared at him.

"Succeeded? Are you kidding me? Makoto almost died!"

"It's just a few bruises," Makoto said, "Not dying."

"Ah but it seems Usagi has found her Zanpakutō."

They looked at Usagi, who was still sitting on the ground, her friend in her arms. She blinked up at the girls and pointed a finger herself.

"Me?"

"Holy shit Urahara was right."

"Language Minako."

"Usagi actually did it."

She looked down at herself and let out a startled squeak. She was dressed in the same black garb the boy was wearing and on her hip was a slim sword with a red and blue handle.

"Can someone finally explain to me what the hell is going on here?"

They looked back at the boy.

"I'm training these girls to become Shinigami."

Kurosaki started laughing loudly. He glanced at the girls' serious faces.

"Oh. You're not kidding."

Minako crossed her arms.

"No. Urahara's not kidding."

The boy started laughing again.

"That's a good one. A bunch of random girls trying to become Shinigami. Urahara. Since when are you teaching some humans with barely any reiatsu to become Shinigami?"

"They do have decent reiatsu. And they are handling things quite well. I'd say they might make it up to the level of a seated officer."

Kurosaki stopped laughing. He gave the girls a look-over.

"These girls? They look like they'd run from a spider, much less face a hollow. Have they ever even seen a fight outside of a movie?"

Minako gaped at the boy. She took a few big steps at him and jabbed her finger into his chest.

"Listen here you little shit."

He looked down at her with slight surprise.

"We have faced too many battles to put up with your bullshit. We didn't save the damn galaxy for people like you to look down on us!"

Kurosaki snorted. "Fought what? Your pillow?"

"This guy."

"Minako… Calm down."

"I will fucking murder him."

"You couldn't give me scratch. Not even in your dreams. You don't even have a Zanpakutō."

He turned and put the sword back on his back. He looked at Urahara.

"You should send these girls home. They are making my job unnecessarily difficult. I can't kill hollows and babysit some wannabe Shinigami."

With a frustrated growl Minako jumped at the boy. He swung around but a light blinded him and barely a second later Minako was standing in front of him, arm outstretched, a sword in her hand. Kurosaki was holding his Zanpakutō as well, blocking Minako's blade with his own only a few centimetres away from his left cheek. His face showed surprise staring at Minako's angry eyes. A few moments passed without anybody moving. Then he blinked or she blinked and they both let their swords sink.

"Whatever. Try not to cut yourself with your new toy."

He left.

"By the stars. I hate that guy."

"Minako."

"What?"

"You did it!"

"Did what?"

"You have your Zanpakutō!"

"I do? I do!"

Urahara watched as the girls celebrated Usagi's and Minako's success. He tapped his chin with his fan. It seemed he still could not assess these girls properly. Just a few days ago he had been fully convinced that Usagi was a hopeless case and now she was the first one to get her Zanpakutō. And the immense power he felt when she got it was unlike anything he felt before. He wish he could have had more time to analyse it but her reiatsu was back to the level she had when she was Sailor Moon.

Something shifted in Usagi's attitude the days after their encounter with the hollow, she still complained about every scratch she got during training, but she got up faster and managed to give Minako quite the work out during their sparring.

"One more round."

Usagi was one her knees, covered in dust and small cuts. She leaned on her Zanpakutō for support and stood up. Across her Minako smiled. She lifted her sword, pointing it at Usagi.

"Bring it on."

Rei sat down next to Urahara, joining him in watching her two friends. The match was over quickly with Minako pushing Usagi into the dirt once again. Amy went up to them.

"Both of you, sit down. No more sword training for today. We're checking out those cuts."

"I have to admit, Usagi surprised me," Urahara said watching Amy clean the girls' wounds.

Rei smiled.

"Usagi? She's a cry-baby, unreliable, clumsy and thinks with her stomach. But she is also kind-hearted, gentle, funny and loyal to the people she loves. She is our pri… friend and we will protect her." Her smile faltered. "As proud as I am at her for trying to become a Shinigami, I just wish she wouldn't have to fight anymore." Rei looked at Urahara. "I'm actually not surprised at all she was the first to succeed. She has lost her loved ones one too many times." She took a deep breath. "I'll get back to meditating," she said, standing up and leaving a bewildered Urahara behind.

Amy finished cleaning up Usagi's and Minako's wounds and Urahara called her over.

"I noticed you looking after your friends' injuries. Your skills seem to go beyond putting on band-aids. Did you take classes?"

She blushed slightly.

"My mother is a doctor and I am planning on studying medicine as well."

"I see. Your kidō is also very good so far. I can teach you a basic healing spell if you want. It is only useful for minor cuts and bruises as bigger injuries would use up too much energy, but-"

"I would love to learn it!" Amy's eyes shone. "Please teach me."

Urahara smiled and wrote down the chant for Amy.

"Thank you!" Amy got up and retreated to a more quite corner next to Rei, who was still meditating.

In front of Rei was a small fire bowl. She had asked Urahara for one the day after their fight. He was confused at first but she had explained him that she had a strong spiritual connection to fire, being protected by the planet Mars. He did not question it, he only took a mental note of it. The girls had explained him that their powers came from their soul and were given to them to protect Earth from invaders but that was it. There seemed to be much more behind that simple explanation and he was willing to be patient. He was still convinced that he heard the name Sailor Senshi somewhere a long time ago. The flames suddenly blazed up interrupting him in his thoughts. They got higher and bigger until a figure brushed them aside. The flames retreated back into the bowl and cleared the view onto Rei. She looked at the blade in her left hand with fascination. He friends ran up to her.

"I think I heard a voice."

"A voice?" Amy pulled out the mini laptop she seemed to carry with her at any time and started typing. "What did it say?"

Rei shook her head. "I couldn't understand."

"A voice? Did you hear a voice Usagi?"

"No. You Minako?"

"No. Are you sure you didn't lose a few braincells staring at flames for hours and days?"

"Minako…"

"Sorry."

Amy put her laptop away and reached for Rei's right hand.

"You got burned. Let me see if this kidō works on burns as well."

"A new kidō?"

"Yes, a healing one. Urahara just taught me."

"Like… just now?"

"Have some trust in Amy, she's a genius. She won't spell your hand off. Right Amy?"

Amy nodded but her focus was already on Reis' injury. She put her hand just above the burnt skin without touching it and mumbled a few words to herself. A small blue light emitted from her fingertips moving to Rei's arm where the injury started fading right in front of the girls' eyes. Then suddenly the light got brighter and enveloped Amy. A second later she was dressed in black, a sword on her hip.

"You are a genius! You actually healed Rei and got your Zanpakutō!"

Usagi's light snore and the cicada were the only thing disturbing the silent of the hot summer night. The girls had celebrated their recent successes in gaining their Shinigami abilities an were now all fast asleep. All but one. Makoto was had been staring at ceiling above her. Unlike the nights before I was not the pain of the bruises she had from the hollow that kept her up; they had been fading incredibly fast and Amy had healed the rest of them. What was keeping Makoto up was the bitter aftertaste of not having gained her Shinigami abilities yet. The entire Shinigami magic stayed a mystery to her. She and Usagi were still working on getting the first kidō spell to work. Her friends tried to explain them over and over again that it was similar to them using their Sailor Senshi abilities but that had only worked for Makoto to get the stupid shield to work. With a quiet curse she got up, careful not to wake the others, and went down to the cave. She grabbed the glove next to the entrance and pushed herself out of her body. She went up to one of the training dummies and started punching and kicking it. She went through all the dummies and with a frustrated growl she punched the rock leaving a dent in it. She punched it again.

"What has this rock done to deserve your anger?"

Makoto spun around. At the bottom of the stairs sat a black cat.

"Lu- Yoruichi?"

Yoruichi jumped up at the rock and looked at Makoto.

"Now tell me."

Makoto sighed. "I don't think I am cut out to be a Shinigami."

Yoruichi bowed her head in a slight nod. "Go on."

"I can't get this stupid kidō to work, which at first I thought was fine. Urahara did say a lot of Shinigami never use them outside of class and Usagi didn't get hers to work either and she was the first to get her Zanpakutō and now one after the other the others got theirs as well and I'm the only one who hasn't gotten it. And I don't know what to do. Meditation doesn't work, training with the stupid wooden swords doesn't work, and trying to work on my kidō doesn't work either." She punched the rock again. "I wish I could just punch hollows to dust."

"I see."

Makoto leaned her head against the rock, sweat dripping down her forehead.

"There is a possibility to… punch a hollow to dust. But it costs more energy than using a Zanpakutō. But it could prove to be a fitting fighting style for you."

"Tell me."

"How far are you with the spirit orbs?"

Makoto frowned.

"I can create a decent shield, directing the energy isn't a problem. It's the spell."

"You can direct your energy to your hands to make your punches harder. To your feet to be faster, to your legs to make your kicks more lethal. You are already strong. Use it."

"That…"

She closed her eyes and collected energy in her right fist until it was glowing in a soft green light. Yoruichi jumped off the rock. Makoto opened her eyes and threw her fist at the stone with a grunt. It split in two.

"Damn."

And finally a green light came from her forehead and Makoto was holding her Zanpakutō in her hands.