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Chapter Five - Trauma

Toushirou followed along behind Head Captain Ukitake, his thoughts shifting wildly. He was supposed to demonstrate powers that he wasn't even certain that he possessed and the boy wasn't entirely certain how he felt about that.

What exactly did these people want from him?

"You're powers will be a great asset."

Toushirou jumped as this unfamiliar voice echoed in his mind. It was quite different from the comforting voice that he had grown accustomed to; this one sounded emotionless, cold.

And it caused a shiver to run up Toushirou's spine.

"Why do I keep hearing these voices?" the youth asked himself as he walked along. "Am I crazy?"

"Fear not little one…" It was the familiar, comforting voice once again. The voice that always seemed to know what to say to make him feel better. "You aren't crazy and you do have power. Tremendous power."

Toushirou shook his head. Everyone, even the voice in his head, kept saying that but he still wasn't sure. He couldn't even remember his own name so how could he be in possession of any kind of power?

It just didn't seem rational to him.

The white haired youth was so lost in thought that he didn't even realize that Ukitake had came to a stop. Which resulted in him bumping into the back of the Head Captain, hard.

"Umph," the boy said, absently reaching up to rub his nose. "Sorry about that. I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"It's alright Shiro-chan," Ukitake said, offering the young boy a smile. He couldn't really blame the child for being lost in his own world, considering everything that had happened to him in a relatively short period of time.

Toushirou let out a barely perceptible sigh at once again being addressed by this childish nickname but let it pass without a word. After everything that Ukitake had done for him he refused to say anything about how the man chose to address him.

No matter how much he wanted to.

And it was a lot.

Shaking his head, to rid himself of these thoughts, Toushirou gazed around at his surroundings. He and Ukitake were now standing in the center of a large, open field. Some sort of training facility most likely.

"There are a few things that I want to test," Ukitake said, his voice kind as he gazed down at the child. "I'm going to teach you some basic kidou chants and I want you to attempt to use them."

"Kidou?" Toushirou repeated, not familiar with the term.

"For lack of a better explanation, kidou are attacks using your reiatsu," Ukitake said. "They are fueled by the energy of your spirit."

"And you think that I have this… reiatsu?" Doubt was evident in Toushirou's voice as he gazed at Ukitake.

"I know that you do," Ukitake said, not even a trace of doubt in his voice. That wasn't the question. "What I'm less certain of is whether or not you will be able to control it."

Toushirou opened his mouth but closed it again before any words came out. Head Captain Ukitake had taken him in when he was brought to this strange place so the least he could do was attempt these kidou moves.

Ukitake saw the determination that burned in the boy's teal eyes and he offered the boy another smile. "Are you willing to give it a try?"

Toushirou nodded.

Ukitake spent the next fifteen minutes teaching Toushirou the spirit chants for a couple of low level kidou spells. Then he took a couple of steps back away from the boy and pointed toward a target that had been set up at the end of the training grounds. "See if you can use the kidou to hit that target."

"Yes sir."

Holding up his hands Toushirou concentrated on the first of the kidou spells that Ukitake had taught him. The youth recited the words, in a voice that was barely above a whisper, but nothing happened.

The boy turned back to Ukitake. "It didn't work."

"Hmm," Ukitake said, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. He hadn't felt the boy's reiatsu increase and he couldn't help but think that perhaps the boy was just too young to harness his reiatsu. Or maybe he just needed a visual demonstration. That would show him the kidou, as well as allow him to experience the surge of reiatsu that it produced.

Perhaps that would help the boy better understand the powers that were inside him and help Toushirou harness them.

It was worth a shot at any rate.

Walking over to the spot where Toushirou was standing Ukitake held out his own hands and fired a blast of reiatsu at the target.

Toushirou froze as he felt a strange energy swirling around him, seeming to awaken things in his mind that he didn't want to think about. This sensation seemed familiar and the boy's teal eyes widened.

The silhouette of a man flashed briefly before the child's eyes, surrounded by shadows and radiating a strange power. And a dark aura.

"This man…" Toushirou thought to himself, his eyes widening as a brief flash of memory assaulted him. "Who is he and…"

A flash of light and the feeling as though he were being ripped from his body caused Toushirou to retreat within himself. What did this mean? Why did he suddenly feel so scared?

After his kidou demonstration Ukitake once again turned his attention to the small boy who was standing beside him. And the first thing that he noticed was the fact that Toushirou had a terrified expression on his face.

It was the same as when he had seen the falling snow the day before.

"Toushirou…"

A freezing wind began to swirl around the child as he continued to gaze off into the distance, his teal eyes unseeing.

"Toushirou…" Ukitake reached out toward the boy however his hand was knocked away by a fierce blast of reiatsu. Jumping back Ukitake stared at the boy, who was suddenly surrounded by a glowing blue aura. Even his eyes seemed to glow eerily.

The kid's powers were out of control.

"This isn't good," Ukitake muttered to himself as he tried to think of what to do. The kid obviously wasn't in control of his powers and needed to be stopped but Ukitake didn't want to hurt him.

Because none of this was his fault.

Ukitake took a step toward the young boy but was pushed back as the kid's reiatsu exploded, sending shards of ice in all directions. The Head Captain managed to use a barrier kidou just in time to protect himself however the rest of the training grounds weren't as lucky.

Ice now coated everything.

Shivering due to the cold reiatsu that was now surrounding everything Ukitake made a move to approach the boy. Holding up his hands the Head Captain prepared to use a binding kidou. He didn't want to resort to this but he couldn't allow the kid's powers to continue to rage like this.

If he did it could do serious damage not only to the Seireitei but to the boy himself.

But just as he was preparing to use the kidou the blank expression disappeared from the child's eyes, taking with it the swirling reiatsu that surrounded him. Toushirou looked surprised for the briefest of moments before he collapse.

Using his flash-step Ukitake managed to catch the little body before he hit the ground. The Head Captain removed the sword that the child was wearing, securing it across his own back, and then scooped Toushirou up into his arms.

"Looks like we're going back to Squad Four," Ukitake muttered as he gazed down at the child that he held in his arms. The powers that the boy had displayed had been some of the strongest that Ukitake had ever felt, and definitely the strongest that he'd ever felt coming from an untrained soul. But unfortunately it didn't appear as though Toushirou was capable of controlling them yet.

"Perhaps I pushed him too far, too soon." After all Toushirou had just arrived in Soul Society and had immediately been forced to attempt to use powers that he wasn't even aware that he possessed. "Maybe we should give him some time to adjust to this life before we attempt this again."

A/N - Here's another chapter, hope that you enjoyed. Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts.