Happy St. Patrick's Day! Ok, first things first, on my profile there is a link to a petition that you need to sign. If we don't get enough signatures, they are going to have to shut down . None of us want that, but we still need a lot of signatures. Do that right now.
I've been excited for this chapter for a while, and I'm sure most of you have been too. Constructive criticism is always welcome, as well as praise. Since there seems to be some confusion, Gyou is Ukitake's Great-nephew. That means one of Ukitake's brothers in Gyou's grandfather. Since Ukitake is literally one of the oldest Captains, I find it hard to believe any of his siblings or their children are still at an age to go to the academy. Feel free to ask me any other questions if you have them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. YOU HEAR ME? SO DON'T GET RID OF FANFICTION!
Karin chewed her lunch quickly. Between classes, the homework that came from those classes, and her attempts at practicing outside of class, Karin didn't have much time to socialize outside of class. Lunchtime was probably the one time of day she knew for sure she could hang out with all her friends at once, and she didn't want to waste more time than necessary eating.
Her band of close friends wasn't that big. Nagami had somehow managed to make herself the most popular girl in their class, though how she had managed to do that Karin would never know. Her personality certainly left a lot to be desired. Although, she was very adept at the art of flattery and networking. It probably helped her case that she came from a lesser noble family and also, apparently had a cousin who was a fukutaichou. Karin hadn't wanted to know, but since her rival would tell anyone who would listen, she had heard that piece of information multiple times.
Luckily, Keiko had already taken a liking to Karin long before Nagami had started her subtle takeover. Keiko was probably the only girl besides Karin who didn't worship the ground beneath Nagami's feet. Keiko was the only other girl in Karin's group of friends, there were certain things Karin could talk to her about that she didn't necessarily feel comfortable discussing with the boys. That, combined with the fact they lived literally right next to each other, more than made up for the fact they had so few classes together.
Gyou was a valuable knowledge base. Since he came from a pretty high-ranking noble family, he had a vast knowledge of what was socially acceptable and where people ranked, plus he knew a little about how things worked in the 13 Court Guard Squads because of his great-uncle. Karin found his help invaluable when trying to understand the ever-changing social situation among the students, and was also was helpful in history.
Junji was the most easy-going of her friends. He, quote, "didn't give a damn about all those social niceties all those higher-ups in the Seireitei insist on." He had a tendency to come off a little blunt and rude at times, but it wasn't much different from how Kukaku-nee was at home, so Karin was used to it. He blamed his lack of manners on being from the 66th district of East Rukon, but Karin personally thought that was just an excuse.
The fourth member of Karin's little gang was unexpected, and a little different from the others. After the incident in her first class of Zanjutsu, Karin had decided to keep an eye on Oshiro Suzaku to make sure he wasn't going to tell sensei that it was she who had raised her spiritual pressure. While quietly observing him, she realized that he seemed to be mostly alone. He wouldn't talk with people more than absolutely necessary, and he seemed to view most of his classmates, and the rest of the whole school, as not worth his time. As such, he didn't appear to have any friends. After the third day of classes, Karin decided to take pity on the second-year student and moved her entire lunch table to where their sempai was sitting alone. Although he had appeared surprised, Suzaku hadn't kicked them out, and was now starting to ease up around them.
Having a friend a year ahead of you soon proved to have several perks. Suzaku had already taken all of their classes (except Keiko's pre-Kido Corps classes), and was more than willing to be a tutor of sorts. Karin was eternally grateful for his help. Her classes weren't very easy.
Kido wasn't all that bad, and Karin continuously scored high marks in that class. But she couldn't help but think it was primarily due to Keiko's help. When she knew the incantation, Karin found that it wasn't that hard to release the energy how she wanted it to. But that was the hard part: memorizing the incantation. When she had heard that advanced Kido users could cast spells without the incantation, Karin had jumped for joy, until her instructor had pointed out that doing so diminished the effects of the spell.
Hakuda was a pain. Literally. Every day, that class started with exercises that pushed her body to the limit in ways she didn't know were possible. Karin was able to hold her own in a fight, but she definitely wasn't the best in the class, and always received a lot of punches whenever she had to spar with anyone else in that class. It was always worse whenever she faced off against one of the pre-Stealth Force students they shared that class with.
Hoho was the one class Karin felt like she actually did well in. Although she couldn't do a flash step yet, Karin was one of the fastest runners in that class and their instructor thought she was very close to achieving that pivotal skill. All the pre-Stealth Force students hated her for this, and that was probably the reason they were so brutal in Hakuda.
Zanjutsu was a challenge, but not unbearably so. Karin avoided fighting with Nagami in that class, as well as all her other classes, and she had no other instances of unwanted spikes in spiritual pressure. She usually ended up sparring with whichever unfortunate soul was picked last that day (since Gyou and Junji always sparred with each other in the first round) and they didn't pose much of a challenge for Karin's average skill. When Sensei forced them to switch partners she would always get with one of her boys, and they would actually challenge her understanding of the material. However, the past couple of days there has been an odd number of students since someone was sick with the flue, and Karin, Gyou and Junji had alternated fighting each other and Suzaku.
Now that she thought about it, Karin didn't remember if the guy was back in class yet or not. She turned to Gyou and asked, "Hey, do you know if we're going to have to be a threesome?"
For some reason, Junji found that comment hilarious. Gyou glared at him, and Karin was starting to think there was some kind of dirty joke there that she missed.
Gyou turned back to her after making Junji hide his chuckles. "Ignore him, he's a pervert. To answer your question, I didn't see that guy back in class all day, so unless someone else got sick I'm afraid we will."
Karin nodded.
Suzaku looked up from his textbook. "Your Zanjutsu sensei is out sick today."
"What?" Junji shouted. "Does that mean we get the day off?"
"Hardly." Suzaku tried to return to his book, disinterested in what was going on. "A Taichou is coming over to cover your class temporarily."
"Really?" Gyou asked. "Which one?"
Suzaku sighed and looked up from his book again. "I haven't met him, but I heard he's in charge of the tenth division."
"Are you sure it's the tenth?" Gyou asked.
Suzaku nodded, but didn't look up from his book.
"Gyou-kun, do you know the taichou of squad 10?" Junji asked.
"I've never met him, but I've heard of him. If what I've heard is correct, make sure you don't mention his size and age. He's really sensitive." Gyou explained.
Keiko sighed. "You guys get all the fun.I wish one of my classes were taught by a Taichou."
"I'll be sure to tell you all about it." Karin promised.
When Karin finally made it to Zanjutsu class, she silently thanked Gyou for his earlier warning. Karin probably wouldn't have done or said anything rash, but Junji wouldn't have known to keep his mouth shut.
As it was, most of the other students seemed to be struggling to keep their composure. The boy standing at the front of the room prepared to teach the class looked to be the same age as most of the students, and actually younger than some of the older ones. Not to mention, he also appeared to be short for his age, and Karin wondered idly if he had hit his puberty growth spurt yet. His hair was white and stood up with lazy spikes from his wore the traditional black Kimono of a Soul Reaper, as well as a blue scarf and a white haori Gyou had told her was the symbol of a Taichou's rank. There was a sword strapped to his back.
Suzaku stood next to the Taichou. Despite their difference in height, Suzaku was able to keep his cool demeanor, as though taking instruction from a child was a natural occurrence.
But Karin wasn't interested in how her friend was doing. She was captivated by the taichou standing in front of her. Even with her under-developed senses, Karin could sense the waves if power radiating off him. He probably was letting his spiritual power go on full blast to let the students know not to underestimate him. He probably had to deal with a lot of people refusing to take him seriously, and Karin couldn't blame him for taking precautions.
And there was something else. When Karin saw his face, she almost felt a wave of... nostalgia? Recognition? Karin couldn't figure it out for sure, but she was almost certain she had seen him before. She just couldn't remember.
"Is everyone here?" The Taichou asked. When nobody answered, he took that as a conformation. "Good. I am Hitsugaya Toshiro, Taichou of squad 10. I will be temporarily instructing this class until your regular Sensei is capable of returning to his duties. You will refer to me either as Hitsugaya-taichou or Sensei. Am I understood?"
The whole class chorused "Yes, Hitsugaya-taichou."
Hitsugaya-taichou nodded. "Good. Begin your warm-up exercises. Oshiro-san, you are more familiar with how this class normally operates, you will direct them while I scrutinize."
Suzaku gave a small bow and started directing the students. After watching for a short while from his original position, the Taichou started walking among the students, giving harsh corrections as he saw them. He scrutinized every aspect in the students, and there were very few he didn't find some problem with.
As he made his way around the room, Karin started to feel a little nervous. What if she messed up right when he came to watch her? Despite the irrationality of it, Karin felt like a hundred eyes were watching her every move. She repeatedly checked to see if the Taichou was watching her, but every time she looked he was criticizing someone else. For some reason, that made Karin feel a little... jealous.
Finally, finally he came inching up to where Karin was. She put all her effort into doing exactly what the Sensei taught her. The white-haired Taichou scrutinized her for several swings before finally speaking.
"You're too tense. The movements need to be fluid, not forced." He frowned. "You were doing very well when I watched you from the other end of the room. You just need to relax."
Karin nodded and tried to relax her muscles.
He turned to go to the next student. "And don't forget to breathe."
Karin let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She heard a snicker not far off, and it sounded suspiciously like Nagami's oh-look-Karin-messed-up-let's-rub-it-in-her-face snicker.
When their exercises where done, Hitsugaya-taichou returned to the front of the room. "Now then," he began, "since I don't know what is supposed to be next in your curriculum, I am going to have you practice in practical applications of what you learn here. I want you to get into groups of two and practice. Any questions?"
"Um, sir?" Suzaku cut in. "There is an odd number of students today."
Hitsugaya-taichou frowned. "How did you rectify this problem in the past?"
"There was one group of three, and they would rotate sparring with each other and battling me." The teaching assistant answered.
"Do that then."
Karin, Gyou and Junji of course became the group of three and Suzaku joined them as the other students started their fights. When he got to them, he motioned to Karin.
"How about you and I start?" Karin agreed, and the two of them got into position.
Karin spent so much time around Suzaku that at times, she forgot he was a year ahead of them in schooling. But that all changed whenever he picked up a sword. If anything, Karin was left wondering how he was only in second year. His skill with a blade put him in the top of his class, and Karin had heard rumors from the teachers that he was better than some of the graduating students. It certainly explained his air of superiority he showed around his classmates, an air he seemed to abandon whenever he was around Karin.
It took everything Karin had to keep Suzaku's sword at bay, and she knew that he wasn't even trying. Karin did have one advantage over Suzaku: if she tried, she could move much faster than him. Of course, that only did so much good since he could read her movements like a book.
But for some reason, Karin didn't want to admit Suzaku was stronger than her today. For some reason, she was determined to win. Her movements got faster and faster as she tried to find an opening, surprise him, do SOMETHING that could give her the upper hand in this fight. She wanted so badly to beat Suzaku, and she could imagine the Taichou complimenting her for a job well done...
"Karin, stop." Suzaku whispered as he blocked her most recent attack.
"Why?" Karin asked. "Afraid I might actually beat you?"
He grit his teeth. "That's not it. Just stop fighting right now."
"Your spiritual pressure is increasing." A firm voice explained behind her.
Karin gasped and turned around to face Hitsugaya-Taichou.
"While you were fighting, your spiritual pressure increased in response to the stress of the battle. Has this ever happened before?" He asked.
"Um..." Karin cast a quick glance at Suzaku, and he nodded. She sighed in resignation. "Once, on our first day of classes, I Sensei threw a fit when he sensed someone's spiritual pressure rising. Suzaku-sempai convinced him to drop it, but afterwards sempai told me I had been the one responsible and advised me to avoid fighting that particular opponent in the future."
Taichou frowned and looked to Suzaku-sempai for an explanation.
Suzaku quickly explained. "I sensed her spiritual pressure spiking the first day, but was able to guess that it was an instinctual reaction and she had no idea what she was doing. I knew that sensei is very strict about nothing but Zanjutsu going on in his classroom, so I talked him down and advised Shiba-san to avoid a situation like that in the future. I have kept an eye on her spirit energy during class, and although it does rise slightly every time she spars with someone, but never to a level anyone would notice if they weren't looking."
Karin's eyes grew wide in shock. She didn't know about that.
"I see." Hitsugaya-taichou frowned. "Have you begun any training in managing your spiritual pressure yet?"
"Uh, what?" Karin asked. They taught classes like that to first-years?
"Jinzen? Hiding your spirit energy? None of that?" He raised his eyes, exasperated. "What are they teaching you people on the regular track?"
"Um..."
"Never mind." He waved her off. "I think you need to start talking to your advisor about getting into some classes about managing your spirit energy a little early. You aren't at a point that you could be a danger to those around you yet, but you do need to start getting prepared. Training will only increase your spiritual pressure, and you should be ready to keep it at bay as it gets out of control."
"Dangerous?" Karin suddenly thought of Ba-chan's grandson. "What I'm doing is dangerous?"
Taichou suddenly realized her was scaring her and backed off. "No, no. What you're doing right now is nothing but an intimidation technique almost all high-level Soul Reapers use in battle. It's harmless." He looked at Karin carefully, as though he was scrutinizing her soul. "However, considering how high your spirit energy is now, I would still suggest the extra lessons, as a precautionary measure. I could personally drop a word the next time go by the school office, if you want. What's your name again?" He asked.
"Karin. Shiba Karin. And I would really appreciate it if you did drop a word, Taichou. They probably won't believe the word of a first-year easily."
When Karin said her name, she saw something flash behind Hitsugaya-taichou's eyes. Something akin to... recognition? In was gone the next moment, and his face had returned to the stern taichou who demanded respect.
"I see. I will make sure to do that, Shiba-san." For some reason, it sounded almost like he was forcing himself to call her by that name.
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