Hey! I actually updated again! So, this starts a very important stage in Karin's development, so make sure you're paying attention. This includes a meditation scene. Now, the closest I've ever come to meditating is the ending of a yoga class I took like 10 years ago and an activity during one of my summer camps where the person leading us told us to imagine a pebble falling in a pond. I ended making my pebble go to fast, and kept having a rewind sequence in my head and ended up laughing. So, yeah, I'm not an expert. I got my information from Google, and if anyone who actually knows what they're doing with meditation, feel free to correct me.

Also, there should be another time skip after this. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I do know it will only be about 2 or 3 more chapters before the climax of this arc (you will probably hate me when that happens.)

Disclaimer : I don't own Bleach

The rest of Karin's first day of the second semester went very fast. Her Kido, Hakuda, Hoho, and Zanjutsu classes were basically the same as before, except they would be going into more difficult material. It wasn't long until it was time for her final class period: Jinzen.

Karin, Junji, Gyou, and Suzaku went to that class together. As soon as they entered the room they knew this class was going to be different. The classroom was filled, not with rows of desks like they expected, but with pillows arranged in a circle. An elderly woman, who Karin assumed was the teacher, was sitting cross-legged on one of the pillows, her eyes closed and expression relaxed. At the far side of the room, Karin noticed an open doorway to a traditional rock garden.

The teacher opened her eyes when she heard Karin and her friends come in. "Ah, you must be some of my new students. Please, come in. Take a seat. You can leave your bags by the wall; you will only need your Zanpakuto."

Karin was surprised. This was the first time they had been asked to use the Asauchi in class since the first day. Sure, they were asked to carry the swords around with them at all times and were even reprimanded if they were caught without them, but they hadn't been used for real practice yet. Still, Karin followed the teacher's instructions and sat down with her Zanpakuto.

When it was time for class to officially begin, the teacher stood up and addressed her students. "In this class you will attempt to enter your inner world and communicate with your Zanpakuto. This will allow you to build a relationship with it, which is essential in achieving Shikai. Now, I don't expect you to achieve a sword release by the time you graduate, but you should be able to at least enter your inner world by the end of this semester."

The instructor pulled out her own Zanpakuto and continued. "Since this is your first class, we will go over some beginning meditation practices. When you become more skilled in the art of Jinzen, you will be able to enter your inner worlds without using them, but they're very helpful for beginners like yourselves. The most important thing is to get comfortable. You need to be free from any distractions, so it is only yourself and your Zanpakuto. Find a nice, quiet place to meditate and get into position. I like to start students with their legs crossed and their Asauchi across their lap, like so." The instructor sat down on her pillow with her legs crossed comfortably and laid her own Zanpakuto across her knees. "There are other positions you can try, but the important thing is that you're comfortable and have your Zanpakuto nearby. Now, you try."

Karin and her classmates followed their teacher's example and got into position. Karin felt the weight of her Zanpakuto across her knees, and was a little worried as to whether or not it would remain balanced.

"Now, before you start meditating, place your hands on your knees and close your eyes," the instructor continued. Karin did as she was asked, letting her sense of sight go black. She could feel the weight of her Zanpakuto across her knees, and the texture of the scabbard under her fingers. She could hear the breathing of her classmates around the room. Suzaku's was to her left, deep and even. Junji was directly to her right, short puffs of excitement. Gyou was on the other side of Junji, the rhythm of his breath uneven and ragged. Karin worried about what that might mean about her friend, but pushed that thought to the back of her mind when the instructor started speaking again.

"Focus on your breathing. Follow the rise and fall of your chest as you inhale and exhale. Inhale, and feel your chest rise. Exhale, and feel your chest fall. Inhale... Exhale..."

Karin tried to focus. A few times she got distracted by Gyou's haggard breaths, but it soon normalized like the rest of the class. Karin soon was able to turn out everything but her own breathing, just inhaling, exhaling, inhaling, exhaling...

Karin opened her eyes and saw she was sitting in a wasteland. The ground she was sitting on was black and gray with ashes from some great fire. There was a giant, dead, charred tree trunk in front of her. On top of the trunk sat a great bird of prey colored red. Something about this scene seemed familiar.

Suddenly, Karin realized where she recognized the scene. "Hey! This is just like my dream. The one I had just before..." Before the fire, but Karin couldn't bring herself to say the words.

An odd, feminine chuckle came from the direction of the log. "I apologize for that. It took all my power to start to communicate back then Unfortunately, in doing that I lost my hold on suppressing your powers. That's also the reason why I haven't tried to reach out to you again, that and I knew you would reach out to me soon."

"Uh..." Karin blinked, not able to comprehend what she was seeing and hearing. "Wait, you can talk? What do you mean, start to communicate with me? You are suppressing my powers? Who... What are you?"

The bird tilted its head. "Well, I'm a part of you, so I can do the same things as you. That includes talking, communicating, and holding your spiritual at bay."

"Oh." Karin felt weight on her knees, and remembered why she was here. "You're my Zanpakuto spirit, aren't you? Could you please tell me your name?"

The bird shook its head. "I'm afraid that is something you must discover for yourself, I do look forward to the day you can call me by my name, though."

"Hmph." Karin pouted. So much for the that. How was she supposed to discover her Zanpakuto's name if it wouldn't tell her? While trying to figure out that, Karin remembered something else the bird had said.

"Hey, you mentioned that you were suppressing my power. Why is that? I mean, I'm grateful and everything, since I don't want to go around setting things on fire all the time, but why do you have to do that in the first place? I mean, most people just develop into their powers slowly, learning to deal with those powers as they get them. Why am I different?"

The bird ruffled its feathers and started walking back and forth across the tree trunk. "You were born with more spirit energy than normal, though it wasn't as unbelievable as it is now. For a long time, you unconsciously suppressed and denied your own powers,until you couldn't ignore them anymore and started to hone your skills. This caused your spiritual pressure to increase more, but again, it wasn't much more than normal."

The bird froze. "However, that all changed when you died. No longer limited by your body, your spirit reached its true raw potential. You probably would have still been able to control this power though, if it weren't for the forest burning down."

Karin blinked. "The burning down? Was I involved in a forest fire?"

The bird turned around and faced the wasteland. "Once, there was a great forest here. Each tree was someone important to you, and each leaf was a memory. The forest grew stronger with each new friend in your life. But shortly after you died, invaders came and burned down the forest. Nothing is left of it but ashes."

Karin looked out at the wasteland. It was so bare, with only a few saplings poking out through the ash. Nevertheless, Karin could sense that the emptiness was wrong, that there was supposed to be a great forest there.

"Hey, do you think part of learning your name is getting my memories back?" Karin asked the bird.

The bird turned to Karin. "Tell me child, what kind of creature do you think I am?"

"Uh, a Zanpakuto spirit? No, no that's not what you're asking, you're a bird, right?"

The bird shook its head. "Not just any bird. I am a..." It lifted its wings and set itself on fire.

"PHOENIX!"

"Time's up!"

Karin opened her eyes and saw the Jinzen classroom. The instructor stood up.

"Well, that's all the time we have for today. Please try to practice during your free time. I'll see you same time, same place tomorrow. Class dismissed!"

Karin blinked. Was this actually the real world?

"Hey Rin-chan, are you coming?" Junji asked.

Karin shook herself back to reality. "Yeah, I'm coming."

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