With a flash, Aki had disappeared from Avey's field of view. Avey quickly reacted, and barely managed to block Aki's attack.
"Aki! What are you doing?" Avey demanded.
"Isn't it obvious? I am going to try my best to kill you. And I want you to try your best to stop me," Aki explained. He disengaged and flourished his swords, grabbing one in an underhand grasp and the other in a standard overhand.
"Kill me? I thought your brother wanted you to protect me!" Avey demanded.
"Yeah. He also wanted me to teach you to properly use your sword," Aki said, "Lesson stops when one of us is dead or you master your sword."
"Well I won't let you kill me," Avey said resolutely.
"Good," Aki said.
Avey lunged forward, swinging her sword in an uphand attack. Aki nimbly blocked the attack and rolled backwards, deflecting Avey's sword up and away. He then swung in low with his other blade. Avelined pivoted away from the blade, using her momentum to disengage her blade from Aki's.
Aki tried to trip Aveline by swinging his foot in a wide arc, expecting her to step back and give him space for a lunge. Avey instead jumped in the air and landed a kick in Aki's chest, stumbling him backwards. Avey whirled about and brought her sword down in a powerful down stroke. Aki barely had time to block it with his twin blades.
Aki grunted as he pushed the blade away. "Your skills are astounding," he conceded.
"So are yours," Avey asked.
The two circled each other, weapons at the ready. Aveline studied Aki intently. His stance was loose, almost fluid. His movements seemed as relaxed and natural as those of a tiger. Clearly Aki was a very skilled and experienced fighter.
"So who trained you to master your Zanpaktou?" Avey asked.
"A man long since banished from the Soul Society. He probably shouldn't have trained us, my brother and I, but he cared more about talent and skill then rules and regulations," Aki said.
"Sounds like he was a good teacher," Aveline said.
"Eh? What makes you say that?" Aki asked.
"Almost every other person you have talked about has earned at least one word against them. And your master, from knowing I would say that was some genuine praise for him," Avey explained.
"Good insight," Aki said.
Avey aimed her sword in a thrust and rushed Aki. Aki jumped over her and furiously swung at her back. But Aveline pirouetted about and parried his attacks. She rolled backwards and Aki followed. Avey was having a hard time keeping up with all of Aki's attacks. All she could do was defend. And eventually that defense would fail. She had to find some way to regain the offense.
Avey ducked under a high strike, deflecting a low strike Aki sent out to catch her. Now on Aki's left, she drove her elbow at Aki's kidney, barely missing that vital spot. Aki dodged backwards. Avey quickly recovered and attempted an upward thrust, which Aki again deflected with one sword. He lunged forward with his other sword, slashing Aveline's leg with a surface wound.
"Gah!" she said.
"This is serious. I think you see that you can't beat me with conventional attacks. My twin swords let me attack and defend at the same time. You will have to use your Zanpaktou to defeat me," Aki said.
Avey looked at her injury. It didn't seem too serious. It was bleeding a lot, but none of her muscles seemed injured. But what Aki said was right. If she closed with him, he could attack and defend.
She thought back to her fight with the Hollow where she was able to call her Zanpaktou. How had she done that?
"Well, back to it. You can think about it after a few more hits," Aki said.
Avey swung in with a downward stroke as hard as she could. Aki sidestepped the attack and countered. Avey countered his first sword with her own and lashed out with a fist, catching Aki in his side, fouling his attack. She made a series of quick strokes slamming against Aki's defense. She wished for a double edged sword. She wanted a straight sword. She wanted her sword, like she had that night. What had she done to get that?
Aveline realized she had been distracting herself a moment late when Aki's left handed sword was thrust at her right shoulder. She deflected most of the attack, but it still grazed her arm.
"More aggressive. Good. But you seem distracted," Aki said.
"Of course I am! I'm trying to get my sword to work," Aveline said, clutching her arm and cursing herself.
"Well stop trying and do it. There's no trying involved. You just do it," Aki said.
He rushed forward seemingly with a thrust from his left sword, but in reality he simply deflected Aveline's sword while his right thrust forward and caught Aveline's left shoulder. Aveline ducked backwards as some blood sprayed from her fresh wound.
This was getting really annoying. Aveline gripped her sword tighter, causing her arm wound to bleed more. How do I win this, she thought. I need to win this. I need to master my sword. But how do I do that?
"What do you want?" Aki asked.
"I want to master my sword!" Avey said.
"Wrong answer," Aki said. With a flash he was beside Aveline. She wondered how could he have moved so fast. Then he caught her with a right uppercut punch and thrust his left sword into her already injured right shoulder.
"You want to win?" Aki asked, his sword still in Aveline's shoulder.
"Of course!" Aveline replied.
"Then beat me!" Aki said. With a kick he knocked Aveline back and off his sword. "With every injury from my sword, the Thief, I steal a little bit of your strength. I grow faster, you grow slower. Temporary of course, but in a single fight potentially devastating. I wonder what your sword will do."
No time to think of that now, Aveline thought, I have to win this first.
"That could be your problem," a man with a honeyed voice said. Sigmund put his arm around her. A falcon cawed overhead. Sigmund looked at her injuries. "Those look serious. You just got out of the infirmary and back in you go," he said with a laugh.
"Oh shut up. You're not really here. I'm just seeing things because of blood loss," Aveline said, "I need to beat this guy."
"You know, my good friend Carl once said to never fight a battle at three to one odds," Sigmund said.
"So?" Aveline asked.
"You are fighting a battle at three to one odds," Sigmund said.
"What do you mean?" Aveline asked.
The blue falcon landed on Sigmund's outstretched arm. He began lovingly petting the bird. "Falcons are such beautiful birds, aren't they."
"I don't see how this is relevant," Aveline asked.
"And there's your problem. Look at him," Sigmund said, pointing at Aki, frozen in place. "What do you see?"
"I see Aki," Aveline answered
"And?" Sigmund asked.
"His two swords," Aveline guessed.
Sigmund nodded, "His two swords. No ordinary swords either; Zanpaktous. Now, I may not be in the Soul Society so I don't know all the particulars, but from what the bird here has been telling me a Zanpaktou has a mind and spirit of it's own. Imagine that. Was hard enough keeping an army content with marching around on a half-empty stomach through a dark and dank forest on behalf of a drunkard who didn't care if the lived or died. Now I have to convince their weapons to come too."
"You're right," Aveline said, "I'm not just fighting one opponent, but three."
"Yep," Sigmund said, "You need to even the odds."
"You're right," Aveline said. Aveline held out her arm to the falcon. The bird hopped over to her arm. "Will you fight with me? Will you help me win?" she asked.
"My Lady Aveline von Ravenstein, Margraven of Ravenstein, I am sworn to you and your house and would gladly serve you until the end of days. You have but to call upon me," the bird said.
"Then I will," Aveline said, "I will call upon your strength. I will add it to mine."
"Three to two seems kinda shaky as well," Sigmund suggested.
"Well then we'll have to be better and smarter then them, right?" Aveline asked the bird as she stroked it's breast.
"Strength through knowledge," the bird said with a chuckle.
Aki charged. Aveline almost mechanically blocked his two attacks and then knocked him back with a kick.
"Still have some fight left, eh?" Aki said.
"More then some…" Aveline said, getting up. "It is time to honor your oath! To arms, it is time for war! Spread your wings and bare your claws, Sapphire Falcon!" she shouted. Her sword started glowing blue. It straightened and fattened, growing and reshaping itself. With a flash of blue light, the sword had taken on a new shape. No longer a katana, it was a classic European arming sword. A few glowing blue-white embers flaked off in the wind.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about," Aki said with a grin.
Aveline readied her sword.
"Now let's see what it can do," Aki said.
"It will kick your butt, that's what it will do," she said.
"I like your confidence," Aki said, "Show me."
"Gladly!" Aveline said. "We can show him, right?"
A blue falcon was perched on her shoulder. "Of course," the falcon said.
"How?" Aveline asked.
"You know how you charge that energy blast technique?," asked the falcon, "That was you tapping just a fraction of my strength. Now that you have called me, my power is much greater."
"So that's what I did to that Hollow the other night," Aveline realized. She remembered herself charging some kind of energy in her sword and then releasing it a blade of energy that sliced the Hollow's dead in half.
"Yes," the bird confirmed.
Aveline focused on her sword. Energy seemed to flow into it.
"So you are concentrating energy in your sword," Aki said, "An interesting technique."
"Now release the attack!" the falcon commanded.
Aveline swung her sword in an arc before her, sending out a vertical wave of energy. Aki could barely dodge it as it swept into the woods, slicing a large tree in half.
"Whoa," Aki said.
Aveline was already charging a second attack. "Amazing," she whispered.
"An attack is much stronger when you know it's name," the falcon advised.
"So what is this called?" Aveline asked.
"This is called Gallant Wave," the falcon said.
"I'd duck if I were you Aki," Avey suggested with a smile. She swung her sword in a wide arc before her sending forth a torrent of energy that swept through the woods, tearing trees and brush apart in it's wake.
Aki got up and took his hat off, revealing a head of mussed brown hair. He checked to make sure sure his hat was still intact before sweeping it clean of debris. He looked at Avey and sheathed his swords. "That was impressive."
Avey nodded and sheathed her sword. "That was…amazing," she said.
The bird was still on her shoulder. "That is simply the beginning. But you are exhausted. And you have lost a lot of blood. You have my loyalty. Now show yourself worthy of it."
"I will. I will show myself worthy of this strength," Avey said as she faded into unconsciousness.
Avey opened her eyes. Sunlight was shining into the room. A bird was singing outside.
"You seem to like getting chopped up," Isane Kotetsu said, "That's not usually a good thing."
"I'm sorry. A friend and I were having an evening practice session and it got out of hand. Or maybe it went as planned," Aveline said.
"He said it was all his idea," Isane said.
"Are we getting in trouble?" Aveline asked.
"No. The staff likes you two's spirit of practice, they just don't want it getting out of hand again," Isane said.
"I won't. That was a learning experience for me," Aveline said.
"So you have mastered your sword?" Isane asked. Aveline nodded. "Good. I didn't think it would be long after you tapped it's power against the Hollow the other night. Judging by the damage, it's a pretty powerful one."
"Thank you," Aveline said.
"Tea?" Isane asked.
"Please," Aveline answered, taking a cup. Still not as good as Ceylon tea, but it somehow tasted better then before.
"I hope to not have to see you again for at least another month," Isane said as Aveline left the Squad Four infirmary.
"I hope to see you again soon. Just not unconscious on a table," Aveline said.
"Oh. Well that would be alright," Isane said.
Kimiko and Hikari were outside the infirmary. There weren't any classes today. "Well?" Kimiko asked.
"Have you mastered your sword?" Hikari inquired.
"I have learned it's name and release command," Aveline said, "But mastery…that is a long road."
"Look at you. Learn your sword's name and all of sudden you become wise and cryptic," Kimiko said.
"Next thing you know she will be saying stuff like 'master your fear or else fear will become your master'," Hikari added, making a funny voice.
Aveline laughed, "I'm not that old and wise yet. Just a little sore were Aki stabbed my shoulder."
"He stabbed you?" Hikari exclaimed.
"Yeah. Went straight through my shoulder," Aveline said, rubbing her bandaged shoulder, "So I am kinda putting off teaching you two about your swords until that's healed."
Kimiko and Hikari laughed.
"So what do we do now?" Aveline asked.
"I am going to my family's home for a visit," Hikari said, "It was just me and my brother…and now it's just my brother."
"Well let's visit him then," Aveline suggested, "Are you in Kimiko?"
"Oh, well sure," Kimiko said, "I was thinking of going to my uncle's home with Rei and Aya. But…"
"But what?" Aveline asked.
"Well it feels strange going there now. When my parents died my aunt and uncle took me in. They were nice, but I always felt a little apart from them. I was always left out, left behind. Never abused or neglected but always second best compared to Masato, Rei, and Aya. Especially since my aunt had married into money. My uncle is from a wealthy merchant family, you see, while my father and aunt were…well we always had a warm home and good food, but it wasn't too big or expansive," she explained, "That is part of why I wanted to become a Soul Reaper. I wanted to show I was just as good as they were. I want to be somebody." She looked around, "Sorry, I kinda went on there for a bit."
"Oh that's okay. We never talk about ourselves. It's always about becoming a Soul Reaper. I would hate to make it to end and achieve my goal but loose myself on the way," Aveline explained.
"Are you sure you haven't become all old and wise?" Hikari asked.
"Now that you mention it…" Aveline said.
A laugh was shared.
"So want to come to my place with us, Kimiko?" Hikari asked.
"Okay," Kimiko said, "I need to stop off at my uncle's first though. To tell him and my aunt I won't be by for dinner. Aunt Hisawa is very on about courtesy like that and I would never hear the end of it if I didn't tell her."
"To the Shinsuke house," Aveline said.
The Shinsuke house was big. A double door was recessed down a walled path from the street. Aveline was sure she heard trickling water beyond the wall. It was readily apparent the wall yard held a great many flowering trees. A stately home with a red roof was centrally located in the walled compound. The three girls made their way down the path. As Soul Reaper trainees, they were permitted to carry their practice swords, or in Aveline's case her sheathed arming sword.
Kimiko knocked at the door. A young woman answered. "Ah, Miss Kimiko. It is good to see you," she said.
"Thank you, Yui. How has your mother been?" Kimiko asked, "I heard she was ill."
"She is. I will tell her you are thinking of her," the woman said, "I will tell Master Touru and Mistress Hisawa you are here. And are these friends of yours?"
"Yes, Yui. We won't be staying long, but I do wish to say hello to my aunt and uncle," Kimiko said.
Yui led them inside. The girls took their shoes off before stepping further inside. A red wood floor led down a hallway that Yui scurried down.
"Nice place. What's that smell?" Aveline asked.
"Patchouli. Aunt Hisawa likes it," Kimiko said, "So she has patchouli scented incense burned in preparation for family dinners."
"Oh that's nice," Hikari said.
"Kimiko! I am so glad that you have come for a visit," said a woman coming down the hallway dressed in a purple kimono, "And who are your friends?"
"Aunt Hisawa," Kimiko said with a slight bow, "These are Aveline Ravenstein and Hikari Ebihara."
Aveline and Hikari bowed.
"So you two are attending Soul Reaper Academy with Kimiko it seems. Are you hoping to find a noble husband there too?" Hisawa asked.
"Well…if it happens, I guess," Hikari said.
"Not at all. I'm there to become a powerful Soul Reaper and protect people," Aveline said, "And what's this about finding a noble husband?"
"A lot of girls go to the Academy to find a noble husband. It's why Kimiko said she was going," Hisawa said, "So will you be staying for dinner?"
"Actually Aunt Hisawa, I came here to let you know that I won't be by for dinner. I'm going to have dinner with Aveline and Hikari," Kimiko said.
"Really? Where are their families at?" Hisawa asked.
"Well, my brother lives in the East Rukon, district 37," Hikari said.
"I'm the last scion of a family of noble warriors," Aveline said.
"Really?" Hisawa asked opportunistically. She started pacing down the hallway.
"Oh, you really shouldn't have said that," Kimiko whispered.
"Why?" Aveline asked.
"My cousin Masato. Aunt Hisawa has been trying to find a girl from a noble family for him to marry," Kimiko whispered.
"Oh," Aveline whispered.
"Maybe we should go…" Hikari suggested.
"Good idea," Aveline agreed.
"Aunt Hisawa, we need to get going. Hikari is already late for meeting her brother," Kimiko said.
"Oh, wait a moment. Masato and Touru will be back soon. And I want Aveline to meet Masato," Hisawa said.
"Maybe next week," Kimiko answered. Much more quietly she said, "Let's go!"
The three darted into the street.
"So you are going to the Academy to find a noble husband?" Hikari asked Kimiko.
"That's what I told my aunt and uncle. They wouldn't let me go otherwise," Kimiko said.
"Not like you need your parents' permission to go to the Academy," Hikari said, "So why bother? If you wanted to go, just go."
"Because she loves them," Aveline said. The two other girls looked at Aveline. "Kimiko loves them and doesn't want to loose them. So she tells a few half-truths to not hurt their feelings."
"Yeah. I mean they raised me for the past ten years. They are the only family I have. And while I may have that strange relationship with my aunt and uncle, my best friends growing up were Rei, Aya, and Masato," Kimiko said.
"And you know what you're really going there for. You'll become an awesome Soul Reaper one day," Aveline said, "We all will." She put her arms around her friends.
Hikari took them to a small house with a large back porch. "It's not much, but my brother and I have lived here for a long time. Tatsuya, I'm back!"
A boy looking to be in his early teens came around the corner. "Sis!" he said with a smile, "You came."
"I told you I would. And I always come home on vacation days," Hikari said, "What makes you think I wouldn't?"
"Well I was just worried that you would have friends at school to spend time with. I guess I am hoping you'll make some friends," the boy said.
"Yeah, I have friends. See, here they are," Hikari said, gesturing to Aveline and Kimiko.
"My name is Kimiko Tatsumi," Kimiko said.
"I'm Aveline Ravenstein," Aveline said.
"My name is Tatsuya Ebihara," the boy said.
"You mind if they eat here with us? I brought enough for all of us," Hikari asked.
"No problem," Tatsuya said.
Dinner was ramen and a little chicken in a flavorful sauce. Hikari and Tatsuya had made it, both seeming to be good cooks.
"Aunt Hisawa always said that cooking was servants work," Kimiko said, "I never thought so. I wanted to try it."
"I've made a few things," Aveline said.
"Oh? Like what?" Kimiko asked.
"Well it hasn't killed anyone yet?" Aveline said.
Kimiko laughed, "That bad?"
"Not really," Aveline said with a pause, "It was worse."
More laughs were had.
"Anyway I didn't know your family was so well off," Aveline said.
"Uhg, my family wasn't. Back when it was my father and I, my mother died a long time ago, we lived in a small house like this one. Like I said, my aunt married well," Kimiko said.
"What did you dad do?" Aveline asked.
"He was a carpenter," Kimiko answered, "But he really wanted to be a Soul Reaper. He took the entrance exam seventeen times. Never passed."
"So there is more to you becoming a Soul Reaper," Aveline said, "Accomplishing your father's dream?"
Kimiko thought, "Maybe. But it was more of something I happened into. He taught me to hold a sword so he could practice with me. But when he died…he fell off a building…I went to live with my aunt. I didn't really know what I wanted, just that I wanted to do it myself. I already knew the basics and I passed the tests. How about you?"
"I meant what I told your aunt. I'm doing this to help people," Aveline said, "What Hollows do is terrible. I'm going to stop them. And if I can have some adventure along the way, all the better."
"Ramen is done," Hikari announced, setting four bowls at the table and serving them all up.
"So how about you, Hikari?" Kimiko asked, "What brings you to the Soul Reaper Academy?"
"Money," Hikari said, "And adventure."
"Money?" Aveline asked.
"Yeah, Soul Reapers make pretty nice wages around here," Hikari said, "Oh don't look at me like that. I'm not some money grubbing snob. I need it to help Tatsuya."
"Tatsuya?" Kimiko asked.
"Yeah. Tatsuya is sick," Hikari said.
"It comes and goes. Today is pretty good actually," Tatsuya said.
"Yeah. Some days he doesn't have enough strength to get out of bed," Hikari said.
"What's wrong?" Aveline asked.
"His lungs. He gets fluid in them and coughs and coughs. Sometimes blood comes up," Hikari said.
Sounds like tuberculosis, Aveline thought. "Have you tried an anti-biotic?"
"What's that?" Hikari asked.
"It's a kind of medicine," Aveline said, "It may help him. We'll go see Isane Kotetsu at the Squad Four infirmary tomorrow. She might be able to help."
"Oh, you think so?" Hikari asked.
"She'll just be glad to see me there for a reason besides being almost dead," Aveline said with a smile, "So you also want some adventure?"
"Yes I did. I get the money and I get some adventure and excitement along the way. And I get to trounce some Hollows. I don't know about you two but those things make me so angry," Hikari explained.
Aveline looked back at the three others at the table. Despite the unsatisfying ramen, which was quite good for ramen, she felt quite happy. In the real world Aveline had always felt out of sync with everything. Almost like she didn't really belong. She felt different here. She felt part of something. She felt like this is where she belonged after all. Funny how that works out, being born in the wrong place, wrong century, wrong person. But eventually finding herself here in the land of the dead. Which reminds her…
"Say, how come I can remember life in the real world but you two can't," Aveline asked.
"Well, we were born here," Kimiko said, "People are born here as well as migrate here from the real world."
"But how come nobody else at the Academy has any memories of the world?" Aveline asked.
"Dunno," Hikari asked, "Sounds like a good question for a teacher though."
The light of day was fading from the sky when the three girls left Hikari and Tatsuya's house.
"What is it Ravenstein?" the Soul Society Sociology professor asked as Aveline approached his desk after class.
"Sensei, I was wondering why do I have memories of my time in the real world and others don't?" Aveline asked.
"For starters there are two kinds of souls in the Soul Society. Those that were born here and those that migrated here from real world when their bodies died," the professor explained.
"I knew that," Aveline said.
"Well those that migrate here arrive as an idealized form of themselves when they were alive. They are more fit, healthier, and usually more physically attractive then they were in life," the professor said, "And so they don't arrive as a drooling baby with no sense of self they also arrive with the memories of their life."
"I see. But how come nobody else seems to have those memories," Aveline asked.
"When I was in Squad Twelve I asked this same question. And here is what I determined. They still have them. They have just faded into their unconscious. Proper hypnotic techniques can get them back to the surface. As they spend time here in the Soul Society they build up memories of here and those from their real life naturally fade into the background. They are still there, but not as clear or readily accessible," the professor answered.
"Ah. I see. It's to give us some kind of emotional basis for ourselves when we first arrive," Aveline answered.
"Precisely. It can take a few years, perhaps even decades for the soul to build it's sense of self in the Soul Society. But who you are never really changes. Those memories provide a good starting point for you on your journey of self-exploration," the professor said.
"And because I developed my Soul Reaper power faster then others, my memories haven't faded back yet," Aveline surmised.
"Such would be my guess as well, Ravenstein," the professor said, "So what is this I hear about you knowing your zanpaktou's name?"
"Well it wasn't that hard. I knew my Zanpaktou in life. Kinda. It was my family's sword," Aveline said.
"Interesting…" the professor said, "I will need to mention that phenomena to Captain Kurotsuchi. Naturally I won't mentioned you, Miss Ravenstein. That could have unfortunate consequences for any dealings you have with the Captain."
"Uhhh, thank you?" Aveline said.
"No problem," the professor said with a smile.