Yay, Chapter Three-Might not be as good as the others, but who cares? I'm having fun. So, yeah, here comes Chapter Three
Chapter Three-Frightening Power
It truly was not as hard as Koji had originally thought, filling in for Iba. Komamura rarely asked for help, leaving Koji mostly to his own devices and giving him time to relax. When they did not work, Koji would try (not always succeed) to accompany Komamura on his walks around the Seireitei with Goro. Truthfully, the only thing about his work that bothered him was that the captain was so distant. Any questions Koji would ask would be answered vaguely or dodged altogether. More often than not, Komamura would act like he did not even hear.
Three days after his pseudo-promotion (as he called it, since he would be demoted once Iba returned), Koji had received word from one of the lower-ranked men to report for training. Somehow, this seemed to have taken too long. After all, Soul Reapers should always be training to keep up the fight against the Hollows, right?
Koji followed the man to the training field, where a surprise awaited him: men from the Sixth Division (and Captain Kuchiki himself) had joined them. They stood facing each other, as if ready to wage war. Captain Komamura was off to the side discussing something with Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Abarai, seemingly unaware of Koji's arrival.
"Captain," Koji gasped when he approached.
"Ah, Koji," Komamura said dismissively. "This is your first training session, isn't it?"
"Yes, sir," Koji said, "as an official member of a division, anyway."
"Yes. You should do fine," Komamura said. "Today is something simple: one-on-one sparring. Captain Kuchiki has agreed to assist us with our training, so the Sixth Division will be joining us today."
"Yes, sir."
Captain Kuchiki turned the assembled divisions and cleared his throat to gain their attention. "I would like each unseated officer to pair up with another officer from the other division who is also unseated. Each seated officer will spar with the person who is equal to their rank."
It took a small while, but they were quickly paired up, and afterwards, Koji noticed something; the Sixth's Third Seat was missing.
"As you can see," Captain Kuchiki said, seemingly to no one in particular, "my Third Seat is currently off on assignment. Therefore, I would like you to spar with Renji."
It took Koji a moment to understand, but when he did, he nodded. He started to move, but Komamura put his hand on his shoulder (that gesture was starting to become more familiar by the day) and shook his head.
"Wait for them to finish their sparring. Many of them would like to see what lieutenant-class Soul Reapers are capable of."
Koji nodded, a small shred of pride brimming inside him. Komamura thought that he was lieutenant-class.
As the sparring matches winded down, they were gradually increasing in intensity and rank. Finally, the fourth seats had completed their matches and moved out of the way, clearing the "stage" for the lieutenant-class Soul Reapers. And, now that he looked, Koji had realized that an audience had accumulated, not just from the Seventh and Sixth Divisions. Gradually, the number of spectators had increased, as more people from other divisions had joined them. Even a few captains (Captain Hitsugaya, Captain Unohana, and Captain Ukitake) had come to watch. They stood off to the side among their subordinates, waiting intently.
"It's your turn," Komamura remarked when Koji had not moved.
"Oh, yes, sir," Koji replied hurrying to join Lieutenant Abarai-Renji, as the lieutenant had corrected him earlier-for the match. He faced Renji with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
"Aren't you going to draw your sword?" Renji asked; his was already drawn, though not yet released.
"Oh, yeah," Koji said and he withdrew it, nearly dropping it in his excitement. He stared at it; a standard-length sword with a blue handle and a simplistic, hexagonal tsuba. Renji watched with near embarrassment as his opponent fumbled with his own sword, holding it out as if afraid he might cut himself.
"BEGIN!" Captain Kuchiki's voice rang out among the throng of spectators and Renji had already moved; he vanished in a display of Shunpo. Koji remained still, seemingly not having heard the captain's voice...
A loud clang rang out through the grounds, as metal clashed with metal; Renji had attempted to strike from behind, but Koji had smoothly blocked it with his own sword, having moved just enough to block it... and something was different. His head slowly turned to gaze over his shoulder-once blue eyes had now turned a deep, piercing gold.
"Are you ready, Lieutenant Abarai?" he asked, and the voice sounded strangely distorted, as if two people were speaking at once. Caught off-guard, Renji stared in surprise at Koji before Koji's kick to his stomach sent him reeling backwards. Koji pointed two fingers at Renji. "Hado 4: Byakurai."
The lightning bolt dashed forward, but Renji had regained his composure. He dodged it quickly and was airborne now, staring down at his opponent who had not moved from that spot. Renji dashed down at him, sword drawn.
Koji's feet moved slightly... and he vanished, reappearing above Renji had hovering easily. Renji stopped his downward descent and looked up. Koji's palm was pointed downward at him...
"Hado 33: Sokatsui."
A wave of blue flames burst out and Renji lifted his zanpakuto to block them; he collided with the ground with a resounding BOOM! and Koji watched from where he floated, his expression vacant, indifferent, as he waited for the smoke to clear. When, finally, everything settled, Koji was looking at Renji with a raised eyebrow; his zanpakuto had changed. He had not even heard Renji release its Shikai.
Renji swung and the segmented, whip-like blade flew outwards. Koji dodged the numerous, repeated swings.
"Come on!" Renji yelled. "Show me your Shikai!"
And Koji vanished once more, appearing behind Renji. Sword still drawn, he held it upside down and looked carefully at Renji. "Once I release my sword, you won't be able to win."
"Don't count me out yet, new guy," Renji replied smugly. "I've got some tricks up my sleeve, you know."
Koji closed his eyes. "Very well..."
The air grew heavy. Renji's breath snagged slightly and from the corner of his vision, Koji could see the other captains, watching intently. Captain Hitsugaya's hand was already on his zanpakuto.
"Flash, Hikari no Inu."
A bright, bluish-white light enveloped Koji briefly before fading. Renji's vision blurred before clearing and he saw Koji's zanpakuto, frowning at how little it had actually changed. The blade had turned a deep, sapphire color, with a small chain hanging off the pommel like a tassel. The tsuba had changed as well; it was now shaped like a wolf's head, with the blade jutting out from the wolf's open mouth.
What surprised everyone was how different Koji looked. His hair, normally kept tied back into a ponytail, was flowing freely down his back. Wolf-like ears jutted out from his hair, replacing his human ones, and a wolf-like tail was visible, pointing out from the back of his hakama. A spiked collar had appeared around his neck, complete with a blank tag. Yet his face seemed more severe that ever, almost feral. His pupils had become vertical, turned to slits.
"That's it?" Renji asked. "That's your Shikai?"
"Apparently," Koji answered. "Hikari no Inu... The Dog of Light."
"And what's it do?"
"Be patient and I'll show you." Koji lifted Hikari no Inu above his head and spoke in a low voice. "The first ability is called 'Kessho'." He slashed at the air-a wave of clear, sharp, ice-like objects spiked up from the ground and rushed forward and Renji jumped to the side as the the clear spikes vanished when they missed.
"Ice?"
"Crystals," Koji corrected. "Kessho is the ability to turn light particles-photons-into a solid form which become crystals."
"Ah," Renji said. "I see... Is there more?"
Koji pointed the tip of his sword at Renji and a small orb of blue light appeared. Koji could see all the looks of confusion around him as streams of blue energy fed into the orb, making it larger and larger.
"Is that a cero?" Renji called. When Koji did not reply, Renji's took a deep breath and a shout echoed through the uneasy silence. "BANKAI!"
A wave of spiritual energy erupted from Zabimaru and, once minute later, it had been replaced by the skeletal figure of Renji's Bankai-Hihio Zabimaru.
A beam of energy erupted from the orb of light at the tip of InuHikari and it collided with Renji's Bankai, exploding with force. Slowly, the Bankai unraveled, revealing Renji who had used Hihio Zabimaru to protect himself, wrapping it around himself.
"Was that a cero?" Renji demanded.
"Not really," Koji replied. "It gathers energy from every bit of light it can that it fires as a beam of energy. Not exactly a cero, but not different."
"So you aren't just some weakling, are you?" Renji asked.
"No."
Renji flicked his wrist and the massive Bankai responded. The serpentine head hissed loudly, and attacked. Koji held out his own sword and attempted to hold it at bay, but the Bankai's power was pushing him backward, his feet skidding across the ground.
From where he stood beside the other captains, Komamura watched his new recruit carefully, truly impressed. He would have never expected such a young, nervous kid to have such amazing power. And yet...
"You recruit has great power," Captain Kuchiki remarked.
"Yes," Hitsugaya agreed. "I could use someone with his skill."
"Thank you," Komamura said. "I am as impressed as you are."
"He's stlil holding back, isn't he?" Ukitake wondered. "I feel like there is something he isn't willing to show us. Do you think he has achieved Bankai? Anything's possible, Sajin."
"I do not know," Komamura replied honestly.
"If he has, then that would explain why he's doing so well against Lieutenant Abarai," Unohana offered. "I would like to see if he truly has a Bankai."
"Yes," Komamura said. "That would be interesting."
Then it happened again; the pressure increased. The other captains could feel it, heaviness weighing down on them and Komamura's eyes narrowed. With a quick display of Shunpo, he moved forward and grabbed Koji's arm.
"I think that's more than enough," Komamura said, looking carefully at Koji.
The other captains and division officers looked carefully at Komamura, amazed that he had stopped the match so quickly.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Abarai, but I think we have done enough training for today," Komamura said and everyone noticed that the sun was setting now, the sky steadily darkening in hues of pink and orange.
"You are quite powerful," Komamura noted as he and Koji led the Seventh back to their barracks.
"Thank you," Koji said genuinely. Since resealing his zanpakuto, Koji's eyes had gone back to their blue, and his wolfish qualities (the ears and tail) had vanished. He seemed to have reverted back to his usual, nervous self.
"I'm very impressed with what I saw," Komamura said. "You are very talented."
"I'm just an ordinary officer."
"Perhaps."
They were silent when they returned to the barracks and the officers returned to their quarters. They had just reached Koji's when Komamura cleared his throat.
"I am glad I have a talented officer like you in my division. I look forward to seeing your advancement."
"Yes, sir," Koji said with a small bow as he entered his quarters.