Chapter 2 The Captains Visit

The next week Tashi sat in class at the Academy. The lecture was very interesting to her, but she had a nearly unbearable urge to visit the ladies room. 'I knew I shouldn't have had that second glass of tea this morning!'

Earlier in the week it had been announced that the captains of the Gotei 13 would be visiting the school to review the new classes and give lectures and demonstrations for the some of the classes. Tashi had caught a glimpse of some of the captains in the hallway between classes.

'That's it, I can't hold it anymore!' She asked the student next to her to take notes for her while she ran to the ladies room. She discretely stepped out and into the hallway. She walked down the hall towards the ladies room and to her surprise encountered the Captain Ichimaru, of the third squad. She bowed deeply and waited for him to pass, but he didn't.

"My my. Headed somewhere durin' class? Mm mm. I hope you're not skippin'" he teased.

Tashi laughed a little and said "No, sir, no. I'm headed down the hall here and then back to class." 'I have to GO! Oh my gods, do I have to GO!'

"You seem to be in a rush." Ichimaru sensed her urgency and decided to have some fun. "Now where could you be headed that's more important than class, eh?"

Tashi felt pains in her stomach and figured she was past trying to be discrete. "I am headed towards the ladies room, sir."

"Really? Well, don't let me keep you then." Ichimaru stood where he was, in front of her.

She raised slowly from her bow and said "Thank you, sir." When she tried to side step the captain to get past him, he stepped in front of her blocking her way.

She smiled, taking it as a fumble, as people often do when trying to get out of each other's way and said "Excuse me." She took a step to the left, and so did he. She saw it was no mistake and that he was toying with her. 'Shit! Why is he doing this?' She took another side step and so did he. Again and again it happened and Tashi was getting frustrated. 'I can't force my way past, he is my superior! Oh, hell, he's my superior's superior! But I don't want to wet my pants in front of him either! Shit! Shit! Shit!'

Step, block, step, block. Tashi then tried more aggressively to pass him, but his flash-step technique was more advanced than hers and she knew the current technique she was employing was useless. She tried to fake to her left and dash to the right, but Ichimaru was way ahead of her. He laughed at her efforts and she was shocked he was enjoying torturing her in this childish way.

She began to weigh her options and which would be worse. 'Shoving a Captain, or pissing myself in front of him….'

She chose the former. She stood her ground and when he stepped in front of her she used both hands to slam him out of her way. He stumbled backwards, not expecting the young woman to attack him, but as she passed he reached out and grabbed her wrist. He quickly regained his balance and pulled her close.

Tashi looked up at his eerie smiling face and regretted deeply what she had done. Then Tashi heard another man's voice. "Captain Ichimaru. Is there a problem?"

Tashi knew that voice. She had been raised on it.

She saw Ichimaru's attention be diverted to the source and he backed off. He said "We're just havin' some fun." He laughed and walked off down the hallway.

After the Ichimaru released her she stepped back and took hold of her wrist. Tashi was afraid to look up, but she did and saw Captain Byakuya Kuchiki and his Vice-Captain Renji Abarai. She knew it was Kuchiki-sama from the sound of his voice, but couldn't believe her eyes. This man was the head of the royal family which ruled directly over the lands she hailed from. In essence, Byakuya Kuchiki was her lord. She felt her hands trembling, unsure of what to say to him.

The Captain said "You should not be aggressive towards your superiors. It could lead to serious disciplinary action or perhaps even expulsion from the academy."

She looked back and forth at the two legendary men in front of her and said "Yes, sire, I will keep those words close to my heart. I'm sorry, sire. My apologies!" Tashi then awkwardly ran to the bathroom door and slammed into it. It was locked. She was ready to break down the door but then it opened from the inside. She pushed the other student out of the way and dove into a stall. 'Who the hell locks the door of a public bathroom!?' Her thoughts quickly reverted to what she would have to do to thank Kuchiki-sama after she was relieved.

She made her way back into the hallway and found it empty. The bell rang, signifying that the next class was about to begin. She ran back to the lecture hall she had been in and collected her books. She ran directly to her next class, which was kidou instruction.

The bell rang signifying the beginning of the next class session. Tashi had yet to arrive.

The task for the day was demonstrated by a very young man named Captain Toushirou Hitsugaya. The young captain focused his large blue-green eyes on the target and raised his hand. Captain Hitsugaya instructed the class on a simple kidou chant and a large, but finely controlled blast of energy shot from his hand, the force of which blew his silver hair back, and completely destroyed the target. He turned to the class who were all atwitter about his power and he told them. "This is a difficult task for those of your level. It will be impressive if you are even able to hit the target."

Tashi sped down a dark hallway which led to the outdoor kidou practice area. The bell rang before she made it to her spot outside. She took a moment to catch her breath and then entered the practice yard and took her seat.

She tried to walk in unnoticed, but since all other students were sitting all the teachers and the few special guest captains noticed her tardiness as well. She sat on her folded legs and waited her turn.

The first line got up and made a decent effort. One hit the corner of one of the targets while the others had impressive amount of force, but couldn't make it far enough across the yard to hit the target. Tashi didn't notice the efforts though, she was distracted and her mind was elsewhere.

Tashi's seat was behind her roommate and close friend Eri. Eri turned slightly and whispered "What's up with you being late--?" Before Eri said any more she noticed Tashi was not herself. Eri's friend was shaking, from fear or anger she couldn't tell. "What happened? Tashi, shake it off! The Captains are here! Try to make a good impression." Eri quickly told Tashi the chant and then turned around for her turn.

Eri wished she could have thought of something more supportive to say when she saw tears well up in Tashi's eyes.

Tashi closed them and thought 'It's too late for that' and ran over what it felt like to shove the captain away from her. She then heard Kuchiki-sama's words in her mind. "You should not be aggressive towards your superiors. It could lead to serious disciplinary action or perhaps even expulsion from the academy." 'Expulsion? Oh gods! If I'm expelled for that my parents…my brother… my family!' She thought of having to tell her family and the shame it would bring them and the burden she would bare.

Before she knew it, Tashi was standing staring at a target. She felt Captain Ichimaru there, very close by and tried to ignore him. She raised her hand, focused on the target, but didn't feel she had enough power to create a large ball of energy. She spoke the chant and released a small shot of energy. The energy she released manifested as a tiny ball; it was fast and very accurate. The center ring was burned away from Tashi's target, but the rest of the target was untouched.

There were murmurs among the students and the captains. Tashi was used to murmurs because everyone knew she was of high noble birth and often murmured when she was around. Tashi had also missed Hitsugaya's demonstration, and was too lost in thought to notice how her fellow students had done. They had yet to remove Hitsugaya's completely destroyed target and it was the first thing Tashi saw. She compared it to her own result and thought she utterly failed thinking it was an example of what needed to be accomplished that day. 'Who needs to expel me? I'll just flunk out at this rate and in front of all the Captains too!'

In a fog she went back on her line and awaited her next turn. Before she knew it she heard a laugh that made her skin crawl and felt the breath of the third unit squad Captain Ichimaru on her neck. He whispered "That was pretty impressive. If you had more power I'd take you into my squad tomorrow."

She thought he was being sarcastic and anger welled up inside her. Her hands were shaking now and she wanted nothing more than to release her anger. 'Why is this man being so cruel to me?' Her father's smiling face flashed in her mind. 'I'm sorry father, I'm really sorry!' She began to see spots and felt light headed. Again she did not see the display of the other students. She heard comments and murmurs from the other students, but was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the events of the afternoon to really hear them.

There was one student in particular who was very impressive. It turned out that it was Tetsuo. Eri smiled broadly at his accomplishments. Eri and Tetsuo had started dating since their official meeting at the coffee shop. He destroyed most of the target with a great deal of energy.

Tashi noticed the explosion, but soon went back to her own thoughts. 'How am I going to face my parents and tell them I failed? They are counting on me to become more powerful! My family needs me, all those people need me.' She heard the laugh of Ichimaru behind her and it brought her back to a boiling anger. 'If that slant-eyed demon thinks he can threaten my family he is wrong!'

She looked down at her hands and saw them shaking again. She balled them into fists on her lap, trying to get herself into control, but she found it hard.

Across the yard, Renji Abarai noticed her shaking fists and her proximity to Ichimaru.

Tashi found herself in the front of the line again and stood looking at Captain Hitsugaya's and Tetsuo's destroyed targets. The emotion was burning her stomach as she raised her hand. She screamed out the chant and a huge blast of energy annihilated her target, and half the targets on either side of her own.

When the smoke cleared she was still looking at her shaking hand and the hole she left in the fence behind the targets. 'Oh crap. Assaulting an officer, destruction of school property…This is great. Just great. Wait…' Tashi dropped her hand and looked at what she did in disbelief. "I…I did that?" she whispered. The kidou practice field was silent. The attempts of the two students to either side of her failed to reach their targets.

Tashi composed herself, as her mother had taught her to always do when she found herself the center of attention, and took her seat. Ichimaru leaned down again and whispered in her ear "Perhaps we can push that up to later this afternoon?"

She looked up at him and whispered "I wouldn't join your squad if it was the only one available! I'd rather live in the 79th district of Rukongai!"

Eri heard the comment and felt faint. 'What is wrong with you, Tashi? What is she thinking! He's a captain! He just complimented her!'

Ichimaru laughed and quietly said "You're not the forgivin' type, are ya?"

Tashi said "Oh I forgive just fine, but I don't forget."

Ichimaru laughed out loud and backed off. Tashi wondered why he backed off so easily and didn't continue his taunting. She looked up and saw the young white haired captain approaching her. His blue green eyes were stern, and she wondered if she was in trouble. Captain Hitsugaya knelt down next to her and said "That was very powerful, but you need to control that power."

'Oh no!' "I'm sorry, I don't even know where that came from" she said, assuming she did something wrong.

Hitsugaya looked up at Ichimaru then back to Tashi. He could sense the tension in the air and told her "Sometimes when we feel threatened our reiatsu flairs up."

"How do I learn to control that? Or call on it when I need it?" asked Tashi, wishing there was an easy answer.

Surprisingly, Hitsugaya's face softened and he said with comfort that Tashi needed "That's why you are in school. You will learn this over time."

Tashi felt a bit relieved, but still was shook up over Ichimaru. The bell rang and it was midday. Tashi had a break and spent part of it getting Eri up to speed on what had happened.

"Oh, my gods, Tashi. You met Kuchiki-sama? Isn't he like, your king or something?"

"Yes, yes. My mother and father's lands are under his domain."

"That reminds me, how is your brother doing?"

"Not great. He's bed-ridden now." Tashi leaned up against the building and sighed. "He's…it's not the same illness. He's probably not getting better."

The breeze shook their clothes and Eri tried to think of something positive to say. "Oh, Tashi! At least you're here, right? Being a Shinigami will help!"

"I'm not a Shinigami, yet Eri. If things keep going like this…"

"You did great today!"

"If Ichimaru holds something against me I doubt I will get far. I need to become a Shinigami and prove I have the power to lead my family if something should happen to my elder brother, Eri. It's going to take a lot more than doing well in class to help."

"But at least it's a start."

"I'm not even in the advanced class. How can I truly succeed? Plus, what about Captain Ichimaru—"

"Forget it. Just do your best. Plus, after this demonstration today maybe Captain Kuchiki will help you. Just go to him and explain what happened and he's bound to see you're no troublemaker. Your father was injured in that war, wasn't he? Maybe you can ask for Kuchiki's help dealing with Ichimaru for your father's sake!"

"That's pretty presumptuous…I don't think…" Tashi didn't feel comfortable asking anyone for anything. "I don't think I deserve that."

"I just don't get you girl" said Eri.

"You weren't raised like I was! You have no idea how—"

"How into themselves your royal family is? No I don't. All I know is my friend feels she's being treated poorly and that her family is in danger. He can help. Just try! What's the worst that will happen? Renji Abarai was there, maybe he'll pass on the word to Kuchiki-sama how well you did today!"