Toushirou was one of those hard to impress people. He liked to believe that he had seen everything, and he though he might be caught off-guard at times, he liked to believe that he was prepared. In all his life Toushirou could count only four times he had been left in awe, and only one of those involved someone who, at that time, was only an acquaintance.
The day in question was like any other. He was busy observing Marona and trying to figure out the secrets to her power. Of course, that was hard to do when Marona wasn't actually using her powers. She hadn't gotten another job offer since that first fight. It wasn't until about a week afterwards, when Toushirou was about to give up and go home, that another job offer came.
"I don't know what you have planned, but it's not going to work," Toushirou said as he stared down at the mess at their feet, "We're going to have to clean this by hand."
Marona sighed. "I wish we didn't have to. This is disgusting," she said, indicating to the mess.
Ash seemed to feel like he had to give words of encouragement to Marona, and he said, "It could work, if you're careful."
The mess in question was a large flood that had destroyed part of a house. There was water, mixed with dirt and other things, everywhere, and there was probably water damage underneath the filth. For a moment Toushirou thought about helping them, but he quickly dismissed that though. He was here to see how they worked, not the other way around.
They must have had a plan, though, because today they had brought someone else with them. A little girl in a poofy red outfit rounded out the group. Currently, though, she was just floating there next to them. Toushirou looked to the little spirit, then to Marona and said, "Well, whatever you have planned, go ahead and do it. Just standing here won't accomplish anything."
Marona picked through some of the debris as she said, "I know, I know, just gimme a minute."
As she dug through the pile of debris she paused occasionally to consider an item. The first couple times she did this she was apparently dissatisfied, since she threw it over her shoulder and continued to dig. Finally, though, she picked up what looked like an animal skull and said, "Aha! This will work!"
She tossed it to the ground in front of the others. Ash nodded approvingly, but Toushirou just stared at it. "Okay," he said, sounding apprehensive, "And this is supposed to do…?"
"This!" Marona placed her hands on the skull, and it started to glow slightly. The little spirit with them glowed as well. It disappeared momentarily, then suddenly reappeared in place of the skull. The little spirit, which appeared much more solid now, twirled and giggled, apparently approving of her new form.
Toushirou continued to stare. "…I don't see how this will help the situation."
Marona nodded to the spirit and said, "You know what to do, Holly!"
The spirit giggled once more, then pointed her hand at the building. "Omega ice!"
Toushirou honestly wasn't expecting that much. He thought that, at most, an icicle would form. He was greatly surprised when the little spirit managed to turn every drop of water in that flood into ice, freezing everything. Then, after a few moments the ice shattered and disappeared, leaving only dirt and dry plants to clean up. The flood had been taken care of in half the time it would have taken Toushirou to do the same thing. Needless to say, he was in awe. "How…how…"
He looked to Marona as he pointed at the spirit. "How did she do that! I could feel her reitsu before, and it wasn't anywhere near strong enough to do that!"
"Of course not," Ash said in a tone that seemed to say 'what are you, stupid?' as he crossed his arms in front of him, "She wasn't confined yet. No spirit would have been strong enough to do that unconfined."
That limited explanation went right over Toushirou's head. It was about as affective as explaining rocket science to the boy in the same amount of words. Marona noticed this, and she tugged on Ash's sleeve and said, "Ash, I don't think he knows what confining is. I'll explain it to him."
Marona wandered over to the rubble pile and picked up a brick. "You see," she said, "Stuff like this has properties. This brick, for example, would make it harder to hurt you. And the skull that I confined Holly to? It makes magic super-strong. It works with everything, too. A plant would make you healthier, a rock would make you stronger, and so forth."
There was a pause. "Though it works the other way too," she said thoughtfully, "some things can make you weaker. A rock will make you stronger, but you'll be slower too. Or a plant will make you healthier, but you'll get hit easier too. They all work like that…Anyways-"
She set the brick down in front of her, then continued. "I can put spirits into stuff like this, and two things happen. For one, they become part of the physical world, so everyone can see them. Also, they get a lot stronger, based on whatever their soul is attached to. This is called 'confining'."
Marona stopped and gave Toushirou time to process everything. In the background, the little spirit danced around a bit. After a few seconds Marona said, "Do you get it?"
Toushirou was very quiet. At that moment he was going over his previous evaluation. Had he misjudged this girl's powers? He had thought that it just brought spirits to the physical plane before, and that's why Ash had been able to kill that hollow so easily. But if she could actually make people stronger… "…show me."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "She already showed you. Or were you not paying attention?"
Toushirou shook his head. "No, I mean, do it to me."
Marona put her hands on her hips and frowned. "You're being awfully needy," she said in a scolding tone, "It's not exactly easy to do, you know. Besides, you haven't even said please. Why should I confine you to something?"
Toushirou grit his teeth. He could explain why he wanted this, but it would take hours. Besides, he just wanted to confirm a suspicion. After all, if his suspicions were correct, then she might actually be very useful. "I can't explain everything right now, but if I'm right about something I'll tell you."
Marona gave Toushirou a questioning look, as if she didn't quite trust him. "Do you promise?"
Once again Toushirou's eye was twitching. It seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Yes," he said, trying to keep his voice even, "I promise."
Marona suddenly grinned happily and said, "Okay!"
Then she slid down to her knees and placed her hands on the brick in one swift movement. At first Toushirou didn't feel anything, but as soon as the brick started to glow he felt something tugging at his body. It felt as though something were trying to pull him apart, and it made him feel vaguely sick. Suddenly his vision changed, and he was standing right in front of Marona.
For the most part it felt the same as being in a gigai. However, there was one big difference: he felt stronger. It wasn't just a minor increase, either. He felt as if his power had increased by at least twenty percent. He took a few steps away from Marona to give him ample safety distance, then pulled out this zanpakutou and swung it testily. It responded similarly, feeling the same increase in power as its master. All if this left Toushirou in awe.
Then he noticed Ash, who was currently reaching for his own sword. "Calm down," he said as he played around with his zanpakutou a bit more, "I'm just testing it."
Ash stopped, but he kept his hands on his sword. Toushirou didn't know what Ash planned to do, since he would be ridiculously outmatched if he tried anything in his current form. His thoughts drifted back to this power, though. How could a little girl be able to do something as amazing as this? He had to see what the limits were. Now, Toushirou wasn't one to randomly destroy things just to show his power, but even he had his moments. He picked a rather large tree and took a swing at it, making sure to not hit it with the sword, but rather with his reitsu. Even with just his reitsu the tree was cut down effortlessly. He noticed that his swing was slower and that he didn't move quite as fast, but those things weren't his primary thoughts. "Amazing," he said, more to himself than anything else, "This power…"
Suddenly he felt something hit the back of his head, and he went flying forward and fell flat on his face. When he landed he was back in spirit form, and all of that power he had temporarily gained was gone. With a growl he looked back, and he saw Marona standing just behind him, the brick at her feet. "What did you do that for," he said angrily.
"You big bully," she said, not showing the slightest bit of fear, "Who do you think you are, cutting down helpless trees like that! You can't just do whatever you want!"
If looks could kill, Marona would have dropped dead at that moment. Toushirou was very angry. After so many years he had finally found a way to win the war, and it was this little brat who cared more about trees than other beings! "You…"
"Start talking," Marona demanded suddenly, which caught Toushirou off-guard. He blinked in confusion and Marona added, "You promised! Now, tell me why you care so much about my powers!"
Count to ten. Breathe and count to ten. That's what kept his anger in check at that moment. He had to remind himself that yelling out the secrets of the Gotei 13 was no way to go about winning a war. "It's secret," he said.
Marona started to protest, but Toushirou interrupted her and said, "Yes, I know I promised. It's top secret, though. Even if I were to tell you, it would have to be somewhere where nobody could hear us, and I doubt you have a place like that."
'And I have personal reasons,' he added silently, more for himself than anyone else, 'If I told you about the war, I would have to tell you about her…'
For a moment Toushirou's cold exterior slipped, showing the worn down teenager underneath. It was quickly replaced, though, and Toushirou was back to normal. He scolded himself for letting his mind wander to depressing thoughts, and just as he was doing that he noticed that Marona was getting angry. No, that was an understatement. Marona looked like she was about to throw a fit. "But you promised," She cried out, "Why did you make a promise if you weren't going to keep it!"
Toushirou was about to protest some more, but at that moment Ash picked him up roughly by the collar and lifted him to eye level. That wasn't too high off the ground, of course, but Toushirou's legs were dangling in the air. "Listen," Ash said evenly. He was calm, but anyone could tell that he was just holding his anger in. "You made a promise to Marona, and you're going to keep it. If it's really that secret we can go back to Phantom Isle first, but you're still going to tell her."
Toushirou narrowed his eyes. He didn't like being threatened. "Oh yeah? Who's going to make me?"
Ash tipped his head slightly to the left, indicating for Toushirou to look over there. He did, and he saw no fewer than fifty spirits there, all looking angry. "They are," Ash said.
