(A/N: So after a brief hiatus this series is back. Please Enjoy. Thanks to user Xerosonic for his assistance).
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Tales of the Abyss
A few months later
Asch's pov
I was sitting at my desk working on paperwork. This stuff is so mundane and irritating, I hate it. At least I'm not in the same squad as that dreck. That makes things several times better and less confusing for both Vice Captain Ise and Captain Kyoraku. Speaking of my Captain he seems to be way too relaxed for someone of a Captains level, compared is Vice Captain Ise. Every time I see them together she always has to tell him things more than once so he gets the picture. I always see him at the bar drinking with several other Shinigami and whenever I see him outside of work he is flirting with women. It makes me uncomfortable that i have to work for a guy like him, hopefully i will get a promotion out of the squad before he does something to embarrass me.
After finishing the paperwork on my desk I clack it against the wood top several times to get it in a nice neat stack before sauntering over to my Captain's office to get these things handed in. Of course, as usual it was Vice Captain Ise receiving my audience.
"Oh, Asch are you finished with your paperwork?" she asked. I nodded and handed her the small stack in my hand. She glanced through it. "Yes this appears to be in order, thank you Asch,"
"You're welcome," I said and exited the building. I didn't have any more assignments on my plate at the moment so I decided to take advantage of my time to try and learn Shunpo, as I had been trying to do for the past few months now. Taking my instruction book from my room I went to an open field in 8th Division's territory to practice. Let's see here, I began to read, The art of Shunpo, commonly known as the Flash Step…
Luke's pov
…was first conceived by…god I can't even pronounce this guy's name…as an art used to use spirit particles underneath the…blah blah blah this is going right over my head, I said tossing the book behind me, I'll just wing it. I stood up, stretched and cracked my knuckles. Let's give this a go then.
I crouched down, bent my knees, and pushed off with my back foot only to go nowhere and faceplant right into the ground. I stood up and brushed off the gravel.
Asch's pov
Having read the theory of Shunpo completely I decided to give it a go.
Crouch, I thought bending my knees, Dominant leg in back, I said and made sure my right foot was where all my weight was currently going, Gather spirit energy, I did so, Push off with back leg and move! I pushed off and moved only to lose control of my path and had to skid to a halt. I growled in frustration.
Luke's pov
Okay this time I'll add spirit particles to my stride, I told myself, Crouch, bend, gather, push! I went a good distance, but at the end of my stride I lost my balance and wound up falling over. Dammit, this is tougher than it looks, Zenith and Jack made it look so easy, I thought rubbing my head.
Asch's pov
I was on my 15th attempt at doing a clean Shunpo stride. Before attempting the stride I made a check list. Lack of pedestrians, I looked around, check, Lack of spiritual entities, I checked to make sure no one was around to call out or disturb me, check, Lack of obstacles, I looked around for rocks and trees, check. I sighed, Okay let's try this again, I got into position, Crouch, bend, gather, push! I went forward only for my foot to dig into the ground halfway through the stride almost causing me to lose my balance, "Dammit," I cursed, stomping my foot, "What the hell am I doing wrong?"
"Having trouble mastering the Flash Step Asch?" a voice called out, I turned around to see Vice Captain Ise.
"Just trial and error until I get it right," I said standing up. Crouch, bend, gather, push! I barely moved two feet. I just let out a brooding growl underneath my breath.
"Would you like some help Asch?" Vice Captain Ise asked me.
"No thanks, I can get this down if I try long enough," I told her. Crouch, bend, gather, push! This time I left a skid mark, giving away my trajectory.
"You over gathered the spirit particles beneath your feet," Vice Captain Ise pointed out the obvious.
"I've noticed, if it was my actual feet then it would be burning my shoe apart," I said sharply.
"No need to be rude I was just trying to be helpful," Vice Captain Ise said as she readjusted her glasses.
"Sorry, but I don't need help right now. Just time," I said.
"If you say so," she said and left using Shunpo. She makes it look so easy.
Luke's pov
Tired of tripping and stumbling and crashing into trees I decided to get some professional help with this. Of course first I had to get some paperwork delivered to 10th Division. It was to be delivered to the 6th seat. Imagine my surprise when that turned out to be Paruna-Sensei.
"Oh hello Luke," she said with a smile.
"Ah Paruna-sensei hello," I said, "I didn't know you worked for 10th Division."
"Most of the academy teachers hold seated officer positions," she eyed the files in my hand, "I assume those are for me."
"Yeah they're from my squad," I said handing them to her. Maybe I should ask her if she could help me learn Shunpo.
"Yes, these look in order I'll send them over to Captain Hitsugaya as soon as I'm done here, is there anything else I can do for you Luke?" she asked.
"Actually I was wondering, could you help me with Shunpo, I've been running into trouble," I said rubbing the back of my neck.
"No wonder you look like hell," she said almost laughing. I laughed nervously. She stood up and strode over to my side of the room, "We'll go over to my division's training grounds, I'll meet you there," she said professionally.
Asch's pov
I was starting to get the hang of Shunpo. At least I could move in a constant motion without stumbling or messing up, a little more practice and I should be able to do this without a gesture and change my trajectory during movement. As I continued to practice I could sense my captain's approach. By the time he reached my general vicinity I had managed to be able to do Shunpo in consistent steps without stopping and could change trajectory during mid movement, but I still hadn't learned how to move in 3 dimensions or had to use Shunpo while moving.
"Your form looks good Asch," he told me holding his umbrella hat with one hand, "Have you been at this all day?"
"Yeah I'm getting the movements down that's all," I said.
"This goes beyond just getting the movements down when I woke up this morning I know for certain you couldn't use Shunpo, now you're zipping around the training grounds like it's almost second nature," he told me apparently impressed with me.
"It's not second nature it's the fruit of all my hard work," I told him.
"It definitely shows," he said folding his arms into his sleeves in front of him, "It's quite impressive considering you couldn't even use it this morning, we don't see mastery as quickly as yours quite often. Although you've yet to master air walking and mid stride movement, to call yourself a 17th seat at this level of skill would be an insult to yourself."
"What do you mean?" I ask, was he thinking of promoting me?
"I'm saying I think it's about time you were promoted. Nanao always tells me that you should be placed higher in the ranks, but I decided that until you could learn at least some skill with Shunpo it wouldn't be a good idea. However, before I promote you, there's just one thing I'd like to see first," he said.
"And that is?" I asked.
"It's documented in your file that during your time at the academy that you effortlessly performed Hado 71 Kiretsu. I'd like to see it, as a formality," he told me.
"Very well," I turned around and prepared the correct spell, but before I could my captain spoke out.
"Ah ah ah," he said, "you're facing the opposite direction."
"You sure that's safe, I mean what if you get caught in the blast?"
"That's the whole point, I can't judge the power of your Hado properly if I can't see it being used on something, besides I have enough confidence in my ability to not get completely injured," he said.
Sighing and turning around I took my stance in front of my captain, "I'm not going to hold back," I said.
"Would be a waste of effort if you did," he responded.
"Unforgiving demons open the gates to your world and bring about tremendous ruin," I positioned my Zanpakuto so that it pointed towards the ground with my hands over it, "Let all who dwell on earth bear witness to your destructive purpose," I raised it and held my hands over my head, "Hado 71!" I slammed my sword into the ground, "Kiretsu!" The ground in front of me shook before a large triangular area of ground in front of me tore up into shreds. My captain didn't dodge or draw his sword he merely put up his hands in a cross formation to brace for impact. How he could stand there and take a 70th level Hado with incantation and not sustain injury, or lose his hat was beyond me.
When the attack ended my captain threw his head back and put his arms back into his sleeves, "Whew," he said, "they weren't kidding when they said perfect execution, nicely done. Why don't you come with me to my office and we'll get started on the paperwork to get you a position more suited to your skill level," he offered.
"Arigato gozai masu," I bowed to my captain in respect. After he worked out the paperwork I was transferred over to be the 7th seat of the 2nd Division under Captain Soifon. After spending only a few hours in the division I realize the pros and cons of being here.
First the bad news: My vice-captain is a completely incapable and useless pile of garbage. If it's not one problem in the Gotei 13 it's another. Other than that I've got no fault with my squad. 2nd Division is known for its strict way of running things
Next, the good news: I like my captain's attitude, reminds me of Legretta. Very orderly, very methodical and well suited for her position. Captain Soifon's title as Captain is well earned in my mind. I've already been here a few hours and she has me working. I think I'm going to enjoy working with this squad.
Luke's pov
"Alright Luke show me what you've been doing," Paruna-sensei instructed.
I nodded, Crouch, bend, gather, push. I went a few feet, but I left a skid mark in my wake and pulled my right ankle muscle.
"Let me heal that," Paruna-sensei said calmly kneeling next to me as I massaged my sore ankle, "It'll get inflamed otherwise."
"What am I doing wrong?" I asked her as the pain subsided.
"Well I can't say for certain yet, I need you to repeat what you've been doing twice more over so I have something to compare it to. Just try not to pull any more muscles kay?" she asked, finishing healing my pulled ankle and offering her hand to help me to my feet.
"Yeah, okay," I said getting up and dusting myself off. After demonstrating two more times, and failing, Paruna-sensei seemed to have an idea as to my error.
"You're exit push is too rough, you're also putting too much weight on your left leg while your crouching on it. You'll hurt yourself that way," she said.
"What do you suggest?" I asked.
"Switch legs," she said.
"Huh, but the book said to lead with the left," I looked at her confused.
"I take it you don't read footnotes," she said, "In the footnotes of that page it states that the dominant leg should be placed in back. You're left handed right?"
"Oh, yeah," I really need to read more carefully.
"So try switching your leg position," she suggested.
All right then, I stood straight, Crouch, I made sure to slide my right foot forward this time, Bend, I straightened my left leg and put weight on my right, and already I felt a bit more secure in my stature, Gather, I gathered spirit particles, Push! I lurched forward I was amazed when so much of the scenery around me rushed by. I looked behind me I couldn't even see Paruna-sensei until I saw her use Shunpo to reach me.
"I can't believe you covered that much ground with one Flash Step, that's amazing Luke," she praised.
I just grinned nervously like an idiot.
All throughout the rest of the day Paruna-sensei helped coordinate my flash step and ran drills with me. By the time it was sundown I could quite literally run circles around Paruna-sensei. According to her my agility had increased tenfold. Her teaching method was pretty solid, it reminded me of how Tear used to teach me stuff.
When Paruna-sensei and I finally called it a day she handed me a rag to wipe off my sweat with and asked to walk back with me to 11th Division.
"What for?" I asked as I wiped myself down.
"Luke, to call yourself a 16th seat with the level of Shunpo you have would be an insult not only to yourself, but to me as well. You're ready to ascend higher into the ranks as a Shinigami," she told me.
"That still doesn't explain why you have to come along, I already figured that out for myself," I said draining the sweat out of my hair.
"I want to sign you up to join my squad," she said, "I think you'd fit quite comfortably here in 10th Division. Besides you still have a long way to go as a Shinigami, Shunpo is just one of the many things you can learn besides your Shikai. There's also Air walking and mastery of your own spiritual pressure. 10th Division is perfect for growing well and growing quickly. Just look at our captain, he's this generation's child prodigy," she said with a smile.
"No way, how does a captain become a kid," I said in disbelief.
"Is there a problem Luke Fon Fabre," a rather ticked off voice said behind me. I quickly turned around to see a kid, about Anise's height, wearing a haori, with white hair and green eyes standing there.
"Oh hello Captain Hitsugaya how are you?" Paruna-sensei waved at him smiling enthusiastically.
"I heard you were at the training grounds with a former student of yours at the academy and I came to see what the status was," he said.
"Why is that sir?" she asked.
"If he was a capable individual I was going to have him assigned to our squad," he glanced over at me, "but if we're going to have a problem, maybe I should reconsider."
"No, no there's no problem," I defended retracting my statement, "Honest"
"I see," he said, "Perhaps you can show me, just what you can do."
"Are you going to test him Captain?" I asked.
"In a sense," he said.
What does he mean by in a sense?
"I've read Luke's reports so I don't need to see much. So for first priority I would like to see your farthest Shunpo stride," he instructed.
Farthest, that means I have to push hard and gather little, I reminded myself. In one stride I moved a distance of 400 meters. Captain Hitsugaya reached me in several, probably to conserve energy.
"That's not a bad distance," he said, "I would like you to show me how quickly you can move from that spot to approximately a yard behind me," I moved with such force that the wind actually rushed by him, "Hmm you need some work on your execution, but that'll come with reiatsu control, but 1.03 seconds to make that distance isn't bad," he said without turning to face me, "I just need to see one more thing and then I'll go with you to make the arrangements to have you transferred. I read in your report something about a Kido you practiced in secret you wrote that its destructive potential could wipe out an entire market place if uncontrolled. I'll stand and use Bakudo 81, to shield myself from the damage, but I want you to show me that Kido that wrote about."
I was surprised he knew about that. In my Kido class I kept a notebook about things I did outside of class. I had been practicing in one of the false towns when I discovered this technique. I never used it the entire time I've been in 11th Division because of the unspoken rule against Kido, I sure hope I was still able to control it.
"Okay," I said to Captain Hitsugaya. He walked away and projected Bakudo 81 and waited for me to execute my attack, I closed my eyes and threw open my hands at my sides palms facing towards Captain Hitsugaya. I started to chant, "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring," A large yellow ball of energy appeared in my right hand, "On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens," A disk of blue fire and lightning appeared in my left. With semi-large effort I casually brought my hands together, "Combine," I said softly and combined the spells into a larger, dark blue ball of energy that, with slight movements, I shaped it between my hands and raised my hands over my head before opening my eyes, "Secret Hado number 7!" I shouted flowing spirit energy towards the spell between my hands, "Raikousorataiho!" (Lightning Sky Cannon) I transferred all the spirit energy into my left hand and threw it like it was a spherical projectile. It trailed along the air at sound shattering speeds, approximately Mach 3, leaving behind a dark blue, electrified trail as it sailed towards the awaiting target, where upon it exploded with high amounts of electrical impulses creating a hell of an explosion. If it wasn't for Captain Hitsugaya's Kido that attack would've kept on soaring until it reached the outer edges of the Seireitai walls, or another solid object. Whenever I used it in the Shino Academy translated training facilities I always wound up blowing up an entire block of buildings. I found it hard to believe that I had managed to control its trajectory in such a straight pattern, I figured that with such a long time passing in between now and the last time I used it that I wouldn't have been able to use it as good as had been, boy was I wrong. As the smoke cleared, I saw Captain Hitsugaya had actually braced for impact behind his Kido Barrier, which supposedly blocked all Kido up to Hado 89. I then watched as a crack formed at the top of Bakudo 81 that trailed down the whole barrier and then it shattered into fragments of spirit particles. Captain Hitsugaya looked amazed.
"Incredible, the 7th Secret Hado, there hasn't been a Shinigami who had the skill to use any of the Secret Hado's in a long time," he was in complete awe, and then shook it off and said, "Come with me, we're going to get you transferred."
"Yes sir," I said eagerly following after him.
11
th DivisionAs Captain Hitsugaya worked out the paperwork with Captain Zaraki I sat around outside the barracks waiting for him, leaned up against the wall, Zanpakuto in my lap.
Suddenly Yachiru popped out from beneath the floorboards and shouted "Surprise!"
"Oh hey Yachiru," I said.
"Where have you been Lukeeshi, I've been looking all over for you," she said tugging at my robes in a concerned fashion.
"I've been practicing to learn Shunpo," I said and looked serenely across the division grounds.
"What are you so happy about?" Yachiru asked getting on my shoulder.
"I'm moving on up through the ranks," I said, "I'm getting a new position, I'm one step closer to going home."
"You're leaving," Yachiru said, almost in a whine scrambling down my shoulder and pushing down on my leg.
"Hey don't be like that," I said patting her head, "I'll never forget my roots here in 11th Division. I owe you some gratitude Yachiru you helped me get my foothold here in the Gotei 13. If it wasn't for you I'd still be back in the academy."
Yachiru smiled goofily with a giggle.
"Thanks for everything Yachiru," I said.
Before she could respond the door slid open revealing Captain Zaraki and Captain Hitsugaya, "Everything's in order kid," Captain Zaraki said, "You can get going,"
"Right thanks," I said rising to my feet, "Thank you for having me on your squad," I bowed.
"Che, come on don't act like that, what have I told you about formalities here in the division you stupid idiot" he said.
"Oh right," I said.
"You'd better get used to formalities though if you're going to be in my division," Captain Hitsugaya said.
"Don't drive the kid too hard, if you do I may have to come down myself and see to it he's being treated properly," Captain Zaraki taunted.
"Threats will get you nowhere Kenpachi," Captain Hitsugaya said.
"Anyway, I'm glad I could be in your squad 11th Division was awesome," I told Captain Zaraki.
"Just be sure you don't forget what it means to be a warrior, no matter where ya wind up," he said.
"I won't," I said with a determined look, "This squad has given me the foothold of being a Shinigami. Now all I have to do is build from there."
"Glad to hear it," Captain Zaraki said.
"I'll come and visit you," Yachiru said smiling.
"I look forward to it," I said smiling back.
"Come on then let's get going," Captain Hitsugaya said walking past me towards 10th Division.
"Yeah," I said following him.
"Goodbye!" Yachiru waved from Kenpachi's shoulder, "See you soon Lukeeshi!"
I just smiled and waved as I walked with Captain Hitsugaya until Yachiru and Captain Zaraki were out of sight. I couldn't wait to start my new post as 8th Seat of the 10th Division.
(A/N: And so both Luke and Asch have attained new positions amongst the Gotei 13. Asch is now Soifon's 7th Seat and Luke is Hitsugaya's 8th. How will these new positions affect Luke and Asch's performance as Gotei 13 officers? Find out in the next chapter of Noble Flames).
NOTE: Yachiru has changed her nickname for Luke to Lukeeshi which is adding on the latter portion of the Japanese word for boyfriend, kareshi, to Luke's name. Which is basically saying that Yachiru has a fangirl crush on our Red haired hero.