Yamaru fell to the hard, white stone floor with a thud, his latest kido having backfired.

"Damn it all," He huffed, out of breath. "How many months has it been now?" He questioned the floor. "How many times have stared at this floor?" He looked to the walls, cracks with spots of blood around them. "How many times did I hit those walls?" He sat up, looking at the almost too familiar room.

The facility was a 50 foot cube and the walls were laced with Sekkiseki. The structure was built to withstand high powered kido to get the Kido Corps a worry free place to practice. By an accidental by-product, the structure also hides reiatsu from the outside.

Yamaru slowly pulled himself to his feet, holding his arm up. "Hado #1, Sho!" He said, flying off his feet and hitting the ground again. He lay on the floor looking up to the ceiling. "Kind of reminds me of that realm of light." He thought his eyes involuntarily closing. "Yeah, a nap is a good idea."

*** 6 Months Ago ***

"Well this is comforting." Yamaru thought as he walked into the classroom. All the students hushed as he entered and stared, physically distancing themselves from him as he took his seat.

Despite his injuries, today they were going to start learning Hakuda and come hell or high water, he could at least watch and learn. Suddenly, a gruff looking instructor appeared at the front of the class.

"I'll keep this short." The man said, his voice bellowed through the room. "Hakuda is used by Shinigami who suck at either Zanjutsu, or Kido." Though he didn't look around, Yamaru could feel the jeering stares from his classmates. "Hakuda isn't something you teach, you demonstrate and imitate as best you can, now form up and pair up." The student shuffled around the room, pairing up and following the instructor's demonstration. "What about you?" The man asked, looking at Yamaru who sat off to the side.

"Unohana-taicho told me to not engage in strenuous exercises for a while." Yamaru replied.

The instructor's face went a little pale at the mention of the Captain. "Well, she knows best, you should listen to her." He said, like an automated message.

Yamaru sat, observing the instructor very closely, trying to memorize every detail, envisioning the movements in his mind. He noted some of the students who picked up on the stances and strikes quickly, and after the instructor told them to practice on their own he shifted his attention to them.

*** 5 Months Ago ***

Apparently Yamaru became popular to spar against in the Hakuda classes. It's not that he was a good challenge or anything, but more for the hilarity.

"I hate my classmates." Yamaru thought as he faced off against a student who chose him hoping to see Yamaru mess up. He took up a defensive and waited for his opponent to attack. The student charged, sliding low thrusting towards Yamaru's gut with an open palm thrust. Yamaru took a slight step forward, spinning around the attack, swinging a back-hand fist towards the student. It would have been a clean hit, perfectly executed, except half way through his arm unconsciously shifted from a strike to a swing as his hand passed right by the students head. Had he been wielding a sword he would have cleaved his head clean off. The student used this opportunity to jab his other arms elbow back, hitting Yamaru in the stomach. Yamaru stumbled back, but managed to kick the back foot of his opponent out from under him, causes him to lose his balance. "Got him." Yamaru thought, lunging forward. He planted his forward stepping foot right between the student's feet, leaning forward he pushed his left arm forward to guide his punch, pulling his right back by his ear. The other student winced, closing his eyes bringing up his arms to try and defend, and just as Yamaru was about to throw his punch, he opened his fist. Standing with a look of shock on his face, only for an instant, he thought "What the hell?" The other student seized the moment and brought a knee to Yamaru's gut and opposite fist to his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Yamaru fell to the ground, clenching his stomach as the students laughed at him. "What was that?" His opponent taunted. "Showing mercy to those you think are under you? Look what you get for it."

"Look who's talking." Yamaru coughed, trying to catch his breath. "You froze. Closing your eyes like a baby isn't going to get an enemy to stop their attacks." He smirked.

"You did." The student declared, agitated.

"I'm not your enemy." He retorted, standing up and staring his classmate down. "But I'll not argue anymore with a child." He stated, exiting the room.

*** Present ***

Yamaru opened his eyes, the unchanging ceiling still there. He had come a long ways in such a short amount of time. He no longer goes flying when his kido back fires, though the unconscious muscle memories still through this Hakuda off.

"I guess I should head back about now, Hakuda class will start soon." He said to himself, though making no effort to move. "I bet you're having fun, just sitting back and watching my life." He said to an unknown source, sitting up. "When are you going to talk to me? We're going to be partners, aren't we?" No response. "Fine, just sit back and enjoy the show then." He said, as he got up and headed for class.

*** 6 Months Later ***

Yamaru groggily awoke on a hard stone floor.

"Must have passed out training." He said to himself, as he looked around the familiar room. Not much has changed for Yamaru in the past 6 months. He has spent more time here, practicing his kido constantly, which he is now proudly able to hold his ground when his kido backfires, and practicing his other skills. He had pretty much master the first year level of Zanjutsu and Hoho, and his Hakuda has come a long ways, as long as he doesn't attack. His body would rather attack with a weapon rather than unarmed, but blocks and dodges were like walking. "Oh shit, today's the final exam day!" He said, snapping out of his thought as he got up quickly. "Damn, why did I have to sleep in today of all days?" He asked, as he ran out the doors and headed for the Academy.

NRawk's Notes:

Okay, so with his first year done Yamaru runs off to see if he can make the grade! Well, this chapter isn't as long as some of the others, but I don't want to run random dribble just to make it longer, but the next chapter should be good. Anyways R&R and thanks to everyone who is reading this.