Unlike the previous year, Yamaru was able to get plenty of sleep the night before and was one of the first in his class to show up for the exam. He waited around, not really socializing with his classmate, but some built up enough courage to brave some small talk with him in acknowledgement that he was there, which he did appreciate. Before the instructor could arrive, a messenger arrived calling Yamaru to the Headmaster's Office.
"Did I do something wrong?" He wondered as he made his way through the hall towards the Headmaster's Office. "Well, there are all the times I skipped class, but I was never called to the Head Master then; and I haven't destroyed part of the Academy, at least not as much as my first kido practice." He mused, thinking back to a couple of his sparring matches with Tansuko when either one of them sent the other through a wall, or broke some floor boards. "Actually, I've never been called to the Head Master before." He thought in realization, through the past two years of attendance, he had not once been sent or called to the Headmaster.
Just as he was in mid thought, Tansuko rounded a corner and saw him.
"Yamaru, where are you going? Exams start soon." He asked.
"You're one to talk, you're almost late." Yamaru joked back. "I got called to the Headmaster's office."
"The Headmaster's in today?" Tansuko questioned.
"Is that odd?" Yamaru replied.
"He's usually sick, so what did you do to get called there?" Tansuko asked.
"I have no idea, you haven't been called too?" Yamaru asked.
"Nope, just gotta worry about the graduation test." Tansuko answered.
"Well, good luck on your test." Yamaru said as he passed his friend and heading towards his destination.
"Thanks. Don't worry; Headmaster's a good man." Tansuko assured as he entered his class.
Yamaru continued through the halls of the Academy until he finally arrived at the Headmaster's door.
"2nd Year Kireajiha Yamaru." He announced knocking on the door.
"Ah, Kireajiha-kun, come on in." A somewhat familiar voice called from beyond the door, invitingly.
Yamaru opened the large wooden doors, revealing a large room, the walls lined with books, and a very large ornate desk. Behind the desk was a man with long white hair, who Yamaru barely recalled as one of the two who approached him his first day at the Academy.
"Come, sit down." The man said, smiling warmly and motioning to a chair across.
"Thank you, sir." Yamaru said, sitting in the chair.
"Don't worry, you're not in trouble." He assured, pulling tree folders that were bonded together. Each folder was about two inches thick and the top one had Yamaru's photo clipped to it. "First, I should introduce myself. I am Ukitake Jushiro, Head Master of Shinoreijutsuin and Captain of Squad 13 of the Gotei 13." He said, undoing the bonds that held the folders together.
"Ukitake-taicho," Yamaru began, but he was cut off.
"Right now, I'm the Headmaster of the Academy, but there is no need to be so formal." Ukitake said, again smiling warmly. "This folder holds all you're medical records," He continued, sliding the top folder over to Yamaru. "Every time you've gone Squad 4, well any student actually, I receive a copy and hold onto it until you graduate, and then it goes to Central 46 when you become a Shinigami."
Yamaru opened the folder, looking at all the papers inside. "There are a lot of papers here, Ukitake-kouchou." He noted.
"You're folder is as thick as all of your classmates combined." He replied, chuckling slightly which turned to a light cough.
"Are you alright, sir?" Yamaru asked.
"Just an old illness, nothing to be concerned with." Ukitake assured, swiping some blood off his hand. "This folder contains reports from all your instructors," He continued, sliding the second folder to Yamaru. "Absences, evaluations, recommendations, and the like."
Yamaru browsed the papers, most were positive and recommending him for the Special Accelerated Class.
"I was recommended for the Accelerated Program?" He asked, looking up to Ukitake.
"Yes, on multiple occasions, but you just didn't meet the requirements." Ukitake replied solemnly. Yamaru's eyes widened as he looked down at the papers in shame. He had believed that he was quite qualified for the Accelerated Program, being one of the best Zanjutsu practitioners in the Academy, advance Hoho, and decent Hakuda. Ukitake sensed Yamaru's disappointment. "Well, maybe I should have said you didn't meet all the requirements. It was your Kido that kept you out, which is a shame, your Zanjutsu and Hoho made you a prime candidate." He stated, almost as if he was musing over the decision. "You have to be able to cast a kido spell to get in. Though I did take you're considerable talent and potential into consideration."
"The special Kido training area?" Yamaru asked, regaining some pride.
"The advanced class placement, the leniency towards your absences, the frequent approvals to go off campus." Ukitake confirmed, nodding. "I guess you could say it is a kind of specialized program."
"And the last folder, sir?" Yamaru asked, looking at the last folder, seeming to be the thinnest of the three.
"A profile." He replied, sliding it over. "Though you were clearly from Japan before you died, there are no records in the Human world of a Kireajiha Yamaru who died in the last 50 years."
"50 years?" Yamaru asked in disbelief.
"Yes, and we know you have no memory of you past life," Ukitake said, continuing. "So we built a profile on you beginning since your first day in Soul Society."
Yamaru opened the file and flipped through the pages, noting how detailed they were when writing it, right up to his confrontation of the hollow a mere two years ago.
"Sir, with all due respect, why have you called me here today to show me this?" Yamaru asked.
"Oh, that's right. You still have your exam today." Ukitake said, slapping his forehead and letting out a light hearted laugh. "Just to test your progress so far, I have a short little… let's call it a pre-test." He continued as he got up and walked around his desk.
"A pre-test?" Yamaru asked again, even more confused.
"Just a simply test of how much better you gotten at Reiryoku." He said as his placed his one of his thumbs on Yamaru's chest. "Did you know of the two most important points of a Shinigami's body?"
"No, sir." Yamaru answered shaking his head.
"First is the Saketsu, the Binding Chain, located in the same spot that the Chain of Fate is located on a plus." Ukitake explained. "The Saketsu acts as a boost to spiritual power, in conjunction with the Hakusui," He placed his other thumb slightly below this first thumb. "The Soul Sleep, the source of spiritual power. If these two points are pierced, you will no longer be able to produce Reiatsu, halting your career as a Shinigami forever." He warned ominously as he began to press onto the two points a little harder.
"Wait, what are you…" Yamaru began to question.
"Trust me; you have a bright career ahead of you." Ukitake assured as his reiatsu flared up a bit. After a moment, a confused look came across his face. "There's something blocking my reiatsu. Let's try again." Ukitake pressed his thumbs in harder, and Yamaru heard a cracking noise as Ukitake's fingers sunk into his flesh. Yamaru coughed up a little blood as his vision began to blur.
"What…you…to…sir?" Yamaru asked, incoherently as everything began to fade to black.
"Don't worry, everything should be fine." Ukitake said, smiling weakly.
"Should..?" Yamaru managed to whisper before falling to the floor face first.
"Sorry, Kireajiha-kun." Ukitake sighed, as he lifted the young man off the floor and carried him into the next room.
"Did you have to be so rough on him?" A woman's voice asked as he entered the room.
"How come there was no mention of the barrier around him, Retsu?" Ukitake asked, turning to Unohana.
"What barrier?" Unohana asked, confused.
"It feels familiar, but I had to breach it to influence his energies." He replied. "You've never encountered it?"
"No." She said, as he laid Yamaru down in front of her.
"I may have had broke his sternum." Ukitake said, as she began to wave her hand over Yamaru's chest.
"No you didn't." Unohana stated. "There's no physical damage at all."
"That's impossible, the blood is still there, and I heard the cracks." Ukitake said, pointing to the blood in the corner of Yamaru's mouth.
"Well there's no damage now." Unohana replied. "How long will he be?"
"We'll just have to wait and see." He replied, sitting across from her.
The two captains sat and waited patiently, as Unohana prepared some tea, the unconscious Yamaru lying still currently undergoing his test.
NRawk's Notes:
Well, there is another chapter down, and I hope you are enjoying my story so far.
*side note* one of my friends has recently begun his very first fanfic, also bleach, and if we've planned things out properly, our stories could end up fusing together later, so I encourage everybody to check out 'Creo' by XbCreo.
Anyways, R&R and I hope to get the next chapter out soon.