Chapter 3 - The First Day

It seemed almost as if Xiang had just closed his eyes, when he was awoken by a strange black butterfly stating he should report to the front desk for further directions to the qualifying area. With that,
Xiang threw on his trainee kimono's, socks, and sandals and proceeded to the front desk after grabbing his trainee's sword and throwing a quick brush through his hair.
Opening the door to his apartment, Xiang looked all around him for the first time. The sky was a nice calm blue, with very few clouds in the air. There were countless buildings surrounding the one like his, and they almost seemed overwhelming. The path's were all made of dirt, packed down by the millions of spirits that have walked the streets and alleyways.
It didn't take long for Xiang to reach the academy; his room was merely feet from it. Walking inside, everything seemed very cramped, yet spacious at the same time. Directly in front of him was a lady sitting behind her secretary's desk plugging away at her computer. To his right was a single-file line of other trainee's, most likely all new just like Xiang. Sucking back the butterflies in his stomache, Xiang approached the brown-haired woman behind the counter.
"Name?" the woman said instantaneously.
"E-excuse me?" Xiang stuttered.
By this time, the woman looked irritated "Name, please" she replied, sternly.
"Oh. Um -- Xiang, ma'am."
"Okay, go ahead and join the other's to your right. We will be starting shortly."
Joining the others in line, a apparently teenage boy with short blonde hair, and black eyes as dark as even the deepest hole in Seiretei turned around and introduced himself.
"Hi! My name's Konatsu, but people call me 'nats for short.
What's your name?"
"X-Xiang." replied Xiang, nervously.
"Nice to meet you, Xiang-san."
The boy then made a minor bow to Xiang for respect.
"Is this your first time in qualifications? This is my third time trying out. Only the top 12 students are inducted in to the trainee program, and the top 2 are given special training under the Gotei 13 themselves. If you make it in the top 2, you only have to undergo about 3 years of training. Half that of the regular training. If you end up under that, you'll be here for about 6 years, training with only the greatest teachers the Seiretei can offer."
Xiang was astonished at how hyperactive this boy was, and at how fast he talked. His knowledge for the training system was ridiculous,
but that was most likely due to the fact that he'd tried out so many times.
It seemed as if only a moment had passed before two older men dressed in the same outfit Xiang was wearing came out before the group and informed them of the same information Xiang had just received from Konatsu, excluding the tournament information.
"You will all be competing in a sparring competition. You may use a mixture of previously known kidou(or demon magic) and martial arts or fighting styles you already know. Unfortunately, you must defeat your opponent by pretending to stab them through the chest. Any questions?"
After answering a few questions the men proceeded in to the hall behind them.
After entering the room, Xiang immediately saw a competition bracket. The men explained in the bracket, the spirits that didn't make it in to the training program last time were c8seeded first, followed by everyone else in an alphabetical order. Xiang was seeded at #23 out of 26.
His first match was against a small boy with sandy brown hair, and gleaming blue eyes. The child had to be no older than 6 when he died, for he appeared to be around that same age. "This should be an easy bout" thought Xiang, for living in Rukongai, he had learned how to defend himself with martial arts. It was almost mandatory, considering the chaos that emitted from the area.
At the sound of a "Dong!" Xiang charged the little boy, and struck with the palm of his hand. The little boy, scared, quivered as he was struck straight in the sternum by Xiang's blow, and flew to the ground. Xiang struck his wooden blade in to the boy's chest. Easy win.
His next bout was against a boy who seemed to be around the same age, but very round in nature. He had to be a good 250 lbs.
"This is going to take some skill," Xiang said to himself, debating on how to upstage his opponent.
"My wooden wakizashi is going to be the only route I have to make my way up the ladder here."
Taking another charge at the sound of the bell, Xiang slid between his opponent's legs and swept him at the feet from behind. Surprisingly, his opponent toppled with ease! With the opponent unable to get back to his feet and regain stature, Xiang once again won an easy battle.
Xiang realized he had easily won those first two matches, but his next bout was the quarterfinal, so he needed to start thinking a little more serious.
"I'm probably going to need to use both my martial art skills, and some swordplay in order to win this one. Unfortunately, I haven't heard of kidou up until this point so I'm screwed there. The little bit that he'd know, if any, is going to be minor. I shoud be able to dodge any of those."
After watching his next opponent win by countering a sword slash with a nice swing to the gut, followed by an upwad stab to the chest, Xiang realized he was in a bad spot here. He had five minutes to prepare for his match, and very little scouting of his opponent to use to his advantage.
"I'm going to be forced to use my wakizashi here, to block his attacks, and then counter with martial arts..."
Taking a deep breath, Xiang felt a sense of relief, and almost a hint of confidence take over. He felt as if he could win this.
Getting in to a battle stance, Xiang stared down his opponent. A teenage boy, short brown hair and brown eyes stood across from him glaring at Xiang with the same look he was receiving. With a dong, Xiang paced the floor in a circular motion, opposite of his opponent. He was the first to swing. Xiang immediately blocked the shot with his sword, and countered with a blow to the gut. The boy stumbled, and Xiang took advantage, swinging his wooden blade towards the chest, but was easily overturned by a quick kidou blast to the abdomen. Now Xiang was on the defensive. Blocking every sword strike as quickly as possible, unable to recouperate fast enough to get a dash in, Xiang felt a little overwhelmed, until.
"An opening!" Xiang thought to himself.
His opponent had left his midsection completely open. Xiang instantly took advantage and struck the chest. He had won! He was going to the semifinals! He never realized he had this kind've ability in him. He was far from the top, though. He had to get past his current opponent in order to make it to the finals and be guaranteed a spot in the top two.
After the other quarterfinals were decided, everyone was given a 15 minute recess to rest, and get some nourishment. Xiang took this chance to go outside and relax. Munching down on a sandwich and drinking a bottle of water, Xiang debated strategy on his next match.
"I could use the same method as last time, but I doubt I'm going to get lucky like I did in the quarterfinal match. I'll just have to trust my abilities, and hope all goes well."
DONG! The fighting bell rang, and all the remaining trainees entered the building. By this time, Xiang was extremely nervous, and worrying for the worst. After watching the first fight go by quicker than he could ever anticipate, it was time to finally meet his opponent one-on-one.
Standing opposite of Xiang was a young man, standing about 6'2" with long dark hair. Obviously appearing very experienced and intimidating, Xiang felt very strong butterflies in his stomache.
"This guy's going to be tough" he thought to himself. "He has to have a weakness, though. I'll hold him off and just try to wear him down. That's my best shot."
With a large dong, the match had began. It instantly started out with Xiang dodging a fairly decent-sized, yet uncontrolled kidou blast. Before he could regain his stature, Xiang was knocked to his side with a knee to the chest.
"Shit. This guy IS good." he said under his breath.
With a large grin, the man allowed Xiang back to his feet, but didn't allow any recovery time, for he instantly started hammering Xiang with strike after strike. Not seeing a single opening, Xiang was growing wary, and almost worried that this match would soon be over. There was not a single opening to get a good strike, or even a blow in.
"I'm screwed," Xiang feared. "There's not a single opening. I'm going to be forced to hold him in a block, and try to get a good blow in to knock him off balance."
And that's just what he did. Seeing a chance to hold a slash in place by pushing against his opponent's sword, Xiang gave a nice blow to the man's face, breaking his nose. Screaming in anger, the man scolded Xiang angrily.
"You bwoke mah nose! My pwecious nose!"
"His face is the key!" Xiang proclaimed. "I'm going to use that to my advantage. His chest is completely unguarded."
With that, Xiang struck his sword right in to the man's sternum. By pure luck, he had won his semifinal match, and was off to the finals! Never in his dreams did he ever imagine he would be in the final match of the Shin?reijutsuin qualification tournament. On top of that, he'd be going to school at the Shin?reijutsuin!
Due to the strenuous battle both the patrons in the final match were given the evening to rest, and would report back to the academy first thing in the morning. Xiang was definitely exhausted, and glad he would be given the night to rest. He went straight back to his bunk, reminisced on the day and then went right to bed. He had a big match ahead of him tomorrow morning.