hapter One

Starting Soul Reaper Training

The Next Morning…

Nick woke up before Tabitha was able to try to kick him awake. When she did come in, Nick was then able to counter and throw her into his wall. "Okay, so you're good." She admitted and Nick smiled to himself.

Nick walked down the stairs into the kitchen to find Tabitha, Jasmine, Megan and Lora sitting around the table. "Morning, Nick. Are you ready to begin your training?" Lora asked.

"Would it be okay if I said no?" Nick asked.

"I'd say that was okay, but you need to be trained or you'll never be able to hold your own against a Hollow that might try to attack your family or you." Lora stated.

"Fine, I just have to call Katie and let her know I can't take her to the movies today." Nick took his cell phone out.

The phone on the other side of the line rang. Nick said quietly. "Please, Katie, pick up the phone."

Then, Katie Hansen's voice came from the other side. "Hello? Nick? Is that you?" She asked.

"Hello, Katie." Nick started. "Listen. I can't take you to the movies later."

Katie's reaction didn't come as a shock. "What?" She yelled. "Why not?"

"I have something I have to do today. I promise I'll take you tomorrow. 'Kay, Kate?"

"Okay, fine. I'm holding you to that, you hear me?"

"Yes, of course. I love you."

"Love you, too. Bye, Nicky." Katie hung up the phone.

Nick breathed out in a long sigh. Tabitha looked at him worriedly. "Is she mad at you?" His mother asked him.

"Yeah, she is," He replied. "Don't worry, mom. I can handle Katie."

"Okay. Well, eat up. You will need it to prepare for your training."

Nick nodded and started eating. Lora, invisible to Megan, held her plate up. Megan, curious, asked Tabitha. "Mommy, why's the plate floating?"

"Oh, that's right. Well, Meg, there's an old friend of mine staying, but only Nick, Jasmine and I can see her because she hasn't taken up a human disguise."

"Oh, right," Lora said, remembering. "I'll be right back." She went upstairs.

"What's she doing, mom?" Nick asked.

"She's going to get her gigai, or an artificial human body. When she comes back, Megan will be able to see her as well as we do."

Nick nodded in realization. "Ah."

A few minutes later, Lora returned downstairs. "Megan, can you see me now?" She asked the younger Negron child.

"Yes." Megan answered simply.

"Okay. Nick, are you almost finished?"

"Give me a minute. I'll be done in just a sec."

Nick finished his breakfast and wiped his mouth. "Okay, Lora, I'm ready."

"Okay. First, though, I have to force your Soul out of your body so you can really start training. Oh, I also have a pair of special glasses that will allow Megan to see me and Nick when we're training. Here." She handed Megan a pair of glasses that seemed to have no lenses. Megan put them on.

"Wow, Nick. You look cool."

"What's she talking about? I look the same as I always do, don't I?"

"Well, when someone wears the Soul Glasses, they can see a Soul Reaper or Soul Reaper in training as they would appear out of their gigai." Lora explained.

"Oh, okay. Well, where are we going to go for my first lesson?"

"In your backyard," She said knowingly. "Knowing your mother, she put the fence in with a thin titanium layer in the middle."

"You know me all too well, Lora."

"I guess it comes from knowing you for thirty years."

Nick looked at her, surprised. "Thirty years? You look like you're only about eighteen."

"I know. In the Soul Society, you don't age."

"Cool." Nick said and went into the backyard.

Lora followed him out. "Now," She warned. "You mustn't try to counter me. This is how I will force you out of your human body into your Soul Reaper form. Understood?"

"Yes, Lora."

"That's Master Lora to you." She smiled.

Next thing Nick knew, Lora was rushing towards him. He braced himself for impact, but when Lora hit Nick's body, he felt himself being thrust out of his own body. He looked down and saw his human body lying on the ground in front of him. "Now, look at your Soul Reaper form." Lora instructed.

Tabitha, Jasmine and Megan were now all sitting on the back porch watching them. "Wow. You really do look cool, bro." Jasmine praised.

Nick looked down to see himself in a completely different outfit. Instead of his plain t-shirt, he was wearing an unbuttoned vest that had a pattern of a nine-tailed fox on the back and a black swallow-tailed butterfly adorning the right side of the front. His pants, instead of normal jeans, were now a material Nick had never worn before. They were black and had flames at the bottom that rose from the bottom to the top of Nick's knees. "Whoa. Now this is cool. Why can't I look like this every day?"

Lora shrugged. "Now, you must call on your Zanpaku-to. But first, I need Jasmine to come over."

Jasmine looked confused, but still came over. Lora whispered something into her ear and pushed out her Soul Reaper form. Nick was surprised. "Jasmine's a Soul Reaper, too?"

"Of course; I just needed to tell her the one thing she wanted to hear. That, in turn, activated her Soul Reaper powers from manifesting. Now, I can train you both at the same time. Now back to calling your Zanpaku-to."

"What is a Zanpaku-to?"

"It's your weapon. They all have different names. Usually, though, after a Soul Reaper dies their Zanpaku-to never resurfaces again. Rarely, however, it does."

"How can we release them?"

"First, you have to concentrate hard on finding your weapon inside you. Then, when you find it, you will shout out its name and it will appear. After the initial release, you will not have to re-release it when you need to fight Hollows or other enemies. Nick you first."

Nick closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt the power of his Zanpaku-to welling inside of him and found he was shouting. "Kyubi!" He opened his eyes.

In Nick's hand was a katana that was bigger than any other katana he'd ever seen. It actually looked more like a real version of sword Musamune, the sword of the most infamous villain of any game in the Final Fantasy game series, Sephiroth. Surprising for its size, it felt weightless "Wow."

"Kyubi, huh?" Lora asked. "I guess you have a fire-based Zanpaku-to. Okay, Jasmine, you next."

Jasmine was now dressed in a black windbreaker adorned with an ice blue dragon on the back and what looked like fangs on either side of the unbuttoned jacket. Underneath the windbreaker, Jasmine was wearing a black bikini top. Her legs were covered with an ice blue pair of Capri's with black icicles stretching from the bottom to her hips.

She closed her eyes and felt the power of her Zanpaku-to rising and forming in her hand. "Evathon'Dala!" She shouted.

When Jasmine opened her eyes, she was holding a staff that looked like it was made of glass, but looked like it could take a hit.

Lora looked at Jasmine expectantly. "I guess your Zanpaku-to is an ice-based weapon. Okay, now we start the real training."

Three Hours Later…

"Well, Tabitha, they are developing quite quickly." Lora praised.

"Thank you, Lora. I see that, too. They should be bale to hold their own against a Hollow, right?" Tabitha asked worriedly.

"Yes, don't worry. They'll be fine. That reminds me, we only have about five hours until the Hollow is supposed to attack."

"Well, Nick and Jasmine will be done eating any second now."

At that moment, Nick and Jasmine, still in Soul Reaper form, came out. "Are we still training?" Jasmine asked.

Lora nodded. "Yes. Only for a while, though. We only have about five hours until Hollow attack."

Nick and Jasmine nodded in unison. They went back outside to continue their training.