Chapter Two

Training Complete

Three Hours Later, Over Dinner…

"Lora, can I ask something of you?" Jasmine asked.

"Sure, Jazz. What's on your mind?" Lora replied.

"How long will me and Nick be in the Soul Society when we go there to start our training?"

"Well, in Human days, not a single day will pass by. Not only do you not age in the Soul Society, but time stays still in the Human World. In fact, since there are only a few Soul Reapers living in the World of the Living, only they can move between the time distortions without consequence. Now, how far are we on talking about Zanpaku-to's?"

"You were just going over how if a Soul Reaper is killed, their Zanpaku-to disappears and never return." Nick reviewed.

"Very good, Nick. But, I may have exaggerated about that. What really happens when a Soul Reaper dies is that his or her Zanpaku-to's disappears and returns later on. There is an exception to this, though: If a Soul Reaper accidentally disappears in the Dangai Precipice World, their Zanpaku-to is lost for all eternity. In fact, I have heard of a special case where a Zanpaku-to called Mirokumaru reappeared in Karakura town, Japan a few years ago where a jewel called the Shinenju appeared in the World of the Living. One of the Worldwide top Soul Reapers, Ichigo Kurasaki, was the one who found, protected and saved the Shinenju. Along with other Soul Reapers who are powerful enough to be in the top Worldwide Reaper list, he went to the dimension created by the Shinenju called the Valley of Screams and battled the members of a lost clan of the Soul Society. Ultimately, they defeated the Clan of Darkness, what this lost clan was calling itself, and brought the Shinenju back to the World of the Living, where she sacrificed herself to save both the World of the Living and the Soul Society.

"Also, Ichigo had a problem, the same one that your mother had long ago before she quit the Soul Society. But, with the help of the Visoreds, or a group of Soul Reapers that can don a mask of a Hollow's face and use the addition of the Hollow's power to help Ichigo control himself. Any questions, you two?" Nick raised his hand first. "Yes, Nick?"

"At first, you said the Shinenju was, in sense, an it. Then, you call it a she. Which is it?"

"Oh, right. The Shinenju was called Senna and looked like a girl aged, at the time, around Ichigo's age. I also never explained Blanks and what the Shinenju is in full. Blanks are souls who have no memories. They look like white spirits with a pointy, red hat-like head. They wander the World of the Living every period of a many years, not specified, but they all look for the Shinenju. Why? That's simple: The Shinenju is the collection of the entire population of Blanks' memories. So, if you met a Shinenju, which could be a guy or a girl, you will forget them after they restores balance to both World of the Living and the Soul Society. Any more questions?"

"I have a few," Jasmine said. "Who runs the American Soul Society? What's their name? Do they run your Squad as well as the rest of the Soul Society?"

"All are very good questions. I will start with the third. Yes, they run Squad One as well as command the rest of the Soul Society. The leader of the Soul Society is Captain Raymond Barrett."

Tabitha ran in. "What? I know the Captain of Squad One is usually the leader of the entire Soul Society, but Raymond? Why did they put him in charge? You should have been Captain of Squad One in the first place. Instead, you're still the Squad One lieutenant."

"Tabitha, I know I should have been the Captain, but with you not there, I couldn't do it. You could have been my advisor. I wouldn't have known what to do if you weren't there."

"Oh, Lora, of course you could've. And, you could have come here to get advice. You are always welcome here."

"Yeah, well, I know that now. I didn't when you first left."

"Is there anything else we need to know? Or is our training complete?" Nick and Jasmine asked in unison.

"Yes, your training is complete. Now, we just have to arrange a trip back to the Soul Society."

Nick's cell phone rang. He looked at who was calling. "Shit. Hello, Katie."

"Nick! Can you come over, please? I need to talk to you, and it's important." She said, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Wait a moment," He looked at Lora, who nodded. "I'll be right over," He hung the phone up. "I'm sorry, but she needs me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay, but before you leave, here," Lora handed Nick an item that looked like a PEZ dispenser, complete with the odd cover in the shape of a knight's helmet. "If the Hollow attacks you over there, use this to send a mod soul into your body and you can fight the Hollow. Also, when you take out your Zanpaku-to, it will look like a normal katana. When you release your Shikai, it will transform into its true form."

"Okay. Be back soon." Nick left his house.

It took Nick about an hour to reach his girlfriends' house. When he knocked on the door, Katie's mother Keira answered the door. "Oh, hello Nick. Hurry inside. Just go straight up to her room."

"What's wrong with her, Keira? She was crying so much on the phone that I could barely understand her."

"That's for her to tell you, not me. Just go and talk to her, please. If her father finds out, the two of you may be dead when all this is over."

"Okay, I get the feeling that what she needs to tell me is very, very important and could ruin our relationship."

"Just about, yes. Now, go! Before Bill gets back."

"Okay, okay. I'll go see what she needs of me," Nick went up the staircase to find his girlfriend in her room, still crying and curled up on her bed. "Katie? I'm here." He said, walking over to her.

Katie looked at Nick, tears streaming down her face. "Nicky? Oh, Nick!" She said, throwing herself into Nick's now open arms.

Nick held her, rubbing his arm up and down Katie's back. "What's wrong, Kate? What did you need to tell me?"

"Well, I don't want to give away too much information, because that usually leads to a bad reaction or a faint, whichever seems better to the person. Go into the bathroom and look on the counter. There should be something there with a piece of paper. Pick them both up and bring them back in here, okay?"

"Okay. I'll be right back." Nick went into the bathroom.

It took him a few minutes to find the item in which Katie was talking about. He brought it back into her room and opened the piece of paper. It was a results page for the small item he had brought back with him. "Okay. Plus sign equals positive and minus sign equals negative. That seems simple enough," He looked at the item, which had a plus sign on it and the letters e.p.t. Nick looked back and forth from the item in question and the results, and then he looked back to Katie. "Katie, are you trying to tell me that you're… pregnant?" Nick asked, uncertain.

She simply nodded and started crying uncontrollably again. "Katie, it's okay. You know, you should stay with my family for a while. You know, so your dad doesn't find out."

"Are you sure your mom wouldn't mind?"

"Of course she wouldn't. She's a doctor, for God's sake. She'll be able to take care of you. So, do you want to come live with us for a while?"

"Yes, let's go. Now."

Nick nodded and helped Katie pack some clothes. They left the house after saying goodbye to Keira and explaining what they were going to do. When they got back to Nick's house, Nick explained the situation to Tabitha and sat Katie down outside on the porch. Then, the Hollow attacked.