Cityangelz - thanks. I tried to keep the main point of the story as well as develop the characters more. I'm glad to know I did well. :)
Pheonixfire3473 - thanks!
Hisanachan - Well... the first is Ishida's, Sado's, Rukia's, and then Inoue's. Hope that clarified your confusion. :)
KoriChi - According to my knowledge, it's IchiRuki for the moment. :P
BrazeRancor - Sorry. I'm not great at pairings... so... maybe next time I'll do a oneshot on that pairing, if anything helps. And I'm glad you like the story!
Oneluckyduck Sponge Fan - Thanks! Well.... about the quotes - my editor's a in-progress writer, (despite her age, in her own way, it's the only reason this story is as awesome as it is now) She has a lot of awesome quotes she actually memorized (O.o), which is where I'm getting my current supply of quotes. I could leave you a list.... None of her works are published yet. She's too young and sulking about it. As for Rukia, they said she has the level of a seated officer. But all of their reiatsu will spike up during the apprenticeship. :p
Speaking of which...
This chapter isn't apprenticeship. Yet. DON'T KILL ME!!!!!!! Instead it's based on Tatsuki, in case anyone was wondering how she got to be where she was in Soul Society.
Disclaimer: I still have to put this up? Blimey. I don't own Bleach. Nuff' said.
xTatsukix
A vibrant scream distorted the air with it's melachony.
xxx
Somewhere, a child screamed as she crashed into the ground - shoulder constricting painfully over the cracked pavement.
xxx
Her blood dripped onto the shattered gravel of the broken road.
xxx
Her vision flickered.
xxx
Everything was slowly dimming - diminishing in color.
xxx
She could barely make out the claws dripping her own blood, suspended in midair, as everything went black.
xxx
The world was strangely peaceful.
Without the sounds of human intelligence clicking constantly in her ears - the beeping cars, the annoying blaring of a voice suspended in the air with the aid of a microphone - everything seemed to finally be at ease.
If only for a moment.
xxx
The sound of pounding footsteps registered in her mind as she opened her eyes.
Where was she again?
Was she dead? Gone? Lost? Alive? How? What had happened? And about her near-murderer? What had happened to the monster sporting the sickly-white mask that showed two luminious yellow-gold eyes that was sure to haunt her nightmares for life?
"She's alive," a familiar voice stated. Relief saturated the voice.
She could hear the voice - feel it's familiarity in a vague way. But she couldn't place it. Where had she heard it before...?
"Baka, she's nearly dead," another voice, female this time, scolded.
Tatsuki could feel a vague sense of desperation claw at her tired mind. Who were these people, anyways? What did they know? Why were they here in the first place? She didn't bother to voice her questions, though, choosing to conserve her energy instead.
"Well, yeah, but - she's still alive for now," the first voice replied sheepishly, now.
"Idiot."
Tatsuki's eyes focused on the two arrivals - focusing enough to notice their black kimonos.
Black kimono...?
"...Ichi....go?" Her breathing constricted in her labored attempt at talking.
A flash of orange nearly blinded her before she even finished pronouncing the syllables.
"Tatsuki?" It was him. Ichigo. Definetly. "Are you alright?"
She might've been if she wasn't attacked, she thought dully.
"Do you think she's alright?" the second person remarked cryptically.
Her vision flickered.
"Do you want to do it?" the second voice asked again - gentler now. "The konso, I mean."
"Yeah, I guess." Ichigo removed a giant cleaver-shaped blade from his back, sporting it in his hands.
Tatsuki's vision focused sharply on the sword - the nearest danger, instinctively.
"I'm not about to stab you with it," Ichigo reassured at her betrayed expression.
"He's performing Konso," the second figure stated. "The soul funeral. What you call 'passing on.'"
The hilt of the sword began to glow a vibrant blue.
"I don't think she wants the lecture, Rukia. Give me a moment, will you?"
"Idiot. Do you think she would rather you send her off without a word?"
Ichigo sighed. "Not really... thanks."
The hilt of the sword pressed against her forehead - wonderfully cool in comparision to her pain-racked figure.
"Sayonara."
The world exploded into white.
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"Still stands Thine ancient Sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart." - Rudyard Kipling
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Tatsuki opened her eyes hesitantly, feeling solid ground beneath her once more.
Where was she...?
Definetly not where she had been before.... which had been... where?
She racked her mind but concluded with nothing.
What happened?
Her mind conjured nothing.
She couldn't remember anything but a void of white.
"Oi," a voice called, addressing her for a first.
She looked in the direction of the voice, absurdly expecting the person to have vibrant orange hair...
...No such luck. The person before her now had onyx-black hair and appeared about in his mid-thirties. A faint quizzical expression graced his features.
"You're new here, aren't you?"
"...I..." Tatsuki hesitated, wording carefully. She was in unknown territory with a stranger. It never hurt to be careful. "...I think so..."
The stranger looked at her sympathetically, concern mirrored on his face like an open book.
"Welcome to Soul Society," he offered uncertainly at her martyred expression.
Her first greeting into the new world.
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"I have been half in love with easeful Death." - John Keats.
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SIX YEARS LATER
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"Oi!" a voice called at anyone who bothered to listen. "The Shinigami Academy is accepting new students this year!"
Tatsuki glanced up, curious at last. The Shinigami Academy had a six-year curriculum that had begun the day she had entered Runkongai. She hadn't been able to enter then because of her incoherency in Runkongai but now...?
She ignored the set of starving, reiatsu-encompassed children who were hotfooting away from an angry pastry-chef, as they clenched their bread for the day to their chests.
Her eyes glanced over the pristine-white buildings of the Academy - already clustered over with hopeful Runkongai civilizans, most of them her age.
White, red, blue - the colors customarily attributed to the school.
She glanced at her own black-white robe - closed in halfway, with a wave of unsurpassable curiosity.
If anything, things couldn't get worse than Runkongai... could they?
So... why not?
Her mind made up, she approached the buildings steadfastly.
Six days later, she was accepted into the Shinigami Academy.
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It was night.
Tatsuki rearranged the covers of her bed, positioning her pillow so it was held above her head to stifle any sounds.
God, that was annoying.
She had no idea why the Academy was cheap enough to pack them all into rooms, three people in each dorm, and yet be gracious enough to allow them to live in dorms in the first place.
She groaned, turning to the side - effectively shutting out the snores of the singular male occupant of the room.
The night was long, and, if anything - definetly sleepless.
She mentally swore to herself to soundproof her part of the room - hell with the consequences.
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Tatsuki shut out the sounds of incredulous conversation amongst the students - grasping the wooden sword in her hands with a death-grasp.
She hated it.
Swords. Fighting.
Or, at least, wasn't any good at it.
The teacher expertly tapped his own wooden sword against hers, almost experimentally...
...Her sword flew out of her hands.
"Don't let the opponent stun you," the instructor scolded - repositioning his sword in his left hand. "Again."
Again - she was seriously beginning to hate that word. It meant she had to pick her sword up. Try again. Try to hit the teacher who she never could even graze with her sword. Again.
She grit her teeth, slowly walking backwards, eyes glancing at the teacher - not trusting him, as she bent backwards to pick up her wooden sword.
The teacher didn't flinch under her unrelenting glare - instead moving to the defensive, sword positioned to the left, ready to parry a blow already.
Tatsuki half-heartedly parried his blow - swiftly moving to the offensive, striking his sword twice more before his own sword came crashing onto her shoulder.
Pain erupted from her shoulder.
Double-clutching, the wooden stick fell on the floor, clattering in her lack grip.
"Don't drop your sword, Arisawa," the instructor's voice rang out, deep and commanding. "Again."
Slowly, she stood up, picking up her sword, ignoring the dull throb of pain in her shoulder.
She hated the son of a bitch, and, to make matters worse - he knew it as well.
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"The sun is the distraction as the skies change color while our eyes are averted, distracted, by the sun." - Anonymous
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Kido.
An excerted amount of energy manifested into Shinigami reiatsu and developed into a wave of intricate details which can be used to substain, abstain, or otherwise use against an opponent in combat. The arts require increasingly difficult control and reiatsu on larger numbers of Binding arts, Way arts, and Destruction Arts.
"Ye Lord, mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man, Inferno, and Pandemonium. The sea barrier surges! March onto the south! Destructive Art Four. ShakkahÅ! (Shot of Red Fire!)"
Warmth glowed in her hands - her fingers instinctively snapped together to release the burst of energy.
A cherry-red bolt of pure fire-based energy erupted from her hands, hitting the target dead-on.
"Nice, Arisawa," a voice called from behind her - one of her few companions at the school.
She smiled briefly in reply, turning halfway. "Thanks, Dayio."
"Arisawa," the Kido instructor called. "Try that without the incantation."
"I can't get the aim then," she muttered in reply.
The instructor approached, a look of genuine concern on his face.
Unlike the zanjutsu instructor, Tatsuki didn't hate this teacher. Rather, he was one of the kindest teachers at the school - despite his huge training regiment - it was worth it.
"Extend your arms before you say the Kido," he instructed. "Your aim takes precision. Remember that, Arisawa."
A bubble of gratitude built up in Tatsuki's chest - tearing to be said.
"I'll try." She bowed.
She had never forgotten his lessons.
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GRADUATION CEREMONY
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The room was brightly-lit, the wooden platform waxed and lighted for the special occasion.
A rush of exhilaration ran through Tatsuki.
Her sixth year.
Graduation year.
"Touri, Dayio," the monotonious voice of the presiding Academy president called.
The student walked onto the miniscule platform - humbled as he accepted the Shinigami uniform. His face was stained a bright crimson. His eyes overly bright with excitement. Tatsuki could hear his whispered thanks as he walked off once more, clutching the uniform to his chest like a lifeline.
"Hana, Rouki."
Tatsuki listened for the anticlimax - the twist. After Hana - always, she had been called in roll call. This would assume the same pattern. She was sure of it.
The girl walked off the platform.
Tatsuki's heart skipped a beat in anticipation - a bead of sweat running down her throatline.
"Arisawa, Tatsuki."
Relief. Flooding her like a burst bubble. She sharply let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding.
I passed. I did it. Actually did it.
She approached the platform - her knees were weak with relief.
The president of the Academy handed her the uniform she had worked 6 years to get.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you," the words slipped out of her as he handed her six year's worth of work. "...Thank you." Her thanks expressed more gratitude than he would have ever known.
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"Oi! Are you even listening?"
"Hai," she nodded quickly - making it end up more like a lopsided bow. She was half-distracted, though. Something about the Captain's odd, orange hair and hazel eyes evoked something in her.
"Jeez..." The Captain faced her once more. "Anyways, welcome to 5th Division, the Messenge and Martyr Corps, to whichever bastard included the martyr in."
Tatsuki nodded slowly.
"I'm the Captain of the Division, Kurosaki Ichigo, of the Gotei 13. And, because Hinamori went down to 3rd seat, you might want to imagine a fukataichou by me to complete the picture. Any questions?" His eyes looked at her, oddly reminiscent.
"Why was Hinamori-fukataichou's status... lowered...?"
"She asked to be given a lower position in order to handle her stress," Kurosaki shrugged.
"...Ano... also... did you dye your hair?" Something about it seemed to be painfully familiar.
"No." His scowl deepened. "Anything else?"
"No, Kurosaki-taichou." Adding the respectful honorific at the end as a precaution.
He stared at her curiously, almost as if he had expected something else. There was an oddly reminiscent quality there. But it was gone by the time she so much as blinked.
"Follow me. I'll lead you to your room, Tatsuki."
"Hai!'
She was just happy being where she was.
She never noticed that he had called her by her given name - not her last, as if they were once-parted friends, of a time she never remembered.
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"Oi, Tats, can you cut your training early?"
Tatsuki paused, lifting her zanpakuto to her sheath.
"Why?"
"I want to tell you something." He scowled. "And just about now would cut it."
"I guess." She sheathed her blade - shrugging.
Every division had a training unit that nearly all the Shinigami in the Division participated in, aside from the Captain and the fukataichou, and, sometimes, even some of the higher seated officer.
She was 4th seat - right beneath Hinamori, whose seat would be permanent for her, unless she wanted a change, Ichigo had insisted, on behalf of his martyr self.
"What is it?"
"You never applied, but I asked the soutaichou if it was possible to apply you anyways, even after the deadline," Ichigo stated, not bothering to elaborate further. "In the end, though, you made it."
"Made.... what...?" She shook her head - clearly bewildered.
He tossed her something wrapped in woolen cloth.
"....Oi, Ichigo. What's this?"
"Look inside, idiot." He replied in akin.
Curious ignited, she unfolded the papery cloth until the badge inside, scarfed with white, appeared.
Words failed her at the sight.
"Congratulations, Tatsuki..." he smirked. "...New Fukataichou of Fifth Division."
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"And I have me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers - shrivelled now, and brown and flat and brittle - to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of man." - H.G. Wells
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Tatsuki stared at the two apprentices, Inoue and Sado - her own apprentices until the groups reformed into one.
She had been wary of the entire mission - apprenticeship.
Part it had been Aizen - his access to the Living World and capability to leave without notice in the world was of a much higher percentage than in Soul Society - where even a dream of the man would trigger alarm bells all around Seireite and even Runkongai.
Another part had been the memories Ichigo had - the memories that centered mainly around the Living World. Tatsuki had been worried that a change would be evoked - something would change and never return to it's former self. Personality. Thoughts. Memories. Whichever one it would be.
And the last part of the mission that worried her was the general concept - Apprenticeship.
She hadn't the faintest clue on how to teach. Ever. She was always the one being taught - being tutored.
So this was an entirely new experience - teaching the younger and passing down intelligence passed once to you.
And, clearly, her past had been more than just vague, but at least she was where she was now. Fifth Division fukataichou - Arisawa Tatsuki.
Her badge gleamed - the white sash wrap around her sleeve.
A small smile graced her lips as she began to speak - began to teach.
The simple phrase, tabula rasa, came into her mind, unexpectedly, catching her by surprise.
But it defined this situation well.
Tabula rasa - the epistemological thesis that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and sensory perception.
Tabula rasa - a blank slate.
Oh, god, this took sooooo long. I'm tired like hell. So is my editor, apparently, from editing all my "mistakes" and "flaws" in the chapter. O.o"
But - it's done! Finally!
Oh! and sorry to those disappointed that i didn't do a team-brush up. I did this because I thought Tatsuki needed a bit more developing so - here it is! I'm so happy it's finally done! :)
OI! READ HERE READ HERE READ HERE PLEASE??
What exactly should Ichi and Tats do next for the apprentices?
I actually have no idea so i need an idea before i even start next chapter..... sorrry.....!!!1
But, thanks!
Please review!
