Chapter 11

Day 14
Nearly a week had passed, and it still felt like I had been there for years. Kagine's training was nothing like what I expected. It made the Soul Reaper Academy look like a terrible joke.

From my first training day with Kagine, almost all we ever did was spar non-stop; if it wasn't that, then it would be a "quick" detour through the catacombs for endurance.

He strangely never used kidō during any of our fights. I asked him about teaching me his advanced kidō; he replied that it would be too dangerous and that I would most likely be killed in the process.

Strangely enough, Aiko also helped me with my sparring when Kagine wanted a break.

She started to act nicely towards me, always wanting to be my best buddy. However, I believed this to be a ploy to make me drop my guard while she secretly planned to stab me in my sleep.

The process is exhausting. Anytime that I was allowed a break, Kagine would force me to meditate to build a better relationship with Jikan and boy, was that delightful. Hearing the endless complaints of an annoying zanpakutō about "Why am I released so often? Why can't I take a break?" and "Why haven't you made any moves on Aiko?"

"Wait. I just realized something. Why did they save me? I mean, they risked their lives to save mine even though I may be a lost cause for them," I thought. While in the middle of one of our regular battles, I crossed swords with Kagine and leaned my head in so he could hear me.

"Kagine, why did you save me?"

Kagine smiled, shocked that I would dare to question him during a fight.

"You're getting mighty cocky, Saidō!"

He then surprised me with a powerful kick that sent me rolling over the ground. Kagine then touched his sword to the edge of my
throat, making him the victor.

"Why do you ask?" He shrugged and moved his zanpakutō closer.

"We saved you because we wanted too. That's one of the reasons at least."

"Then... tell me Kagine, who exactly are you and how do you have this power?"

"My, you sure are demanding with the questions today." He withdrew his sword. "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you. I was once part of the 13 Court Quard Squad, Third seat of Squad Six. I had orders to escort the remaining wholes to this area during the Holocausto de las Almas. It was here that I personally met Kisuke Urahara and." His head laid low for a moment. "Her."

"Her?" Could Kagine have lost someone dear to him during the war as well?

"That's enough storytelling for one day."

"What? You didn't finish your story!" I yelled.

"This aint your bedtime and I'm not your mother. Back to training!"

He withdrew his zanpakutō and took his battle stance.

Before I could get up, he decided to do something else and sheathed his zanpakutō.

"How bout I make you a deal? If you can beat me in hand to hand combat, I'll tell you everything I know. But if I win, you'll tell me everything you know."

This had gotten serious. I had never seen him use Hakuda before. Then again, he never saw mine, either.

"Fine then, it's a deal." I am very experienced with hand to hand combat.

I took my position and waited for him to make the first strike.

It was like a fast paced chess game, blended with gratuitous violence.

He lunged at me with a right hook, and I dodged the punch; it grazed me, but this provided me with a opportunity to counterattack. I grabbed his right arm, and attempted to use my left to break his elbow. However, Kagine reacted by swinging his right arm, and me, into a wall.

As soon I recovered, he disappeared, instantaneously moving behind me with flash step. Before I could react, he dislocated my right arm with a flick of his wrist.

"Damn!" It stung like hell, like fire ants gnawing through my arm. I struggled on the ground for a couple of moments, groaning in my pain.

"Ah, quit it you big baby." I heard him say.

He grabbed my right arm, planted his foot on my chest, and leaned, instantly jolting my arm back into its socket. The pain almost knocked me out.

"Well, I guess this makes me the winner."

"What? Oh no you don't! You were playing dirty."

"You tried to break my arm, but as soon as I simply dislocated your shoulder, you calling me a cheater! Pathetic."

He leaned in towards me.

"Now, I'm going to get answers from you! If you lie, I'll break your legs now-"

I thought "Damn! There's no way to get out of this! I simply can't lie to him!"

"Hey, Master!" It was Aiko's heavenly voice. "What're you doing?"

I looked up to spot her, standing on the outskirts of the dome.

Kagine smiled. "Interrogating Saidō. Want to give it a try?"

Dear God no! I couldn't think which was worse, getting interrogated for answers by Kagine or tortured for fun by Aiko.

"No thanks, that's okay. I'm just here to remind you the festival takes place in two weeks."

"Oh you're right, I'm supposed to help decorate right?"

"Yes, the whole cave, so if I were you, I would head up there, you have a lot to do."

Kagine then got up and left. I could not believe it; Aiko saved me. Was it mere coincidence? Or did she have her own agenda? After he
left, she offered me her hand.

"I'm sorry about that! My master can be very impatient when he's very happy."