Chapter 14

Day 37
It seemed that I had been improving: when sparring with Kagine, he hardly had to hold back any longer.

My relationship with Jikan had also gotten better; I became much more adept at fighting with him in his released state. Beyond that, my speed had increased as well; I was able to pull off several flash steps at a time. With the growth of my other skills, I no longer had to rely so heavily on my use of kidō. Running through the catacombs was just as easy as breathing. "I guess I'll have to thank him for training me," I thought, even though it wasn't over yet.

What happened between me and Aiko on the night of the festival remained confused. Every time I mentioned the incident to her, she claimed that she was drunk. Damn! I was still stuck in the friend category; well, better to be a friend than a target of vengeance. When I asked Kagine if I should pursue a relationship with Aiko, he laughed so hard that he couldn't walk for five minutes.

Today was different, not like every other day. This time we didn't start off sparring, nor did we run through the catacombs; Kagine merely insisted that I follow him. He lead me, with Aiko by my side, through the front entrance of the mountain. He handed me a blindfold.

"Um, Kagine, what do you want me-"

"Put it on, Grasshopper!"

"Grasshopper? What the hell did he just call me?" I thought indignantly.

It didn't matter, I did as he said. He then took my hand and pointed it in a western direction.

"Do you know where I'm pointing to?"

"Uh, isn't that the abandoned city of Karakura?"

"Precisely! I want you to walk down there, wearing this blindfold."

Was this a joke? If so it wasn't funny; it was a day's walk to Karakura.

"What do you want me to do when I get there?"

Hopefully the joke will hit the punchline.

"I want you to touch any building and come back."

Ok, so he wasn't joking. He should recall that the city is major hollow territory. Going there would be one of the closest things to suicide I could do.

Unable to go back, I walked forward.

"Hopefully after I take a couple of steps he will tell me I passed!" Unfortunately no words came.

"Crap! This is going to be a pain in the ass..."

"Hey! I almost forgot!" Kagine yelled.

"Don't take the blindfold off in any situation! If you do..." He turned gravely serious. "You failed the test and bad things will happen."

How exasperating. "God! What is up with him? He's basically sending me to my death. Screw him. Wait! I think I found a loophole: he didn't say I couldn't peek."

I lifted a tiny opening in the bandana so I could at least see where I'm walking.

"Wait? Holy cra-"

As Saidō fell off a short cliff, Kagine and Aiko stood in front of the entrance, marveling at his clumsiness. They soon began laughing after Saidō was out of earshot.

"So, Master, what is this test supposed to prove? Or is it just one of your childish pranks?"

Kagine looked at his student with a humble smile.

"This test is actually meant to keep Saidō on his toes. Anything could happen while walking blind."

"Uh, Master? If you were going to temporary blind him, shouldn't you have used kidō instead? It's obvious that he's going to peek."

"That's not the point I'm trying to make Aiko. This will help build confidence in both himself and his zanpakutō. If he actually had any common sense, he would take the blindfold off."

He crossed his arms and watched as Saidō made his way down the mountain, tripping over himself every five seconds. He allowed himself to laugh.

"Plus, this is very entertaining."

Kagine noticed Aiko's worrying.

"Don't worry about the hollows. The ones in the city are really small fries. What's the worst that can happen?"

Meanwhile in Hueco Mundo.

Deep in the abandoned desert lay an enormous palace, once proudly ruled by Lord Aizen. Abandoned for a time, the Hollow Lord decided to take his place there as he reigned over Hueco Mundo. Temporarily of course; if it wasn't for the fact that this base had been dignified by the traitors of Soul Society and their army, this place would still be a ruin of pillars in the desert. Even so, the thought of such an inadequate and meager palace holding his greatness was be a joke.

Most of the hollows within the dimension had left, to raid both Soul Society and the World of the Living. They were commanded by the Hollow Lord and his subordinates, the Seven Sins. There are five of them left.

The Hollow Lord languished on his throne, bored out of his mind, surrounded by his many servants. Although they were arrancars, to him, they were merely leftovers from Aizen.

Even knowing his opinion of them, they still revere him as their leader and god. Sad really, but what choice do they have?

One of his servants rushed into the throneroom.

"My Lord, I have urgent news. Our scouts spotted a soul reaper in the world of the living, near the Karakura district; it appears the be the same one that Sentaro lost to."

Hmm, a Soul Reaper. It wasn't surprising that Soul Reapers were still hiding in the world of the living. They were either cowards or brave opponents. It didn't matter, they would all die before him just the same.

"I'll take care of it."

This shocked everyone in the room.

"But.. my King! We can easily bring this one back to you."

"When you want something done, you have to do it yourself, isn't that what they use to say?"

Sentaro emerged from the crowd.

"Please, my liege, allow me to bring this one back to you."

"Ah yes, I almost forgot, Sentaro, thank you for reminding me of your failure."

Before anyone could react, the Hollow Lord seized him by his throat and began choke him mercilessly.

"May I remind you what happened the last time I sent you on a mission to capture that same soul reaper?"

One of his servants came forward, pulled out his right eye and crushed it for everyone to see. The aura it left replayed the fight between Sentaro and Saidō. Sentaro, realizing this, pleaded for forgiveness. Unfortunately for him, the Hollow Lord wasn't in the mood for mercy.

"There are two things I don't tolerate: overconfidence, and weakness." His grip became tighter. "You're cocky and arrogant. There isn't any reason I should-"

A dark idea popped into his head. He chuckled for a moment and released Sentaro from his grasp.

"You may still be of use to me, Sentaro. Fail me again, you'll be begging to die by the soul reapers, am I clear?"

"Yes sir, crystal-"

His powerful backhand sent Sentaro flying into the air, nearly breaking his jaw.

"Didn't I say I hate cockiness?"

The Hollow Lord was intrigued. Even if the soul reaper there didn't have a shred of information, at least he might put up a fight. His sword was getting rusty.

Besides that, there were other reasons that this soul reaper concerned him.