Previously on Bridge the Gap, Kyoukan!

Rukia, Ichigo, and Jesa arrive at the Jones household. Ichigo waits in the living room while Jesa introduces Rukia and her mom. When the girls return to the living room, they find Ichigo having a staring contest with a boy wearing the middle school's uniform, who is revealed to be Jesa's brother, Jensen. Jesa and Jensen get into an argument concerning how 'crazy' Jesa is about Bleach. Jensen mentions that some of Jesa's friends had duplicates of Rukia's sword. Rukia materializes her zanpakuto, leading to a few minutes of silence. The silence breaks when Urahara texts Rukia, asking where she, Ichigo, and Jesa are. On the way to Urahara's shop, Jesa asks Rukia and Ichigo to help prank her brother, and they suggest talking to Renji about it. When the three arrive at the shop, Jesa introduces herself to Jinta and Ururu, and then follows Rukia and Ichigo into the shop.

Chapter 8: Fruit and Kyoukan

"You call this a training ground?!" I said to Urahara when I reached the bottom of his shop's basement. "It's... It's..."

"Huge?" he supplied.

"Nah, I was actually going to say 'tiny', but I didn't want to use that particular word..." I shrugged.

Everyone else who was there face-faulted, "everyone" being Urahara, Yoruichi (human form), Ichigo, Rukia, Tessai, Sado, Orihime, Ishida, and... a pineapple. Somehow, I was able to wipe off the grin that formed when I thought of all the fruit jokes I could make around Renji, and I did it before anyone recovered from my comment. Did I mention I have no talent at keeping a poker face?

I looked around as the others stood back up. Huh, I wonder why the pineapple's frowning, I thought. Bad news from Soul Society, perhaps?

"Tiny?!" Urahara's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Jesa-chan, if you call this 'small', then there must be another training ground you've seen that's even bigger," Urahara said, curiosity and wounded pride mixed in his voice. Only the curiosity was genuine, though.

"Mmhmm, sure have. This place has nothing on the SGC base." I smirked. Messing with people's minds is so fun!

"The SGC?" Orihime said, head tilted a bit. "Stargate Command?"

I whirled to face her so fast that I was surprised I didn't get dizzy. "You've heard of it?"

She nodded joyfully. "I have the whole DVD collection!"

"Really? How 'bout we have a Stargate marathon some time?" I asked excitedly.

"Hey, Strawberry," the pineapple said, interrupting our conversation. "Who's the kiwi?"

"Oi, I'm not a stupid strawberry, ya pineapple!" Ichigo retorted.

"And who are you calling a kiwi?" I added.

Ignoring Ichigo entirely, Renji replied, "You're the kiwi. So, besides that, who are you?"

"I'm Jesa, Ichigo's new neighbor. And why am I a 'kiwi', anyway?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Renji smirked. "It was the first fruit that came to mind that seemed to apply to you. Kiwis are brown and fuzzy, and you have short brown hair."

"Oh, okay." I smiled, partly because I didn't mind the nickname, and partly because I knew my nonchalance would confuse him. "Makes sense. My cousin once tried to get people to call her 'Kiwi', but it didn't catch on, so it's kinda funny that I'm getting called that without any effort on my part." I pretended not to notice the blank stare I was getting from the pineapple as I turned to Urahara. "So, you wanted me to come by for training, right?"

"Yes, yes, so true!" Urahara said from behind that stupid fan. "Now, we all have a release or call phrase for our attacks or powers," he began. After a fake-cough interruption from Ishida, Urahara continued. "Everyone except Ishida-san, I mean. We thought you would probably have a call phrase unique to your own powers."

"So if this is about me, why is everyone else here?" I asked. "Not that I don't like spending time with you guys, but do we really need ten people here to figure out one girl's powers?"

"You're right," Yoruichi answered. "But that's not the only reason we're all here today."

"Are you sure she can be trusted?" Renji stage-whispered to Ichigo.

"No, but she does seem to know things without any of us having told her." Ichigo shrugged. "So it's better to have her on our side, where we can keep an eye on her, right?"

"That... was surprisingly intelligent, coming from you," Renji commented.

"Y'know, Renji," I began. "Ichigo was in the top 30 of his class at Karakura High before he got caught up in all this shinigami business. So don't go implying that he's stupid."

"Ya see?" Ichigo smirked. "She knows things none of us told her."

I faced Ichigo. "And Keigo and Mizuiro's reactions when they discovered you and Chad were both in the top 30? I was laughing my head off at that episode."

"Episode?" Renji said in confusion. "What, is there some anime about Ichigo?"

"Yup, and that's how I knew about your pineapple status," I said with a chuckle.

"You're kidding," Renji deadpanned.

"Nope. Do I look like I'm kidding?" I said with a silly grin on my face. "Don't answer that. So, back to business. Urahara-san, what's first on the agenda?"

"Eto, what was it now?" Urahara had his hand on his chin, and his face towards the ceiling.

"Urahara..." I said seriously. If he forgot... I left the threat unfinished, even though I was just thinking it.

"Oh, right, right, I remember now!" he exclaimed.

Why do I get the feeling he never even forgot in the first place? I wondered.

"Because of your kyoukan," a strangely familiar female voice said.

I looked around in confusion. "What? What the heck is 'kyoukan'?"

"It's Japanese for empathy," Urahara explained. "Why do you ask?"

"Wait, aren't we speaking Japanese?" I asked, sidetracked.

"Well, yes, we are, Jesa-chan, but you are using English," Yoruichi answered.

"Then how can we understand each other?" I scratched my head in confusion.

"Again, because of your kyoukan," the same voice answered.

"Oh... kay, before we continue, I have to ask: How likely is it that activating my powers either created or woke up some kind of being in my inner world?"

"And she finally catches on!" the voice cheered.

"Really? I actually have my own power spirit?" I laughed with joy. Refocusing on the world around me, I said, "I think my question was just answered by that being I was asking about."

Urahara commented, "Well, that makes things easier. I expected you'd have more difficulty contacting your power spirit. Why don't you go find somewhere comfortable to rest while you get to know each other?"

"Why would I need somewhere comfortable?" I asked in confusion.

"You'll probably be drawn into your inner world," Yoruichi answered. "So making sure your body is in a comfortable position while you're inside your soul will keep it from getting cramped in the meantime."

"I see," I said with a nod. "Got a futon I can borrow?"

"Yeah, Urahara had Tessai bring it down earlier in case you needed it," Yoruichi said as she led me to the spot and everyone else started doing their own thing, mostly training.

"That was thoughtful." I smiled and sat down. "And this is a nice futon!"

"I'll leave you to it, then," Yoruichi said as I closed my eyes and drifted off.

A/N: Next chapter, Jesa meets her power spirit face to face! I was planning on having that happen this chapter, but it didn't happen.

As always, thanks to Apocalyxtic98 for the beta reading help. Reviews are always appreciated, but I won't beg for them.

Thanks to my cousin (Delaware Visitor) for the help over the phone, and for suggesting the kiwi bit.

God bless, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! (This chapter was originally posted in December.)