Ah, ya gotta love Kūkaku.

Leap of Faith

Kūkaku: "Alright then! Let's get this show on the road!"

Outside, Kūkaku was running the game.

Kūkaku: "I'm gonna help you get your confidence back- EVEN IF I HAVE TA BEAT IT INTA YA!"

Levi understandably flinched. This woman was scary, scary in her own right!

Toushiro: "Kūkaku we're trying to get his self-esteem back, not brake him."

Kūkaku: "Hey! You came to me for help, didn't ya?!"

Toushiro: "I'm just saying, go a little easy on him. He's not like us or Ichigo for that matter. And he's certainly not like Vegeta."

Kūkaku: "Ha! Now he's a guy I can respect! 15 of my best punches and he still wouldn't go down! Those saiyans are tougher than nails, I tell ya!"

Toushiro: "You're stating the obvious."

Bam! Kūkaku bashed Toushiro right on top of his head! Apparently even Toushiro wasn't completely immune.

Kūkaku: "My house, my rules, understand?-"

Toushiro: "Yes, ma'am! I'm sorry- please forgive me! I'll shut up now!"

Kūkaku: "Good. Now then..."

And she turned her attention back to Levi.

Kūkaku: "Alright, quit pissin' on yourself and let's do this!"

Levi: "Huh? E-Excuse me?!"

Kūkaku: "You heard me. When I'm done with you, you'll be a man again instead of a pathetic snot-nosed brat who wets himself every time he's yelled at!"

Levi blinked. And they say he has a dirty mouth!? They should meet this woman! Kūkaku began putting Levi through all kinds of different exercises, some of which were odd and made no sense in helping him. One of the oddest ones was cleaning the giant chimney which was actually Kūkaku's fireworks canon. That took a while as she was nit-picky about everything.

Kūkaku: "Keep scrubbin'! I wanna see my reflection in that thing!"

And people called him a nit-picky clean freak?! This busty woman was making him clean something as tall as a T-Rex all alone! Even Levi wouldn't take on such a challenge. And when Kūkaku wasn't doing it, the twins Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko kept driving him on with strange chores and exercises, like raising the giant arms that displayed the banner. That was not an easy task to do alone.

Koganehiko: "That's it! Keep it up!"

Shiroganehiko: "That's it! Keep it up!"

Turn and turn the level he did! Finally the arms were up and Levi was exhausted. Kūkaku had a reason for making him do these ridicules tasks. She was hoping that he'd eventually get sick of being humiliated and rebel. It was actually quite brilliant.

If he rebelled, then he had confidence.

It was simple, yet brilliant. Except for one problem. Nothing was working so far. But Kūkaku had one more thing up her sleeve. She had saved the most humiliating job for him...

Levi: "You want me to what?"

Bathe Ganju's boars.

Kūkaku: "Are you deaf or something? I said; I want you to wash Ganju's boars. All of them."

Levi stared at Kūkaku for a moment before gazing over at Ganju's six boars. All six of the beasts didn't look happy, especially the one called Bonnie. Ganju held a bucket with soap and sponges inside. Surely, if anything, this would be where he had had enough and rebel! But-

Levi: "... Ok..."

He didn't. The Shiba's were shocked. Not even Ganju likes bathing his boars and he loves them.

Ganju: "What a fruitcake."

Kūkaku, for reasons only known to her, bashed Ganju on the head.

Ganju: "OW! What'd I do this time?!"

Kūkaku: "Just be quiet, dumb-ass."

Levi began washing the first boar Mindy like he was asked while the other five waited and ate. Toushiro just watched him with pain. Poor Levi really seems to have lost all confidence in himself. Could anything light a fire under him?

Toushiro: "... Levi... You do realize why Kūkaku's making you do all this, right?"

Levi: "... ..."

Toushiro: "She wants you to get fed up with it and rebel. If you rebel, then you've got some confidence back!"

Levi: "(Scrubs the boar) ... ... I know..."

Toushiro: "Then why?"

Levi: "*Sigh* ... ... I don't know..."

Toushiro: "Levi... Stuff like this happens. But you can't give up. Like the old saying goes; if you fall off the horse, you just go get right back on!"

Levi: "... I don't know if I can this time, Toushiro."

And Levi just went back to washing the boar. Toushiro sighed deeply.

Toushiro: "Again... It's like talking to a wall."

However, there may still be hope. Because just a few feet away, Bonnie was munching on some grass and Ganju's favorite boar has a bad reputation of being nasty to new people. She was still nasty to Toushiro on some occasions and he's been here a few times. But Levi was fresh meat.

Ganju: "Hey, Levi! When you're done with Mindy, Bonnie's up next!"

Levi: "Sure."

And at that moment, Bonnie looked up and saw Levi. All of a sudden she oinked loud and long!

Toushiro: "What the?"

Ganju: "Uh-oh! Not good!"

Ganju was the first to suddenly realize who she was about to go after!

Ganju: "Uh, Levi! Start runnin, man!"

Levi: (Getting to his feet) "What?"

Ganju: "I mean it! Start runnin! She's about to charge!"

Bonnie pawed the ground and snorted! Toushiro was right behind Ganju in realizing the danger! The young captain turned to his friend and shouted-

Toushiro: "LEVI RUN!"

-Just as Bonnie began her charge! The soldier yelled and ran off with a giant angry boar on his tail!

Ganju: "Bonnie, stop!"

Toushiro quickly chased after them!

Kūkaku: "What the hell's all the racket?!"

Ganju: "Bonnie just started chasing Levi for no reason!"

Kūkaku gritted her teeth and looked up just to watch Toushiro disappear after his friend!

Kūkaku: "He'd better not stop!"

Through the woods Levi ran with the huge boar close behind! Despite her size, Bonnie was fast! Just feet behind the boar, Toushiro was catching up! Levi tried climbing a tree to escape the boar but she just smashed it down, forcing him to keep running! He ran up a steep hill and was able to buy himself some time, the boar's hooves not being good for steep terrain. Over the hill and yet he still ran, knowing full well that the boar would catch up quickly. But heading down the hill, he found a problem. A shallow ravine! He wouldn't get hurt if he fell in, but he didn't want to get stuck in the thick mud that was on the bottom. If he got stuck there, he'll become an easy target for Bonnie. The soldier turned around to double back-

Levi: "Maybe I can get around her!"

-But Bonnie blocked him!

Levi: "AGH! Not gonna happen!"

Levi turned back, towards the creek bed. There was no way around it, no way through it! There was only one way: He'd have to jump across! But could he make it?! He either had to find out or get gored! As he ran back, he took a deep breath. And then, he jumped!

Levi: "Argh!"

Thud! Crash! Tumble! Levi shook his head as he looked up. He had made it... He actually made it to the other side! Sure the ravine wasn't very wide, but it was wide enough- about the length of two horses from nose to tail. Making a jump like that was not an easy feat, even for some soul reapers. So for Levi, a normal human, to make it across is something else. Bonnie began heading back, knowing full well she wouldn't make the jump. And just as she started to leave, Toushiro suddenly appeared next to Levi.

Toushiro: "Levi! Are you alright?!"

Levi: "Yeah!... Yeah, I, uh... I think so..."

Toushiro now only just realized what had happened.

Toushiro: "Holy shit... You actually made it..."

Levi: "Yeah... Yeah, I guess I did..."

Toushiro: "Whoa! That's amazing! Do you realize how hard that jump is, Levi?! I mean, not a lot of people can say that they've-"

Vegeta: "(Clears his throat while saying "ahem".)"

Uh-oh... Levi and Toushiro froze in place before slowly turning their heads around. There was Vegeta and still in a mood.

Toushiro: "Oh boy..."

The saiyan just glances over at Levi next.

Levi: "Uh, heh... Hello."

Vegeta: "What are you doing here, Levi? Better not be getting into trouble again."

Toushiro put his foot down and stood up to Vegeta for Levi.

Toushiro: "That's enough, Vegeta! Levi's not a helpless kid, he's a man! So stop treating him like one!"

Vegeta just huffed.

Toushiro: "And for your information, he can get himself out of some situations on his own. I mean, look at this! He just jumped across this just to get away from Bonnie the boar who just started chasing him for some reason!"

The saiyan looked up at the ravine behind the two of them. Indeed it wasn't an easy jump for many, him excluded.

Toushiro: "Hasn't this gone on long enou-"

Vegeta: "-Did you say he jumped that?"

Both Toushiro and Levi were a little thrown off there. That wasn't anger or disappointment, there was a hint of amazement in that question. Both of them looked at one another before turning back to the prince.

Levi: "Uh... Yes I did, sir."

Vegeta: "Hm... Not even Kosa has made that jump yet."

Toushiro smiled a little as he looked at Levi. The soldier was actually pleased with himself. Kosa was Vegeta's nephew and was already pretty good at many things saiyans can normally do. But if Kosa, a pure saiyan, couldn't make that jump... Well Levi has every right to feel good about himself.

Vegeta: "(Clears his throat while saying "ahem".)"

The soldier and soul reaper snapped out of their trance.

Vegeta: "Toushiro. Don't you have some work to do?"

Toushiro: "Oh! Yes, I do! Thanks for reminding me. Come on, Levi."

Levi: "Uh, yeah. Right."

And both Toushiro and Levi walked passed Vegeta as they headed for home, and along the way talked about the jump.

Toushiro: "Seriously, he was impressed! You should be proud of yourself, Levi!"

Only after they were gone did Vegeta glance back at the ravine again. He just raised his eyebrows before leaving. At the other side, Kūkaku and Ganju were equally impressed.

Ganju: "Heh, all according to plan!"

Bam! Kūkaku hit him again.

Kūkaku: "Lying dumb-ass."

What none of them knew was that even Vegeta himself didn't quite make that jump the first time years ago.