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The Three-Body Problem
A Bleach Fanfic
Chapter Eleven: July
Karin scowled down at the paper, shaking her hand out. Next to her, Yuzu was still writing in neat, crisp strokes—Uryū on her other side didn't show any sign of slowing down, either. With a huff, Karin blew a strand of hair from her face and rotated her wrist. She had a feeling she was pressing too hard on the paper, but there was a certain weird, frantic energy to the exams; even the pen-and-paper ones, apparently.
What are the first five dicta of the Central 46?
Hm. Well, she knew that one, at least. Karin numbered herself a list, scrawling in the answers with confidence.
1. The ultimate law is to maintain balance.
2. It is forbidden for shinigami to intervene in the affairs of Hell.
3. It is against the law for the military to meddle in the affairs of the noble families unless the family in question breaks one of the laws of Soul Society beyond a shadow of a doubt.
4. It is against the law to commit terrorist actions or attempt to overthrow the balance of Soul Society. To do so is treason.
5. It is against the law for any citizen of Soul Society to create weapons of a dangerous nature not sanctioned by the feudal government. To do so is treason.
Karin thought it was pretty telling that the dictum against murder didn't even crack the top five. It barely made the top ten, for that matter. She shook her head slightly, making her way down the page to the next question.
In what year was Shin'ō Academy founded, and under what name?
She suppressed a groan.
"How do you think you did?" Yuzu bit off a chunk of rice ball, glancing between the other two.
The mood in the mess hall was… tense, she would say. Though that was likely an understatement. Students were clustered into tight-knit groups, moreso than usual, as though they were protecting themselves from each other. Or trying to hold everything together, maybe. The written exams had just concluded, but the process was far from complete. She, Karin, and Uryū had between them taken every conceivable subject area test—though Karin had elected to drop a couple more than the other two had. Yuzu supposed that might be wise—she herself had felt a little stretched thin by all the studying they'd had to do.
"Eh. I'll be fine. Not fantastic, but fine." Karin lifted her shoulders, then tucked into her soba with determination.
Uryū paused in the act of lifting the spoon from his miso soup. "I believe my scores will be adequate," he said mildly.
Yuzu smiled, keenly aware that such a statement probably meant he'd aced everything. Or at least, it had at midterms. These tests were a lot harder, but still. All the studying they'd done as a group probably meant they'd do pretty well, whether they felt that way on the day or not.
For Yuzu, this was the easy part. The difficult part would be the practica. "Have you seen the assignments for the rest yet?" She asked, lifting the rice ball to her mouth again.
From between his shitagi and kosode, Uryū produced a loose piece of notebook paper, handing it over to her. "I took the liberty of writing down both of your assignments as well," he said.
Yuzu unfolded the paper at the crease, smoothing it onto the table in front of them. Karin leaned sideways to look, too, propping her chin on Yuzu's shoulder. It looked like the three of them were last or close to it for everything. Maybe because they were first years?
"All the students without shikai go first," Uryū said, pointing to a spot at the top of the page where he'd written six names. "These are the only students who have one."
In addition to themselves, it looked like one fifth year and two sixth-years were taking the exam with a shikai.
"I didn't think there would be so few…"
"Huh. Guess we're kind of a big deal, aren't we?" Karin didn't seem to find it quite as odd as Yuzu did, though. "Who's your zanjutsu match?"
"I don't know. Someone named Nakamura. I don't recognize the people you two are getting, either." She supposed they had to be good, though—Karin and Uryū were both impressive swordfighters. None of them were matched against each other for hakuda, either, thankfully, although…
"It looks like we're all on the obstacle course at the same time." She didn't relish racing the two of them in the slightest.
"At least no one'll try to trip us," Karin muttered.
Yuzu blinked. "You think someone would?"
"All I'm saying is, be careful in your matches. You never know." Karin looked pointedly at Uryū.
Yuzu wished she didn't understand what her sister was implying, but she did. "Got it."
They'd set up a larger outdoor ring for the public examinations. While Renji had already run him through all his kata, this was the part of the test that really mattered.
His opponent was one of the students from class one of the sixth year; someone named Harada. They didn't really list anything more than that. The requirement was that zanpakutō remain sealed, to even out the field and test for actual competence at zanjustu. Uryū couldn't help but think there was still something unfair about the rule; people like Yuzu, who had only a tantō in sealed form, were at a distinct disadvantage to those with more reach.
Such as, apparently, Harada, who met him at the entrance to the ring. The other man had a nodachi slung over his back—Uryū was going to have trouble getting close if he was as good as a sixth-year should be.
But there wasn't a lot of time to think about it; both of them were ushered through the door into the ring shortly thereafter. It was fairly typical of such areas—not that different from the one Rukia had shown him at the thirteenth. The ground beneath them was hard-packed dirt, clear of any obstacles. This was, apparently, really meant to be a contest only of crossed swords. Shunpō and other advanced movement techniques were disallowed, and of course no kidō could be cast.
For Uryū, the biggest handicap was the rule against hakuda, though—without being able to integrate it, the disadvantage of reach become greater still.
So turn it against him.
Yorugen's voice broke into his thoughts, and he blinked. That was… a fair point, he supposed, though the how wasn't half so simple as the what.
He and Harada reached the center of the ring, turning to face those assembled. Uryū swept his eyes over the faces; there were indeed many shinigami officers present, as well as all the teachers and no small number of students. He picked out Sugitani and Abe in the crowd briefly, but most of his attention was on the sheer number of white haori in the front row.
They looked to be in numerical order; he vaguely recognized the man with the mustache from Rukia's execution. Then there was the woman Yoruichi had fought; some relative of Fēng-sensei's, he believed. Kira was in the third seat, hands folded neatly on the table in front of him. He knew Unohana-taichō; she looked as serene as usual. The fifth chair was conspicuously empty. Byakuya Kuchiki, face unreadable, occupied the one to the right of it. After him was a massive man with a helmet. Kyōraku's vice-captain Ise-san sat primly next to him, dwarfed by his massive size, and beside her was Hisagi. The tattooed man nodded briefly at Uryū. The diminutive captain of the Tenth was resting his chin in his hand, but his eyes were sharp. Next to him sat a man with a jagged grin and an eyepatch… who had a small child on his shoulder? Uryū wasn't sure what to make of that. A delicate-looking woman with a sheaf of paper in front of her sat in the twelfth seat—he had no idea who she was supposed to be.
Perhaps due to the lack of a vice-captain in his division, Ukitake-taichō occupied the second-to-last spot on the row; he looked well enough at the moment, though. Next to him was a woman in a purple robe with a high collar. The Grand Kidō Chief, Uryū presumed.
It was certainly an assemblage of notable persons.
"Examinees Harada, Shunsuke, of the sixth year, first class, and Ishida, Uryū, of the first year, first class." The exam proctor called their names in a brisk, efficient tone.
As instructed, they presented themselves first to the audience, bowing simultaneously, and then to one another. Taking up a spot about five feet from his opponent, Uryū bowed again. Harada returned it; each of them settled back into his preferred stance, hands at the tsuka of their blades.
Uryū drew from the waist—Harada, on the other hand, had such a long sword that he had to draw from his back. That would cost him a few seconds of time. Uryū would have to utilize the gap effectively.
"The first to three points is the winner. Begin."
Uryū drew and lunged in the same motion—one he'd practiced with Karin so many times it was automatic. Yorugen, of course, possessed no cutting edge at the moment, blunted intentionally due to the exercise. So when his hit landed against Harada's ribcage, it did not actually do him significant harm.
The proctor raised the white flag on Uryū's side, and her assistant flipped the scorecard accordingly. Harada finished drawing his sword, and they both faced each other again, resetting their distance.
This was where things would become more difficult—from the drawn position, Harada's nodachi could use its reach to full advantage, with no need to be worried about a slow start. When the signal for the second pass came, Uryū had to swiftly backstep to avoid Harada's blow. The next was quicker, and he raised Yorugen to block, metal clanging on metal.
Ducking into the side, Uryū slashed horizontally. But inches before contact, the nodachi struck him on the shoulder. He'd failed to anticipate the speed with which Harada could swing.
Resetting for the second time, he resolved not to make the error again. Harada was talented, and the third pass lasted much longer than the first two. Without shunpō or hakuda at his disposal, Uryū's options were limited, but he kept himself mobile and fluid as much as possible. Harada's blade swept past his arm; Uryū tucked in his elbow and took a hard step forward, thrusting Yorugen at his opponent's chest.
The hit lacked force, but it was a hit, and the white flag went up. He stepped back, studying Harada as the other man did the same.
Think. Your options are few, but even without reach, or shunpō, or hakuda, what do you have that he does not?
His eyes narrowed. The same things he'd always had—and a few he'd just gained.
On the next pass, Uryū didn't try to get a hit immediately. Instead, he lingered deliberately right at the edge of Harada's reach, letting the other man swing at him within the optimal range of the nodachi. Uryū himself used Yorugen only to block or turn aside the incoming sword, attempting no strikes of his own.
Gradually, very gradually, he started to slow down, timing his blocks so that they were just barely on time, flirting carefully with the edges of disaster. Outwardly, he showed signs of fatigue, as though the constant blocking and dodging were wearing him down. In response, Harada grew progressively less careful—it wasn't too long before he was swinging like he expected to end the match with any single blow.
When it became clear that his opponent was no longer planning more than a step in advance, Uryū sprung the trap. Harada telegraphed an incoming vertical slice so obviously it could probably be seen from space, and that was the cue. Uryū burst into motion, blocking and redirecting the hit in a swift twisting motion that pulled Harada slightly off-balance. Stepping in before the other man could recover, he swept Yorugen up, hitting Harada at center mass.
The white flag rose, and raucous cheering went up from the crowd—or at least parts of it. The proctor called the match, and both Uryū and Harada bowed one final time before exiting. Several of the captains and vice-captains were taking down notes; Ukitake was outright smiling, as though amused by something.
While leaving the area all together was certainly an option, Uryū elected to enter the stands instead. Yuzu's match had taken place while he was preparing for his own, but Karin's was next, the last zanjutsu trial for the day.
Abe waved him over once he'd climbed the stands a bit. Uryū nodded and picked his way over to him and Sugitani. Yuzu was between them now, though he hadn't seen her before. Probably due to her size.
"That was great, Uryū," she said, beaming up at him.
"How did your match go, Yuzu?"
She shrugged. "I lost by a point, but it wasn't too bad, I think."
"It wasn't." Sugitani crossed his arms. "Her opponent was very good, and had considerable advantage. She acquitted herself well."
Uryū hadn't expected any less, and he told her so. Yuzu colored a bit, but her smile remained in place. They settled down for the last match, and that was when Karin and her opponent, a woman with brown hair in a short bob, entered together.
"That's Saitō," Abe said. "The fifth year. Apparently, she's a zanjutsu specialist."
Uryū blinked. That might be why this bout was last on the docket. Two people with early shikai and acknowledged skill in zanjutsu. They were, in a way, direct competition. Though he didn't think he'd call Karin a specialist—her other skills were all more than par, as well.
"Examinees Saitō, Haruka, fifth year second class, and Kurosaki, Karin, first year first class."
An expectant hush settled over the audience as they took their places.
Karin's draw was a hair faster than Saitō's— but not enough so that she landed the point immediately. Metal rasped together as they slid their blades apart, each jumping back. Saitō didn't stay away for long, though, and she strafed swiftly forward to just inside Karin's optimum range, knocking aside Hisaku with a well-placed blow. She recovered first, and her wakizashi scored a clean hit to Karin's shoulder.
Karin scowled, rolling the joint and backing up to the reset point. Her eyes narrowed, and when she lowered herself into a ready stance, she took a double-handed grip on Hisaku.
The second exchange was even quicker than the previous one. Karin went on the offense, swinging vertically. Saitō blocked; a loud clang testified to the force behind the hit. Karin recovered first, with the unruffled calm of someone who'd been expecting things to go exactly the way they had. Whipping Hisaku around, she twisted out of the way of Saitō's counter and hit her on the side of the abdomen, evening the score.
They were closely-matched. Uryū glanced down at the most important row of spectators. The big man with the eyepatch was leaning forward slightly, though the angle didn't permit interpretation of his facial expression. Hitsugaya-taichō had straightened in his seat, no longer even feigning disinterest.
But perhaps most invested of all, aside from Karin's friends, was Renji. He sat with his fists balled up, pressed into his knees, eyes narrow and fixed on the ring below.
The third pass stretched longest, with Saitō barely edging Karin out for the next point. On the fourth, they crashed into a deadlock, both wielding their blades two-handed, arms shaking as they pushed against one another. Uryū stiffened; Yuzu slipped her hand into his on one side and Sugitani's on the other, squeezing anxiously. He squeezed back.
Come on, Karin. Soft arts.
As if she'd plucked the thought right out of his head, Karin shifted her whole body, suddenly but smoothly. Unprepared for the change, Saitō half-stepped forward, exerting impressive control not to stumble.
But in a match so close, even the split second she'd been distracted was enough—Karin's sword rapped her hip.
Yuzu's hand tightened around his. A tie. The next point would decide the match.
As they reset, Karin glanced briefly up at the stands—up at them. Uryū, unsure what to do, nodded. He believed in her. She could do it; he knew she could.
Yuzu raised their joined hands halfway, grinning. Karin's expression shifted until she was smiling, too. On the reset, she slid Hisaku back home into her sheath, dropping low into a crouch.
Saitō looked confused for a moment, but kept her own zanpakutō drawn. When the signal came for them to go, Karin did not move immediately. Given her previous aggression, that was likely a bit surprising to her foe, but Saitō saw the opportunity presented and took it. She lunged with impressive form, the thud of her feet on the ground and the whistle of her blade through the air the only sounds in the entire ring.
With whiplash speed, Karin gripped Hisaku by the hilt and drew, rising from the crouch and deflecting the incoming blow to the side in a controlled, precise maneuver. Saitō's stance broke—Uryū knew right then it was over. In a perfect replica of the very first iaijutsu kata they'd ever learned, Karin reversed the direction of her blade. It struck Saitō diagonally across the sternum; Karin completed the form and slid Hisaku home.
The white flag went up, and the stands erupted in applause.
It was with the thrum of her zanjutsu win still in her veins that Karin arrived at the ring for her kidō exam. Earlier in the day, she'd run over her list with Kozu, who'd made sure she knew what she was getting into before the test itself.
Now, waiting for her assessment, she could hear the characteristic fizzle of a lightning spell. She'd seen Uryū's examination already, and he'd done really well, especially compared to some of the sixth-years. The advanced curriculum was really showing; it was easy to pick out who had been in the first class of their year and who hadn't.
Whoever was directly in front of her finished, and Karin made her way out to the targets. As before, she bowed to the officers present, then scanned the crowd. Her dad was here again today, but he kept himself tucked up in the back, so she couldn't see him, exactly. Uryū was easier to find, but Yuzu wouldn't be up there this time, since her exam was right after.
"Examinee Kurosaki, Karin, fist year first class." Kozu was also proctoring, apparently.
Karin glanced downfield. There were ten kidō targets set up, which suggested a maximum of ten spells. Her reiryoku could handle that, if she was careful with it. Karin had quite a bit to use, but since her control wasn't spectacular, she tended to burn more than she should for stuff like this.
"All right." Kozu hopped over the line of captain's tables and planted her feet in the dirt, crossing her arms over her chest. A piece of paper—her list, Karin realized—dangled from between two fingers.
"Start us off with a Shō, Kurosaki."
Karin nodded, pointing at the first target downfield. "Hadō #1: Shō!"
Her aim was good, and the spell hit just slightly left of center on the target, punching a hole clean through it.
"Seki." The second command came right on the heels of the first.
Seki was a Bakudō, but it could in theory be aimed at a target, since it was a repulsing spell.
"Bakudō #8: Seki!" The blue orb shot from in front of her hand towards the second target, hitting and snapping the pole in half.
"Fushibi."
The commands did not stop to let her catch her breath, and it didn't take Karin long to understand what she hadn't quite grasped when watching Uryū take his exam: that lack of ability to reset was part of the challenge. She managed up through Kyokkō without the incantations, but after that she had to chant.
She grimaced as she felt her reiryoku draining away, seemingly faster with each new spell. But there were only a few left; they were rapidly approaching the numbers at the end of her list, and Kozu would know it better than anyone.
"Midoriami."
Karin sucked in a deep breath. This was about the highest-level spell she could cast. Lacing her fingers together, she pushed her palms out in front of her. "Glorious spring, oppressive summer! Enclose all burning spirits, drag the malicious to the edge of damnation! Bakudō #42: Midoriami!"
The green sphere between her palms shot forward when she released the spell, splitting and growing into a wide, pale web. Her aim was a little off, but the edge of it did catch on the target, one of the weighted ends wrapping several times around the pole.
Karin exhaled in a rush, her shoulder slumping. She felt utterly drained, in a way that made her arms shaky. A slight dizziness built, and when she bowed to the audience, she wondered if she wasn't about to fall over. Forcing herself back upright, she bit her tongue to keep herself alert, and climbed the stands with heavy footsteps, heedless of the applause.
She practically fell into the seat next to Uryū. She was grateful when he steadied her with a hand, though she didn't say so.
"Well done," he said, low enough that only she could hear.
She grunted something close to agreement, shaking her head to clear it. Fortunately, the dizziness faded quickly—which was good, because Yuzu was entering now.
Karin knew her sister well enough to detect the obvious nervousness. It was in the way she fidgeted with her hands, in the way her bow to the audience was a little unsteady. She'd worn the scarf Uryū made over her uniform, even though the colors clashed.
"Examinee Kurosaki, Yuzuki, first year first class." Kozu accepted a new piece of paper from one of the exam assistants.
Karin swallowed. Somehow, she was much more nervous for Yuzu than she had been for her own exam.
Kozu didn't waste any time; Yuzu's spells were called at about twice the speed Karin's were, but she fired them off steadily, at a fresh set of targets. Kozu only bothered with one under-ten before skipping directly to twenty, but Yuzu managed the transition without any problem, all the way up to an enkōsen with no incantation.
That was when things broke pattern.
"Hōrin and Shakkahō!" Kozu was wearing a face-splitting grin, her fingers tight around her arms.
"And?" Karin muttered. "What does she mean, and?"
"Just what she said," Uryū replied.
Yuzu didn't seem confused by the command, either; she separated her hands at once. Karin saw her shoulders rise, and then fall, but she took no more than that single breath to prepare.
"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rodanini!" In Yuzu's left hand appeared an orange spell, a thread of pink swirling around the outside. "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" A second, much larger orb, this one magenta-red, formed over her right.
Even from this distance, Karin could see the sheen of sweat on her sister's brow; Yuzu had never looked this determined in her life, as far as she could remember. She was focused entirely on the targets and what she was doing, oblivious to the way the crowd in turn focused just as intently on her.
"Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!" The orange spell extended, surging in a whiplike arc for the line of targets. "Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!" The fireball swelled until it was the size of a watermelon.
"Bakudō #9: Hōrin! Hadō #31: Shakkahō!" The fireball released at the same time as the whip finally hit, winding around the pole of the next target in line. Yuzu wrapped the other end around her hand and pulled, tilting the wooden rectangle directly into the path of the shakkahō, which hit with a roar of flame.
Karin's mouth fell open. She knew Yuzu was great at kidō, but she'd had no idea she could do something like that.
Apparently, Kozu wasn't done, though. No sooner had the other two spells dispersed than she was calling out the next.
"Raikōhō."
And Yuzu immediately adjusted her stance, flowing into a new form, her left hand wrapped around her right wrist, palm facing out. "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring." Another sphere—except this one seemed less steady, already crackling at the edges with barely-contained energy. Yuzu narrowed her eyes, fixing them on the emerging spell. "Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty… castle!"
She nearly had to grind out the last word—for a moment, Karin feared the spell would fail. It wavered dangerously, several loose bolts of electricity snapping around the surface, cloaking Yuzu in blushing yellow light.
"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"
Yuzu released the spell—it streaked over the open field and crashed into the line of targets loudly enough that many in the audience flinched. When the smoke cleared, all the targets had been smashed down to the base of the poles. No evidence of their previous existence remained to be seen, save a few charred splinters.
Karin glanced at Yuzu, who was frowning slightly. She wouldn't be surprised if her sister had lost full control of the spell at some point. But she'd still managed to hit where she aimed, and clearly to the right effect.
And obviously, Karin was not the only one that thought so. There was dead silence over the arena for several seconds, before someone—she suspected their dad—started up the applause.
Yuzu bowed to the audience again, and took her leave.
Plopping herself down next to Karin, Yuzu pushed a few sweaty strands of hair out of her face. "How was hakuda?"
"I won, so I'm not complaining." Karin handed her an anman.
Yuzu unwrapped it gratefully. "Even without being able to use hohō, it really takes it out of you," she said, biting into the confection. She'd won her own match, too, but it was a near thing. Probably due to instructor preference, the hakuda tests hadn't had the same stop-and-go format to them. They were just… well, brawls, basically. The winner was determined by the proctor, or if one of the students went down and didn't get up—either voluntarily or due to unconsciousness.
Most likely, Fēng-sensei thought that was more representative of actual battle conditions, and if the other teachers were anything like her…
"Did I miss any good ones?" she asked, tilting her head up and behind her to look at Sugitani.
He shrugged. "Some of them were very good, but as I understand it, the match everyone's expecting the most out of is Ishida's. Fēng matched him up with a woman who already has an offer from the Ōnmitsukidō."
Yuzu's eyes went wide. Already? That surely meant she was very skilled. Then again… so was Uryū. Still, she couldn't help but be worried for him.
They entered. The woman carried herself smoothly, with obvious poise and confidence. The seeds of worry in Yuzu's gut started to sprout; she pulled her lower lip between her teeth.
"Examinees Fuwa, Chikako, sixth year first class, and Ishida, Uryū, first year first class."
The match opened abruptly; both Uryū and Fuwa took a step in and kicked high, rotating in from opposite directions. Their legs met in the middle, and both immediately dropped the contact. Fuwa moved in first, raining a quick series of heavy jabs at Uryū's midsection. He backed up as she went forward, turning them all aside with his open palms.
When she drew back for a more forceful thrust, though, he stepped in, catching her wrist and pushing it upwards, twisting his body around for another kick, this one aimed for the side of her head. She bent almost impossibly, and his foot sailed over her by a handful of inches. Fuwa caught him in the sternum with her free hand, forcing him to release her.
He jumped back; she pursued. Her roundhouse kick slammed into his forearm block, and he dropped low, trying for a leg sweep. She jumped over it, but he just barely caught her ankle, enough to make a difference, and she had to abort her attempt to punch him, catching herself on the mat with both hands and springing out of the way before he could take advantage.
Yuzu's heart was in her throat—they were moving so quickly, even without shunpō. What was more, though, the match had no clear favorite; though she'd guess that Fuwa was a bit more flexible and naturally quick, Uryū was both strong and clever. Both of them melded their hard and soft arts in constant adaptation to one another and the situation at hand. In contrast to those with more planted styles, both of them were highly acrobatic, just as likely to jump or flip as strafe or duck.
Fuwa landed the last of a barrage of palm strikes, the force behind it knocking Uryū back several feet and sending him to the mat. Yuzu pulled in a gasp—she felt Karin stiffen beside her, anman forgotten in her hand. But he was up as soon as he'd landed, rolling to his feet and grabbing hold of Fuwa's leg when she tried to kick him in the ribcage. Twisting her into a lock, he forced her to the mat in turn, her back hitting it with a whump.
Uryū landed three body-blows before she recovered, kicking off the ground with enough force to move him two steps backwards. Almost immediately, she threw herself into a jumping windmill kick, and he crossed his arms above his head to block. His knees bent deeply under the impact, and he pushed back up. Rather than unbalancing her, though, it only pushed her back a bit. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Fuwa sprang forward, thrusting the heel of her hand for his jaw.
Uryū intercepted the blow, redirecting with a twist of his whole body and throwing Fuwa over his hip. Yuzu recognized the aikido maneuver—she'd used it in her own match earlier. With another swift recovery, Fuwa was back on her feet.
They made use of the whole ring, and neither stopped to give themselves or the other even a moment's rest. Yuzu was beginning to feel exhausted just watching them leap around. The thuds of increasingly heavy impacts resounded dully through the air, muffled only slightly by the intervening fabric of their uniforms. Both were clearly not the type to become frustrated too soon. Though Yuzu kept waiting for someone to make a mistake, she didn't see any. Maybe someone with more expertise could spot the errors, but the competitors were even in any case.
"Damn," Karin murmured next to her. "They've got to be scoring themselves so many points right now."
Yuzu glanced down at the row of officers. Not one of them was looking at anything but the fight, except the doll-like woman in the twelfth seat, who was the only one still writing notes. She was taking them down quickly, though, and her eyes kept moving back to the match.
By that time, both fighters were breathing heavily, in deep, controlled gulps of air. Uryū's glasses were slipping down his nose, from sweat or motion, it was hard to say. Fuwa's red bun had fallen out several minutes ago— her hair was plastered to the back of her neck and cheeks.
"Thirty seconds remain."
The proctor's voice surprised Yuzu; she hadn't even known there was a time limit on the matches. Then again… it seemed like this one could go all day, if they let it.
Uryū and Fuwa jumped apart, then made eye contact for a second. She nodded first, a gesture he returned—though Yuzu had no idea what it meant.
Both of them rushed forward; her right arm met his left, stopping both dead. He went in for the second punch, a quick jab, but Fuwa blocked with a raised knee. Yuzu almost shouted a warning as Fuwa's off-hand flew forward, but clamped down on it at the last second. Uryū leaned to the left, her knuckle just grazing his cheek, and got his right hand under her lifted leg.
It was an imperfect throw—but with only one foot to balance on, Fuwa hit the mat anyway, rolling back to her feet just as the match was declared over.
Yuzu forgot to breathe as the proctor conferred with his assistants, as well as Fēng-sensei. The discussion looked heated; at one point, Fēng turned away with a disgusted look on her face.
"The winner of the match is Fuwa."
Applause broke out, but that didn't prevent Yuzu from hearing Karin swear under her breath. Though she'd never say that exact thing herself, she couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. Uryū deserved to win—they'd been even for much of the match, it was true, but Yuzu thought he was just a little bit better. Plus, he'd scored the last throw.
Down in the ring, Fuwa said something to Uryū, a look on her face that Yuzu couldn't quite decipher. Uryū shook his head slightly, raising one shoulder. They bowed to each other a second time, and exited.
It would appear that the so-called 'trick' to the obstacle course for hohō was that it lay under a field of dramatically-increased reiatsu, reducing most forms of movement to little more than a crawl. Presumably, this was to make their abilities easier to study by slowing down shunpō and drastically restricting the distance they could jump, even if they boosted themselves as well as possible with spirit energy.
The obstacles, which would have been undaunting if faced under ordinary conditions, were suddenly quite the challenge.
As promised, they'd been turned loose on the course in groups of three or four—and all the first years taking the exams were running it simultaneously. Thus far, they'd all managed to make it across a sand pit, over several hurdles, up a narrow ladder, across a balance-wire, and down the other side. They'd done it in what Uryū judged to be decent time.
But now they were coming up on a smooth, vertical wall; and, based on the height of their jumps so far, they didn't stand much chance of surmounting it. This was, apparently, the obstacle that most of the other examinees had elected to skip—an allowed action, though one that would cost them some unknown number of points.
Karin, slightly ahead of him, hit the obstacle first, launching herself at it with a mighty leap. She cleared at least five feet vertically, but that still put her no more than two-thirds of the way up. Uryū grimaced; they could simply go around. But that felt far too much like admitting defeat.
The rules for the course were simple: get over as many of the obstacles as possible, in the shortest time manageable. No zanpakutō, no kidō.
Gritting her teeth, Karin jumped again, making it a few inches higher this time, her fingers sliding against the smooth surface of the wall and finding no purchase. There was none.
Uryū tried as well, to no better results. If he could still use hirenkyaku… but he didn't have the time to be thinking of what he did not have.
So what did he have?
Quickly, he considered their surroundings. The obstacles were all contained; no extra debris or any such things were left laying around. The ground beneath them was flat—no slopes for additional speed. Karin was still jumping, growing more frustrated if her growling was anything to go by. Yuzu just now approached from behind.
That was it.
"Karin!" he said, tone urgent. "Help me boost Yuzu up the wall!"
She looked over her shoulder at him. "What?"
"Help me boost Yuzu."
"Are you crazy? The proctor said—"
"No kidō and no zanpakutō. No one said anything about teamwork." It might be a technicality, but if it was going to get them over this wall, Uryū didn't care. They'd have teammates in real-world situations, too.
It took a second, but then she grinned. "You got it."
They moved together, stacking all four of their combined hands. Yuzu, catching on quickly, backed up a dozen paces and approached at a run. The minute she stepped into his palm, Uryū used his reiatsu to fling her as powerfully as he was able. Karin beside him did the same, and combined with Yuzu's amplified jump, they sent her flying. She landed atop the wall, then turned back around, dropping onto her stomach and hanging her arms as far down as she could get them.
Uryū turned to Karin. "You next."
She nodded, and he boosted her as well. They got her high enough to catch Yuzu's arms, and the two of them pulled her up. Karin took hold of Yuzu's ankles, lowering her further still, and Uryū backed himself up, making a running start and putting everything behind it that he could.
His left hand missed by a hair, but he managed to catch onto Yuzu with his right. She gripped it with both of hers, face twisted in a grimace from the effort. Planting his feet against the slick surface of the wall, Uryū tried to help them walk him up. It took a while, but eventually he, too, stood atop the obstacle.
"I like this way better," Karin said. "Let's go."
They nearly had to carry one another across the finish line, but they'd completed every obstacle on the way.
And they'd done it together.
Term Dictionary:
Seki – 斥 – "Repulse." A kidō spell that creates an orb of light blue energy which repulses anything it comes in contact with. Bakudō #8.
Fushibi – 伏火 – "Ambush Flare." Generally useful concussive kidō spell. Hadō #12.
Kyokkō – 曲光 – "Bent Light." Used to render the user or an object invisible. Also conceals reiatsu, if applicable. Bakudō #26.
Midoriami – 緑網 – "Green Net." I totally made this one up. There were no canon kidō in the 40s for me to pick from, so this is now Bakudō #42. Generates a green kidō net with "weights" at the end, making it suitable for tripping and dragging (if the caster holds onto at least on end) as well as immobilization.
Raikōhō–雷吼炮 – "Thunder Roar Sear." Generates an orb of yellow lightning above the user's palm, which can then be fired as a bolt. Highly destructive. Hadō #63.
So… those were the exams. I hope getting to see them be awesome was good payoff for watching them all struggle for the rest of the fic. Conversely, I hope they don't seem too good now. But they are very talented, especially compared to the average shinigami, and this was a very good place to make a point of that.
Next time, we'll get exam results, and some interviews with divisional officers and finally, the division assignments! Next chapter will be the last one for this fic (but definitely not for the whole story, of course). I do hope it's been enjoyable.