Zanjutsu Class

*Tenkai was excited about his zanjutsu class. He found the class easily since it was just down the hall from his kidou class that he just left. Upon walking into the classroom he found that it was much different then his kidou class. There were no stairs or seats, just a wide open space. There were already several students there sitting on the ground facing a door at the back of the room. Tenkai sat down in one of the rows that had been formed and waited for whatever it was they were waiting for. After waiting a few more minutes more students showed up and it seemed the entire class was there. Suddenly the door in the back of the room slid open and out stepped a giant of a man. He had something in his hand that he was reading as well, most likely the student roster. He had a blade tucked into his sash that grabbed Tenkai's attention. It seemed different then a normal sword but he couldn't put a finger on why.*

"Looking at my weapon I hope."

"Oh, yes sir. I didn't mean to stare."

"No worries, this weapon here is what your all going to be learning about wielding. This here is my zanpaktou."

"What exactly is a zanpaktou sir?"

"Hush for a moment and I'll tell ya. A zanpaktou is the weapon that us shinigami use. It's more then just a sword though. Each zanpaktou is born from that of the shinigami's soul and shares a part of their personality and being. They each also have names and powers that are unique to that zanpaktou. There are also two different levels of power that can be released while using your zanpaktou, shikai and bankai. These can only be acquired by a growing relation between the shinigami and their zanpaktou. Over time and practice a bond will grow and you will eventually be able to communicate with them. But for now I'll be giving all of you your zanpaktou. Though now they are only a normal blade you will find in time they are much more then they look."

*The teacher began to give a katana to each student one by one. When Tenkai had gotten his he held it and stared at it for a while. These zanpaktou if they were what the teacher was describing almost seemed magical. They had an individual personality that was part of the wielder themselves. He thought it was cool and odd at the same time. Suddenly he noticed that all the other students had stood up and he was the only one that was still sitting down. He quickly got up off the ground and placed his zanpaktou into his sash on the right side.*

"Alright everyone, the purpose of this class is to help teach you all how to fight with your zanpaktou. Now we can't really be using the weapon cause you could end up hurtin someone and we don't need that. I'm going to ask you place your zanpaktou on the ground where you were sitting and come over to the weapons rack over here."

*Tenkai placed his zanpaktou on the ground where he had once been sitting and made sure to take specific details of his zanpaktou. He didn't want anyone else to accidentally take his. The only real different feature was that his zanpaktou had a four point star for a guard and the weapon itself was slightly longer then a normal katana. When he turned to go and follow the teacher over to the weapons rack he noticed that the other students had been doing the same thing he had been. Eventually himself and the other students had made their way over to the weapons rack and all grabbed a bokken from the rack. After that they waited for instruction from the teacher.*

"Alright, everyone sit down in a single file line that's facing up to this sparring mat here. The first person needs to come up to the mat and sit down at the red corner. Your opponent will be with your shortly."

*Tenkai was towards the middle of the line with a good nine or ten people in front of him. He leaned over to his side to see what was going on at the mat. The one student who was going to spar first was sitting down on the mat and apparently the teacher was getting his opponent. After waiting a little bit the teacher walked back over and stood on the blue corner while holding a bokken. The look that overcame the student was as if he had just shat himself. It was more then apparent that the person we would be sparring against was going to be the teacher himself. Tenkai didn't like this anymore then the other students but it wasn't his place to decide who was going to fight who.*

"As I'm sure you've all figured out I am going to be your sparring partner. Don't expect to be winning either my reiryoku is the equivalent to that of a 5th or 6th seat officer in the Gotei 13. This is simply to help you all improve and gain some skill before you start fighting one another. Now let us begin."

*The student in the red corner stood up and made his way towards the teacher at a very slow rate. It was more then obvious that the student was afraid to approach the teacher since he didn't know what exactly was going to happen to him.*

"Oh come on already you little baby. Come at me!!"

*That was enough to cause the student to snap as he rushed at the teacher with his bokken high in the air. The teacher swung horizontally into the student's side and then cracked him over the head with his bokken. Needless to say the student had lost. He limped his way out of the ring and returned to his seat.*

"Good try there Kobayashi. Next time though, don't rush towards me with your sword in the air. Your up next Endo, come on."

*This went on for a while as the students were being easily beaten one after another. It was a quick spar, then a comment and then the next one came up. It was finally Tenkai's turn to come up to the mat but he really wasn't looking forward to the coming spar. In his mind it wasn't even really a spar. It seemed more like a line up of victims that were going to be beaten to the verge of incapacitation.*

"Your up Bushinji. Show me what you got."

Sentence Count: 74

Kenya secretly walked through the door and studied the students. She found an odd sense of happiness as she laid eyes on a particular student by the name of Tenkai Bushinji. She made sure to hide most of her reaitsu so that she would feel like just another student. She had a hard time not being conscious about hurting others with her massive amount of reaitsu she could excrete. Her Captain Commander Haori was draped over her left side. Her obi, and robe were that of a regular shinigami. She was mostly unnoticeable if it not had been for that Haori. She kept each hand in the sleeve of the other as she studied the student.

______
8

*Tenkai stood up not really wanting to go up. Hopefully he could do better then the rest of the students did since he had training in swordsmanship but he was nowhere near as strong as their teacher was. Regardless though he was up and he couldn't just run away. Stepping into the ring he moved into a fighting position and waited for the teacher to say when they could start the spar.*

"Alright, Come at me with everything you got."

*Tenkai rushed forward at the teacher with his bokken held level on his right side. When he got close enough he swung horizontally at the teacher to hit him in his side. He found that the teacher had already blocked his strike and came around swinging at him. Tenkai moved as fast as he could and got his bokken up to defend. He managed to catch the teacher's strike but was being pushed by the power behind the hit.*

"Oh ho ho, seems that not all of you are completely unskilled. Let me kick it up a notch for you though and see how you handle it."

*All of a sudden the teacher brought his bokken back and swung at Tenkai once more. The speed of his swing had practically doubled and Tenkai didn't have enough time to block. He was hit hard on the right side of his abdomen and leaned in the same direction from the pain. He had doubled over but did not want to go down without getting another crack at his teacher. Remaining in his doubled over position he started to go down a little lower as if he was going to fall down to his knees. Instead of actually falling though he darted forward at the teacher and swung the bokken down at the teacher's right shoulder. Slightly surprised but not caught off guard the teacher brought his own weapon up and stopped Tenkai's strike easily. He then maneuvered his weapon counterclockwise moving Tenkai's bokken out of the way and striking him on his right side once more in the process. With his side already tender the pain from the strike was excruciating. He fell over on his side laying on the mat. The teacher walked over to him and grabbed the underside of his arm helping him up and walking him over to the wall where the rest of the beaten students were.*

"Ya did good Bushinji, I guess you've had some training prior to being here. Things are a lot different here though, your gonna learn that real quick. Skill is only half of things here, the other half is raw power. After your done with your classes for today come and visit me in my office. I want to talk to you in private about something."

*Laying down against the wall Tenkai watched as the rest of the students went up and got beaten back down by the teacher. There were a few other students that seemed to stand out like he did and put up a better fight against the teacher then others. They were the ones that got a worse beating then most of the other students. They also were the ones that got the special comment to meet with him after their daily classes. After all the students had sparred with the teacher he placed his bokken back up on the weapon rack and asked all the students to do the same.*

"Alright everybody, you all did good today. Class is over for today so you may all take your zanpaktou and go on to your next classes. There's going to be a slightly change of pace tomorrow. We will still be doing spars but i will also teach you some fighting stances and techniques while using a zanpaktou. Make sure your all on time for tomorrow, class dismissed."

*All the students slowly got up trying not to agitate their injuries. Tenkai took his zanpaktou and placed it in his sash and made his way out towards the door of the classroom. On his way out he noticed a women who hadn't been standing there before so he figured she wasn't another student. Her clothes were also different then that of the students and she had a haori draped over her shoulder. Not being entirely keen on the hierarchy of serieitei he would not realize he was staring at the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13.*

Sentence Count: 43

As she watched the student closely she noticed that he had a keen sense of a sword. She knew this one would come to be great one day. 'He would be perfect for THAT. But I'll need at least three others.' she thought as she walked over to Tenkai. She spoke in a soft and kind voice to the child as she didn't want to offend, scare, or even cause trouble with him.

"You seem to be apt at sword fighting child. You would do well to heed the teachings of this instructor."

As she spoke she summoned the instructor and placed a hand on his shoulder. She looked at Tenkai and then back at the instructor as she asked him a question.

"What is the verdict, is he acceptable?"

Her voice was more stern than she used with Tenkai. He responded in a more nervous tone than one would expect.

"Y-Yes sir, he would do beyond expectations."

Kenya smiled, took her hand of the instructor and placed it on Tenkai's left shoulder.

"That's what I like to hear."

Kenya replaced her hands in the sleeves of the opposites and looked at the student. It brought her joy to see such a wonderful group of students willing to be molded in to exceptional ranked officers.

______
18

*Tenkai was extremely confused as to what was going on. This women began to speak with his teacher about something that he was 'acceptable' for. Tenkai was completely oblivious to what was going on around him. He knew a few things for certain though. One was that whomever this women was she must have been important. The teacher practically turned into a little child when the women addressed him. He seemed somewhat scared yet Tenkai didn't feel scared of nervous at all. The tone she spoke to him with was much different as well. He thought that perhaps ignorance in some cases was bliss, or perhaps not. If he was going to become a shinigami he was going to have to know who the important people were and how the chain of command functioned around here. With that logic set in mind he knew that whomever this women was he needed to know who she was.*

"Excuse me mam, I don't mean to be rude but may i ask who you are. I know I am only a student and i don't mean to step out of line. I just don't know how this place functions nor do i know who the higher ups are. Its quite obvious that you are someone important though. I suppose that the best time to start learning would be the present as well."

*Tenkai stood with his arms at his side as if he was in the military. He wanted to try to make a good impression past what he had already apparently made during class. He also didn't want to try to come off as rude to the women. If she was as important as he thought she was then pissing her off would only come to be a huge problem for him in the future.*

Sentence Count: 20

"I'm Kenya Solace, and I guess you could say I'm the second most important person in all of soul society. Well second only to the central 46. You should relax before you sprain something."

She chuckled as she spoke along with a smile and kind tone. She did however note that before he was hurt and she didn't wish to put him in further pain by making him try out for that possibility. She did however liked talking to this particular student because of his innocence. she thought for a moment and decide to speak up once more.

"So far I am very pleased with the way you handled yourself."

She was unsure of how to proceed next, she did however move aside her Haori and place her hands in her pockets leaving visible no sign of a Zanpaktou.

_____
9

*Tenkai listened to her and took not of multiple things she had said. The first and most important would be her name, Kenya Solace. It also seemed that his guess was quite accurate in thinking she was important. She said however that there was a group by the name of central 46 that was more important. He had never heard of it before but it seemed that they were the ones that ran things around here. The last part of what she had said, though not related to the prior comments was just as important to him as the rest of it. Now relaxing he felt some strain that had built up in his side from his straight and stiff stance. The next thing she said would confuse Tenkai slightly. It would be about how he had handled himself, most likely during class. He knew he had done what he would call exceptional compared to the other students but he wasn't sure why the interest was taken in him. There were other students that had also done as well as he did perhaps even better yet he was now being chosen for something.*

"I would assume that I did well during class or something of the sort. It seems that I have sparked some interest in yourself for some reason. I just have one question that I would like to ask. Though there were several other students that performed as well as myself and perhaps better then me why was I chosen for whatever it is that you and the teacher were talking about."

*Tenkai stood waiting for a response from Kenya. He wasn't sure exactly which one it could be but it would probably be one of two kinds. It would either be in the same tone and manner that she had been speaking in before or he may have overstepped his boundries in being a student questioning a superior. He would just have to hope that he would get a response of the former or he could end up being in trouble. Just then Tenkai had remembered something, he hadn't even introduced himself and yet here he was asking her question after question. Tenkai bowed down showing her respect as he went to introduce himself.*

"Where are my manners. First, it is a pleasure to meet you miss Solace. And now for an introduction, my name is Tenkai Bushinji, first year student at the academy. You probably already knew that but I just wanted to be respectful."

*Coming back up from his bowed position he faced Kenya once more. He hoped everything went smoothly. The point he worried about most with was the miss part. That could either be a hit or a miss as far as miss/mrs goes. He would just have to wait and find out.*

Sentence Count: 30

Kenya giggled a moment and just looked at the boy. She shifter her stance just a little so that the Haori would fall more backwards. Her hands still in her pockets she bowed as well as she spoke.

"Ah, it's quite fine. And yes I did already know that. Now for the matter at hand."

She said in a kind yet serious tone. She looked at the teacher who nodded. After which she turned her attention solely on Tenkai.

"You have been chosen for your potential and nothing more. Those 'other' students you speak of will be rewarded for their efforts but they haven't enough potential to separate themselves from the rest. You on the other hand could become captain if you make the correct decisions. And on a later note, you made a good guess."

She smiled as she spoke the last part and shifter her pose once more to move the Haori. It was now almost completely behind her, she moved her hands inside the opposite sleeve. Revealing her absence of a sword along with the ring on her middle finger on her right hand.

_____
16

*Tenkai was very much so intrigued by everything he was hearing. He apparently had great potential and that was why Kenya took interest in him. He assumed that becoming a captain was one of the greatest things a shinigami could become. Probably the equivalent of a leadership role of some sort. It also inferred that there was more then one captain position. It all had something to do with his 'correct' decisions as she had said. He wasn't entirely sure what that could be about but in time things would slowly reveal themselves to him he was sure.*

"I see, sounds like good news. I'm going to have to read up on the shinigami history so i know everything that I'm getting involved in. Wouldn't make much sense if i just went around like some kind of idiot not knowing what I'm doing."

*Tenkai was about to ask another question about captains and everything entailing that but he couldn't help but notice something. His teacher had said that all shinigami wield zanpaktou as their primary weapon as well as it being what gives them a great deal of their power. He had just noticed that during his entire time speaking with Kenya she didn't have a zanpaktou on her person as far as he could tell. He though that maybe she had left it back wherever she stayed. Nobody had told him it was mandatory to have your zanpaktou on hand at all times. Nonetheless this intrigued him and he wanted to ask her about it.*

"Umm, Miss Solace. If i may ask a question that would be more directed about yourself. I happened to notice you don't have a zanpaktou. I was wondering if maybe you had left it back at your home or something of the sort."

Sentence Count: 20

Kenya smiled and tried to figure a way to explain it so it would be most insensible. She then thought of a perfect way.

"I do have my Zanpaktou on me, at all times in fact. You should as well young Tenkai."

Kenya removed her hands from their homes in the sleeves and held up her right hand. Pointing to the ring on her middle finger she spoke.

"This is my Zanpaktou. It's rather large actually. Most likely the most large one you will see for a log time."

She started to think about her Zn's spirit and how drab she could be at times. With little else that came to mind about the spirit she couldn't help but wounder if there was even a nice and thoughtful side to her. She shrugged this off as she put her hands to her sides like before.

_____
12

*When Tenkai had heard Kenya say she had her zanpaktou on her at all times he was a bit confused. She then brought her right hand out of the sleeve and pointed to the ring on her middle finger. The ring was apparently her zanpaktou. This in itself confused Tenkai even more then he was before. He thought that all zanpaktou were somewhat similar to each other. He knew that they weren't all exactly alike, they had different sized blades and different shaped guards that he knew of. But here she was saying that her zanpaktou was that ring. The fact that she said that her zanpaktou was also quite large only added to the confusion. Normally he would have perceived this as a joke but the fact there was no laughter or any type of joking in her tone of voice or body language it made him even more confused. He also started to think about the situation as well. She said the ring was her zanpaktou but her zanpaktou was large. Perhaps the zanpaktou's actual form was being hidden as a ring.*

"Interesting to say the very least. Your zanpaktou is that ring you said? The only conclusion that i could come to about something like that the ring is hiding your zanpaktou's true form, a disguise would be a better word. That's the only conclusion that i could come to within my mind. I know practically next to nothing about all of this shinigami stuff so I'm probably wrong."

*Tenkai looked down at his own zanpaktou wondering if he could do something similar with his own. Perhaps when someone gains further control over their powers they can manipulate their skills. Bringing his attention back to Kenya he waited for a response that would probably be enlightening.*

Sentence Count: 20

"Close. It seems you are as sharp as you are cute young one. Allow me to demonstrate for you. First of all This ring is not a disguise but rather another from my Zanpaktou has. it took a great deal of compromising to get her to allow me to make her in to something easier to carry."

Kenya put her right hand out to the side palm facing the wall. Her ring began to glow and move off from her finger. It slowly took the form of an extremely long Nodachi. As the light formed the final details the sword came to light and Kenya griped the Tsuka. She slung the over sized behemoth so it was resting on her shoulder. The blade was of a beautiful snow white, in contrast the Tsuka was pure death black. The Tsuba consisted of two dragons in a ying-yang sign. One dragon was made of silver while the other was of copper color. The blade spanned six feet alone with an added two feet for the Tsuka. Kenya had said before the sword was large, that however was an understatement as when she slung it over her shoulder it was only inches away from striking the ceiling.

'This is only the natural sealed state. I chose to reduce the size to something manageable. As you can most likely see why."

__________
17

*While listening to Kenya speak he was filled in on the reasoning behind the form. While processing all this information and making sense of it he was caught off guard by one of Kenya's comments. She had said he was as bright as he was cute. Tenkai's eye's went wide eyed, his mouth gaped open slightly,and he began to go red in the face. He quickly realized what he was doing and regained his composure. He wasn't expecting a comment like that to be said to him during the conversation. As the conversation continued he tried to sort of let the comment slide off to the back of his mind and address it at a later time. Bringing his attention back to the matter at hand he saw that Kenya was beginning to release her zanpaktou's alternate form. The resulting weapon from her releasing it was a massive nodachi that was larger then anything he had ever seen before. The length of the entire weapon was comparable to that of a spear perhaps even slightly longer. He was amazed that someone could have wielded such a large weapon. The one thing that he also noticed in combination with the weapon was the size of its wielder. Tenkai would have never imagined that Kenya would have wielded such a massive blade. It seemed that what his teacher said was true, raw power was important. For the first time during talking with Kenya that was the first time he had also thought about how strong she must have been. Seeing as she said she was the second most important around here she must have been incredibly powerful. It almost scared him thinking about how strong she must be. He then brought his attention back to the here and now and realized he had been standing there not saying anything and just staring at her.*

"Oh, sorry about that I didn't mean to just stare. That's quite the large weapon you've got there. I've never seen anything quite that big, at least not a sword that large. That thing has to be longer then some spears. I'm glad mine isn't as large as that. I wouldn't want to wander around with a zanpaktou that big."

*Tenkai continued thinking about his own zanpaktou when another student walked up to the two of them. He introduced himself as Kokushu Mendoi and asked if Kenya or himself could identify the object in his hand. Tenkai looked at it just as confused as the student apparently was.*

"Nice to meet you, I'm Tenkai Bushinji. As for what that is I haven't the slightest clue. However, I'm sure miss Solace will probably be able to identify the object."

*Tenkai turned towards Kenya waiting to see what she would say about the item that Kokushu had. He was sure that whatever she said it would most likely be quite enlightening.*

Sentence Count: 32

Kenya smiled and finally noticed the child with a badge. he had asked what it was and Kenya's eyes widened a little as she stared at the badge. Her mind wandered as she darted from what if to what if. Finally she spoke up in a serious and abrupt tone.

"Where did you get that?"

She spoke so harshly it could have been misconstrued as being rude. She was however worried that a fellow shinigami had died or lost this. She took a moment to realize how she sounded and recomposed herself.

"I apologize, please tell me where you got that, and it's a substitute Shinigami Badge. It's used by those who are not official Shinigami and we have only had one famous Substitute shinigami as they are rare to receive.Also Tenkai my sword changes two more times."

She spoke in a more happy and light tone than before.


____________
12

*Tenkai watched as Kenya examined the object that Kokushu had presented. Whatever the object was it had visibly startled Kenya mere seconds after seeing it. It was more then obvious that whatever the object was, Kenya knew its purpose. Tenkai was somewhat surprised at the tone that Kenya used to address the student who had joined their conversation. So far all conversing between Kenya and himself had been pleasant except for this moment. Whatever the item was it was probably not supposed to be in the hands of a student, or even around at all. She not long after identified it as a substitute shinigami badge after having adjusted her tone back to what it was before. She explained its origin and purpose which confirmed Tenkai's theory of it not supposed to be in the hands of a student. The final comment that Kenya had added was directed back at Tenkai about her zanpaktou. It had two more changes that it could undergo according to her. Tenkai had seen a brief excerpt about something like that in his kidou book while he had briefly flipped through it. At the time he hadn't known what a zanpaktou was but it had mentioned some of them were able to utilize kidou to enhance their own abilities or enhance the kidou itself. These changes were usually only apparent in shikai and bankai which would most likely have been the two changes Kenya had been talking about.*

"That must be quite the rare item then for someone to get their hands on. Anyway, miss Solace would it be safe to assume the two changes you were talking about would be shikai and bankai. I had seen them being mentioned in my kidou textbook since it seems some zanpaktou can utilize kidou. Other then the actual names of what I would guess are the transformations I don't know anything else about them."

*Tenkai waited and cleared his mind for the incoming barrage of information that he knew was going to be coming. Whenever he had asked a question or replied to something that Kenya had said he usually learned something new. At the rate things were going he would end up being much more well learned then any of the other first year students.*

Sentence Count: 20

"Correct. When you obtain shikai, you are able to converse with your Zanpaktou in your inner world. And when you master Bankai."

She said as she slammed the sword in to the floor. A thick black aurora formed and seeped off it as if it was coming off from a cigarette.

"Come forth, Bokokugo."

she said as the black aurora spun, twirled, and shaped to make a woman with a cloak on standing next to the sword. Her hood obscured her face but her eyes were a prominent Purple. She was in a rather unsettling mood and for this anything could happen. She smiled and looked at Bokokugo for a momenta before returning to Tenkai.

"When you master Bankai you can bring your Zanpaktou's spirit to you. You can converse with her as well. Be nice Boko."

"Hello Tenkai."

The woman said in a soft and somewhat kind voice, her cloak whipping in a nonexistent wind.

_______
12

*Tenkai watched as Kenya released her zanpaktou. Not long after the spirit of her zanpaktou materialized right before his eyes. The spirit of the zanpaktou as Kenya called her was named Boko. Boko greeted him and he was just about to greet her as well but was stopped suddenly. By releasing her zanpaktou Tenkai found that Kenya had also increased her power quite greatly. The amount of pressure that was placed onto his body by it made him instantly fall to the floor. He began to push up against the floor and could barely manage to get up at all. He was up on his arms and knees trying his hardest to get up but he couldn't manage to make his way up any further. It was all he could do to just stay in that position under the pressure. He wanted to say something to Kenya but he couldn't make out any words with the massive strain he was in. He could only let out a few gasping noises to try and let her know.*

Sentence Count: 11

Kenya put her hand, palm open, over her sword. The spirit then whipped around forming the black it had before. It careened in to the sword. She picked it up, sealing it back in to the ring. After which she started to walk away. Just as she did so she spoke up.

"I'm sorry I must attend to something. I will meet you in your Hakuda class. i will be late so please take your time on your other classes."

She stepped just outside the door, making sure Tenkai could see her. She then disappeared in a spectacular display of visual architecture. It was like she disappeared by deforming in to lines. One could see for a split second Kenya's body do something that could be considered as pull its self apart.

{{Exit}}


_____
13

*Tenkai showed up at his zanjutsu class just barely making it before he would have been late. He ran to his spot and sat down on the carpet just as the door of the teachers room opened. The teacher walked out and stood in front of the students preparing to address them right when he eyeballed Tenkai. He wasn't sure why the teacher was staring at him but just as quick as he looked at him he looked away towards the rest of the class. This greatly confused Tenkai but he figured he would find out what the teacher wanted later.*

"Alright class, since I have had the chance to see where all of you are at you will now be put together with one of your peers as a sparring partner. For the remainder of the period I want you all to fight with your bokken until one of you loses. Once one of you loses I want the loser to stand by the wall on the right and wait until their is someone else their for your to spar with. The winners will stand on the wall to the left and wait until their is someone on their same side to spar with. This will eventually help to match you with your perfect partner. Alright, all of you get together with a partner."

*Tenkai took his zanpaktou out of his sash and placed it down on his sitting spot. He walked over and grabbed a bokken and looked around trying to find someone to be his sparring partner. Right before he went to ask one of the other students to be his partner he felt a large hand grasp his shoulder and then spin him around. The owner of the hand was the teacher who was now standing right in front of him with a bokken.*

"Bushinji, your going to spar with me today. The Captain Commander has picked you out specifically so your going to need extensive training compared to the other students. Fighting with me is exactly how your going to get that training. Now get in the ring with your bokken, lets rumble."

*Tenkai sighed and rolled his eyes while walking into the ring. He waited for the teacher to get situated and signal the beginning of the match. The teacher raised his hand into the air and then swung in down signaling the start of the spar. The teacher came at Tenkai full force swinging at him with a horizontal strike. The bokken was aimed at Tenkai's right side and if it hit it would be painful. Tenkai flipped his bokken around so it was now pointed downwards and put his left hand down further on the bokken to help catch the teachers strike. When the teachers bokken made contact he slid to the side a few feet but nowhere near as much as the first time he sparred with the teacher. Blocking the strike also felt much easier then it did before. This must have been a result of his practice so far at the academy. He had only been there for a few days and he was already getting stronger. Tenkai turned to face the teacher and countered by bringing the bokken down towards the teachers left shoulder and upper arm area. The teacher blocked the strike with ease but it seemed that his hit was indeed more powerful then it was the first time they sparred.*

"Good Bushinji, it seems you have already gotten stronger. The Captain Commander was right to choose you after all. I just hope you can continue to live up to what she expects of you."

"Don't worry about that, I always rise to the occasion when need be. I'll be everything I need to be and more. Just wait and see where I go."

"I'll be looking forward to it Bushinji."

*Tenkai and the teacher locked bokken as they swung at each other. It was more then obvious that the teacher was much stronger then Tenkai but he was giving him a run for his money. He wasn't going down without a fight and he was giving him one hell of a fight.*

Sentence Count: 48

*Tenkai slid back as he continued to try and hold the teacher off but his efforts were proving less and less effective as the fight continued on. Tenkai had an idea while he was continuing to fight his teacher. Sliding off to the right he moved his bokken out of the way making the teacher stumbled forward from the amount of force he was exerting. Tenkai then brought his bokken up and swung downwards towards the teachers back. He managed to land the strike hitting the teacher right across the top of his back with the bokken. Unfortunately the strike didn't seem to faze him all that match as the teacher turned and swung again at Tenkai. Moving out of the way Tenkai tripped and fell backwards onto the mat from his spastic dodge movement.*

"Your gonna have to do better then that Bushinji. You may have gotten stronger but your not strong enough to be good enough by my standards. You better start pulling all the stops or you'll never be anything around here."

*Tenkai got up and was starting to get a little angry. The teachers words stung him where he was most vulnerable, his pride. Tenkai had always prided himself on his skill and strength. Being insulted in both categories was an easy button to press for him. He tried to control himself as he went at the teacher with another swing this time aimed at the top right side of his chest. The swing was blocked again by the teacher who pushed it away and then followed through with a downward strike at Tenkai. The strike hit him right on his left shoulder next to his neck. The hit caused Tenkai to black out for a second and fall to the ground. The pain was unimaginable as he stumbled to get up. The strike disoriented him and he had a hard time steadying himself at first. The teacher however wasn't going to let up and came swinging at Tenkai again this time aiming at the right side of his abdomen and side. The bokken struck Tenkai hard once again knocking him aside on the mat. Tenkai began to cough wildly as he had gotten the wind knocked out of him from the hit. Disoriented and short of breath Tenkai could barely managed to move let alone get up. Despite that he stumbled onto his hands and knees and slowly began to stand up. His stance was shaky at best and he ran forward at the teacher not entirely sure at what he was doing.*

"Well this is just sad. You can barely stand and yet your going to come running at me. I wouldn't even call that running, it looks more like stumbling around like an idiot. Maybe I need to talk with the Captain Commander about you. If this is all you have to offer then you definitely aren't worthy of her attention at all."

*That was the straw that made him snap. Tenkai lost it right there and rushed at his teacher with everything he had. He hated being insulted and being called weak and he wouldn't stand for it. He swung downwards at the teacher with everything in him but his bokken was blocked by the teacher once again. However his strike was considerably more powerful thanks to him being as angry as his was. Backing away Tenkai rushed forward again and swung at the teachers left side with a horizontal strike. The bokken struck hard causing the teacher to flinch a bit before swinging at Tenkai's head. The teachers bokken hit hard and knocked Tenkai down to the floor causing him to black out for a few seconds again. When he came to he saw the teacher standing over him staring down at him.*

"Well it seemed my little plan worked. I was trying to get you angry this entire time. You definitely do have a lot more in you, its just getting you to use it is the problem. Eventually you will tap into that power but for now you need to work on getting stronger and even learning how to use your power. As of now your just recklessly swinging at your opponent and trying to hit them as hard as you can. Though it is a good basis for beginners it doesn't work against more skilled opponents. You need to improve your fighting techniques and fast. You should try some practice after your daily classes. You can come in here and practice your techniques so your not a bumbling idiot."

*Tenkai just nodded as everything around him was still slowly spinning. He started to get up slowly and then was yanked to his feet by the teacher. The teacher brushed him off and then gave him a firm pat on the back causing Tenkai to stumble forward.*

"So are we done for today cause I could really use a nap or something. I'm still a little dizzy from that crack over the head you gave me. Speaking of which, was that entirely necessary?"

"Quit whining, if your gonna be a baby about it then don't even bother trying to be a shinigami. Things much worse will be coming your way once you graduate and have to start killing hollows. Anyway, everyone put your bokken away class if over for today. You can all get out of here and head on to your next classes."

*Tenkai placed his bokken back on the rack and walked over to the spot where he had been sitting when he came in. He picked up his zanpaktou and placed it back into his sash and made his way off to his hakuda class. He wasn't exactly excited about going to his next class as all he wanted to do at the moment was go to sleep.*

Sentence Count: 62

*Tenkai arrived back at the zanjutsu class and placed his zanpaktou up against the wall. The students from the last class were just leaving and he was alone in the room. He walked over to the weapon rack and grabbed one of the bokken and then looked around the room. He found all of the wooden dummies in a corner in the room bunches together. They were most likely rarely used in the class as they usually fought with one another. Setting up the dummy Tenkai began to attack the dummy with his bokken. He occasionally was struck on the arms or the top of the head by the pegs. That was most likely what his teacher had been talking about. He left large gaps open in his defense when he fought with the bokken making him an easy target. His attacks though were powerful forcing his opponent onto the defense. The only problem was that if his opponent was stronger then him he would be at a major disadvantage. Tenkai tried to maneuver his attacks so that when he struck the gaps wouldn't be so large and that he could counter quicker if need be. His main problem was that he put to much effort in the strike and made it hard for himself to recover. Instead of putting his whole body into it he would have to just use his arms and connecting muscles to attack. This way his attacks would be slightly weaker but he could response quicker to an enemy attack. Tenkai continued to practice like this for a while until he thought he had it down. From the back of the room he heard a door open and turned to see the teacher looking at him.*

"Seems you went ahead and took my advice after all. It's a good thing too you need to be good and ready for the trials ahead of you. With the path that will be set before you, you had better be ready for anything. The only way to do that would be to be as prepared as you possibly can by training and learning. "

"Yeah I know. I just want to get as strong as I possibly can before I graduate and head out into the real deal. It seems that whatever you guys do is insane and that's why the classes are so rigorous. I'm trying to perform to the best of my abilities and become stronger. So far it seems to be working but I'm not quite their yet."

"You'll get their eventually. You just need to keep practicing. You know the saying, practice makes perfect. So just keep on practicing, maybe you can turn out to be a captain someday."

*Tenkai nodded and got back to his practice. He continued on like that for another good hour constantly tweaking and changing his stance and attacks. He wanted his fighting to be the perfect balance between offense and defense. He wanted to hit hard but also be able to react quickly to an enemy attack. He eventually came close to something that was like that but his natural abilities leaned more towards offensive attacks. He was just have to settle for what he had and make up for his deficiencies with his strengths. He continued on practicing to try and get his techniques as close to perfect as he could get them in the time he had.*

Sentence Count: 38

*After Tenkai had trained for another good half an hour he decided that was enough for today. He had managed to improve his stance and combat technique greatly but could still use some work. He would have to keep coming back day by day to keep improving his abilities. Eventually his fighting abilities would improve if he kept on fighting and practicing. Like his teacher had said, practice makes perfect. Walking over to the weapons rack Tenkai put his bokken away and grabbed his zanpaktou. Placing his zanpaktou into his sash he turned and bowed to his teacher and then left the room. He made his way to his dorm as he was now incredibly tired and just wanted to go to sleep. He had already planned out what he was going to do when he got there as well. He would take a shower, have something to eat, and then call it a day and go to sleep. Tomorrow he was however looking forward to his kidou class as he was going to be able to participate in the advanced placement class. Hopefully if he moved fast enough he would be able to learn everything in half the time and then just use the rest of the time to fine tune his abilities for when he would graduate. The stronger he was when he left the better it would be for him.*

Sentence Count: 13

*Tenkai arrived right on time for his zanjutsu class. He went ahead and put his zanpaktou down on the spot where he usually sat and grabbed one of the bokken. He then returned to his spot and waited for the teacher to come out. It would be a few minutes as not all the students had gotten to the class yet. He waited a few minutes as the other students began to come into the room and take their seats. When some of them saw Tenkai sitting with a bokken they also got up and got a bokken of their own. Other students began to start following this trend and eventually the entire class had assembled at their spot with a bokken ready to go. Not even a minute after all the students had arrived the back door opened and the teacher came out. He was always right on time when coming into the class. It was like he knew exactly when the last student had come into the room and sat down.*

"Well, it seems that you have all gotten prepared already. Good job everyone, saves me from having to waste my breath telling you. Alright, everyone get together with the same sparring partner you were with yesterday. From there just proceed in the same manner that we were going about yesterday. Tomorrow however we will change up our exercises once more so be ready for that. I'm not going to tell you what we are going to be doing but just know something different is in store for tomorrow. Now get to your stations and start your training."

*Tenkai got up and walked over to the mat that the teacher was standing on. He knew that his teacher was waiting for him to come over to the mat and get into his corner. Tenkai had been itching for this rematch with his teacher after his training from the day before. He hoped that his hard work would make a large difference in the coming spar. He positioned himself in his corner and swung his bokken downward with a strong stroke. He held it out in front of him with both of his hands preparing himself for the spar.*

"Seems like your just raring to go ain't you Bushinji. I can't really blame you after the beat down you got yesterday. I would have assumed you would just skip today's class. But I guess that extra training you went through yesterday after class is what gave you the balls to show up. Show me what you've got Bushinji."

"I won't just show you what I've got, You'll feel it."

*Tenkai rushed forward at his teacher and swung downward with both of his arms at the teachers chest. The teacher moved to the right dodging the strike and then swung around at Tenkai with his right arm. Tenkai turned his hands to the left so that the bokken would intercept the incoming attack. He successfully managed to block the attack and then came down on the teachers abdomen on the right side with the hilt of the bokken. The wooden bokken slammed hard into the teachers abdomen causing him to stumble backwards for a moment before swinging at Tenkai again. Tenkai brought his bokken up and around in front of him so it was facing downwards behind his right shoulder. The bokken caught his teachers attack but he was still hurt a bit from the bokken pushing into his body. Tenkai moved to his left side away from his teacher bokken and then brought his own bokken up horizontally over his right shoulder. He then swung out at his teacher aiming for his upper left arm. The teacher swung downwards catching Tenkai's bokken and forcing his swing to the ground making him hit the mat. Tenkai moved backwards pulling his bokken back with him and then stabbed forward with his wooden blade. Tenkai landed a good blow on the teachers chest with the tip of the bokken but it didn't seem to faze him too much. The teacher came down with a strong swing with the bokken aiming for Tenkai's right shoulder. Tenkai recognized this attack and ducked and moved to the left. The teachers swing completely missed him and caused him to lose balance for a second. That was all the time that Tenkai needed to launch the same attack at the teacher. His bokken hit the teacher hard on his right shoulder causing him to twist and make his right shoulder go lower from the pain. He stumbled back out of the range of Tenkai's weapon and then repositioned himself.*

"Not bad Bushinji, not bad at all. It seems all that work from yesterday did do some good for you. But now all your missing is some more power. Right now I'm not even fighting in earnest with you. If I used the full amount of reiryoku I have at me disposal this spar would be over faster then you could even blink. You need to get stronger Bushinji, just remember that."

"I'll become strong in no time. And when I do become stronger, you will be the first person that I beat."

"I look forward to that day Bushinji."

*The two then swung at each other with their bokken clashing in between them. The fight continued with no real winner in sight. Tenkai knew that if the teacher wanted to win he could easily do it but he was apparently having too much fun fighting with him. Tenkai felt the same exact way while fighting. He wanted this fight to go for a long time, it would be the only way for him to get stronger.*

Sentence Count: 60

*Tenkai and his teacher had been sparring for a good fifteen minutes at that point. The fight was continuing to draw on with no real winner in sight. Tenkai was actually beginning to get annoyed at this point in the fight. It seemed every time that he tried to attack the teacher had some way to counter his attack. Tenkai had been coming back with counters as well every time the teacher swung at him. This was why he was getting annoyed. Nobody was landing any blows and the fight was not moving forwards or backwards for either of them. It was just a standstill and that was what Tenkai hated. It appeared that the teacher was beginning to get annoyed with it as well as he started to increase his own power. He kept swinging down at Tenkai hard and hard to the point that Tenkai could actually feel the power swelling from his teacher. The next hit from his teacher struck Tenkai's bokken so hard it cracked it and sent him down to the ground. The teacher came up and prepared another strike which Tenkai rolled out of the way narrowly avoiding it. He then got up and swung at his teachers right side. Unfortunately for him his teacher was ready to counter and was swinging at him. The teachers swing easily overpowered Tenkai's and broke his bokken right in two. The strike hit Tenkai right in his abdomen sending him flying backwards five feet. Tenkai layed on the ground trying to catch his breath after having the wind knocked out of him. The teacher walked over to him and stood to his right standing over him.*

"See what I mean Bushinji. You've definitely got talent but you don't have enough power. Until you get stronger you won't be able to do much of anything around here. And I don't care what anyone says about how much potential that you have or how strong you could be. Until you actually start using your potential and becoming stronger your not worth a shit around here. So I'm going to keep beating your ass into the ground until you are stronger and you fulfill your potential. Unfortunately for me your ass beating for today has concluded. Everyone class is over, you can all go on to your next class. Remember, there will be something different tomorrow so all of you be ready. You better be ready most of all Bushinji."

*Tenkai moaned as he watched his teacher walk away putting his bokken back. Tenkai slowly got up from the mat and made his way back to where his seating mat was. He bent down and picked up his zanpaktou and placed it back in his sheath. He then slowly walked out the door to his hakuda class while thinking about what his teacher had said. He knew that he wasn't trying to be mean but was just telling him the truth. It didn't matter what he could be until he actually was it. He needed to get stronger so that he wasn't just some little academy punk that thought he was the shit since he had great potential. He was getting too caught up in his own abilities and just needed to work on getting stronger.*

Sentence Count: 36