The Calm Before The Storm, Attack On The Academy

Chapter 7

He stirred, the thick fog that had enveloped his mind now slowly fading. He opened his eyes, only to clamp them shut right away to prevent being blinded by the low morning sun that was casting its rays on his eyes with pinpoint accuracy. As he slowly opened his eyes again to let them adjust to the bright light, he noticed that he wasn't in the real world anymore, but in a room of the academy's medical wing. Slowly, he recalled the events that had occurred during the excursion. After having been distracted by something that had been attacking hollows, he'd been hit on the head and flung into a pile of debris, which was the point where everything got fuzzy.

As he rose, he felt a weight on his stomach. Curious as to what it was, he looked down only to find that Akane's head was the source. Her slow breathing causing the hair that had fallen across her face to move slightly with every breath she took. Smiling, he gently stroked the hair out of her face, causing her to mutter in her sleep when some rebellious strands refused to be taken along with the rest and lightly tickled at Akane's face. A stinging pain to his chest quickly convinced him to lie down again though. Wondering where it came from, he took a quick peek down his collar to see the source of the pain, only to see that his entire chest had been wrapped in bandages.

"How the heck?", Takeshi wondered. He was about to wake Akane when the door suddenly opened and a nurse walked into the room.

"Ah, you're up Sawada-san", she said as she walked to the bed.

She shook lightly at Akane's shoulder, causing her to wake up. As Akane noticed who she'd been using as a pillow, she blushed. She was about to ask the nurse something only to be cut off by a finger pointing in Takeshi's direction. Her eyes followed the direction indicated by the finger, wondering what it was the nurse wanted to show her. As her eyes fell upon Takeshi's face, they opened wide. The shock of him having woken up to find her asleep on his stomach causing the blush to turn a few shades darker. It only lasted for a less than a second though. Soon the joy of seeing him awake wrenched surprise out of her mind and she threw herself upon him in a mad embrace. He would've appreciated the gesture if it hadn't been for the pain that the embrace brought with it. Hearing him wince, Akane quickly relinquished her almost frantic hold on him and pulled back a bit, the expression on her face telling him all he needed to know, I'm sorry.

"Now now Shimuzu-sama, please be gentle with Sawada-san. He's still recovering from his injury and we'd appreciate it if you would attempt to keep him here a bit longer", the nurse commented, which only earned her an angry look from Akane.

"Erm, I know this might sound a bit weird and all, but what happened out there? How come I'm here with my chest wrapped up like a Christmas gift?", Takeshi asked, attempting to change the subject and to get some information on what exactly had happened out there.

"What's Christmas?", Akane and the nurse asked simultaneously.

"Never mind that, what happened to me?", Takeshi replied. He was absolutely not in the mood to explain the basic principles for Christmas to two girls that were more interested in glaring at each other than in him talking.

"You mean you don't remember anything of it Takeshi?", Akane asked, worry now starting to flood her voice.

"Well, I can remember up to the point where I was hit and flung into that pile of debris, from that moment on it gets all fuzzy".

"I see", the nurse answered, "Sawada-san, as you were flung into that pile of debris as you so accurately put it, you struck an iron rod, it pierced through your chest. One of your lungs was punctured and the rod barely missed your heart and spine. You're extremely lucky to be alive".

"After you were knocked out", Akane took over, "the Onmitsukidō appeared at the scene to help out. They transported you to the camp as soon as they had eliminated the immediate threat. From there you were transported here. You've been out for three days now".

"So that's what I saw", Takeshi muttered as he recalled the blur cutting into the hollow, "one of those guys distracted me during the fight, with my current situation as a consequence".

"In any case, you'll be here for a few more days Sawada-san", the nurse said as she walked towards the door.

"A doctor will come check up on you this afternoon to make sure the wound is healing well".

The nurse threw one last look into the room before exiting it, the door slowly closing behind her. Akane already sighed with relief when the door suddenly opened again, causing her head to whip around to see who it was that would dare to disturb them again. A cheerful voice made it clear before they came into view though.

"Hiya Takeshi-kun, Akane-chan", Miharu shouted in her usual happy voice.

"Ah, Miharu-chan", Akane shouted, the irritated look immediately making way for a smile.

"So, how are you doing Takeshi-kun?", Miharu asked as she jumped onto the side of the bed, Midorikawa placing somewhere in a more remote corner of the room. He'd obviously been dragged here by Miharu as usual, though his usually calm expression did show a few small signs of amusement and relief.

"Pretty good I guess, I woke up only a few minutes ago though".

"But who would have suspected that you of all people would end up here", she joked.

"That could've happened to anyone Miharu-chan", Akane came to his defence, but Takeshi merely shrugged.

"It was my fault Akane, I shouldn't have been distracted so easily. I dropped my guard and that hollow merely took advantage of it".

"Oh don't be so negative Takeshi-kun", Miharu smiled.

"Everyone is negative in comparison to you Miharu", Midorikawa suddenly said.

"So very true", Akane laughed, Takeshi also tried to laugh, but failed miserably when a sudden jolt of pain shot through him, but that didn't stop him from grinning though. Meanwhile, Miharu had a decidedly weird look on her face, not understanding why the others were laughing at what Midorikawa had said causing her to be slightly irritated. Was she really that cheerful?

The sun was already setting when the odd duo left. They'd been talking for a long time and not even the doctor that had come to check up on Takeshi had been able to chase them out of the room.

"Finally", Akane sighed as she watched the door close, only to be pushed open again.

"For the love of ...", Akane cursed as she prepared to give the new intruder a decent scolding when she suddenly noted the white on the arm that had pushed open the door. Her eyes widened as the man came into full view. The Brown hair, the ever avid eyes casting down a hard stare that was only counteracted by the warm smile on his face.

"Yoshikune Taichō, what are you doing here sir?", Akane asked, completely forgetting her place as a shinigami trainee. She realised she'd stepped out of line the moment the words had left her mouth, but the enigmatic man just nodded, his smile calming her nerves. She'd been in the presence of several taichō class shinigami and they all had a distinctive reiatsu around them. Some were oppressive, others just neutral, but she'd never felt one like Yoshikune Taichō, it was gentle, even soothing.

"It appears you've gotten yourself injured Takeshi-kun", the man suddenly spoke, his voice carrying the same properties as his reiatsu.

"So it seems", Takeshi answered. The man that was now standing next to his bed was his saviour, the one that had given him a second chance. The reason he'd met Akane.

"I haven't had the chance to thank you yet, err, how should I address you sir?", Takeshi asked hesitantly, he had realised that Yoshikune Shinji was a Taichō the moment Akane had explained it to him and thus commanded a certain amount of respect.

"Whatever you want to call me is fine Takeshi-kun", the taichō answered, "but there's no real need to thank me though. I would've done the same for anyone, but I admit, I have been pulling some strings here and there to get you into the academy and it seems that assigning Shimizu-san here as your tutor was a good idea".

He nodded to Akane, who was still a bit confused with everything she was hearing. It was practically unheard of that a taichō class shinigami actually wouldn't mind not being addressed with their rank. There were a few exceptions to that rule, but that was only between people of approximately the same rank that had known each other for an extended period of time. From what she knew, Takeshi had met Yoshikune Taichō only once before.

"I've read the report of the battle. It seems you defeated a large number of hollow together with the Tanaka/Midorikawa team, I even have reports of a nineties level kidō spell being cast. I suppose that was Midorikawa, his talents are well known, even outside the academy. Shimizu-san, I would like you to write a report of the battle, make it as detailed as possible".

"Yes sir", Akane acknowledged.

"Well now", Yoshikune said as he threw a look at Akane's hand, which was holding Takeshi's, "I won't be imposing on you two any longer. Take care, both of you. Oh, and come by my office when you graduate from the academy all right? And I mean you too Shimizu-san".

Having said those words, Shinji left the room, the students present in it speechless, stunned by the sudden visit of the taichō. The silence didn't last for long though, because soon after Shinji had left the room, both Akane and Takeshi started talking about the surprise visit at practically the same time, resulting in a comical situation with the two of them staring at each other, only to burst out in laughter. The official visiting hours were over, but Akane misused her authority to chase away the nurses that were checking the rooms. Takeshi couldn't help but smile, Akane wasn't the type of person that would use her rank so casually without a reason, she was planning something.

Akane looked out of the window, it was already dark outside. They'd been talking all the time, about the mission, about Miharu and Midorikawa, about Yoshikune Taichō and about themselves. Akane was rAkanended all over again why she loved Takeshi and she stared at his handsome face all the while they were talking, only to have Takeshi return the favour.

"Hey Takeshi", Akane said, her voiced hushed as she took his hand in hers again, "can I stay here for the night?"

"Sure hun", Takeshi said as he lifted the covers. His arms curled around her as she snuck into the bed and nestled herself in his gentle embrace. He felt the heat of her body as she too wrapped her arms around him, drawing him close to her.

"Don't do anything like that again Takeshi", she whispered as she pressed the side of her head against his chest.

"Do what?"

Akane looked up, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't scare me like that again", she cried, "I thought you were going to die. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if I were to lose you".

Takeshi watched her cry. He too didn't want to imagine what would happen if he were to lose Akane. As he hugged her again, slightly easing her sobs, he vowed that never again would he make her cry. He'd protect her, his friends and everyone else that he knew.

He looked at Akane, only to notice that she'd cried herself to sleep. Deciding that the best course of action was to go to sleep himself, he laid himself down, Akane's arms still wrapped firmly around his waist, refusing to let go. Soon afterwards, he too fell asleep, overcome by the fatigue induced by the wound in his chest, too tired to even notice the fact that he couldn't feel the pain of the wound anymore. As his eyes closed, a faint breeze came wandering in through the open window, the curtains rippling as the wind went past them.

"You've made a vow, make sure you keep it", a deep voice said as Takeshi drifted away into a deep sleep, or was he dreaming already?

A bright ray of light fell through a small gap in between the curtains, a result of the breeze of the previous night. Takeshi growled a bit as the ray fell directly onto his face, rousing him from his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, witnessing something he'd only dreamt of until now. Still sleeping next to him, in his arms, was the girl he loved, still asleep. By a whim of fate, she hadn't been hit by the ray and was still sleeping soundly on the bed. Slowly, he raised himself onto his shoulder and looked at the girl. The wind had been playing with her hair, causing a few strands to wander over her face, irritating her slightly for she unconsciously tried to brush them out of her face, but to no avail. Takeshi looked at the sun through the gap in the curtains. Soon the nurses would come in to check up on them and it would be pretty bad if they would find the heir to the Shimizu family sleeping next to him. He decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to just wake her so he devised something a little more cunning. He moved the edge of the curtain slightly, paving the way for the light to bathe her face in it's warm glow. Almost instantly, she stirred and opened her eyes slightly. Still drowsy, she clumsily tried to pull the curtain back into place, only to be greeted by a cheerful Takeshi who planted a kiss on her lips. Suddenly the events of the previous evening came flooding back into her mind, causing a fierce blush to invade her cheeks. Hurriedly, she crawled out of the bed, only to get caught in the sheets. Takeshi laughed as he witnessed Akane wrestle to get out of the grip of the mighty bed. Hearing the laughter, Akane tried to glare at Takeshi, but soon started laughing herself as she saw the expression on Takeshi's face. It'd been a long time she'd seen him like that, though that was by their normal standards. He normally had that honest smile on his face all the time when she was with him, but it had been missing the night before, which had caused her to worry about him. Not even the visit of Miharu and Midorikawa had been able to change that, but here he was again, laughing and smiling. But something still felt a bit off, not that it was something negative though. She felt as if something had been freed inside him, something that would influence his, and probably even her, future.

She gave the blasted cover a last kick as she retreated out of the bed and sat down on a chair next to Takeshi's bed just as the door opened and one of the nurses came in, accompanied by the doctor in charge of Takeshi's recovery.

"It looks like you are doing fine Sawada-san", the doctor said as he checked Takeshi's wound and instructed the nurse to change the bandages, "I think you'll be well enough to leave the hospital and return to the academy this afternoon. To be honest, your rapid recovery surprises me, I'd expected your wound would've taken at least a few more days to heal completely, but it appears I was mistaken. In any case, you are to stay here until this afternoon Sawada-san, after that, you are free to go, but please don't do anything too straining while you are still recovering. I can allow light training, but nothing else understand? We wouldn't want you to injure yourself again do we?"

Takeshi nodded at the doctor and sat up straight so that the nurse could change the bandage. New skin had already begun to cover the wound. At this rate it would be nothing more than a scar in a few days.

He wondered how the others were doing as he put on his uniform again. It felt good to feel the light fabric on his skin again. Finally, he took up his zanpakutō again. It had been placed next to his bed by a nurse that had come to check on him a while earlier. Takeshi had immediately understood the hint, he was free to go. Slowly, he drew the blade and made a few practise swings in the room, the light reflecting off the blade causing a dazzling lightshow on the walls. His zanpakutō felt unusually light in his hand and the way he was able to handle it made it seem as if the blade was reading his thoughts, as if they were completely synchronised.

Having decided that he was fully recovered, Takeshi sheathed the blade and walked out of the room. Standing in the doorway, he decided that he would never again see a room like that again.

"Let's go", he said to Akane who'd been standing in the hallway. He grabbed her hand and they walked out of the hospital, not looking back even a single time.

Takeshi and Akane were used to people whispering about them whenever they showed themselves in public, but to see people cheer and applaud for them was something different altogether. It had started the moment they'd walked into the academy.

"If you want to know why, it's because of us staying behind to help the shinigami hold the perimeter", Takeshi suddenly heard a voice say behind him. He didn't even have to turn around, he'd recognise that slightly sarcastic tone anywhere.

"So you're troubled by it as well Midorikawa, Miharu-chan?", Takeshi asked as he turned around.

"Consider yourself lucky", Midorikawa snorted, "they were a lot worse when we had only just come back from the real world, I even threatened them with casting a high level kidō spell, but that only made them cheer even harder. Looks like everyone already knows that I can perform Kurohitsugi".

"As if anyone could miss a huge black box suddenly appearing out of thin air", Takeshi grinned.

"Sawada", a voice suddenly called out, instantly hushing the voices of the people around them.

"Awww crap, not the person I wanted to see right now", Akane cursed as she saw Nakajima-sensei make his way through the crowd.

"Sawada", he repeated, "I would like you to come with me right away, we still need you to write a full report of the battle and I don't want to keep the headmaster waiting, I suggest you don't keep him waiting either".

Having said this, Nakajima guided Takeshi away. Having nothing to say about it, Takeshi sighed and waved at Akane who was, strangely enough smiling a bit. This caused him to miss Nakajima winking at Akane, Miharu and Midorikawa.

"Now then, let us go write that report Sawada-san".

Several hours later, Takeshi dragged himself to his room, Nakajima in his wake. He'd been forced to recount the entire excursion to the utmost detail. If there's one thing Takeshi had to admire, it had to be Nakajima-sensei's ability to get answers out of a student, to the slightest detail imaginable. Takeshi growled, why did Nakajima-sensei have to escort him to his own quarters? He knew it was reasonably late, that he was quite tired, still injured and at risk of being attacked by some jealous student that would try to take advantage of his momentary weakness but still, he had the feeling that he could take on anyone that would come at him right now.

He sighed as he placed his hand against the door of his room. He was now officially back at the academy. Already feeling the tidal pull of fatigue pulling on an edge of his consciousness, he opened the door, only to be greeted by all of his classmates. Baffled by this sudden development, he staggered a little, only to bump into a smiling Nakajima-sensei.

"Congratulations with your recovery Takeshi-kun", Nakajima said, "and again congratulations to your valiant efforts to help keep the perimeter during the excursion and also congratulations to you, Akane-chan, Miharu-chan and Midorikawa-kun. Though I myself would not have permitted your actions, you still performed flawlessly, your actions saving many lives of fellow shinigami and for that, you deserve to be honoured. Thus, I am pleased to inform you that it has been decided that the four of you will pass this final year of your training as a shinigami and that you are all given a post as a seated officer at a squad of your choice".

The chattering fell silent the moment Nakajima said those words and Takeshi quickly exchanged looks with his two closest friends and his lover. After a few seconds, they all nodded at the same time and Takeshi turned towards his teacher.

"Sir, I think it wouldn't be fair to the other students, not only of our class, but to those of the entire academy. They followed their orders to the letter and retreated through the senkai gate, we on the other hand disobeyed our orders to help out the other shinigami. In other words, we're being rewarded for something we actually did wrong. That isn't fair to the others and thus, we will also take the final exam and earn our positions as shinigami in the Gotei 13 through our own abilities and not some battle report".

Nakajima smiled as he listened to the words of his student. He and his friends had made the right decision almost instantly, at practically the same time and they knew what the others had thought right away. He was looking at a perfect team, a golden combination. Those four would cause quite a few heads to turn when they finally entered active duty. As a matter of fact, they had done so already, two taichō had already shown considerable interest in them and Midorikawa had a few scouts of the Kidō Corps on his tail already. But for the moment, he decided to let go of such thoughts and enjoy the party with his students. He'd been the one to come up with the idea and he'd carried out most of the preparations. The other students had also helped a lot, especially the other three of the quartet.

The party lasted until late that night, Nakajima allowing Takeshi and Akane to show some intimacy to one another for as long as it remained within acceptable bounds. Though he was quite surprised to see a lot of couples come out for themselves as well. He hadn't imagined that so many of his students had relationships, though it was quite normal to see Miharu tease Midorikawa. When party was finally over, Nakajima led his students to their quarters, all the while making sure that no one snuck into a room that wasn't their own, there was a reason to party, that much was true, but he was still a teacher and he had to enforce the rules, no matter where he was, what time it was or how smashed he was. For once he'd allowed his students to drink alcohol, something they had been incredibly grateful for, but he too had been unable to resist the smell of the different types of liquor and beer they had assembled causing Nakajima to worry about where his students were able to find all of that alcohol. Though those worries were soon forgotten the moment Sakamoto shoved a glass of sake under his teacher's nose. There was one thing Nakajima was sure about though. He wouldn't be the only one waking up with a massive headache the following morning.

'''Chapter 8 '''

Takeshi groaned as he tried to raise himself from his bed. He was used to drinking, but he had underestimated Sakamoto's special brew. It had been strangely tantalising but the effects afterwards were devastating. His head seemed two times too small for his brain and his body felt like lead. This caused him to wonder about some of his friends. They'd been drinking a lot more than he did and he could tell that most of them just weren't used to drinking alcohol. A wave of dizziness washed over him as he stood up. Trying to keep his balance, he put his hand against the wall, leaning heavily on it as he made his way to the shower. Once there, the icy water streaming over his body worked miracles. The nausea and dizziness had vanished the moment his brains had been bombarded by his nerves because of the cold creeping its way into his body. Shivering, but sober, he stepped out of the shower and got dressed. He looked at the clock. Akane would usually be yelling at his door by now, something his neighbours had gotten used to over time, heck, some even used it as a replacement for their alarm clock. But now there was nothing but silence. He couldn't suppress a grin as he thought back at the previous night. There were a few small gaps here and there, but he could remember most of it. Akane drinking just about anything that was placed in front of her, followed by her audacious move of placing herself in his embrace in front of everyone, even Nakajima-sensei. She'd obviously been too drunk to either care or even notice the fact that they weren't alone. He had to admit though, he'd been hard pressed to keep himself in check when she'd kissed him full on his lips. It had been a bit embarrassing, but the reactions of some of his classmates more than made up for that. It had ranged from some jaws dropping, to one of the girls even coming close to fainting. The most embarrassing moment had been when Akane had fallen asleep in his arms though. She'd remained there for the rest of the evening, again refusing to let go in her sleep. Eventually, with the help of Nakajima-sensei and Miharu, he'd been able to get her loose and he'd carried her to her room under the watchful eye of Nakajima-sensei.

He again noticed the change in weight of his zanpakutō when he picked it up and tucked it safely into his sash.

With still no Akane in sight, he made his way to her room, most of the people whispering and pointing in his direction as usual. It didn't bother him anymore though, he'd gotten used to it, even if they were a bit more active than usual. He knocked on the door of Akane's quarters, only to be greeted by silence. Quietly, he opened the door and saw Akane lying in her bed, still sleeping peacefully. He decided that he'd wake her up using a trick he'd learned from his father when he'd been still alive, the same trick he'd used on himself a little while before. Carefully, he picked her up and walked into the shower. The resulting scream causing quite a bit of heads to poke out of their respective quarters as Takeshi held Akane's head firmly under the stream of cold water. Patiently, he waited until her punches became accurate enough to actually annoy him before he turned off the shower.

"Why the hell did you do that?", Akane shouted, the water still dripping from her face, "did you intend to kill me?".

"Easy there Akane", Takeshi said calmly, still evading some of Akane's punches, "you were still sleeping, and if I were to wake you the usual way, you'd have one hell of a hangover. As my dad used to say, the best way to cure a hangover is a good cold shower. Just admit it, you drunk quite a bit of alcohol last night, yet now you don't feel a thing of it right?".

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, now get the hell out of my room, or do you want me to change in front of you too?", Akane scowled as she chased Takeshi out of her room.

Not really willing to face Akane's wrath this early in the morning, Takeshi hurried out of the room. He heard Akane's scowling voice as he waited patiently against her door. The amount of muttering indicating that being woken up in such a fashion wasn't a really pleasant surprise.

The scowl was still clearly visible on Akane's face when she exited her room a few minutes later, fully dressed and without a hangover.

"All right Mr. pleasant surprise, let's go before we're late", Akane said, dragging him along as usual, though perhaps a bit rougher than normal.

The sight at the classroom had been something Takeshi had been expecting. Most of the students were either absent, or sitting dazed at their desks, more than a few holding their heads clutched between their hands. Even Nakajima-sensei seemed to be a bit unsteady. Takeshi grinned, apparently no one could resist Sakamoto's brew.

"Yahoo", Takeshi suddenly heard coming from the door. It was Miharu, dragging a sAkane-conscious Midorikawa into the classroom.

"Figures", Takeshi grinned at Akane, who just shook her head at the sight of the duo entering the classroom.

"So there is no clue whatsoever concerning the identity of the one responsible for spreading the bait?", the headmaster said, his voice slightly trembling with anger.

"Yes sir, we're doing our absolute best to find the ones responsible, but a lack of evidence is severely limiting our options", the man clad in a black combat suit said. The headmaster frowned, the eyes of the man, the only visible part of his face, didn't give away anything.

"Please continue your search, but be as swift as you can possibly be.", the headmaster said, forcing himself to calm down, "A lot of our students were in serious danger out there and a lot of the shinigami responsible for the perimeter were killed as well. Worst of all, we don't know if those responsible are going to strike again, and if so, when and where."

The man saluted and left instantly using shunpō. An annoying trait of the Onmitsukidō the old man thought. Why did those people always have to use shunpō for everything they were doing. If only the world were to run at his pace, everything would be a lot easier.

Classes had been quite relaxed that day, mostly due to the fact that almost everyone except for three people were either still in their rooms or sleeping at their desks. Even Sakamoto, the one responsible for all the mayhem was balancing carefully between asleep and barely awake.

"So", he asked Akane as they walked out of the classroom, "do you want to spar a bit?"

"Sure, that way I'll be able to exact some revenge for this morning", she grinned. The anger about the sudden waking up call had been completely forgotten when she had seen the devastating results alcohol had on the rest of the class, well, except for Miharu of course.

Quickly, they ran off towards their favourite training ground, the most remote one of all, leaving Miharu standing in the middle of the path towards the dormitory with a still dazed Midorikawa leaning heavily on her shoulder. Looking from her friends running away to the one leaning on her shoulder, she grinned from ear to ear.

"So, how's conversing with your zanpakutō working out?", Akane asked as she and Takeshi raced towards the training ground, using both shunpō and rooftops to move about quickly without attracting too much attention. Both their speeds were above what most students and even some teachers could detect. Not that they wouldn't be in trouble if Nakajima-sensei were to spot them, but considering his condition from that morning, they decided he'd be more likely to crawl back into his bed as soon as possible than to patrol the hallways for hours on end.

"I haven't talked to it much lately", Takeshi replied, he'd been talking to it a bit, but not that much because he didn't have a lot of time for it, "I talk to it whenever I've got some spare time, but there hasn't been a lot of that, has there?"

"Yeah, but still, how's it going? Have you learned it's name yet?"

"No, not yet, have you?"

"Nope, me neither", Akane said, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, how about we try to communicate with our zanpakutō instead of training".

"Agreed", the girl nodded. She'd gotten the point almost immediately. Instead of focusing on improving their technique, strength, speed, endurance or any other trait, focussing on communicating with their zanpakutō would allow them to release it if they could learn its name. Explosively increasing their power in the process.

The two students moved towards the edge of the academy grounds, they'd found an abandoned field there and had started using it as their personal sparring area. Within the span of two months, the ground had become littered with craters and the trees nearest to the clearing had either suffered from severe scorch marks or had been cut down completely. Results of Takeshi's lightning attacks. He'd recently learned how to completely control the lightining he generated by using his mind and now he was able to launch devastating attacks into vicious strikes that could cut a path through just about anything. The lightning would strike critical points with blinding accuracy and would smash everything to pieces. Ever since he'd shown Akane his attacks, she'd been continuously insisting that he would use them during their sparring matches, even though she was barely able to dodge them. She did make sure he kept on his toes though. Every time she noticed him easing up a bit or giving her space to breathe, she'd strike back with all her might, not afraid to give Takeshi a nasty cut every now and then. She'd made sure he'd learned not to underestimate her or any other opponent.

They sat down. Each of them drawing their zanpakutō and placing it on their lap. Takeshi looked at Akane, he wanted to talk to her a bit more before they started, but her eyes were already closed, she was already communicating with her blade. A shinigami's zanpakutō is a part of his or her soul, it's vital to a shinigami and he always carries his blade with him. These were some of the basics Nakajima-sensei had drilled into them, as well as ways to communicate with them. Recently, when Takeshi had been talking to the spirit of his zanpakutō, he'd been descending into its world more and more. Which was, according to his sensei, was part of the process needed to learn the name of his zanpakutō, and thus, the way to learning shikai, the first stage of release of a Zanpakutō. There was no doubt in his mind that he would become able to perform shikai, but he wondered if he could ever attain the second, more powerful stage of release, bankai. It was said that only the taichō and a mere handful of other shinigami, most of the time also high ranking officers, had been able to attain it. Even in the great noble houses who were born with a higher level of reiatsu than anyone else, there were only a few in several generations able to reach the ultimate level in a shinigami's abilities. He wasn't a soul society born shinigami. But still, he was quite powerful for normal standards, so perhaps in the future, if he trained enough. Feeling his blade pulling on the edge of his mind, he shifted his focus towards it and immediately found himself inside his inner world, standing on one of the rocks floating through the air. In front of him was the dragon, its tail curled around its body as it laid on the bare rock, the movement caused by its deep breaths causing the scales to scrape over the rock, producing an eerie screeching, not unlike nails being dragged over a chalkboard, only a los less intrusive. Sensing Takeshi's presence, the dragon raised its head, taking in Takeshi with opaque, seAkanengly bottomless eyes that caused a cold shiver to run down Takeshi's spine no matter how many times he saw them.

"So, here you are again", the dragon spoke. Unlike the first time he'd met the dragon, the time when he had awoken his sword, the dragon didn't use its booming voice anymore, now it spoke normally. It was still a bit loud, but that was to be expected.

"If my guess is correct, which it usually is", the dragon continued, "then you are here to try and learn my name. I will tell you now, you are coming very close to learning it. You have already passed a very important test, but before I will tell you my name, you must face another challenge that I have for you, but right now, you are not yet ready".

"Is the test that hard?", Takeshi wondered. He'd become familiar with the dragon's strange way of doing things. He knew that the dragon was extremely smart and powerful, and that it did not do things without a specific reason. Every single conversation they had during the time he'd meditated and materialized his zanpakutō had been meaningful to him, every time he'd learned something about his power, the dragon or even something about soul society and the dangers he was likely to face.

"It is not really hard, it is just that you still need to attain the right state of mind necessary to survive it".

These words shook Takeshi to his core. So it was possible for him to die when he tried to attain his shikai. He knew the dragon would never lie to him, it wouldn't have any use anyway. If he died, the dragon would die with him.

"Do not worry Takeshi", the dragon suddenly spoke softly.

Takeshi looked up towards the dragon's face. It had never addressed him with his name before.

"I can't tell you when the test will come to pass, only that it will be soon, very soon and you will know when it happens. But now you must leave this place. The enemy is coming, they're more powerful than you, but do not worry, there are allies nearby".

"What do you mean?", Takeshi shouted, but he was already being pulled back to the real world.

As Takeshi felt himself being dragged into reality, he became aware of someone approaching rapidly from behind. Sensing that he had complete control over his body again, he whipped around, drawing his zanpakutō in the process, the centrifugal force of his rotation adding to his already powerful strike. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the reflection of the moon in a flash of steel racing to meet his own blade. The two swords struck, throwing sparks into the air, briefly illuminating Takeshi's opponent. The man was huge, Takeshi didn't even reach his shoulders. His imposing presence was enhanced by the man's face. His face might've been called handsome, if it weren't for the many scars it bore. Even his deep tan, no doubt obtained by running around in the sun for days on end, couldn't hide them. The strange thing was that, even though he was incredibly imposing, Takeshi didn't feel threatened, even when he noticed a pair of pitch black eyes staring at him with a peculiar interest. Noting the white haori, Takeshi realised that his opponent was a taichō, but before he even had time to withdraw and apologise, the man had already grabbed Takeshi's blade with his bare hand.

"Nice swing there kid", the man grinned, "would've killed most men under my command before they would be able to blink. Now don't speak, you're wondering why I, a soul society taichō, am here at the academy right?"

Takeshi nodded, his surprise had been complete, something he didn't like at all. The dragon had warned him of an approaching enemy, yet here he was, face to face with a taichō.

"I'm Fukuda Naoki", the man said, calmly letting go of Takeshi's zanpakutō after he had made sure that Takeshi wouldn't try to attack him", I'm the taichō of the eleventh squad of the Gotei 13, the leader of the most powerful squad of all. You saved quite a bit of my men during your stunt in the real world, but now I advise you to run away together with your girlfriend there".

He pointed at Akane, who had also snapped out of her concentration and was now still staring at Fukuda Taichō.

"Why", Takeshi asked, still a bit dazed by the dragon's warning and the appearance of the strange taichō. Plucks of the man's unkempt black hair sticking out this way and that, standing in a sharp contrast with the pure white and obviously extremely well maintained haori.

"I'll make it short. We suspected that someone had spread hollow bait during the excursion to cause a massive amount of casualties amongst the graduating shinigami, thus undermining morale with the rest of the Gotei 13. They failed, mostly due to the performances of a few individuals", the man said, staring meaningfully towards both Takeshi and Akane.

"In any case, we feared that they might try again, and this time, they'd mark both you two, Tanaka Miharu and Midorikawa Ryouji as special targets. I was sent here together with a number of other taichō and fukutaichō to stand guard over the academy just in case they wanted to try and attack the academy directly. Looks like we were right".

"Are you saying they're attacking the academy right now?", Takeshi breathed. His mind couldn't quite comprehend what the man had just said. He'd always thought of soul society as a safe place, a haven for souls to rest or become shinigami.

"Yes", the man began but he was interrupted by a massive explosion that ripped through part of the nearest wall.

"Damn, looks like they broke through the barrier, a lot sooner than we expected too. You two get out of here. The moment they spot you, you're dead. They made a mistake last time, they won't be so eager to repeat it. Now go!"

Takeshi and Akane recognised the seriousness in the man's voice and started running, only to stop dead in their tracks as they heard the man shout. Turning around, they saw something which made their blood turn to ice.

A blood red aura had enveloped the man, bathing the clearing in a dark red light, making it seem as if everything present had suddenly started bleeding. Suddenly, a beam of the same light shot straight up towards the sky.

"What are you doing?", Akane shouted at Fukuda Taichō, "you'll lead them straight towards here".

"Exactly, and that's where they'll find me, but not you, which makes it only worse for them". The evil grin that appeared on the taichō's face caused both Akane and Takeshi to shudder. He had already descended in a mad lust for battle.

"Let's go Akane, we'll leave it to Fukuda Taichō", Takeshi said, grabbing Akane's hand and running away from the clearing at full speed. The massive reiatsu emanating from the man already made it hard to breathe, even for him.

"Good, they're gone, now I don't have to traumatise them", Naoki said as he slowly drew his zanpakutō, "now, on to business. Rip them to shreds, Tenkotsu".

The men sent to kill Takeshi and Akane, drawn towards the massive reiatsu, landed the moment Fukuda Naoki, taichō of the eleventh division, released his zanpakutō. The sight they saw was both the most horrifying thing they had ever seen, and the last thing they would ever see.

Takeshi's ears picked up several screams as they continued to run away from the training ground and towards the centre of the academy. Akane didn't notice, and he chose not to tell her. He didn't want to worry her, not with her already shaking a bit from knowing that this time, they were purposefully being targeted. Meanwhile, they could spot several explosions starting to appear near the walls, and closing in towards the main academy building. Takeshi suddenly gasped as a massive yellow kidō beam suddenly came crashing right over their heads, incinerating trees and tall bushes that were unfortunate enough to be in its path.

"Takeshi, look, it's aimed at the dormitories", Akane suddenly yelled.

Following Akane's outstretched hand, Takeshi shifted his vision towards the dorms just as the building was struck head on by the beam. Light shone from the windows, milliseconds before they were shattered as massive jets of flame came rocketing outwards. The rook vanishing into a mushroom cloud of flames and black smoke. The shockwave took both Takeshi and Akane off their feet as it blasted outwards, flattening everything nearby and throwing everything not properly anchored meters into the air. Dazed, his ears still ringing from the explosion, Takeshi got back onto his feet. The scene resembled the apocalypse. The spell had hit the dormitory dead on. The entire midsection had been blown away, some burning rubble on the ground being all that remained. The sides of the building hadn't fared much better though. Holes had been torn into the walls because of the incredible power infused in the spell, several sections had already collapsed and those that were still standing were straining under the stress caused by massive fires and the increased load they were forced to carry.

Yoshikune Shinji was facing off with several of the unknown assailants when suddenly a massive explosion caused just about every head to turn.

"Dear God", Shinji whispered, his voice shaking. They'd taken precautions and started evacuating the dormitory the moment the attack had started, but there was no way it would be complete by now.

"Shinji, look out!", Tetsuo shouted as he blasted a kidō spell over his friend's shoulder, taking a surprised opponent full in the face, leaving only a smouldering mush.

"Tetsuo, you fall back to the main building, I'll wrap this up quickly".

Tetsuo nodded, understanding his friend's intentions, right now it was far more important to place protective spells over the remaining buildings of the academy in order to prevent any more casualties. Of the two of them, Tetsuo was far better with Bakudō than Shinji and thus the logical choice to fall back in order to prepare the much needed defences.

"Don't stay behind for too long my friend", Tetsuo said as he turned around and left his friend to face the horde of enAkanees now standing in front of him.

"I won't", Shinji smiled as he took in the number of assailants standing in front of him.

"Don't be so confident mister", one of the assailants shouted, "you may be a taichō class shinigami, but we can still take you, we've been able to make a taichō flee when he was in the real world, and the spiritual pressure he have was a lot stronger than yours".

"Is that so? Well then, I guess I'll have to fill you guys in on a little secret. Did you know that when a shinigami of taichō or fukutaichō level travels to the real world, his powers are severely limited?"

Shinji smiled again, he had them. He could even see the look of surprise right through their masks.

"Don't listen to him, he's bluffing. He wants to scare us".

"I wonder about that", Shinji said as he raised his zanpakutō, "Reap the harvest, Setsudanki!".

The light Akanetted by his scythe blinded several of the assailants that had come a little too close, only to result in them being cleaved in half as Shinji swung it down in a vicious arc. Several more of his opponents fell in battle as he started weaving through them in a unique style of combat he had developed. Almost resembling a dance, it focussed on creating flowing movements that kept on adding power as the rotation continued. He always boasted a bit of being able to vary and time his movements so that he could keep the motion going indefinitely. Combined with his scythe, the rapid circular motions caused devastating wounds to anyone careless enough to try and step within his perimeter.

It took Shinji less than a minute to eliminate every single opponent he could find in the immediate area. His opponents had been good, but only compared to the level of an academy student. He estimated that his fourth seat wouldn't have any problem in dealing with one of these guys. The problem was, they were methodically hunting in packs, trying to wear out the stronger opponents in order to take them down.

Deciding his job of clearing out the training ground he was in, he turned around towards the main academy building when suddenly, another large kidō beam shot out from the distance and raced across the grounds towards the main building where, except for a few stragglers such as himself, now practically every student and defender was located. =='''Ready for fight¡The Determination Of Takeshi! '''==

==Chapter 9

"They're using a Kidō cannon", Midorikawa explained to Takeshi and Akane. They'd started searching for their friends the moment they had entered the main academy building. Not that it was hard to miss a small girl constantly jumping around above the crowd that had now gathered in the central plaza.

"What's that?", Takeshi asked, not knowing what his friend meant.

"It's a device specially created to fire massive blasts of kidō energy. Much like a normal person can fire a kidō spell, the kidō cannon can be charged up by several people, allowing shots of devastating power to be unleashed. The thing that's bothering me though, is that I thought that the Gotei 13 were the only ones that have one. But they can't be the ones attacking us, there are several taichō here with a considerable detachment of their highest ranking officers".

"We know, we ran into the eleventh division taichō out there", Akane nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, from what I heard, there's a grand total of six fukutaichō and five taichō present here at the school", a voice suddenly came from behind Takeshi. As the group turned as one, the owner of the voice stepped out of a shadowy niche in the wall.

"Sakamoto", Midorikawa said, surprise audible in his voice, "how do you know that?"

"I overheard some seated officers of the sixth talking. Apparently there's Fukuda Naoki, the eleventh division taichō, as Takeshi and Akane said. Then there's Yoshikune Shinji, Handa Tetsuo, Fukuzawa Yushio and Kago Asuka present, the fifth, sixth, twelfth and fourth division taichō respectively. Each with their fukutaichō and some of their seated officers. The last fukutaichō is Hasegawa Kazuma's subordinate, just in case you don't know Takeshi, he's the sōtaichō. He's here to oversee the operation and to report back".

"In any case", Midorikawa continued, "we still need to deal with that kidō cannon. They've used it once before, on the dorms, so I think they want to cause as much damage and casualties as possible with it. My guess is that they'll fire at this building next".

"My deduction exactly", Sakamoto nodded, "the problem is, no one present here can deflect that blast when it's coming, and to know where it's located, we'll need it to fire again".

"But what about the taichō?", Akane wondered.

"No go, they're still holding the perimeter. If they were to leave their posts, the attackers would have no problem overrunning this position. We may be accompanied by a sizeable complement of high ranking officers, but if we're faced with a decently organised army, which I suspect, then they'll use superior numbers to overtake them".

"So that means we'll be the ones to take out that cannon", Takeshi sighed.

"Looks that way yes", Sakamoto said, staring at the floor. He obviously wasn't too keen on going out there, possibly to get himself killed. But neither were Takeshi, Akane, Miharu or Midorikawa.

"Wether we go or not, just the five of us isn't going to be enough. We still need some more support", Takeshi said, looking around in the room. The look on his face changed drastically as he saw someone sitting in a corner, staring directly at him. It was Akimoto Momiji.

"You called?", he grinned, "both myself and Saruwatari will join you if you decide to go out there".

"Thanks, it's appreciated", Takeshi nodded at what some called his biggest rival, not that Takeshi thought of him that way though. He knew that his abilities were now far larger than those of Akimoto. Akimoto probably knew as well, since he hadn't been challenging Takeshi anymore in a long time.

"But there's still the problem of the enemy troops being capable of overpowering us", Takeshi continued, "Naoki taichō himself told me that this time, both Akane, Miharu, Midorikawa and myself are targets since we helped in preventing a lot of casualties during the excursion. We made ourselves a reputation, and apparently, it has reached the ears of our enemies".

"So, you're planning to go out anyway, even in spite of Naoki taichō's warning", a voice called out from a nearby roof. Jumping down from it, the figure fell and landed in the middle of the group in a blur of white and black.

"Handa-taichō", Sakamoto replied respectfully.

"So you said they're using a kidō cannon eh? That complicates things", Tetsuo said as he rubbed his chin in irritation. He was about to say something again when the sky west of the academy lit up, immediately followed by another blast from the cannon.

"Incoming!", one of the shinigami helping the injured students yelled as he threw himself over some of the injured trainees.

"Bakudō no 81, Danku".

A barrier in the form of a wall suddenly sprang up in front of the blast, causing it to burst into fragments and shower down on what remained of the academy.

Takeshi and his group looked at Tetsuo, their mouths hanging open in amazement. They'd just seen a man perform an eighties forbidden bakudō, chantless incantation, as if it were nothing, Midorikawa currently couldn't even manage chantless incantations of anything over fifty.

"I got their position sir", a blonde haired fukutaichō suddenly came down from the roof as well, "they're located to the west of the academy, about a mile away from the wall, or what's left of it".

Having seen the shield erected by Tetsuo, Shinji sighed in relief. He now knew that the people in the main building were safe. Using his scythe, he quickly cut through some opposition as he continued making his way back to where his friend was. Shinji raised his hand and cast a special kidō spell that had been developed for quick battlefield communication. It caused a bright flare to rocket up into the sky, which would remain there for a while, bathing the environment in a bright green light, the flare itself could be seen for miles. Having fired the signal to his fellow taichō that were still holding the perimeter, Shinji retreated to the main building so that they could bolster their defences. As he made his way back, he encountered several opponents that had managed to sneak past him or another taichō amidst the confusion. With utmost precision, he erased any trace of them. Noticing movement in a forest out of the corner of his eye, Shinji shifted his path to the right, only to see an entranced Naoki burst out of the underbrush, taking several trees with him. The man was obviously amusing himself. Several of the insurgents had been impaled on his zanpakutō. His eyes were aflame with bloodlust as he brought his sword down in a vicious arc, swinging the corpses off his sword.

"They're already dead Naoki-san", Shinji said calmly to his fellow taichō, but to no avail. After having launched the bodies off his sword, Naoki had vanished, only to reappear directly in the path of the corpses that were flying through the air. Shouting a battle cry, he planted his fist into the corpses, the impact combined with the damage done earlier causing them to disintegrate. Shinji took shelter behind a nearby tree as the remaining pieces of the attackers rained down upon Naoki, causing his bloodlust to dissipate.

"I trust you had some fun here Naoki-san?", Shinji asked the taichō as he stepped from behind the tree.

"Cheh, these weaklings are useless, it's like squashing bugs", the leader of the eleventh division cursed as he knocked one of the bigger pieces of flesh off his shoulder, annoyed by the blood seeping into his clothes. It'd take a while to get his haori back to its original colour.

"Haven't you ever heard of holding back every once in a while Naoki-san?", Shinji sighed.

"That's a word that's not in my vocabulary my friend, you of all people ought to know that".

"We better get back to the main building", Shinji continued as he watched one of the most feared men of the Gotei 13 scowl as he took a look at his now almost ruined coat, "they'll be needing our help".

"Agreed, at the very least they'll send some strong guys to attack us, or at least that's what I'm hoping for".

After Naoki had put on his coat again, they made their way back, systematically eradicating any resistance they encountered.

"Sir, they're pulling back towards the main building", the man clad in the same outfit as those that had attacked the academy said to his superior.

"Excellent, move all our teams forward and have the third cannon crew stand by".

"Sir, with all due respect, our previous shot was blocked as if it was nothing, shouldn't we wait until the one responsible for that spell has been taken out?"

"There are only a few people that can cast that specific spell, and all of them are taichō class or nearing that level. Besides, if we let up now, they might recover. It's not spell you can perform for hours on end, yet we, with our cannon and our four teams can. As long as we time the shots well, giving our different teams enough time to rest and recuperate, we can continue to fire indefinitely. Now move teams six to fourteen to the south of the academy and order them to attack in full force".

"But sir, those are the teams that are guarding the cannon, without them it's vulnerable to attack".

"Shut up you idiot, I'm fully aware of that, which is exactly why I'm ordering those squads to attack them from the south. The best way to protect something from your enemy, is to shift his focus to something else, in this case, his own defence. With those squads tying up the taichō present in the main building, they won't have anyone to send here to take out the cannon".

"But sir, what about those students that are supposedly incredibly strong? What if they're sent out?"

"Then they'll still have to deal with my personal guard, and I seriously doubt that a handful of mere shinigami trainees could take them on, even if they're renowned for their strength".

Noticing the shadows in the treetops nearby the command post, the soldier swallowed hard, he'd heard enough stories about his commander's elite guard. The stories made shivers run down his spine, most of those men were at the same level as a high ranking seated officer, with their leader supposedly having taken out a fukutaichō before he became a part of the elite guard. They were renowned to be both powerful and merciless. He pitied the poor souls that would encounter those guys in direct combat.

"So, you're heading out into battle again Takeshi-kun?", Shinji frowned as he encountered the group of students at the main building.

"We don't have any other choice Shinji-san", Takeshi replied. He knew the taichō had realised the severity of the situation as well and that there was no other choice.

"So you're going out there eh?", Naoki suddenly cut in, "great, I'll go with you, gives me a chance to cut up some more people on the way". The hot headed and bloodthirsty taichō was about to take a head start when he was suddenly clobbered into the pavement by a red headed beauty wearing a white haori as well, the sign twelve adorning the back of the coat.

"Oh no you are, you're going to stay right here and help defend this building Naoki", Yushio said to her husband.

Naoki wanted to retort, but was cut short by a short glare from his wife. He knew better than to argue with her. The two swords that were strapped on her back only adding to this fact. Nevertheless, he loved her most when she was fighting. The sharp contrast between her waist long hair, bound in a long, flowing ponytail, the shimmer of her twin blades and the gray cloth that held the sheaths of her swords on her back never ceased to entrance him. Which was also one of the reasons why he always lost to her in a fight. The other reason being that she was an excellent fighter and one of the most skilled and experienced taichō of the Gotei 13.

"You are going to stay here and help us defend this building Naoki", Yushio told her husband, grabbing his arm as she dragged him off.

"Tetsuo-kun is busy with fending off any more of those kidō attacks, and Kago-san is busy tending to the wounded, which leaves only four of us to defend the perimeter, now get your ass to your sector".

Not willing to risk another beating, Naoki quickly stopped resisting as he was dragged off to the south side of the academy, leaving his fellow taichō and the students behind. Meanwhile, Takeshi and the rest couldn't believe what they had just seen. Here was one of the most feared men in Soul Society, being bossed by his wife as if he was a cute little puppy.

"Don't you dare get any ideas Akane", Takeshi growled under his breath as he saw the look on Akane's face, "you are not going to do that with me".

"What? I was just wondering if I need to get my nails done the next time I'm home", Akane responded sarcastically.

"Right, and I'm Santa", Takeshi retorted, not willing to let his girlfriend get away with her reply that easily.

"Who's Santa?"

"Forget it". He'd forgotten Akane didn't know anything about Santa, he should've picked something from the Gotei 13.

"If you two newlyweds are done, can we perhaps get on with this mission?", Shinji sighed as he witnessed the young couple bicker a bit.

Hearing the taichō's comment, they stopped immediately, blushing a bit as they saw the grins on their friends faces.

"Well, knowing Yuuji-san, that might not be too far off when he learns of your relationship", Shinji continued, causing the blush on Takeshi's and Akane's face to turn a few shades darker as he rubbed it in a bit more.

"In any case, that won't happen if we just continue to stand around here like fools", Shinji suddenly shifted to a much more serious tone, "your main objective is to take out the kidō cannon and to return alive, don't take any unnecessary risks and keep engagements to a minimum, now move out".

"Yes sir", the seven trainees saluted before they blasted off towards the location of the cannon, using shunpō to cover as much ground as possible in a single leap.

Takeshi, in the lead of the group, pushed his team members as hard as he could without making them fall behind, which was not an easy task, given his already incredible speed.

"I hope you manage to uphold your vow", he suddenly heard his zanpakutō speak in his mind.

"I will", Takeshi replied in his mind. He was not about to let his friends down, not now, not ever.

"Looks like they were stupid enough to send out those students after all", the leader of the enemy commander's elite guard sneered as he witnessed them cross the now devastated academy grounds.

"They do have some speed and power, but only compared to a normal student. Compared to us, they're nothing", the leader heard one of his subordinates laugh.

"Keep it down you idiot, they still haven't detected us and I intend to keep it that way".

"My apologies Kawazoe-sama", the soldier quickly bowed. He knew better than to anger his commander.

Kawazoe Jun looked out over the academy grounds towards the oncoming students. It was a pity that he had to fight such promising shinigami. Even more so because he had to kill them in the process. No one had fought him, and lived to tell the tale. Something he intended to keep that way.

"There's one for each of us, pick your targets and engage", Jun ordered his men, "but don't touch the one that's in the lead, he's mine.

Nodding in acknowledgement, his men vanished from the treetops they had been hiding in.

"Someone's coming", Miharu said as she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

"What do you mean?", Akimoto asked as he looked at the small girl, wondering how she knew that there was someone approaching them.

"She's right", Takeshi said. He'd suddenly felt the pressure as well. Whoever they were, they were hiding their reiatsu, and were pretty good at it too, making it impossible to measure their strength without confronting them, something that Takeshi wasn't too eager to do.

"So two of them noticed us, not bad", Jun spoke to himself as he saw the sudden change in their behaviour, "well then, looks like it's time to introduce ourselves". Grinning, he jumped towards his prey.

Sakamoto was the first one to spot their enemies as they launched themselves into the air. Their uniforms clearly visible in the combined light of the moon and the now fading flare, he was puzzled as to the appearance of the enemy soldiers. They wore a black leather armour with several red bands strapped in an artistic manner over any possible gaps, giving them a strangely surrealistic appearance. On their uniforms, there was a small circular patch of white cloth, adorned with a strange broken V-shaped dagger inscribed with runes. This intrigued Sakamoto, for he had never seen such a logo, as a matter of fact, he had never encountered anything about a V-shaped dagger decorated with runes in any of the books he had read during his hour long plundering sessions of the academy library. He took a mental note of giving Yoshikune taichō a detailed description of what he'd seen, that is, if he made it out alive.

With a deafening roar, Jun landed on the ground in front of the students, cracking the pavement and throwing up a large cloud of dust in the process. He always found it amusing to see the surprised reactions of weaker opponents. He was disappointed when he found that instead of jumping back, the trainees just moved into a combat stance.

"Awww, these guys are no fun", he thought to himself.

"I suppose you're the strongest one of this group", Jun said as he pointed at Takeshi.

"That depends", Takeshi answered calmly as he observed his opponent. The man was muscular and clearly a seasoned fighter. A few scars lines his bare upper arms and continued upwards to his shoulders, where they were hidden by the same armour his comrades were wearing. The man's face was drawn into a focussed stare, leering at Takeshi as if he was some sort of prized prey. The silver eyes almost nailing him to the spot with their intense gaze. His short silver hair quivered in a small breeze as he slowly moved his gaze over the rest of the group of students, the rest of his body remaining perfectly still. Takeshi had sensed the man's monstrous reiatsu the moment he'd impacted the ground. He was not someone to be trifled with.

"From the way you appeared before us, I'd say it's a safe bet to say that you're here to fight us. Now the question remains, what kind of fight are you looking for?"

"Just a simple one on one fight with the strongest swordfighter amongst you".

"Then I am indeed the one you seek".

"Excellent, I only hope your comrades will entertain my subordinates as well", Jun said as the rest of his squad landed in a circle around Takeshi and his friends.

"That depends on how strong your teammates are", Takeshi replied, purposefully keeping his voice steady. He knew the man would take advantage of even the slightest hint of fear. "But let's move away a bit, I'd hate you accidentally injuring any of your teammates with your death throes".

"Got a little spunk here eh? Fine, lead the way, but not too far please". Jun grinned, this guy was really keeping his cool. Perhaps finally he could have a decent bout against a powerful opponent.

Careful not to alert his opponent, Takeshi signalled Akane and the rest of his friends not to intervene, he didn't want her to get hurt. Compared to his opponent, theirs were quite a bit weaker and shouldn't be a problem for any of them.

"Let's go", Takeshi yelled as he used shunpō to put a bit of distance between him and his friends, only to notice the strange soldier vanish and appear at the location he'd planned on reaching.

"You're a bit slow mister, perhaps you shouldn't be so confident about your own abilities", Jun grinned as Takeshi arrived.

"Oh really? I was only holding back to make sure you could keep up with me".

"Well, I have to admit, you've got both spunk and your way with words a bit, now let's see if you can handle yourself in a fight as well".

Drawing his blade, Jun prepared himself to charge straight at Takeshi when he noticed that Takeshi was no longer standing in front of him, but was sailing down from the sky, his sword raised in an attempt to cleave Jun clean in two.

"How the hell?", Jun cursed as he leapt to the side, dodging the blade as it came crashing down onto the bare earth, creating a deep gash in it in the process.

"Looks like you weren't joking about your speed kid, now let's see how long you can keep that up".

Jun moved his sword to his side, preparing for a sideways swipe at Takeshi, who in turn was forced to dodge, though by a wide margin. Sensing an opening, Takeshi returned the favour immediately and attacked himself, using full the momentary opening in Jun's defence to his full advantage. Cursing again, Jun ducked under the swing and immediately jumped back again to put some distance between him and Takeshi.

"Just who is this guy?", Jun asked himself as his feet made skidded over the pavement.

"Hmmm, didn't quite get you there", Takeshi sighed, trying to sound as bored as possible as he removed some clothing from his sword.

Cursing, Jun reached for his back, only to find his armour in tatters, Takeshi's sword had cleaved right through it.

"All right kid, you asked for it. Slash, Mouko!"

A huge wave of power burst forward the moment Jun released his zanpakutō, forcing Takeshi to shield himself with his arm.

"Do you honestly think that you can win from me kid? You're a shinigami trainee, I'm a veteran ex-shinigami. My power can be compared to a taichō of the Gotei 13. There's no way you can win".

Takeshi knew the man wasn't bluffing. He felt the spiritual pressure radiating off the man. And his released zanpakutō only made that even more clear. The sword had changed into a set of three long claws attached to his wrist, resembling a tiger's claws. The fact that the three blades were now aflame with a white and orange reiatsu only served to make that more obvious.

"I'll tell you my name as a final courtesy kid, if you're prepared to die in battle, you should at least want to know the name of the one that killed you. My name is Kawazoe Jun. It was fun, but sadly enough, I have to end it right here".

Takeshi watched the man vanish. Reacting purely on instinct, he leapt forward to dodge an attack he knew was coming. He wasn't quick enough though, for soon he felt three separate claws rip through his clothes and skin, causing blood to immediately soak his back as it streamed from the wounds.

"Nice reflex kid, I'll give you that, but this is the end for you", Jun said as he raised his claw in front of him.

Elsewhere, Akane and the rest didn't have too much trouble in finishing off Jun's subordinates. Midorikawa being the only one to suffer an injury, annoying him to no end, which in turn, caused him to unleash a high level spell onto his unfortunate opponent, blasting him into oblivion. Having finished their fights, they were now looking at Takeshi's fight, desperately holding themselves back so that they wouldn't interfere.

That changed the moment Jun released his zanpakutō. Feeling the massive burst of power coming from their only remaining opponent, Akane shot forward to aid Takeshi, only to be stopped in her tracks by Takeshi himself.

"Don't come near here Akane", Takeshi shouted the moment he saw Akane move towards him, "we were given specific orders, now go destroy that cannon".

"But what about you?", Akane cried, she didn't want to leave her love alone while he was fighting someone this powerful.

"I'll be fine", Takeshi replied. He noticed Akane being on the verge of tears. Remembering his oath, he steeled himself as he saw the rest of his friends move away towards their objective, dragging Akane with them in the process.

"I see, so she's the one you love", Jun sighed at the sight of the small love scene developing in front of him, "in that case, I'm sorry that I'll have to end your relationship, but it's somewhat hard to love a dead person. But you know what, I'll send her after you once I finish up here".

He was surprised to see Takeshi stare at him with a murderous look in his eyes. Jun could swear they were glowing with a blue reiatsu.

"You won't hurt her, EVER!", Takeshi roared as he charged at Jun, slashing violently, forcing Jun to take on a defensive stance, leaving him unable to attack.

"Damn you kid, I didn't want to do this to you, but you leave me no choice", Jun said as he used his speed to put some distance between him and the enraged shinigami.

"Slash him, Mouko", Jun shouted again as he focussed the aura enveloping his claw to the tips and slashed seemiengly into thin air. Jun grinned as the glowing aura around his claw vanished. Takeshi wondered what had just happened. He'd seen Jun swing his weapon at him while he was still far away from his opponent. He knew what had happened the second he felt the skin on his chest tear open.

"Is this the limit of your resolve Takeshi?", Takeshi heard his sword speak in his mind as he staggered backwards, clutching his wounded chest with his left hand.

"Like hell it is, who does this guy think he is, threatening Akane like that".

Takeshi's rage was still seething in his mind, but as it slowly faded away, it was replaced by a resoluteness. He was not about to let Akane or himself die by the hand of his opponent.

"Then I suppose you're finally ready Takeshi. Prepare yourself", his sword spoke as knowledge flooded Takeshi's mind. Instantly, he knew almost everything about his zanpakutō as they conversed for hours inside his mental world when only a fraction of a second passed outside.

A bright flash in the distance illuminated the night sky, signifying the destruction of the cannon by the hand of one of Midorikawa's spells. The bright glow that was cast upon the two men duelling giving them an eerie presence.

"This ends here Kawazoe Jun", Takeshi said as he planted his sword into the earth.

"Just to be sure, I'll tell you my name, Sawada Takeshi. Remember it well", he said as he kneeled next to his sword, his head resting against the blade.

"Scorch the heavens. Slash the sky. ZANRAIDEN!"

==