Shadow Reapers

Stella-

Ishida's strength failed him as we began up the stairs to his room and he grudgingly took my shoulder again to make it up, before fishing in his pocket for his key and opening the door. He stumbled in and fell into a seat. I looked at him.

"Do you need anything now?"

"I don't require assistance and I don't want company. If you want someone to talk to, I suggest you go back to your friends." I shook my head and he smirked. "Wouldn't be your pride getting in the way now would it?"

I sighed. "I guess I'll go then," I said. "Your shoulder seems to be alright. I'd have a warm bath in case of hypothermia-only make sure you don't fall asleep and-"

"You're not my mother," he said wryly.

"Well then, I guess I'll go," I said. "I'll see you around, I suppose." I turned for the door.

"You mean when we go to the Soul Society?" he said. I whirled round.

"No, I don't, because one: there's no point in me going since I'll be killed in an instant and two: I hardly expect you to go anywhere or do anything for a death god."

"A death god who saved my life," he said, using my words from earlier.

"Actually," I said sourly. "I thought it was Kai who saved you." I shook my head again and turned around.

"Why're you so bitter?" he asked. "When I first met you you didn't seem to be the type who'd be bitter."

"Yeah well, when all your friends have magical powers and you don't and you're no able to do anything to help then if you're not bitter you must be a saint," I said flatly, beginning to walk away.

"Who said you didn't have powers?" he called after me.

I paused at the door handle. "You did," I said. "Or at least, as good as."

Then I left and shut the door behind me. I reached the outside porch of the building before I sank to the floor and began to cry, not only because I was useless, but because I knew that I was burning all my bridges.

Audra

I considered the feline for a moment, unsure how to respond. What could I say to a cat? A talking one, more precisely?

"Um..." I began, unsure how to proceed.

"It will take getting used to, definately," Kes seemed to finish my thought.

I glanced at Urahara. "I appreciate the offer, but must we train now? I want to stay with Kai."




**All I've got. I've been annoyed since last night... David's mom is ridiculously overprotective!***

(That sucks. What happened last night? PM me and let me know. And just so you guys know, if our characters mention Ichidan to anyone at college they won't know anything. Everyone except Kai, Audra, Kestrel, Stella, Ishida, Kon, and everyone in Urahara's shop has lost all memory of him.)

"I just said we can wait until tomorrow to start training," Urahara said, smiling.

Audra felt a little foolish for forgetting something he had said a few seconds ago. "Sorry, a lot is going through my mind right now."

"That is understandable, your boyfriend did almost die tonight."

Audra looked at her lap. "...Yeah."

"Right." Urahara got up and went for the door. "I'll go back to your college and bring back Kai's body. He will regain his strength faster if he is in his physical body." He looked over his shoulder once before heading out the door to say, "You may want to get into bed with Kai. He's been in the rain for a while and the added body heat will prevent any symptoms of hypothermia."
____________________
Later that night...

"It doesn't hurt... This is bad, am I going to die soon? I probably lost my sense of pain because I'm near the edge of death...and my body, which was cold a moment earlier, is now somewhat warm."

"Warm..."

Kai slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a strange room. He was laying in a Japanese style futon. His was spirit back in his own body. Something warm and soft was pressing against the side of his body. He turned his head to see Audra under the covers with him, asleep.

"I'm...alive?"

Audra awakened from the sound of Kai's voice. Her eyes opened slowly at first, then they flew open when she noticed he was awake. "KAI!" She latched on to his body tighter than before, smothering her face against his chest. "I was so worried about you!"

"My arm..." Kai muttered, his voice edged with pain.

Audra immediately released his arm. "Oh, sorry." She got out from under the covers. "Wait right here, I'll get you something to drink."

Urahara walked in just before Audra get to the door. He had his cane in his hand. "I heard some commotion from the other room, is Kai awake yet?"

Audra nodded her head happily. "Yes, he's awake now."

"Urahara?" Kai started to sit up, but a sudden pain in his shoulder caused him to flinch.

"Hey, hey. Not so fast, Okami," Urahara said in his usual cheerful voice. "Your wounds may be healed, but the muscle tissue hasn't repaired itself yet. You'll create more pain for yourself if you move around too much."

Kai examined the room he was in. "I thought this room looked familiar. This is your place, isn't it?"

"Correct."

Kai didn't sound too impressed when he said, "So you helped me?"

"Hmm... I'm not too pleased with that response. It sounds as though you didn't want to be helped."

Kai had a flashback of Ichidan leaving with the two Death Gods through the strange door. He was silent for a moment, then he remembered, "Oh, right... Ishida was lying there too, wasn't he? What happened to him? Is he here too?"

Audra answered, "Stella took him back to his room. He lost a lot of blood, but his injuries weren't that serious. I healed most of his wounds."

"He was quite worried about you when he left," Urahara pointed out.

"Ishida, worrying about me?" Kai felt like laughing, but he decided against it. With his body the way it was it might hurt if he laughed too hard.

Urahara looked off into space, as if recalling a memory. "I did ask him to rest here for a while, but..." He recited Ishida's exact words before he had left with Stella.

Kai looked down at his lap. Ishida's words brought more flashbacks of Ichidan being taken away. "Only me, huh?" His hands tightened into fists. "What does he want me to do?" Kai suddenly burst. "Ichidan has gone back to Soul Society! How am I supposed to chase after him!? How am I supposed to save him!?" He took in a ragged breath. His voice was a little calmer when he said, "There's no way." His arm suddenly lashed out, knocking over a small table holding a small vase of flowers. The vase shattered on the floor. "THERE'S NO WAY!!!"

"Kai, stop it!" Audra started to run to him, but Urahara held his arm out. She understood what the gesture meant. He would handle this.

Urahara simply asked, "Do you really think that there's no way?" Kai looked up at him. "A way to get to Soul Society..."

Kai's eyes widened. "Is there a way?" He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain he was in. "How? How do I get there? Tell me!"

"Of course I'll tell you." He made a pointing gesture with his finger. "But there is one condition."

"Like what?"

"For the next ten days, please let me teach you how to fight."

"Ten days?" Angrily, Kai said, "You want me to train with you for ten days? We don't have that kind of time! Who knows when Ichidan will be executed over there!?" He grabbed onto the front of Urahara's shirt with both hands. "We need to go to Soul Society as soon as possi-"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Urahara used some sort of martial art move to throw Kai back onto the bed. He knelt so he was looming over Kai's head, holding his cane so the tip was an inch away from Kai's face. "What I'm saying is that if you go now, you will die." His cane was suddenly glowing with a faint orange aura in the shape of a sword. The tip of the aura, the sword point, rested just between Kai's eyes. "Can you win if you fight them in your current condition?"

Kai remained silent. One wrong movement and the aura could touch his skin, and he wasn't willing to find out if it could cut him or not.

Urahara continued, "This time, I let you fight with those guys. That is because I thought it would be easier to explain matters that way than in words. With your current strength, you won't be of any use in Soul Society. You are weak. We call sending a weakling into enemy territory a suicide mission. To save Ichidan? Stop being childish. Don't use others to justify your own death."

The aura around Urahara's cane slowly dissipated as he stood up. "As I have already told the others, Soul Society always has a one month waiting period before capital punishment. It should be the same for Ichidan. It'll take ten days to bully you, then seven days to open the gate to Soul Society. That leaves thirteen days to save Ichidan once you get there. It's more than enough time."

Kai was silent for the longest time. His eyes were hidden behind the fall of his hair. Audra wanted to go to his side, but she knew she shouldn't. He had to make this decision on his own.

Finally, he asked, "Can I be that much stronger in ten days?"

"Of course! If you want to save your friend with all your heart," Urahara told him. "The strength of your feelings is stronger than iron. Let's throw away all the doubts." He turned to face Kai. His face had gone utterly serious. "For ten days, can you play a game of life and death with me?"

Kai scratched his head for a moment before meeting Urahara's gaze. His voice was brimming with conviction when he answered, "Of course!"

Urahara merely smiled.

Stella-

After a few hours uneasy sleep, I woke up, pulled on a pair of tracksuits and a hoodie and debated what to do.

At last I grabbed a holdall and went over to Kestrel's -thankfully it was unlocked. I took her necessities, her phone, her toothbrush, pyjamas, a few clothes. Then I went to Audra's -also unlocked- and did the same. A man -Kai, I guessed- had left some stuff in her apartment so I put those in too. Then I went back to mine and put on an extra scarf and gloves and put a Vitamin C tablet in my mouth.

It was barely dawn as I made my way across campus, the air sweet the way it only is after a big rain storm. The puddles reflected the sun's first light and my own face, tired and pale as I made my way to Urahara's.

I knocked on the door and went in without waiting for an answer. My hunches were correct, Kai, Audra, Urahara and Kes were all sitting round the table, drinking tea.

We really drank far too much tea.

They looked up at my arrival, Audra and Kes avoiding my eyes.

"Hey," I said softly. "I just thought..." I indicated the bag. "Since you're probably going to stay here for a lot of the training then I could bring your stuff."

"That's very kind, Stella, thank you," Kestrel said quietly.

"And I'm sorry about... storming off last night. It was wrong," I admitted and looked up sorrowfully. "Friends?"

"Of course," she said with a smile and Audra nodded. Even Urahara inclined his head. Kai, oblivious to my actions the night before, simply looked curious.

I sniffed and rubbed my nose.

"Are you alright?" Audra asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I just took the long route back from Ishida's to my room, must have got a cold on the way." Nobody bothered to mention that there wasn't really a long way round.

"How is Ishida?"

I rolled my eyes. "Proud as ever. But I reckon he'll be on his feet today. I don't think there was any concussion."

They all nodded.

"Anyway, I guess I'll leave you to it." I opened the door and was about to shut it behind me when-

"Why not stay?" I turned.

Urahara gestured to the house and shop in general. "I could use some help around here," he said. "And we could always use the company. And even if you haven't discovered your own powers yet-" I savoured that word, "much can be learned from observation."

I looked at all the faces sitting round the table and suddenly wanted to be one of them. I felt a smile come on my lips. Slowly, I shut the door again and sat down.

"I guess I could stay," I said, and sneezed. "But apologies if I infect you."

*No, I really don't have a reason for giving her a cold... just thought it would be fun... where's Kon???*

***Yeah, where is Kon? He disappeared...***

Audra

I smiled at Stella, trying to lighten her mood. My smile was genuine, truly welcoming; maybe that would help the situation.

I know how you feel, my friend, I thought. And I'm here for you if you ever need me. You can turn to me, talk to me, or whatever you need whenever you need it. I promise I won't turn away.

I looked at Kai, then; he was still sore and shaken up by the near-death encounter. He probably would be for the rest of the day. I brushed the back of his hand tenderly with my fingertips, hoping he would read the action as my way of saying thanks that he was alive and showing support as he recovered.

I looked up as Kes addressed Urahara. "When do we start training?"



**I think I have a writer's block...**

(Kon is still in Kai's room. He won't be needed during the ten days of training, and he won't be coming to Soul Society with everyone else. But if one of your characters wants to visit him, be my guest.)

"You can start right now if you wish," Urahara said as he got to his feet. "I will be taking Kai into the basement to monitor his own training."

"You're not going to train us yourself?" Stella asked.

"Audra and Kestrel will fill you in on the details." He looked down at Kai and asked, "So, are you ready?"

He nodded and got to his feet. "I am."

"Tessai, Ururu and Jinta are already downstairs preparing the room for us." He motioned toward the door that led to the basement. Kai went in first. Before following him, Urahara glanced at the others and said, "I must ask you all to refrain from entering the basement for the next three days." His voice sounded more serious when he added, "No matter what."

When he was gone, Stella turned to Audra and Kestrel and asked, "So, who's taking care of our training?"

"Well..." Audra's voice trailed off as her eyes shifted toward Yoruichi the cat, who was sitting at the edge of the table.
________________________
Soul Society...

Renji Abarai was walking down a hallway in one of the many government buildings in Soul Society. He wore a white robe with a pink flower design and a black sash instead of his normal Death God robes. He also had bandages wrapped around his torso, as well as one around his forehead.

He passed two girls on his way down the hall. They were wearing standard issue Death God Kimonos, just like everyone else. They bowed their heads as he passed, saying, "Good morning, Vice-Captain Abarai."

"Ah," he replied without slowing his pace.

He came to a large door with the Japanese numeral for 6 on the front. He pulled out a small metal key-card with a string tied to the end. He twirled it around with his finger a bit before inserting it into the key slot on the door frame.

The door led to a small prison area where they usually kept people who awaited trial. A young man was running around trying to catch a black butterfly. "Wait up! Wait up! If you fly away, I'll be yelled at again!"

"What are you doing?" Renji asked in an irritated tone.

"Vice-Captain!" He immediately stopped chasing the butterfly. "Aren't you off duty today?"

"I'm here to see how the prisoner's doin'," he explained. "Is he still all depressed?"

"I'm not depressed," Ichidan's voice said from one of the cells.

Renji sighed as he walked over to his cell. He leaned against one of the bars with his hand. Ichidan wore a white robe, standard uniform for prisoners. He sat in a chair in the middle of the cell facing away from the bars. "Then why aren't you touching your meals?"

Ichidan glanced over his shoulder. "Because I'm not hungry," he smirked when he added, "Mr. Vice-Captain."

"What's that about?" Renji asked, angrily. "You got a problem with me bein' a Vice-Captain!?"

"Not really..." In a cheerful voice, Ichidan said, "Go, Mr. Vice-Captain! You are strong, Mr. Vice-Captain! What a weird pair of eyebrows, Mr. Vice-Captain!"

Renji grabbed onto the cell bars with both hands. "You're dead! Come out of there, you bastard!"

Ichidan laughed. "You're just as short-tempered as always, Renji." Renji stepped away from the bars, making a tch noise through his teeth. Ichidan was silent for a moment before saying, "Hey, Renji?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I really going to die?"

Renji crossed his arms. "Of course! With someone like you, it's an immediate death sentence!" His voice was matter-of-fact, if a little loud.

"Is that so..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Does Raina know?"

"Your sentence hasn't been made public yet, so I highly doubt it."

"I hope it stays that way. It'll be best if she doesn't find out."

"Are you stupid?" Renji asked, his voice slightly apologetic. "It was just a joke. A joke!"

Ichidan looked over his shoulder at him. "Which is it, idiot?"

"Who's the idiot? You made us worried by doing such ridiculous things." Renij's words were full of confidence when he said, "I bet Captain Kuchiki is askin' for a commutation right now."

"I would wonder..."

"You idiot, he's your brother! How could he watch his own sibling die?"

"No," Ichidan said solemnly. "That person will kill me." Renji's eyes widened in disbelief at his words. "I know very well what kind of person he is. Even forty years after being adopted by Kuchiki House...that person has never once looked at me."

*uh, Dynamo, make sure you read what other people write. I did say Stel wasn't going to take part in the training, just watch and hang around... but I'll go along, I guess...*

Stella-

"That's... a cat," I said slowly.

"You people have no imagination," the cat said tiredly. [Reepicheep from Prince Caspian ftw.]

I was a little taken back, but then again, I had seen so much weird stuff that it didn't really surprise me.

"It's a talking cat," I concluded.

"He is a talking cat," he corrected me.

"A talking tomcat," I said. "Hi, I'm Stella."

"I know. I am Yoruichi."

"Yo, Yoruichi."

Audra cleared her throat. "Uh...Stel... once you're finished making fun of our teacher..."

"Oh, go ahead," I said waving them away. "But I have a question."

The cat bowed its head.

"Do cats really always land on their feet?"

He looked puzzled then replied "Of course."

"Just checking."

Kestrel grabbed me by the arm. "Sorry," she said. "Stel got dropped on her head lots as a baby."

"I did," I said and coughed.

"So... where are you going to train?" I asked. "I guess I'll come and watch."

Uraha

Kestrel

I couldn't help but grin at Stella, a rather idiotic grin that seemed to twitch at the corners of my mouth. It was good to be her friend.

"So... where are you going to train?" she asked. "I guess I'll come and watch."

"This way," Yoruichi said, dropping gracefully off of the table and on to the floor.

"There you go. I knew cats landed on their feet," Stella whispered, her voice just audible. I giggled and squeezed her arm tighter as the three of us followed the rather cute cat into the back room of the shop where a space had been cleared.

"So how's this going to work?" Audra asked, a little apprehensively.

"You go first," I offered. "I'll sit down and practice my concentration while you train." I smiled brightly and quickly retreated to the corner where I sat, facing the wall. The dream had come again last night. The one where I couldn't control my limbs and I used my power against my friends, except this time it was all of them: Urahara, Stella, Audra, Kai, Ichidan and even Ishida.

I wasn't just apprehensive to learn the blue fire technique, I was terrified. Because the stronger I got, the greater the harm I could do to my friends but in direct conflict with that was my desire to help them, to be strong enough to protect them. Was it foolish? Was it stupid to be reluctant to learn when Stella was so desperate to have a power of her own? I cast a quick glance in her direction and I made a new decision. I would learn the technique but I would use it only in the defense of others.

(Sorry about that. I wrote that post between classes so I was in a bit of a hurry. I'll fix it after I post this if I remember. Just so you know, Ishida is going to be training, too. But he'll refuse to do so when others are watching him. He'll be in a nature preserve near a small waterfall.)

(Just so you know, the amount of posts we'll be making with our characters in Soul Society may end up to be around three times the amount we've already done. Bleach, the anime series I'm basing this off of, is an incomplete series. It's almost reached 200 episodes. The time it takes for us to follow the storyline is, on average, 20 posts per episode. In the middle of the anime there's a filler saga that takes about 50 or more episodes. My question to you guys is, when the time comes do you want to follow the filler's storyline so the show can have more time to finish, or do you want to just go right through to the main story? I'll ask this again when the time comes.)


"First we'll work on calling forth your powers," Yoruichi said. "The more you use it, the easier and faster it gets. This is especially important during situations when one second can be the difference between life and death." The cat looked at Audra. "I guess we're starting with you, Audra. Call forth your power."

She nodded. "All right." She closed her eyes and concentrated. After a few moments the gem on Kai's ring shined. It shattered into six pieces that transformed into her six fairies.

"Did you call us?" Shun'ou asked with her usual cheerfulness. "Remember, don't be shy to call on us when you need to."

Tsubaki, the fairy that looked like a ninja, flew up to Audra's face, kicking Shun'ou out of the way in the process. He didn't loom too happy. "How is our power needed here? Why are you summoning us when there's no need for our power!?"

Shun'ou was rubbing the back of her head where Tsubaki had kicked her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"S-Sorry," Audra explained, "I'm just trying to train so I can summon you guys more ea-" Tsubaki flew up to Audra's face and kicked her in the forehead. "Hey, what was that for!?"

"You damn woman, don't call us unless you're in a pinch!" Tsubaki grabbed a few strands of Audra's hair and started yanking hard on them.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Audra started flailing her arms at the fairy, trying to make him stop. She ended up getting to her feet and running around the room with Tsubaki still pulling her hair and kicking her head. "Let go, dammit!"

"Tsubaki, please stop..." Ayame pleaded.

"Shut up! It pisses me off!" He pulled her hair even harder. "You stupid woman!"

"Let go of my hair, you little smurf with wings!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?"
______________________________

"Wow! What is this!? Who would've thought there was such a huge cave under this shop!?" Urahara's voice echoed on and on through the giant chamber under his shop.

Kai gave him an unpleasant look. "Shut up. You don't need to yell those things for me. I'm already surprised as it is."

Urahara smiled at him. "Then it's all right."

Kai sighed as he started picking at his ear with his finger. "Let's just start this training session already."

"As you wish." Urahara's body became a blur of movement. He thrust the tip of his cane into Kai's head. Just like when Kon was in Kai's body for the first time, the cane passed through his head like a ghost object, pushing his spirit out of his body.

Kai's spirit hit the ground a few yards away from his physical body. "Dammit! What the hell was that for!?" Kai's lungs began to burn. His breaths turned to wheezing pants as he struggled to breathe.

"Are you finding it difficult to breathe in that form?" Urahara asked.

"Wha..." Kai had to take in a deep, ragged breath before he could say, "What's going on?"

"Right now, your Hakusui, the origin of your spiritual power, and your Saketsu, the booster, are destroyed. In other words, you have a soul like a regular person without spiritual powers."

Kai felt something tugging at his chest as he tried to move. It was accompanied by the sound of metal chinks. He looked down to see a chain attached to his chest, he also noticed he wasn't in his Death God robes anymore, and his sword was nowhere to be seen. He followed the chain with his eyes and found the other end was connected to his physical body. "What's this chain?"

"That is called your Chain of Fate," Urahara explained. "It is what keeps your spirit attached to your body. If the chain is severed it becomes impossible to go back into your physical body. To put it simply, when a person's Chain of Fate is broken, they die."

Kai got to his feet. He was still having trouble breathing, but other than that he was fine. "Right, so what do we do first?"

"First, we have to get your lost spiritual power back. Otherwise, there is no way."

"And how do I do that?" Kai asked.

Urahara scratched his chin for a moment. "Let's see... how about starting instead of me explaining on and on?" He called out into the distance, "Hey, are you ready?"

Kai turned to see Ururu standing a few yards away. She wore strange looking boxing equipment. Shyly, she said, "Hello..."

"Lesson One: Please fight her."

Kai stared at Urahara. "...Excuse me?"

"The rules are easy. The lesson will be cleared once either side becomes immobile," he explained. "Please take her on." He sounded all too cheerful considering the situation.

"Stop kidding around!" Kai yelled angrily. "Are you telling me to hit a child like that?"

"I think it's actually quite hard," Urahara said.

Something landed by Kai's feet. When Kai turned to look he saw a pair of boxing gloves and a face protector laying at his feet.

"Please put those on properly, because you'll die..." Ururu said, her fists raised and ready to strike. Her expression held absolutely no confidence at all.

"This is ridiculous, I'm not wearing these!" Kai complained.

Ururu was suddenly moving, running toward him with inhuman speed. He barely had enough time to roll out of the way before her fist passed right beside his face. The punch kept going and hit the ground, causing a massive impact that sent dust and debris scattering all across the area.

"See, I told you!" Urahara called out to Kai.

*no probs. Okay, so hope this okay... do feel free to tell me to edit if it's not...*

Stella-

We must have looked a bit strange, two girls wearing the clothes they had slept in plus one looking equally as bad but not as crinkled with a red nose following a cat out of town. I immediately felt bad for wasting the others' time and decided that I would get Ishida's phone number so we wouldn't have to do this again.

Yoruichi neatly sneaked in through a chink of an iron door. "Uh..." I said. "This is a nature reserve."

The cats shrugged- I didn't know cats could shrug, that's cool. said my subconscious. "This is where he is."

Sure enough he was, with the bow which he quickly put down on our arrival.

"Bonjour!" I said. "Thought we'd come and see you."

His expression didn't change at this delightful piece of news.

"I am training," he said defensively.

"No, you're just hanging out in a nature reserve with a bow because that's totally normal behaviour for a young man," I said. Kestrel stifled a laugh.

"How did you find me?" he asked, breaking eye contact with me and looking at the others.

Audra gestured to Yoruichi silently.

"The cat?" he said, not seeing it. Yoruichi stuck his nose in the air.

"He's a talking tomcat called Yoruichi who's going to be training these two and always lands on his feet," I replied.

"Why are you here?" Ishida asked curiously.

"Because Stella wanted to see if you were okay!" Kestrel blurted out. I elbowed her in the ribs.

"Don't be so immature," I hissed, but she giggled and Audra smirked.

"Actually," Audra said -was it just me or was she the only one contributing seriously to the conversation?- "We were wondering if, if you plan on coming to the Soul Society with us, you would appreciate some training with a master."

"You mean the cat."

"Yes."

Ishida shook his head almost immediately. "I prefer to train by myself," he said. "Which is what I was doing until you turned up."

"Are you sure?" Kes asked. "It could be of great help."

"Yeah, but he doesn't want help," I said. "He's a manly man," I continued in a somewhat Indian accent -it was bizzarre, but every impression I did ended up sounding Indian. "He doesn't like people helping him, do you?"

He didn't answer.

"Perhaps we should return if the Quincy does not wish to join us," Yoruichi said. "And continue by ourselves."

The others nodded. "Later, Ishida," Kestrel called and Audra waved. They began moving slowly away. I hesitated, watching Ishida.

"Why don't you just swallow your pride?" I asked with a frown.

"Like you do?" he said with a smirk.

I looked after my friends, whom I had apologised to that morning. "Yeah. Like I do," I said softly and met his eyes. "It might do you some good."

I turned and began to walk away slowly, half-hoping he would say something back.

(The only problem I saw with your post was Ishida's weapon. He doesn't carry around a real bow, he constructs one with his spiritual energy. That's how he can shoot arrows made of energy. Other than that' it's fine.)

Ishida waited silently for everyone to leave. He may be acting proud on the outside, but inside he was thinking, I'm sorry, Stella. But with this training, there's no way I'll let anyone else see it. He walked over to a nearby rock where a small box sat. The contents of the box began to glow with a soft blue aura once he opened it.

Please take care of me, Grandfather.
___________________________

Somehow, Kai had survived Ururu's attack. Knowing full well what kind of danger he was in he started to run. "This is bad! What was that!? If I get hit by that, it would be an instant death!" He glance over his shoulder to see the damage that had been done.

His eyes bulged wide when he saw Ururu running after him. She jumped at him for another attack. Kai picked up his speed and managed to outrun her punch. The ground under his feet shook from the magnitude of her strike. Then she started running after him again.

"Dammit! If I don't run around like this, I'll be killed!" Kai shouted to no one in particular. That's when he realised something. Hold on. If I can keep running around, then that means I can match her speed. Then... Kai dug his foot into the ground. He faced Ururu once he came to a complete stop. Ururu looked surprised, but she didn't slow down. Kai quickly remembered his karate training as a kid and readied himself for the next attack.

Ururu jumped and threw a punch at his face. Kai jerked his head to the left just as the punch was about to hit him. Her fist passed right by his face, leaving her completely open. I can do this! He threw a punch of his own, but Ururu backpedalled away from it. Kai ran after her, throwing punch after punch at her head. She dodged each and every one of his attacks, but couldn't counter them.

I won't hit your face, he thought as he continued his barrage of punches. Just a little punch on your head protector. Then with this difference in weight, I can definitely- His next punch was aimed at her face, but Ururu managed to move her head out of the way. Kai's thumbnail passed over her cheek, drawing a small amount of blood. Dammit, the face...

Ururu's eyes suddenly became dilated, her pupils shrinking in size. With incredible speed she jumped onto his arm, which was still out from the punch. She reared her leg as far back as it would go. Then, she kicked Kai on the side of the head.

Kai crashed into one of the many cliff sides scattered across the room. The impact was great enough to make the earth around him crumble. He blacked out for a moment, but when he came back to his senses the dust had begun to clear.

Urahara was at Ururu's side holding her leg in the air. "Safe!"

As the pain in Kai's body began to fade, he thought, What happened? He felt something behind him that wasn't rock. He looked over his shoulder to see what it was. Tessai had cushioned the impact with his own body. As for Urahara, he must have caught Ururu's leg just before she kicked Kai in the face to lessen the blow. If it weren't for either of them, even as a spirit, Kai would be dead.

Kai got back to his feet and said, "One more time, please!"

"Congratulations! Lesson One: Cleared!"

"Eh... What? How come?" Confused, Kai asked, "I lost to that kid, didn't I?"

"Hold on, I didn't say anything about beating Ururu to clear the lesson," Urahara explained.

"But..."

Urahara placed a hand on Ururu's head. "This kid has enough strength to go against a Death God to begin with. In your current form, there is no way you could win."

"Then what was the point of this lesson!?" Kai demanded. "I could have been killed out there!"

"Are you still finding it hard to breathe?"

Kai opened his mouth, then closed it. "...Wait...now that you mention it..."

"That means you succeeded in recovering your spiritual energy." Urahara explained, "The purpose of this lesson was a one-shot gamble. It was whether or not you could dodge the first hit. Spiritual energy tends to rise the quickest when a spirit fears it could be destroyed. If you can raise your spiritual energy, then you can dodge the punch, and we're all happy."

"And If I didn't raise it?" Kai asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

Urahara said simply, "You would have died."

Kai's face began to curl with rage. "Then why didn't you warn me earlier, you bastard!"

Urahara smiled. "I believed in you... that you would definitely dodge it."

Kai's anger disappeared at his words. Did Urahara really have that much confidence in him?

"Now, since you've beautifully recovered your spiritual energy, how about..."

Tessai appeared just as Urahara was about to finish his sentence. He held in his hand a large one-handed axe. He lifted the weapon over his head and brought it down on Kai's Chain of Fate, effectively severing it.

Urahara finished, "...we go straight to Lesson Two?"

(I don't have any ideas of what to do next with everyone else's characters. It's late and I'm starting to feel drowsy. My writing suffers when I feel tired. If you guys get Yoruichi to bring your characters to a place outside where they can train, I'll think of something.)

Audra

I watched Stella as she hesitated, lingering with him for a moment longer, then reluctantly walking away, head half turned.

I nudged Kes in the elbow. "Do you see what I see?"

She nodded slightly.

"I think she likes him."

"Possibility."

I went quiet when Stella drew even with us, walking with us side by side as we followed Yoruichi back to the shop.

Then I got an idea.

"Hey, Yoruichi," I started, pausing in my walk. "Think I'd be okay to spar? Would that help our training?"

Yoruichi considered the idea. "I was going to have you spar anyway as part of your training, but if you want to start it now I see now reason why not. Follow me." Yoruichi changed course once they were outside the nature preserve.

A few minutes later they found themselves inside an empty, half-built building in a nearby construction site. There was no one here, but they all felt a little uneasy about tresspassing. "Are you sure it's okay for us to be here?" Audra asked.

Roruichi hopped onto a nearby wheel-barrel. "It's fine. This is the only place for miles where you can train without being noticed. Since Urahara is using the cave under his his shop we can't go there to train anyway."

"So, what are the rules for sparring?" Kestrel asked.

"It's not actual sparring per-say," Yoruichi explained, "You two are going to be training your powers. Kestrel, you will fire demon magic at Audra, and Audra will block it with her powers. Once you get the hang of it, you can spar for real."

Stella-

I smiled as the other two looked dubious. "It's a bit like drama class," I said. "You have to make sure you say the right thing at the right time with the right actions and things.

"Okay," Kestrel said slowly. "So we just start."

"Try and take Audi by surprise. I can call you Audi, right?"

"If you must," Audra said with a grimace.

"I always wanted an Audi car," I said wistfully.

Kestrel began to take a few steps backward, then turned.

"Destructive Art 22: blue lightning! [that is it, isn't it? Tell me if it isn't]" she said, souding a bit nervous.

Audra called upon her fairies and the shield formed in front of her, stopping Kes's attack in its tracks.

"Not bad," I commented and smiled to Yoruichi. He gave me a feline smile in return.

I watched as the other two fought. Kestrel seemed uncomfortable about attacking Audra, but Audra stopped her again, and again, and again...

I found my mind drifting. Yet had been the word Urahara had so diplomatically used. I was coming to terms with it now, I wasn't special, I didn't have powers, not yet. Wasn't that what Ishida said: Who said you didn't have powers? But it was like an itch I couldn't quite scratch, what did I have then? Was I like Audra, who had others to protect her? Or like Kes, who used her own native force to create things? Or like Kai, or like Ishida... who had weapons to fight with?

Or were they humouring me and I had nothing at all?

I had never been a great believer in fate. Coincidence, I could believe. But was it coincidence that I met these people? Or was it fate? Or was it nothing at all, and simply not meant to be?

But as I watched the others, I knew that now there was no turning back.

You mixed two of her powers together, dear. But that's better than what I can do from memory. At the moment Kestrel's abilities are: Destructive Art 22: Blue Lightning, Destructive Art 33: Blue Fire, Restoration Art 12: Healing Light, and Binding Art 1: Way of Binding but she's currently only used the first.

Kestrel

Blue lightning flashed towards Audra, the static electricity causing her hair to stand on end and Kestrel's heart clenched, aching as it got closer and closer, only relaxing when the fairies put their shield up.

"Don't go easy on me," Audra moaned. "I need to get the hang of this."

"Uh... right," Kestrel mumbled. She drew her hands back, placing them beside her right side, as if holding an invisible ball and concentrated a little harder. Not too hard, steady...

"Destructive Art 22: Blue Lightning!" Kestrel exclaimed, releasing the build up of energy. Audra blocked this one much more quickly, having anticipated it coming.

"That's not catching her by surprise," Stella said with a frown. Kes turned to her in surprise. She had forgotten she was watching, having not heard anything from her for a while.

"Destructive Art 22: Blue Lightning," Kestrel whispered, turning quickly to aim it at Audra but as soon as the power left her hands, she regretted it. What if it hits her, what if it hurts her... Even when Audra threw the shield up just in time, Kestrel coldn't shake the feeling that she'd done something awful, that she'd attacked her friend while her guard was down. She could feel her hands trembling.

"I... I'm sorry," Kes said.

"No, that was better," Yoruichi insisted. "Audra needs a strong opponent to train against and the harder you try, the better she will get.Remember, Kestrel, your enemies will not hesitate or give warning. They will attack hard and fast and you must all be ready." Kestrel lowered her head in respect and murmured 'yes' before trying again but she still held back. She knew she would never be ready to risk hurting a friend.