Training Priorities:
1. Hoho
2. Zanjutsu
3. Kido (kaido)
4. Hakuda
5. Kido (hado)
6. Kido (bakudo)
You learn a few things over the helter skelter week you're flung headfirst into. Gengorō Ōnabara, the man in charge of class 1, knows exactly what to do with people who think that they can handle anything he dishes out.
He works them. Into. The. Ground.
The man's a big tan giant, and while the first thing he said is that size isn't everything, it sure does give him a better reach than you have! He comes at you hard and fast. Your leg sweeps out as you push him further along his path, taking his feet out from under him, but he has your shirt in his clenched fist and you go down with him.
He throws himself back upright with a heave while you're still rising, and this is just like fighting your dad whenever he decides that you can handle the next stage of his demented surprise attacks. He's just a little faster than you, fighting at a level you can't quite match. At least, you couldn't match that level when you started.
Instead of rising straight up you slam your elbow forward at the same time as you dive, digging the pointed joint into Gengoro's stomach. It feels like you're striking a brick wall, but he has to take a step back to absorb the full force of it. "A good hit." He acknowledges. "But you need to take proper advantage of your spiritual energy, Kurosaki. You can stand much more than your mind expects your body to be able to, because you have no body to hold you back. Before next week I expect you to not flinch so much. You can use the training arms until the end of the lesson."
And that's the second thing. You used to think about strength as muscle mass, good posture, and timing, but now... soul-body muscle matters so much less than how much spiritual energy you have, in the afterlife. Apparently some souls are more full of energy than others, and that energy makes you stronger, faster, and tougher as well as powering magic stuff.
You have a lot of spiritual power. That's one of the first things anybody can tell about you, because it's the reason your sword got so big and has such an unusual shape. A Soul Reaper's power expresses itself through the size of their zanpakuto. You can't have a big sword without the power to make it that big, so you having a giant one so early is supposed to make you stand out as some kind of natural powerhouse in the making.
Mostly you think it's inconvenient, and every now and then you get it caught on something.
If you had more control then you could seal it, make it take a more normal size, but it'll take a while to get that control.
The third thing you learn is that battlefield healing is both simpler and harder than you thought it'd be.
"You need to keep your energy in harmony with your patient's. Keep your hands over the center of their abdomen, about where the diaphragm is." Hanataro, the healing kido instructor, repeats for about the fourth time. This class is much smaller than the crowd the previous one had. Apparently not many people want to learn how to use magic powers to heal people. There are only four of you here, all gathered around the tired-looking man as he walks you through the steps, demonstrating on the bald man tied to the table.
"Why's he tied down?" You ask.
"He tried to escape before he was discharged, resulting in -aaah- torn muscles, the cut in his stomach opening again, and a broken door."
The baldy nods. He looks pleased.
"So he volunteered to get more healing at the academy instead of from the fourth division healers. At least I think he volunteered. He did say that he'd do anything to get out sooner... Do one of you want to try?"
Well. Okay.
You step forward and put your hands in the air just above the man's diaphragm. You feel for your power and sort of push it out of your hands, concentrating on making it 'fuzzy', which is how you make it mesh with the patient's.
A faint green glow sputters to life from your palms. "I feel it resonating." You say as your power seeps into the injured man, supplementing his own and encouraging his body to heal.
"Good. Madarame, do you feel it working?"
The man shrugs, hesitates, and then nods. Shortly afterward you lose your grip on the technique and it fails. But it worked!
You smile, but it feels weird, so you stop and step aside to let someone else have a try as the healer talks. "That's the most basic healing kido, and the one that's most often used even in life-threatening situations. It scales up to match the worst injuries very easily, so all you have to do is push more into it, but it's also very sensitive. If you've been bitten or scratched by a hollow, don't use it. Seriously, don't. Even a little hollow spirit energy can cause some... just don't risk it. It's not a good idea."
I'll gloss over the uneventful classes over the next update to familiarize you with the current 'normal' that Ichigo is going through, ending each week-spanning update with a significant extra curricular activity voted on in the previous update.
So what happens?
[] Takako gives you a lesson on the various noble clans.
[] You get an unexpected visitor from Takako's family.
[] An upperclassman challenges you to a fight.
[] A cat decides that it lives in your dorm now.