No Rest for the Wicked [Bleach]

[Tekomandor]

No Rest for the Wicked​

You, in a word, are dead. Which, much to your consternation, seems to involve being stuck in some place that looks an awful lot like feudal Japan. You yourself are wearing ragged clothing that looks appropriate for the era, and woke up in the backyard of a primitive house.

You pause for a second, to take in the fact that you remember nothing about your life beyond waking up here yet somehow also know what feudal Japan is. You also distinctly remember that the world was significantly less backwards, but hey - an afterlife is better than no afterlife.

The sky above looks dark with rain, so you decide that perhaps a good first move would be to acquire shelter. You get up, your movements possessed of a slick grace. Which is neat, but since you seem to be stuck without cool ghostly powers, you'll have to knock.

You do so, and soon an old man came to the door - wait, could you get old in the afterlife, or was he just old when he died?

"Hello, young miss. New arrival, eh?" he asks, and you nod. "Well, come on in then. I've got a fire going, and it looks like a mighty bad storm's on it's way." the man continues, and you step inside his meager home. It's warm in here, the comforting kind of warm, and you notice that he was halfway through making a pot of tea.

"Mind if I bother you for some tea?" you say, slipping off your battered shoes and warming your hands by the fire.

"Not at all, not at all. Really, you're much politer than most of the people here..." he mutters, going over to the warming water. At the mention of politeness, you feel your cheeks redden. You haven't even asked the old man his name, or given your own. Which would be because you don't remember it, but still.

"Ah, what can I call you?" You ask, somewhat awkwardly. He turns, carrying a simple tray laden with a teapot and a pair of cups.

"Why, you are a polite one." he says, pouring the tea. "None of us can remember much, you know. Round here, they call me all sorts of things, but between you and me I think my name when I was alive was Shiro." the man says, a smile on his face. "What about you, then? Can you remember anything about the world of the living?" the man asks, as you take your first sip of tea. It warms your throat with a comforting, simple grace.

"Well, I know that the afterlife seems to be a bit, uh, behind the times." You say, putting your tea back on the low table the two of you are sitting around. It's funny, when you think about it. You vividly remember the world you left, yet nothing about your place in it. You can hear the rush of a steam engine, the roar of an aeroplane's propellers and the awe-inspiring sight of a skyscraper but you can't even remember your name. Or, as you realise in an alarming moment, what you look like.

"Just realised that you can't remember what you like?" he asks, and you nod sheepishly. "Well, I ain't got a mirror, but there's a pond down the road. Finish your tea and go look, then we'll talk some more."

You do that, savouring the warmth of the tea and the comfortable silence. Soon enough you've finished the small cup he'd poured you, and as you place the rough piece of pottery down and head back for your shoes, you smile. Maybe the afterlife wasn't half bad.

Shiro's house rests on a small street, with other hodge-podge houses leaning up against one another. You see the pond at the end of the street, an island of green and blue in a sea of brown houses. Nobody else is outside, and you peer inquisitively over the pond. Your own reflection stares back at you.

You're tall, which is the first thing you notice. Your hair is brown, and around shoulder length. Your eyes - well they're just plain odd. You're fairly certain that you didn't have purple eyes when you were alive. But they were striking, in their own way, and you smiled. You look around twenty years old, you conclude, and turn around to go back the way you came.

Shiro isn't alone in his house. A pair of men - boys, really, carrying wooden blades and wearing blue and white robes stood in the doorframe.

"You're late with your payments again, old man." the taller one, who couldn't be older than sixteen, said. You felt your fists tense, and flashes of long-forgotten battles occupy your mind.

"Hey, dickwad." you say, and as the robed boy turns in suprise you headbut him, right on the nose. He goes stumbling backwards, blood flowing from his face. He drops his wooden blade, and you pick it up.

"Who the fuck are you, lady!" the unharmed one shouts, and takes a swing at you as he does so. You move with reflexes you didn't know you had, and your wooden sword smacks into your attackers. You take advantage of his suprise, and you punch him in the face. He stumbles back, and you slam your wooden blade into his stomach. He collpases, and his buddy drags him off whilst clutching at his own nose.

"That was certianly impressive." Shiro says, smiling.

"Not bad for someone who just died, eh?" You say, as Shiro's smile fades.

"Still, you should not stay here. Those two have friends who carry steel, not wood."

"I can tak-" you begin, but Shiro cuts you off.

"Not these men. But you have power. There's no need for you to stay in this place - in Rukongai. Go to the west, and you will find the Seireitei, where the nobles and shinigami live. Ask to take the test to enter the Academey, and you will be accepted." Shiro explains. Still stunned at the fact that you're dead, you nod. The two of you say your goodbyes, and you head west.

It's only later that you reliase that you never told Shiro your name.

The walk westwards is long, and you sleep in half a dozen different alleyways before you're done. Still, nobody tries anything. The sword you're carrying seems to be capable of scaring the residents of Rukongai ito submission, despite being made of wood.

The gates of Seireitei are huge. A man, dressed in black robes with a katana sheathed at his side, sits behind a stall. A gaggle of people in robes simmilar to the ones the two guys you beat up were wearing stand behind him, and there's a huge line to see him. The sign above the stall says 'Spiritual Academey Admissions'. This must be the place. You get in line.

You quickly find out that most people are being turned away, and going by the utterly scintillating conversation you're hearing, you're not surprised. Eventually, after about an hour, it's your turn.

"Please place your finger here." the man says, in a bored voice. Only two others have been asked to stay, and everybody else has failed at this test. He presents a curved, beeping device with a finger-tip shaped imprint to you. You place your finger on it, and it beeps very loudly indeed. "Well, fuck me. One of you yokels act-" he said, then narrowed his eyes at your sword. "Where'd you get that?" he asked.

"I found it by the side of the road.' you say blithely, and laugh internally at his expression. The guy seems like an older version of the two assholes you beat up earlier, so admiting to it was looking to be a dumb move.

"Well, give it here. It's academey property." he says, and you comply. "Name?"

You'd given this a great deal of thoguht, over your long journey. You still have no idea what your old name was, but what the hell it was probably shit anyway. You decide that you're gonna be known as...

[x] Write In

"Get with the other recruits." He says, gesturing to the people behind him. You do that, sauntering on over to face your classmates. You're not sure what you're gonna be learning, or about much of anything yet, but so long as nobody else realises that it's okay.

[x] Mingle with the new recruits, displaying your affable personality.

[x] Remain aloof, showing how cool and badass you are.

[x] Say 'Since when were you under the impression you weren't under the control of my zanpaktou?'. Then stab the reader.

This quest happened because I re-read the Shinigami academy-quest by @NSMS - and when I realised he hadn't updated it in awhile (not that I'd ever do that) I was sad. So I decided to write a quest with a similar base premise.

 

[Tekomandor]

A Fateful Choice

As you walked over to the other recruits, you pondered your second choice of name - but 'Rana Akatsuki' just didn't fit you. Maybe in another time, another place... but those aren't thoughts for now. Now, you need to make friends and influence people.

"Yo" you say as join the group of poor people recruited so far. They look like a mix between back-alley toughs and street-urchins, which they probably were. Actually, you were probably one too. Damnable death-induced homelessness. The group nods back, confirming your cool status.

"So where'd you find that sword?" One guy asks, once you're out of earshot of the shinigami.

"Beat up some academy students who were harassing an old guy." You said nonchalantly, as a chorus of 'woah's and 'no way man' echoed out. Cool status: most definitely confirmed. A few noble students overhear and amble on over, one of them a refined looking lady. She was the picture of elegance, and had her own group of feminine minions following behind her.

"How'd a yokel like yourself manage to defeat an academy student. Do you even know what reiryoku is?" She asks.

"Nope. I just headbutted one of them, and whacked the other with the first one's fancy stick" You say, shrugging your shoulders. This seems to take the noblewoman aback, and she blinks at your admission of ignorance.

"I... see. Well, such thugs and layabouts should be dealt with! I hope you all follow Takamachi's example!" She shouts, then turns on her heel and heads back over to the rest of the nobles. You aren't quite sure what that was about, but everything seems fine. You talk some more with the other students, gradually coming to understand the basics of where you were, and what you'd just signed up for.

Eventually, the a bell rings. It's around noon, and the line seems to dissipate. The shinigami who'd been testing applicants turns to the group from Rukongai.

"Right, you lot. Follow me for orientation. Those of you who've already been can head back to the academy for lunch." He barks, and you stand up quickly. It doesn't seem like there's going to be much of a walk, but you did just walk for six days straight. So you might not be the best judge for these things, at this point.

You walk through the gates of the Seireitei into a world quite unlike the one you left behind. Gone are the wooden hovels and inns that had dominated the landscape before. Now, vast stone buildings dominated the landscape. Each looked akin to a palace, after six days in the Rukongai, and you were wide eyed with wonder as you were marched towards the academy.

Thinking on it, you had to wonder at the stark division. Surely, a people as powerful and advanced as the inhabitants of the Seireitei could do something for Rukongai. Then again, perhaps doing so would mean that they could no longer afford to live in vast stone palaces.

You arrived at the Academy itself, which was just as grand and impressive as the rest of the small portion of the Seireitei you'd seen. The nobles split off here, towards a cluster of buildings that seem to hold the dorms and the dining hall. You also spy one of many dojos in that direction. You're marched into the main building, and into a large corridor with two doors. One labeled 'male', the other 'female'.

"I dare to assume you ignorant thugs can read! Those of you with something between your legs, to the right! Those without, to the left!" The same shinigami as earlier shouts. You sigh, and head towards the left. Behind the door, you find a room with a long table filled with uniforms and several female shinigami.

"This way please." One of the says, and you manage to get your regulation uniform on easily enough. Soon you're given a slip of paper with your size and a number - it entitles you to pick up the rest of your uniforms later. Smiling at the woman who hands you it, you exit the other side of the room and enter a large sparring area.

Row upon row of katanas sit upon a long table, with a line already formed. A stern looking woman, dressed much like other shinigami, stood atop a podium.

"Recruits! Today, you will take your first steps towards becoming true shinigami! You will each take one asauchi, bond with it, and carry it with you to the dining hall and from now until your death! This sword will be your sole constant companion as a shinigami, so treat it well!" She finished, turned, and left. Lesser-ranked instructors started handing out the asauchi, and you noted the bonding process with interest. It seemed like blood was required.

"Takamachi, Kanade!" An instructor shouts, and you hurry over to him. He presents your sword to you wordlessly, and you receive it with silent gratitude. Unsheathing, you feel your spiritual power for the first time. It's like the world suddenly snaps into focus, colours brightening and blurs sharpening. Lighting runs in your veins, and you feel your true strength for the first time.

But above all, you feel something best described as...

[x] Duality
[x] Spontaneity
[x] Purity

You cut your palm on the edge of your sword, and your blood flows along it. It drinks greedily, drawing deep at your well of power. Like a man who has been stranded in the desert for weeks, it drinks and drinks until it is full to bursting, for now. Shockingly, you still have a bit of power left over. The drain is reduced to a slow trickle, less than what you're regenerating, and you smile.

Attaching your sword and it's sheath to your belt, you head on over to the dining hall. The rest of your afterlife awaits, and you're going to seize it by the horns. Because you're Kanade Takamachi, and that's just who you are.

 

[tricholysis]

[X] Duality

Could you give me a short summary on how these power sets differ?

Click to shrink...

Bleach 101:

There's your body and your soul. Your body sucks, ignore that, we're all ghosts here. Your soul is composed of spirit particles, also known as your power level. Referred to as either reishi or reiryoku depending on stuff I can't remember, because this is Japanese and we like to make pointless distinctions for pedants to masturbate to. I'm calling it ghost power. When you die, the link between your body and soul is severed, and starts corroding. When the link is totally gone and the corrosion reaches your heart, you turn into a Hollow, a ghost cannibal that seeks to fill the hole in its soul by eating other ghosts. Your power is derived from how many ghosts you've eaten, and sheer weight of ghost power. There are several distinctions between levels of Hollow, based essentially on how many orders of magnitude are required to measure the number of ghosts they've eaten, from scrub tier to Gillian to Adjuchas to the nigh-mythical Vasto Lorde. There exists a ghost world/dimension dominated by Hollows known as Hueco Mundo, where everything is Spanish because fuck you Spanish is cool.

Opposing the ghost cannibals, there is a group of psychopomps called Shinigami (lit. Death God). They use their ghost magic (kidou) and their ghost sword (zanpakutou, which are created from asauchi, and intensely personal to each Shinigami) to send ghosts to their curiously outdated and strangely Edo-period Japan-like ghost world, the Rukongai, and purify those ghosts who have become ghost cannibals and send them to the ghost world. Shinigami are almost universally those souls that are naturally really full of ghost power. The really talented ones bind their ghost power into a set of restrictions that they can release for a power up, known as Shikai and Bankai. Many have Shikai, few have Bankai. Each Shikai and Bankai is unique and has special ghost powers.

They live in the center of the Rukongai, the Seireitei, from which radiates law and order before reaching the outer districts, like District 80, where one pretty famous ghost comes from. They are lead by thirteen very strong ghosts, Captains, with lieutenants and seated officers below them. If you have Bankai, you're said to be ready to be a Captain.

Basically no one under lieutenant matters in the series, which is almost totally divorced from the low-street-level conflicts that supposedly make up the majority of the supernatural. You can safely ignore the scrubs, in other words, unless you are one. Not!Rana may or may not be a scrub, but it seems likely she isn't, from both a Doylist and Watsonian point of view.

Shinigami face competition from Quincies, who are theoretically ghost mediums who got tired of being eaten by ghost cannibals, because ghost mediums are apparently really tasty to ghosts. They have ghost bows that gather ambient ghost power into ghost arrows that they use to destroy the souls of the ghost cannibals rather than send it to the ghost world, so the Shinigami attacked and killed most of them to preserve the balance between the physical and the ghost worlds, because apparently they have to regulate the flow between them or else everything collapses or something. Quincies use German, except where they use Japanese, because, again, fuck you German is cool.

The Quincies do not have a ghost world, because they suck and are basically jumped-up humans who somehow interact with ghosts despite being physical or something.

There's also Hell, which we know close to nothing about, except that really bad ghosts get sent there instead of Shinigami-ghost world.

There's more to it, but that's spoilers for the series. I dunno if you're interested. But that's the gist of it.

 

[Tekomandor]

Three Trials, Three Tribulations

The corridors of the Academy are filled with students from every year-group, and you find yourself getting shoved out of the way by older students often. You retaliate by shoving back, at first, then just give up. Too much effort to spend on something that won't get results. You make your way to the dining hall, from which wafts the tantalising smell of warm food. You'd had to make do with whatever you could scavenge on your way to the Seireitei, and warm meals were one of the biggest selling points of the job, as far as you were concerned.

A noble student, a first year like you, stands in the last door between you and the dining hall. He's about your height, and rippling with muscle.

"You're already making too much of a name for yourself, Takamachi. End up in the advanced class, and it won't go well for you." He said, assuming what he thought was a menacing stance.

"Fuck off" you say, and shove past him. He goes sprawling to the ground as you keep walking towards the delicious food smells. Politics can wait - you're starving. You find the dining hall to be huge and backed to the rafters. Students scurry this way and that, and it takes you a good five minutes to work out where everything is in this chaotic mess of a room. You eventually work it out however, and manage to collect a plate of food that you'd have killed for in the Rukongai - or been killed for.

You eat with the other new students, all of them from the Rukongai. Most came from a distinctly nicer part of it, but all of them - yourself included - wolf down their food. You sit across from a hungry-looking red haired woman, who looks around your age. She's sniffling over her food. You notice a stain on her uniform, despite her also being a first-year student. Someone's tossed soup onto her, and going by the way she's wincing when she moves it must have hurt.

"Hey, red. Who did that?" You ask. This whole thing just rubs you the wrong way, and you've already made an enemy out of the type of student willing to do this shit.

"N-n-no one." She stutters, looking down at her feet. Her hair's mangy and the dirt on her face has been disturbed only by tear-tracks.

"Come on, they ain't here right now. You can tell me." You say, putting your hand on her shoulder. She looks up at you, hopefully.

"I don't know his name, but it was one of the n-n-noble students. He has this birthmark on his face, and I looked at it and he threw my soup on me and I'll never be a proper shini-" She says, tears flowing once more from her eyes.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short, Red. No way that guy could function out in the field, where all the money in the world won't save him from getting eaten if he can't work with a team. Just stick with me today and it'll be fine, yeah?" You say. She nods, wiping away her tears.

"T-t-thank you. I'm Chise, from district thirty." She says, smiling at you. Under the dirt and grime, you think she's kinda pretty.

"I'm Kanade, from, uh, I don't know actually."

"You don't know which district you're from?" Chise asks you.

"I only woke up here, as in this backwards-ass afterlife, a few days ago. First guy I met told me to come here, so I did." You explain. Now that you say it out loud, it does sound a little off.

"Wow! Can you remember the world of the living?"

"Not mu-" You begin, only to be cut off by a voice over a loudspeaker.

"ALL STUDENTS, PLEASE BEGIN MAKING YOUR WAY TO THE TESTING AREA" Instructors and students from higher year levels started directing people, and you and Chise were caught up in the flow. The crowd was maneuvered, not without at least one almost-stampede, to a very large room. In it, the noble students were already seated at desks. There had to be hundreds of desks , all lined up in rows and with a number of sheets of paper on them; as well as writing implements. You and Chise make your way into the room, and as you sit down she takes a desk behind you.

A shinigami steeps up to a podium, mutters something, and then speaks with an inhumanly loud voice. With said voice, he explains that this is the start of placement testing - that is, tests to tell the Academy how much proficiency in various subjects the new students had. You'd be taking three tests today. An academic one, which is in front of you right now, a spiritual one - involving a measuring of your reiryoku and reiatsu - and facing another student in a duel. Clear a certain bar in two out of three tests, and you were in the advanced class. Fail all three, and you were sent for remedial training.

With that, the test started. You had fifty minutes, and progressed through the first half easily enough. It was fairly basic things that you'd managed to pick up since you'd arrived at the academy, but then you hit the maths . It was not simple maths, the type learnt in peasant classrooms and in the few schools of Rukongai. It was the kind of maths one needed an education well into their teens to understand. You were completely stuck, until you began to see phantom 'flashes' of your hand leaping across the page. With each flash, came understanding - at least, what you hoped was understanding.

Spoiler

Answer this with working for +3 Intelligence:

A new kind of liquid ration container is to be made from waxed cardboard. It will have a capacity of one liter, and is to be made from a single rectangular sheet of cardboard. This will be done by folding it into a square tube and sealing it down the edge, and then folding and sealing the top and bottom. To make it airtight and robust, an overlap of at least five mm is needed. What is the minimum area of cardboard needed?

With that hopefully done, you move on to the other questions. The test is soon over and you turn to face Chise. She smiles at you.

"Thanks for sitting in front of me." She says quietly. You grin at the implication, and the two of you join the rest of your group in the move towards the next room. What you find is everyone being forced to wait in line and walk through a hallway of one way mirrors one at a time. From the beeping and whirring of machines, you'd guess that this was where the spiritual testing was done.

You and Chise managed to while away the time in line, and then you're through the hallway and into a huge sparring hall. Ten lines were formed, and five duels with wooden swords underway on separate mats at any time. Nobody looks all that good, but you note with an uncomfortable feeling that almost all the good fighters are nobles - the students from Rukongai are excelent brawlers, but they're unfamilar with the sword.

Then you notice who Chise's in line to face. A noble, with a truly extraordinarily ugly birthmark on his face. He's chatting to his friends behind him, and you feel your stomach sink.

"Hey Chise, switch with me." You say.

"Sur-" She begins, only to look over at the opposite line. "No, Kanade. I-I have to do this. I have to beat his stupid smarmy face in in front of all his stupid friends myself" She says, balling her fists and tensing up as she does so.

"You hit him real fucking hard for me, okay?" You say, smiling. Then it's her turn, and the two of them step onto the mat and are handed a wooden practice sword each. The instructor shouts to begin, and Kanade screams and charges the kid.

He swings at her, but she manages to block it and get inside his guard. She smack him on the hand with her sword, causing him to drop his, and then flips him. He lands face first on the mat, and Chise pulls him up by the hair and smashes his face back down. She goes to do it again, only for the instructor to call the match.

You cheer as she's declared the victor, and then she passes the wooden sword to you. You stare down your opponent, who looks far more confident with a blade than the one Chise faced. Grinning, you take your stance.

[x] Be aggressive and get in close!

[x] Keep your distance and wait from an opening to end the fight in one blow!

A/N: The math thing is me trying to see if a puzzle can work in a quest, after I saw it in Quest Quest as a joke and thought that it might actually work. Future puzzles probably won't be pulled from an old maths textbook

 

[Tekomandor]

The Sleeper Awakens

You, in your own unbiased estimation, are a pretty damn fine swordswoman considering you woke up dead with no memories six days ago. That doesn't mean you could take on some asshole who'd been training with a sword since before he could walk in a straight up swordfight. You'll need to get in close to him, too close for a proper swordfight.

He's settling into a stance of his own, and your eyes dart to his feet. He's gonna attack from the left, a thrust to the face. You felt that thought flash into your mind, just like the written test. Thanking whatever supernatural source of insight you had, you waited for the instructor to begin the match. With a shout, he did so.

You rushed forwards, raising your sword and batting away your opponent's thrust. He's too close to stop you from grabbing his wrist, or so you thought only to have him smash his knee into your stomach. You roll backwards, ducking out of the way of his retaliatory swing.

"Your tavern-brawl skills won't help you against a real swordswoman, Takamachi." He said, his face contorted into an ugly sneer. This guy had real skills - the close-combat skills you'd used to beat the two extortionists wouldn't be enough to carry you to victory here. So you looked inwards, towards the source of your unnatural insight, and you lean into the instincts you didn't even know you had. He swings at you again, and you parry it. You thrust forward, and are deflected.

Your eyes meet your opponent's as your blades clash once more. The sneer is gone, replaced only by an intense look of concentration. Then the moment passes, and your eyes refocus on what's important. He attacks again and again, driving you back. The edge of the mat draws near, and he's starting to push you back more and more with each attack. You swing wildly, forcing him back for a mere moment, and jump. You seem to almost glide on the air, sailing over his head, and landing in a roll on the other side of the mat.

You leap back up to your feet, and charge once more. Again, you know where he will strike at you. Again you deflect it. His knee comes sailing for you, and at the last moment you twist out of the way. Your hand grabs behind his knee, and you pull as hard as you can. He goes up into the air and down, but strikes at you with his sword.

You dodge, wind rushing past your ear as his sword goes by. He's back on his feet now, but disoriented for just a moment. You don't let him recover, and swing at his chest. He blocks, and yet another crack of wood smashing against wood rings out. Again you strike, pushing him back. Each time, you attacker harder and harder. His sword begins to chip, splinters flying as he's forced to edge of the mat. You strike, and as he stands his ground your blades clash. Wood against wood, you put all your effort into the blow and with a wordless cry, your strike smashes through his blade and connects with his chest. Amidst a hail of splintered wood, he's sent flying backwards off the mat by the force of your strike.

In a moment of post battle euphoria, you extended your hand to your downed opponent. He grabs it, and you help him up. His face still shows his shock.

"I admit, Takamachi, I misjudged you. For that, you have my apologies." The noble said, before the two of you bowed and left the mat. You walk over to Chise, smiling. She hugs you, violently, and only after some time are you released.

"That was amazing, Kanade!" She says, after letting go of you.

"It wasn't half bad, yeah." You say, blushing slightly. You can tell people are watching you after that fight - most of them lasted less than a minute, as compared to your own's near ten minute running length. "Let's get out of here, yeah?" You ask her, and she nods. The two of you turn and leave the hall, following the directions of the instructors and older students, who were out in force. You ended up in a line in a corridor, for what you weren't sure of.

"Hey, do you know what we're lining up for?" The student in front of you asked.

"No idea." You say, and listen in to the chain of conversation making it's way towards you. After a short while, it becomes clear to you that this is the line to receive your grades, and your roommate (in that it was determined by the order you got your grades in). You turn to Chise, but before you could speak she's started too.

"Would you mind, I mean would you like to room with me?" She asked, blushing and stuttering like she had earlier.

"Sure, Red." You say, smiling reassuringly at her. The two of you while away the hour long wait in line with idle conversation, most of which boils down to Chise telling you what she knows about the Soul Society. You now had a vague idea of what it was, as a whole, though you didn't know any more about what Shinigami actually did, apart from fight nebulously defined monsters known as 'Hollows'.

The line had progressed to the point that you were now able to see the curved desk behind which the instructor handing out grades sat. A small machine seemed to print them on demand, which made you curious. Here, they had such technology despite the primitiveness of Rukongai?

Regardless, it was now your turn to receive your grades. You marched up to the desk, and stated your name. The instructor wordlessly handed it to you, then told you to wait for a moment. Chise was given hers, and then you were assigned a room - number 516-R2. You would later learn that the 'R2' stood for 'Residential Building Two'. You and Chise had qualified for the advanced class, though only you had passed all three tests. The two of you eventually managed to find your way to your room, and after an exhausting first day you opened it's door.

Inside, there were two beds, two closets and two desks. It was the nicest bedroom you - or Chise, for that matter - had ever seen. You flopped down on a bed, and though you had a vague inkling that it wasn't what some of your classmates might be used too, it still felt positively palatial.

You have classes starting tomorrow, but what other actions will you undertake during the first week? Choose two:

[x] Socialise:

[x] With Chise [Unlocks it as a free action]
[x] With students from Rukongai
[x] With students in general​

[x] Investigate your supernatural insight
[x] Train on your own time:

[x] Hakuda
[x] Hoho Theory
[x] Kido Theory
[x] Zanjutsu
[x] Reiryoku Control
​

A/N: Character sheet should be up soon. Also, yes @Trondason did solve the question.

 

[Tekomandor]

Character Sheet:

Spoiler: Picture

Name: Kanade Takamachi
Gender: Female
Physical Age: 20

Stats

Reiryoku: 43 {+10}
Strength: 14 [52]
Endurance: 10 [40]
Speed: 12 [48]
Intelligence: 15
Knowledge: ?? [15]*

*Due to the 'Unknown Insight' trait, the true value of this stat has been hidden. Numbers in {} are the result of Reiryoku Gathering.

Skills:

Hakuda: 20
- Brawling: 10
Hoho: 10
- Sonido: 1
Kido: 10
Zanjustu: 25
Reiryoku Gathering: 10
Reiryoku Channelling: 10
Reiryoku Control: 10
Shinigami Duties Knowledge: 9
Socialise: 12
Spiritual Awareness: 9

Traits:

Amnesia: You don't remember anything about your life as a living human. This is extremely unusual.

Supernatural Insight: You know things, have instincts, you shouldn't.

High Speed Regeneration: You may regenerate from almost any wound, provided it does not destroy your brain and that you have enough reiryoku. Currently, at full power you could regenerate a hand.

End-State: ???

Notable Items:

Asauchi: You have started to bond with what will one day be your zanpakuto. 750/????

 

[Tekomandor]

The First Hado

"Welcome, students, to your first Kido class. It is here that you shall learn the arcane arts of the Shinigami - you will learn to summon fire and call down lightning, if you have the talent for it. If you don't... well, best find that out now before you hurt somebody." Araki said, the woman's face curling into a smile as she paused. "Now, I trust you've all completed the reading?"

"Yes, Araki-sensei" the class replied as one.

"Good, because that means I'll have a volunteer who definitely won't blow themselves up like last year's did! Ah, Takamachi, how kind of you to volunteer yourself." Araki said, leaving you bewildered.

"Wha-But-" You stammer out, only to have her interrupt you.

"Come now dear, don't keep us waiting." Araki said, and you begrudgingly rose to your feet. Your class was at the target practice, and as the assigned reading had been on the first Hado you had something of an inkling of what you were going to be asked to do. Which was ridiculous, because you had barely been able to summon a ball of light with your power. Yes, it was a very bright ball of light, but you had a feeling having lots of power to throw around wouldn't make the situation any better. "Now, take aim at the target - that one there, yes dear, - and attempt the first of the offensive spells, Sho." Araki continued, and you trudge your way over to the firing line.

Memories flash through your mind, unbidden and uncalled. 'Mask of blood and flesh - Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring - Ring out, the sound of thunder!'. They twisted and turned, a ghostly afterimages of her own body following them. Then they stopped, and she felt a single one emerge. Nameless, feral power. Blood red light, a herald of death and doom. She could not, she would not allow these memories to control her. She took her stance, and cleared her mind.

"Come forth and strike, ye spirit of thunderous force! Hado Number One, SHO!" You shout, feeling power rush through you; unlike anything you've ever felt before. There's a flash of light, far too fast to follow, and your target isn't just knocked over - it's obliterated. However, not even the dead can truly escape the laws of nature. It feels as if some massive blow has slammed into you, and you're thrown from your feet and into the air.

Where, with the thunderous roar of unmastered shunpo, Araki is there to catch you. You didn't even see her move, and she catches you whilst standing on air like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"And that, my students, is an example of the dangers of talent. Never forget - an improperly performed kido has as much potential to harm you as it does a hollow. Probably more, because if your arm gets blown off it won't just grow back!" Araki said, whilst hopping down to the ground and letting you down. The rest of the class seemed to be rather stunned at what had just happened. Chise ran over to you, fussing over you as you stood back up. You spent the rest of the class practicing basic control exercises, and at the end a few other students were allowed to try and fail at the first Hado.

You and Chise headed back towards your dorm room after the class ended.

"So, Kanade, how'd you do it?" Chise asked you, looking pleadingly up at you.

"I really don't know. One moment I was just saying the incantation, and then it happened." You reply. You're telling the truth - you don't know why it happened. But you have a pretty damn good suspicion as to what caused it.

"Why do you get to do all the cool things, anyway?" Chise asked, jokingly.

"Because I'm awesome, that's why. We're here." You say, opening the door to your room. "Now what was it you wanted to show me?" You ask.

"Kanade, have you ever heard of shougi?"

It turned out that you were not very good a shougi.

Later that day, you found a quiet spot on the academy grounds. They were bordered on all sides save the front by a large forest, and you sat amongst the trees, your asauchi sitting beside you.

You closed your eyes, and focused inwards. Wisps of memories flitted to and fro, but none could stand the light of your gaze. You caught half-glimpses of a hundred battles, of death and war and fire. Half a dozen masked creatures, each more horrific than the last. Warriors, clad in black robes and carrying the sword of a Shinigami. You saw flashes of their deaths, of their lives. Your saw their trials, their loves and their deepest secrets. You saw everything and nothing.

Your eyes open, and you find yourself exactly where you'd left yourself. Under a tree, within the forest at the edge of the Academy grounds. What had disturbed you, you wonder, only to hear the crunching of leaves beneath sandals. That, it seems would be it for today's musings on your unkown source of insight. How inconsiderate of them to interrupt your meditation.

Six burly men, dressed in the style of house retainers but with their faces masked, surrounded you. Each held a spear, with a wicked point. They closed in on you, a ring of spear points forming. You draw your blade into battle for the first time, and before it has even fully left its sheath you leap forwards. You sail over the line of spears, landing on the other side with inhuman grace. Your sheath is on your belt, and you hold your blade in a stance as old as the Shinigami themselves.

There are no words uttered as they close, and as you charge. A spear thrusts at you, and you twirl aside. Your blade sings out in a deadly slash, crimson blood spurting from the retainer's chest. Two at once strike for your heart, and as you deflect one strike you are forced to dodge another. The remaining five retainers strike at you as team, forcing you backwards.

Spearpoints carve out deep gashes in bark as you fight with everything you have just to stay alive. Your blade is a blur of steel as you step between a rain of thrusts. Now, finally, you understand why the Seireitei and Rukongai vare as they are. A spear comes from your chest, and you jump onto the shaft. For only a split second, you stand atop your enemies weapon. Your foot swings low, smashing into the skull of your enemy, and then you're falling.

"SHO!" You cry out in a moment of brilliance, the half formed spell going off haphazardly into the ground. But you weren't interested in hurting the ground, and the sheer force of the much weakened spell was still able to send you into the air. You landed perhaps thirty metres away, and ran as fast as you cloud. There was no guarantee that you would survive fighting the rest of them.

You reach the dorms, and see no one following you. What do you do?

[x] Report the attack

[x] Keep it to yourself for now

[x] Tell Chise
[x] Tell no one
​

Also, choose what you'll do in your free time next week. Choose two:

[x] Socialise:

[x] With Chise [Free action]
[x] With students from Rukongai
[x] With students in general​

[x] Investigate your supernatural insight [Locked until Spiritual Awareness reaches 15]
[x] Train on your own time:

[x] Hakuda
[x] Hoho Theory
[x] Kido Theory
[x] Zanjutsu
[x] Reiryoku Control​

Spoiler: Skill changes

Hakuda: 0
- Brawling: 0
Hoho: +5
Kido: +5
Zanjustu: 0
Reiryoku Channelling: +5
Reiryoku Control: +5
Shinigami Duties Knowledge: +4
Socialise: 0
Spiritual Awareness: +4

Spoiler: Picture Vote

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: 3

 

[Tekomandor]

The Second Death

"I'm afraid that without further evidence, there is very little we can do Cadet. You haven't even provided any testimony as to your attackers' identity, only to their clothing!" The Commandant says, his voice harsh and cultured. You grit your teeth at the answer provided.

"But-" You begin, only to be cut off.

"That is ENOUGH! You will return to class, and will not bother me with this matter again! Is that understood?" He shouts, and as he does so you feel the sheer power of his reiatsu - his spiritual aura. You barely manage to nod, bow, and leave his office without collapsing.

You stand in the hallway, your breathing strained. So that was the power of a real Shinigami, you think to yourself. The kind of power you could wield some day.

You shake yourself and stand back up. There was no use dreaming of power, when there was practice and learning yet to do. You didn't actually have class right now, but you knew that the seventh training hall was open to all students during the day, and that many students went there to spar and train their zanjutsu in their off hours.

And, to be honest, that sounded like exactly what you needed to work off your anger right now. You angrily marched down and out of the central building of the Academy and continued right over the grounds til you reached the training hall. It was strictly regimented by year level, though with the approval of an instructor one could spar against a student from a higher year level.

You entered, and headed over to the section for first years to practice with their real blades - the targets here had been enchanted to restore themselves after being sliced to bits. Drawing your blade, you took up your stance and began to attack the target using all the basic, formal strikes you knew.

Each of them began to chain together, one flowing into the next like water down a slope. Your current training and supernatural insight combined, as you executed the basic training with a grace that few other first year students could muster. You spend perhaps thirty minutes on this, then after having worked up a light sheen of sweat you sheath your blade, and head over to the stands from which students could observe sparring matches.

You spotted Chise amongst the throng of students sitting in the stands, and that she's saved you a seat. You join her, and turn to speak to her.

"So why are like, half the student population here again?" You ask her, having forgotten after the events of the past two days.

"Didn't you hear? Two students in their final year are going to fight. People are saying that Hosoda - the one with the red hair - has unlocked his Shikai!" Chise replied.

"Woah - don't you usually have to be, like, a lieutenant to have one of tho-" You begin, only for the fight to start and call all of your attention. The two students move like blurs, blades whipping out in a rush of sound. They clash in the centre, sparks flying as their zanpakuto fight for dominance. You can feel their casual, raw power even this far back in the stands, and it might even be stronger than the Commandant's.

They flash-step away, their technique good enough to render the sound merely extremely loud, rather than deafening. Then it's over in a second clash, and Hosoda's the victor. His opponent yields, Hosoda's blade at this throat, and the two bow at one another with smiles on their faces. The crowd begins to disperse, whilst you and Chise follow the rest of the first years back to their section of the training hall.

The two of you chat to the group milling around, as social divisions mostly fall away under the power of gossip.

"Did you see that flash-step!" One student said.

"Hosoda's gonna graduate straight into a Fourth-seat - no man, it's really true!" Another says.

"I gotta tell you, Zhang, Hosoda is a money making machine for me. People keep betting against the guy!"

The group conversation continues on like this for quite a while, until it's time for dinner. You and Chise are in a relatively secluded part of the massive dining hall, enthusiastically devouring your food. It might be ow quality junk compared to what most of the nobles were used to, but it was good, solid Rukon food. Which surprised you, really - you'd expected something more refined.

Hosoda walked past your table, smiling at various female students. His plate was empty, and he seemed to be headed back to get more. Then he stumbled, dropping his plate as his hands jerked. Before the plate had the chance to hit the ground, his chest exploded. Blood and shattered pieces of bone flew out, spraying you and Chise; as well as half a dozen other students.

A sudden silence came over the hall, for but a moment. Then came the screaming, and one particular classmate of yours - a noble brat, with an entitlement complex the size of the Seireitei - marching over to you.


"WHAT DID YOU DO, SCUM!" He shouted, pointing squarely at you. His hand was at his blade's hilt, and you felt a chill go up your spine. You're fairly certain you'd seen people die at some point in your life, and you'd delivered a fatal blow to one of your attackers, but nothing like this.

"Not a fucking thing, so why don't you just leave me alone for one fucking second you pampered, inbred, ignorant piece of shit!" You shout, letting all your anger and fear and suprise out all at once.

"Take your words back, mongrel, or I shall ensure you issue no more of them." The noble said, very quietly. All the nearby students seemed to have gathered in a circle, ready to watch whatever went down.

[x] Double down - don't give this guy the satisfaction, and you think you can take him

[x] Attempt diplomacy - try to smooth over the situation.

[x] Apologise - Yeah, no way funny head voices.

Spoiler: Skill changes

Hakuda: +2
- Brawling: 0
Hoho: +5
Kido: +5
Zanjustu: +10
Reiryoku Channelling: +5
Reiryoku Control: +5
Shinigami Duties Knowledge: +4
Socialise: +2
Spiritual Awareness: +4

 

[Tekomandor]

The Third Clue

"Make me, asshole." You say, gritting your teeth and standing up. Hosoda lies dead right next to you, and this asshole is screaming at you instead of running for a medic or a teacher or someone? You were almost tempted not to rise to the guy's taunting challenge, but you haven't come this far just to back down. You'll never get anywhere bending over backwards for these assholes, and it's time they fucking learnt that.

His hands go to his sword, and he begins to circle you. He's ready to draw at any moment, and you think you could probably take him in a swordfight - but you've got more important things to do, places to be, than humoring this guy. So just as he decides to get on with it, you channel your power. You centre yourself, taking a solid stance, and leave a hand on your blade. Your opponent draws his own, rushing forwards at you.

"Come forth and strike, ye spirit of thunderous force! Hado Number One, SHO!" You shout, and a flash of light slams into your opponent, bodily picks him up, and throws him across the room. He slams into the wall of the dining hall with a crunch, and slides down into a heap. You draw your blade, and slowly march over to him. He struggles to stand, leaning on his sword. It quivers under his weight, and as you approach you kick it out of his hand with casual ease.

He scrambles at you, desperate to get away. You give him no such mercy, picking him up by the hair and slamming his head into the wall. He slides into a crumpled heap with a wet, squelching sound. You turn and look at the crowd of assembled onlookers.

"Let me just make this clear - I am sick and fucking tired of having to deal with this shit. I am tired of being harassed by inbred wannabe tough-guys, I'm tired of all this bullshit fighting and I'm tired of this fucking bullshit, where you all stand around to watch me beat up on this asshole while a man - a good man, one many of you were desperate to be friends with when he was alive - lies dead on the ground. Is that how little others mean to you? Whatever, it's not my job to fix your fucked up society. So if anyone else has a problem with me, they can damn well says so right now; and we can fight it out all civilised-like and I'll never have to deal with this bullshit again." You shout in one long rant as you walked away from your downed opponent.

Medics rushed through the doors as you walked away, and Chise followed you. You were still covered in blood, the smell of it clinging to your nostrils.

"Kanade - in your pocket..." Chise said, and you stopped in a hallway. Indeed, in your pocket was an unstained letter. You had no idea how it got there - but the noble you'd just fought had been scrambling around that area whilst you were beating him up. You opened up the letter, finding a sheet of neatly written characters.

Miss Takamachi, it is my hope that you received this missive quickly, and away from prying eyes. I apologize for the deception, but I am being watched by the conspiracy I was conscripted into. As you are already aware, something is rotten at the heart of this Academy. I have only a little information myself, but I know where you can find more - in the Thirty Third district of Rukongai, there is a gang known as the 'Double Threes'. They are somehow connected to this conspiracy, which has been plaguing you ever since you first arrived, though you yourself are only on the periphery of their schemes.

The letter finished, you stop reading it aloud and look up at Chise.

"This is big, Red." You say. That there was some organised group - with criminal connections, no less, behind this disturbs you.

"It really is, Kanade. So when can we go investigate?" She asked. You considered saying no, but you couldn't turn down the backup - and Chise wouldn't listen anyway.

"We have a free day tomorrow - we can make it to the thirty third and back within a day." You say, and Chise nods. The two of you walk back to the dorms - and their showers - in a companionable silence. It takes a fair bit of work to scrub out all the blood from your hair, but eventually you're some approximation of clean, and you make your way with Chise back to your dorm room. Waiting for you there is a dour faced instructor. He ripples with whipcord-esque muscle, and one hand rests menacingly on his sword.

"Good, the two of you are safe. You two are to stay here for the next few hours - the Academy is on lockdown whilst the Stealth Force hunts for the assassin." He says, looking up and down the corridor.

"Assassin...?" You say, slightly confused.

"Yes, poor Hosoda was killed by a powerful assassination kido. Now inside with the both of you!" He says, and the two of you enter your dorm room. You can't help but notice that no one else at all is in the dorms - almost everyone was still at dinner when the lockdown was announced. All throughout the night, you can hear distant explosions and battlecries. Then, near dawn, you see a beam of crimson light explode into the sky. The windows of your dorm shatter, sending glass flying as the two of you dive for cover.

You don't manage to get much sleep, but as soon as the lockdown is lifted the next morning, the two of you prepare to set out and investigate. There's only one questions - would you go in disguise, or would you try and leverage the power of your uniforms. No street crook in a district like the thirty third would dare fight a shinigami, but an entire gang might. You and Chise spend some time debating it, and in the end you decide to...

[x] Go in disguise.

[x] Wear your uniform.

 

[Tekomandor]

The Penultimate Book

Dressed in clothes typical for a street tough, you and Chise set out in the early dawn light. The sun has yet to crest the horizon, and under a sky filled with red clouds you advance throughout the nearly deserted streets of the Seireitei. You approach the gates, but are allowed out upon showing your swords and allowing the guards to sense your active reiatsu.

The dirt roads and wooden buildings of Rukongai are no less deserted, or any friendlier, this early in the morning. Still, there are some people out and about. Seeing your blades, they give you and Chise a wide berth. Everyone who's survived more than a few days in an area of the Rukongai knows not to mess with armed men and women out in the dawn light.

If a street thug was up at dawn, they meant to kill. To the residents of Rukongai, it was a time of endings, rather than beginnings. Blood pooled in the street under a new sun, and sensible people stayed inside until the day's fighting was done. It was in this oppressive time that you began your hours-long journey, and by the time you neared your destination - the Thirty Third district. The headquarters of the double threes was as obvious as any Shinigami wall or patrol, with the club's banners fluttering proudly in the wind.

Two men stood guard outside of the long, low building. They looked around thirty to forty, but of course that had no meaning here in the land of the dead. One carried a cheap katana, forged out of poor iron in a pale imitation of your own blade, the other a simple spear. The building has a sloped roof, a slapdash construction of tiles and wood, and two tight alleyways on either side. You and Chise duck into a back street for a moment.

"The rooftops?" You ask her, and she nods.

"The rooftops." She says in response, and the two of you move in concert. You walk into another side street, and run sideways at the wall. You jump up, and run along the opposite wall, then jump and glide through the air towards your intended destination. Your movements are graceful and swift, and you seem almost to float through the air as you make your way up to the rooftops.

The two of you leap from rooftop to rooftop, and make your way to the top of the gang's headquarters. You can hear the raucous drinking from the front, the sounds of smashed plates a boisterous shouting audible even through the roof, and so the two of you decide to go in the back. You drop down from the rooftop, surprising the single, drunk guard.

He turns, and Chise whacks him over the head with the scabbard of her sword. He topples to the ground, a boneless lump. You draw your sword and open the door, and grin as you see what's clearly a deserted office. A guard's sleeping in his chair, and the two of you carefully move past him and head for the boss's space. There, you find what looks to be some kind of ledger, kept in a far neater hand than anything else. What gives it away, however, is the kido lock on it.

"Chise, can we move it?" You ask. She's talked about these before - they're something of a hobby.

"I don't know, I'll need to uncouple the first few-" She said, as she looked intently over the book. There was a crash nearby.

"How fast can you get it done, Red?" You ask. She blushes at the name, but never breaks her concentration.

"A-a-a minute?" She says nervously, and you nod. You step out into the hallway, your sword raised high. You face the doors to the main room, and take a heavy stance. Your reiatsu flares, sending loose sheets of paper and empty bottles of alcohol flying. You extend your hand, and cry out just as the door swings open to reveal a half dozen armed men.

"Come forth and strike, ye spirit of thunderous force! Hado Number One, SHO!" You shout, as potent as any battlecry, and the men go flying. You walk forwards, blade raised in a graceful stance, and stand just in front of the doorway. Chaos reigns in the ganghouse, as men scramble for weapons and cover alike.

They rush you, all wasted energy and impotent fury. You bend like grass in the wind, you strike like a tornado. You stand your ground, and yet you are impossible to hit. Your reactions are too fast, your soul too mighty, to be vanquished. A ring of groaning men surrounds you, and a figure steps forward. Then, he flares his reiatsu.

He's strong, you admit through clenched teeth. Probably strong enough to beat you.

"Are you done, yet Chise?" You shout.

"Yes!" She shouts back, and you point your hand diagonally upwards at the beamed roof.

"SHO!" You shout, sending you flying backwards, and splitting the beam in half with uncontrolled force. This man might be strong, but he wasn't yet strong enough to stop a building collapsing. You skid to a halt as you're thrown backwards with enormous force, and you and Chise run for your lives. The entire structure begins to collapse, and you see falling timber fall on the leader of the gang as you run.

A few try to follow, but you quickly lose them. Chise holds up the ledger, and you grin.

"I really hope that's the evidence." You say, and Chise nods. "Any chance you could get it fully open?" You ask.

"Not quickly, Kanadee. I know a guy in Rukongai who could, but whoever made this might be able to track it. I wouldn't want to put him in danger over this." Chise says.

"How can we stop them tracking it?" You ask.

"We take it back to the academy, where it will blend in with the background reiatsu levels. It's slower, but it's safer."

You consider it for a moment, before deciding to...

[x] - Take the book back with you.

[x] - Talk to Chise's friend about it.