Once we got down to the training ground, I observed my surroundings: bright tan rock everywhere, creating a "rough terrain" feel, fresh air--almost like we were outside, and one of the fakest skies I’d seen. I swear it looked like a child’s room, the perfect sky blue with puffy white clouds painted across the stretch of wall. It was a bit too childish for my tastes, and seemed to mock the serious air of the facility.

The group walked over to Kisuke, where he was standing with Ururu, a small girl with pigtails and the saddest face you’ll ever see, Jinta, a fire-haired annoying little pest of a boy, and Tessai, the kind shop assistant. Beside them was a gigantic chasm, disheartening in its mammothness. I knew its purpose and, to be honest, was scared out of my fucking mind.

"Gooooooooood morning!" Kisuke said in his normal giddy tone. "Today the focus will be giving you your Shinigami powers! Because you girls are first-timers, your training will be much different from Ichigo’s, who has to work his back into his body. But do not be wary; there’s a fifty-five percent chance you’ll make it out of this uninjured. An eighty-nine percent chance alive! So with that, we start!" He clapped his hands ceremoniously, almost as if he was praying at the New Year’s shrine. "Our first to be up will be the girls while I give you your initial powers, and from there Tessai will train you for the remainder of the day!" He leered at us for a bit (A/N: reminds me of Pokemon…at least he didn’t send you a Scary Face XD ) before grinning again. "So! Who’s up first!"

We looked at each other apprehensively, none of us wanting to be the first to make a move. But suddenly, Babs got a swirl of courage and stepped forward, raising her hand. "I’ll go first, I guess."

"Great!!" Kisuke said. "I’ll need you to step in front of me and grab my cane, please!" She followed his instructions and gasped. We all looked surprised as, upon Babs’ contact, the cane transformed into a sword.

"This is my zanpakuto," Kisuke explained. "Benihime. I’ll be transferring some of my power to you three so you can become Shinigami, and this is how I’ll do it." Before Babs could protest or let go of the weapon, Kisuke held it firm and stabbed her through.

We all gasped; Tara shrieked a bit. I felt myself get pale.

Babs shook for a moment before her body relaxed and fell off the sword. The only thing left was…her!!

"BABS!" Tara said excitedly. "You’re okay!"

"Yeah," she said, looking at herself curiously. "I guess. But what the hell am I in?"

"It’s called a shihakusho," Kisuke explained. "Soul Reaper uniform. And on your back--" he pulled something from behind her and handed it to her, "is your zanpakuto."

We observed her sword strangely. It was…a odd-looking thing, to say the least. It was a thin blade, sleek and silver, but with three extra blades pointing out of one side, two on the other. The handle was green and covered in cloth, the hilt a green circle. It was surprising to see her blade’s…shape.

"Weird…" Babs said, admiring her new toy. "This thing’s gonna be awesome! Look at that! I got six blades! AMAZING!"

I laughed at her giddy state and walked up to Kisuke. "Okay, my turn!" I said lamely, too excited to worry about my tone. The shopkeeper repeated the process with me and I found myself in my own uniform, its soft and sleek cloth fitting my body well. Before Urahara could get to it I swiftly unsheathed my zanpakuto and admired it. It was a thin blade, silver with spots of red in it that closely resembled blood, and a black handle with the hilt shaped like a star made out of brass knuckles.

I held it up in nerddom. "Dah dah dah DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~" I sang giddily, "YOU GOT THE MASTER SWORD!!!" I saw Tara giggle and Babs facepalm herself, but I ignored them in my nerdy state of euphoria. I eyed it closer before sighing. "This is amazing," I said before moving to let Tara through. "Okay," I said, stretching contentedly in my new body, "you’re up, Tara."

She grinned before hesitantly walking up to Kisuke and finalizing the process. She was in her own shihakusho and looked at it disappointedly. "I think…it needs some color," she observed, putting a thumb towards her mouth thoughtfully.

I laughed but groaned in response. "COME ON!" I said. "I wanna see your zanpakuto!!"

She looked at me in confusion for a second before remembering, her head almost seeming to pop with her eyes. "Oh yeah!" She pulled out her sword and let us examine it. It was a thicker blade with a doughnut-shaped circle at the end, the hole in the middle making it appear extra weird. The handle was purple, and her hilt was shaped like a heart.

"Hmm," I said, deep in thought. "I wonder…maybe that hollow thing at the end has any significance?"

"Alright!" Kisuke said excitedly. "Now that we have that out of the way, Ichigo, you come with me. Tessai, you may take the girls away."

Tessai bowed formally. "Yes, sir." He looked to us before waving a hand in motion for us to follow. "Please come with me, if you will." We obliged and followed him to a faraway corner from where we’d originally stood, a corner that had five or so risen rock pedestals shaped like cylinders standing tall and proud. He turned to us. "If you will please follow my instructions to a pinpoint, we can make this as easy as possible. Now, for this to work, we have to force you to your physical and mental limits completely. So to start, I’ll have you run."

"Run?" We asked in unison, cocking our heads to the side. Tessai grunted in affirmation and Jinta popped from behind him.

"Yeah!" Jinta said in that annoying little devil-voice of his. "I’m gonna be chasing you with my hammer! So you better not get caught!" He whipped his weapon out, revealing the intimidating armament. It was a gigantic black club, almost twice the size of its wielder. But he lifted it effortlessly, and the chase began.

I had to admit; the fucker was fast. I’d started to feel my breath get heavy when God’s gift to victims (a.k.a. adrenaline) kicked in, and I’d caught up with my friends, who weren’t much faster than I. My chest hurt, my head was a bit light, and I was cursing every god that came to mind. Damn this!!!

This went on for about forty-five minutes, until we just couldn’t do it anymore. We collapsed onto the ground, almost simultaneously. But if you really needed to know: Babs first, me second, Tara third. It was quite a spectacle, seeing our unkempt states and our insane poses on the ground.

Tessai caught up to us quickly and picked us up. "You girls did excellently," he praised, a smile festooning his face. I mustered up the strength to smile back as he carried me. He walked us to where we had originally started and placed each of us on three of the pedestals I’d mentioned earlier, making us sit criss-cross. I couldn’t even describe the intense happiness I felt once I got to sit down; I’d just reached the seventh tier of Heaven.

"Now," Tessai said, "that you’re nice and exhausted, you have to meditate."

"Meditate?!?" I said. "What’s that gonna do for us?"

Our master-for-the-day opened his mouth but apparently decided against whatever it was he was planning to say. "I…I think you’ll figure it out on your own."

"How long do we have to meditate?" Babs inquired tiredly. I glanced over to her and saw she was more exhausted than me; it was amazing she could support her upper body.

"Again, you’ll figure it out. Well, I’ll leave you to it. No moving from your pedestal, and no talking whatsoever."

I acquiesced to his orders, grumbling profanities under my breath. You’re so friggin’ smart, making an A.D.D. kid meditate. I didn’t even know how to meditate….

I sat there for what felt like forever, but was probably only about fifteen minutes. I let my mind drift around, my family, my other friends, multiple songs (I even mentally burst out in some Hairspray for a few minutes), even composed a few romance-y OneShots in my head. So I was entertained for about an hour. The only bad part was the neverending urge to open my eyes. The paranoia was killing me; I felt like if I opened my eyes that something would be right against my face or something, so I was also equally scared to peek.

After about an hour or so, I heard shuffling and whispering: it sounded like Tessai was talking to Babs. I couldn’t understand fully what they were saying, but I caught a few phrases:

"What the hell was--it’ll all be explained in a mom--wait for th--I’ve never felt more--that’s--inside my head--"

I wasn’t really a hundred-percent sure what exactly was going on, but a short while later, it all became irrelevant. I felt my brain, my conciousness being sucked up somewhere, and before I knew it I’d lost all feeling in any part of my body.

I panicked; what the hell?? Where were my legs? Was I falling? What was going on?

______________________________________________________________________

Okay! New chapter! Up a bit late, but it's here! Sorry, I almost forgot today was Sunday! (^////^)

Not much to announce, but here's the new part! Zanpakuto! Right in time, 'cuz Bleach's english dub is in the middle of the Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc? Is it just me or is this almost as painful as the Bount Arc?

-Maycee-chan~