Chapter 12

 

“Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder if you were being attacked again,” Kisuke greeted lightly when the four of us arrived.

 

“Give us some credit,” Renji answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“What are you doing back, moocher?” Jinta demanded, pointing at Renji. I glanced between them and withheld a chuckle.

 

“Shut up, you little brat!”

 

“Now, now, children. No fighting,” Kisuke interrupted. “Come in and follow me.” We entered the shop and Kisuke led us towards the rear of the room, where a panel of the floor had been lifted. Looking into the hole, I could only see darkness, leaving me to wonder just how deep this hole was.

 

“Whoa,” Toshiro whispered.

 

“Watch your step. It’s a long way down.”

 

I began descending the ladder first, Toshiro right behind me. We worked our way down for a half hour before emerging in a room that made me feel like we were outside again. Even the ceiling looked like the sky. The ground below was designed to look like a desert landscape and I could see a few people waiting at the base of the ladder. When Toshiro and I made it to the bottom, I saw Kisuke, Renji and Rukia already there, as well as Ichigo and a man I didn’t recognize. This man was tall and extremely muscular. He wore glasses and the typical outfit of a store worker, and had a black moustache. His hair was in cornrows atop his head and he was dark-skinned.

 

“How did you get here so quickly?” I asked Kisuke.

 

“With a wave of my magic wand, of course,” he answered, swinging a cane that he pulled from his jacket. I frowned as my brow furrowed in frustration. It seemed as though I couldn’t get a straight answer out of him. “Miss Kitamura, this is my good friend, Tessai. Tessai, meet Minako Kitamura and her brother, Toshiro.” The large, muscular man nodded in greeting.

 

“Pleasure to meet you both,” he said.

 

“Nice to meet you,” I answered as Toshiro grinned up at the man. I then turned to Ichigo. “Why’d you come here?”

 

“To make sure you and Toshiro don’t get hurt,” Ichigo answered. He was wearing the black clothes again and had a large sword strapped to his back.

 

“That’s our job, Ichigo,” Renji muttered.

 

“And I already told her I wouldn’t let anything happen to her brother.

 

“Both of you, quit arguing,” Rukia interrupted, standing between the two male Soul Reapers. “These two need to start their training and you’re in the way.”

 

“Just how is this going to work?” I asked.

 

“The two of you will need to be taught separately,” Kisuke answered. “First, we’ll need to find out what triggers each of your abilities. Then, we can begin honing them.”

 

“Renji got a dose of her power last night,” Rukia said and Kisuke nodded, humming in thought.

 

“What happened?”

 

“I thought he was a Hollow or something. I was afraid he’d hurt Toshiro or me. Then, something strange happened. It looked like a shockwave hit Renji and he crashed into the wall.”

 

“What about Toshiro?”

 

“What do you mean? He’s perfectly fine. It didn’t touch him at all.”

 

“So, he hasn’t been affected by your ability at all?”

 

“No,” Toshiro answered for himself. “I can see it when Mina-chan protects me, but I don’t feel anything.”

 

“I was three feet away and hit the wall,” Renji muttered.

 

“It would appear your ability isn’t as invisible as Uryuu thought. It must have happened too quickly for him to see it before. Well, we should probably start your training and figure out how to control your powers. Miss Kitamura, I want you to come with me. Renji, you too. Ichigo, you and Rukia will take care of Toshiro. Tessai will be here to help anyone who needs it,” Kisuke explained and led Renji and me to another part of the strange chamber we were in.

 

I could still see Toshiro, but he was a good distance away. When I turned to face Kisuke, I noticed Renji taking some kind of pill. As soon as he swallowed it, what appeared to be a clone of him popped out of the body, which stumbled back. The other Renji was now wearing the attire of a Soul Reaper. My eyes widened in shock, staring at the two of them. It was much like what I’d seen Ichigo do the first day I met him, but in reverse. Was this how Soul Reapers exited their gigais?

 

“Just sit down and stay out of the way,” Renji ordered his body, which half-heartedly saluted before walking farther away and taking a seat.

 

“What the…” I started.

 

“Just ignore him. Division Twelve is still trying to work out all the kinks in those things.” A confused expression crossed my features before I shook my head dismissively.

 

“Right. I’ll pretend I know what you’re talking about. Let’s just get started.”

 

“My thoughts exactly,” Kisuke said with a grin. At that moment, a loud scream sounded from behind me and I turned in time to see Ichigo swinging his sword down at my brother. My heart stopped.

 

“Toshiro!” I screamed.

 

The strange shockwave erupted again, knocking Renji, Ichigo and Rukia, who had also left her gigai, to the ground. I ran to my brother’s side and frantically looked him over. Not finding any injuries, I turned to face Ichigo as he finally stood.

 

“What hit me?” he murmured.

 

“What the hell was that?! You nearly killed my brother!” As I screamed at Ichigo, he fell back to the ground, apparently shocked. I was livid.

 

“But he didn’t,” Kisuke answered from behind me. I didn’t need to turn around to know he was smiling.

 

“Only because I stopped him! What happened to making sure nothing happened to him?!”

 

“Calm yourself, Miss Kitamura.”

 

“No, I will not calm down! He tried to kill Toshiro!”

 

“It was merely a test.” Finally, I turned to face Kisuke.

 

“A what?”

 

“A test. I wanted to see what triggered your powers, so I asked Ichigo to attack your brother, with no intention of harming him, of course. Judging by Ichigo, Rukia and Renji’s inability to get up, I would guess that fear isn’t the only trigger, but anger as well. What puzzles me is why it didn’t have any effect on the rest of us.” By this time, I was a bit calmer, now that I knew Toshiro wasn’t in any harm. I was still clearly upset by the fact he’d been attacked in the first place, though.

 

“What do you think it means?” Rukia asked as she stood. It appeared as though she was no longer affected by my powers, nor were Ichigo and Renji.

 

“I’m not sure yet, but I think she’ll be very useful against the Hollows and Arrancar,” Kisuke answered.