Kapitel 23: Chapter 23: The Third Disciple
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Remember to join the discord! discord.gg/yFMYSWxaUY
Maybe also like my profile if you want, hitting 100 likes would be kind of cool.
AN: Got some things to clarify, first off I'm already aware that Kyoraku/Ukitake were Yamamoto's disciples after the first Quincy war, but in this story I've opted to make it before that.
Mainly because even with the power they had, I still think a lot of their potential had been wasted, albeit due to various reasons but my point still stands.
I won't make any massive overhauls to their character, but I do want them to have the added experience of already having gone through a war. That's all from me, enjoy the chapter.
Fun fact: In my head Koda sounds the same as Starkk (of course when not in combat), I'm a little interested to hear what voice you read his dialogue in.
Chapter 23: The Third Student
Shin'ō Academy's courtyard was usually barren at this time of day, but an exception had been made in the form of two figures laid on their backs, arms crossed behind their necks as they relished in the mollifying sensation of grass against their skin.
"I told you, a well-deserved break like this every once in a while does wonders for one's health. You ought to learn to appreciate moments like this more, don't you think?"
The mellowed individual had long wavy cinnamon hair, he donned a blue Shitagi accompanied by a white Kosode and a beryl Hakama to conclude his attire.
His gentle expression abetted his carefree tone of voice, he didn't appear to be worried in the slightest that a teacher might end up finding him.
"Maybe, but if we're caught flunking like this I shudder to think about what he'd do to us, last time he caned us I'm pretty sure my life started flashing before my eyes…"
His companion sported peculiarly pallid hair that juxtaposed his onyx eyebrows, alongside verdant eyes with a somewhat sickly complexion. Unlike his chestnut-haired comrade his expression was much more uptight, and his tone more somber.
"Haha, that's true, Yama tends to be quite ruthless when it comes to discipline. But he's not even in the academy right now so take it easy, what's the worst that could happen?"
Ukitake grimaced at his friends lacking sense of self-preservation, it wasn't like they could predict when he was going to return. Catching them off-guard would be as easy as breathing for someone of his caliber.
"Still, why do you think he even left? I'm not sure how to explain it but when we saw him this morning he looked—"
"Elated? I noticed, but we're in the same boat, I couldn't even begin to guess what the old man gets up to in his free time, maybe he'll tell us, maybe he won't. If it means we get to skip Chōjirō's boring lectures then I say let him leave for as long as he wants"
"You better not let him hear that…"
Shunsui meekly waved his friend off, believing him to be way too uptight for his own good.
"Better not let me hear what?"
The two jolted out of their indulgent dazes, startled at the sudden appearance of a man with pupiless eyes and slicked-back argent hair. Their heads tilted backwards only to see the aspiring Lieutenant aggressively tapping his foot against the grass with folded arms.
"Ah…Chōjirō…we were uhm…just talking about how impressive you are!" Obviously he wasn't buying any of Shunsui's antics, however when he looked at Ukitake his expression portrayed a hint of disappointment.
He was usually the more rule-abiding one of the two, a part of him expected Ukitake to call Shunsui out on his shenanigans before they occurred.
"Haha…" All the white-haired student could do was let out a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Whatever, the Head Captain has requested your presence, don't ask me what it's about because I haven't the faintest clue. However he said something about you two needing to make a good first impression, take that as you will"
After saying his piece he simply left, oddly uncaring of the fact that two students had dared to skip class.
The duo had expected Chōjirō to chew them out on the spot, but the fact that he didn't either meant that Yamomoto was going to personally deliver their beating, or whatever they had been summoned for was genuinely important.
"First impression?" Ukitake looked towards his friend, wondering if his friend had any idea of what that meant.
"My guess is as good as yours…"
—
Knock Knock Knock.
"Enter" The two nervously slid the door open, looking into the room naturally terrified of their ruthless master, but also curious about the figure that sat next to him.
He was a man with hair similar to Ukitake's with the exception of it being shorter and significantly more spiky, judging by how tightly his Kosode fit on him it was safe to assume he was pretty well built, but that was just to be expected of a Shinigami with perhaps the 4th Division as an exception.
"Uhm, I didn't expect us to be learning Kaido just yet…"
And for some reason, the individual was blindfolded with plain bandages that seemed to have been hurriedly wrapped around his head.
"What? How did you arrive at such a ridiculous assumption? Even if I sat with you 10 hours a day and spoon-fed you Kaido you still wouldn't be able to learn it, didn't Chōjirō tell you two to make a good impression?"
Their shoulders slumped in response to his usual brashness, Yamamoto was never one to mince words when he was displeased, or just wanted to piss you off, at least that's what Shunsui thought.
"This is Koda Yachiru—"
'I just told you that wasn't true!'
"—from now on he'll be joining you as my third disciple, I expect the both of you to help him get settled in, as well as learn what you can from him, have I made myself clear?"
Both Shunsui and Ukitake were a little overwhelmed by the Captain-Commander's speedy introduction, but nodded in acknowledgement nonetheless.
"Is the one on the left Shunsui and the one on the right Ukitake?"
"That's correct, but how did you know?" Koda's ashen-haired brother in arms was sure he hadn't met the newcomer before, the more he looked at the man the more he felt his intrigue rising.
"You could call it a lucky guess, Yamamoto told me what your presences felt like and I just made an assumption, anyhow it's nice to meet the two of you"
"Likewise, but what's with the bandages? If you don't mind me asking of course"
Koda chuckled as he politely gestured towards his masking.
"For the record I'm not actually blind, it's just part of my training" Both of the more experienced disciples' ears perked up in response, normally they partook in, or were at least aware of the others training methods.
Their master had never put them through this "blindfold training".
"Before the two of you start berating me for answers, I'm training him like this simply because his foundation isn't even remotely the same as yours, if you want to know more about his background I'll let him be the one to tell you, any complaints?"
After sparing a moment to not-so-discretely stare at their junior, they shrugged at each other and decided to just go with the flow, not that they had much of a choice anyways.
"No, if you have any questions Koda don't hesitate to ask myself or Shunsui, I look forward to learning with you" In his usual people-friendly tone he greeted the man and put his arm out.
"The feeling is mutual" After a few awkward attempts to locate the man's hand Koda finally managed to clasp him in a firm handshake.
"By the way you might want to restrain your Spiritual Pressure, the two of us will be just fine but some of the other students might struggle to withstand it"
"Apologies, I have to constantly release my Reiryoku in order to get a feel for my surroundings, I'll probably need quite a bit of time before I'm able to fully restrain it"
Ukitake scratched the brunt of his chin as he tried to look for an alternative, the fact that Yamomoto wasn't offering any advice probably meant that he was testing how capable the two were as Koda's elders.
"I see, Shunsui, a little help?"
His unusually silent friend caught on to what he was proposing, they each allowed a fraction of their pressure to leak out as they inched closer towards Koda, both noticing the faint simper on the Head Captain's face.
"We can suppress the range of your pressure this way, but should we happen to be absent I suggest you steer clear of the other students, some of the fresher attendees could end up being seriously injured by your Reiryoku"
"Noted, but how exactly am I supposed to attend classes if I can't be around them?"
Yamamoto broke the silence by continuing the explanation before Ukitake could.
"Being my disciple makes you part of the accelerated class, which only consists of you three by the way, anyone that ends up teaching you is more than capable of burdening whatever pressure you exert on them. You only have to be mindful when you're walking to and from the classes, sound easy enough?"
"Mhm"
"Great, normally I'd be the one teaching you but I have a heap-load of work I need to attend to, therefore I'll have Chōjirō handle it for the time being, and Koda, remember what I told you?"
"No matter what Shunsui asks me to do, say no?"
Ukitake immediately cupped his mouth with his hand, trying his utmost best to keep the laughter from leaving his throat.
"Yama-ji…do you trust me so little?" He sighed, all the while feigning his disappointment.
"Not that, the other one"
"Keep the blindfold on no matter what?"
"Exactly, if you remove it even a split second before you're ready, all your training will be rendered null. And you'll essentially have to start from scratch again. I'm well aware that it might complicate your studies, but you'll thank me once you see the results"
Koda had learned long ago that questioning experts was never a good idea, granted looking at the world with nothing but your Reiryoku wasn't all that comfortable, but since when did good things ever come easy?
"Normally I'd have the three of you go to your lessons immediately, but I'll be generous and give you the day off to get to know each other. But don't let it get to your head, from tomorrow onwards it's business as usual"
With the exception of Koda, the other two broke into a nervous sweat as they had experienced first hand what "business as usual" really meant.
Hint, it involved pain, more pain, and then even more pain on top of that.
The grandmaster swiftly made his exit finally leaving the trio to their own devices, this time Shunsui was the one to extend his hand to Koda, realizing that he had been rather quiet, the last thing he wanted was to appear apathetic during his first impression.
"Sorry that I've been a bit silent until now, as you know I'm Shunsui Kyōraku, nice to meet you"
Koda succeeded in shaking his hand on the first attempt as unbeknownst to either of his fellow disciples, his attention was honed onto the two Zanpakuto's that hung from both sides of Shunsui's waist.
The twin-blades seemed to be emitting some sort of intent towards Koda's Asauchi, he assumed Kyōraku was either feigning ignorance to the fact, or his Zanpakuto's were masking their actions from him.
'They don't seem to like you very much, did you insult them or something?'
Unsurprisingly, he wasn't met with any form of response.
"Of course, I suppose the two of you wouldn't mind showing me around for starters?"
"I don't see why not" He agreed, proceeding to stand up and make his back towards the door. But before he could exit he felt Koda's hand grip itself onto his shoulder.
"Hm?"
"I forgot to mention, right now I'm only able to sense my surroundings within a one-meter radius, do you mind me relying on you for the time being?"
"Not at all, just as Ukitake said you're free to come to us for help whenever you need it"
Shunsui mused as he took a moment to get a closer look at Koda.
'Yachiru…haven't I heard that name before?'
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Iguana32
Iguana32 Remember to join the discord! discord.gg/yFMYSWxaUY
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein