Kajitora made his way to his next class: Kidou 101. He jogged to the next class to calm his nerves which were wrecked due to his previous class. When he reached the building he believed to be for his class, he saw a sign posted on the front door. The sign had an arrow pointed to the left side of the building and read: Around back. Kajitora timidly walked around to the side of the building. To the left of the building was a small group of trainees and across from the group were multiple targets on wooden tripods. The targets reminded him of arrow targets he had used for his samurai training with a Yumi (bow) and arrow. Kajitora ran and joined the other trainees.

The Instructor for his class was a small female with a short black ponytail. She seemed energetic as she announced, "Everyone, today will be practicing concentration, raising energy, and projecting it. First lets go over the basics and then I'll let all of you take a shot at the targets with Shakkahou (Red Fire Shot)."

The Instructor was masterful at Kidou and very knowledgeable; she managed to teach more or less everyone in the class the basics of how to form Kidou in an hour. Knowing, however; was half the battle. The trainees would need a lot more practice before they use Kidou in battle. The Instructor made ten lines for the ten targets. Kajitora was third in the fifth line. Some students were actually able to form the Kidou blast and few were not able to just yet, so far everyone that was able to form the Kidou hit the target.

Eventually it was Kajitora's turn. He stepped up to the marked line that the students were told not to cross due to 'safety reasons' and took a deep breath. He started by concentrating on his goal, to hit the target. Then he started raising his reiatsu, and forming the beginner hand signs. He used a commanding voice to say the Kidou's incantation, "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hadou no sanjyusan: Shakkahou!" (Way of Destruction #33: Red Fire Shot!).

The particles around Kajitora's hands began to glow red and converge to the middle of his outstretched hands. Every red speck that gathered to the center formed together to make an illuminating red ball of energy. The red light made Kajitora's hair shine with a reddish tint, and his eyes reflected the auburn light. He could feel the ball's pulsing energy as if it were alive, like it was breathing ever so slightly. It seemed like the ball illuminated everything around him, making everything near more noticeable and harder for him to concentrate but he tried to focus on the ball's beauty. He looked up from the ball and at the target ahead, he knew what was next: the most difficult part. He willed the energy ball to fly forward and hit the target. And to his surprise the ball began to move at a deadly speed that Kajitora could not control. The energy ball spiraled forward and completely missed the target but hit the ground under it, sending the target flying up into the air.

The female instructor quickly raised her hand as she smiled and said, "Hadou no ryokujyusan: Souren Sokatsui! (Way of Destruction #63: Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down!)" Two, much larger versions of the Shakkahou propelled from the instructor's hands and spiraled around each other until they hit the middle of the airborne target. The target exploded in the air like a dangerous firework and nothing was left of it. The teacher looked at Kajitora, who was in childish awe and told him, "You need some more practice but good effort."

+1 Kidou Mastery

The last thing that Kajitora remembered was taking a nap under a tree...but now he was in the middle of a desert. He had seen it before. Not here again, he thought angrily. He stood up in the sand and looked up, and sure enough there it was-the giant phoenix! Kajitora suddenly had flashbacks of his last encounter with this thing, this nightmare. His skin tingled with the remembrance of burning alive, and he saw his sword unscathed by flame. The phoenix’s eyes, which looked like to two floating heaps of coal in a fire, pierced through Kajitora. The stare made him more than uneasy this time, he was genuinely afraid. The phoenix did not move, as if it's continually burning fire was all the movement that it was capable of. Normally Kajitora would be at ease but he knew this thing didn't need to move to cause harm. He began to draw his sword, but his hand grabbed air. His eyes fell to his waist and there was no sword on his hip. The fear quickened within. The enormous flaming bird looked down at him and it's voice echoed in Kajitora's head, "What did I tell you!? That fear, don't let it blind you!...You haven't grown at all, have you?"

Kajitora knew what came next; he was almost to the point of tears. He didn't want to be consumed by the horrible fire that was coming. His entire body erupted into flames. As he began to cry out, he heard that voice again, "Use it!" Yes, that is what the phoenix had said last time. Something about not letting his anger and fear blind him. The pain from the burns was excruciating but he decided he would give the bird's advice a try. Anything would be better than when the flames had completely engulfed him-it was like his soul itself was on fire. He pushed the horrendous pain to the back of his mind. What did he need to do? What did he want to do? Get the flames away from him. There was one thing he could think out at the terrifying moment-a variation of Bakudou number 8: Seki (Repulse). Kajitora ignored his diminishing body as much as he could and tried to focus.

Kajitora began to raise his reiatsu, and formed the beginner hand signs. He focused on pushing the flames away from himself as he said the incantation with a loud commanding voice, "Harken, thee of the North wind. Zephyr of Death, sever the cord between the enemy and I; we are no longer made of same cord. Hakudou no jyuuroku: Mattaku Seki!" (Way of Binding #16: Complete Repulsion). The tiny molecules around Kajitora began to draw nearer to him, even the flames were drawn closer to him for an instance which made the pain maddening. But immediately following, everything was repelled away from Kajitora-everything including the fire. No longer held up by the destructive fire, Kajitora fell to his chest in the sand. The damage done, along with the reiatsu he had used left him fatigued. He heard the voice one last time, "I guess you've grown some, little chick." The only words that came to Kajitora's lips was the question: "Who? Who are-" He lost conscientiousness.

When Kajitora awakened, he was still under a large tree in the gardens of Seirietei. The sun was mercilessly shining down on his face; it reminded him of the nightmares so he simply moved into the tree's shade more. He looked down and his sword was resting against his legs, for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off of the sheathed sword. Half afraid and half relieved he looked at the katana. Fear-that had got him nowhere, maybe courage would take him deeper in being a shinigami-deeper into his bond with his reiatsu and his zanpakutou. He reached out and touched the handle of his zanpakutoh, and he could see the satisfied red glow coming from within the sheath. It will take some courage for me to use kidou in battle , he thought, and not relying on my swordsmanship exclusively. That is the different between when I was a samurai, and now-now I am a shinigami!

Approved + 2 Kidou Mastery. ( Excellent writing)

(OOC: Thank you very much)