The Proper Schooling [Open]

The white-stone walls soared above him. He had spent the last three hours circling the giant monolith. Yoin, the small boy he'd saved, had disappeared the night before, leaving behind a half loaf of melon bread. Hibiki had only smiled, and accepted the gesture, knowing that Yoin didn't want to be forced into this. He only hoped he'd see the boy again one day. As it were, he had far too much time to think. Everything that had happened the past few days seemed to suddenly catch his interest. He had exhausted every shred memory, relived every moment of life he could conjure up. Despite all the pain, the misery, and the fear, he had no regrets, which surprised even him. For here he was now, getting a chance to make something of himself. He grinned, which coincided with both the emergence of Akki into a shared conscious, and the sighting of the first gate into Seireitei.

The mighty doors stood open, a gaping maw that provided a look into the inner workings of the most impenetrable place, anywhere. They knew that in the most desperate of circumstances, those mighty gates would shut, and nothing would be able to penetrate them. Now, however, they were simply highly monitored and highly guarded. Everyone that attempted to pass through had to provide some proof of their reasoning and where they were going. Hibiki and Akki steeled themselves and approached the gate. The giant of a man that stood before them smiled, and Akki and Hibiki felt and saw the flicker of amusement that passed across the face of the mammoth, as if the thought of crushing or tossing them away gave him some pleasure. As it were, it was gone in a flash, and a look of seriousness crossed his features.

"What business have you within the Seireitei?" he asked, his voice as deep as the ocean.

The twin minded consciousness of Hibiki and Akki whirred for a moment, the voice having stunned them with it's raw force, but they shook it off and answered confidently.

"We... I want to enter the Shinigami Academy, to become a full fledged Shinigami."

The smile on the lips of the oversized man widened.

"We? I only see one of you. However, no matter how many of you there are, every one of you needs to prove and provide reason. You've provided reason, but where is the proof you can even attempt to become a Shinigami?"

They knew this would come, and had thought of many ways they could do this. However, they had no way they could feasibly accomplish the task at hand. So they went to their animal instincts, aiming to appear as intimidating and threatening as possible. He and Akki both focused on their reserve of Reiatsu and let every bit of it flow through them. The result was a silver-grey-hued shroud, not very large, but still big enough to draw a look of surprise from the guards face as the Reiatsu materialized. Hibiki and Akki stemmed the flow with the now practiced inner motion. The guard said not another word, just straightened up, grunted, and jerked his thumb toward the interior of the gate.

Akki and Hibiki passed through, and fought the urge to simply stand there, gawking. As they walked, their eyes were restless, scanning everything that slid beneath their gaze. It wasn't long before their head hurt from trying to take in such a sheer amount of information. The twins shook the urge to explore from their minds as they entered a sub-section of the enormous complex, the Shinigami Academy. They saw people dressed in white, the uniforms of the Academy, though for every three students they saw, they spied an individual dressed in black- full on Shinigami. Now, Akki sinking into them, as he wasn't good with crowds, Hibiki stood there in the doorway, dressed in his now-ragged clothing, and utterly unsure of what to do. He gulped, and took a step forward, and almost ran headlong into a mass of people.

Dray felt odd sporting his new temporary patch on his uniform, it labeled him as a temporary instructor. The previous instructor for this class had gotten in an argument with another shinigami about something or other, or so he had heard and was getting patched up by 4th squad, but there were many stories about what had happened he could only guess in reality, either way it wasn't really his business to know. He looked around as the student took the test the previous instructor had left, at least he knew a great deal about the topic, Kido Theory, that was more than he could say about some other temporary instructors.

Dray checked his watch, it was time to collect the tests. "All right, everyone pens down and pass your papers forward, make sure your name is on your test." He called out. He walked forward and collected all the tests, and then the bell rang. He quickly mentioned the assigned reading pages and dismissed the class. As the students filed out he packed up his things, he was supposed to stay around for a while to help out one of the instructors later but for now he was done. He picked up his things and locked down the classroom.

As he turned he heard a shout and saw a crowd a ways away, he quickly ran over, startling a few students and saw 2 students brawling on the ground near the entrance of the academy, he quickly sealed their movements by double casting Hado 14, The students fell to the ground still trying to attack each other, he ran over and pulled them away from each other as another instructor showed up and put one on each shoulder, nodded to dray and headed off towards the dean's office.

Dray sighed as the crowd dispersed and he picked up his things and looked around once more, the only thing standing out was one student who was dressed in what could only be described as rags. He thought about it for a minute and decided to not rebuke the student, the student knew how bad he looked. After pondering what he should do while he waited the few hours to help out the other instructor who had requested his help, he decided to head over to the kido fields and the sparring grounds, which happened to be next to each other, and see if anyone needed help and if not he would just practice himself. Having now decided what to do he slowly started walking over towards the Kido fields.

After being jostled through a crowd, at the center of which, a fight waged, Hibiki was in mild shock. Despite the regal feel of the place, he couldn't help but grin. This was just like a regular school in the human world, fights and all. However, he still felt off. he knew he stuck out like a sore thumb. In earnest, he looked around, and locked eyes with an individual a little ways off. He was one of the black-robed individuals. His gaze held his for a moment, as if he were facing a choice. His look resigned, and he turned away.

Hibiki, not knowing what else to do, figured he'd follow him, and then ask where he needed to go in order to enroll in the Academy. In truth, Hibiki had no clue what this man's reaction would be. He received awkward glances as he strode through the crowds, hoping to keep the man in sight. Several times, he lost him, only to catch a quick glimpse through the crowd. Eventually, he stopped at two large, open areas. One had dummies and red targets lined up against a wall. the other was obviously a practice field, with a few standing dummies, and individuals sparring.

Hibiki stopped as he watched, awestruck. People were firing bolts of various hued energy from their hands, or from the tips of weapons in the field to his right, with the dummies all lined up. Several struck their targets and would have seemingly vaporized a normal person. On the other field, most of the people were paired off, fierce sparring matches waged between each, though there were individual people going through sword-strokes maneuvers. All of it was fairly impressive.

Shaking from the reverie, Hibiki approached the man cautiously. He cleared his throat to get the man's attention.

"Um, excuse me, but, do, perhaps, know where I need to go to enroll...? I just got here, from Rukongai, and the guard let me through, but other than that... I'm pretty lost." His words were straightforward, and hard to misinterpret. He was grinning, both from nervousness of being just where he was, and of the fact that he was in the Shinigami Academy, and soon to be on his way up.

Draylon walked through the crowd of students, occasionally glancing at a few of the attractive female students as he walked by. He didn't spend too much time looking of course, Arashi No Me really didn't like it when he looked at other women, she tended to be possessive. He sighed, he would have to speak to her about that someday.

He quickly arrived at the Fields and looked around at the students practicing, it was pretty busy here today. Usually there weren't even half this number. It seemed like today was the day to practice both with the sword and technique. Yes, he could do a lot of work here while he waited, the only decision was to which field he would help out with.

He looked down at his zanpakuto covering his hand, apparently a lot of students thought it was a mechanical hand to replace the one he had lost, there were rumors about it and quite frankly it amused him. The fact was it was just his zanpakuto although the students didn't know that.

His thoughts suddenly got interrupted by a nervous voice behind him asking about where the enrollment office was, and admitting that he was lost. Dray paused for a moment and turned around to face the boy. He knew that looks were deceiving and he couldn't judge him based on how he looked. He immediately realized that it was the boy he had seen before, the rags and long white hair making him easily recognizable.

He thought about what he should do for a moment, he could guide the boy himself, give directions or order a student to guide him to the office. Suddenly he heard a large explosion and a scream as one of the students accidentally detonated a kido in his hand, a instructor rushed over and ordered an aid to take him to the medical area. Draylon paused as he thought he heard an odd sound off in the distance, shaking it off he looked back at the boy and said, "The registration offices are over near the entrance of the school, I'm afraid you were much closer before at the gate. Would you like me or a student to guide you there?" Dray had begun flexing his gauntlet-ed hand a little bit, making small metal noises each time he flexed.

The explosion drew a reaction in Hibiki, and his heart pounded faster, a butterfly in a narrow cage, trying to escape. The simultaneous scream should have chilled him, but it had the opposite effect, calming him down. in the rational part of his brain, the scream told him the student was still alive. Slightly blanched, he let his mind come back to the man he had been talking to, who had been talking. Akki, who had been listening, filled him in on what the man had said, word for word, so the pause was extremely minimal.

"It doesn't matter to me any, whichever is more convenient with you, sir." he replied, watching the man's hand from his peripheral, which he dully noted was covered by some form of gauntlet, which made the sound of metal on metal as the fingers flexed and relaxed.

Hibiki could now just barely hear a dull sound. It was unfamiliar, but so was most of this. He paid it no mind as he bowed, came up, and then extended a hand. "My name is Hibiki. Might I ask who I'm addressing?" There was no need to be so formal that he could tell, but the white-haired child knew not the customs of this place, and it seemed appropriate. plus, from the way he looked, this man looked distracted, itching for a fight, or both. He didn't want to tick him off and start a fight before he was even a Soul Reaper In Training.

Dray looked at the boy in front of him, with a tired expression on his face. The boy had no preference whether or not it was him or a student that took him, unfortunately for dray that pretty much meant that he would be taking the boy himself rather than interrupting a student's training to do a favor for a temp teacher.

The boy stuck out his hand and introduced himself as Hibiki, Dray reached out and took shook the hand with his gauntlet-ed hand and said, "My name is Draylon Karosu, I am a temporary instructor here at the moment." Dray released his grip and let his hand drop back to his side as he looked around.

Dray sighed and said, "Come on then I will take you to the office." He started walking at a moderate pace towards the Main office to take the student in to be registered and at least get him out of those rags and into a uniform. He glanced at the boy and said, "If you have any questions feel free to ask, I will do my best to answer them."

There was little that shocked Hibiki. However, such a moment occurred when the man took his hand. The grip was strong, and instead of being some kind of mechanical substitute for a missing limb, as initially thought, Hibiki realized that it seemed to have solid form beneath it, more of a gauntlet than a replacement. He took note of this as Draylon told him his name. He nodded respectfully, and followed the man's footsteps. to the side and slightly behind him, so that he was still leading and they could still talk.

The ground grew more comfortable beneath Hibiki's bare feet as they walked toward a building up front. The soon-to-be Shinigami pondered for a moment when offered the chance to ask questions. His knowledge of Shinigami was extremely limited, so this was a goo opportunity. Suddenly, like it had when the Menos Grande had arrived in that moment of life, but a few days ago, his mind reeled, and he felt an incredible pressure upon the very being of himself. He met the eyes of a white-cloaked man, with the same black garb underneath as Draylon, and in a flash, he was gone.

Without having to ask, Hibiki had known he had been in the presence of a Captain, a power equivalent to his father's, when he had used his utmost to protect him. The other people milling around didn't seem to be feeling quite the same effects as him, though the majority of them were paler, and some were having cold sweats, he could tell. So, with this in mind, he asked his first question.

"How do I become a Captain?"

The question wasn't meant to be a sign of an enlarged ego, or an overdeveloped confidence, and especially not a signal of a cocky nature. But from what he could tell, most everyone started off weak, and Captains possessed extremely powerful auras without even trying. Thus, the basis of his question.

Draylon suddenly saw a captain flash by, He didn't understand why there would be a captain at the academy. He did understand why he was moving so fast after glancing around, the captain's aura was too much for most of the students to handle, even in it's suppressed state. But why would a captain be here? If it was to make an appearance i probably would have gotten a notice about it, maybe that odd sound? no, why would a CAPTAIN investigate that...

He was jarred out of his thoughts by the boy asking how to become a captain. He looked at the boy and thought for a second. He was asking how HE could become a captain, so he must want the complete picture of how to become a captain. Draylon sighed and said, "You ask a complex question kid. First you graduate the academy and work on unlocking your shikai, which is basically understanding your inner spirit to the point you can talk to each other, far harder than it sounds by the way. Work your way up the seats in whatever squad you choose to join, then you work on unlocking your bankai, which is unlocked like the shikai or so ive heard, it varies how from person to person, and few people ever achieve it at all so there isn't a lot of information on it. At that point there are 3 ways to become captain, the first is to take the captain proficiency test, which requires you to perform the bankai. Most captains use this method to become captains. At least three existing captains, including the Captain-Commander, have to witness the test."

Draylon glanced behind him to make sure the boy was following both his words and steps, then continued, "The second way is to have personal recommendations from at least six captains and approval from at least three of the remaining seven. Then the last method is to challenge a captain in a one on one duel and win, with 200 witnesses from the captain's squad, you don't need to have the bankai for this method but without it's power you hardly stand a chance. Other things to know are many squads have specialties 1st Squad Captain is the Captain-Commander, the Captain of the Captains, 2nd squad is punishment and protection, 4th is healers and medics as well as utility services. 5th is first response squad, they are the first ones to respond. 11th Specializes in physical prowess, and 12th is the research and development, they make all the tech, pills and machines as well as do experiments. Something to keep in mind, for example don't be a combat specialist and challenge 4th Captain to a duel and stuff like that. And of course you have to live long enough to reach that point, Any questions?"

[Holy Jesus, I forgot all about this... My bad, Dray ]

Hibikki nodded, letting all this new information soak in. Draylon had explained well enough for him to grasp what he meant, and the picture was virtually complete, save the aspect of increasing in strength, and developing Bankai and so on. So he thought carefully as he phrased the wording of his next question, which was actually several questions.

"Um, yes, I have a few, actually. Firstly, how people get their swords, or even find out their inner spirits? And how does your power increase? I mean, I'm familiar with the concept of Reiatsu, and so on, but how do you increase the amount you have, or is it something else that makes that weight that the captain had? Lastly, what am I supposed to do when I get in there?"

At this point, they had arrived at the small structure that was the admissions office. The shabbily dressed kid would wait until his questions were answered, at least, but, despite his normally resolved demeanor, he was nervous. He looked up, not letting that nervousness show, and awaited one of many responses he was about to be given.

Draylon stopped outside the office and said, "Well, you will be given a basic zanpakuto to train with until you form your own. And as for the inner spirits there are many ways to do it, meditation, visiting your inner soul world and looking for them, sometimes they try to talk to you, especially in dangerous situations. as for the rest it's pretty much just training, I mean your zanpakuto spirit will grant you power as your bond grows with it, but a lot of it is training yourself as well." Dray looked at the building ahead of him and just said, "Talk to the person inside, why you're there, you'll answer some questions maybe some tests but that's about it."

Draylon looked over at the boy next to him, "Anything else you need?"

Before Hibiki had a chance to answer, Akki, tired of such sheepishness, clawed to the surface. If Draylon was looking him in the eyes, he'd probably notice the shift in the pupils, from spheres to slits. Hopefully it wouldn't be off-putting, though hopes of that were ruined when their shared body stood up erect, and the higher pitched voice suddenly became rough and raw, and Akki spoke.

"Yeah, where's a good to fight around here? Or even better, who?" he asked, a short statement that would serve as the basis for all the places the more aggressive of the two would spend his time.

"Um, to train, too. Or are there some kind of classes for that, like gym, or something?" Hibiki asked, scrambling to the surface, so that the two shared their body. Now Hibiki knew there'd be a bit of a weird spot, so he added, to Akki's annoyance, "And then that's all the questions we- I- have, and you can be on your way, unless there's anything else we- er, I need to help you with or know."

By now, several people had walked inside, obviously transported there by some means, since they were single-file, and as nervous as himself, whilst the one in front walked with dignified purpose and familiarity. He felt a bit like a fool now, as Akki noted that their own method of enrollment was rather... nontraditional.

Draylon stared at the boy before him Why would he want to know where to fight? It was not only an odd question but a complete change in demeanor as well, as he looked at the boy he noticed that the boy's eye had changed to a slit rather than the normal round shape it had had before.

Draylon crouched down and looked closer at the boy, especially his eyes. He slowly said,"The sparring grounds... are a good place to fight, and yes there are classes for that." He crouched silently for a moment and said, "Why did your eye change?" Dray reached out with his hand towards the boy's face, intending to spread the eye open so he could get a better look at it.

Akki and Hibiki both would have flinched as the fingers opened his lid wider to examine the slit-pupil, but as it were, Akki kept himself composed, and smirked, the words spilling out in his voice before Hibiki could stop them.

"The better to see you with, my dear."

Internally, Hibiki groaned. He forced Akki back below the surface and took complete control of their shared body. Taking a moment to compose himself, he looked around once more. They were virtually alone under the mildly sloped roof of the building, so there was little chance of being heard. Just to be sure, however, he dropped his voice to little more than a whisper.

"Well, I'm not really always me. Did you ever hear the quote by Robert Lewis Stevenson...? 'In each of us, two natures are at war.' Well, in my case, it's definitely true. I share a body, with my twin brother, Akki. So it's like having multiple personalities, but we're two separate consciousnesses. I don't know why his eyes are different than mine, but that's how you can tell who you're talking to, unless the left eye is the only slit pupil, and the right eye is normal. That's when both of us are on the surface, as we call it..."

He waited to see Draylon's reaction, worried that he'd be denied or unaccepted from the Academy. He thought about mentioning his father, Kaoseu, since he used to be a captain, from what he knew of the Haoris the captains wore, the same kind his own father wore around his face, like a scarf. He'd save it, in case a more dire need presented itself, he decided.

Dray stared at the eye as Hibiki/Akki explained what was going on with his eye, apparently the boy had multiple personalities, it was odd, no doubt about that. It brought so many questions to Draylon's Mind, like what was the difference in personalities, if he went to his inner world would they be separate entities? does that mean he will have two separate zan's? one for each soul? There were so many questions he was going to have to get answers to. He quickly decided to tutor the young boy as an excuse to observe him and learn more about what was going on with him.

Draylon looked at the boy and said, "When you're done registering, look me up sometime and I'll train you personally, Now go and make sure you get a map, ask anyone in labs to escort you to me and they will." Draylon hoped that he would take him up on his offer, and show up. He really wanted to learn more about this kind of thing. More questions were popping up in his head, could he stuff one into a Gigai and seperate them and get 2 shinigami. "See me when you are done, k?"

Hibiki was mildly taken aback by the offer. Having full well expected either being pressed for some further form of explanation, or downright being kicked from the premises. Training him now seemed a bit like he was the one with the separate personalities. However, Akki's ever present consciousness could see the curiosity in the gaze that the teacher placed on them, and responded accordingly, through Hibiki.

"Please, just don't tell anyone else. I don't want people thinking I'm some kind of freak. I'll be sure to come see you again sometime. Thank you for all your help, Draylon." He said, bowing his head in a physical gesture of gratitude.

Without waiting for a response, they turned and entered into the building, looking around the mostly-bare walls. It was a generic building, designed to be easy on the eyes, but not make one comfortable being their for extended periods. This was made doubly obvious by the voice that called to him from behind a desk.

"Can I help you?" the voice asked. Hibiki and Akki both matched it with a rather squat woman with an unruly head of too-bright red hair that somehow managed to appear both too greasy and too dry simultaneously. The wispy hairs on her upper lip would have unnerved them more if her fat, round eyes that made her ever so resemble a frog hadn't have locked on them, and then given them the up-down. He swallowed the lump in his throat, and stood up a little straighter as he walked, stopping a few feet from her desk, where he then stood at an attention-like stance.

"My name is Hibiki, and I'd like to enroll in the Shinigami Academy."