Kenta and Keina stood in the training grounds a few feet away from each other, Takara had decided to take a nap or something so that left them alone which was good. Kenta held up one finger and began speaking; “Now to begin we’re going to start by teaching you how to utilize your spirit energy. Probably the easiest thing to teach and learn.”
Kenta took a few steps back before his red spirit energy shot up causing the wind to blow along with leaves and grass, “Now, did you see the color that shot up when I raised my spirit energy? That was my Reiatsu, not to be confused with Reiryoku. Reiatsu is simply the pressure someone’s Reiryoku exerts. While Reiryoku is used for abilities such as Kido and Zanpakuto abilities, it can also be used to increase your strength and power. It can also be used to increase your speed, and when you use your Reiryoku to increase your speed that’s what us Shinigami call Hohō. The most commonly used technique of Hoho is Shunpo.”
Kenta then used shunpo to get in front of Keina which caused her eyes to widen as he then used shunpo to get back to where he was, “There are more advanced techniques of Hoho but those would be useless to point out if you don’t even have the basics down. Now that we have Reiryoku explained, time to go back to Reiatsu. As explained Reiatsu is the pressure someone’s Reiryoku exerts, although there is more to it. The color of Reiatsu varies from person to person, mine being red. Leon’s is a darker shade of red, Rose’s is pink. Takara from what I’ve briefly seen is also pink but with a black outline. Sometimes Reiatsu can be in the form of elements like fire, or water. I’ve even seen smoke. But the color doesn’t matter, it’s the way you use it. For example, some Shinigami can use their own Reiatsu to harden their skin to protect themselves from attacks.”
Kenta walked over to the weapons and tossed a knife in the air. The knife came down looking as if it was going to pierce Kenta’s shoulder but instead the blade snapped and fell to the ground. “Like that, now it’s not exactly going to always protect you in that way. If someone with higher Reiatsu attacks you, you’ll most likely be cut. You may have reduced damage but you’ll most likely be cut, though if someone with lower Reiatsu tries to attack you it may not have any affect. Though their own Reiatsu will protect their blade from breaking depending on how strong your own Reiatsu is.”
Kenta let Keina process all of that before speaking again, “Also depending on how high the Reiatsu is can cause fear in others and since Reiryoku is based on willpower, well, if you fear then it can cause your own Reiatsu to weaken. It can also cause stunning, Paralyzation, and make it feel as though you are being attacked when you aren’t. A good example of people who could make you feel that way with their energy is the current Head Captain Juki, the Kenpachi Shiro Sora, and Hikari Shinrai. Though those are just the people with spirit energy higher than the average, especially of their rank. But the Head Captain is to be expected….Anyways, those effects are usually placed upon you if there is a notable gap. Someone with the spirit energy of your average unseated wouldn’t be able to withstand the spirit energy of someone with a Captain level reiatsu, though a Lieutenant might but not always. So, do you have all of that down?”
Keina nodded in which Kenta simply sat down with crossed legs closing his eyes, “Then recite it word from word.”
“Excuse me!?” Keina yelled with widened eyes.
“You heard me, if you got all of that down then you should be able to recite word from word,” Kenta said before opening his eyes, “But I guess I can go a bit easier. Just tell me the important bits then we’ll get on with actual training.” Keina slowly nodded and then told him the important parts, and even a few of the least important parts like colors.
They then began spirit energy training. Kenta stood up and brushed himself off then looked at Keina, “Now, watch me closely and follow suit.” Kenta crossed his arms taking a breath before releasing it, his spirit energy rising slowly after he closed his eyes.
“Did you notice?” Kenta asked as he opened his eyes.
“Um, can I get another example?” Keina asked.
“Sure, but watch everything!” Kenta said as he did it again. Once he opened his eyes he looked at Keina, “I don’t expect you to know what I’m doing all around, just want you to tell me what I’m doing with my body.”
“Ok, you’re um…Breathing?” Keina asked rubbing her head with a nervous smile, “You’re taking a breath and closing your eyes before you raise your energy…Focusing, you’re focusing on it?” she asked curiously with a tilt to her head.
Kenta nodded with a small smile that quickly disappeared. “Focus. That is what’s needed to utilize your spirit energy. First think about your spirit energy, then think about what you want it to do which should be raise. Next relax, take a deep breath and close your eyes and just think about raising it. Focus on that thought.”
Keina nodded and did so. Closing her eyes she took a breath, her mind focused on raising her energy but among other things. After a few minutes….Nothing. She sighed and opened her eyes, “It’s not working…”
“Were you thinking about raising your energy?”
“Yes!”
“Was that the only thing you were thinking about?”
“No, but you never said that!”
“Well then do that,” Kenta replied.
“…I can’t, it’s not that simple.”
“Oh,” Kenta said understanding; he ran a hand through his hair thinking, “Well here’s something Hikari told me. Think about every moment of your life, every one that you can. Think of the happy moments, and the sad moments.”
Keina nodded and thought of those moments, the fun memories with Kenta and her parents. The times volunteering, playing sports….Then the death of her parents, that car crash. The time in Janaan, which were the most painful memories. She thought of them all.
“Now let that all go,” Kenta said.
“Excuse me!?” Keina asked, “Just let it all go!? Forget it all!?”
“Only for a moment,” Kenta told her.
“…I can’t just forget about all of that, I can’t forget what Janaan did. The experiments, none of that!”
“Well then forgive that.”
“You think I can just….Forgive that?”
“Only for a moment,” Kenta replied, “Hikari says when he does it he doesn’t exactly forgives. He places a face on the person who’s done bad, someone he knows is good, then forgives that person because he knows they haven’t done bad.”
“But that doesn’t make sense, wh-“
“Don’t think about it logically Keina, just do it!” Kenta shouted, though not angrily, “Only to bring your energy out, then you won’t have to do it anymore.”
Keina nodded and did it. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, relaxing as she pictured in her dark mind Janaan, Tenchi, and Akuma. She then replaced their faces with Kenta’s alongside her mom and dad. Focusing on raising her energy at the same time, she began ‘forgiving’ those faces…..Opening her eyes she saw violet around her arms as the wind blew around her, Kenta gave her a nice smile, “Good job.”
“So….This is what, um, Hikari you said his name was? Is this what he does every time he wants to bring his spirit energy out?” Keina asked.
“Well, he told me it’s more so how he controls his Hollow side….Atleast one of his cero techniques. And since you have Hollow DNA technically, I thought it’d work for you since the normal way didn’t.”
“I see….” She said as she continued looking at the Reiatsu before closing her eyes which made her spirit energy stop pouring out, though afterwards she felt a bit…Empty, which she simply shrugged off. She didn’t bother asking about Hikari and his Hollow side, with what she saw and been through she knew it wasn’t exactly impossible. But she figured he gained his different than how she gained hers, “So what’s next?” she asked.
“Kido,” Kenta replied, “We’re going to start off with Kido which shouldn’t be too hard unless you have zero talent for it like Hikari. Now, I’m going to teach you one of the most common Kido Shakkahō. You already know what Kido is so I won’t explain it.”
Kenta then held his palm forward nodding to Keina so she could follow along with his movements which she did, “Focus your spirit energy into the palm of your hand and then began pushing it out, take a few seconds if you need to.” Keina nodded and began doing so, taking a few minutes to actually get to the point of pushing it to her hands.
“Now as you know with Kido only skilled users can use Kido without an incarnation, but if someone untrained like you tried doing that then the Kido would most likely explode in your face….Hence only skilled users,” Kenta said, “Although without an incarnation is faster it does weaken the attack, so it takes even more skilled users to use it at full strength or beyond. Takes even more skilled users than that to say it without the spell name. So listen carefully and repeat this after me.”
Kenta spoke slowly so she’d be able to catch it all but fast enough so that they wouldn’t waste any time, “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! Hado #31 Shakkahō!” Kenta pointed his palm sideways letting the pillar of energy shoot into the trees.
Keina watched then took a deep breathing trying to remember that all, good thing she was into light poetry otherwise she would have taken longer than what she already had, but she did take a while to get it all down, “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! Hado #31 Shakkahō!” The pillar of energy shot out of her palms which pushed her back due to how much power she accidently put into it which caused her to fall to the ground. She quickly stood up brushing off her bum before she looked at the aftermath of her Shakkahō. It had burned through a few trees, along with Kenta’s sleeve. “O-Oh! I’m Sorry Kenta, I didn’t mean too!”
“No it’s fine, keep practicing. You obviously pack some punch for your first time, so it’s a good thing,” Kenta said with a smile, “You’re doing well, Keina…”
“Oh, that’s good!” Keina said with a smile and a slight blush, sort of finding it funny that it was her younger brother teaching her. The two continued training for hours in her spirit energy learning how to control and utilize it. She had got Shakkahō down and a bunch of other low numbered Kido. They also worked on her Hoho. Shunpo was something she had gotten down pretty quick while being pretty quick, but now it was the time to work on Hakuda and Zanjutsu. He had let her get a feel for a few of the weapons lay out there and she had chosen a pair of Sai, saying she liked how it felt and how light it was. So he decided she could use that, and train her in Zanjutsu and Hakuda at the same time since those fighting styles would be ideal for using Sai. Though Zanjutsu wasn’t his strongest point he managed to teach her the basics, Hōzuri and Shitonegaeshi. He even taught her Hōzan Kenbu and Senmaioroshi which she could use on a light scale. With Hakuda he decided to build her strength, making her do push ups and sit ups back to back. He made her punch trees for hours, run, and stand still while holding heavy things for hours straight.
Kenta didn’t let up with training, she was his sister but he wasn’t going easy on her. If she wanted to become a Shinigami then he was going to make sure she would be strong enough to defend herself, and she went along with it with hardly any argument. He let her rest for an hour and a half, so she could eat, use the bathroom, and rest her muscles. Though as soon as that hour and a half mark was up he made her get up and they got right back to it. He taught her the basics of Hakuda, of what the academy taught, Tesshō and the other few. He then moved on to teach her Tsukiyubi, Chōhigezutsuki, and Kazaguruma, hesitant to teach her Panchira Torunēdo but eventually did. He told her only to do that when that area was clothed, and he made sure of that….Multiple times. After he finished teaching her those few techniques Keina fell on her bum and threw her head back, “Are we doooooone noooooow?” she asked.
“No, we still have two more things to do,” Kenta said as he crossed his arms, “Now get up!”
Keina sighed and pushed herself up, bending down to pick up her Sai. Kenta scanned her body and noticed the muscles already growing on her; by the time they were done she’d probably be well toned, probably more than that. Once she got her Sai he nodded and turned around beginning to walk further into the forest, “You need combat experience, and I don’t just mean a spar with me.”
“Hollows?” Keina asked, “You’re going to make me…Fight hollows?”
“You got it,” Kenta said, “I’ll be here to make sure you don’t get too hurt, but…I’m sure you can defend yourself at this point.” He looked back at her giving her a small smile.
“I’d hope so, you trained me after all,” Keina said as she returned the smile.
Kenta stopped walking as he came across a few Hollow. He knocked on a tree gaining their attention, they soon began running towards him and Keina. Kenta looked over at Keina, she then ran forward with her Sai. As a Hollow jumped at her she pivoted and struck her arm out with her Sai cutting across the mask but not destroying it completely just causing it to fly and skid across the ground. “Use more energy,” Kenta said.
Keina nodded and raised her energy. Once the second one jumped at her Keina struck forward with her blade going into the mask of the Hollow which she slammed into the ground, the Hollow turning into dust. Once the other two jumped at her she used Hōzan Kenbu, normal openings of the attack were closed since she had duel Sai. She managed to kill the Hollows and hooked her Sai onto her waist walking back over to Kenta.
“Good job,” Kenta said with a smile.
“Thank you Kenta!” Keina said as she hugged him, “…I know how you don’t like it.”
“Keina,” Kenta said with a sigh but kept his smile, “It’s your life, and I don’t control that. I’m just here to support you, and make sure you don’t do anything stupid like I have. I’m sure that’s what mom and dad would have said and did atleast…So if you want to become a Shinigami, risk your life for the better then I’m not going to stop you. I’m going to support you, be proud of you…”
“You sound like my older brother here,” Keina said with a smile and a small laugh, “I’ll be fine though, I promise you. Just visit me sometime, alright?”
“I know you’ll be fine, as for visiting…I plan on it, I’m not going to go on without talking to my sister,” Kenta said as they broke the hug, “Now, back to training, alright?...Then we’re done for the day.”
Keina nodded, “Alright lets.”
Kenta held out his hand, Keina knew well enough to follow along. “So this is the last bit because it’s the least important of the lessons, atleast depending on how you use it. It’s Kido manipulation. With Shakkahō you can light up a dark area, all you do is tweak it…As in use with less power. Just charge it up like you normally would, but before you get to that point stop and keep it there.” Kenta then showed her how to do it, the ball of energy floating above his hand. Keina nodded and did the same, the orb floating in her hand.
“Awesome,” Keina said.
“Right?” Kenta said with a smirk, “Now you can also fire this after use like this, but of course it won’t do much damage.” Kenta made the orb fire upwards. Before he could tell Keina something about the safety of firing it, she tried doing it on her own causing it to fire down on her hand.
Her eyes widened as she jumped back holding her wrist, “God, it burns!” she yelled as she shook her hand, “It burns!”
“You didn’t even let me finish speaking!”
“My hand is on FIRE! GAH!” Keina yelled as she rolled around on the ground.
“No it is not on fire!” Kenta yelled.
“I can see the bone! Oh GOD I CAN SEE THE BONE!” Keina yelled.
Kenta facepalmed, trying to remind himself why he was putting up with this….Kenta snapped causing the red ring around Keina’s hand to disappear, the small burn healed. They were back in her room with Keina sitting on her bed, “And you said there was bone…” he smirked. “It really hurted though!”
“Yeah, I bet,” Kenta said pushing a finger against her forehead causing them both to laugh. “I missed these times….”
“Yeah, I really did too…”
Kenta put his hands in his pockets, “You should rest up. I’ve been working you all day. Once you’re rested I’ll take you to the Seireitei, alright?” Keina nodded and laid down immediately falling asleep. Kenta’s smile dropped as he sighed leaving her room.