The Diversity Of Power

Once all three of them finally left the dojo, they looked as if all life had been drained out of them. Rather than coming out the dojo with a new found strength, they felt even weaker than before, almost as if their entire being had been broken down.

"All that, and a 2 hour walk all the way back... I'm never going to the place ever again."

In a panic Shinten begged him, "You won't feel it now, but you'll defiantly get stronger with consistent training! Right Kai???"

Fortunately for him, Kai was far too exhausted to speak normally, instead replying with unintelligible words. Eventually he even collapsed onto the floor and Shinten was forced to carry him the rest of the way.

Upon waking up early the next day, Shinten broke into his bedroom and forcible dragged him out. He ran to Shido's dorm and tried to kick the door down and felt it was far more sturdy than usual.

"OPEN THE DOOR! WE NEED TO GO!", he screamed.

"NO!"

"THEN IT'S YOUR LOSS."

He quickly sped off while dragging Kai with him who was begging for help. Their screams could be heard all throughout the academy which woke them up.

Funnily enough the dojo's name had now changed to: "Ikkaku's Imperial Unlimited Superiority super martial sword arts fighting god of death and war dojo."

Despite getting up earnestly and arriving earlier than usual, Yuki was already at the Dojo ahead of them, surprising the two greatly.

"Do you live here or something?", Kai asked but he was brutally ignored.

She looked at the duo for a second, but then she turned away instantly and continued her training. She appeared to be looking for something but was disappointed at the result.

Ikkaku who had noticed the two come in then asked,

"What the hell are you two doing here?"

They both replied, "We came learn from you of course."

"I put you three through that training yesterday to test your desire for power. If you don't have the desire to get stronger, then how will the weak ever acquire the power to fight? The fact the two of you are here now, means that the power your looking for is in here."

Ikkaku then went to his Dojo's inventory and then returned back with two particular objects. One was a meditating matt, and the other were a pair of wooden training swords. He dropped the two in front of Kai and Shinten before asking them,

"What kind of power are you two looking for?"

Kai half heartedly responded, "I'm looking for the power to fight?"

Ikkaku instantly picked up one of the training katanas, and hit Kai at the top of his head while shouting at him,

"YOU MORON! There are so many different kinds of power out there, but inevitably there is only oh so much that you can achieve within two months. Now let me ask you again, what kind of power are you looking for?"

As he said that Shinten was reminded about a lesson his father taught him once before.

Himself as a child and his father were sitting against their favourite Sakura tree. The petals were falling and they were having a peaceful time, and then suddenly,

"Shinten, let me show you something."

His father stood up, and revealed the Zanpakutō which he had been hiding all this time. He quickly drew it, and cut through not only the tree but Shinten as well. But surprisingly there was no damage, not even a small cut.

"Wha-? But how?"

His father chuckled before teaching him, "My father, your grandfather was very strict about my Zanjutsu training, but in the end I grew up as a coward who couldn't even cut down a hollow. But instead of giving into my weakness, I practiced and practiced until I could cut things at full force without even harming them. Remember that you can only fight in the way you practice."

Shinten's father was known as Hayami Ryu, the coward swordsman. He never drew his sword to fight, and when he did he would always lose. As the head of his family he was frowned upon and as a result his family was in risk of losing it's position as a noble house. But even despite all of that, Shinten looked up to his father because of his swordsmanship which he thought was remarkable.

Shinten then stood up proudly and declared, "I want the power to swing my sword, not to hurt others but to defend the pride of my families name."

Ikkaku smiled at his desire, and tossed a wooden Katana towards him. 

"I'll spar with you personally then, how about you, Kai?"

After hearing Shinten's goal, he was unsure of his own. What did he want? But then he remembered how Linny died. Maybe if he was stronger then, perhaps he would've won without his Zanpakutō's intervention. So did he want strength? No. That wasn't it either.

He recalled asking Akimitsu a question,

"Were you satisfied with that? Did that fill your emptiness?"

He died before he could respond, but all this while that question had been itching in the back of Kai's mind.

It wasn't just that either, but he wanted to know what his Zanpakutō was thinking too. He wanted to understand why it worked that way, why it only helped back then. And then suddenly he reached an epiphany

"I know nothing. I don't understand what my opponents think when they fight, and even what my Zanpakutō tries to tell me. One of the reasons that I came to the academy turned out to be a pointless endeavour too, so now it feels like I'm swinging my sword in the dark. I want the power to understand myself, and others, so maybe then I will finally be able to save people next time."

Ikkaku understood what he meant, as he had never experienced such a thing. But he knew that it was a painful feeling. 

"In the life of a Soul Reaper, there is only one being that knows you better than yourself. It isn't your parents or friends, but your Zanpakutō. I don't know how you should understand others, but when it comes to understanding yourself, the one person you should talk to is your Zanpakutō. The power your looking for should surely be there."

He pushed the meditating matt forwards, urging Kai to communicate with his Zanpakutō spirit. In all his interactions with her, she had always came to him so this would be a first. In fact he wasn't sure how to access his inner world in the first place, and every time he did so, it was by pure chance. But nonetheless he would try.