Chapter 7: A Voice

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

*Sound Effects*

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Chapter 7: A Voice

Two brutish looking men sat opposite each other, both of them were covered from head-to-toe in fresh wounds, yet they continued to smile at one another as if they were best friends. They both calmly sipped on a piping hot cup of finely brewed tea before one decided to voice out.

"By the way, I never got your name now did I?" Koda put down his cup before kindly responding.

"The name's Koda, you?" Despite being brutalized by Okita, Koda couldn't find it in himself to truly hate the man for it, especially when he had done the exact same thing.

"Okita, oh, and I almost forgot" He ploddingly hauled himself to his feet, his muscles still sore as a result of getting carried away during his "test" as he reached for one of the cabinets in the room. He withdrew a jet-black haori that mimicked his own and handed it towards Koda. "You'll be wearing this from now on, take good care of it" He resumed his beverage as he watched Koda clumsily don the attire.

After Koda had inelegantly managed to slip both arms through the sleeves of the haori, he spun around and shot a questioning look at Okita. "How do I look?" It was rather amusing to watch someone who had just fought the way he did, worry about something as rudimentary as fashion.

"Mm, it suits you" Truth be told, Okita thought that the design was rather tacky. Nevertheless Yachiru herself was responsible for the design so he kept his mouth shut. "Although…I think something's missing" Okita reached his arms towards Koda's head, drawing his confusion.

"Oi! Quit that!" He began frantically running his hands through Koda's hair - causing it to appear more rugged than it already was, Koda's image almost resembled a hobo, Okita couldn't contain his laughter watching Koda squirm like a brat.

"There ya go, if you fight like a beast you oughta look like one!" Koda joined in on the laughter, for once he felt as if he had made a friend in this shitshow of a world. Albeit, friend's usually don't tend to stab you through the abdomen, but that was just Okita's way of expressing love…maybe.

"Banter aside, let me give you the rundown of how things work here" Koda nodded affirmatively, making sure he memorized every dotted line and comma Okita was about to bestow upon him. "You said you wished to leave the 80th District, I will honor that and station you at the 75th" Koda sighed in relief, finally he'd no longer have to rot in this hellhole. "However you will still be required to do missions assigned to you personally by myself, and should you fail to do so…" Okita shot a menacing glare at Koda, making his intent crystal clear.

"But I doubt you will, anyways whilst you're there it's important that you continue to train diligently, as time goes on the difficulty of missions you'll be assigned will get higher regardless of whether you're prepared for them or not, in other words — stagnation means death"

In spite of the grim nature of Okita's warning, Koda appeared to be rather exhilarated, and the former knew exactly why. "Yes, I will teach you about your Asauchi, but my help can only take you so far - it's you who's going to have to do all the heavy lifting"

Okita abruptly unsheathed his Zanpakuto, laying it vertically across his lap and gripping his knees with both his hands. "Copy me"

Koda didn't quite understand what Okita was trying to do but he obliged nonetheless. "Now close your eyes and focus, your blade has a voice - find it, learn what it expects of you, and then the path to awakening your Zanpakuto will become more transparent" Without hesitation both of Koda's eyelids slammed shut as he tried to search for his Asauchi's voice.

Out of the blue, faint whispers started to reverberate through Koda's mind. Incomplete sentences that weren't potent enough to gain any understanding from.

He dug deeper and deeper, scraping at his subconscious in a hopeful attempt to understand what his Asauchi wanted from him, what was blocking him from achieving the strength he desired.

The whispers grew stronger, the noise that ate away at Koda's brain started to bolden — but he still couldn't formulate a concrete sentence.

Once more, he searched – and at long last, he heard its voice.

["I'm impressed, but it's not enough, continue your fight beyond this hourglass if you wish to know my name"]

The voice sounded mature and aged, opposite to the bratty and temperamental nature his blade tended to have. He parted his eyelids, looking towards Okita with a gleam in his eyes. "I heard it" He said proudly.

"Is that so? What did it say?"

"It told me to continue fighting if I wished to know its name, is that how-" Koda was cut off abruptly as Okita already knew what he was about to ask.

"Yes, that's how I can use its power — well, some of it, but that's a conversation for another time" Okita got up, performing an odd gesture with his hands that caused two masked figures to flicker into existence by his side.

"These two will guide you to your lodgings, I'll have a meal plan and training menu sent to your quarters, and if you fail to follow it even marginally…well I think you know what'll happen" A shiver crept down Koda's spine as he nodded feverentally.

As Koda followed his guides Okita felt the sudden urge to make a visit to a certain bartender.

—

"Are you the one who sent him to me?" Okita questioned as he stared his old colleague down.

"Perhaps, perhaps not, why? Did you kill him already?" The bartender sighed, he believed that he once again had led someone to his death, when Okita didn't like a recruit he would swiftly dispose of them — he wasn't someone who enjoyed having his time wasted.

"On the contrary, you found me a diamond in the rough, but I have to ask, why didn't you send him to the Gotei 13 instead? You despise us these days don't you?" Okita's tone was mingled with both skepticism and intrigue.

"Yes, I loathe the Roamers, but you know I could never bring myself to hate Yachiru herself" He continued to clean his wares with a now solemn expression, the name seemed to stimulate a sense of both regret and pity within him.

"Goda…don't tell me" Okita seemed to have finally caught on to his old friend's intentions, and it shocked him to his core.

"You don't think he can do it?" Goda genuinely seemed to want Okita's opinion, longing to know whether he had made a mistake.

"Against me he's sure to become a fine opponent, but talent alone isn't enough for someone to rival her, you know this!"

"That's true…but he might also have that special something, don't you think?" The memory of Yachiru's constant expression of boredom singed through Goda's mind, it brought him more pain than any cut or wound could muster.

Okita took a much needed sip of his Sake as he tried to gather his thoughts. "I'll do my best but…"

"No promises, I know" Goda wore a genuine smile as he looked at Okita with gratitude, knowing that he would at least make an effort was more than enough.

Okita rubbed his temple in frustration as he walked off. 'I want that too, but I'll have to push him much harder if I even want to dream of such a result, however I fear that I might end up breaking him in the process…' As he contemplated his dilemma he took a sizable chug from his bottle, sooner or later he'd have to make a decision.

'For now let's just see how he fares for one or two missions…then I'll decide'

—

The two guides shrouded in black had led Koda through an odd assortment of underground tunnels, what's more they seemed to be able to conjure some sort of crimson fiery light that illuminated the darkness with their bare hands.

'Talking swords and now magic…an odd world indeed' His gaze continued to linger around the mystical fire throughout the whole trip, wondering if he would ever be able to replicate such a thing.

"Curious?" A bold feminine voice echoed through the passageway as someone had finally broken the silence.

"So you can talk after all, and to answer your question — yes, very much so" The masked woman couldn't help but chuckle internally, she herself was fairly curious as to why Okita paid so much attention to Koda.

The man in question himself likely didn't realize this, but new recruits were often left to their own devices — never had Okita bothered to supervise or monitor them to such a degree.

Even after witnessing the bloodridden "spar" between the two beasts her instincts told her Okita was expecting something…more, from the greenhorn.

"This is called Kido, spells developed by Soul Reapers in order to aid them in combat, I could teach you a few if you're truly interested" It was obvious that Koda was immensely talented in physical combat, but she was interested to see how he would fare with something more…complex.

"Teach me? Do we have the time for that?" Wasn't she just his guide? It was safe to assume that she would disappear once she had completed her task.

"Ah, he forgot to tell you, I'm going to be your supervisor — someone has to make sure you're following your regimen right?" Koda broke into a cold sweat, Okita was dead serious about making sure Koda didn't miss even the slightest of instruction he was sent.

"I see…" An awkward silence followed as they eventually stepped into the light once again, coming across a humble log cabin that appeared to be stationed in the middle of absolute nowhere.

However one thing was apparent, the metallic scent of blood in the air had weakened significantly, he truly had been freed from the 80th District.

'The atmosphere here...it's much clearer' Koda couldn't help but smile, the suffocating sensation Zaraki District had imposed upon him was no more.