Is that my confidence? Weird that's new.(JJ)

This was one of the first times Eban had stepped out of his comfort zone without the prodding of his brothers. He didn't like that he was away from them, but he knew if he was going to become stronger than he would have to learn from the best. When Eban was young in the soul society there was not a day that went by that he was not beaten to a pulp or made fun of. For nearly a hundred years he was constantly hated, pushed around and abused. Until one day when he was saved. He never gave anyone a reason to hate him and he always tried his best to get others to like him, but it seems that made him a target. He had been abused so much that he had become immune to it. Pain was just a factor of every day life to him. Until he was saved by the ones he now called his brothers.

He spent every day after that with those whom he called his brothers. He lived with his brothers for many years. Each of them strong in their own aspects with him still being a weakling. The day they decided to become Shinigami Eban would not be left behind. He wasn't the strongest, but he was the smartest. His free time was spent learning. He passed his intellectual exams at the top of his class, but did poorly in the others. So it was best for him to use kido. That is was he studied non stop. He still wasn't very good with conflict, but he focused a lot of his time learning and bettering his kido. Once he graduated his brothers and himself joined the Gotei 13, and it was only natural for him to want to join the the Kido division.

He had been within the division for about a week and he had adjusted to it well, but he had not been there to sit around and take anything lightly. His goal was to use everything he had to be the one who would protect his brothers. Conveniently enough, though knew that he probably did not deserve it, His Captain is a master of exactly what he wanted to be the strongest in. So with what little confidence he had he went to the office of Captain Iriko Crow. He didn't know what kind of person the Captain was, but he was not going to sit by. He was going to do his best and even though his goal in the end was to become the strongest. His first goal was to be the a seated officer in the 5th division, and the only way he would do that now is doing whatever it took.

Standing outside of the Captain's office his heart beat was rapid and he had started to sweat a small amount, but he swallowed his fear and knocked on the door. He opened it up, walked in and announced himself

"Hello Captain! My name is Eban Alexander!"

He then bowed completely and closed his eyes using what confidence he had and accidentally yelled

"Captain please train me!"

Eban was extremely nervous, but now he was also confused. First of all and the thing that made him feel the most honor is his Captain knew his name. He had never met him and he was the lowest on the totem pole, but his Captain still knew his name. Ether he was extremely intelligent and aware of his division or he had a passion that surpassed most other about his division. Ether way Eban was happy that even someone as lowly as himself was known by the Captain.

Eban did not know much about the Captain past the fact that he was the Captain of the 5th division and that he was a Master at Kido. So when he returned to his fully standing position he was surprised to find him blowing bubbles. What was even more surprising was the hole he blew into the roof. As the moments went by though Eban had not finished seeing all of what this was. As the first bubble popped the voice in his mind sort of vexed him, but with the message he could not help but to lose interest in the how and take full attention to the what. He had the opportunity to become a seated officer. To progress and to become stronger. He realized this would come with the price though listening to the rest of the sentence and it was most certainly a price he was willing to pay. Unknowing though that it would come at such short notice.

In that next moment when the bubble that was suspending him in air popped and a strong force alike to a massive physcial blow knocked him into the air nearly smashing him into the ceiling with such force even from one of the most basic kido Eban was in for the fight of his life. As he was falling back to the ground he placed his hands in front of him and yelled

"Shield me, protect me, from the reality of what is in front of me"

A platform of 5x5 reiatsu appeared below him allowing him to land on his stomach during his descent. Raising his head up and placing his hands on the ground horizontal with his chest. This wasn't unlike the beating he had taken for many years so it was something he wasn't a stranger to, but what he was to come next was. The barrage of bubble blades that pursued him would surely impale him if he didn't act fast. So he pushed off with his left hand and rolled horizontally with enough time to avoid being impaled but being slash across the torso twice. Rolling back to his stomach he jumped to his feet

This was a fight for his life and he would win. Death was not an option life and victory would be his! He would never forgive himself if his brothers got stronger while he stood back and did nothing! He jumped at the stream of fire like he was sliding forward at it creating another one of those platforms right below it with quick chant he followed it with flipping his palm and creating a small sphere of ice

" Sphere of power, form in my hand. Hear the crack of the freeze!"

He then slid under fire with it barely missing the skin of his nose and tossed the ice ball in the center it.

He jumped to his feet as he was being surrounded he looked straight at the Captain. He wasn't as nervous anymore. Maybe because if he hesitated he would die or because he was getting the opportunity he wanted to become strong. Ether way it didn't matter he was going to use everything in his power in order land one blow.

"THEN A BEAST IS WHAT I WILL BECOME!"

He was being surrounded by bubbles. With two rows of bubbles he watched as they formed needles and swords. This was a tough situation with his limited range of kido. He knew that he would need bust out if this quickly. If he tried to go up and over he'd get impaled and if he stood there he would die. He needed an exit. He flipped his left palm and in a low voice chanted

" Sphere of power, form in my hand. See the light of the burn."

A small sphere of fire formed while quickly following it with the reiatsu platform chant and in that moment the needles shot in from all sides. Eban then threw the sphere of fire to the left of him into the needles making a small 4x4 explosion of fire that he jumped through causing slight burns all over his body being slightly stabbed around a dozen times on various places on the entire back of his body. He rolled on the other side of the fire and stood to his feet. There was still a circle of swords to the right of him, but he jumped at the mine field disregarding them right as he got to his feet. He had a plan and he knew it did not have a huge success rate, but he couldn't play it safe and if there was any chance he could get through this he would. He pointed both of his hands at the mine field and chanted

"Shield me, protect me, from the reality of what is in front of me!"

It created a diagonal panel of reiatsu 5x5 feet and was at a climbable slope. If he remembered how people called this kind of tactic he believed they called it a kamikaze tactic. He mustered up a good amount of reiatsu for the chain that was to come next with a small chant as he landed and climbed the panel

" Sphere of power, form in my hand. See the light of the burn!"

A sphere of fire formed in his left as he launched himself off the panel at Captain Iriko. He first threw the the sphere of fire like a grenade to where his trajectory was pointing towards. He then followed it with pointing his middle and pointer finger together at each hand saying the quick required chant

Pierce their soul and tear their flesh.

and let off a barrage of small bullets of reiatsu at the entirety of the hole he was making. Flying through this he knew he would not have the proper strength to destroy all of the bubbles even if he wasn't flying in mid-air so as he flew through the hole he braced himself for the explosions and made a final chant to make a platform right before his captain on the other side. If by a chance in hell he made in on the other side of that minefield landing on the platform he would lift up his closest palm pointed towards his captain and lightly said "Sho" letting off a small burst the same kind that his captain had started with just with a lot less strength aimed at his torso

"Roar...."

Eban wasn't as surprised as he thought he would be when nothing he tried worked against Iriko. He was disappointed though that he was powerless to do anything, but he did not want to stop. He couldn't stop. He had never been in such a dangerous situation before and it would only get worse as he got stronger.

Eban rose to his feet and with a light chant created another panel to stand on which he calmly walked over to. He watched his Captain as he pointed up to the sky. What he heard and saw next he could not believe. This was the first and easiest Hadō, but it struck the heavens and split the sky itself. It didn't even look like he was trying at all, yet it created a gaping hole through the clouds in the sky. This simple kido illuminated the vast difference between their strengths. To say the least Eban was convinced he had made the correct decision when coming to this man for his training.

Every word the Captain spoke he could not ignore if he tried to.

*"Release the limits"*

He had never thought of kido in that light before. He had always thought about how to use the kido just as it was, but never had he explored the depths of strength that could be found in a simple or weaker kido. He had never even entertained the thought, because the Captain was right, it was something that was never brought to his attention while he learned it at the academy.

Eban was slightly panting from the energy he had used up until now, but he easily caught his breath at what he thought was a moment of rest. It was more like the true beginning of this battle. Earlier when Iriko had used his bubble blower it was the beginning of the assault towards him, but this time it was much different. As Captain spoke his next few words his appearance changed, but what was most alarming was the spiritual pressure he released. Eban immediately dropped to a knee because of the pressure that was being put upon his body. Sweat dripped down his forehead and his body shook while it struggled to remain in any other state but complete defeat. He put both arms on his knee which hadn't dropped yet and shakily rose to his feet. He tried to pay attention to all of what he was saying, but because of the now true assault which was approaching him he had to focus.

Those words still rung through this head *Release the limits*. Eban grabbed his sheathe with his left hand and slowly grasped his hilt with his right

Eban pulled out his blade and as it left it's sheathe it gave off a dull ringing sound. Glancing around him he was surrounded with bladed bubbles which came in from all directions, and what this meant for him is that he would just have to fight until one of few outcomes happened. He would ether land a blow on his Captain, die by his Captain's hands or give up. The last one would never happen and the second one would leave his brothers alone so the only choice he had was t o land a blow on his Captain

The first of the barrage of bubbles was a few blades followed by a group of needles from his front. Eban gripped his hilt tightly with a quick and nervous breath about him. It was at a point where he was panicking unable to know what to do at this point, but if he did not try something he would die. As the first of the blades came Eban struck downwards cutting through it, but being too slow for the second as it ripped across his right arm. With the final blade Eban created a small sphere shield in his left hand and knocked it away. With the barrage of needles following right after, Eban had no Kido in his knowledge that could destroy them. He might just have to take them all was his first thought until he recalled the massive effect Captain's Sho had. He was taught this was the most simple and weakest Kido, but captain's looked like it could kill an entire group of hollows with ease. He needed to try to do something with it or he would die.

Eban pulled his left hand back to his ear and focused his energy on a Sho. Normally the amount he would put into it would be second nature and small, but in this single Sho Eban put as much energy as the largest Kido he could currently perform. He then struck his left palm forward shooting off a much stronger, but less focused Sho. It was enough to discombobulate the direction of many of the needles, but Eban was still stuck with more than a dozen all over the front of his body. He realized he was only semi successful, but he had no time to reflect as a blade cut into his left shoulder right after the needle barrage hit him. Eban spun around and lowered to a knee barely dodging a blade that was meant for his back. A variety of daggers a blades came from all directions in front of him while a needle barrage came from his left and right. The blades were the first to reach him. Two of them struck his torso before he could cut them, but Eban followed it with a downwards diagonal strike to two of them and swung his left shoulder behind him dodging the last few. He sheathed his Zanpakutō to deal with the two needle barrages on each side. He knew what to do this time.

Eban pointed each hand at the barrages and this time honed his focus much more on the two. His goal was to not allow any needle to touch him and the only way he was going to reach that goal is by making his kido strong enough to deter or destroy the needles. With the needles merely a foot away he had no time left with a dull roar of a single name yelled

"Sho!"

Eban let off two powerful and more concentrated Sho's that bombarded the needles and destroyed or changed direction of most of the needles leaving the ones that were above him shooting above his head. He had succeeded with all but one which cut across his face. This barrage seemed to be endless, and he could not let himself die by it. So in a quick and constant rate he chanted

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!"

While swan diving off the opposite side of where his captain was. He was ether going to die from the fall, die from the assault, or become a seated member of the 13 Court Guard Squads. He flipped forward in air and shot a yellow tendril into the opposite side of his platform and swung from it. With a small and quick chant nearing the end of his swing he released the bakudo and in mid-air created a platform directly under the Captain. With his back facing the ground and his pointer and middle finger facing upwards these next few moments seemed to last forever. He focused as much energy as he could muster into this kido and once he landed he shot off a massive lightning bolt from under the Captain that was meant to split him right through the middle.

The look in the man's eyes; they irritated Iriko. They told him: I can't do this. Iriko's aura began to spark, power flowing through it as he focused himself. Iriko looked down at the man, blinking for a moment before his mouth opened, laughing. 'Ahahahaha! Stop following your instincts for five seconds. My aura has no presence; none at all… except for your olfactory ones." He spoke, as Eban would realize that his body was not actually being pushed down, but in reality he would feel a massive desire to throw up; truly nauseous at the exact SIGHT of Iriko. This was his Disgust Aura; this was the form his Spiritual Pressure took.

"Damage… take a little to dodge a lot. Another fundamental trait of battle… save your reactions for attacks that definitely will have a long-term effect." He stated simply, before smiling as the man took on the damage, the needles having dispersed slightly through the man's efforts. "Affecting the attacks of opponents is another way to reduce damage; take the smallest amount that you can, but never show your true ability. That is revealed once, and only once; in the direct final assault, when the opponent is expecting something different." He stated, before his eyes stared right at the man, seeing him perform some acrobatics.

"And at last… the opponent will have strengths. Always, always notice them." Iriko stated, as his hand held out his entire palm, the bubbles beneath him popping as the brown haired male descended downwards towards the younger man, a massive amount of energy having collected there. Without warning, an electric spark occurred, before the entirety of the two men's conflict became apparent. Iriko's eyes were looking directly at the other man. "And this is the worst possible situation. Driven into a corner, you release the full brunt of your assault. However, I was able to see it a mile away and now, I can gauge my power against yours." He stated, as the wavelengths the two men's energy gave off became equal, before the tails at Iriko's back began to rise upwards. "Because now I know what I am dealing with, for real; and you have no idea!" He called out, as without warning bubbles emerged from the slime all over his body, his feet dancing on them as he suddenly vanished in a stream of light, a literal rainbow appearing between two of the bubbles as he reappeared behind the other man in an instant; travelling at the speed of rainbows, as it were.

"All that you have left is a trap of some variety; but what you can lay I have no idea. That's up to you. But first I think, I'll pressure you beyond all belief." He stated, as suddenly the bubbles that surrounded the man's body all popped. Black shadow emerged from the bubbles surrounding the male, and suddenly began to unleash an absolute BARRAGE. The blades poured down on the male from the outside of the box, while Iriko watched from the bubble on his foot. He slowly took out his pen and paper again, and began to write down all the lessons that he had just given, talking as he did so.

"Find your Zanpaktou or get out. Go unconscious if you have to; the blades will damage you endlessly for ten minutes. You have that long to find the name of it and release it. That's the weakest black box I could create, and its walls are still impregnable at your current level. However, should you rise above that level, they should crumble around you. At that point; even I have no idea what you will do. That is most likely your most likely moment of victory. Failing that however, you will simply die, and steadily feel your body undergoing more and more wounds as…"

Iriko's voice faded off; he knew that the man could no longer hear him over the rush of microscopic blades of darkness that were running over his body, the Hadō 91 having completely launched about him, attempting to push him into such a corner that the there were just three words that Iriko could yell at him, the passion clear in his one remaining eye.

"SINK OR SWIM!"

His move failing didn't completely shock him, but it was enough to bug him. He hoped that he would be able to make the hit, but he couldn't. His strength wasn't enough, and on top of everything he was surrounded once again. At this rate he would never be able to make it to his goal. What made this even worse is when Iriko said this was now for real. As if it hadn't been hard enough he now would have to deal with his captain being even more serious than his shikai.

Listening to each and every word his Captain spoke the last of it stole his attention, because right as he turned his head towards his Captain a Hadō which he had only ever thought he'd read about, he was about to experience. As the bubbles popped the walls of shadow rose around him consuming every little bit of light until nothing was left. No hope, no life and no chance of escape. Within the next moment right after he closed his eyes was the start was the beginning of the worst pain he had ever felt in his entire life.

When he was younger Eban would spend everyday in one of the roughest districts in the Rukongai begging for money or food. Nearly everyday he was beaten or attacked by hooligans, bandits and all sorts of outlaws. It seemed like every month for close to 70 years he had a new couple of bones that were broken and more than 60% of his skin bruised. For the first couple of years he resisted and tried to stand up for himself, but after that he didn't have reason to anymore. After so many years the trash that he sat around is what he became. Life had completely left his eyes, and all he was by then was a shell. The first day he felt life after all those years was when his big brother Calech defended him. After that day he found a reason to live. For his brothers, but was that enough? It got him through the academy and this far with his brothers, but what is all a fluke? Was he still that same trash that his brother picked up on that fateful day?

At each and every difficult turn Eban has looked to his brothers in order to fix them. He never believed he himself was good enough or strong enough to do so.

As the needles of shadow punctured places around his entire body blood dripped from each wound falling like rain on a fall day. If he was destined to die here all he would need to do was stand here and take the punishment and he would get his wish. All he needed to do was wait and death would welcome him. Standing there he couldn't help but think why he was alive. Why did someone with such a useless existence as his continue to live even after all of those years of being beaten down and broken? Racing through his entire life he searched for the reason. For the one reason he was alive. Over the years of near death beatings and brokenness. Over the time he spent with his brothers and his time in the Gotei 13. Why was he alive?

He was losing strength as time went by now unable to think as clearly as before subtle snapshots through out his life began to flash before his eyes. All that stood out to him wasn't the times he got knocked down though. It was the times he stood back up. Each and every bone that was healed and bruise that faded. Every hardship he endured and somehow overcame. Everyday that he spent in the library of the academy studying until he passed out from exhaustion. All of it up until now. The two words that came to mind to answer his question were to "Survive" and "Thrive".

"You are right."

In that moment he was drawn to a place he had never seen before. He was no longer inside the Hadō he was in space where stars were shining brightly and planets were revolving at what seemed to be at an increased speed. He floated along and came to a stop on top of a small meteorite. Looking up was a majestic white dragon with a long neck, large wings, a sweeping tail and a posture of courage or pride. He looked down upon Eban and said

"You are right few things and wrong about many others. It was you whom thrived and survived. It was you who became a Shinigami. I stand before you today and find you worthy on only one condition. That you find yourself worthy as well. That you look upon what you have achieved and know that you are worth a significantly larger amount then you believe. What do you say?"

Eban looked up towards the dragon in astonishment and sort of fear, but as he listened to the dragon he realized he was right. That it was him who got back up every time. It was from his resolve to live and his strength that he was able to survive and live so all he said in reply was

"Yes."

Change of Soundtrack:


The Dragon recognized his agreement was sincere and reached down his head towards Eban. Eban reached his hand out and as they touched a bright light shined from the point of contact. From an outside point of view previous Eban's spiritual energy would be dwindling until now. With a sudden huge spike in power in 8 places around the box cracks began to form in the next minute 8 miniature stars smashed through the walls of the Hadō breaking it apart like the shell to an egg, and as Eban was being shown he was now facing Captain with two black pistols with gold detail and a dragon on the handle. Each of them were pointed where the tops of the barrels were next to each other and the bottoms of the handles were facing the outside of their respective sides. With Captain Iriko in clear view Eban shot off a large blast 5 foot in diameter with the strength of a 54 Hadō. It was swirled with black and white and had the speed that was faster than a bullet. He was looking at Iriko not with fearful eyes anymore, but with eyes full of confidence. Something which he had never felt before until now.

By this point Eban was dipping to the end of his power. He was about to pass out from lack of strength but he was up only by his will. With blood dripping from dozens of holes all around his body it was a miracle that he was still up let alone alive at all. With this new found power he was able to support himself long enough. He had know thoughts at this point he was just doing using instinct and will power. As he found his blast hit his Captain he couldn't help but smile a little with what strength he had left. Just as he heard the words from his captain's mouth he was about to let ago until his Captain let off a massive kido which if he did not do something against he would die. So he willed his stars in front of him in a circular formation which was all but a useless attempt to keep him from dying. As the blast came it went right through his stars and crashed right into him sending him out of the office and out of the barracks themselves into a building.

He laid in crater with dozens of broken bones all over his body. Bloody filled the crater from the previous kido and this one that had caused massive concussive damage as well as blast damage. As he waited there unable to move the words he had been waiting for this entire time rang through his head

"You pass"

He was overjoyed even though he was barely conscious he was happy that he was finally able to do it. He obtained a strength and resolve that was far beyond his reach had ever been, and it was all because of his Captain. Even though his training was unorthodox it was exactly what he needed to become what he was now.

Though this joy was happy the next words he had recognized brought more joy to him that anything that day of training. He was now the Vice-Captain of the 5th Division. He never dreamed he'd get this far but he had one man to thank for that, and because of that he would not stop growing. He would continue to bear true self and rely on himself in order to become strong.

As his Captain reached over to him and tossed him over his shoulder his last question was the easiest thing he had to answer to from this entire time and all he needed to say was

"No.. Captain..."

He then lost consciousness and was taken to where ever his Captain(Most likely 4th squad) had taken him

Exit Thread