The Darkness In Our Hearts (TDiOH Bk1)

Chapter 23: Training Grounds

I'm back at school now, my bag slung over my shoulder, head craned up to stare at the school gates. The bell went off and I walked up to my classroom, dropping my bag down on the floor heavily.

Chin in hands, I stared at the blank blackboard, eyes unfocused. Urahara's words kept repeating over and over in my head and every single time I thought over them, they made my blood boil because he was right.

I banged my forehead against my desk, my chest throbbing slightly with pain. Without glancing at my bag, I rifled around until I felt the cool glass bottle. Dragging it out, the small picture of a bunny smiling plastered on the front, I placed it on the desk before my head.

"What's that you got there?" asked one of the girls in my class, her blonde bob bouncing around her head as she turned to face me.

"Oh this?" I pointed at it. "Just some medication."

"Oh no, what happened? Did you get in an accident?"

Nosy much. I managed to change my impending snarl into a fake smile. "Just a minor one. I fell out of a tree," I lied, unscrewing the cap of the bottle and popping one of the tablets into my mouth.

I dry swallowed, held back my cough and gag, and promptly placed the bottle away and dragged out my books. Already I could feel the medication taking affect, the pain subsiding. Urahara had said that this medication would heal my wounds completely by tonight if I took one every hour.

"Okay class!" the teacher exclaimed, clapping her hands and gaining our attention. "Today we will be doing algebra!"

~

When I walked up to the lunch area, slightly late because the teacher popped a surprised quiz on us, I was met with Keigo throwing himself at me, smiling largely.

"Kera!" he shouted happily, arms opened wide. "You'll come on a vacation with me, won't you?"

I sidestepped him, watching as he stumbled past, then fell over. "I'm sorry, Keigo, but I'm doing stuff with Ichigo and the family. My parents haven't seen his father in a long time and they can't wait to catch up."

Rivers of tears flowed down his cheeks. "How could you, Kera?" he sobbed, on his knees, hands clasped together. You would have thought I had murdered someone with the way he was acting.

Surrounded by a bunch of weak idiots, noted the blue dragon.

Piss off, I answered back angrily.

"Hey, Kera. Have you had a great day so far?" Orihime asked me.

I left a crying Keigo to be comforted by Miziuro. "Sort of. Just had a pop quiz on algebra but I'll get over the headache soon enough."

Orihime and her friends laughed at that and we all settled down for lunch. They chatted about boys, a new pop band with extra cute songs and the new people in their classes. Not one mention of Rukia from any of them.

Later that day, as the final bell rang, I waited outside the school for Ichigo. By some silent acceptance, we walked out together, shoulder to shoulder. Ichigo had a far away look in his eyes, his eyes on the ground, our footsteps filling the silence.

After a few minutes, he stopped and turned to me, grabbing my arm.

"It's weird, how everyone is acting normal," he began. "Rukia's gone and yet, no one even remembers her."

"I'm guessing that is just what happens to soul reapers who are brought back to the soul society by force."

"Will this happen to you when you disappear from the Living world and go back to live in the soul society? You know, since you were banished? Would they erase you from all our lives as well?"

Wind whistled between us. "Possible. I've never actually thought that our total existence would be wiped from people's minds. Who knows, the minute I get in the soul society, they might even just kill me and be done with it."

Silence, before I turned to Ichigo, noting his tense jaw, hard eyes as he stared down. Before I could stop the words, they were tumbling out of my mouth. "We'll bring Rukia back, Ichigo; we will save her. And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. I swear on my honour as a soul reaper that we will save Rukia."

Thinking back now, sitting in Urahara's shop, I don't know what compelled me to say that. Maybe it was the look in Ichigo's eyes that forced me to. After my little speech, I had parted ways with him, slightly embarrassed by my promise.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Hey, Kera!" Jinta shouted through the door. "The Boss says Ichigo is on his way. Come to the front door!"

"Coming!" I shouted, before tying back my hair and dressing into something more suitable than a crop top and pants.

Bare foot, I waited outside with Urahara, Ururu, Tessai and Jinta. Footsteps soon sounded around the corner and Ichigo came into view.

"How are your wounds?" Urahara asked behind his fan.

Ichigo ripped open his shirt to reveal the fading scars and wounds. "Completely healed."

"Good!" Urahara stated, snapping his fan closed. "Did you get permission from your family?"

"Yeah. I told 'em I'm crashing at a friend's house."

"Alright, let's get started. Follow me, you guys." Urahara started towards the door and I followed, before Ichigo's shout made us all turn.

"THANKS FOR SAVING ME!" he cried, bowing low.

Urahara looked stunned. "Did... did you say something?"

Ichigo quickly answered him, slightly embarrassed. "Um... no."

Urahara's stunned expression changed to a small smile. "I didn't think so. I'm looking forward to this."

We all filed in, with Jinta bringing up the rear, pulling down a roller door to cover the shop entrance. Tessai moved a part of the floor out and we all climbed down the ladder in darkness, until it opened up into a gigantic room.

"WHOA!" Urahara shouted at the bottom, hands cupped around his mouth. "WHAT IS THIS!!? Incredible! This huge, cavernous chamber is right under my store!"

"Oh, shut up. Yeah, yeah. I'm duly impressed," Ichigo answered sarcastically.

I, on the other hand, was thoroughly impressed. The ceiling was painted like the sky and gave the impression that it went on forever and there wasn't a roof right above us. The ground was like desert terrain, filled with sand coloured boulders and gnarled trees.

"Ha ha... believe it or not, this is your training room! We used our uber technology to make this overnight – just for the two of you!" Urahara looked so happy with himself. "Look, the ceiling is painted like the sky to lighten the mood!"

"Great, just like a prison," Ichigo mumbled.

"We even planted trees to make it cheery!"

"They're all dead," Ichigo noted.

"Yeah, couldn't you have live ones, Urahara?" I shaded my face with a hand. "Even though it's just artificial light, it still does a number on your retinas. Would be nice if there was shade."

Urahara ignored me completely. "It was no mean feat to build this under a city."

"It's probably illegal, and in direct violation of multiple building ordinances," Ichigo stated.

"Wait a second. Since it's under the city, doesn't that mean you would have had to dig out most of the under layers? Won't this place collapse?" I asked, worried as I glanced at the ceiling. I could just imagine it crashing down on us and burying us under blocks of concrete and sand.

Urahara waved his fan at me. "Don't worry, Kera. I took all the necessary precautions."

"Anyway," Ichigo started, stretching his arms in the arm then bending to stretch his legs. "We don't have much time. Let' get started... let' start training already."

"Good... that's the spirit. Very well," Urahara said. "Let's do this." Swiftly, he brought his cane round and stabbed it through Ichigo's forehead.