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It was early in the morning when I felt Captain Komamura stir behind me. "Good morning Captain Komamura, how did you sleep?" I ask, still in the perfect place between reality and dreams.

"I slept well. How about you, any nightmares?" asks Komamura, remembering what happened the previous night.

"None thank you," I say a little drowsily.

"If we are going to train, we should probably get up and get ready now," Komamura says as he gets himself up into a sitting position.

"Okay," I say, sitting up next to him, "but first," I lean in and give him a light kiss on the cheek. "Now we're even," I joke. I stretch and Komamura gets out of bed to get himself dressed for the day of training. "I will go make some tea and breakfast."

He nodded and said, "I don't think you can do better than you did last night," I heard something in his voice that told me he was joking.

"Challenge accepted," I say laughing as I leave the room.

I look around in his kitchen for something to cook. I found what I was looking for and went to work making Okayu, Miso soup, and Natto. I had the soup steaming in a pot with plenty of herbs for taste. The Okayu was going to take twenty minutes to prepare, and the Natto was in a bowl with soy sauce.

"Perfect," I say as I leave to set the table.

Just when the table was set, Lieutenant Iba walked in, probably to help with the paper work. He spotted me and came over.

"Hey Hiroshi, how was your night?" Iba asked. I searched his face to see if he knew anything, he didn't.

"It was good. I was able to sleep just fine," I say and then decided to change the subject in case he started asking questions. "How did you like the leftovers?" I ask.

"They were amazing. You really are a good cook," Iba said earnestly.

"I'm glad you liked it. Breakfast and tea should be ready soon," I say pleasantly.

He chuckled when I finished.

"What?" I asked.

"You've been here a day and you already seem adjusted," he said still laughing.

"It's just something I have always done. When I find myself in a new environment, I find things I am familiar with and put myself there as often as possible. It was a nervous habit I had," I said explaining.

"What are you nervous about exactly?" Iba asked. Tt was a joke, but I still felt like telling him.

"When I was alive, people tended to avoid me and I did not get along with the people who would talk to me, so I was socially awkward and would have my nose in a book; but when I found hobbies it helped me adapt to people, so it has just become a habit," I say solemnly. "Well, I'm pretty sure the food and tea are done by now, so I will go get them. If you are looking for Captain Komamura, I am pretty sure he will be out soon."

I excused myself and brought the food back just as Captain Komamura came into the room and sat down at the table. We sat down and ate in silence; not an awkward one, just one where everyone was focused on eating. Komamura and I were not about to share what happened last night to Iba. Thank God he isn't the most observant of people.

Iba was the one to break the silence, "So when are you two going to start the training?"

Komamura swallowed the rest of his tea and said, "We are going to start training when everyone is done eating, and Iba?"

"Yes sir?" Iba said.

"I will be helping Hiroshi with achieving his shikai, but I would like you to help train him in combat," Komamura said. "Will you be able to do it? If not, I will be able to find someone else to help him."

Iba choked on his tea, "You want to reach shikai? In one day!" Iba asked incredulously. "You aren't even a full-fledged shinigami and you want to learn shikai?"

"Yes, it will help me with the program; and lately I've been having these weird dreams and feelings. I think that if I can talk to my Zanpakutõ, then it will be able to help me understand what is happening," I say seriously.

"Will you be able to help him with combat?" Komamura asked again.

Iba was still looking at me skeptically. "Yeah, if the kid can achieve shikai, I can help him with learning how to use it."

"It's settled then, we will begin when you two finish eating," Komamura said finally.

We finished the rest of the meal in silence.

We walked out into the garden behind Komamura's quarters. Goro looked up from his dog house sleepily and then went back to his nap. Komamura and I sat down facing each other in the middle of the garden with Iba sitting in the shade under a tree nearby.

"Now," Komamura said, "draw your sword and close your eyes." I did as I was told. "I don't want you to focus on the blade; I want you to focus on yourself. Read what is going through your body and find one thing that does not belong to you: an emotion, thought, or anything really. I want you to focus on that one thing and follow it like a string back to where it came fr-"Komamura did not get to finish because I was already gone.

I was standing in a field surrounded by mountains. I sense something behind me and I turn around. There was a pond there, but standing on top of the water was a woman; a woman with long black hair and lavender eyes. She wore a tight fighting top with loose hanging sleeves and pants that resembled that which belonged to a shinigami. She had black lips that turned up into a kind smile. She was also two whole feet taller than me. Her hands moved up and beckoned for me to walk to her. I figured this was another dream, so I walked toward her and was not too surprised to find out I could walk on top of the still water. I walked toward her feeling as though I knew her, but that was impossible because we had never met.

Suddenly I knew who she was. "You are my Zanpakutõ," I say as the realization hit me.

She nodded, but said nothing.

We stood there for a while, just taking each other in. She had a gentle air around her, and her eyes were filled with more kindness than I knew existed in the world.

"I'm pleased to finally meet you face to face," she finally says. Her voice is like the breeze going through cherry blossoms on a pleasant spring day; it filled me with ease. I knew I could tell her anything and she would not judge me for it.

"Same here," I say a little dumbstruck. "I am here to learn your name," I say figuring getting straight to business would be the best thing.

"I know, but before that I want to talk to you," the girl said.

"Why?" I asked.

She smiled before responding. "I just want to talk. It's not every day you get to meet the extension of your soul, you know."

I figured she probably knew about all of the turmoil in my heart, and her voice made me want to stay and tell her everything that was on my mind.

"Actually, I would like that very much," I say.

She smiled, "I'm glad to hear it."

We waited there for a while.

"So what would you like to talk about?" I ask.

"I just thought it would be nice to talk. I don't really care about what. Is there something you would like to discuss?" she said kindly.

"Actually there is," I say, remembering the dream. "I had a dream when I was sleeping last night. It scared me and I cried afterwards. I wanted to know if you could help sort out all the hell in here," I said pointing to my head.

She looked at where I was pointing as if she were trying to step into my brain. "I don't see any hell," she says simply.

"I meant what happened in my dream. I was hurtling toward Shinta and I couldn't stop," I say, losing some of my patience.

"I know what you meant, but like I said before I don't see any hell," she said with seemingly infinite patience.

"Yes there is.! I wanted to kill that guy.! I wanted to impale him and make him hurt," I say, practically screaming. "That scares me. What if it happens again? What if I hurt someone I care about? At the end, I ended up being run through. What if-"

I was cut off as the girl flung herself into me and hugged me tightly. "That's not hell," she whispers in my ear. "That's pain, fear, and anger. There is no hell in your head. You were hurt and you wanted to make sure the person could not do it to you or anyone else ever again. You were afraid if he got the chance he would keep pushing you until you broke. That's okay. You are allowed to feel that way, but the way to deal with it is for you to just let it go," She said with sorrow in her voice.

There were tears in my eyes and my voice cracked as I asked, "How?"

She pulled away and smiled sadly at me. "Scream. Scream and get it out of your system, and then promise yourself you will never let it happen again. I am here to help you. I will give you my power and make sure no one can ever do that to you again," she said the last bit with passion overflowing in her words.

I took my sword's advice and screamed. There were no tears this time, just emotion and a promise that this would be the last time someone would hurt me or anyone I cared for.

When I finished, I looked my sword in the eye and an understanding passed between us.

"I'm sure you already know this, but my name is Hiroshi Osamu and I am weak; but the next time I see you I will be stronger."

She smiled, her eyes gleaming with joy. "I look forward to that day Hiroshi Osamu." She leaned forward and hugged me again and said in my ear, "My name is Heiwa-tekina kagami. I will be here if you ever need me. Goodbye, and may the next time we meet be for a happier occasion than this."

"I don't know; I quite enjoyed this talk," I said smiling at her.

We hugged once more before the world went black.

I gasped as I came back to reality. My hands were grasped tightly around my sword and there was blood welling up from where I had cut myself. I watched my hand instantly start healing as reaitsu from the blade flowed into the cut.

"Be more careful," a female voice echoed inside my head.

Komamura was looking at me with curiosity. "Did it work?" he asked.

"Let's see," I say energetically.

I get to my feet and bring my sword up. I caressed my sword's blade as I said, "Mimic and control, Heiwa-tekina kagami!"

My sword grew and the blade split down the middle all the way to the hilt, with the sound of pealing bells; until I was holding two swords with steel blades. The blades were colored silver with black lines tracing the cutting edges. The hilts were mid-sized with normal tsubas that formed four-pointed stars with lengths of red rope sprouting from the base. The middle of the blades made little crescent outlines, and when I put them together they made a complete circle.

"I'd say that qualifies as a yes," Iba said, walking toward me with his sword drawn.

"Alright then Tetsuzaemon, he's all yours. I will stick around to monitor the fight," Komamura said while walking over to where Iba was sitting previously.

"Okay kid let's see what you got," Iba said while getting into stance.