"We stand in awe before that which can not be seen… And we respect, with every fiber, that which can not be explained." —Rukia Kuchiki.
°
°
°
°
°°°°°°°°°°
He stood up from his bed and looked around with a sigh in his eyes as he took a ribbon and tied his loose hair behind his back. His hair had grown to the point that it was halfway down his back but he still had no inclinations to cut it.
He left it as is, purely for sentimental reasons and he never once questioned it.
His hitai-ate was beside the ribbon but he ignored it, not even sparing it a glance as he left the walls of his bare room and walked into a waterfall of blood.
His dreams, as rare as they were, were becoming exceedingly cryptic and he had no choice but to go through the motions every time they came until he woke up.
He walked horizontally on the vertically flowing red waterfall until he got to the top where a blacked out night immediately swallowed everything as he stepped past it. There were bumps surrounding him as he walked on murky grounds in the darkness.
He was certain that the various bumps he kicked into were dead bodies and the viscosity the ground had gained was because of the fermenting blood.
He didn't resist anything he saw or felt, and he didn't bother to use his other eyes because he knew they would see nothing. The darkness would still remain, the bumps and murky grounds would still be around and under him, and he still would be as blind as he was now.
"Tsukuyomi." He waited a second before he called again. "Amaterasu."
Just like always, they didn't reply to him and he couldn't feel their presence in his soul.
The reason and meaning of the dreams still eluded him but he stopped trying to impress control upon it a long time ago and just silently and obediently went through the motions.
He saw a door in his view, which was the only thing he could see in this darkness, walked towards it and opened it without checking around to see if another door had appeared.
He stepped out of the desk and came into an illuminated room that had empty chairs arranged in a circle.
Without any fanfare of deliberation he sat on one of the seats, the one that called to him and also bore a familiar signage.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them to wake up on his bed. The sun's early rays were peeking through the openings his curtain failed to cover and illuminated his room in that soft early morning flow.
He stood up from his bed, picked up a ribbon from the table beside it and tied his loose hair behind his back.
"Another dream, is it?" He heard Tsukuyomi whisper in his ears.
"Hmm." He poured himself a cup of water as he waited for his meal to heat up.
"Anything of note this time?" Amaterasu asked a second later, sounding clearly in his left ear as if she was standing behind him.
He drank the cup empty and poured another one. "Bleeding waterfall, darkness, door, seats." He replied systematically as he drank empty his second cup.
"Cryptic and vague, isn't it? Most peculiar it would have been if not for its ominous tones."
Tsukuyomi's opinion mirrored exactly that of Itachi's. He would have been more immersed and interested in it if not for how the ill omen presented itself.
"And let me guess, we shan't do anything about it until it unravels itself, meaning and all." Amaterasu said with an amused drawl, as that was what most things were to her — amusing in their existence.
Itachi was tired of the dreams in every font and setting it revealed itself in. Even this conversation they were having felt like a mirror conversation they've had some time ago.
"I'm doing all I can in making sure I'm ready for whatever comes and making sure they are too. Worrying about the nuances and secrets of a vague dream is like climbing down a pit of paranoia. That way lies madness."
Amaterasu hummed into his ears. "Madness is a delight. As long as the flavors are steeped in deep roots."
If she was telling him to go mad or that she would devour any madness he grew, he did not know and he did not ask for clarification, as he did for most things concerning Amaterasu.
He had his quiet breakfast, which only remained a quiet one because Yachiru decided not to visit him this morning.
He left his house and flitted on light feet towards the Academy, wanting to teach his students before he went back to his Captain duties.
In his personal opinion, he would say that he'd contributed more to the Seireitei by being a teacher than being a powerful Captain. Other people might not agree, citing reasons that his students aren't as strong or as skilled as he was, but he did not see it that way.
Everything he'd done for the Seireitei in his capacity as a Captain could be done by another, for example, Yoruichi or Soi Fon could take over the captaincy and hardly anything would change.
As for his other actions like infiltrating Las Noches and defeating Aizen, he was certain that it could be replicated by the Head Captain, if not a few other Captains.
In teaching however, he could impart his personal views and ideals to the next generation. Seeing that his advice, presence and teachings molded the students into who they will grow up to become gave him a rush of satisfaction and fulfillment like no other.
He had told the Head Captain and Kyōraku, and yet the sentiment still remained; he never knew teaching could be this… purposeful.
"Captain Uchiha." Shūhei Hisagi, one of Itachi's oldest students, greeted him by the door as he finished teaching his third class of the day.
"Shūhei," Itachi handed him his books as the young man had made himself Itachi's self-designated assistant and was content in helping him with everything Academy-related. "Why are you here? I'm certain this is my last class for the day."
Shūhei chuckled awkwardly as he fell in step beside Itachi. "It is." He admitted easily, making Itachi direct a slightly raised brow his way.
"I just wanted to ask if you had time to spare to supervise the first years." Shūhei admitted. He was the only student who could casually ask this of Itachi because of the respect traded between him and Itachi.
Shūhei was a quiet, staunch and hard-spoken man that held onto his morals as the basis for who he was as a person. Itachi respected his growth as a person and a Shinigami.
Itachi looked into his memories to remember the faces of the students that were currently having their combat practice and saw that he had a few choice students among them that he was interested in keeping an eye on.
"No problem." He replied nonchalantly and took a detour towards one of the training grounds while Shūhei continued on to his office to drop his books.
Three seconds after he entered the courtyard, he could already see certain students going about their training motions poorly as agitation and anger coated their Reiatsu.
"Renji, stand still for ten seconds, take deep breaths and start again from the very beginning."
"Puh—wha!" The boy sputtered, whether because of Itachi's appearance or because his flawed progress was scrapped.
"Jinichi, you're forcing the motions of your Shunpo. You're destroying every progress you've made in Hohō."
After the next three corrections he could see the ripple effect it was having on the students as all of them fell into a slower pace and went through their various training with more thoughts into their actions.
Shūhei had returned and settled for personal supervision, going from student to student to help them with their specific problems, while Itachi watched from the sidelines and threw in a word or two when needed.
There was absolutely no reason for Itachi or Shūhei to be here, supervising the classes this closely, but the both of them did it anyway because they wanted to. Shūhei had his reasons, while for Itachi it was because of how faintly therapeutic it could be.
He stood up from the shade he sat under and, very slowly and purposefully, walked towards where Rukia was trying and failing to blast a Kidō spell into a target doll.
"What do you think is the problem?" Rukia startled sharply when she suddenly heard his voice and looked to her left to see him looking down on her.
"Um s-sir, I t-think—"
"Rukia, calm down. Even your breathing and speak slowly with your words." She clamped her mouth shut at his sharp interjection.
She took in several breaths and repeatedly murmured under her breath to psych herself up and calm herself down.
"I-it's because I haven't practiced the spell as much as the others, sir." She answered, internally scolding herself for the stutter at the beginning.
"Normally you would be right, but in your case it is not so." He looked towards the target, making Rukia do the same. "You already have the power and control to fire off a Kidō this low. So what is the problem?"
Rukia thought long and hard on it with a frustrated crease on her brows but she couldn't come up with a reasonable response.
"I don't know, sir.." She finally responded, berating herself once more for her inadequacy.
Itachi could read her mind as easily as he read her Reiatsu but he made no mention of her internal conflict and instead pointed at the target doll.
"You are failing in projecting a confident image of what the Kidō is supposed to be." Lightning sparked around his finger but he didn't fire it. "Start your incantation with this image in mind."
"Don't think too much about it. Just chant and picture this."
She took another half breath and started chanting while keeping her eyes on the lightning dancing around Itachi's fingers.
As soon as she finished her chanting, the yellow lightning around her hands rushed out towards the target but it failed to reach it as it fizzled out halfway through its flight.
"You did good," Itachi said before she started berating herself in her head. "It traveled farther than your previous attempts – that's progress. Continue in the same vein and you will get it down in no time."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." She said with two bows of gratitude but Itachi idly waved it off.
The satisfaction he got from helping her overcome her problems was all the reward he needed.
––––––
Patreøn*com/QuackVader
––––––