Bleach: Azashiro

ide the central building of the Azashiro family estate, in a hall illuminated by sunlight penetrating wide open paper doors and windows. Overlooking the lake located in the center of the estate, with thick green grass, as if shining under the rays of the sun, from behind the trees marking the boundaries of the courtyard, one could see a wall with a sharp top made of yellow tiles, enclosing the entire territory of the estate.

There were three people sitting at the table in the hall, but only one of them looked through the open doors and enjoyed the view of the greenery of nature and the forest.

In the hall from which his unconscious son had just been taken out, Dachey hugged his wife trying to calm her down and wiped tears from her face. A little to the left of them sat an old man who did not turn carefully at them, still peering at the open doors to the yard.

"Well, stop shedding tears", Keigo said irritably. - He's fine already. When he wakes up, I'll check him again, just in case.

After his words, the couple looked at him. Aya understood that this was necessary, but she still did not like it when her son was subjected to such strong spiritual pressure at the age of five. There are hardly 20 strong people in the entire Soul Society like her husband's father. And this man had to release spiritual pressure on her son in full force.

She was worried about how this would affect him, not physically, but psychologically. Not every Shinigami can withstand the spiritual pressure of such force directed at him.

"Maybe you can already explain what happened to our son". - Dachy said frowning.

"To be honest, I don't fully understand myself". - Keigo said, looking into his son's eyes. - Akihiko has a huge amount of reirek, but he couldn't use it. As if he didn't feel his spiritual power. This is quite strange, because if someone has such an amount of energy, they will manipulate it on a subconscious level.

For a few seconds there was silence. All three thought. They understood the enormous importance of reirek in this world. They were glad that their son and grandson had a large reserve of spiritual power, but the inability to use it put an end to his future, no matter what he wanted to become. Aya was the first to break the silence.

"But I felt how he defended himself to his reatsu". - she said, already calming down.

-Yeah, that's why I pressed him. I scanned it as soon as I saw it. It was strange to me that he had so much spiritual power and did not use it. As is usually the case, shinigami can achieve more in critical situations. It is not uncommon for people to master shikai during battles. - the old man told them his thoughts. - I wanted to make him feel his spiritual strength by putting pressure on him so that he would use it or feel it. When he wakes up I can tell you exactly what the problem was. Either he simply could not control his reireka or he did not feel spiritual strength.

"Will there be any consequences for him?" asked Daichi.

"If he couldn't control his spiritual energy, then problems could arise, and if he didn't feel it, then the problem had already been solved", the Old Man said confidently. "It's good that you called me right away, as I noticed". Later there could be irreversible consequences.

-Yeah, let's hope for the best - nodded at his dad's words, said Daichi.

Now all they can do is wait for Akihiko to awaken and hope that everything will work out.

***

I woke up lying on my bed. Feeling great. When I got out of bed, I didn't understand what had happened to me. I felt lightness throughout my body. It was unusual. Remembering what happened in the hall, I decided to understand my feelings.

Sitting in the lotus position on the bed, I decided to start with meditation. As soon as I closed my eyes, I was distracted by the clicking sound of the opening door. Looking towards the entrance to the room, I saw that same old man coming towards me. Behind him came my parents with worried people.

-Hmm, he's fine. - the old man smiled at me. - Well, you made us worry, kid.

He laughed after his words. I didn't understand what was happening. I turned my head towards my parents, wanting to hear an explanation.

"It's okay son, let's go sit down at the table and we'll explain everything to you", my mother said to me, smiling, reassuringly.

-Miya bring us some tea. - Having given the order to my father, he sat down at the table.

Fortunately, there was a small table in my room, allowing four people to comfortably sit behind it. In addition to the table in the room, in addition to the bed, there was only a wardrobe carved into a wooden wall and a mirror. I chose this room myself, after three years of living in a room more similar in size to a small hall decorated with gold and paintings, I was not comfortable living in such luxury. And in the third year I received my father's permission to choose a room for myself.

Even though it didn't look so richly furnished, everything in this room cost fabulous sums for ordinary people. The wood used for the table, wardrobe and bed was cut down in places where there was a large accumulation of spiritual energy. In such a simple environment I felt cozy and comfortable.

Sitting down at the ebony table and waiting for the story to begin, I watched them carefully. My mother sat down to my right, and my father and old man sat opposite me. Mom had slightly red eyes, apparently she had been crying recently, but you could see a smile on her face. From the moment I came in, my father never stopped frowning and sometimes glancing at the old man. And the old man, as far as I understand, was my grandfather Keigo Azashiro. He sat calmly, closing his eyes. But even so, despite his calm appearance, I felt danger being next to him. I was a little nervous sitting in front of him, I didn't forget how in our last meeting he put pressure on me with his real estate.

Some time passed and the servants entered the room, carefully placing cups in front of us and pouring aromatic tea in each, they left with a bow, without uttering a word. Drinking from a cup of tea served, I tried to calm down. Some time passed, during which everyone managed to enjoy the taste of tea.

"Well, it's time to explain to Aki what's going on", the father said, nodding slightly towards the old man.

-Okay. I can assure you right away that there are no problems. - Grandfather said, looking towards his parents.

-What problems? - frowning, I looked at my parents.

-You should have figured out who I was by now. But I will still introduce myself. I'm your grandfather, my name is Keigo Azashiro and I'm the captain of the kido squad. Sorry that our first meeting turned out like this. It would be better if I did this while you didn't know who I was. - this old man told me with a smile.

His words surprised me greatly. I didn't think my grandfather was the captain of the kido squad. It is not clear what he meant by his last words. While waiting to hear the sequel, I just nodded my head. Grandfather apparently understood me and decided to continue.

-You see, you had a problem that your dad noticed and immediately let me know. As soon as I saw you and scanned you, I knew what was going on. You didn't feel your spiritual strength before, did you? - After waiting for my nod, he continued. - that's the problem, for some reason you couldn't feel your own supply of reirek, and you don't have it small, so as not to pay attention to him. It follows from this that you could not reproduce the reatsu. Your father, watching your training, noticed this. And he immediately sent me a message.

I thought about it, trying to digest everything my grandfather said. So it's not that I've trained little or that little spiritual power will pass with age, as I thought. I wanted to wait 10 years before going to my parents with questions and asking them to test my potential in the way of shinigami.

Although, as far as I remember, Zaraki was stronger in his youth and, accordingly, he already had at least an ass chew. It turns out that reirek is increased not only by training and battles, as I initially thought. All creatures have reireku in their bodies, but what determines the amount of this energy. Most likely, the volume itself is determined at birth or in the first years, but in the future it can be developed, innate data is obtained and talent allows you to determine the potential of the soul from birth.

Thinking about all this, I decided to clarify about my exercises. It was necessary to understand the feasibility and whether it was worth continuing to do this. It's not yet clear to me how they are gaining strength in this world, but I did what I could.

"What's wrong with my training?" I decided to voice my thoughts.

-It's okay with them, basically. The problem is that during training you did not use reireca. Typically, in people who are not trained to control spiritual energy, this happens on a subconscious level. Of course, if they have enough reirek in their bodies. You have enough of it, I'll say it right away and even more, but you didn't do it. So he suspected something was wrong. At first he himself tried to understand what the problem was, but he is not strong in Kaido. And you have more reirek than your father, so there is nothing strange in his failure. - Grandfather said, laughing at his last words.

Reatsu, reirek, I didn't quite understand the connection between them. As I understand the reirek, this is the amount of energy that is stored in the body. But it's not clear about the reatsu, if this is the volume of the reirek, then what is the reatsu? From the anime, as far as I remember, it was the reatsu that was mentioned more often. Maybe by reatsu we mean spiritual energy itself? I'll probably leave this question until the start of my studies.

-I still don't understand what my problem was. And why was this performance in the hall? - I asked, deciding to find out more.

Looking at each other, mom and dad nodded to grandfather, as if giving their consent.

-You see, granddaughter, originally today was supposed to be the ceremony of giving you an asauchi and choosing a teacher for you from vassal families. I didn't think that for your treatment I would need to put pressure on you with my real estate. - Grandfather said, looking at the cup of tea in his hands.

This means that all the preparations on the estate were not for his meeting, but for me. And I should have been given asauchi. This is good news for me, the sooner I start training, the better.

-And about your problem, this is the first time I've seen such a case. Especially considering your level to the reirek. - Grandfather said smiling. - do you know what reirek is?

"This is the spiritual power in our body", I answered his question.

-Right, but not completely. Reirek, as you have already said, this is the energy in our bodies. The energy is located in every spiritual particle of our body and is used to ensure our vital functions. - after pausing and drinking the remaining tea, he continued. – all Shinigami know how to convert reireka to reatsu. This is what you had problems with. In souls with a lot of spiritual power, this happens instinctively. They strengthen their body with reireku during battles and training. Thus, in the process, gradually increasing your reserve of spiritual energy.

-It turns out I couldn't produce the reatsu? - I decided to clarify.

-Not only, you didn't feel your spiritual power either. By directing my spiritual pressure at you, I gave you, one might say, an example and an impetus at the same time. You have never felt real life in your life, I gave you a feel and pushed you. - my grandfather answered me with a smile.

It turns out that when I woke up, I felt spiritual strength in my body. Apparently my past worldview made itself felt in this way. Since others with my level of reireku, subconsciously use it without even undergoing training. I, who lived in a world where there was no spiritual energy, simply did not get used to it and did not even notice it.

Feeling the spiritual power in my entire body now, I began to perceive the world in a completely different way. It was as if my eyes were opened and I saw all the colors of this world. I couldn't wait to start, learn, control and use that power.

***

After my grandfather's explanation, we talked a little more and I was sent to rest. Feeling tired, after such a day full of events and information, I decided to go to bed. As I fell asleep, I thought about the imminent start of my training. Before leaving, my grandfather reminded me that tomorrow he would give me asauchi and I would select a teacher for my grandfather.