Crows x Souls

“You are good. You almost anticipated my moves. Almost.” — Itachi Uchiha. 

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Under the night sky, in the middle of the forest sat a small flickering flame that crackled as it ate away at the wooden fuel thrown at it from time to time, and behind it sat two men; Itachi and Junpei.

After the last time Itachi visited the youth, almost two weeks had passed before Junpei saw him again. To his credit, Junpei was sensible to understand that Itachi couldn’t always come and teach him when he probably had other Shinigami duties to attend to. 

Since Itachi didn’t dive into teaching him how to fight with a sword(all Junpei’s activities with the wooden sword was for the purpose of stimulating his Reiatsu to grow to an acceptable level for his admission) as they would teach him the basics and fundamentals of Zankensouki, which was the four fundamental combat style of a Shinigami. 

The four parts Zankensouki is divided into are; 

• Zanjutsu, which translated to swordsmanship. 

• Hohō, which is the high-speed movement related arts where Shunpo and few others fall under. 

• Kidō, the use of a wide range of destructive and supplementary spells. 

• Hohō, which is the application of Shinigami hand-to-hand combat style. Something that was an important requisite when joining either the 2nd Division or the Onmitsukidō. 

He didn’t teach him anything that didn’t directly relate to stirring his less than passable Reiatsu, apart from how to properly swing a sword. 

“The admission exams are in three days, Mr. Shinigami.” Junpei opened up conversation, or at least he attempted to, but Itachi’s response was absentmindedly nodding his head. 

He was already used to Itachi’s terribly recluse and quiet character so Itachi’s unenthusiastic reply just washed over him harmlessly. 

“I hope I get in.” He murmured before suddenly starting laughing without anything else said. “Hahaha, I just thought of how you’ll probably kill me if I still fail to get in after your help.”

Unlike what he expected of his joke to be ignored, Itachi replied him with his eyes focused on the small burning flame that he was feeding with small pieces of wood. 

“If you end up failing then that’s either your limit or you didn’t try hard enough. As for not trying hard enough, there’s still more exams to come so you still have ample time to prepare.”

Whatever Junpei had been about to say before Itachi started speaking immediately died down to silence as he listened with rapt attention to whatever the ever serious Mr. Shinigami had to say about him. 

“… It feels weird to plan for failure.” He didn’t know how to feel when Itachi’s words felt like they were basically comforting him in advance in the likely event of him failing. 

Itachi raised his head to look at Junpei who shifted slightly under his black-eyed gaze. “You don’t plan for failure but instead accept it as a highly probable possibility with every choice you make.”

“…Damn, that sounds hardcore.” Junpei remarked almost patronizingly. “Anyone ever tell you that you make a great voice of reason, Mr. Shinigami?”

Itachi hands stopped mid-motion in feeding the excited flame more wood. It was the first time Junpei saw the resemblance of the closest thing to a forlorn look he’d ever seen on Itachi’s face. 

“Yeah, someone did. A deceptively long time ago.” The face of the only person he ever saw as a brother, that wasn’t Sasuke, appeared in his mind. It wasn’t a secret to anyone that knew both of them that Itachi saw his best friend as his own older brother. 

‘A voice of reason? He was always the better voice of reason between the both of us.’

“Um… I’m sorry.” Itachi raised a brow at Junpei, wondering what prompted the sudden apology. “You looked like you were remembering something unpleasant. Like a bad nightmare or something.”

“Horror.”

“What?”

“You can wake up from a nightmare and even forget it with enough time. Mine is no simple thing like a nightmare. True horror that sticks to you like a soul stain, even after death.” 

Picking up the last bits of broken wood, he threw them all into the flame and watched transfixed as its intensity rose up. 

The two of them watched as the flame burnt away all the dried wood and started burning itself out until it was nothing more that a red glow of heat amidst ashes. 

“Go home, Junpei, and get enough rest.” They both stood up at the same time knowing it was time to leave. “Don’t tax your body for the next two days except for your basic exercises.”

“Hear ya loud and clear.” Junpei said as he watched Itachi leave, knowing there was something different about his current state than how he usually was every other day. 

“Hey, Mr. Shinigami?” He called out to the man moments before he faded away from his vision. “Think I got it this time?”

The gratitude he felt towards Itachi was why he valued whatever Itachi had to say. For Itachi teaching him for months just because he begged persistently and earnestly guiding him whenever he was around despite not knowing anything about him other than his name. Itachi didn’t even know where he lived. 

“The answer to that is whether or not you gain admission this time around.” 

He smiled wryly at Itachi’s answer but still didn’t want to give up. “Then what’s your name? If I become a Shinigami then everyone will become a Mr. and Ms. Shinigami.”

That finally got Itachi to pause his leave but not for the reasons Junpei thought. In stark opposition to Junpei’s thoughts, Itachi simply stopped after realizing once more that he never actually gave the youth his name. 

“I’ll tell you either when you gain admission or when you graduate. This might be the last time we’ll ever see each other, that’s if you fail.”

The words had barely made their way into Junpei’s ears when the young man realized that Itachi was gone. Grumbling to himself as he did so. “The least he could say was a ‘goodbye’ or ‘see you later’.”

He grumbled all the way in his return journey through the woods to return home, but apart from his petty grievance at Mr. Shinigami for leaving him hanging, his stomach bubbled with excitement as he impatiently waited for the three days to go by. 

……. 

[POV: With Itachi]

Itachi and Soi Fon followed behind Yoruichi as she led them in the direction of the Shihōin Clan, one of the Five Great Noble Families. 

She could have simply ordered a precession and a palanquin instead of going there on foot but she digressed. She’d long grown out of the stuffy noble etiquette and only showed it when absolutely necessary, which was only when she was in a meeting with the other Family Heads. 

And besides, who could argue that this wasn’t faster, better and overall efficient than having her sitting in a stuffy tent carried by a bunch of slow muscular guys through the sizable distance that takes an hour or two on foot. 

“Make sure to stay by my side at all times when we get there.” Soi Fon said, somewhat surprised when Itachi didn’t ask any of his usual questions and just silently accepted everything with a nod. 

Of course Itachi would know what to do given that he was also at some point the heir to one of the oldest clans in history. Until he destroyed it with his own hands, that is. 

Yoruichi took a subtle glance behind her, a bit surprised too that his curious(and paranoid) nature didn’t make a show of twenty questions. 

“We’re almost there. Don’t worry as you’ll be staying in my sight at all times.” She said it more for Itachi’s benefit than Soi Fon as her bodyguard was used to settings like these practically since she learnt how to walk. 

“That reminds me; today is the admission exam into the Shin’ō Academy. Marenoshin better remember to file a report on all the new and promising admission.” She said to herself, fully aware of how easily the 2nd Division Lieutenant forgot himself to his slothful vice. 

“Are there any special tests during the admission?” Itachi asked all of a sudden. 

“I don’t think so.” Soi Fon said, shaking her head. “The bar for admission is quite median and the only thing one really has to worry about is the measuring of their Reiatsu levels. And in my personal opinion, the accepted level is too low that any barely competent person can pass.”

Yoruichi spoke up after Soi Fon, showing that she was listening to their conversation, ‘cause by not? “Though it’s rare, some people’s Reiatsu only start growing when they are in a highly rich Reishi environment and the bar was intentionally set just barely above average in a bid to admit those with late growth or a hidden talent. Of course, the disadvantage of that is the multitude of severely weak souls who call themselves Shinigami despite not even being able to achieve Shikai.”

“Any reason why you’re suddenly interested in the admission exams?” She asked but Itachi merely shook his head. 

“A passing curiosity.” He said as they drew closer to the wide expanse of land that was the Shihōin Clan, located at one of the far end corners of the Seireitei. 

The first thing Itachi instantly noticed was that the security here was higher than anywhere else in all the barracks of the Gotei 13. 

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