Chapter 3: Testing

Raindrops fell from the sky and onto her face as she looked on solemnly. It was just as well that it was raining, for it helped Rin conceal her tears.

Her father, however, remained aloof as ever even as his wife's coffin was lowered into the ground. Unnoticed by all but those closest to him in heart, however, was the shaking of his fists as he watched.

Everyone knew that Hisana was never going to be long for this world, ironic as that is for an afterlife. Even Byakuya and Rin had long accepted this morbid fact, but accepting and facing are different things. Certainly, Rin was not expecting, not hoping, that her mother would pass away just under a year after she had left for Shin'ou Academy.

It was a tragedy all the more painful due to the fact that Rin was unable to fulfill her oath that she would find her aunt before her mother's passing. It was something that Rin had thrown herself wholeheartedly at, helping her father's efforts despite his misgivings. Still, after a year of searching, the results were negligible.

All Hisana wanted was to be with her family, her full family, in her last moments.

Rin turned her face towards her father, and for a moment, the two locked eyes. Though their faces were one of quiet sorrow and unrelenting stoicism respectively, there was a definite fire in both of their eyes.

They will find Rukia, for Hisana's sake.

"Woah…" Renji said as he gaped.

Shirou could only agree. He knew instinctively that he was familiar with cities in his past life, but given his hazy memories, the splendour of Seireitei was all too overwhelming for the trio who had lived most of their lives in some of the worst Soul Society had to offer. And they were only at the edge of the City of Shinigami.

Hell, even the gradual changes in living standards as they walked through Rokungai were surprising enough. The 1st District looked almost livable! Shirou couldn't help but join Renji and Rukia's gawking at the clean and ordered streets of Seireitei. Especially eye-catching were the sets of massive white buildings and towers right in the centre of Seireitei, next to an oddly-shaped hill.

"And we can get all of this just by having a little spiritual pressure?" Shirou asked, in slight disbelief.

Rukia frowned as she recalled all the information she had gathered along the way. "Well… that's the official stance. But standards that low is usually reserved for children of nobles and the like." she sighed. "For people like us? Better try to show some talent to get admitted. There'll probably be a physical test, too."

Renji snorted. "Figures."

Shirou could only shrug helplessly. But that hope that even the slightest bit of talent can save one from a life of poverty was not one that only the three of them held. Hundreds of citizens of Rokungai were here, lining up in the entrance to Shin'ou academy, hoping for an escape from the harsh life in Rokungai and into the relative luxuries of Shinigami. This was far from Shirou's main motivations for becoming a Shinigami, but it was a motivation that he could understand.

Shin'ou Academy, from the outside, looked more like a palace or castle from feudal Japan than what Shirou usually associated with a school. Though now that image was slightly tarnished with the long lines of people slowly flowing past the gate and into the courtyard.

Shirou sighed as he got into line with the masses of hopefuls. "Looks like we have a lot ahead of us."

Truthfully, Rin would prefer to take a break from school and spend more time coping with the recent loss of her mother, just a week ago. As well as continuing the hunt for her mother's sister.

But a Kuchiki can never shirk their duties. Her father hadn't faltered once from his work as a Shinigami Captain this past week despite the passing of his wife, and she sure isn't going to either. In a way, focusing on work was almost therapeutic. Rin just wished it was a little less boring.

Shin'ou Academy had a standard six-year course for its students. However, once in a few decades, there would come prodigies who would smash through the curriculum and end up graduating before six years. Rin had initially expected the same when she blazed through her first year.

Alas, it seems like the Academy had introduced a new policy requiring even prodigies to spend at least two years as a teacher's assistant along with attending advanced classes. It seems like this was implemented after a certain Gin Ichimaru finished the whole six-year course in just one year, some sixty years ago.

So despite technically being a second-year who had already completed most of the curriculum, she was among the sixth-years aiding the juniors. And in this case, admitting new juniors.

Really, she could've pressured the school to graduate her early with the massive weight of the Kuchiki name, but Rin didn't think that was necessary. She was still hopeful that she could gain some sort of friendships despite a lackluster first year. Plus, even if she wanted to spend more time searching Rukia, being a graduated Shinigami would come with its own workload.

As in turns out, this was the best decision she could've ever made when it comes to finding her aunt.

Rukia breathed a sigh of relief when the person in front of her was finally finished with the spiritual exam. Failing, she noted, with the man dejectedly walking back past her. How reassuring. Still, Rukia gathered the courage to move forward and take his place, cheered on by Renji and Shirou behind her.

Her examiner for the spiritual test was a senior student, it seemed. Sitting behind the counter was a teenaged-looking girl (but appearances were wholly deceiving in the Soul Society when it came to age), her strangely familiar purple eyes focused on the clipboard in her hand. The girl's long black hair was tied into twintails by a pair of ribbons. Her smooth white skin stood in contrast to the rough, dirty complexions of most Rukia had seen in Rokungai.

"Alright. I am Rin, and I'll be your examiner for spiritual power and control. Please tell me your name and origin―" she started, but the moment the girl's eyes switched from the clipboard to Rukia herself, the girl ‒ Rin ‒ seemed to freeze. Her eyes widened as she took in Rukia's appearance.

Rukia herself felt awkward enduring that gaze, unsure what brought it on. "Oh, uh… I am Rukia Inuzuri, from the 78th District Inuzuri. Nice to meet you." she introduced herself. At this, the twintailed girl seemed to grip her clipboard harder. Closing her eyes and mouthing Rukia's name.

Before the smaller girl could ask, Rin's eyes opened and she gave her a small smile. "Ah, apologies, I have been a bit distracted lately." she told, before gesturing to the open table between them. "As I was saying, I am here to test your spiritual capabilities. I'd like you to form a sphere out of your spiritual power, and maintain it the best you can.

Rukia nodded. It was something she and her two friends had practiced for a long time, even before they had made the collective decision to apply here. Rukia closed her eyes before extending out her hand with her palm faced upwards. Focusing all her power towards her palm, imagining it taking the shape of a snowball…

She opened her eyes when she felt a disruption to that flow of energy. Floating atop her hand was a sphere about half a foot long, and Rin was pushing her own hand against the sphere. Rukia pursed her lips, trying to maintain the sphere as long as she could, lasting a good few seconds it dissipated.

Despite this, the examiner gave her an approving smile. "Good reserves of spiritual power, and good control of it, for someone at your stage. You pass." she told, before giving her a sharp look. "I hope to see more of you, Rukia."

It was a strange encounter for sure, but Rukia was too giddy at passing the test to care. She left, awaiting her two friends from the side. Renji's test was a much less exciting affair for Rin, despite being one of the more promising applicants she had seen today. His sphere was a bit smaller than Rukia's but glowed much brighter. Though it was easy to disrupt. Good reserves, but lacking in control.

The young man that followed him was a different story…

Rin was deep in her own thoughts as she wrote on her clipboard. She certainly didn't expect to meet her aunt with such little fanfare today.

Because that lady was most definitely Hisana's sister. Rukia was the spitting image of Rin's mother, and sharing the same name with the sister that Hisana often talked about had to be more than a coincidence.

But she can't be too hasty in regards to taking in Rukia into the Kuchiki family. The two barely knew each-other, and how could they be a real family if they weren't even friends? No no no, she would have to ease Rukia into the idea of having relatives and being a noble. Rin was surprised to find that she was taller than her aunt, though.

So deep was she into her thoughts that she didn't acknowledge the next applicant until he was already at the counter. She raised her head, ready to utter an apology―

And Shirou and Rin shared a long, hard look into the other's eyes.

Unfortunately, neither of them truly recognized the other for who they were.

For Shirou, his memories were far too hazy to put together Rin's familiar face with a known identity. He knew he recognized her from somewhere, but he couldn't for the life of him say exactly where.

It was a different case for Rin. She had vivid memories of her last moments, of that last promise. The problem was, that Shirou looked nothing like the man she remembered being with in her final moments. The man she remembered was tall, lean yet well-muscled, white-haired, grey-eyed, and covered in dark skin.

The redheaded teen in front of her simply did not match any of that description.

Still, both felt the other was familiar, they just couldn't figure out why or how.

Their staring match continued for a few more moments before the applicant behind Shirou gave a cough. Rin broke her gaze, cheeks having some faint redness to it as she cleared her throat. "R-Right! I'm Rin, and I'll be examining your spiritual capabilities. I'm sure you know what to do?"

The redhead blinked, amidst the snickers from his friends on the sidelines. "Oh, right. I'm Shirou Emiya, from Inuzuri." he introduced himself before extending out his palm and closing his eyes.

"Trace, on." he whispered to himself. These words form the trigger of a self-suggestion that allowed him to flow his spiritual power throughout his body. He focused them onto the palm of his hand. Rather than a sphere, in his mind he imagined his energy taking the form of a sword floating in the air and spinning around in place to form a 'sphere' from its tip. He felt outside forces trying to disrupt the sword's spin, but he resolutely maintained it in place.

"Hmmn…" he heard Rin's strangely-familiar voice, the redhead opening his eyes to observe. The sphere floating in his hand was much smaller than Rukia's or Renji's, instead only about the size of a tennis ball. Despite the imagery in his head, it was still very much a normal sphere. Sword-related imagery simply made spiritual control much easier for Shirou.

Still, Rin seemed to have difficulty lodging it from its place with pushes of her hand. It was when she started trying it to crush it with her hand that Shirou started to grit his teeth as he tried his hardest to maintain the sphere. After a dozen or so seconds he relented, sighing as the ball dissipated within Rin's hand.

"Phew…" Rin sighed, only to give him a little smile. "Weak reserves, but… excellent control." She said succinctly, with an approving nod. A nod that Shirou mirrored, satisfied that his training hadn't been for naught. He began to walk past Rin - the line behind him had started to become agitated with how much time they were taking - but just as he passed by, he stopped and turned back to Rin. Extending out his hand, this time for a handshake.

Shirou smiled. "A little bit late to say this, but I hope we get along." he greeted.

Rin blinked, and red began to faintly color her cheeks. "R-Right. Of course. Nice to meet you, Emiya-kun." she said before returning the handshake. The way she said his name made his heart skip a beat, but he didn't have time to ponder and instead made his way to Rukia and Renji.

The both of them welcomed him with smirks and grins respectively.

"Hoho, what's this, you sly devil? A long stare, a more-than-friendly greeting. Is this love at first sight?" Rukia teased, half-hiding her smirk with her hand.

"Damn, Shirou! We just got here and you're already making moves? Don't tell me this is the real reason you came here!" Renji laughed.

"Y-You two… shut up…" was all he could weakly reply, looking away in embarrassment. Even so, Shirou felt like he couldn't quite deny the accusations…

Luckily, their teases eventually came to a stop. They still had a physical exam to complete (and pass), after all.

The three of them entered into one of the buildings in the school grounds. It quickly became apparent that this was a dojo, and inside it was filled with a dozen or so uniformed senior students. Each was armed with a shinai, facing off against what had to be fellow Rokungai citizens. Some citizens were armed with shinais of their own, others faced the seniors with their bare hands. Besides every pair of duelling senior-applicant was another senior taking the results in on their own clipboards. It was clear by first glance that in every pair, the seniors had the upper hand if not utterly thrashing the green applicants.

"The physical test is a duel?!" Rukia realized with a little bit of dread, while Renji seemed a little excited. Shirou only nodded resolutely.

"Ah, are you three done with the spiritual test?" They heard a voice call out to them. It came from a senior student with a clipboard in his hand. The young man was tall, with a long thin face and small eyes. "I'm Aoga. Everyone else is already taken, so you'll have to take the test with Hisagi here."

The fellow senior that Aoga gestured to certainly had a striking appearance. The lean-built man had sharp grey eyes and black hair. Most eye-catching was the choker around his neck and the '69' tattoo on his cheek. Nice. He had the appearance of a punk, and Shirou could see why the other applicants went to the other seniors first.

Despite this, the man himself gave them a calm nod and smile. "Welcome. I'm Shuuhei Hisagi. I know this test may look intimidating, but rest assured, you don't actually have to win the duel to pass the test." He explained. "We're just testing what combat capabilities you do have. You can use a shinai or fight bare-handed, it's up to you. Here in Shin'ou, we teach both Zanjutsu and Hakuda."

That seemed to calm Rukia somewhat, enough to step forward. She had chosen to forgo the shinai and to her bare hands, citing lack of experience with swordplay compared to their more common streetfights. Still, her small frame didn't do any favors, and while she managed to avoid many of Hisagi's attacks she could hardly land any of her own, and it only took a decent hit of Hisagi's shinai to her abdomen for her to hiss and admit defeat. Still, Hisagi seemed to praise her style, but thought she would do better with swordplay.

Renji, on the other hand, chose to take a shinai off the stand to counter Hisagi's own despite his inexperience. He took on an aggressive style from the start, taking many hits in exchange for landing some of his own. His body was sturdy and was able to take on those hits, until Hisagi managed to knock away Renji's wooden blade. Shirou could tell that the ponytailed teen had earned a good result, however.

And then it was Shirou's turn.

He stepped forward, picking up Renji's fallen shinai. Closing his eyes as he took a deep breath, information filling his brain. He had the ability to instinctively take in a weapon's history by sight alone, but it was even stronger with touch.

Shirou moved into a stance opposite Hisagi, giving a nod to the senior student. His brown eyes scanning the shinai in his opponent's hand. Rather than one or two users, both the shinai in his and Hisagi's hand had been wielded by hundreds if not thousands of different users throughout their lifetimes. It was a practice sword used by applicants, students and a few teachers alike, and the multitude of varying skills experienced by each one was almost overwhelming. Still, Shirou thought that he could discern enough of a pattern among them; culminating into what was equivalent to graduate-level Zanjutsu skills. It would hopefully be enough to match Hisagi.

Shirou stood in silence before his opponent. Hisagi chose to take the first move, stepping forward and swinging his wooden blade towards Shirou's left.

It was weak, Shirou noted, and slow. The senior was of course taking it easy in a test against newbies, but that was unacceptable when fighting Shirou. The redhead easily parried the strike and quickly countered with an attack of his own, his blade landing a decent hit on Hisagi's left side. Their eyes met, and Shirou conveyed a silent warning: Don't underestimate me.

It was a warning that Hisagi only took seriously after a few more blows when Shirou sent a feint to Hisagi's right, only to swing it around to land a strong hit on Hisagi's left shoulder. The black-haired man grunted, a spark lighting in his eyes as he finally took Shirou as a serious threat.

For what felt like hours but in reality was only minutes, the two of them exchanged blow after blow of their wooden swords. His stamina was not up for this, Shirou noted. Though he had made a strong showing initially, as the duel went on Shirou was taking more and more hits while landing fewer and fewer of his own. Still, he gritted his teeth and endured the pain. Like Renji, he was willing to take on Hisagi's strikes as long as he could land his own.

So focused was he in this duel that he didn't notice how the rest of the dojo had quieted down. All the other tests between seniors and applicants had stopped, as everyone's attention had been drawn to the heated duel between Shirou and Hisagi. It was such a contrast to the other one-sided tests that the Rokungai applicants couldn't help but be in awe by one of their own. The seniors, on the other hand, were shocked that a random applicant was on near-equal footing with Shuuhei Hisagi.

"D-Damn… I knew he was good, but I didn't realize he was this good." Renji muttered, and Rukia would've nodded in agreement if she wasn't so taken by the intense match. Their friend had always been much better than the rest of their orphan family when it came to swordplay, but it was different seeing him beat street thugs and seeing him matching a trained student.

She watched as Hisagi swung down his sword in a powerful overhead swing, which Shirou managed to dodge by leaping back. He immediately countered by lunging forward, thrusting his wooden blade towards Hisagi's centre. The senior barely managed to catch the attack, forcing Shirou's shinai away. Still, the redheaded teen was now wide open, and Hisagi took the chance to land a hit on Shirou's right hip.

"No kidding…" This time it was the mutterings of Aoga, the senior student and their examiner. "That kid is fighting against Hisagi, you know? That guy's the top of our class and is already getting missions from the Gotei 13. To think…" he trailed off.

Just as he said that, Hisagi began to close the distance between the two. Shirou seemed to have been tired out, leaving many openings in his form. Something Hisagi was keen to take advantage of, swinging a strike on his opponent's weakened left side. It quickly would appear that this was a trap, however, and Shirou was ready to dodge the strike by stepping back before swinging down his sword onto Hisagi. The senior couldn't bring his sword up in time and instead had to block the strike with his arm, hissing as the wooden blade smacked against the side of his arm.

Still, although it was a duel of near-equal footing, it was just that, near-equal. Shirou really was tired out, and in the end, his lack of stamina compared to Hisagi cost him, and the senior prodigy was able to take advantage of Shirou's weakening grip to smack his shinai away from his hands. Shirou let out a sigh, admitting defeat with his hands raised up. His fatigue caught up to him, the auburn-haired teen dropping onto his ass after his knees wavered.

Despite the embarrassing ending, Shirou blinked as he was suddenly greeted by applause. It was only now that he realized all the attention he had garnered from the other applicants and students, the teen now feeling a little awkward.

His victorious opponent gave him a little smile as he extended his hand towards him. "That was a great fight, Emiya. To say that you passed the test would be putting it lightly." Shirou could only give a little awkward laugh as he took Hisagi's hand, using the punk-like senior's help to raise himself to his feet.

"I-It wasn't really that…" he began, trying to humbly deflect all the attention he was starting to receive. He awkwardly looked around, and it was only then did he realize the presence of another.

Standing in the doorway was Rin, the strangely-familiar senior who had administered their spiritual exam. And she was looking at him with eyes of interest.

Rin slid open the door to the teacher's lounge and stepped inside. One of teachers nearby raised their heads from the documents he was scanning, first noticing her uniform. "Students aren't allowed here without proper-" he started with a stern voice, only to then recognize Rin's face. "-Lady Kuchiki! M-My apologies for my rudeness. How can I help you today?" he quickly added, bowing slightly.

Rin's eye twitched. Normally such undue respect - by the school's staff to boot - due to her family ties alone was irritating, but right now it would work to her advantage. Still, this was why she refrained from introducing her family name to any of the applicants while she was administering the exams.

"Oh, it's nothing, Sensei. I simply wanted to check the names list of Class #1. I will be helping Onobara-sensei teach that class, after all." she said with a smile, finding the desired papers on a nearby desk and leafing through it.

"T-That's…" the teacher from before tried to protest, but quickly shut up. Going through documents like that was certainly against academy rules, but wealth and power tended to overwrite rules, and the Kuchiki had plenty of both.

Rin scanned through the text, and it seemed that her worries were well-founded: Neither Shirou or Rukia made it into Class #1, the top advanced class that she was assigned to. Rukia's spiritual performance was good but it didn't make up for her lackluster physical performance, and it was the opposite for Shirou. His physical performance was outstanding, but alas the entrance exam valued raw spiritual power more which he lacked in. The two's friend Renji Abarai made it into the class, however.

Rukia was an absolute priority for entering Class #1, to give Rin better priorities in getting closer with her unknowing aunt. As for Shirou… she knew she recognized him from somewhere in her past life, and that was worth investigating. And even without that, his display in the physical exam made him worth having on her side.

Rin turned her attention to the nearby teacher, giving a deceptively innocent smile. "Ahh, Sensei, you're in charge of assigning applicants to each class, no? Then, I would like to make a request. It would be very helpful if you could add Rukia Inuzuri and Shirou Emiya into Class #1." Her request shocked the older man, and he seemed to open his mouth to voice his objections before Rin quickly added, "Certainly, my clan and I would be disappointed if you couldn't help with such a simple task."

This seemed to shut the teacher up. Her words were a good mix of enough implied reward and punishment both to convince him, and the older man nodded. "...O-Of course. I'll make the changes right away."

The Kuchiki heiress smiled. "I appreciate the help, sensei."

AN: Yes, I'm alive. I have changed the name of this account and deleted most of my old fics, though.

Rukia's last name is "Inuzuri" after the district she came from, along the same veins as Zaraki's and Yachiru's names.

I will be taking liberties with how mechanics from either series works, because Kubo is pretty vague with Bleach while Nasuverse is confusing.