Time passed as it has always done in the Seireitei, and with its passage the events of the past were left there: in the past. Slowly but surely, time filtered by.
It has been over a year since Aizen was dealt with and for the first time in a millennia, the Seireitei had a surplus of Captain-level Shinigami. The Visored and the Exiled all had a place in the current Seireitei; either given a position inside their old Division, or fitted to a new one.
Yoruichi for one, went to the Onmistukidō, while Kisuke Urahara took up his position as Captain of the 9th Division, with Mayuri Kurotsuchi remaining head of the Research Division. Mayuri clearly did not want his former savior back in the same Division with him. Though Kisuke founded the Research Division, he made it clear that he wasn't that attached to it anymore (and also made it clear that he let Mayuri have it before taking up his new Captaincy).
Tessai Tsukabichi and his deputy, Hachigen Ushōda, went back to the Kidō Corps. Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi resumed his former position as Captain of the 3rd Division, while Shinji Hirako took his former position, one usurped by Aizen, as Captain of the 5th Division.
So far everything had slowed down into a dulled semblance of peace, or stagnation, and with it came the makings of the beginning of a new generation.
.
...
.
Itachi resumed his position as a teacher at the Shin'ō Academy, one he took up with silent gladness since he now found himself with a lot of free time given that his work was now divided between Yoruichi and Soi Fon, both of which handled their tasks as Corps Commander and Lieutenant with practiced ease, and left him with very little to do, or with nothing at all to do most of the time.
Not only was he the Academy's Ethics teacher but also their combat instructor. Teaching, Itachi had found, gave him a sense of groundness that being a Captain couldn't.
"Ground yourself." He found himself saying for the fifth time that day as he watched the ongoing clash that ensued between two particular Shinigami. One a student while the other being a Seated Officer.
He idly waved his hand and the chilled air slowly forming around him dispersed without a trace.
"It's easier said than done." A young whiny voice complained, before suddenly hacking out a series of violent coughs.
"Ground yourself." Itachi repeated, the sixth time, at the white haired young child who currently laid sprawled on the ground.
Turning away from the boy, Itachi turned towards his sparring partner and asked. "How is he doing?"
Shūhei Hisagi, the current Fourth Seat of the 7th Division, looked at the groaning figure with a bewildered expression. "Honestly speaking, he's the most talented Academy student I've seen in recent times."
"So it would seem."
Shūhei chuckled wryly. He knew just how hard it was to get a full compliment from the Captain in front of him.
"He lacks a great deal of focus. His mind is too brittle. Too prone to influence."
Shūhei scratched the back of his head. "Well, he's still a kid."
Itachi nodded in agreement, surprising Shūhei for a bit, that was before he opened his mouth to speak. "True, but he seeks to be strong. The strength he seeks and the potential he has are responsibilities he can no longer shirk away."
"But–"
"His childishness no longer became an excuse the moment he picked up a sword. Children seek to be free. Men seek to be strong. Unfortunately, he abandoned his childhood the moment he chose to become a Shinigami."
Shūhei could only sigh. He felt pity for the young Tōshirō Hitsugaya but he couldn't outright reject the Captain's words. Unfortunately, he knew how many students died in their first year to Hollows, even on their first assignments.
"Stand up." He heard Itachi speak and heard Tōshirō groan, and even he couldn't help but chuckle as he knew what came next.
"Your Zanjutsu still needs polishing and your general posture in battle needs greater work. I will not speak on your Kidō applications for now but your Hohō and Hakuda could use better refinement."
Itachi found himself staring at the petulant eyes of a child but was beset with himself when he knew just how quickly those glow would disappear. He'd seen it happen once, he'd seen it happen a hundred times.
"Hitsugaya, come here."
He would have chuckled if he found the way the boy's body went rigid as soon as he heard him call his name amusing.
"Captain." The boy threw a hasty salute with his wrong hand, which Itachi didn't point out. He noticed, but he wouldn't point it out.
"Are you sure you want to graduate early?" Itachi asked, surprising not only Tōshirō, but also Shūhei beside him. Shūhei however knew the deeper reason why Itachi asked. In fact, anyone who paid any attention to Itachi's class, deeper beyond the surface of his teachings, would receive an inkling on the thought processes of this particular Captain.
"Un, yes..."
"Speak more confidently."
"Yes sir!"
"Why?"
Tōshirō's hastily erected confidence crumbled in an instant in the face of Itachi's blunt proddings. In a show of his childishness, he pouted and grumbled.
"There's no doubt that you'll become strong. Stronger than a lot of your peers, maybe even strong enough to match a Captain in strength someday... Listen to me when I speak, Hitsugaya."
The excited gleam in Tōshirō's eyes was swept back when Itachi caught him basking in the unwarranted praise.
"If you continue with your current intensity then the title, or at the very least, the strength of a Captain is not completely out of your reach. But the question still remains; why?"
The radiance in Tōshirō's face fell as he looked down at his feet. He absentmindedly kicked a stone, and then another, before he found his voice. "What else can I do? In the Rukongai there's no end to it. Wake up, stay alive, eat if you can, then sleep. It's the same thing. Be it ten years, or even a hundred years. The Rukongai will always remain the same. This is the only difference anyone can possibly get."
Shūhei took this moment to step in. "It'll be the only thing you know in a few years, you know? There's no harm in spending the next five years in the Academy."
Tōshirō frowned. "But if I can graduate very early, shouldn't I do so?" He asked while managing to look straight at Itachi, stubbornly even.
Itachi nodded. "It is as you said. There's nothing wrong with it." Just as smooth and calm as his words, he turned away and left the confused looking Tōshirō.
Well, the boy was still a child and the world they were living in wasn't that kind. If the boy was lucky enough he'll grow to be that strong, instead on dying in the next decade.
"Sorry, excuse m– eep!" A startled cry drew Itachi's gaze downwards to the frozen form of a young girl. "C-Captain Uchiha."
"Hinamori."
She nodded stiffly. "Yes sir."
"Hitsugaya is in training with Fourth Seat Hisagi." The girl was a sixth year student, a talented one at that and one of the few who heeded his words and stayed for the whole course instead of graduating early. He respected her for that.
She smiled at the mention of her friend, but soon a difficult expression came on her face. "Um, Captain Uchiha? C-can I ask you something?"
At least she wasn't as jittery and nervous as she had been when he'd met her a few years back.
"Is Shiro really intent on graduating early?"
Itachi nodded. "I think so. Is that what you wanted to ask?"
She hesitated for a bit before shaking her head. "Shiro. Shiro is really strong, isn't he?"
"The potential is there. That much is obvious." Itachi replied.
She looked more downcast at his words than the admittance in it. Her shoulders dropped and her head hung low. "He's already as good as me in Kidō, and I already know he's better than me in Zanjutsu, it's just that–"
"Let me stop you there, Hinamori." In the silent and empty hallway, Itachi's voice was as crisp and clear as it was heavy and soft. "If you're thinking of comparing yourself to Hitsugaya then stop. It is no lie that he possesses more talent than any of his class and peers, even you, but that does not, in any way, undermine the effort you've put in through the years."
"He'll get stronger than you soon, that much I can see. But that doesn't mean you can't catch up too. Talents like Tōshirō, sometimes it's a veil that they might spend their whole life not seeing through. Advance your own strengths, Hinamori. If you fall short, despite your best efforts, then it was simply not meant to be. If you grow stronger, then it is proof of your hard work."
By the time the entirety of Itachi's words found a place in the hardest recesses of her mind, she blinked and the visage of the Captain was nowhere to be seen.
She inhaled deeply and bowed in the direction he must have left in, before turning to the door that led to the training yards but for d after taking a step. The Captain's words rang loud and true in her head.
She'll visit Shiro later, she said to herself before going towards the other vacant training yards. She recalled Third Seat Junpei telling her how telegraphed and linear her Kidō spells were. They could do with a little fine-tuning.
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