Insert Snazzy Title Here - 2

Mitsuoki walked to the front of the grave stone and leaned against it, sliding down till he was sitting. He pulled his knees into his chest and rested his forehead in them, wrapping his arms around his legs and holding them tight. "I'm so sorry, Haruka... I could never do it. No matter how hard I trained, no matter how many times I blew myself up- I could never get close to your level. If I did... I could have saved you. You would have never been hit, you would have never been poisoned, you... you... you would still be here!" Sobbing was heard coming from between Mitsuoki's legs. He had spent the past month making the grave in his free time, one stone for each person that died during that mission, and one for Haruka. He hadn't had time to cry between doing his duties and making the grave, so all of his emotions were coming out all at once. In the academy, he was taught that emotions were a weakness. Crying meant that your heart was compromised, which left you open for attack on an emotional level. Because of that, he had always withheld his emotions. But, now, he couldn't do it.

Several hours had passed, taking things from sun down to midnight rather quickly. Mitsuoki's normally talkative and disruptive zanpakuto spirits had made no effort to council him, only dealing with the rainfall they were both subjected to while their wielder grieved. His crying had escalated from a light sobbing, to loud screaming that, thankfully, no one was around to hear. Mitsuoki had fallen asleep there, leaning against Haruka's headstone, a six foot tall slab of white marble with her name engraved on the front. During his slumber, he had a dream where he had increased his capabilities far beyond his current form. He was fighting a Vasto Lordes Hollow, using kido that he had never used or heard of, and faring quite well without needing to use his zanpakuto's most disgraceful, but most powerful of abilities. When he awoke, he was left with questions that he didn't have the answers for. Who was that hollow? Why were they fighting? Why was it night? Where were the captains of the thirteen squads? How did he know powerful Kido like the ones he was using? The kido was abnormally strong, even for soul reapers of much higher caliber than himself. It shouldn't have been possible for him to use those spells, not with his current ability.

Mitsuoki would need to learn more about kido than he already did. Learning the data on kido wasn't a problem, it was reading and retaining information, which was Mitsuoki's strong suit. The problem would be being able to apply that knowledge and actually use the techniques he was learning about. The best place to start would be a place where information about kido was stored, somewhere in the Kido Corps' main office. Mitsuoki stood up and turned to Haruka's grave stone and pressed his hand to it, his spirit pressure beginning to rain over the surrounding area. "Thank you, Haruka, for everything you've done for me. Thank you for being there for me, trusting me, and pushing me to get stronger. Thank you for being the reason I kept fighting, and the reason I will continue to fight. Thank you for showing me how to love, and, I'm sorry that I was blind to your feelings for so long. On this day, I promise to continue training to get stronger, and be the strongest member of the kido corps, possibly strong enough to match our captain." Mitsuoki's spirit pressure lifted, causing the blades of grass around him to return to their original position. He took his hand from the stone and turned to face the village he grew up in, looking at the small ant-sized people moving about. He then vanished, using shunpo to begin heading back to base.