School of Rock [Lerna]

SEIREITEI
The walls of Shin'o academy loomed, shadows lean as souls came and went. The wind was soft, hair shifting freely against Kabuto's skin. His hand tightened round his zankpakuto, a long stare sliding across the structure, before locking eyes with a man staring at him. Kabuto raised his hand, waving. A look of confusion across the stranger's face, accompanied with a similarly confused shout. "What do you want?!"

An hour or so passed after Kabuto walked to the man, speaking to one another as they walked the perimeter. The shadows lengthened, clouds shifting as the day slid forward. Then sky erupted with light, the passing of clouds pouring midday sunshine into the man's eyes. A hand raised, blinking back tears as he cleared his throat, turning back to the instructor walking beside him.

"Sorry. Like I was saying - I think I could jog some memories if I tagged along on a lesson. Or two." He emphasized the two, lowering his hands back down. A hopeful glance towards the man, his gaze immediately darkening with the grimace of the instructor.

"I'm..." Kabuto's jaw tightened. "...Not so sure that's a good idea." the man gestured openly at Kabuto, a mix of barely disguised disgust and concern. The giant's brow shifted, his scar twisting with a flare of anger. I'm sure he has a good reason. he replied wordlessly, speaking silently to Yuben'na.

The instructor's eyes widened, a notable panic as he stammered. "It's not- look. I need to verify that you were a student here." Kabuto's face shifted immediately, nodding slowly. "Would seeing my Zankpakuto not be enough?" Kabuto questioned, sliding aside his cloak to reveal the hilt of a sword.

The instructor paused, turning back to look at him. "...I suppose that would do." The uttered words, the bright green glow - a shocked look of recognition. An agreement was reached: Kabuto would be allowed to watch over a classes lesson on Zankpakuto and Asauchi, given that he would speak after. In the meantime, they'd get him dressed in something more fitting - a shinigami's robes tight against his frame.

Kabuto leaned forward, ducking out of the school hall's doorway into the training yard. Students were lined up, about 10 in total, facing away from Kabuto and towards an instructor. His eyes locked with the instructor's, a shocked expression followed by the shake of her head. A small raise of his hand, and he took a seat against the wall of the building.

"Afternoon! Today, we're going to learn about the growth of your Zankpakuto."

SEIREITEI
The sense of deja vu was deeply uncomfortable, as usual. Kabuto attempted to sit through his apparent discomfort - or it would had, if his mask had not unwittingly formed moments after taking a seat. Pointless memories, it would feel, as the man silently watched. Yuben'na's voice called, and for the time, Kabuto felt compelled.


He stood slowly, the world coming back into focus around him. His own journey into semi-obliviousness was met with more than a few stray stares, making for either his size or deformity. It was no anxiety for him, a slight annoyance shoved to the side.

Stepping forward, the instructor that had brought him in nodded towards him, words drowning in the distance between them; the instructor speaking to another beside him. Kabuto wished he could read lips.

Kabuto made his way to the front of the training assembly, his mask fading away in emerald flames as he did. A shift in his gaze as he turned, scanning the small crowd. When was the last time he spoke in public? "Hello!" his voice resounded, a dark crackle against the back of his throat. "My name is Kabuto, and I'm a shinigami." he continued, the last embers of his mask fading into the sky.

"I'm here to show you an... application of what you went over today." He paused, raising his hand as if to ask a question. "Now, if you had to guess, what kind of Zankpakuto do you think I have?" he gestured loosely at himself, as if to note his own disparity in height - the shortest member of the class coming up squarely to his navel.

"You," he pointed down into the group, snapping with the same hand as he did. "The girl who's been staring at me."

SEIREITEI
Kabuto immediately realized the aggression in his voice, the weight behind his finger. The echoes of a metal mask laughed quietly, ever ringing in his ears. "No, no." Kabuto responded, following a slight pause.

"I don't know quite where you got that," he chuckled lightly, "so what about you?" he turned, pointing less directly this time at another student among the class, his eyebrow raised.

"Something... Big?" a young boy replied, adjusting glasses with nervous fingers. Kabuto's finger raised slightly, a half smile creasing into his scar.

"That," he congratulated, "is a lot closer." A full grin now as he reached down, drawing his blade out - edge shimmering against the sun. "It was!" he exclaimed, sheathing the blade with a resounding clank, of steel against stone.

"Back when I graduated, my shikai was an enormous weapon, a sword that could cut through anything." he continued, arms crossing his chest. "Now?"

His voice dropped, a whisper beneath his breath. "Skin them raw, Yuben'na." Reiatsu arced around him, a green shine erupting from his sword's hilt. Yuben'na's whip coiled around his torso, the shifting light erupting in broad daylight.

"Remember, your Zankpakuto is an extension of yourself." The blade collapsed away almost immediately, returning to his hip. "They can, and will, grow with you. All but transformed." What was intended as aspirational came across almost unhinged, his brow stiffening against the stretch of his lower jaw, scar distending.

A wince as his nerves recognized the disfigurement, a hand raising to cradle under his jaw in silence. "That said..." Kabuto mumbled, a glance at the instructors on the side.

They did not look happy. "....Any questions?"

SEIREITEI
Kabuto's hands lowered as he answered questions, jaw having slid back into place with no small amount of force. Probably needed to get that looked at. "I didn't," he remarked, the flash of a similar question, centuries old by now. "The appearance could be modified?" a voice so much younger than now, an indifferent response hidden in the static of history.

"But it is more than possible." he'd continue his answer, a momentary pause between words as his mind righted itself. Clearing his throat, he shifted his gaze to the rest of the audience - faintly noticing the still present stare. "My...Well, a colleague of mine, he would modify his shikai's appearance once every few weeks." a nod followed the words, as if reaffirming himself.

A murmur ran through a few of the students, although it was short-lived - one of the instructors coming to the front of the gathering. "Thank you for your time, Kabuto." was reaffirmed with a handshake, the instructor turning back to the students. "And that'll be it for our guest speaker, you're free to go to your other lessons." A faint shooing of hands, whispering to the monolith of a man as they passed him.

"The head administration pulled your records, if you want to go look at them." A smile creased Kabuto's face as he turned, walking with the instructor for a moment. "Thank you," he whispered back, a long sigh as he ruminated for a moment. "I hope that was alright, I'm a bit... rusty." No response would come to reassure him, the instructor peeling away before the words were spoken.

He turned his head, back and forth a time or two. Still something felt off to him, sight slipping into the same woman's stare. He'd stop, standing some distance away from her - "Sorry, do I know you?"

SEIREITEI
Kabuto shook his head, waving his hand in accompanied annoyance. A frown twisted with an awkward smile, otherwise known as cringe. A conflict of emotion bridled against his tongue, heavy in a moment both now and before. Like all things that have come to pass, in reality it was nothing more than a moment, a twinge of contracting muscle.

"Mm." a faint grumbling as his mouth contracted, "I'm not a fan of being stared at." his tone a vague attempt to be friendly, although the gravel that bit his throat had little aid in the matter. Garbled words from a man who had little to say, Kabuto's gaze catching errant glances that lasted longer than comfortable.

The - Woman? Girl? - no matter, seemed to take it more in stride than to offense, a good thing to note for the voices in the back of his head, and unheard of in his own mind. What the fuck was that? For now, his own faculties were more worrying.

"I used to look different," he'd reply openly, to no one in particular. A stare that would slide into the sky, holding for a quiet moment - "Not that I can really show you." Kabuto's focus seemingly snapped back, meeting eyes with Lerna before he turned away, beginning to step away. The itch was unbearable.