After returning to the dojo, Katori Sora went straight to the meditation room. He had a strong premonition that during this session, his inner world would finally take its complete form, and he would be able to meet his Zanpakutō.
He sat cross-legged, placed the Asauchi on his lap, cleared his mind of, and invested all his newly acquired Blade Meditation experience. In an instant, he entered a deep state of meditation. He felt a strong sense of weightlessness, as if he were falling endlessly. Everything around him was pitch black, without a single ray of light.
After an unknown amount of time, Sora sensed that the darkness around him was beginning to change, twisting and stretching until it left afterimages. Then, a powerful tearing sensation washed over him, as if his very soul were being pulled apart.
When he came to his senses, he found that his inner world was no longer a void of darkness. The sky was still black, but a bright, full moon hung high above. The moon was so brilliant that he couldn't make out any details, as if someone had painted a pure black canvas and then poked a hole in it, allowing cosmic light to shine through.
Sora squatted down and grabbed a handful of sand. The sand was also black. He opened his palm and let the wind carry the black sand away through the gaps between his fingers. This endless expanse of black sand was practically the only thing in this world besides the night sky and the moon.
"My inner world is a black desert?" Sora was somewhat amazed. Generally, one's inner world was a projection of their heart. A Soul Reaper's mood and mental state would affect it. Yet his own inner world had a heavy, silent feeling, almost like Hueco Mundo.
He dusted the remaining sand from his hands and stood up, walking towards the tall tower beneath the moon. The tower, which pierced the heavens, was the only structure in this world of black sand. It was as white as the moon, standing tall in the desert like a lighthouse for the lost.
He reached the base of the white tower. Strangely, its exterior was perfectly seamless. He walked a full circle around it but could not find a door. Sora bent his knees slightly, a small burst of Spiritual Pressure erupting from his feet, and his figure flashed, running rapidly up the outer wall of the tower. After climbing for a while, he stopped. He was already hundreds of meters above the ground, yet the top of the tower seemed no closer.
"Where is my Zanpakutō?" Sora was full of doubt.
"Oh my were you looking for me?" a crisp and pleasant, yet flippant, voice suddenly sounded. "I thought you were just getting some exercise, Katori-kun"
Sora's heart tightened. He looked all around but could see no one.
"I'm over here~"
Sora carefully tried to pinpoint the source of the voice and realized it was coming from behind him. No, to be precise, it was coming from his own shadow!
He stared at his shadow. It seemed to have come to life, writhing irregularly as if something were flowing within it. Gradually, the shadow took on a physical form, extending and condensing into the air. A moment later, a long, straight-haired black-haired girl grew out of his shadow.
The girl wore a black, sleeveless long dress, her hands covered by long black gloves. But under the dress, she wore nothing, her flawless, fair feet stepping on Sora's shadow, creating a stark contrast with the Sora's shadow.
"Are you my Zanpakutō?" Sora asked, staring at the girl's delicate face. Although this was their first meeting, the moment he saw her, he understood who she was.
"I am 'Kagehime'. A pleasure to make your acquaintance!" The black-haired girl had a lively personality, and as she spoke, she even struck a pose with her hand next to her face.
"I am Katori Sora. The pleasure is all mine," Sora said, somewhat surprised that he had learned her name so smoothly. "It's a bit unexpected to learn your name so directly."
"You are now capable of hearing my name, so I'll just tell you. We are one and the same; there's no need to beat around the bush."
"Then thank you. But I have one thing to ask you," Sora paused. "It seems I have two Zanpakutō?"
He had two swords: the Asauchi he had carried since waking up in the Rukongai, and the one from the system reward. He could feel that his two Zanpakutō were different from Ukitake's Sōgyo no Kotowari. His two seemed to be independent of each other. The girl before him, Kagehime, had evolved from the system's Asauchi. The blade he had carried from the beginning had not yet revealed itself.
"What's this? You've only just met me, and you're already thinking about another woman?" Kagehime pouted, looking a little unhappy.
"I'm just curious..." Sora scratched his cheek. He caught the wording Kagehime used and continued, "You've met my other sword?"
Kagehime sank into the shadow, then suddenly emerged from the shadow in front of him. She wrapped her arms around him from behind, draping herself over his shoulders. He could feel her breath on his neck.
"You fickle man. But if you want to see her, it won't be so easy." Then, with a gentle push, Sora felt a massive force and began to fall rapidly.
"You'll need at least lieutenant-level Spiritual Pressure to even be able to handle her, you know~"
With a jolt, Sora found himself back in the dojo's meditation room. He had finished his Blade Meditation. He found that his Spiritual Pressure had once again increased dramatically. Because his previous meditations had been so destructive, he had reinforced the room, but now it was once again in shambles. The floor, the door, even the walls had been destroyed by the erupting Spiritual Pressure.
"I think from now on, you should do your meditation out in the wild," Batsunsai said, leaning against the empty doorframe with her arms crossed. "If this keeps up, we're going to go bankrupt!"
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