[Byakuya's POV ~ Four days after meeting Agito]

I glared at Agito. He's getting on my nerves. He dared to talk to me like I'm trash but he was worse then trash. A street rat. This morning he came into the Kuchiki manor and spoke to Grandfather. Grandfather then ordered me to follow Agito to learn an important lesson. What can a street rat teach me? How to scavenge for food? And now here I am following him into a part of the forest I've never explored before.

Why do I have to learn from him? Why can't Grandfather teach me? Instead I've got a teacher probably ten years younger than myself. A wound to my pride. The first time I saw him I instantly hated him. It might have been because he stood with Grandfather, as if an equal but I do know one thing. I hate his eyes.

His eyes were a bright yellow but unlike Yoruichi's mischief filled yellow eyes, his were filled with strength. They glared at everything and everyone. They defied all authority, knew no master, and had no limits to how far he'll disrespect anyone. Nothing escaped from his gaze and they demanded respect. Respect I'm not willing to give. I glared at the back of his head until a bright light filtered through the trees and we entered a clearing.

Rue was already here, looking up to the sky and seemingly studying the clouds. Rue noticed us and her eyes looked oddly blank. Agito walked beside her and turned to face me. Their eyes were exactly the same. Cold, detached, and ... dead. What's happening?

"We are here to teach you about sacrifice. Taking that extra step. Being willing to give your life for a cause greater than your own. We're also here to teach you that your name is worthless in battle. An enemy will not stop because you're one of the four nobel houses. And we will teach you. From this point forth, defend yourself like your life depends on it cause it will," Rue said. Agito threw something in the air which I caught. I took off the wrapping to find a simple katana. What am I supposed to do with this?

"The objective is simple. Protect me at all cost. If I have one scratch, you instantly fail and we'll only make the test harder for you to pass. The test starts now," Rue said. Like a gravitational push, Agito's reiatsu surged forward and I had to steady myself to keep my balance. What the hell is he doing? Agito's reiatsu was a flame red color and the longer he released it, the more I realised how hot it was. It was like his reiatsu was slowly cooking the air around us. Why was he recklessly pouring it out though? If he continues this, it'll only-

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

To late!!! He attracted a hollow! Why would he do that? Is he trying to kill us all?!

"Remember what I said Byakuya, you must protect me at all costs." I stared at shock into Rue's eyes. Her eyes were as hard as stone and merciless. So this is what they wanted. They wanted to lure out a hollow to attack them and me to protect. But how's this going to teach me sacrafice?

A hollow jumped out of the forest and landed thirty meters away from us. I raised the katana into a ready stance and waited for the dust to clear. I saw a flash in the courner of my eye and flashstepped forward in front of Rue. I raised the sword to defend against the Hollows teeth which chomped down on the metal. The hollow was smaller than other more larger hollows I've heard and seen but this one is faster than expected.

"Ku ku ku~ brats like you will die if you keep drawing out more hollows," said the hollow in a high pitched, almost squeaky voice. The hollow was more like an orange beetle. Bugs need to be squished.

"Shut up!" I yelled as I twisted the katana and slashed upward. The beetle just jumped back so I only cut it's lip. The beetle grinned, revealing pincher fangs and green poisonous saliva dripping off the edges.

"The more you tempt hollows to come, the more powerful they are. I'm nothing compared to the others and yet this one you brought along is having trouble defeating me," the hollow sneered. He's not talking to me.

"Byakuya, hurry up and kill it. We don't have enough time for you to play." I whipped around and stared at Agito. Was he the one that the hollow was talking too? Was he summoning out hollows? Was Rue in on this plan too?

"An opening!" I reverted my attention to the hollow, only to find him away from me and heading towards Rue.

No.

The hollow's pincher fangs opened up and slashed at Rue. But before the hollow could fully sink its teeth into Rue's arm, Agito appeared and with a wave of his hand, slashed open the mask of the hollow.

"How?! I was so close!" cried the hollow. Agito looked down at the hollow and a shiver went up my spine in fear at the look in his eyes. He was furious.

"Rot in hell," he said like a curse before it disappeared. I stared in shock at him. What is he planning?! If I die by his hands, Soul Society will surely-

"Don't think too hard about it brat. You got a long way to go if you're going to let that piece of shit even touch Rue." I hate him. I hate him. I hate him!

"What's the point?! You're summoning illegal hollows here into Soul Society and you expect me to go along with this-"

"Silence!" He stepped towards me and grabbed my collar, yanking me closer to his face. He bared his teeth and I couldn't help my heart from skipping a beat from the sharp canines that protruded too close to my throat.

"Don't fucking mess with me bastard. The objective is to protect and you failed! That tells me you don't care. You don't care whether or not someone dies because of your shitty decisions. Well guess what, I'm going to curse you until you learn this lesson. Every wound Rue recieves, you will feel the shame of a thousand soilders deaths weighing on your shoulders. I hope, no, I pray that you feel the weight of of a million soilders on your shoulders when we're done here." He let go of my collar and I fell to my knees. It felt like something was pressing down on me. I couldn't breathe properly. What is this?

"Well, that was fast. My curse is already taking effect. Now let's amp it up a notch." Agito smiled cruelly as he let his reiatsu poor out of him. I struggled to get up and when I did, I could already hear the screaming of a different hollow.

"Protect Rue at all costs!" ordered Agito as a hollow pounced out of the forest.

...

Thirty one. Thirty one hollows, each of them stronger than the last. Every time I have failed to kill a hollow, a heavy weight seems to choke me more and more. How did he do that? How did he curse me? Well that doesn't matter cause number thirty two hollow is running at me right now.

"Sacrafice is the ultimate payment for honor. Nothing about Byakuya has honor except for your last name. You're nothing!" Agito said on the sidelines. The katana slipped from my sweaty palms and the cat-like hollow rushed towards Rue with its jaws wide open. NO! I can't let Rue get hurt! I can't!

I flashstepped forward and before I could realise what I was doing, I blocked Rue's body with my own and the cat hollow had already sunk its teeth into my shoulder. I grunted from the shocks of pain but the teeth were suddenly yanked off me.

"Heh, good job brat. You learned sacrafice." I looked up to see Agito standing over me with a triumpant smirk on his face. The cat hollow was yowling and screaming but his hand tightened around the hollows mask and crumbled in his bare hands. How could this person be so strong as to kill hollows with a flick of a wrist?

"Good job Byakuya-san. You learned just how far you have to push your limits for sacrafice. People have pushed more and undoubtedly, you will too but for today, you did well." I knees wobbled and I sank to the ground. Rue kneeled beside me and with cooling hands, she easily healed me. Wait a minute, if I passed this test, why do I still feel the weight of thirty-two-thousand soldiers deaths on my shoulders.

"Why isn't the curse going away? Release the curse Agito!" He starred down at me unimpressed.

"There was no curse Byakuya. Your own mentality and guilt over letting Rue get hurt just doubled when I created the illusion of a curse. When I focused my words on your feelings of shame and guilt, they intensified because you recognize them but I doubled it by a 'curse'. In reality, you only cursed yourself." I starred wide eyed at Agito. He's...extremly smart for someone from the streets.

"You will be training with us every day from four p.m. to sunset in this exact clearing. We will give you different challenges every day to overcome with the need to sacrafice always in mind. By the time we're done with you Byakuya, you'll think the name Kuchiki to be equivilent to that of a flower name. For what good is a flower if it doesn't have a scent?" Agito and Rue stood up and started walking away from the clearing. I only sat still for a minute before running after them.

~~~

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