14 Chapter 14: Free pass?

"Where am I?" Grayson asked, slowly coming to, seeing that he was led in what looked like a hospital bed.

"Grayson!" A familiar voice said as Izumi appeared beside him, taking his hand as she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"Izumi..." Grayson asked, wondering what was going on.

Suddenly the memories of what had transpired came back to him, flooding his mind all at once.

"Wait... Jaku? Rocko? Kimiko?" He asked, looking around trying to find them.

Izumi looked at Grayson with a heavy heart before she looked down.

"Jaku and Rocko didn't make it..." She said, not looking him in the eye.

"No..." He also said, not remembering how they even survived.

"Oh good, you're awake." A voice said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Grayson looked up to see one of the medical members of the academy, holding a clipboard as she checked over Grayson, doing a full exam of his body.

"It seems like you have made a strong recovery." The woman said, looking at Grayson's body, seeing that it didn't have a scratch on it.

"Y-yeah, I feel fine." He responded, getting a smile from her.

"Excellent." She then said, ticking her clipboard and walking off, leaving Grayson alone with Izumi.

"What about Kimiko?" Grayson asked after a moment as he sat back down on his bed.

Izumi looked back at him and nodded, trying to hide the blushing on her face at seeing his bare torso.

"She made it."

Grayson nodded, slowly leaning back onto his pillow.

"How long have I been here?" Grayson asked, having a feeling that it had been longer than he would have liked.

"It's been two weeks..." Izumi said, trying to break the news softly.

"Two weeks!" Grayson said, confused as to how he was out for so long.

"Yeah... Both me and Kimino were released after three days, we were both lucky to have only suffered slight wounds." She said.

Grayson sighed before he sat up.

"I'm glad you were both unharmed," Grayson said before looking down as the realization of his being unable to save Jaku and Rocko hit him.

"But if I didn't defeat the Hollow, who did?" He then asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

Izumi looked at him confused, not knowing which emotion he was feeling right now.

"It was captain Kuchiki of squad 6," Izumi said.

"A captain?" Grayson asked, surprised.

"Yes, he saved the three of us." She then added.

Grayson seemed to pick up on her words, leaving him with another question.

"Did he kill that thing?"

"No... The Hollow somehow escaped." Izumi said, seeing the look on his face.

Grayson didn't realise that he was gripping the sheet with his hands unusually tight, feeling almost happy that it had survived.

"Good... That means I can still kill it." He thought, knowing he wanted revenge for all of his friends that it had killed.

"Are you alright Grayson?" Izumi asked.

"I'm fine," Grayson said, snapping out of it quickly as he flashed her a small smile.

"I only wish I was stronger, so I could have saved the others." He added.

Izumi frowned, clearly trying to hold her own emotions back.

"Don't do that." She snapped.

"You are strong. Grayson, you are the strongest person I know. If it wasn't for you, we would have all been killed from the start!" She said, interjecting as she almost told him off.

"You can't blame yourself." She then said, realizing she had scalded him, feeling bad about it.

Grayson was shocked for a moment but smiled shortly after, almost laughing out loud.

"Thank you, Izumi." He said, slowly leaning back onto his pillow.

Izumi nodded, blushing a little before she stood up.

"Both me and Kimiko come to visit you every day during our breaks... But Kimiko is busy tending to Jaku and Rocko's ashes today." She added, feeling sad as she said it.

"I see..." Grayson said, noticing the look on her face.

"Anyway, I had better get back." She said, bowing to him as she stood up quickly.

Grayson nodded and watched her walk away, even if it was a little quick. Hoping that she was alright as he had forgotten to ask.

"Hmm... Two weeks, eh?" He then said to himself, deciding to open his stats screen to take a peek at what he was dealing with.

Name: Grayson.

Level 23. (1200/8000).

Class: Student of the Shinōreijutsuin.

Health: 225/225

Stamina: 225/225

Reiatsu: 235/235

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 2/10.

Flash step 1/10

Strength: 25/100 (1/10)

Speed: 15/100 (1/10)

Intelligence: 15/100 (1/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 1/10 (1/10)

Zanpakuto name: Jūryoku no Megami.

Hakuda: 5/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 3/10 (0/10)

Skill points available: 2.

Grayson studied his stats carefully, seeing that he had leveled up again, as well as, gaining an additional section in where it displayed his Zanpakutos name.

"So that wasn't a dream..." He said, remembering what had happened once he had entered that strange looking world.

"So, my Zanpakutos name is Jūryoku no Megami... What the hell does that mean?" He asked.

"The name Jūryoku no Megami means goddess of gravity." The system suddenly said, pinging to life inside of his head.

"Goddess of gravity?" Grayson asked, remembering his battle with the Hollow.

"That's right... When I blocked the Hollow's attacks, it was as if there was no weight behind them."

"But it feels like there was more to it than that." He then said, trying to think about it in more detail.

"Hey system, can you explain it to me?" Grayson asked in his head.

It was silent for a moment before the system responded.

"I am afraid I cannot answer that question." The system said.

Grayson had a confused look on his face as he lay in his bed, trying to make sense of the whole thing.

"If the system doesn't know, then how am I supposed to find out?" He asked himself.

Grayson looked to the side of his bed, seeing his belongings that had been placed there, including his Zanpakuto, staring at it for a moment of time.

"Do I ask you?" He said softly, waiting for a response.

"Grayson, is it?" A voice suddenly said, taking his attention away from his sword.

Grayson looked over to the person speaking to him, seeing that it was one medical team members.

"I'm glad to see that your wounds have healed up, and nicely from the looks of it." The man said, inspecting the report he had in his hand.

"Anyway, your time here is done, and I am happy to release you." He spoke.

Grayson nodded, flashing a small smile.

"Thank you."

"No problem, feel free to dress and then sign out at the main desk on your way out." The man said, giving Grayson a small nod before he moved on with his duties.

With that Grayson got up dressing into a new robe that had been left for him, seeing as his old one had been ruined during the battle against the Hollow. He then strapped his Zanpakuto onto his hip and took a look in a small mirror that was provided.

"Alright. Time to head back to class." He said, wondering what he had missed during his time off.

-Sometime later-

Grayson had returned to the main building of the academy and had been instructed to report to the head instructor's office where he had been summoned to.

Grayson arrived at the door and knocked, waiting for permission to enter.

"Yes come in." A deep voice said, allowing Grayson to enter the room before he lowered his head in a sign of respect.

A group of the academy instructors sat in the office, seeming to look over a report that had been made after the incident in the human world.

"First off we would like to express our apologies for the incident that occurred during your exercise to the human world." They spoke.

Grayson was surprised that they would bother apologizing, knowing that these things happened, and it was never anyone's fault really.

"However, it has come to our attention that you were able to single-handedly hold your own against a freak Hollow during this unfortunate incident." One of them spoke, placing the piece of paper down on the desk.

"One that was able to not only kill all of the students present, but also the instructors, who were fully fledged soul reapers." Another said, seeming impressed.

"The statements we have also taken from your classmates confirm the report that you were also able to awaken your Zanpakuto..." They then said, looking at Grayson as they watched him like a hawk.

"From what we can see, your grades are at the top of your class, and your ability to defend yourself and others, against a Hollow that was confirmed to be at vice-captain level, we have decided that you will be allowed to graduate once one year of training here at the academy has been completed, given that you pass your final exam." The head instructor then spoke, getting a small nod from the others.

Grayson was surprised but could understand where they were coming from.

"We feel that you have nothing left to learn here and that your development would be better suited to working in the field, learning on the job. We have already had offers from some of the squads to take you in." Another of them said.

"This report was also confirmed by captain Kuchiki of squad six after he defeated the Hollow and pushed it into retreat." They said, one of them handing the piece of paper to the head instructor.

Grayson was surprised where all of this was going, knowing that the look on their faces was more of a surprise than anything.

"Anyway, you are free to attend your final classes and pack your belongings. Given that you pass your final exam at the end of the week, you will be free to join a squad and become a soul reaper." The head instructor said.

Grayson was left with more questions than answers, having expected to simply head back to class as normal after this whole thing, not be given a free pass and kicked out into the big wide world.

"Umm... Sorry, but I have a question." Grayson said, catching their attention.

"Yes, go ahead." One of them said.

"Which squad am I being sent to exactly?" Grayson asked, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous smile.

The instructors nodded to one another before one of them pulled the paperwork out.

"Ah yes, it would seem that you have been accepted into squad..."

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Alright going to end it here!

Let me know which squad you would like to see Grayson in, in the comments!

Thank you for reading.