Training
Swish, clang, thump, fail. I picked my sword up off the ground and faced him again.
"This time, don't let me knock your sword out of your hands." He said for the hundredth time.
"No duh." I said sarcastically. He looked at me and sighed.
"Look. I'm giving up my free time to train you. At least put an effort in."
"Put an effort in? I have been! I just suck. You should just give up on me." I flopped onto the ground and stared at the sky. He walkes over and stood over me, blocking out the afternoon sun. I closed my eyes stubbornly.
"Aika…"
"Captain…"
"Stand up."
"Why should I?"
"Because I said so."
"You're not the boss…wait. Yea you are." I groaned and opened one eye. He was glaring at me. "That's what you look like when you're taller." His eyes narrowed. I grinned, sitting up. Then, out of nowhere, he lunged at me. I screeched and closed my eyes. I felt my arms move. Clang. My eyes opened a crack and I saw that my sword was blocking his. He was trying not to smile.
"See. You're not a lost cause."
"What if I didn't block it?"
"I knew you would."
"Good to know someone believes in me."
"Shut up you moron and stay focused."
"Huh?" I then noticed I was still blocking his sword and my grip was slipping. He rolled his eyes and jumped back. He lunged again and gently touched the place above my heart.
"You lose." I gulped and he removed his sword, raising his eyebrows. Gulping again, a slowly stood up. He rolled his eyes again and balanced the bottom of his sword on the tip of his finger. I took my stance and he took his. Slash, clang, woosh, clunk, shing, thump. I found myself crossing my eyes at a the tip of a sword between my eyes.
"You're dead." I shivered. He dropped his sword and crossed his arms, tapping his foot. I quickly retrived my sword and took my stance again. Then a thought occurred to me. He still didn't know that I used a double sword. I dropped my stance and turned my back on him. I slit the tape between my swords but still kept them together. I turned back to him and grinned. He looked at me warily. I took my stance he lunged. I blocked it to the side and quickly seprated my sword, swingin it at him from the left. He flipped over it and landed next to me, pointing his sword at the side of my neck. His eyes were wide and he looked impressed.
"You have a double sword? Is that some information that you thought you didn't need to tell the person training you."
"No, no…"
"Please, clue me in on things like this." He shook his head and sat down.
"C-captain…" I began. He held up his hand, eyes closed, thinking. I sat still for a minute and he slowly opened his eyes. He turned to me and I could prcticaly see the wheels turning in his head. He stood and held out his hand to me. I took it warily and he helped me stand up. He led me to a spot a little ways away and let go of my hand. He then turned and stood on the opposite side of the clearing.
"Come at me this time, swing with the hand you're most comfortable with and block with the other. I attacked with my right, he blocked it and knocked that one out of my hand. He thern proceded to swing at me, but I blocked it with my left. I pushed with my left and slid myself across the ground to where my other sword lay. I snatched it up and I blocked an incoming attack with my now sore left. I swung at him with my right, but he dodged it and I was on the ground, sword under my chin.
"Much better."
"How can you tell?"
"You found a way to regain your other sword this time."
"Yea."
"What's your sword?"
"That was random."
"Just answer the question." He sighed. I smiled and looked pointidly at the sword that was about to cut my chin. He removed it.
"Hikari." I said.
"That's it's name?"
"Yes, it's they're name."
"Can you show me?"
"Is that an order?"
"Yes."
"Alright then. Blind them, Hikari" I slammed the tw halves together and steam billowed out of the tip. I could see ecrything, but I doubt he could see his hand in front of his face. Clang, crash, shing, whoosh, shunk.
"Ouch!" I complained as I nursed a cut finger. The steam disappeared and my two beautiful swords were exposed. One was all red with a white handle and the other a pure blue with a blavk handle. They each had a ring on the hilt.
"Sorry. I couldn't see. Didn't mean to hurt you." He murmered, staring at my swords.
"'s alright." I said and put one sword under my arm and a wall of fire flew out. "Opps!" I spun aound and dropped my other sword and a stream of blue ice put out the fire. "Crap." I muttered and slowly put my swords down and backed away slowly. I looked at Toshiro and he sweatdropped.
"You can't control your own power?"
"How long did it take you?" I snapped back.
"Hit a nerve?"
"Shut up."
"Aika!"
"Sorry Captain."
"That's why no one finished training you, huh." He said. I blushed and nodded. He scratched his head, as was his habit.
"I want you to talk with your sword." He said. "Try to get a grip on their power."
"Okay." I said. He stared at me and I stared back. He tickmarked.
"You don't know how…"
"No idea."
"Aika!" He groaned. "Alright, just sit down, close your eyes and look deep into your soul."
"Okay." I sat down and closed my eyes. I shifted a couple of times. "I can't do it while you're watching me like that." I said.
"Uh! Aika! You are so…!"
"Annoying, immature, hot, all of the above?" I said teasingly, one eye open. He glared at me and I snapped it shut, smiling.
"I'm not watching you. I'll be over there." He said. I heard him walking away and I concentrated on Hikari. Hikari. Hikari.
"Took you long enough." A voice said. I opened my eyes into my inner world for the first time. Oen half was all ice while the other half had a lot of browns and greens with an exploding volcano into a lava river. I was standing on the line between the two sides. I looked around and discovered two small girls on opposite sides. One had red hair that was in a bun with spike while the other had blue hair that hung loose. The red head had my eyes and the blus one had the shape of my face.
"Hikari." I smiled. The red head laughed, my laugh, and the blue one smiled, my smile.
"Miss Aika." The blue one said. But, the red one rolled her eyes at her twin.
"Fuyu… It's Miss Erin." My eyes widened at her.
"Natsu, that was rude. You know very well the debates in her heart." Fuyu said.
"Debates?" I whispered. She looked at me.
"You know that you're Erin, but you're Aika also. So it was rude to call you Erin while you are in this dimension." She said.
"You know about the dimension stuff too!" I exclaimed.
"No freakin' duh!" Natsu laughed. "We come from you. We are essientaly you. Goddess!" I shivered slightly.
"Wow." I whispered.
"Yes. And we will lend our power to you so the conflict in your heart will be at peace. We can't sleep when you are indecisive in any way." Fuyu said.
"Yea, so get out of here and train with your hot Captain." Natsu said. I looked at her with surprise. She winked at me.
"NATSU!"
"FUYU!" I blinked and I was back in the clearing. Toshiro was standing on the far side of the clearing, facing away from me. He turned his head to look at me.
"Ready?" He asked.
"I think so." I said and picked up my swords. For the first time, I didn't feel threatened by holding them. I grinned and attacked. This time, it took five minutes before my swords were flipped over my head onto the ground. There was a roar of a menos grande. Our heads snapped around to see it.
"CAPTAIN!" I yelled.
"I see it Aika. How the hell did it get here?" He growled. He looked me over and said. "Go. You take it."
"WHAT!" I yelled.
"GO!" He ordered. I took a deep breath and launched myself. In my head I heard Natsu's voice.
"Attack with me, in your right. Fuyu doesn't like attacking so block with her. I'm here instead of Fuyu because she thinks its wrong to attack hollows. So take a deep breath and point your sword at the hollow. Now repeat after me…" Her voice faded away, but I knew the words.
"KOUGYOKU INAZUMA!" I yelled and the sky directly above the menos turned black. The menos looked at me and a red light formed in it's mouth. A cero.
"Aika!"
"You won't get the chance." I smiled. A column of fire shot down from the cloud, just missing the menos. But, that was only the first of the columns. There were six more, each hitting the menos directly. After the fire ended, the menos was gone.
"Very good Aika." He said. I smiled and Fuyu's voice was in my ear.
"One more thing. Don't think of us as separate swords. We are one. Fight with us as one and also think of us as extensions of your body. All three of us are one." Her voice faded also, and it left me smiling.
Two months later
"You're done." Toshiro said while we were sitting down, resting.
"What! There has to be more!" I exclaimed, rolling over to look at him. He was sitting up, staring straight ahead at the sunset. He glanced down at me.
"There's nothing more I can teach you. You have to create your own technique of the basics I taught you." He said. I poted and rolled back onto my back. "Also, from now on, instead of a Master/Student relationship which is less formal, our elationship will be Captain/Unseated Squad Member, which is very formal. You will; address me as Captain Hitsugaya from here on out." He continued.
"What if I become a seated officer? Can I call you Captain then?" I asked.
"If you somehow make it to third seat." He said.
"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya." I sighed. I stood along with him. "But, you can't stop me from doing…" I glomped him and we rolled down a hill into the small stream near the bottom. I was cracking up. He was glaring at me.
"S-sorry Captain Hitsugaya." I said in between gasps of air.
"Aika. You're impossible."
"Of course Captain Hitsugaya. That's one of my best qualities." I laughed as we walked into the squad barracks. That was the second time we came in here soaked.
Five months later
"CAPTAIN!" I heard Rangiku yell, running down the porch to the Captain's Quarters. I paused in reading the records of the Soul Society, shook my head and continued to read the history of Aizen.
"Aika…"
"AAHHH!" I shrieked, papers flying everywhere.
"My God…"
"Sorry Captain Hitsugaya." I said, still shoken up. He yolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
"You've have vivistors from Squad Eleven. The third seat and seventh seat. They said something about a new assignment." He said. I looked deep into his eyes and saw sadness. Was I beign assigned to squad Eleven! I don't want to go there! I stood and walked outside my room and there they were. Toshiro left into his room and I faced Ikkaku and Renji.
"Hey Aika. We'll make this quick." Ikkaku said. I bowed and followed them into the small clearing in the center of the square of the barracks. Ikkaku handed me a letter of assignment. I gulped. It was a promotion. I was going to be a third seat.
"Congratulations Aika." Renji said. I looked up at him and smiled weakly.
"What's the matter? You're being promoted." Ikkaku said in his usual harsh way.
"Why were you two sent?" I asked quietly. Highly confused. The eleventh squad a;ready had a third seat, he was standing right in front of me.
"Third seats have to send promotion letters to other third seats. The same goes for all officers." Ikkaku answered, like I was an idiot.
"Then why is Renji here?" I asked.
"I've never been to Squad Ten and I was curious." He answered. "It's rumored to be the best run squad."
"I don't doubt that." I laughed and looked down at the letter, reading it for the first time. What new squad was I going to be forced to go to. Squad…
"No way." I whispered.
"What squad you going to?" Ikkaku asked. I laughed.
"I'm staying here. I'm Squad Ten, Third Seat Aika!"
"Congratulations. Now You just need a last name to finish that of." Renji said as they walked away. I waved at them and burst into the Captain's Quarters. He stood up from his chair and I glomped him.
"Aika." He groaned as I fell on top of him.
"Yes Captain?" I grinned at him. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Third Seat Aika." He said. I nodded when hos eyes opened. I was still on top of him. "What squad?"
"The best run squad in the soul society." I said.
"Squad Five already has a third seat." He said. I frowned.
"You haven't heard the rumopr that Squad Ten is the best run suad in the whole soul society?" I laughed as I rolled off of him.
"You're staying then?" he said, brushing himself off and glancing at me. I looked into his eyes and saw happiness. When you try to decipher his emotions, you have to look deep into his eyes because they are so despcriptive that he can't cover it all with indifference. I was the only person who was able to tell his true emotion.
"Yes, I'm your new third seat." I grinned.
"Fine then. Takr the empty third eat room next to mine. Welcome to the team Aika."