Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach; some genius Kubo Tite does.
She was merely doing it out of duty, from which no benefit could be delegated to her as far as personal satisfaction was concerned. After all, it couldn't become more of a struggle than it already was; Hisagi Shuuhei's skills, for her practiced and criticism-obsessed eyes, were far too undeveloped to produce something significant like a Ban Kai in a matter of months.
"Hisagi, you might be interested in knowing that Youroichi-sama has in possession a very valuable instrument which is capable of forcing a Shinigami's Zanpakotou to achieve its Ban Kai." Soi Fon tells him.
He remained composed as it was possible for him, taking into account that she was proud by nature, therefore concluding she meant no serious offense. Of course, it would've been too much of an insult to his guts to consider that the captain was growing tired of his lack of success in the training. Little did he know that Soi Fon was in fact growing weary of the lack of progress.
"No, thanks. I want to do this without cheats."
Soi Fon heaved a sigh, and upon sizing up the whole expanse of the responsibility at hand, realized how inconvenient it was that Kaname Tousen had abandoned the 9th Division. Simultaneously, she was beginning to suspect that someone with Tousen's reverence and passion for justice could actually be a bastard. And more than that, quite a handful of 9th Division's members had now crashed into her division, including their second-rate Lieutenant. It was a big, stubborn headache, if anything.
"Very well. Prepare for the next blow, then."
"Alright."
The training would normally last eight hours, usually a whole day, and by the end of each session Shuuhei would be sporting several serious injuries. And why was he in this situation anyway? More importantly, why should Soi Fon be the one to suffer this boring task of assisting him? Shuuhei didn't deserve any of it, for sure, but he had to go through the humiliation anyway. For the record, though, the Commander specifically had ordained that all necessary preparations, big and small, were to be undertaken for the upcoming battle, which would probably be the last stand for many of them.
"Your Shi Kai's appearance is too deadly. Consequently, your Ban Kai shall be as flashy as its predecessor." She told him, her partially discouraging tone availing.
"I'm sure I can agree with you on that one, and it's not like I have a choice, Captain Soi Fon."
It was another thing to endure her criticisms, and entirely a different obstacle course to refrain from looking at her. For all he knew, her haughtiness, coldness, everything that might have been injurious to her reputation, were being obscured by her beauty. Come to think of it, he could remember only too well how madly his chest had thumped at the news of her coming down to train him. So, silencing his bolder self, he watched her carefully, with no desire other than taking in the sight of her and freezing it to his memory.
At one point, she couldn't sleep. She was perfectly aware it was well beyond midnight and it would be out of the question to go on about patrolling the streets. Oddly enough, this particular night held so much attraction to her for reasons she couldn't define. She hopped off from her window, and, nimble as she was, scaled the pavement without the slightest of rustles.
She couldn't tell how and why her feet had carried her to the training grounds, without herself expecting or knowing what to find there. To her surprise, Hisagi Shuuhei was in the middle of the field, doing what appeared to her a strenuous training session-by himself. With no further examination of the sight before her, she tucked herself behind a pillar, her spiritual pressure suppressed to almost nonexistence. She watched him as he rigorously hacked training dummies with his Zanpakotou in its unreleased form.
The show couldn't have delivered the same sort excitement she could gather from watching the grass grow. At the same time, she was trying to introduce herself to this sort of patience which could possibly be useful to her in some unseen occasion, tomorrow maybe, in their yet to be fruitful plight. In no time, though, he spoke, pronouncing the words with quite a formidable ring to them,
"Reap, Kazeshini."
He was subdued now, his sweat diffusing into the space around him.
"Let's see what you've got." Soi Fon murmured to herself, careful not to bring herself to his attention.
Shuuhei now closed his eyes, held his weapon with steady hands and unleashed from his mouth two syllables so seldom heard in the land of souls and Soul Reapers:
"Ban Kai."
Miraculously, his weapon morphed into something else, something hard to see with all the blinding and vastly visible spiritual pressure emanating from it. When the weapon's transformation was complete, Soi Fon could determine, with difficulty owing to her distance from him, that the weapon he now wielded was leagues different from the one he had been holding seconds ago.
"This can't be his Ban Kai." She whispered, now astonished, her mind refusing to digest the spectacle.
It was small, slick, and deadly-looking all the same. She imagined her own Ban Kai beside the one Shuuhei had in his hands, then to her dismay envy started to simmer. Slowly becoming convinced it was all a trick of her imagination, she edged in closer, still maintaining anonymity.
Upon closer scrutiny, she noticed that Shuuhei was handling his weapon with unsubtle familiarity, as if he had often cradled it in his hands. He lifted it with such an uncaring regard before finally switching to warrior stance. Before long, it struck Soi Fon that Hisagi Shuuhei had been making a fool out of her all along, that he had known how to do a Ban Kai before or somewhere along their grueling training sessions. With no other option provided by her temper left in sight, she stepped out, clapped her hands in mocking admiration and sarcasm, making her presence completely known. Upon detecting her, Shuuhei spun around, his pupils dilating in nervous astonishment.
"H-how long have you-"
"-how long have I been watching? I'm not so certain about that, but maybe long enough to witness such a grand food for the eye such as your Ban Kai."
Her smirk was scornful in a way hard to look at. Nevertheless, it somehow relieved Shuuhei that she was yet to exhibit disgust.
"I-It's premature, captain, and I've only managed to procure it recently, so recently that I thought it would be shameful to show it to you immediately."
"Indeed? And premature as it is, you're still in your Ban Kai form while I grill you with questions you wouldn't wish to answer, while you sweat like a hog under this interrogation. I'm not a fool, Hisagi, and I expected a better explanation than this."
He was down on his luck and was taken aback by her forwardness. In the long run, he had to accept he was wrong.
"Forgive me, captain, but if there was a reason for me to keep it from you, in the foremost it would be that I intend not to let you see my inferiority."
"And in that selfish respect, you never once stopped to think what all this has been costing me? You never realized you were wasting my time?"
She now startlingly resembled an assassin as she insisted on her right to a decent explanation. For Shuuhei, it was a completely different story. His true reason, or motive, from keeping it from her knowledge was a concern so much graver than a personal offense to her. If only he had the confidence and worth to say it to her face, he would do so without hesitation. But as it was bound to be, she was getting that glorious explanation either way. Thus Hisagi Shuuhei spoke, spoke aloud a secret he ought to take to his grave,
"I want to have a reason to be with you, Captain Soi Fon. I wanted to be near you because, ahead, the road is dangerous and vague, hence I desire to spend what little time I or you may have left-to stay happy, if only for a few months. I want to have a reason to keep on wanting to live, and above all, a reason to win against Aizen and his army. A reason, captain, that's all I want, and need."
It was a cruel last straw, something she wouldn't have heard through the end if it weren't for his humility and the sincerity in his face. She surveyed him with a thoroughness he cringed away from. Suddenly, surprisingly, and against her better judgments, her dignity remained at ease and her heart started to race faster, faster than it had done in a hunt for a beast.
It unnerved her altogether that this was occurring to her as a refreshment her mind needed, amidst the chaos and threats coming down from the world's evil threats. Gradually, her heart somehow started to unravel its nature. She nodded, sighed faintly, and answered,
"Okay. Do me one favor, will you? Don't die on me in the battle ahead, because I want to have a reason, too."
END