Chapter Ten: Cue Training, Pt. 2

When I awoke, I remember two things distinctly.

One: A lot of people surrounding my bed.

Two: Receiving a bunch of slaps and shots directed towards the head.

When the ultimate bashing stopped, Ichigo spoke sternly, "What in the WORLD were you thinking? You two fight in the middle of the Seireitei, without any supervision? I am extremely disappointed."

I looked over at the bed beside me, and saw Tsubasa, depressed-looking.

"It wasn't their fault, Ichigo," Uryu tried, defensively.

But, Kurosaki interrupted, "Yes, I know all that, Ishida. You were supposed to be supervising, but you run off, leaving two kids to bash it out."

Uryu looked hurt. "Ichigo, when you and I met, were there any adults supervising? And don't tell me that it was different, because there were more lives at stake then. There were no sudden Menos sightings here, no permanent damage. It's a double-standard to chastise these guys, when we ran around without anyone looking after us."

Ichigo looked like he wanted to respond, but nothing came out. He, much like myself, was at a loss for words. Finally, he shook his head and laughed.

"You know what, Uryu? If I weren't the Captain-Commander, I would have to beat you up for a comment like that. But, I must show restraint and dignity."

Everyone tried to muffle their laughter, some doing better than others. There was a man next to Ichigo, who looked Hispanic and was wearing a dark blue shirt with a red cross. He seemed like the strongest-looking of the bunch.

"Ichigo, it's alright."

For the rest of the time, he was completely silent.

There a nice chat, with laughter and fun, but soon everyone had to leave.

Kurosaki lingered behind.

"Tsubasa, you're free to go."

He sprung up and ran quickly out, leaving me all alone with the most powerful being in Soul Society. Fun…

"Are you going to punish me?" I asked, apprehensively.

He smiled, but from my view, it looked like an evil grin.

"Hikari, I would never want to hurt you. Actually, I'm going to train you, starting now. We are going to walk back to the training ground."

I raised an eyebrow, "Um, I'm kind of injured. I don't know if I can even move properly."

Ichigo picked me up and tossed me out of the hospital bed. I landed on my two feet and, strangely, didn't collapse.

"Do you remember Orihime?" I nodded. "Well, not only are those shields of hers used to defend, but they have very interesting healing powers, too. It's very convenient. But, less talking! We're here to train. Meet me at the same training grounds that you fought Tsubasa, and our training will commence."

So, he was watching the fight…

He stepped, and then vanished. I wasn't exactly sure how he did that, but I was sure that I would be learning how to do it shortly. I ran all the way back to the training grounds, huffing and puffing.

"Wow, you're slow. I'm going to show you something that may kill you. I hope that you're ready for it."

I nodded, and brought out Tenshi for safety's sake. Unfortunately, I could only barely follow the movements of Kurosaki. He appeared behind me, and before I realized what was going on, a cut appeared across my chest.

I winced, feeling the pain course through me.

"Lesson number one," Sensei said. "Pain is simply a message. You can choose to lie down and die, or to ignore the message and continue the fight."

I turned to face him, but he was behind me again.

"Lesson number two," Sensei stated again. "There are only two types of battles: The ones to protect your pride and the one to protect life."

He tried to slice me again, but I knew better. Soaring through the air, I arched my back and flipped, landing behind Sensei.

I smirked, raising my blade. He didn't turn around, and my blade went right through him. My eyes widened, but I remembered the trick that Urahara tried with his weird Gigai-thingy.

Moving quickly to the right, I felt a rush of wind as the large sword crashed into the gravel. I stopped and faced my teacher smugly.

"I won't fall for that trick twice. Do you think that I was born yesterday?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" He replied. I frowned instantly.

I'm tired of this. Let's end this fight.

I gripped Tenshi backhanded and smirked, "Have you seen this one? If you have, well, have fun trying to stop it."

While flooding reiatsu into my blade, I realized that Ichigo wasn't moving.

What is he doing? Does he think that he can stop it?

I felt the anger rise into my cheeks and I swung Tenshi, releasing all of that energy. I enjoyed hearing the sound of wings flapping that accompanied my new attack. I heard a muffled yell and assumed that the attack had connected with the target. Smoke encompassed the area, and I chuckled at how easy that was. The attack didn't completely drain my energy, either, so that was a positive.

The smoke began to fade and I saw a figure standing tall. My jaw fell in astonishment.

How is he still standing? That should've hit! Unless…

"I thought that you would've known better than to randomly attack me, Hikari. Either way, that attack of yours is pretty strong. But, I have a blast of my own."

The smoke faded completely and Ichigo stood firmly, blade held high. I just stared, eyes wide. I couldn't even move.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

He swung down and a blue wave came flying towards me. I tried to move, but my legs wouldn't budge.

Closer, closer.

Finally, my legs would move, and I dove quickly to the right. I didn't even have the sense to roll, and got a face-full of dirt.

But, I was alive.

I saw a shadow pass me, and looked up. Sensei stood above me, in one of those "cool-guy" poses that I could never get quite right.

"Your blade… is full of fear. When you defend, you think 'I am afraid of getting hurt'. When you attack, 'I am afraid of cutting you'. And, when you protect, 'I am afraid of letting them get hurt'. You need to be strong. Think 'I will not get hurt' or 'I will cut them' or 'I will guard them'. Do you understand that?"

I nodded. Well, as close to a nod that one can make on the ground.

"Now," he continued, "there's one more thing." He raised his blade high into the air.

I didn't understand, but accepted it.

He needs strong people who aren't full of fear. I guess I didn't make the cut. Haha, cut, that's a nice choice of words.

The blade came down, and I closed my eyes.

Nothing but black.

Am I dead? Can dead people think? I don't know. I guess there's only one thing to do, then.

I peeked my eyes open, and saw a pair of sandals. Farther up, and I saw bright orange hair.

Ichigo grinned, "You didn't think that I'd kill my protégé, did you?"

I stood up, slowly, trying to adjust my eyes to the light. The sun was bright overhead, and I shaded my eyes with my hand.

We walked together in silence, fully enjoying the afternoon. Some stopped to chat with the Captain-Commander, but it was short and, once again, we were on our way. I wasn't sure where we were going, but Ichigo looked like he knew where to go. After a while, though, it seemed like we had passed the same buildings.

"Um, Ichi – I mean, Sensei – do you know where we're going?"

"Yes, and now that you've realized that we've been going in circles, we can get to where we need to be."

He looked serious, but I could see a smile twitching out. I chuckled a little, but was really confused. I expected Ichigo to be more… uptight than I had seen. Finally we turned right and started trekking up a hill.

By the time we got to the top, I was panting for breath. Sensei, on the hand, looked refreshed, like he hadn't taken a single step.

"This is Soketsu Hill, where the climax of my first journey took place. I decided to come up here to give you the second aspect of our training: Creativity and Knowledge."

The landscape was beautiful, you could see what seemed like forever.

"So, what are we doing here?" I asked.

"This is where the training part of our training will begin. That last part was for two reasons: to show you that there is never a point of perfection and to cut your hair."

I instinctively reached up and felt my head. It was different. I brought out my sword and looked in my reflection. My hair was much spikier. I looked like a completely different person, just from a haircut.

"Ichigo? What are you doing here? I'm using Soketsu Hill for training with my new protégé."

I looked over, and saw a tall man with bright red hair, tattoos on his face, and towel around his forehead. There was also a familiar girl with him.

"Hey, Hikari. Fancy seeing you here. Come here often?" Kurami asked.

I chuckled, but didn't answer.

"I think that there's been some sort of misunderstanding, Renji. But, there is a simple way to solve this. Why don't we have our separate proteges battle and whichever team wins get this hill? The loser walks."

Kurami nodded her head in agreement instantly, as did Renji. I furiously shook my head, but no one paid any attention to me.

"Alright, Ichigo, I like this. Everyone knows that I am a better teacher than you are. Are you ready, Kurami?"

She smiled evilly, "Of course I am. My sword has been wanting this for a long time."

Really? This isn't good. I don't think I can go through another fight.

"Sure, I guess," I said absently.

I turned to Ichigo, "Sensei, why do I have to fight my friends? It's pointless."

He looked down at me in shock, "What are you talking about? Fighting only makes the bond stronger. Any normal family knows and understands that. Now, let's go!"

I wasn't too inspired by that short speech, but it slightly changed my outlook. I stepped forward, gripping Tenshi tightly.

"Are you with me, Tenshi?" I murmured. As if in response, I felt a huge spike in power. It felt... good. Really good.

"Let's do this!" I shouted loudly and intensely.

"Alright, Hikari!" Ichigo cheered.

Kurami cackled, "That's more like it. Are you ready now? Because my sword is getting antsy."

I realized that I wouldn't win trying to play a long-range battle, especially with that ice punch attack of hers. So, I dashed forward, throwing caution to the wind.

"Freeze up, Rinhi!"

I quickly leaped to the left, trying to stay out of the blast radius.

Crap, too late. I guess I've gotta play this one by ear.

"Aisupachi!"

Kurami's whole sword turned into a handle connected to a long arm with a fist on the end, completely made of ice.

I tried to run through the swing radius, which I kinda made up in my mind. Maybe I made it halfway there... Maybe, but I got a nice cold shot to the stomach. I flew back, skidding into the dirt. I got up and dusted myself off.

This may be a little harder than I thought...

I tried again, running straightforward, again ending with me in the dirt. Just for good measure, I attempted once more, with similar results.

"Is this all you're going to do, Hikari? I really expected more."

Slowly getting to my feet, I laughed, "Oh, that was simply a warm-up. Now, it's time to get serious."

Digging into Tenshi's power once more, I felt another boost in power. I made a plan on the fly, and ran forward.

"Again, Hikari? You're way too slow to try and pull this off, and you know it."

I just gritted my teeth.

If she thinks that we're too slow, why don't you just speed up, Hikari?

I saw Tenshi flying beside me. I nodded, and added a little pep in my step. In a split-second choice, I decided to appear behind her, and, grabbing my blade backhanded, I cried out, releasing my relatively new, unnamed technique in a wave of white.

"Well, I've never seen that before. What is that called?" Kurami's voice called from the smoke.

I coughed, "I don't really have a... name for it, yet. But, that's just because I haven't had time to make up a name for it."

She laughed, "Do you think that you can just create a name for an attack? Attacks come from your Zanpakuto, and they have their own name."

"I guess that there are a lot of things that I still don't know. I just got this job recently, you know."

She was about to respond, but I decided to take the "initiative" and attack. She blocked the blow. Both of us became locked in a struggle for leverage and power.

"Ah, this is more like what I'm expecting from you, Hikari. But, if you win, I'll be branded a loser by my sensei. And, that, is unacceptable."

I jumped back, shocked. "What in the world are you talking about? You aren't a loser. If that's the case, though, I'll throw the match. It's fine."

"No," she said, "I have to be able to win on my own."

Ugh, she is way too prideful. I guess the only thing to do is fight.

I sighed, "If you're going to be annoying, I guess I have to just defeat you."

"My sword has been itching for this moment. And, since you showed me your new move, let me do the same."

I prepared myself for whatever could be coming next.

Kurami raised her sword above her head and shouted out.

"Iced Shell!"

Author's Note: Hey, guys, I'm back. Virtual high-five to those of you got the FT reference at the end. Please remember to review, that's the only way I can get feedback. See you guys next chapter!