That night, I stole out into the cool, dark air. I kept my feet bare, feeling the texture of roof-tile and the chill of the night. I let my hair down as I ran along, heading to new areas that I had not explored previously, due to the distance being to great. The smell of alcohol filled the air and it made my lips curl. I couldn't understand how one could stand it. The taste was... well, detestable to me.
I kept to the shadows and made my way around to my destination, observing the patterns of the watch. After noting their timing, I looked at the sky and realized how late; or rather, how early it was. I chided myself for forgetting to keep track of time and dashed back. As I made it to the barracks I noticed that several of the members were starting to get out and about. I hurried to my 'room' and hoped no one would notice if I slipped back into bed. I was sorely mistaken.
"Who are you?" I heard and bit my lip before offering a friendly smile to all the curious stares.
"Uh, I'm Tala. A pleasure to meet you all," I said, bowing.
"Tala?" I heard some of them whisper.
I hesitantly chuckled. "Gomen. Ever since an incident, I can't recall my last name," I said, raising a hand to scratch the back of my head.
"How horrible," I heard one of the girls say.
"But how would we know if she is telling the truth?" another piped in. I drew back and didn't meet any of their questioning gazes as I headed over to my bed.
"Tala-san!" I heard as I plopped onto the hard 'bed'. I recognized the voice as Matsumoto. I sighed and reluctantly stood. "Ah, there you are," she said as her head peeked inside.
"Ohayou, Rangiku-san," I said, waving. There were mutterings and other sounds that I couldn't grasp very well. I could only imagine what they were saying.
"To your stations everyone," she said cheerily and the other female shinigami quickly rushed out, pulling the rest of the uniforms and katanas with them. It was an amusing spectacle.
"Now then. Come," she said and turned. Thankfully I was still in uniform but I really wanted to get some sleep. This early in the morning and squad ten was already pretty mobilized. This was nothing like squad one, I realized with a sinking heart. Perhaps my nightly excursions would have to be put on hold.
I followed Matsumoto out, wondering where she was taking me. We headed to the training grounds where several targets were.
"Now then. Let's see how strong you are," she said and I cocked my head at her.
"Why?" I asked and this time she looked mildly shocked and confused.
"To decide were you go," she answered and I formed an O with my mouth as it dawned on me. I shrugged.
"Fine." I took out my zanapkuto and she stepped off to the side. "What do you want me to try first?" I asked, glancing at her.
"Nani?"
"Anything in particular you want me to avoid doing?" I asked and she shook her head.
"Okay then," I said with a happy grin. I looked at the targets then closed my eyes as I began to clear my head of anything but my objective.
"Fumetsu..." I mumbled in my mind and felt her presence resound with mine. I opened my eyes and quickly chopped each of the targets, cleaving them in half. I paused at the end and then swiped my zanpakuto before putting it in the scabbard.
As I looked back at Matsumoto she was watching me with interest and a smile.
"Not bad," I heard her say. I shrugged.
"It's not great though," I noted. She agreed. However she didn't know that I had gotten to this point in less then a month since I had come here. It would hardly be unimpressive, but that fact I didn't care to share at this point. She rose from her spot against a tree trunk and then tossed me a wooden sword.
"Now let's see how you do with a live opponent," she said as she grabbed another one, pointing it at me. My face grew grim. This would be nothing like when I trained against Chojio.
She came at me and I guarded against her attack, allowing the blow to slide to the side, lessening the impact. I tipped the wooden stick down and then pushed up from the ground, using one of the techniques that Choji had taught me to add strength behind my motions by adding more of my leg strength to compensate for lack of muscle in my arms. Matsumoto stumbled back, a look of surprise and amusement on her face.
She continued to come at me. Some times she struck me down; other times I threw her off, but I never landed a hit on her. So this is how a strong a lieutenant is. I certainly had a long way t go, but if I had opponents who would take me seriously, then perhaps I could actually learn quicker.
"Enough," she said and I sighed in relief. I was tired and this bout had worn out the last of my energy. I mouthed a thanks and lazily helped with cleaning up.
While Matsumoto wasn't looking I slipped away quietly and headed back to the barracks. I quickly fell asleep as soon as I came to the bed.