Chapter 36- Personal Trainer

Hiyori could no longer stand Kensei and I's little fall out and drop-kicked me in the face so we would shut up. Kensei started laughing at me because she did nothing to him. I got up off of the ground after being knocked down and dusted off my shihakuso.

"HOW COME HE DOESN'T GET KICKED?" I screamed at her.

"You started it in the first place!" she yelled back.

"BUT DIDN'T YOU SEE WHERE HIS HAND WAS? I WANT HIM TO ATONE FOR HIS PERVERTEDNESS!" I demanded.

"I don't give a crap about where it was! You started it and that's that!" she hissed.

"BUT-!" I started before Shinji interrupted me by putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Just leave it alone. The only thing that matters right now is if Ichigo wins or not," he spoke calmly.

"DUDE!" I threw his arm off of me. "WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP DOING THAT? It's really annoying…"

I was too busy talking to Shinji that I didn't notice that Kensei went in to fight hollowfied Ichigo. After a few minutes the sound of battling came to a cease and I turned to see what had happened. The hollowfied parts on Ichigo's body started to crumble onto the ground and disintegrate. The only part that remained was that mask that covered his face. One side was white and the other side had red stripes on it. He fell to ground as the barrier around him disappeared and Shinji started walking over to stand beside him. I followed closely behind.

Shinji stopped a few feet away from where Ichigo lie, Ichigo's mask lying face up next to him. "So, how do you feel?"

"I feel great," Ichigo replied with a victorious smile upon his face.

I smiled and waited for Shinji's instructions.

βββββββββ

"Why do I have to fight him while hollowfied?" I complained.

"Because it'll help him sustain his mask for longer. He needs to learn how to use it properly," Shinji explained, "and it benefits you too so I don't see why you're complaining."

"I'm complaining because you said I could leave once Ichigo got here!" I indicated.

"But you decided to stay here, so it's your own fault," he sighed.

"I'm leaving," I made my pout face and started marching off towards the stairs.

"No. You're not," Shinji grabbed the collar on the back of my shihakuso and pulled me back. "Don't you want to help him at all?"

I thought for a couple of minutes. "I don't know…"

"Well whether you like it or not you're going to," he led me in the direction to where Ichigo sat quietly waiting on a rock.

"I hate you sometimes," I grumbled.

I got out my zanpakutou and told Ichigo to get ready. He stood up and drew his zanpakutou off his back in response. We moved to a clearer area and I hollowfied. I dashed in at him and he hollowfied as well. He was hollowfying too slow.

"C'mon you gotta hollowfy faster!" I encouraged.

I backed off to let him hollowfy and we continued to battle. Every once in a while his mask would break and he'd have to put it back on. This process continued until Mashiro came back with our lunch.

"YAY FOOD!" I immediately sheathed my sword and flash stepped over to the others and waited for my food. "Ichigo come eat!" I cheered.

He came over and we sat down to eat. I didn't talk much due to the fact that I was scarfing down my lunch. I was so hungry I could eat a pound of rice! The others were talking while I continued to down my food. When I finished about ten minutes before everyone else did I stood up and stretched.

"Mmm that was delicious!" I rubbed my stomach. "Thanks for the food!"

After Ichigo finished eating we started training again, but shortly after we were interrupted by the appearance of our friend Orihime. She walked halfway down the stairs before stopping.

"Umm can someone tell me where the restroom is?" she joked.

Kensei, who wasn't so fond of jokes, clenched his teeth angrily. I lowered my sword and turned towards her. "Hey Orihime! What's up?"

"Hey Izume!" she smiled and made her way down the rest of the stairs.

She reached the bottom and approached us carefully. She talked to me and Ichigo for a bit, because she was wondering why we weren't going to school. We chatted for a couple more minutes and then Hachi took her from us to talk about her power. While that happened I redrew my zanpakutou as I stood up and rested its blade on my shoulder.

"We're not done yet, Ichigo. Let's resume," I waited for him to draw his zanpakutou and hollowfy before I attacked him and hollowfied myself.

We "finished" our training a couple days later, because Ichigo wanted to leave early before we were done completing it. I followed him out, thanking Shinji and the others for helping me as I walked by. I quickly got in my gigai as we left the warehouse.