Chapter 6
*Ichigo's P.O.V.*
Today, the gang and I are training in a special area that Kisuke personally made. It was like the one under his store, but it was more meant for me and my friends and the way we trained. Right now, I was doing my usual sparring match with Zera. She and I were always alone in the area when training, meaning our friends just watch at a distance. It's just because Zera's and my own spiritual pressure are that much greater than the other's, so we needed our space to train.
"Come on Ichigo! You're defense is getting sloppy." Zera said, charging at me again. I just barely ducked her leg when she tried kicking my head.
"And why do you think that is!?" I exclaimed.
The reason why I was having so much trouble and why I was dodging her attacks was because we were fighting hand to hand. Ever since I was twelve, Zera has been constantly taking away my Zanpakuto. She always says that people who rely on their Zanpakuto's released forms are physically weak. She doesn't hold Karin and Yuzu to this yet since they aren't strong enough to handle that training yet, along with everyone else.
"Ichigo, I've told you a million times! You can't always rely on your Zanpakuto. What would happen if it broke, or you lost it, or the enemy got a hold of it?" Zera said.
"I know that! But, I should still have a weapon with me." I replied.
"A, you have kido, hado, and any other spell, and B, I've been trying to teach you that anything and everything is your weapon. From plain old fists to the smallest grain of sand." Zera said.
"Huh? That's just crazy!" I exclaimed.
"Oh really?" Zera said.
Judging by her tone, I knew something bad was gonna happen. Zera bent down to pick up a small pebble, and in the blink of an eye, she threw it me! If it hadn't been for this fighting instinct Zera's pound into me over all these years, I wouldn't have been able to avoid it. Still, it barely missed grazing me. When it made contact with a random boulder behind me, the pebble caused it to crumble into pieces. If my jaw could hit the floor, it did.
"See? What'd I tell you? If that was your head, you'd be dead right now." Zera said nonchalantly.
"And what if that was me?!" I shouted. She threw that thing purposely aiming at me!
"I knew you'd dodge." Zera simply answered.
"Sure you did." I grumbled.
"If you want to know what I did, I just poured some of my spirit energy into that small pebble I just threw." Zera explained.
"Huh? Is that it?" I said. That resulted in me getting hit over the head.
"No, it's not just that! The concentrated amount of spirit energy can make whatever it is possibly as hard as steel. And not only does it take a lot of training to even master transferring energy into any object, it takes even longer to master it so you can do it without even concentrating." Zera explained.
"Seriously!? It's going to take that long, even for us!?" I said.
"Yes, now stay focused Ichigo. The other's need to train too, so let's begin our sparring match. And try to concentrate your energy like I've been teaching you." Zera said.
"Fine, fine." I groan.
With that, Zera began attacking me again. If she's gonna be training all of us to master something like that, then it may be awhile before everyone besides me, Yuzu, and Karin finish that training. Since my sisters and I were hybrids of Hollows, Soul Reapers, and Quincies, we could pick up any training pretty quick.
Anyway, my sparring match with Zera escalated quickly. She allows had speed on her side, but I luckily had the small advantage of size since I was now taller and thicker than her. Her punches may always be small, but they have enough power behind to topple a building, I swear. Thankfully, I was protecting myself by doing what Zera said and trying to concentrate my spirit energy to the areas she was constantly aiming at. But, she was right. Concentrating that much energy really is taxing.
I eventually started trying to throw my own punches. If I didn't continue concentrating energy, my attacks would've felt like hitting a steel wall because of Zera's armor like skin. All of my hits connected, but she was strong enough to just endure them. And since I took a few moments to concentrate each time, my punches always took a few seconds to throw.
*Zera's P.O.V.*
I have to admit, I am impressed. I mean, I was trying to teach him this, but I could tell he picked up after my one demonstration. Still, the way he was doing it was sloppy. His punches were to far apart, he kept leaving himself wide open. During this whole match he may have kept landing his hits on me, but they were ineffective. Maybe more training and he cold beat me one day. But right now, he was just throwing childish punches. And I have to show that to him. When Ichigo threw his next punch at me, I grabbed his wrist this time, stopping his attack.
"Aw crap!" Ichigo said.
"You're too slow Ichigo. You have more to learn." I said.
With that, I flipped him over my head and he slammed right into a random boulder. When the dust cleared, I could see Ichigo lying in the rubble of the rock that was there. I couldn't help but let out a small snicker from seeing that. I then happily walked over to him.
"Damn. That hurt." Ichigo groaned as he got out of the rubble. When I reached, I bent down and offered my hand.
"Like I said, you have more to learn. But I'm sure that won't be long." I said, giving him a wide grin.
"Heh. Let's hope." Ichigo replied, grabbing my hand and letting me pull him to his feet.
"And since you learn with experience, let's get back to it." I said, putting my fists in front of me.
"I swear, you'll be the death of me one day." Ichigo said, getting into a stance himself.
"You probably won't mind. The Soul Society is really nice." I said with a smirk. After that, once again, we started sparring. But this time, our fight may have quickly started going over board.
*Rukia's P.O.V.*
As I watched Zera and Ichigo fight with Kisuke, Yoruichi, and all the others, it was quite unclear to me why they were fighting like this. This is one of the first few I've seen any of their sparring matches, so I couldn't quite understand it, or why we all had to stand on the side lines when there was so much room.
"Hey, Orihime, how come no one else is training?" I asked her.
"Oh, well, like they're doing now, they tend to over do their sparring matches. So, we have to keep our distance to avoid any 'unnecessary' accidents." Orihime answered.
"Well, ok. But why isn't Ichigo using his Zanpakuto? That would make it so much easier for him." I asked.
"Zera has this rule about all of our training. She doesn't want us to depend on our weapons or powers too much because she says it'll make us weak, so she has fight mainly hand to hand." Tatsuki answered.
"What?! But that seems a bit extreme! I mean, depending our powers all the time may be a fault, but still." I said.
"It's actually very smart. We all make progress with this." Karin said.
"Yeah. Karin and I train spar with Chad all the time without our Zanpakuto." Yuzu said.
"It's true. And they are making major progress on working as a team." Chad added.
"Well, I can understand that they are making progress. They are only children after all." I said.
"What was that!?" Karin shouted.
"Karin, calm down! She didn't mean anything by it!" Yuzu said, trying to calm her down.
"If us being young makes us easy to beat, then how about we spar with ya'!?" Karin said.
"I don't have a say in this, do I?" Yuzu said.
"Alright. If you insist." I said, knowing she was serious about this challenge.
"Hey Ichigo! Hurry up and get done already!" Karin shouted. Luckily, Ichigo was just done. More specifically, Zera was standing over his unconscious body while doing a victory dance. Once she dragged Ichigo off of the training ground, Karin, Yuzu, and I all took the field.
"The rules will be simple. Only the use of kido, hado, and bakudo, and hand to hand combat." Karin explained.
"Very well." I replied. The twins began talking quietly to each other before we began, must've been planning something. When they were done, we started our sparring match. I made the first move.
"Hado number 33: Sokastui." I chanted.
Holding my hand up and holding it in place with my other hand, a burst of blue spirit energy shot out of my hand and headed towards the twins. They both moved at the last second, but they both got hit by the small explosion my attack caused. I would've thought they would've dodged it better, but like I said, they are only children.
"Hado number 31: Shakkaho." I chanted.
With my hands in the same position, a red orb of spiritual energy formed in my hand and was shot at Karin first. I then did the same to Yuzu. Somehow, each of my attacks made contact with both of them. Really, I expected more of them, despite their age. Karin was kneeling while Yuzu sat on her knees.
"Ow! It hurts!" Yuzu cried.
"Damn." Karin muttered.
"I will admit, I expected more from you two. But, you both are a hundred years too early to actually be a match for me." I said.
But, as I said that, both of their expressions changed to smirks. And before I knew it, they both shot up to their feet and they both kicked me in the stomach, sending my rolling backward by a few yards, but how?! Those attacks should have weakened them enough to keep them from moving.
"Sorry, but I think we've been a match for you for years now." Karin said. Damn, they tricked me so I would let my guard down. I tried regaining my footing to be able to attack, but they both kept coming at me.
"Hado number 63: Raikoho." Karin chanted.
A level sixty hado!? No way! I managed to just barely block the full force of that attack, but I was still sent flying back again. These girls, they were just acting. I was tricked again by these people! I should have learned my lesson by now. That process continued, Karin kept using long distance spells. I can't even get a chance to regain ground.
"Hado number 33: Sokastui!" I exclaimed, getting in the only attack I could at Karin. Luckily, that caused Karin to jump back for a second and I got my chance. I decided to go after Yuzu first. She may not be doing anything right now, but that could change.
"Hado number 33: Sokastui." I chanted again. This time, my attack was sent straight at Yuzu.
"Bakudo number 81: Danku!" Yuzu chanted.
A Bakudo over level 80!? Just how skilled are these girl?! While thinking that, a clear wall of spiritual energy appeared in front of Yuzu and completely absorbed my attack. When I was caught off guard because of that, Karin took her chance and kicked me in my side, sending me skidding across the ground. Damn, I was being beaten, by two little girls. Maybe I can catch them off guard like they did with me.
"My shoulder." I grunted, kneeling on the ground.
"Um, Karin, maybe we should lighten up a little." Yuzu said. It seems to be working.
"Don't fall for it, Yuzu, come on, get up! I know you still are perfectly fine." Karin said. Damn, even for a child, she is smart. Zera must have taught them well.
"If that's the case..." I muttered, quickly rising to my feet.
After that, the thought of losing must have gotten to me because the next thing I knew, my hand was gripping my sword. But, just as I began to draw it, I felt someone grip my wrist and I saw someone standing between me and the twins. That snapped me completely back to my senses, and I saw that Zera was between us and Ichigo was the one holding my wrist.
"Ichigo. Zera." I said under my breath.
"That's enough. If you can't win without using your Zanpakuto, then you'll have to fight me and Zera." Ichigo said.
He really does care about his sisters. He must not want them to fight with my Zanpakuto that they know nothing about. I really can't understand, but, it is still about family. That even I can still comprehend, so I finally took my hand off my sword.
"I'm sorry, Yuzu, Karin. You two won this, fair and square." I said.
"Well, thanks. And sorry about that little act earlier." Karin said, scratching the back of her while just barely looking away.
"Don't be. That was actually very smart. Using your appearance to your advantage." I admitted.
"Thank you Rukia. And don't worry, Orihime will patch you up right away." Yuzu said.
"Thanks." I replied.
"You know Rukia, you actually did better than I expected. You know, I would be more than happy to include in our training sessions." Zera offered.
"Oh, well, I really think-" I began to say.
"Don't argue with her. She'll just force you into training." Ichigo whispered to me. The scary thing is, I believe him.
"What was that?" Zera said. That caused Ichigo and I to completely stand stiff. She said it innocently, but something about it sends chills down my spine. Ichigo must feel the same.
"Just, I would be honored if you trained me." I replied.
"That's great! We'll start tomorrow with hand to hand combat." Zera said with a smile. As she skipped away, I let my shoulders slump down.
"She's going to kill one day, isn't she?" I said. Ichigo and Karin patted me on my back.
"Don't worry. You'll gain something out of it before that happens." Karin said.