I'm not trying to pick on Rukia, I swear. I'm not really sure what set me off.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach I only own Diana.
Looking into the Eye
Chapter 6: Mirror the Moon
"In order to use the weapon you asked for, you have to learn to control your reiatsu." Urahara watched Diana stare at him as he watched behind his fan. She had come in the day after their conversation, manned the register for a few hours, then got dragged into a backroom and given a orb similar Kukaku's cannonball core.
"And I'm supposed to use this," she gestured to the milky white orb in her hands, "to help me do that."
Kisuke nodded. "If you can control what color the orb turns, and can keep it black for over a minute, I'll give you you're weapon."
"You're going to leave me to my own devices until I figure it out on my own or beg you for help, aren't you?" It was rhetorical.
"Many people learn better by figuring things out on their own, rather than having someone tell them how to do it. If one method doesn't work, there are always others."
"So, letting me make mistakes and learning from said mistakes is a good way to learn. Now that I think about it, the only way not to learn from your mistakes, is refusing to face them." She paused. "I have few ideas as to what to try before asking for help."
She closed her eyes and tried a few visualization methods, such as the black dot method that Ganju showed Ichigo, and imagining her reiatsu like fire coming from within her and moving into the orb. She couldn't stop her reiatsu from moving, but she could control how much comes out and where it went. Once she had a hold on it, she opened her eyes.
The orb was a pale green. She made the flames bigger and it turned blue. A little more and it turned a darker purple. Now if she could turn it black…
Suddenly the orb was snatched from her. Diana looked at Urahara who now had the orb as she realized she was sweaty and really tired. She didn't think it would be this exhausting. Now she knew why Orihime and Chad passed out after they first used their powers.
"I think that's enough. You have good control over your reiatsu, but you don't have much of it. Training with reiatsu exhausting methods, will help it grow." He said, in a way that told her she had a long way to go. It was like stamina training.
Definitely safer than knocking me out of my body and making me fight the little devil girl, she thought. "This is probably going to take a while." A thought came to her. "May I keep that?"
"Now why would you want a spirit core?" He asked as if he already knew.
"I want to see what Ichigo can do with it."
"You are an honest girl."
"I can feel the idiot from here and even I can tell he has no control. It's like having a flashlight shined in your face. It's annoying."
He snorted. "You know, I'm taking this out of your paycheck."
"But of course." She then had an idea that could prevent some trouble later. "Say, what other kind of stuff do you sell to the Shinigami?"
Urahara smirked.
-6-
The next day after school Urahara told her she had the day off, so she followed Ichigo's reiatsu to the park where Rukia was making Ichigo play baseball with a pitching machine containing balls filled with pepper.
"So, what's the point of this?" Diana drawled while walking up to Rukia who was reading a manga.
"We are practicing." She replied without looking up.
"Practicing what? How do deal with exploding projectiles?" Diana said as she watched as Ichigo hit another pepper ball.
"He's supposed to tell the hands from the heads and hit only the heads." Diana picked up a couple of balls: the heads and hands looked almost the same.
"Why don't you try? He doesn't seem to get it." He was hitting all of them regardless. Actually, he have a perfect score if this was a batting cage.
"I don't need the training."
"Now it just sounds like the trained Shinigami can't do it." Diana taunted while turning off the machine.
"WHAT!?" Rukia finally looked up from her manga.
"You heard me. Oh, and if you can do it, I'll give you a stuffed bunny." She looked tempted.
"I'll do it, but I'll do it for the bunny." Rukia said as she stomped off to Ichigo.
"Eyes on the prize, eh." After a little arguing, Ichigo came back and stood next to Diana.
"Did you start this without really knowing what she wanted you do?" She turned to machine back on as Rukia got ready.
"She just gave the bat and told me to stand over there and hit the heads." Never wonder he didn't understand.
"So, do you do everything people ask without knowing why, or do you just enjoy embarrassing yourself?" Diana asked as Rukia hit a pepper ball. Looks like she's keeping her bunny plushy.
Ichigo just glared at her, and she gave him an unrepentant smile. Rukia came back dejectedly when the machine ran out of balls.
"Congratulations, you hit every single ball. You don't get the bunny, but I saved your page." Diana handed Rukia her manga. "Next time I ask you play game that can't be won, I'll play for keeps. Try using your head next time."
"Hi, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime called from right behind Ichigo, scaring the crap out of him and surprising everyone else.
"Inoue! Wh-what are you doing here!?" Ichigo asked still flustered from the scare. Diana muffled her laughter, trying to keep herself from getting Orihime's attention.
("You look ridiculous." Rukia informed her quietly, likely in revenge for picking on her.)
"Hee hee! I'm shopping for diner." Orihime said cheerily, "I bought leeks, butter, bananas, and red bean paste!" Diana would try it just to see what whatever concoction she made out of those would taste like. "What are you doing, Kurosaki-kun?"
"I'm... uh… um…" He didn't seem to know what to say.
Luckily, he didn't have to, "Kuchiki-san!? Diana-chan!?" Orihime noticed them.
"Hi, Mecha-Hime!" Diana greeted cheerily, the girl brought out her good mood. Orihime giggled in reply. Meanwhile, Ichigo reminded Rukia who Orihime was.
"Well hello, Inoue-san. How do you do, my dear?" Rukia greeted with a curtsy. Diana didn't know whether to be put off by or be amuse at her act.
"Huh… Oh, I'm fine, thank you." Orihime replied with a curtsy of her own. She's always accommodating.
"Your arm…" Ichigo noticed the bandages on Orihime's arm. "What happened? You fall again?"
"Huh… Oh this. No! I was run over." Orihime said like it was no big deal. Diana sighed.
"RUN OVER!? BY A CAR?!" Ichigo was aghast.
"I went out to get a drink last night and… BAM! I've been getting run over a lot lately. Hee hee."
"No hee hee!" Ichigo was still upset. "That's serious! Aren't you upset!?"
"But they didn't hit me on purpose…"
Diana sighed again. "Maybe not, but you still could stand to be more careful."
"Does Inoue get hurt often?" Rukia asked.
"Almost every day!" Ichigo and Diana said in unison.
"I daydream." Orihime laughed.
"Don't be so casual about it!" Ichigo refused to calm down.
"That bruise on your leg? May I take a look?" Rukia bent down to look at it when she agreed and Diana decided to have a look too. The wound felt odd. It was as if worry, jealousy, and loneliness waifed of it in a rank scent. Diana didn't know what to think, reiatsu didn't feel like they had emotions tied to it before. She'd have to talk to Urahara about it.
Rukia gave the bruise a dark look and Orihime caught it. "Rukia? Why are you looking like that?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. It just looks so painful…" Rukia said trying to cover her thoughts.
"How did you know!? My leg hurts more than my arm!" Orihime exclaimed.
"Really!?" Ichigo's concern flared anew. "Maybe it's paralyzed or something!? You should go to doctor!"
"Huh? Um…"
"Why are you blushing?" Idiot.
Orihime decided to flee the situation, with the excuse of missing her shows. Ichigo offered to walk her home, but she declined in her fluster. Ichigo didn't push it.
"She so exhausting sometimes." Diana complained. "Anyhow I've got places to be myself. Chao.~" She left Ichigo and Rukia to their own devices and headed towards Urahara's with a question to ask.
-6-
"Am I supposed to feel the emotions from reiatsu?" She asked Urahara bluntly when she found him.
"My, my, I'm surprised you could feel them so soon." Diana gave him an unimpressed stare. Of course, he knew.
"Does this have to with me being a hyper-sensitive soul or whatever?" She remembered him saying something to that nature.
"Most souls would only feel emotions or the associated memories if they were particularly powerful or if there was direct contact and perceptive enough, but if someone hyper-sensitive, as you called it, they would see emotions through reiatsu alone."
"Is there anything else I need to know? Like if strong is liable to crush me." It would be nice to be warned.
"Now that I think about it, yes!~ If you become strong enough to fight hollows there is a chance you might get drunk off your own reiatsu if it rises abruptly, a sensitive soul never gets used to it. The response could be as minor as a caffeine high, or major as a type of berserker-mode, like Ururu-chan."
"Ururu's a sensitive soul?" She had to ask.
"Yes, but she represses her ability feel anything beyond normal reiatsu sensing."
"I suppose that's none of my business. How's the my kido gun coming along?"
Urahara was happy to explain the details, and Diana was happy to listen and complain that she couldn't use kido.
-6-
By the time they were done, it was dark out and Diana had to walk home in the dark. A short while into her walk she felt Ichigo fighting Acidwire. She dismissed it knowing it would turn out alright.
Then she heard the howl.
I know I promised powers, but the cliffhanger was too damn tempting.
Next time: Powers and Kon