Chapter 6

So far the kid wasn't doing all that bad. At least thats what his group of new friends were thinking. He ducked out of the way or blocked most of Mayuri's punches and kicks. He even managed to catch Mayuri's foot once and yank it out from under him, causing Mayuri some pain in his manhood. That, of course, only resulted in angering Mayuri more. He had become relentless on punching the kid for the last 3 minutes now. Shunsui thought about stepping in and pulling them apart but when he glanced over to where the guards usually stood at the entrances, they were pushing through the surrounding crowd already. The kid could hang on for another minute.

Toushiro wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Mayuri was throwing punches left and right so quickly that all Toushiro could do was lie in the fetal position with his head under his forearms to protect him. He was sure he looked useless and pitiful lying there on the floor just taking it. But he was hoping Shunsui would step in soon. He had said that he would. Toushiro had known going into this fight that he was probably going to lose but he was hoping he would at least lose with some dignity. Apparently not.

"Alright break it up! Break it up!", the guards shouted as they finally broke through the circle and pulled Mayuri away from the boy. Mayuri knew better than to fight against the guards; he had tried that plenty of times already and all it had ever gotten him was in a detention cell for a month, even crappier food than was served in the cafeteria, and another year added to his sentence. The guards handcuffed his hands behind his back and began pushing him towards the exit. "You'll be getting three days in detention for this, Mayuri", one of them sneered. Mayuri just grinned that nerve-racking grin as the guards shoved him out of the room. He would finish the kid eventually.

Toushiro made it about halfway to standing when he suddenly felt very dizzy. He started to sway back and forth as if he were going to fall over until he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist and a hand on his shoulder pull him backwards and force his butt down onto his seat. "Just take it easy for a minute, kid", he heard Shunsui say. "I think someone's feeling a little dizzy", Gin added in a sing-songy voice. "No shit, Sherlock. Thanks for stating the obvious", Byakuya muttered.

After a few minutes, Toushiro felt close to normal again. He knew his arms were going to hurt tomorrow after all those punches he blocked. He turned around in his seat to face everybody and glared at Shunsui. "I thought you said you were going to help."

"No I said I was going to see what you were made of first. Now I know. Byakuya needs to work on your technique."

Byakuya raised his eyebrow. "I beg your pardon? I don't recall volunteering my skills to train this boy." He spat the word 'boy' as if it were an insult.

Shunsui acted like he was taken aback by Byakuya's response. "You were just gonna let this kid try to survive around here without any training of any kind? Don't make me write to Hisana about how terrible you're being."

Byakuya glared. "You wouldn't dare."

Shunsui just chuckled. "So you think you could help Little Shiro out?"

Byakuya sighed and looked at Toushiro. "Well... you did look rather pitiful. I suppose I could teach you some basics so you can at least lose with a little dignity."

Toushiro glared slightly but knew he spoke the truth.

Shunsui turned to Gin. "What do you think, Gin? You want to help Toushiro out a little?"

Gin's constant smile grew wider. "I'd love to. At least if we teach him he might become a little funner to watch."

"More fun, Gin. Funner is not a word", Byakuya patronized.

Gin shrugged. "Whatever."

Byakuya wanted to roll his eyes but he refused to resort to such childish mannerisms. Shunsui just laughed and slapped Toushiro on the shoulder good-naturedly. "Welcome to the club, kid."

Toushiro couldn't help but smile a little.

/

During one of their recess breaks the next day, Shunsui began teaching Toushiro how to kick and punch properly. Byakuya was supposed to teach him how to turn those kicks and punches into an actual fighting style. Then later, he'd quicken the pace so that Toushiro would learn to respond instinctively without thinking and therefore result in Toushiro executing each move as quick as humanly possible and precisely. Meanwhile, Gin would teach him how to sneak up on people. How to silence his footsteps and movements and even breathing and how to hide in shadows and move from one to the next without being seen so that he could float through the room like a phantom or slink in the shadows like a ninja.

Toushiro had a natural talent for fighting acording to Shunsui and Byakuya but Gin was having trouble teaching him how to be silent. He wasn't very light footed. But Gin never lost his patience with Toushiro. He just told him to go back and do it again until he got it right.

But there were times, like today for instance (year 2, day 163) when Toushiro would become frustrated with his failures. "Ugh! This is insane! I can't do this! No matter how hard I try I can't silence my footsteps. It's not possible!" He sat down on the bench and tried to calm down. Gin's always present smile waned a little. He stood in front of Toushiro and smacked the back of his head. "Ow!" Toushiro glared up at Gin. "What was that for?"

"You're concentrating too much. You can't let this be a thinking thing. You must make it natural. You're concentrating all of your weight into your feet when you stand and when you walk. Byakuya has been teaching you about moving quickly when fighting and you've done well at it. Because you know how to find your center and concentrate all the energy in your body into one kick or one punch. It's the same concept. You must distribute all of your weight, not to your feet, but everywhere. Spread it out. And it makes your steps lighter and faster. Now try again."

Toushiro frowned and stood. What Gin said made sense but it almost sounded impossible. But he supposed it had to be since Gin and Byakuya did it all the time. Toushiro breathed out his frustration and found his center like he did when he was fighting. Then he just...walked. Gin's smile widened. "I told you it was easy. Now don't let your weight return to be only on your feet. Make sure that from now on, whenever you walk, you're footsteps are light. Eventually, it will become second nature and you won't even realize you're doing it." Toushiro smiled and nodded. He couldn't believe he was finally doing it. And to think if Gin had told him that earlier he would've had it a long time ago. But he was too happy to be irritated at Gin. He tried running and still his footsteps were much more silent than before. It was one of the most amazing and happy moments of his life.

Sorry it took so long to update :( Things are crazy right now. But here it is and lemme know if you guys like it :) Thanks for reading!