5: Wound
"I saw you training with Aizen-fukutaichou yesterday," Byakuya commented, swinging his zanpakuto at a dummy.
"Yeah?" Sakura continued reading her Kido book.
"Is that going well?" He swung again.
"Yep, we worked on Kido yesterday. Today, he said that we would start work on Zanjutsu though." She grimaced. "That means I have to bring Kiriaiseika along."
"Stop complaining; it's for your own good anyway. You really need to learn the art of Zanjutsu, and Aizen-fukutaichou seems nice."
"He is," Sakura agreed, looking back down at her book.
Byakuya lowered his zanpakuto and sat down next to Sakura, who was perched on the low wall separating the training grounds from the garden. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She hid her hands underneath her book quickly.
"Sakura…" Byakuya eyed her suspiciously, slate-gray eyes narrowing.
"What?"
He snatched her book away, grabbing her wrists at the same moment, and gasped at what he saw. Her palms were swollen, burned badly from the looks of it. It was obvious that she had tried to heal the wounds, but they had opened up again and Byakuya could see small trickles of blood dripping down her arm. "Sakura! What have you been doing?"
She looked away. "Nothing."
"Sakura…" He glanced at the Kido book in his hand. It was opened to the Hado section, on Hado number 88, Hiryugekizokushintenraiho. His eyes widened in realization. "Have you been practicing the high-level Hado spells?"
She didn't meet his eyes, just snatched the book back from him. "No. Now leave me alone, I have to go train with Aizen-sensei."