September 5th
DAY 9
7 PM
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On the desk, Aiza sat and fiddled with an eraser that she found. On the bed, Katsuko was sitting back against her wall with her hand to her face, and on said face was a slow forming mask. Katsuko's eyes narrowed and she grimaced when she struggled to fully materialize the mask, her fingers looking like it was stopped by an invisible force. When her ring finger nudged her nose, the mask completely stopped and faded away. With a frustrated groan, Katsuko flopped onto her side and fisted her bed cover. She couldn't understand why she couldn't do it.
"That mask looks like it's tiring you out… Are you sure it's safe?" She was stepping into Hollow territory. She had every right to be worried.
Face in her pillow, Katsuko nodded. "Maybe my body is not used to it." She lifted her head and sighed, blowing her bangs out of her face. "I need juice."
An hour ago, she returned home after training with Kensei. The urgency to summon the mask only helped the mask cover the right side of her face, albeit only until the edge of her nostril, not exactly half. And seeing as how it was only exhausting her, they decided to resume the next day. But to make up for the lack of mask, Kensei still had her doing some training since it'd be just a waste to show up for nothing. She gladly took part it in because she was salty.
As Katsuko took three steps away from her bed, she faltered for a second and ended up slamming her hand on against her wall when she steadied herself.
Aiza tensed. "Katsuko...!"
"I'm fine. It's just head rush." Katsuko waved her hand dismissively and willed herself to walk properly to the kitchen. It was only seven in the evening, so her parents wouldn't be home until probably eight-thirty. She still had time to practice a little more until they returned.
Aiza sighed. With a jump, she leaped off the desk and landed on her bed with a bounce.
"You already controlled your Hollow… why do you want to use the mask?"
September 6th
DAY 10
WEEKEND
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Sitting on the ground, Shinji leaned his cheek on his knuckles while he watched Katsuko struggle to put on her mask as Kensei attacked her. This attempt ended with her getting knocked off her feet and almost slamming into a rock if Love didn't extend his arm to save her while reading his manga. Very little progress was happening. It was currently 10 AM. She was doing this for three hours with small breaks.
It was getting ridiculously long compared to the other Vizards. Putting on the mask for the first time was tricky but never difficult like this. Shinji certainly never struggled like this when he first started using his Hollow powers. The blonde Vizard thought back to when Hiyori used to struggle with her own mask. She had the most difficulty summoning her mask the first few times. However, the former Lieutenant was able to draw out her Hollow mask completely. It was different from Katsuko who just couldn't bring out her mask at all just yet.
How odd.
Then we have Ichigo upstairs still going at it on the treadmill…
"What do you think could be the problem?" Rose wondered as he took a seat next to him. He came down to see what was going on in the underground training room, leaving Lisa, Mashiro, Hachigen, and Hiyori upstairs.
"Beats me." Shinji shifted his hand to rest his chin in his palm. "She's not messin' around though." The frustration she was emitting was almost too noticeable. Clearly, Katsuko didn't like that it wasn't going as smoothly as she had hoped.
"Do you think she'll be able to use the mask at all?" Rose asked as Katsuko staggered when she dodged Kensei's swing and failed to Hollowfy for the umpteenth time.
"Well, if she couldn't, then the mask wouldn't be showin' up at all. Her body must be really resistin'. In my opinion, it's a matter of fightin' through that resistance. Y'know, it's like pushin' out a hard shit."
"You couldn't pick a better comparison?"
Rose redirected his gaze to Katsuko who was now rubbing her face aggressively, her sword at her feet. Kensei just watched her. She had angrily dropped (or thrown) her Zanpakuto to cover her face and groan loudly in frustration. Her clenched teeth were showing. When she revealed her face again, her eyes were fixated on some random spot on the ground as she tried catching her breath.
For a while now, Kensei was wondering when she was going to snap. He was beginning to wonder if she had an infinite amount of patience. "You look like you want to cry."
"Maybe I might!" Katsuko spat, eyes narrowing. "I can't even tell if I'm improving or if I'm just imagining it all! I also feel bad that I'm just wasting your time when you guys are expecting more out of me." She felt like ripping her hair out as well. "Fucking confusing and fucking annoying!" she stomped her foot on the ground to vent out her anger.
"There's that beautiful language." Shinji snorted. "Look, that's the one that verbally abused me."
Kensei quirked a brow at this. The frustration in her voice was as clear as day. Back when he was a captain, he'd seen his fair share of subordinates during training that would lose their spirits the more they couldn't meet their own personal expectations. It's been years since he'd come to see something so similar. Despite having abandoned attachments to the Soul Society, there was some degree of nostalgia in him. A feeling that was strangled, quick and painless.
With a heavy sigh, he bent down and picked up her sword, loosely holding it in his hand. "Stop that. Don't even start throwing a fit." He gave her sword to her. "Progress is progress no matter how small it is." Katsuko eyed the silvered haired Vizard silently. "And why are you even thinking about us? Last time I checked, you didn't come here to please us, did you?"
"… No."
Kensei sheathed his blade on his side. It made Katsuko stiffen. That was signaling the end of their training and the beginning of an early break. "Go cool off your head. I'm not going to work with someone who's too worked up to focus." The frustration was showing in her movements and it was making her too greedy to properly focus.
Damn.
Dejectedly, Katsuko watched Kensei walk away. Maybe she should have just kept her mouth shut. She tightly held the hilt of her Zanpakuto and stared at the ground. From where Rose and Shinji were sitting, they could see how Katsuko's imaginary dog ears went down while she stood there quietly.
"Why does she look like a kicked puppy left out in the rain?" Shinji droned.
"Katsuko-chan likes our Kensei." With a small laugh, Rose spoke as a matter-of-factly. Perhaps because he saved her when she was a younger? "That girl enjoys training with him, and now he has, as you've said, left her out in the rain." The mask trouble didn't help her dampened spirits either.
The de facto leader of the Vizards hummed still watching the girl. Now, she sheathed her blade, awkwardly walking off to the other direction to sit somewhere to cool off.
With a sigh, the former captain of Squad 5 pushed himself off the ground and called her name. Like a little animal, she stopped in her tracks and turned her head towards him, staring at him curiously.
Sluuurp.
Walking by Shinji's side, Katsuko was drinking her mango bubble tea with one hand while carrying a tray of cold open drinks in another, and a bag filled with closed cold ones hung on the same arm. The older Vizard was carrying bags of takeout food in each hand that Katsuko helped pitch in. At first, Kensei was the one who argued that they were eating too much takeout and should just cook instead. But after Katsuko offered to pay too, he was quick to back down with a shrug.
Since Shinji was on lunch duty and he decided to drag Katsuko with him to help with the bags. It was good opportunity to clear her mind from Hollowfication.
And as someone who was usually about good vibes, Shinji disliked the negativity radiating off her.
"For someone who forgot about her mask, you're suddenly very determined to make this work." She was flatly staring ahead drinking her beverage when he asked.
Wordlessly, Katsuko directed her apathetic gaze at Shinji. "Yeah, and?"
Shinji blinked twice at her defensive and almost rude tone. "Didn't Kensei tell you to cool your head?" he scowled.
With a click of her tongue, she sighed heavily. "Sorry." She slurped her drink again. She chewed a tapioca as they started walking further away from a busy area. "I just hate that I can't have any control over this. I hate it when I can't do something right and just can't do anything to improve it no matter how hard I seem to try. I don't see this improving at all. It probably never will either..."
Shinji looked ahead. Impatience and pessimism.
"You want to use your Hollow mask that badly? When did you suddenly get so eager about usin' illegal powers?"
Katsuko kicked a small rock and watched it go a distance. "I didn't think much of it at first, but Arrancars are basically stronger Hollows. There's no way I can't think about that incident and not want to get stronger. I want to get stronger because I know they're a threat. I don't want to sit and do nothing if they show up again because I'm weak and could die the moment they literally breathe my way. If it's possible for me to use a mask to help, then I want to use it. Is that wrong?"
She didn't fight because she was strong or because she was confident that she can be like Ichigo. She fought because she wanted to do what she could. She had no idea if she can protect what she cared about, but she still wanted to try. That's always been the same since the day Urahara spoke to her. This Hollow was part of her now which meant that it was her own power, by her own logic anyway.
Just like in the Soul Society, she wanted all the help she can get.
Because she knew it still wasn't going to be enough.
I just want to be able to help.
And if I'm not strong enough, I can't help.
Katsuko sighed.
"Well, you're right about needin' to get stronger. This Arrancar business isn't the end." Shinji also kicked the same rock when they got closer, he shrugged. "And who knows, I'm not you. If you think it's right, then it probably is." Katsuko drank her bubble tea while staring at Shinji with round eyes. "Don't be impatient. You'll just mentally tire yourself out, goody-two-shoes. Every second of impatience is another second wasted on foolish mistakes."
Sensing her gaze, Shinji looked to her and met her eyes with his questioning ones.
"What?"
"You sounded wise just now. Wow."
He narrowed his eyes. "Oi. What are you tryin' to imply?"
"Just that I wasn't expecting that from you." She replied. That last sentence effectively calmed her mind for some reason. "Must be all that coffee making you wise." her laughed was cut off when he pinched her cheek and tugged. "Hey!"
Shinji leaned closer. "Have you forgotten that I've been alive longer than you?"
She pulled her face away, nursing her cheek. "So has Mashiro but she acts like kid."
"I was a captain!"
Ignoring that, Katsuko glanced at the top of his head. "Did you always keep a nice cut like that?" she asked, referring to his jaw length hair. Shinji seemed to like his hair a lot. It made her wonder if he always kept the same hair style for all these years. Why did she imagine him with a pompadour?
"Nice cut?" Shinji scoffed. "What happened to bowl-cut-rat?" He would never forget how offended he felt when she referred to his nice hair as such. Granted, she must have been so annoyed with his persistent efforts to recruit her that she began insulting him to make him back off.
Honestly, back then, he never thought he'd hear such flowery language easily flow out of her mouth.
The presence of a Hollow nearby stopped Katsuko from replying. Instead, she all but shrugged off the bags and handed the paper tray off to Shinji.
"H-Hey what the— Katsuko!? Why even bother?! THAT'S NOT YOUR JOB—!" Shinji yelled as she sped off. With no reply from her, his eye twitched in annoyance while he struggled to balance everything on his person. He muttered under his breath about her goody-two-shoes tendencies before following after her. The way back was in the Hollow's direction anyway.
The main reason she sought the Hollow was to just vent a little. She also just wanted to get something right after numerous failures.
Katsuko dodged the Hollow attack by rolling away and immediately getting back up. It tried to attack her with its arm but she just swung her sword with her right arm to absorb the blow. It aimed its other arm to pierce her body. With a shove, she backed off and held her sword with both hands.
When she charged again, she blocked its sharp claws with her sword once more, her left arm held it up to block while her right hovered awkwardly. Her eyes briefly darted to her right arm. Shoving its arm off, her right hand quickly grabbed onto the sword to hold with both hands as she darted forward and slashed the Hollow to kill it when she found an opening.
I have to stop being so frustrated over the mask and just focus on progress.
I have to focus on making it work.
Don't get upset.
Next to a tree, Shinji was waiting. He easily and caught up to her because she didn't go too far. Her soulless body was resting against the tree he was leaning on.
The way she fought that Hollow just now had him thinking back to when he took his turn on fighting her Hollowfied self back then.
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…
Currently, it was Shinji's turn. And by now, her hair had completely turned ash blond and her face was covered with a mask. She was swinging around her scythe.
He easily parried her blade and slashed her side to slow her down a little. As an immediate response, she stomped on the ground to break it and throw him off balance. Shinji just jumped back. She followed with a growl and thrusted the tip of her handle towards his face. Shinji's eyes narrowed. He pushed her weapon away and kept his distance even more. She continued to pursue him with precise attacks which seemed almost too controlled for someone who had temporarily lost sanity.
It almost looked like she had regained a certain degree of sanity even though she didn't defeat her inner Hollow yet.
Shinji slashed only for her to take a step back, and singlehandedly guard by catching the blade in between in the inner corner of one of the spikes and her handle. His blade was shoved away.
Hollowfied Katsuko rapidly went on the offensive just until Shinji did too.
Perhaps that was the trap.
Kensei narrowed his eyes suspiciously from where he was.
On the defensive, she continued guarding and avoiding his attacks.
The next time she guarded, lightning flashed on her blade, causing a shockwave that made him lose his balance when their blades clashed.
"Shinji! Cero!" Lisa yelled from her spot. Katsuko's other hand was already aiming for his gut with a quick Cero.
The blonde Vizard quickly flashed stepped away from her and saw the Cero blast a hole into the barrier's ceiling which Hachigen mended almost immediately.
Hiyori was sitting with her feet in front of her, her hands were holding her ankles. With a frown, she squinted her eyes and leaned forward a little. Shinji was one second away from getting blasted into the ceiling. The charging of her Cero was way too fast.
Katsuko readied her scythe.
Shinji breathed through his nose with a smirk. "Well, well… how odd."
She charged again with a growl, movements almost feral.
Things were getting even more strange.
...
...
...
"Would you stop staring and just talk already?" Kensei grumbled. For a while now, he could feel Katsuko just staring at him as he shoved all their lunch garbage into a bag. Her stare was practically burning holes into his back as she sat next to Hiyori on the couch. The smaller Vizard had nudged her side to just get off her butt and go to him because it was getting ridiculous. But Katsuko just felt a little shy after he walked away from her behaviour earlier.
He tied the bag and left it on the side for someone to throw out. He turned and put a hand on his hip as he looked at her.
"Did you cool your head?"
Katsuko nodded. "Yes." She was just itching to get back to it.
Shinji watched the two with mild amusement. He could almost see Katsuko's tail wagging as she followed after him with her Zanpakuto in hand.
Rose let out a chuckle and wiped off the dust on his guitar with a cloth. "As you said, a puppy."
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September 7th
DAY 11
WEEKEND
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Katsuko guarded against Kensei's blade.
Her mask still refused to fully manifest itself. Despite having no proof, she chose to believe that this was because she was inching closer to the threshold where she could finally use it, but her body was doing whatever it took the resist. A final struggle, as she liked to call it.
It's not like her to be optimistic.
But there's always a first for everything.
When she backed away, she narrowed her eyes and took in a deep breath.
Her hand flew up to her face the second he charged towards her. Her fingers were spread out as she summoned her mask once more. The urgency to fully manifest the mask before Kensei could reach her forced her soul to feel endangered, increasing her spiritual power and raising the chances of the mask making a full appearance.
Katsuko's eyes widened.
For a brief second, after she blinked, she could see her inner Hollow standing in front of her, watching her with apathetic eyes. His apparition went up in smoke when Kensei ran through him. The next second, she was sent flying across the ground after Kensei rammed his fist in her gut. Her fall was harsh against the ground and she coughed from getting the wind knocked out of her.
"Don't get distracted! Do you seriously want to get pummeled?!"
What was that?!
"Focus!"
She coughed a few more times and looked back at him, her hair messily covering one of her eyes. There he was again. He standing before her, simply staring at her. His piercing yellow eyes stared directly at her dark brown eyes.
"Do you really want to use my power to help? To fight?"
Katsuko gritted her teeth when she recalled the way Yammy nearly pulverized her. She stood no chance against that other one either.
I just want to be able to do my part!
"You already know the damn answer." She hissed quietly. "I'll keep trying until I get it right! I don't care if it's you resisting it! I won't stop trying until you give up!"
Her wish to help and fight when needed was clear in her eyes. Her inner Hollow then fluidly crouched down and grabbed her chin. He smirked at her. "Then so be it."
Surprisingly, there was no menacing tone to his voice to match his smirk. His cool touch disappeared as she made a move to get back up. She faced forward to see Kensei preparing another attack when she got ready. With hardened eyes, she grounded herself and positioned her sword in front of her. With a deep breath, she lifted her hand up to her face once more.
The former captain was already moving.
She did a clawing motion across her face.
Finally, an oval mask appeared on her face. It was akin to a Kitsune's except that it was flat, no nose. It had two slitted eye holes and small ears. The second it was on, Katsuko dashed forward and, both hands on the hilt, and slashed upwards when he got closer. Halting, Kensei absorbed the blow of her blade and shoved her away while stepping around her.
When Kensei turned to look at her, she was touching her mask curiously. Her fingers were lightly touching the surface, like as if it would break under any more pressure. Did she finally succeed? Really?
Her first move was to approach Kensei, almost proudly. "I did it!" But like a marionette, her strings were cut, and her mask shattered. Her eyes rolled up and she fell on the hard ground. She could see Kensei approaching her from the corner of her eye but even so she couldn't fight off the sleep that was taking over her.
All she heard was his voice before shutting her eyes.
"And now, we may as well have reached the point of no return."
oh lookie july 15 it's Ichigo's birthday today.