[13th Division] 妹妹的武训练 - Mitsu's Combat Training Session

[Mitsune05]

“It’s not good if you let the anger overtake you.” Approaching the girl, Seikon placed her hands on Mitsu’s shoulders and tried to cheer her up. “Hey. You’re so close to achieve your bankai, and you’re not even trying enough. Why do you let the fury overtake you instead of actually trying to do something about it?”

Mitsu gave Seikon a strange look, and still looked angry. But in a way or another Seikon’s words calmed her down and made her feel better. The fact that her second soul showed her true, caring personality was something rare, but pretty nice to see. A slight smile finally appeared on Mitsu’s lips, before she mumbled three words.

“You think so?”

“Mhm!” Seikon approved and nodded, before she hugged her team mate. Together they were strong, like a team, and they could become stronger. They were so close. Only a last step was needed to be made, but it was a huge step. “You’re so much more than meets the eye. Do you think Val would help you to do this if he thought you can’t do it? He trusts you. And so do your friends too.”

“And you?”

“I trust you the most. And I trust you can defeat me. What I said remains available. If you can’t do it this time, I won’t let you use my full power. I know, it’s a pretty sad truth, but I just can’t.”

“It’s good to know” she whispered, before she hugged Seikon and closed her eyes.

***

A very disturbing noise could be heard when Mitsu opened her eyes and realized that Val already attacked. She placed her arm in font of her eyes, without realizing, before she heard the voice of her second soul. The shinigami looked in front of her and saw Seikon holding a shield of water in front of them both, blocking the captain’s kidou. The blue haired girl smirked slightly, before she jumped backwards and spoke to Mitsu’s gege.

“Val. Don’t worry. Let me take care of this” she spoke and turned her head to Mitsu, who already was standing up, ready to fight, as they established. Before the shinigami took her battle stance, Seikon already rushed to Mitsu and hit her right in her stomach. The girl was thrown away and crashed in one of the sakura trees around. Realizing that Seikon indeed meant what she said back in the inner world, Mitsu sat up quickly, before she vanished in a shunpo and appeared behind Seikon. But the second soul predicted that. She knew Mitsu too well and she knew that she was using that technique every time: sneak behind the opponent and hit. The shinigami had to surprise her zanpakutou with another trick.

Seikon clenched her fist and moved her arm from down to up, trying to hit her owned in her chin. But Mitsu saw that in time and caught Seikon’s fist in her hand, before she threw her away on the ground and jumped backwards at a safer distance. They agreed not to use any weapon, but she was about to break the agreement. The shiniami quickly rushed to her sword, which was apparently still stuck in the ground. She ran quickly until she was a few meters in front of him.

Seikon didn’t want to let that happen though. She frowned, then used a flash step, appearing right in front of the 4th seat. She smirked, then whispered and laughed.

“Sorry, Mitsu, but I really can’t let you do this. Cheater…”

“I won’t let anything stay in my way” she spoke and tried to run past Seikon, but the blue haired girl caught her arm tightly and turned the shinigami to her, before raising her knee and hitting Mitsu in her stomach again. Mitsu stepped backwards as the knee seriously hit her stomach, then placed her arms in front of it and tried to get some air. She felt like everything was spinning around all around her and the air became hard to breathe. It seemed like Seikon really wanted to stay in Mitsu’s way.

“How funny… you had the guts to cheat and break our agreement, but now you’re crying like a little kid because of a bit of pain. If this is all you can, the I feel pretty disappointed.”

Frowning and feeling obviously annoyed by Seikon’s words, Mitsu straightened her body again and looked straight into Seikon’s eyes. The zanpakutou spirit was smiling devilishly at her, while her arms were folded in front of her chest. Having no other choice, Mitsu jumped on a tree branch, before she quickly jumped off of it, with her right leg straightened, aiming to hit Seikon’s head. The kick was blocked, with difficulty though, when the blue haired girl placed her arms in an X shape and took the hit. She would never agree, but Mitsu’s strength was bigger than last time they met. And that was a pretty good thing.

With no time to waste, the fourth seat landed in front of Seikon and used a roundhouse kick against her, at head level. Not expecting that, the spirit got hit once again and he body fell to the ground. No one said it was over though, because Seikon caught Mitsu’s leg with her hand and tried to pull her down too.

“Not this time…” the shinigami whispered and struggled her leg to escape. No way Seikon was going to let her go so easy. She sat up again, and while breathing heavily, she attempted a simple sideway kick, aiming for Mitsu’s ribcage. Both of them were tired and not able to hold the fight longer. However, the brown haired girl found the power to dodge and sneak under Seikon’s guard, hitting her stomach with all her force.

“Hmph… and when I thought there’s no hope for you…” Seikon spoke and fell on her knees. She remained like that for a couple of moments, trying to breathe normally again. Mitsu was watching her, slightly confused, but ready for any other attack. But another attack didn’t come anymore. She raised an eyebrow and after a bit, she understood the fight was over.

“Seikon no Watarimono on your command, Mitsune.”

Then Seikon disappeared all of a sudden. Mitsu looked for the unsealed version of her sword, but instead she found her zanpakutou in the shikai form. Same big katana fan. The shinigami picked it up and looked to Val, slightly confused.

“I thought I made it, but I’m still in shikai form…” she said, before sighing sadly and taking her battle stance again. “I guess we have no choice but continue.”

[Valaric]

Time seemed to slow and the force of Val's kidou spell suddenly dissipated, the golden glow dying to nothing as a new figure resolved into existence in the way only one of the spiritual realm could manage. He didn't recognise the figure but he could read her presence through his own altered vision and the familiarity was impossible to miss between the newcomer and his little sister, who was suddenly frozen in time, much like the rest of the world around them. He could feel the restraints of the physical realm trying to grip on and hold him in place to but he shrugged it off, withdrawing and spinning his zanpakutou back into a loose position, stabbing it point down into the ground and sitting down several metres away, legs tucked beneath him and hands resting on his knees.

He gave a nod and the spirit of Mitsu's zanpakutou acknowledged the signal to start. Steadying his breathing and heart rate, he cleared his mind and waited patiently as the spirit began the true bankai training, bringing the conflict from without to the conflict within. There was nothing he could do for the moment except to hope that he had been right in assessing Mitsu as ready to try to attain the ultimate release of her sword. It was up to her to force her sword's spirit to return to the physical plane with her, binding its will to hers so that in future they could truly fight in perfect synchronicity in Soul Society and beyond. That was the essence of the bankai and it was something that few shinigami these days could properly comprehend or achieve without any level of competence. Mitsu was different...but whether different enough would become evident soon enough.

Time passed as he perceived it, what could possibly have been hours if not for its passage cessation in this state. Then he felt it, that shift in reality as the spiritual and physical planes became merged momentarily to allow the passage of the zanpakutou spirit freely into their level of existence. He watched as time resumed and Mitsu was dragged back into the wake of his kidou spell that no longer existed, dispelled by a water shield raised by the zanpakutou spirit. It spoke to him again and he nodded, accepting his sister's future into its hands reluctantly...

The true battle began, a furious contest that transcended just physical strikes but a conflict of his meimei's will to overpower that of her spirit's. He could read all of their movements in his altered sight, following every attack and parry with ease and detecting the shifts in power that were occurring before him as one gained advantage over the other before losing it again. His brow furrowed as he saw his sister get struck several times but resisted the urge to intervene. It would ruin the whole purpose of this exercise and they'd just have to start over again.

Their fighting reached a new intensity and at last he felt a surge of power from his meimei, a single burst that punched through the opening her spirit had revealed. She took it, driving forward with a fist and smashing it into the stomach of her spirit, knocking the latter down and ending the battle in a single stroke. As the spirit faded, leaving behind only the shikai form of Mitsu's zanpakutou, Val rose slowly, reaching forward and withdrawing his zanpakutou from the ground, whipping it around and holding the weapon horizontally before him. The aspect of his mind that cared for her as his younger sister willed him to allow her to rest. The practical aspect told him that now was the time to act, to complete this final stage and finally unlock her bankai. It was his gift to her as her gege...

"Yes, Meimei... When you become stronger and more experienced with your zanpakutou, you will learn to freely release your bankai whenever you wish. You have now earned the right to release it, as far as your spirit is concerned...but now you must actually use that right, to compel it with all of your willpower to follow you wholly even into this realm of existence. For that to happen, you must be forced to the brink, when your very existence is at risk and only the ultimate release, your bankai can save you..."

Val took a step back and leveled his own zanpakutou at her. He wanted to speak some words of reassurance to her but they stuck fast in his throat. Whatever he said now felt irrelevant next to the task he had to perform now. He spoke, a whisper escaping his lips, meant only for his blade. "Bankai... Goushin Kokuten Hisetsu..."

The world grew dark around them, day turning to night as the force of his zanpakutou broke forth from the dam that held its true power in check until unleashed in the form of his bankai. Ice coated the earth as the temperature around them dropped rapidly. The form of his zanpakutou flowed like liquid metal, the naginata becoming longer, the shaft becoming a steel pole, the blade head becoming thicker and broader, designed to carve and smash armour apart rather than make delicate incisions. Each swing of the blade caused the air around him to shake as he whipped it around, bringing it in to a ready position.

"Look, Meimei... Look upon the power far greater than yours and know that there is only two ways out of this situation... I will make one strike against you. With your blade in its current state, it will shatter and you will die... If you can summon your bankai, it will have enough power to withstand the attack and you will survive. There are only those two options and those rely solely on your willpower and your ability to call forth the full power of your zanpakutou into this realm. This is it... Prepare yourself..."

He closed his eyes, drawing back his zanpakutou. When he opened them again, they were glowing pure white, waves of power rolling off his form as he struck, slashing the air and unleashing a blast of shadow energy towards Mitsu, a shockwave of force that would shatter mountains and rend apart the earth with its passing. She would be no different if she did not bring her zanpakutou's bankai to bear and he wished with all his being that she managed it... Either way, this was the conclusion. She either lived and become stronger...or she died here and he would have to bury her along with his other deceased ancestors...

[Mitsune05]

Mitsu could feel as she was getting more tired by every second. That training took a quite bit amount of reiatsu and yet, it wasn't finished yet. She had to hand on there and do exactly as her Gege was going to tell her. Mitsune was going to do her best and try to catch up with him. Of course, it was a long way for her to catch up with him, and it was not likely for her to do that. But the female shinigami had something that most people didn't have: ambition. She was a very competitive person, who always wanted to get in evidence through her own work. Maybe some would see it as something bad, but she was seeing it as a quality.

She was very close to use bankai whenever she wanted. It was a good sign that Seikon finally showed up and was defeated. It happened as a reflex though. Mitsu needed to do it on purpose, sooner or later. The 3rd seat opened her eyes widely as Val started to talk. Her ears were listening to his voice only. Such a calm voice, yet she was so afraid of what was going to happen. Fear... she couldn't hold it back. It wasn't happening often to feel like that, but when it did, she could feel her heart about to explode inside of her chest and her body shaking.

She nodded slightly. Mitsu was ready to take that risk, although she was risking her life. She achieved everything she had through many sacrifices, and she never failed. It didn't mean that she was going to fail there either. She understood what the consequences would be and took her battle stance again, a bit unsure of what to do. If Gege's shikai was that strong, his bankai was probably deadly for her. She didn't know if to close her eyes, because of her fear, or see he magnificent bankai that he had. It seemed so spectacular, yet so dangerous. The girl watched his lips moving, whispering somehing to his blade. Suddenly, they were surrounded by darkness. Only darkness. A strange feeling suddenly appeared and Mitsu's heart started to race like never before. There was no way to escape.

Her body was shivering all of a sudden. She could see her breathe once every second. The temperature dropped so much, and it started to feel worse than before. Mitsune wondered how much energy she had left. She held her breathe and watched him terrified. It was either the beginning of her end, either the beginning of the success. The chances were equal.

"Die..." she whispered, while her eyes opened as wide as they could. She knew that dying was the risk, but hearing her elder brother saying that word made her feelings twist. No, she didn't want to abandon, that wasn't an option. Only if she could stay against the attack. At least once, and that would be enough. A frown suddenly appeared on her forehead as she took her battle stance. Her brain demanded her body to stop shaking and forget about any risk. She looked straight in his eyes, which were glowing white, then frowned more and concentrated her mind. Her eyes suddenly, switched from emerald green to ruby red. The girl concentrated all her reiatsu left and, with a loud scream, she tried to use her bankai. Her eyes suddenly closed and her voice could be heard in the whole Sakura Garden.

For a while, everything was happening is slow motion for her. All she could hear was her heart beat as she screamed the word "Bankai". She could see in front of her eyes the blast of shadow energy. It looked powerful enough to destroy every single material, no matter how strong it was. Her body was going to be burnt soon if she didn't make anything about it. Suddenly, Seikon melted and rose as a water snake around her body, as a shield. Although it didn't seem so, the snake was powerful enough to protect her - of course with a risk to break. The girl was pushed several meters back, but at least she was saved. However, she was pushed and crashed into a tree, making it fall, right next to her. Several whirls were rising from the ground, each time in different spots from the ground. Opening her eyes, Mitsu tried to her up. She was breathing heavily, but she was alive.

The girl wondered for a moment if it was only an illusion. She looked to her hands, and noticed each of them were holding a smaller fan. Mitsu tightened her fingers around them, seeing that they were truly real. The shinigami opened her eyes widely, while a slight smile appeared on her face. She raised her head and looked to Gege, before she stood up on her feet. Still breathing heavily, she tried to stand in front of Val - showing him that she did it. Her head was hurt and she could feel the blood pouring on her right cheek. But the pain was nothing compared to the feeling that she had. A feeling of happiness.

"Gege... I... I think I did it!"

Saying those words, she looked again amazed to the two fans and blinked a few times.