Sight for the Sightless [Solo Training]

Another one flew at him. He could hear it leave her hand. It’s grippy skin’s reluctance to leave her, like a reluctant child. He tensed, his muscles preparing to act. His feet were spread. He stood on the ball of his foot in the rear, his front almost flat. His hands squeezed the hilt of his sword. Here it comes... A flash. A sudden, swift, swift release of a small amount of reiatsu and he could feel his target hanging in the air. Only.. It wasn’t hanging. A glimpse of it, as it traveled towards him. He could feel Miyoki, standing ahead of him, her arm still cocked slightly from the underhand throw.

He knew his timing. He didn’t know the arc. Another flash. Then another. It all happened quickly, in less than a second. Like a camera snapping pictures, he could feel the sphere appear closer, and closer until... His blade whipped outwards, cutting through the orange in half. It’s flight path quashed with a quick motion. Blind one trumps orange. But the fruit had the final laugh, as Kisaku felt the sugary juice of the fruit splash upon his shihaksho, on his bare arm. On his face. Uggggghhhhh.

That was going to be sticky in less than ten minutes. “Miyoki...” He groaned.

“What? No! Don’t ‘Miyoki’ me! You did good!” She protested with a pout. “That had to be -way- faster than last time!” She said encouragingly. He heaved a heavy sigh. If every idea Miyoki had for helping him train involved making his skin crawl and giving him the strong urge to take a bath, he wasn’t sure he wanted her help anymore. Last time it had been doing pull-ups in the barracks basement. Miyoki must have managed to find the greasiest, rustiest, disgusting pipe in the seireitei, and then wanted him to mingle that smell with the smell of his sweat from physical exercise. What was wrong with normal things? Like wooden pull-up stands, or cutting rice matting?

“Why do you do this to me?...” He complained rather tiredly. Not physically tired, but rather tired of Miyoki’s strange ideas of training. Her face immediately took on an indignant look, chocolate eyes widening before her brows furrowed down. Her full lips pursed with annoyance. “You’re being a big baby! Just do it again! The more you learn to do it the faster you’ll be!”

“Does it have to involve soaking me in juice?...” He sighed outwards, and she simply stared at him with irritation, though he wouldn’t see it. She simply closed her eyes, theatrically sighing as she strutted towards the basket of oranges. He could hear the soft taps of her sandals as clear as bells on a calm day. “I bet all those squad three guys are real happy that one of their highest officers is such a sissy...”

It was Kisaku’s turn to look slightly indignant. It didn’t last for long however. She’s probably right... He thought, the irritation drifting off his face slowly. Replaced with a neutral expression of quiet self-disappointment. She glanced at him, and back to the orange, but had to do a second take. A sigh was drawn from her lips. “Don’t give me that ‘lost puppy’ look, Kisa.. Let’s just keep practicing, it’ll be fine.”

“Alright...”

It was almost silent. Almost. His near-perfect hearing, several times more sensitive, several times more precise than what could be considered even within the scope of being normal could not be fooled into ever believing things were completely silent. If it ever was, there was something seriously wrong. At the moment, he could hear the bare shift of the wind. The leaves gently scraping against one another with the idle breeze. The grass and it’s soft rustle as insects hopped from blades, as the wind stirred it’s sword-like tips in their ever-futile quest to reach the skies.

He could smell the grass even. Smell the scent of dew, of fresh life among nature. The unchanging pleasant presence of life, all around him. He could feel the tips of the grass against his thighs, even through his hakama. Poking and prodding his extraordinarily sensitive skin. Protesting to his weight’s presence upon them.

This, and more, he tried to ignore. There he sat in the small garden. Trying his hardest to ignore where he was. He wanted to be elsewhere. A different field. A different meadow. One far away, yet always so close he never left it. There he sat for what must have been an hour so far, in utter silence. She was silent today. Why was she so silent? It was like grasping at the air. Like trying to make it rain on a clear day. It seemed that whenever he wasn’t of mind she was there to speak to him.

Yet when he reached out... Silence.

He was starting to feel ignored at this point. He knew by now -exactly- how much she shared his thoughts and emotions. She had to know what his aims were. Perhaps that’s why she ignored him now. Perhaps that’s why he was being shut out. Every time he’d think about this however, he’d just get frustrated. His meditation would be broken, as his questions were met with silence yet still. Then, he’d try to force himself to calm once more, and assure himself she’d speak when ready.

An endless cycle. A vicious circle. He was beginning to think that he was going to get nowhere today. Just as he had last time he’d tried. Just as he tried before that.

But before he could give up completely, this time she chose to speak. His mind was invaded with the soft, harrowing sound of her voice. An involuntary shiver running down his body at the perverse invasion of the sound. A thousand whispers of soft voices. A touch of femininity, and of slow, purposeful speech with the mocking touch of sweetness.

“Kisaku...” She whispered in a tone to claw his mind.

“Why are you ignoring me?” He demanded immediately, despite the chill that ran through him. He never could get over the sound of her voice. The coldness that touched him with it’s unexpected sudden presence in his mind. He knew it wasn’t something she could really help, but still. Damn that voice could be eerie.

“Kisaku, you’rre not rready forr what you’re asking. I can’t let you stumble into this like a child falling into a rriverr.” Her voice was scolding however. Rising just barely above a whisper, a rare thing for her when she was addressing him. He bit his lower lip in aggravation for a few moments, chewing on it just as his mind chewed on that statement.

“And what makes you say that? Why would you let me spend all this time trying to talk to you only to tell me off now?” He demanded with a slight tone of bitterness.

“Because you behave as a child!” She hisses. “On both accounts!”

“Tell me, Kisaku, do you believe I am not awarre of your feelings upon me?” She demanded in a sudden harsh tone, as if to prod at him. He could almost feel how she might jab him in the chest with a finger as it accompanied her words. “You think it is -my- rresponsibility to imbue you with powerr? You believe that -that- is my purrpose in this parrtnership, yes?” She demanded. Of course... The questions were rhetorical. She lived in his mind. She knew his every thought. His every worry, his every emotion.

Her demands gave him pause. He wasn’t sure how to respond at first. From the sound of her voice, he could tell there was something seriously troubling or wrong to her between them... but he wasn’t sure why. “...You -are- my power, Mega--”

“No. You will not put that upon me, Kisaku!” She hissed. “You rrely upon me far too much. You cannot seem to imagine the day in which I cannot lend you my strength. Where is your strength, Kisaku? I do not speak of physical strength, Kisaku. I am not yourr wet nurrse, herre to pamperr you and assurre you everything will be okay! Until you find yourr own strength, you will never be prreparred to face me in manifestation. You will never rreach bankai.”

Her voice was stone. It was as if she’d already made up her mind.. Which, Kisaku could tell she had. He could think of little to say to such a tyrade... It was rather new to him... But he knew even as she fell into silence once more, as he pondered her words. She’d know every thought. Every intention.

And he didn’t know what that meant. He was left with more questions than answers, now..

[OOC: Sorry for any weird spelling errors. Wrote most of this last night when I was a bit tipsy.]