Yer a Wizard Shizu [Solo Training]

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

She stared, unable to believe what she was being told, her eyes straight ahead as she sat across from the shadowy figure. She wasn't sure how to react, how to think, what to even think about what she was being told by this strange man from the shadows. She was going to be put in the omnitsukido?! The special operations punishment force?! She honestly couldn't even believe such a thing.

They were gone before her mouth could open to ask any questions, her attention dropping down to the scroll they had left behind. She stared at it for but a moment, wondering if it was some sort of joke. She reached out, aiming to open it before suddenly it burst into flames, gasping a bit as the flames licked her fingers, and suddenly information poured into her head, inside of her mind burning words inscribed into her memory as the scroll vanished into nothingness.

This is a Flash Scroll. Rather than risking leaked information. The scroll is set to destroy itself on contact, and at the same time use a transmission kido to convey information you need directly to you. In your mind's eye, you should see a location. And you should know where to find it. This is where your first lessons will begin, at Sunrise. Do not be late. Tell nobody where you are going.

And like that it was burned in. Somehow she knew she would never forget the information, not for a while at least. Swallowing softly, she sat there, alone in that room as she thought about the hard right turn her life had taken. The idea of being in that kind of squad was just...astounding. And even more, she knew that she would be expected to take....certain things into consideration. She would need to do things. And just thinking about it, she swore she could feel that dark wakizashi smiling against her palm.

She shuddered at the thought. And more than anything, wondered if they knew about her. She supposed that was ridiculous. She swallowed hard, not even convincing herself with that thought of attmpted assurance. There was no way of knowing. She would simply have to go there and find out she supposed. And that thought was a bit scarier. But....even so....she let out a slow...calming breath. She had to relax! there was no reason to be afraid right?

She paused, staring ahead for a moment before....softly.... a sad smile crossed her lips. She....wondered. If Susanoo were here. Would he be proud of her? That gentle thought erased any fragments of doubt in her mind, and suddenly she felt suddenly very safe, swallowing softly and closing her eyes as she took in a deep breath. The memory of him putting a sudden fire in her heart. The Omnitsukido had a very important job. With them.....something like...what happened to Susanoo. Would not happen under their watch.

Suddenly, she GRABBED that dark weapon and jammed it into it's sheath, rising to her feet and setting her gaze firmly ahead. Immediately she strode out of there to go get something to eat. If she was to be trained in the morning. She was going to need to store up her spirit energy. And so she strode off toward the barracks, and in that wavering heart, previously drowning in concern, she was suddenly filled with a fire, with a will to strive...to progress. to impress. She was filled.....with DETERMINATION.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

The location was just as her mental picture had promised. It looked like some sort of abandoned courtyard. Some place that used to be used for training, but had been left into disrepair. Almost like it was forgotten and switched out for some newer training area. She supposed it certainly fit. Of course, she suddenly felt them, her attention shifting as they appeared, one by one around her. Her head tilting slightly as her eyes drifted from one to the other, swallowing softly as she watched them.

One by one, they stepped forward, her eyes drifting from one to the other. There was a brief moment of pause before they nodded to the side, to the building off to the side, an old abandoned barracks. Near the second division. She paused, not sure how to respond. She simply turned, beginning to walk without a word, making her way toward the building, swallowing softly as she entered the establishment, glancing around as she slipped inside.

The place was....not as ratty on the inside. Looking infront of her, she saw a changing screen, as well as a uniform. Ah... so this was her new uniform... She paused for a moment, thinking about using the screen....and slipping behind it. She knew it was mostly for appearances. If they wanted to see her, a screen wasn't going to stop the punishment force. So she changed in silence, slipping on her new uniform.

It was fairly concealing, in a way. It actually had two parts. The outter garment covered her from head to toe, and only her eyes would be seen through the face mask and her hat. Underneath that however was a very different outfit. Staring at it, she noticed that it was some sort of backless top, as well as matching bottoms with vented slits at the hips. Showy as it was, as she slipped it on she was amazed at how....quiet it was.

The cloth was warm, but didn't cover all of her, so it had spots for ventilation. Additionally the material was very soft on the skin and made no noise as she moved about. She probably shouldn't have been so surprised. In any case, she had no sooner stepped out from behind the screen than did she find herself surrounded. Her eyes suddenly wide as she looked around at the other shinigami. The sight of a fist heading toward her suddenly kicking her instincts into gear.

In but an instant she dipped down, letting that fist graze her shoulder as she dipped back, her eyes a bit wide as her heart started pounding. "You will learn to always be on your guard. The first portion of your training will focus on sharpening your awareness of your surroundings. With it, you will learn other things. But those will be focused upon in time."He explained calmly, nodding her outside. Of course...she was one edge as she slipped outside, though even so, that anxiety soon passed.

She lost her nervousness. She knew how to do this. It had been ages, but she was just...rusty. She knew she would be able to regain much of this. Her instinct at least. Admittedly this was probably....very different. She had never fought with any formal training. So it was...strange. She was put before a large dummy. Of some kind. It had wooden arms all over it's body, and she was told she would be sparring with it.

She was about to ask...how, when suddenly one of the levels suddenly twisted, smacking her in the shoulder with a wooden protrusion! She blinked, backing up, but the dummy moved with her, suddenly jerking this way and that, striking her repeatedly with those wooden arms of theirs. Her eyes were wide, reactin quickly. She was among the fastest in her class, but even so, the dummy was just a bit faster, forcing her to stay sharp as she moved rapidly to try and compensate for the constant assault from that dummy.

Backing up, she was hardly able to keep up as much, every now and then the wood of an arm would strike her hip or shoulder. Over and over, in the same spots as well. Her knuckles clacked off the wood and she continued to avoid it. It seemed like hours as she was continuously pressed. That dummy slowly beginning to speed up! When she realized she was getting hit more frequently, she felt it again. That strange, familiar sensation as she twisted, slamming her fist down onto an arm heading for her, backing up and grunting as she moved.

More and more those wooden arms struck her, until finally she tumbled back, grunting and falling on the ground, panting softly as she felt the bruises starting to form on her body. She groaned a bit, feeling the soft throbbing of those bruises as one of the five stepped forward, and through that mask, she thought she saw a smile. There was a brief flourish before the mask was pulled down, and a smile was shown down at her. She hadn't noticed it before because of how...well...flat they were. But it turned out to be a woman!

"Not bad at all. Not bad at all." She noted as she pulled Shizu up to her feet. Already her bruises weren't hurting as much, something that the woman's eyes seemed to pick up on immediately. Those brows raised for a moment before the woman chuckled, patting her on the head as she did. "Fast to get back on your feet huh? That's good." she pointed out.

Nodding softly. Shizu was surprised to find the woman being so pleasant. She took all of five moments before she realized that...even the Omnitsukido was still filled with normal shinigami. Regardless of their jobs they were not machines, they were not monsters. No matter their training, they were still just shinigami. "You may address me as Enki-sama. I'll be your instructor until you become a proper member of the squad and unseated officer." She noted, taking a moment to pause before lightly patting Shizu on the cheek, smiling as she did.

The next pat was MUCH less gentle, as the woman aimed to smack Shizu across the face. Her speed alone saved her as she raised her hand in time to divert the blow somewhat, but that strike still staggered her, some of those old bruises on her wrist flaring back up again. That smile on the woman's face only widened as she gave a soft chuckle. "I can alrady tell you're going to do great." She noted softly.

Shizu paused, offering a small smile of her own from behind that mask, swallowing softly and nodding her head and kept her body relaxed, ready for another strike. She had never been trained before. She had fought people, killed hollows yes, and it served as something akin to training. But....she realized. She actually liked this.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

It was strange. How....much she liked Enki. Even as they worked, as she toiled, as they ate together, recalling the training session she had gone through only moments before with them. She could not believe that such a woman was her mentor. She felt....lucky. That such a woman was going to be such an integral part of her time in the squad. She smiled softly to herself as they ate, pausing when she noticed a knowing smile on the woman's face.

"You eat like an old lady. Cmon, shouldn't you kids be eating like it's going out of style?" She chuckled good-naturedly. Shizu gave a sudden sheepish smile and nodded, proceeding to really dig into her food, with a voracity that seemed to surprise the woman as she shifted such a hard gear. In any case the two of them ate, chatting idly.

She asked her about her time in the academy, and Shizu was quite pleased to divulge. The woman listened, smiling and nodding her head as Shizu gave her explanation. she folded her legs softly, continuing to talk so very...easily with the woman. It was so natural and flawless, it was just....smooth. Of course, suddenly, there was a pause, and she found herself looking up at the woman as they gave her a somewhat...pensive look.

"You've been hiding your spiritual pressure ever since you got here. I know you're not that weak Toraumi. I've seen what you can do. So it makes me wonder why you've been holding back. I suppose naturally, some level of our interest did come from this. But there's no need to keep hiding it." She noted calmly, and suddenly Shizu grew a bit...sheepish. Well she supposed she'd have to say something.

"It's not something I talk a lot about. I've always felt... vulnerable. My spiritual pressure used to be so wild. It used to pulse any time I had a shift in mood, it practically radiated my feelings....." She paused, thinking for a moment. Usually, she was able to pass that aura of hers off as her spiritual pressure. But..... "I don't really like it. It's.....a bit weird." She noted softly. Enki simply nodded softly, rising to her feet and crooking a finger for Shiku to follow her.

After several long moments they were a ways away from the barracks. Another area that seemed....run down. Abandoned. She supposed it was only natural. The sereitei was so big, it was bound to have massive areas that just didn't see anybody going through. "Show me your spiritual pressure." Shizu paused....somehow she was not at all surprised. She supposed.....she was going to have to show it eventually.

With a soft breath, she relaxed, and let that pressure....slowly eek out. There was a brief moment, a deep sort of quake within herself as suddenly everything seemed silent. Gates that had been closed for quite some time suddenly began opening, and her reiatsu began to be felt. Little....by very little. She let it spill out, and she saw the alarm that suddenly overcame their surroundings. As if the area itself trembled at the sensation. But...enki did not seem phased. And Shizu was a bit surprised.

"I see.....well well....don't you have an....interesting past." She murmured, Shizu still seeming surprised before.... "You've had something like this happen before?" She asked, a bit surprised. A soft frown passed the woman's features before she folded her arms. "Normally, people just assume it means that the person is a vizard in the making. But well....that is only mostly true. Individuals with that....essence are usually fairly predisposed to becoming Vizard. But well....you seem to have found a....solution for that." She noted, eyes shifting.

Shizu suddenly froze a bit as she found that the woman was looking directly at that wakizashi. A slight tremor inside of her as she glanced down at her weapon, swallowing nervously as she realized just how much the woman could see. She paused, nodding her head in admission as she let out a soft breath. Even this did not phase her. "IT's a strange story. I don't even know quite where I found it... I just remember that when I picked it up...well... it seemed to have gone to sleep. This one and...well..." Her attention shifted to her other zanpaku'to.

Enki gave a knowing nod, frowning a bit as she lightly ran a hand along her chin. "I have to say, I've never quite heard of any academy students doing that with their asauchi. But I must say, the results are.....interesting." She noted softly, eyes closing as if deep in thought, lightly tapping her foot as her attention seemed to drift for the time being. Shizu couldn't help but feel like somehow, this wouldn't be the last she heard of her blades.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

One......
      Two......
           Three......
                    One Hundred Five.
One.....
     Two.......
           Three.....
                   One Hundred Six...
Shizu was sweating as she barely managed to continue pushing herself up. Even with Enki watching her and the other low-ranked members, the exercise was grueling. Her arms felt as though they were about to fall off. The strange version of Push ups was even more intense than anything she'd done before. After each pushup, the practitioner instead of resting, spent three seconds with their chest and feet barely held up off the ground, forcing the individual to try and stay straight with only their palms holding them up, before pushing back away from the ground.

She had collapsed four times already. When she had been unable to move? Enki told her to force it through. Using up siritual energy to replenish her stamina, rapidly depleting her reiatsu as she resisted the pain of the workout. She was amazed. Even if they did not show physical signs, she could sense the pain in her squadmates. They remained stony-faced and stoic as they moved in unison. One or two, like Shizuka, had trouble keeping up without some slight delay to the otherwise synchronized motions.

Even so, she felt like her arms were beginning to fall apart, the sweat beading on her skin, swallowing hard as she felt her legs shaking. It had started out pretty fine. Simple squat thrusts, laps. Stuff she was used to. But things had just gotten so much worse. And now she was close to vomiting. Every inch of her was shiny with sweat, and she had no doubt that if her uniform werent made of what it was, it would be matted to her skin.

When at long last Enki gave the sign to halt. She barely kept from simply collapsing, instead, she slowly...gradually forced herself into a sitting position, though her muscles were shrieking at her to just drop on the floor, fuck everything. She panted, breathing heavily as she felt her fingers and ankles shaking a bit. With another barked order she rose to her feet, and she and the rest of the group headed off to shower and rest.

She had to admit. As tough as the training was, it was definitely not as brutal as she expected. They took breaks, in between absolutely disheartening and agonizing training. Were it not for these breaks, she was fairly sure they would not even be physically capable of enduring such training. She actually smiled softly as she shook her head. Anyone who thought the breaks were a blessing was only half right. BECAUSE they were given breaks, it allowed the trainers to push them all the harder. What a funny philosophy.

Swallowing hard, she took tiny sip of the strange drink they had been provided with. It was specially made to be drinkable despite working out. A few of her squadmates had even managed to gulp some of it down without vomiting. It was pretty great stuff. Even so she didn't feel like pushing her luck and simply sipped at it. The stuff worked like magic, and paired with her own recovery abilities, she could feel a nice cool sensation spreading throughout her body.

Bit by bit, that damage from the workout faded, and she felt....strength in her body. Not just a ferocious strength of her own will, nor the dormant energy inside, but a power that she could feel in the very way that her muscles flexed. Strangely she didn't seem to feel any bulkier. She was as slim and lean as she was before, but somehow it just felt more....sturdy.

She thought back to what Enki-sama had said. Omnitsukido were not Squad 11, they could not afford to be hulking masses of bulk and muscle. They focused on stealth, speed, and making sure that strength came from discipline and technique as opposed to raw muscle mass. She smiled softly and shook her head, running her fingers through her hair as she took a moment to imagine how long it would have taken to develop this sort of thing.

The idea of training brought her mind back to Ricky. She paused, her thoughts wandering to the troublesome man. She certainly hope he was alright without her. She knew she had helped him immeasurably in the academy. But still she could not help but be a bit worried about how he was doing now. She smiled despite herself and let out a soft little sigh. Here she was going through perhaps the most agonizing training of her life and she still was worrying about others.

Closing her eyes, she continued to sip that warm drink as she waited. It would probably be another fifteen minutes before the next round of training began. She had every intention of being prepared so she took the opportunity to close her eyes and focus on some light meditation, recalling the tip from one of her teachers. Meditation between training sessions prepared the mind and body for the next round. she supposed it couldn't hurt to try.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

The sting of wire against her skin caused her to wince, biting her lip as she resisted the urge to call out as she froze in place. The thin, almost invisible wires around her were like little swords strung through the air. The objective was to sit as still as you could. Making sure that the threads did not cut you. Of course it was some sort of special thread. The cuts were so fine that they didn't actually cut, but simply induced a sharp stinging sensation as if one had been cut.

She could feel several red lines along her skin where the skin was irritated. Even if she hadn't really been cut, the sensation it inflicted on the skin still left it's own sort of mark. She swallowed hard, focusing as she forcibly relaxed, whilst still remaining slightly tense. It was an exercise to keeping in that perfect zone between relaxation and tension, to not draw attention to one's self, but avoiding slumping or moving as a result of relaxing too much.

It was a painful exercise to say the least, and she couldn't even turn to look at her other classmates, the presence of the wires near her face probably worried her the most. She doubted they would actually scar anyone's skin, let alone her own, but the idea of pain in th3e facial area definitely was incentive not to fuck up. She let out a slow breath, a warm wave escaping her as she focused. She could do this after all, it was simply a matter of all this rust.

She swallowed softly, very aware of how close her neck was to some of the wires. Just as she felt the slight tingle of an itch along her nostrils, those wires suddenly went slack, and everyone remained very still as memories were....fairly fresh, about the last time. Those wires had gone slack before, only to twang back to stiffness when they had relaxed, resulting in some very painful kickback. They were vigilant this time, and Enki seemed pleased with this, as the threads were finally fully withdrawn.

"Excellent. Get up, and enjoy your break. Next exercise starts again in fifteen." She noted with a firm nod, and just before she left, Shizu swore she saw her wink in their direction at that. she paused, remaining in place before she simply....fell silent, rubbing her cheek a bit at that and shifting a little on her feet. It was only a brief moment of confusion before she followed the others toward the resting area to recover.

She had been somewhat...bothered by Enki. She couldn't get a read on her. Which shouldn't be possible. Not only that but she seemed a bit....too friendly. something definitely felt up. She closed her eyes, sighing softly as she thought about all of this. It was well past noon now and they were still doing daily exercises. It wasn't until a few moments of silence had passed that she found herself softly chuckling to herself, shaking her head at her own dumb mind.

She was new. She was part of the Omnitsukido now. It only stood to reason that the training would be...well ridiculous. She rubbed softly at her cheek, sighing softly and chortling despite herself as she took a moment to glance off to the side relaxing as she thought about it. This WAS her life now....wasn't it? A lot of training. She had a feeling that it would be less training once she was a proper member, but probably not by much. Not to mention whatever time wasn't taken up by training? Was probably going to be filled in by missions.

she actually...smiled. Free time was all she had in hueco mundo. It was just....her. and the monsters all around her. the fodder that she at without worry. It was kinda funny now that she thought about it. Her life had been one long span of free time. And her own volition and goals. She was just...herself. She had no duties or responsibilities. And now? She had nothing BUT obligations and duties. And somehow that felt....kind nice.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

"Shizu, come with me." Came Enki's voice. Surprised, the shinigami glanced up, looking to her instructor as she was made to follow them. She paused, taking only an instant of hesitation, an uncertainty about wether or not to trust the woman, before finally she simply gave in and rose to her feet, a sheepish look given to the instructor as she cleared her throat, and followed along, the noise of their steps silenced, so much so that shizu was a bit startled when she realized she couldn't hear the soft pat patting of her own footsteps as she went after her teacher.

She hadn't even realized it, but her body had already begun to adapt to her training, already those ancient memories, the way her body once moved, once felt, was bit by tiny little shining bit, beginning to return. She could FEEL it in her soul. The flames of her zanpaku'to. Those two burning sources of reiatsu that had been but embers in the academy, were now beginning to stir, like twin dragons sleeping deep inside of her. With each session of training waking her more and more, she could almost feel them welling to the surface now.

Snapping out of that brief instant, she almost stumbled, but regained her composure as she followed behind her instructor, her eyes focused on the woman's form as they went. It was a surprise when she actually found out how far they were going. She had expected them to go to an office, or maybe one of the other training areas. But it seemed that was not the case, yet another reason for that concern to creep it's way back into the woman's mind, furrowing her brows but retaining a slight....measured distance from the situation. If only she could sense the woman's intentions.

As they continued passing the other buildings. Barracks, warehouses, and the like, it soon became apparent that they were moving toward the nearest gate to the sereitei. Her eyes going a bit wide as it suddenly occurred to her what was happening. Some sort of mission? That seemed to be the case. No doubt a sort of training. Perhaps with the higher numbered districts? She supposed that was far more likely than going after hollows she supposed.

Omnitsukido did have to contend with hollows, but that was usually hardly the focus of their missions. Perhaps that would have something to do with the mission? It certainly seemed plausible. A Faux mission as a means of introducing her of the nature of the operations that typically took place. Familiarizing her with the general status of the different districts and certain areas that were on watch or in danger for certain types of activities.

As they passed out through the gates of the sereitei, she began to notice that they were heading toward a somewhat familiar district. She remained silent for the time being, but as they continued to go out further and further, she was a bit more anxious. Until at long last they stopped in district 34. She was a little surprised as she noticed that things were still rather....peaceful. "From here on we are careful. We avoid the main streets and make sure that we don't draw attention to ourselves." She explained.

With a soft, silent nod from Shizuka the two were off. She knew that if it weren't for the fact that Enki WANTED her to know where she was, she would have likely completely lost sight of the woman as they moved skillfully. Shizuyoko doing her best to emulate the woman as they went. A bit impressed with how they were doing. Their serenity and grace were certainly something to behold. She wondered how long she had been in the squad to be able to move like that. she actually was a bit amazed.

In any case, soon they came to a stop, at the top of a rather seedy looking roof. If this building had been a person, she'd be able to tell that she didn't like their attitude just by looking at this horrible roof. Perched on the railing on the edge of the place, they slowly began to slink along that long metal pole, toward a section of the building that was lacking a bit of material. And stopping close by, she watched as her sensei settled down, stopping in place.

From inside she could hear voices drifting up from down below, though she couldn't quite hear them. A soft little nudge at her shoulder and she turned to see her teacher gently curling her palms around their ears, making little dishes to help her hear. After a moment of staring. Shizu reached up as well and gently aligned her palms to the curves of her ears, taking a deep breath and sighing as she closed her eyes, silently that breath escaped her and she started to hear.

"It's been four weeks already, and we still haven't even found anything. I'm beginning to think you guys aren't even trying. Look, it's only been three days. If we have another patrol come through here then we're gonna have a real problem on our hands. And I don't think ANY of you wanna end up like Kiroroge." That smooth voice crooned. That voice had a weight behind it, and she felt an immediate confliction.

That voice itself was unbelievably charming. Everything about it was smooth, fluid, comforting. It was like listening to an uncle speak to you, comforting you about some fear that haunted you. And yet, her innate senses sudddenly went off as she felt a very chilling air about him. The man, whomever it was, was bad news. He was lying to whomever he was talking to: for one. Not only that but he had something up his sleeve. She suddenly felt like the individuals down below them were indeed in danger. Something wasn't right, and as she looked up to Enki, she was surprised to see the woman smiling.

Smiling? What on earth were they smiling about? Before she could even gesture a query as to that smile, the woman twisted, and somehow managed to slide in through that narrow fissure in the building! Shizu had to blink twice to try and make sure she hadn't been bamboozled. But immediately after she heard a sereis of sudden impacts and thuds. Slipping around, she snuck her way in through the back door, frowning as she spotted someone she was approaching from behind. Preparing to take him down, she was surprised to see him simply falling over.

They had all been taken out, and Enki stood their, brushing her hands off before gently tapping Shizu on the shoulder, leading her back outside in a rush. Shizu was....dumbfounded, but remained silent, the two of th4em stealing off just as easily they had come, making their way unseen through the rooftops and various high paths through the rukongai. Once they were back in the 20s district, they dropped down and Shizu saw Enki smiling at her, chuckling softly as she felt them patting her on the back.

"I knew it. You have the same knack my teacher had. You could tell he was up to no good, couldn't you?" She noted with a knowing smile. Shizu was shocked, eyes perking up for a moment as she gave a nervous little chuckle, rubbing a bit at the back of her neck as she paused. Was this one of the reasons why she had been chosen? She took a moment to lick her drying lips before she....tried to respond.

"I.....suppose that's one way of putting it. It's just been something I've had for a while is all. I can just kinda tell what's going on under the surface sortof. Like seeing through the surface of the water to see the fish swimming underneath. It's not always so clear, sometimes it's dark or murky. But I can still get a general sense of what's going on in any case." She noted softly as she tried to find a means of eloquently putting what it is that she had. Really she had never had to express it to anyone other than Ricky.

The woman nodded slowly at that, brows raising slightly as she gave a soft little chuckle in response. Gently shaking her head she rolled her shoulders and the two of them continued on their way back to the sereitei, but even as they went Shizuyoko couldn't help but feel her mind buzzing over what had happened. She wondered just what that man had been planning, how did Enki know about him? And what was it that he'd meant when he said what happened to that other guy? For the time being, she supposed she'd just have to accept how things were. She was actually a little tired. No doubt she'd need to take a rest once they got back.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Takin a pause here to turn in the tp so far. Though this thread will continue to be used for solo training purposes following this storyline.

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

65 Paragraphs >>> 325 TP

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

Senka Training

Senka. A move that was made famous by one of the late members of the Kuchiki clan many years ago. The technique was perfect for her purposes. And of course.... all that was the issue was simply....learning it. The very idea of it was somewhat daunting. Looking at the scroll itself, which she now had access to from the archives some of the instructors used. It was actually a bit surprising to say the least.

Ingenuity and progress was very encouraged in the omnitsukido as it turned out. When she'd asked about looking at them, she'd simply been pointed in their direction. And now, standing there with the scroll's information in her mind, she was to focus hersef to learning this technique, one of the training dummies set before her. It was just like a shunpo right? Just faster and more precise. And much more elegant....and complicated.

However it was a simple matter, or at least as simple as any technique she'd put her mind to learning. Namely the fact that she typically found her own way to learn how they operated. With the dummy before her she began to repeatedly shunt herself back and forth, slightly adjusting her body each time, testing it, adjusting the speed of her shunpo as she tried to train her mind to accommodate the terrific speed that came with it's use.


She found something rather fascinating going back and forth. As she adjusted her speed, straining her body to move in the middle of such a fast step whilst trying to adjust her mind to the pressure and her body to the fatigue that came with it. something about this was....enthralling. She liked doing this. Each and every adjustment was like a tiny piece of a puzzle, and she actually started to wonder...could she make her own variation of these moves?

Senka Learned

The idea was an exciting one, one that pumped excitement through her veins as she continued to speed back and forth on either side of the dummy, not even paying attention to the strain it put on her. She was testing just how much she could do, how her body could be oriented whilst moving so fast. Either immediately after, or immediately before, or simply following through. Soon those slash marks started to pile up on the dummy as she moved.


She had managed to get down the basic principle of the attack. But there was something she wanted...MORE. She didn't want to just learn the attack. She wanted to make it her own. She wanted to TWIST it. Change it. Build from it! With each passing moment as she fiddled with her body's ability to cope with the move she began to feel that strange sensation in her chest. That excitement that built up and began to fill her mind and her heart with that low buzz of energy, the sort of energy that made her ears throb.

As her blade lashed across the wooden frame, she began to try and push it. She began moving faster and faster, ignoring the way her blood sometimes knicked her own body, or she overshot her target, or sven slammed into the dummy moving past it. Her heart was pounding away as that black weapon began to smile with her, and she could feel it. The way the blade began to hum in her palm as she began to carve up that dummy, back and forth, making it better, stronger, and imagining what else she could do with it.

Every moment she continued to work she felt the fatigue building up. She didn't even notice it when she suddenly attempted the step, simply leaping at the dummy and knocking herself to the ground, breathing heavily with a big stupid smile on her face, her eyes wavering for a moment before her vision went blurry. Her mind darkened and for a moment she wondered if something had hit her. Her world went dark, having completely exhausted her reiatsu reserves.

Senka Proficient.

The very next thing she knew, she was on the floor, staring ahead and swallowing hard as she looked around, her head throbbing as she suddenly realixed she was reclined. A glass of water was put before her, accepted gratefully as she took a moment to try and collect her throbbing skull-thoughts. She felt tired more than anything, and as she sipped the water she noticed Enki's smiling face, looking down at her, and causing her to flash a sheepish little smile at the woman as she cleared her throat. She wasn't sure what to say.

"You keep surprising me with all of this. Not often I see someone fiddling around with a technique like that. Do you even remember half of what you were doing?" She asked calmly, her head canted as she looked at shizu bemusedly. The shinigami paused, taking a moment to think back. She had actually forgotten. Another sip of the water and she frowned, thinking back. The more water she sipped....the clearer the memory was becomming. Downing the whole glass, she took a momet, thinking back to those moments and swallowing softly. She remembered...

I do..." She murmured, even to herself she sounded surprised, rubbing at her aching skull as the pain started to go away, bit by bit it was coming back to her, and she began to smile a little bit as the memory came back fresher than before. Not just the memory, but the idea she'd had on her mind as she was passing out. The excitement was back again and she could hardly contain the smile that spread across her face, biting her lip and clenching her palms as she thought back. She'd gotten it right. Dare she say...perfect?

Yes, yes she dared. She felt that excitement inside of her again and immediately she got to her feet, not even noticing how that water had somehow restored her stamina. She was about to race out to get back at that dummy when she suddenly paused, her head canting to the side for a moment as she slowly looked over her shoulder, watching Enki as they smiled at her, and she suddenly realized that this had been....another test? Just like before out in the rukongai....she was trying to see if Shizu was like her.

Senka Mastered

She wasn't sure exactly how she felt about this, thinking to her technique, she wondered......had Enki come to the same conclusion that Shizu had come? That sudden epiphany in the midst of that high-speed thrill? she wasn't quite sure, and she had a feeling she wouldn't know until she started to chase that idea, chase it to the point that she broke through whatever barriers held her back from that realization just as she'd passed out. She'd been on the brink of....something. In her mind's eye she could almost taste it. But...for now.... she let it go.

[Shizuyoko Toraumi]

The rush of warmth across her shoulder was like a sudden splash of hot water, her breath drawing into her lungs sharply as she pulled back quickly, a hop, skip, and a jump later she stood face-to-face with the hollow that was staring her down, that horrendous maw open as it let out a dull roar in her direction, the multi-winged beast already starting to drool that viscous saliva onto the ground, the saliva that had almost eaten through her arm if she hadn't ripped the sleeve from her shuhakusho off.

She swallowed hard, eyes narrowed as she turned her blade, peeking at her surroundings as she watched the hollow carefully. It had been a scouting mission. There was a report from some patrols that a few shinigami had gone missing, but in VERY low districts. The low twenties to be precise. These wealthy districts having trouble with hollows or criminals was something that was practically unheard of. However the evidence was pretty damning.

Seven dead rukongai, a shinigami KIA, and now she was dealing with the clean up. What had started out as a menial task having turned into an alarming situation. A force had been sent to start up a parameter around the disturbance, she in the meantime, was part of an insertion team that was supposed to move in and take out as many of the enemy whilst the parameter was being set up, ensuring that they did not disperse in the meantime.

Off-handedly, she wondered how her teammates were doing, She'd noticed a lot more hollows in the surrounding area. No doubt they were mopping up some of the weaker ones whilst she distraccted this one.... Of course even as her mind wandered that beast gave her little p[[prtunity to think about anyone but herself. With a ragged, shuffling lunge it dragged that slobbering maw along the ground, a terrible screech escaping its lips as it went for her. Raising her blade, the metal of her zanpaku'to snared on those teeth, her body turning with a soft grunt as she slid back, bracing her arms against that blade as her tail snaked out from her hakama.

There was a whip and a soft hissing noise as that stealthy swipe cut a sharp line across the hollow's jaw, causing the beast to rear up in alarm as it suddenly found itself injured. With that belly exposed, Shizuyoko vanished from sight, a sudden powerful burst of speed as she swept past the monster, her blade scarcely seeming to move as two bloody puncture wounds burst along it's spine, the sudden Senka catching the monster off guard as it tumbled to the ground, screeching loudly in agony.

Pivoting, she spun on her heel, bringing that larger blade in a beautiful overhead swing to bring that blade crashing down towards the hollow's head. About to try and finish it off until....suddenly....she sensed that enjoyment. A sick satisfaction that put her on her guard, leaping back in time to avoid the head that grew out of the beast's body, lunging out of it's crippled bretheren's body as that husk of a body was left to lay limp, an entirely new body crawling it's way out of that carcass, fleks of slime dripping as it let out a hiss at her.

It shed it's skin?! She could only imagine it was some sort of special ability that allowed the hollow to shed it's wounds like a lizard shed it's skin. Without a moment to recover her composure that maw raked against her side, twisting her body to best avoid the majority of the blow as she gritted her teeth, those teeth digging long trenches of red along her side as she tumbled to the side, staggering down to one knee as she felt pain bloom along her flesh. The Hollow rounding on her as it sensed an easy finish to the fight.

Only her tail saved her as it snuck out from under her hakama, jamming that blade up and into the underside of that monster's jaw, the blade suddenly bursting from it's forehead, piercing it's mask and making the light dim from the hollow's eyes. Shizuyoko almost immediately dropped to her side, taking just an instant to twitch from her injuries before she collect3ed herself, biting her lip as blood dripped onto the ground.

No, she had to continue with her mission! She had to go find the others! That determination welled up inside her, the shinigami forcing herself to her feet as she wavered, taking another deep breath as she recovered from the damage inflicted on her. With one hand held over those wounds she began to slip off and into the allesyays of the wealthy district. Already she could see the spatter of blood along some of that fancy paved road.

Unlike the higher level districts, this place had been caught completely off guard by the sudden hollow attack. Already the casualty rate was abnormally high. Shaking her head, she took a moment to kneel down, ripping up some cloth to do a makeshift binding of her wound. IT was shitty work, but it was better than nothing. With a few practice twists of her torso she was dashing off, looking for the other members of her unit, as well as the hollows that were causing all this mess.

[Zeich Yajuu]

Senka Mastered, as well as 11 leftover paragraphs, so +50 TP.