Chapter 379: Chapter 343
"Damn Cat." I hissed, following in Yoruichi's footsteps.
She was intentionally waiting for me and slowed down enough for me to catch up only to then speed off again.
I had to admit though, I did enjoy watching her move. And it wasn't entirely because she was wearing skin tight black pants that hugged her in all the right ways. It was because she was a Master of this technique, and I was learning a lot just by watching her.
"Hey." She suddenly popped up at my side with a coy grin. She spun my tie on her finger in a mocking way. "Took you long enough to catch up."
I ignored her taunt. "I'm amazed that you were able to take that off of me in a split moment without me noticing."
"Maybe I have a lot of experience undressing~" She laughed. "Catch me or I might take your pants next!" She continued laughing as she disappeared again.
I could vaguely see where she headed, fast enough that at times, there were multiples of her running around.
And she was heading further into town.
I grumbled again but followed along. As we got to a more pedestrian street, she disappeared from where I was eyeing her and landed on top of the nearby building. It was a small commercial district that only had a few people outside at this time of day.
I wasn't upset because it was difficult to follow. I landed easily at the edge of the closest building and began following. I was annoyed because one of us was a spirit and couldn't be seen by normal people while the other was a fully living being that would be seen running across rooftops at inhuman speeds!
Thankfully, I was somewhat prepared for situations like this. I did make a ring that sort of disrupted people's perception of me. Granted, it was mostly supposed to be used when just casually meandering on the street, not flying through the air at breakneck speeds.
I teased Artoria about her competitiveness....but honestly, I'm pretty similar.
I really do hate to lose, and having Yoruichi taunt me did ignite my competitive spirit.
At least it was getting on in the evening so I wasn't too worried about being seen. Not to mention the Giant Hollow that the people probably mistook for an Earthquake, they were probably bunkered down for the night.
Seeing Yoruichi not too far in front of me as she jumped from one rooftop to another, I did what I did before. I took a step, overlapped many more steps in that single moment and I shot forward with an intense speed. I was more prepared this time, enough that I didn't fall on my face. Granted, I stumbled slightly, I was not used to the abrupt speed change even when using the Whirlwind shout.
With the Whirlwind shout it was more....enveloping. I became the whirlwind itself and was an aspect of it.
With this, I felt like I was more on the outside and having to compensate accordingly.
It was enough that I was within reach of Yoruichi but as I went to grab her, she suddenly disappeared and reappeared another few dozen feet in front of me.
"So close~" She teased, her head turned over her shoulder grinning at me. "But too slow."
I moved again, it was slightly easier and I could feel myself getting used to it. However, the flaws were making themselves more and more apparent. What I had deduced before was pretty spot on, this wasn't the correct path to take with this if I wanted to learn the actual technique.
Still, I got within arms length of her again and she flashed to the side, sliding across the edge of the rooftop and jumping off.
I looked over the ledge to not see her.
"Looking for me?" She chucked, poking me in the back. "Hmm, need to work on your Reiatsu sensing cause I wasn't really trying to make myself hard to detect there."
Right, I could only vaguely sense her. She had the speed to slip through my perception.
"Add it to the list of things I need to work on." I grunted, reaching for my tie, only for her to disappear again in a burst of speed.
My eyes shot over to the side and I could sort of anticipate her movement there before she fully moved.
I didn't give her a chance to open her mouth this time, figuring it would be an opening right as she went flat footed. I did the same maneuver as before and shot at her.
She blurred and my hand passed through her before dissipating.
"An after image?" I saw her do that before, but to see it close up....it was impressive.
Though I didn't give her a moment to answer, I strained my perception, I grabbed hold of my Reiatsu and did my best to sense hers. I could vaguely feel it and followed the feeling. I stomped on the ground to stop my momentum and tried something a little different.
Thus far, this thing I've been doing only allowed me to move in a straight line for a certain distance. It was rigid and left no room for maneuverability. That was its main flaw in addition to being predictable once someone saw it enough.
So, I tried to pivot in one move and in another step forward many times all together.
I certainly did move how I anticipated, but I also felt pain as I reached my destination that made me come to a stop. With a hiss, I rolled up my pants leg to see my ankle swollen and red.
"Oh shit, you alright?" Yoruichi appeared next to me.
"Tried to pivot and move at the same time." I told her.
Well, this is certainly a dangerous way of moving that I was doing in an attempt to copy her. It was enough that even through my ridiculous biology I apparently sprained my ankle by trying to do that.
"Do you need me to –"
I weighed my options and just decided to cast a healing spell. The same warm light filled my hand as I covered my ankle. Not only that, but Avalon was working on the opposite end, so it served to hide that at least.
And my Aura was being held back, so this would suffice.
"Huh, that's neat. Some healing spell or whatever?" She watched me intently.
"Pretty much. Kind of basic, but it gets the job done." I replied, pushing myself up off the ground and putting some weight on my ankle. It felt better, it hadn't been too bad to begin with. But the surprise of actually harming myself in such a manner probably made me take it more seriously.
How long had it been since I've accidently hurt myself like this?
"That thing you're doing isn't gonna work. I could honestly slow myself down to a tenth – no, probably even a twentieth of my normal speed and you'd still not be able to catch me. It's way too easy to just watch where you're going and dodge." She plopped down, sitting cross legged.
"Yeah, I know. I wasn't really forcing it to work. Like you said, I was just going to start working down from here to get to where you are. I think it's a better approach than working up from the bottom since we're skipping a bunch of steps like you said." I was just getting some experience for now.
"And I realized, besides learning Shunpo. Your Reiatsu sense is pretty bad. It'll help you learn this if you get better at it."
"I know, I know." I muttered.
It was one of the many things I needed to work on. I was lucky that I could sidestep the issue of 'time' to a degree due to my Magic by staying in this work. If I had to go back to Chaldea as I was now...there wouldn't be much of a difference.
This was partly a training trip, and partly a way for me to calm down and evaluate my circumstances. It would do no good if I continued to feel anxious and rush myself. That's why I was taking things slow and methodical while enjoying the free time I had.
"On a side note." I pointed my finger towards her. "Bakudō #4, Hainawa." At my command, a rope made of Spiritual Matter materialized and shot towards Yoruichi.
"Cheating dick." She squeaked, rolling to the side and jumping to the air, reminiscent of her feline body. "You like Kidō so much, huh? How about this – Bakudō #21, Sekienton." She declared and at the point of her palm, an influx of red smoke burst out in all directions.
I quickly stepped back, surprised by the spell. It was one I should have information on, being only 21, but I hadn't had the chance to look through them all yet.
"Did you just ninja smoke bomb me!?" I exclaimed as my vision was completely covered. And now that I tried to probe with my budding spiritual senses, it couldn't penetrate this smoke, or rather, it was being blurred.
"Ninja cat!" A black mass shot out of the smoke. It was fast enough that I didn't react in time. Yoruichi in her cat form landed on top of my head, and in one motion, used me as a springboard to head off into the distance.
She still held my tie in her mouth...
I felt my eye twitch violently as I quickly turned to chase after her.
[***]
"Oh, so close!" Yoruichi continued to tease, narrowly escaping my clutches. Her form flickering several times with each step she took, she was dozens of yards away from where she was previously.
I stomped on the ground, doing my best to keep up but it was futile at this point and I knew it.
However, this time I made a calculated risk. After running around for so long, I felt like I had a better idea of what I was doing and reduced the amount of 'steps' it took for me to move.
It slightly took her by surprise as I did it without warning. I could see her fur shoot up, and her speed instantly increased several degrees to escape me right before I could grab her.
"Damn, you seriously almost got me." She chuckled, coming to a stop outside of my 'home'. "Didn't expect you to make that much headway so quickly."
I bent down, rubbing my leg. "Kind of forced it, but progress is progress."
"Don't feel too bad, no one can catch me if I don't want them to." She said smugly.
"Really? How do you compare to all the other Shinigami?"
"I was known as the 'Flash Goddess', y'know'." She preened noticeably.
"Flash Goddess?" I quirked an eyebrow.
"Yup."
"Did you get that title by flashing people all the time?"
"Maybe it was! You seem really hung up on that, I bet you can't stop thinking about me, right?" She exploded in a puff of white smoke, and her humanoid body appeared. "I can't blame you. With this hot body, who wouldn't?"
"Right." I rolled my eyes. "But why aren't you naked?"
"What?" She blinked.
"You have clothes on....?" I gestured to her body.
"Yeah? What's your point?"
".....so you're just an exhibitionist. I thought it was a planned joke, but that's just your normal default, isn't it?"
"who knows." She grinned. "If you ask me nicely, I'll take my clothes off~"
"No thanks." I answered immediately.
"Urghk." She coughed. "Don't be so quick to say it, ass." She huffed.
"Sorry." I cleared my throat. "You're a very beautiful woman." I said as monotone as possible.
"I think this is the first time I've been called beautiful,and it's been insulting."
"I retract what I said then, you aren't beautiful." I corrected myself. "Happy?"
"You have this amazing way of just...stabbing someone, right in the heart." Yoruichi dramatically fell to the ground.
"Oh, stop being dramatic." I kicked her foot.
She hopped to her feet. "Hmm, you didn't do bad today." She put her hands behind her head. "And it was fun to have someone to play with. It's been awhile since I've been able to play around like that."
"What about Mr. White Van Candy Salesman?"
She snorted, laughing. "He doesn't really do anything fun these days. Too busy with his own boring stuff."
"Well, I don't mind If you keep coming around. You've been helping me a lot, if you wanna come play some more, it's fine." I actually did enjoy her presence. She's fun and relaxing despite her teasing and kind of playful demeanor.
"Mmm, maybe I will." She yawned. "You got a Zanpakutō, right?"
"I do, you saw it."
"And you didn't just steal it off some Shinigami?" She eyed me suspiciously.
"I can promise that I didn't steal this Zanpakutō off a Shinigami." I said with complete honesty.
"....I feel like I should make a note that you specified only that Zanpakutō specifically, but I don't really think I care in all honesty." She just shrugged. "I'm guessing you're trying to communicate with it, yeah?"
"....I suppose? I'm sort of muddling around with it." I had yet to find the proper direction to go.
"Come on, I'll teach you how to properly meditate with it." She nudged me towards the entrance to my little abandoned building.
"I won't say no to help. How about I handle Dinner?"
"Really?" She perked up. "I could go for some Tuna."
"There's a cat joke in there somewhere."
"Make all the jokes you want as long as I can get some fresh Tuna." She laughed.
[***]
I breathed in and breathed out.
I centered myself.
I allowed all distractions to simply disappear from around me. Only my Reiatsu and Aura flowed out soothingly as it enveloped both me and my blade.
There was just me and my sword.
Its weight pressed against my lap as I sat cross-legged on the ground.
Yoruichi taught me a couple days ago and I've been meditating whenever I have free time.
Jinzen, as it's called. Or Sword Mediation. It was a method Yoruichi described as something honed over thousands of years in Soul Society.
With this method, I just have to continuously imprint my Soul upon the sword. Let the power of my Soul nourish the sword.
Honestly, the more I heard about this method, the more I realized.... my Aura may be a cheat here. My Aura was the physical manifestation of my Soul, it's being nourished much more directly than if I just kept it next to me and gradually imprinted on it.
I just have to keep doing this.
And Yoruichi said that eventually I'll be able to hear the voice of the spirit that develops.
[OooOoooH, this is the spirit of your sword.]
"...how odd my sword sounds exactly like a certain dragon."
[Of course, I would sound like the mighty and magnificent Red Dragon Emperor, the greatest role model I could ever have.]
"I can't argue with that logic. And what's the name of my new sword?"
[You want to hear my name? Are you worthy?]
"Well, I'm the partner of the great and mighty Red Dragon Emperor." I continue to play along.
[Well said, well said.] My 'sword spirit' replied. [Then, if you want to know my name, repeat after me.]
"Alright, I'm waiting."
[Shout as loud as you can!]
"My excitement has reached the tipping point." I deadpanned.
[Ripen – Watermelon!] Ddraig roared.
I was about to respond, but I felt my sword ever so slightly tremble. The very faint connection I had with it so far, there was almost an echo of a reverberation I felt through my Aura.
"Die." I sighed.
[Hahahah!]
"I swear to God – specifically the one literally inside the spear. If this somehow influences my sword...."
[What will you do?] Ddraig said mockingly.
"I'll make you roommates with the spear."
[.....Good thing this isn't Ddraig, but the spirit of your sword.]
"Uh huh." I summoned the Boosted Gear onto my arm. "Can the Sword say that again?"
[.....damn, choose this moment to have a moment of intelligence.]
"Only this moment?" I huffed. "I'll have you know I'm very intelligent."
Ddraig made a spectacle of clearing his throat. ['Be my women' the idiot says to the Eldritch Goddess he just met.]
"Touché." He did have a point.
But on the other hand, I can hop over and pull her to my bed pretty much whenever I wanted.
I dusted myself off, climbing to my feet. I held my Zanpakutō in one hand and looked at the Boosted Gear. "I wonder what would happen if I put the sword in there with you...?"
[.....Shit now I'm curious too. But you better not risk it.]
"Yeah.....I could always go steal another one easily enough."
[Eh, wait for things to calm down.]
"Point, point." I nodded.
I perked up after feeling something approaching. After doing these meditative exercises along with my casual absorption of Reishi, I've started to better develop my Spiritual Sense. I could vaguely feel Yoruichi approaching from a little ways away. However, I think she was intentionally flaring her Reiatsu so I could feel it.
I quickly put the Boosted Gear away and sheathed my sword, opening the door to greet her.
"Oh hey, you actually noticed." Yoruichi smiled, walking past me without so much as a 'can I come in'.
I rolled my eyes, but didn't stop her. I basically knew her personality at this point.
Cat.
She was a cat.
As obvious as that may seem after seeing her as a, well, cat. She had a personality that is very similar to one.
"Haven't seen you in a few days." I closed the door behind her as she plopped to the ground.
"Mmm, was busy with some stuff." She yawned lazily. "Your Reiatsu increased again. How're you doing that? You aren't eating Hollows, are you?"
"No....can you eat hollows? What do they taste like?" I considered that statement.
"Pfft, not like that, you idiot."
"You mean like devouring them to increase my own power?" I once more pondered that statement. "Wouldn't that leave some.....evidence?"
"Yeah, but your Reiatsu is strange, who knows what's happening there." She shrugged. "And every time I see you your Reiatsu keeps increasing, I'm kinda clueless how it's happening."
"It doesn't keep increasing." I didn't mind sharing some things with her. At this point, I'd consider her a friend. "It's.....filling up."
"Filling up?" Her eyes lit up.
"My Soul is powerful." I settled on.
".....how much until you're full?"
"No idea."
"Hmm, sounds interesting. Though, you're at the point where you're gonna need to actively suppress it around normal people. You're doing a kinda mediocre job of it right now. I'll show you a better way to keep it contained without feeling like a balloon about to pop to anyone with decent senses."
"Is that what I feel like?"
"Yeah, it's kinda funny actually."
I rolled my eyes again. "So, are you here for any particular reason or do you wanna play some tag again?" I asked, stretched my arms and back. Sitting down for so long makes me a little stiff. "I've been practicing a little, I think I'm getting closer to actual Shunpo."
That and I've been practicing Kido as well as my other stuff.
"Yes!" She perked up. "But actually, I am here for something else. After the whole Hollow thing, I figured I'd give you a heads up so you don't run head first into something bad."
"I'm listening." I got slightly serious.
"So, remember that whole thing with the Kuchiki brat?"
"The thing about her doing something highly illegal by Soul Society law?"
"Yeah.....that's probably coming to a head in the next couple weeks. If you see or feel any big influx of Reiatsu surge in the town, it's probably some big shots coming to grab her."
"Are you asking me to stay out of it or to interfere?" Because I could go either way to be honest.
On one hand, it's none of my business since I barely know them. On the other, fuck Soul Society.
"Stay out of it, it shouldn't involve you." She warned a little...warmly.
"I appreciate the heads up." The sentiment was very pleasant. "But how do you even know that?"
"Eh, it was always a waiting game. At this point, it's right around the time where she's probably missed at least two times she when should have checked in. And.....someone technically did come to investigate already. Some seated Shinigami, a good guy at least. He said he was gonna push his report to the bottom of the stack when he got back."
"Ah....so they'll probably be getting to it around now by your estimates." She probably knew exactly how the bureaucratic system there worked and could anticipate such a thing. "It's none of my business." I let out a breath.
"Anyways." She kicked off the ground, back onto her feet. A mischievous grin made its way onto her face. "Rematch?" She offered.
I knew full well I wasn't going to win, but I was nothing if not stubborn. "Alright, round two. Let's try to stick away from people this time."
"Alright, be a sour puss." She walked towards the door. "How about if you win....I'll let you take a piece of clothing off me this time~"
"Should I admit defeat now?" I replied without missing a beat.
She looked at me with pursed lips. She moved quickly, probably close to her top speed. I could guess what she was going for and I could sense her better this time, but I didn't stop her. My tie was missing again and her laughter filled the air.
"Round two it is." I muttered, immediately going after her.
[***]
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Another person is joining on Wilhelm's adventure soon enough.
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