Pendulum - The Butterfly Effect (Bleach FF)

6: Settling In

A/N: Fillery stuff, feel free to skip :)


*** 

We made it home around two hours before dinner was due. In those two hours, I decided to have a nice long bath mainly so Yuu could have some alone time. She didn't seem in the mood for talking so I left her be. It had been a long and tiring day and what I needed the most right now was a long soak in a red-hot bath.

My mood fell when I made it back to my desolate bedroom. I really needed to spruce the place up a bit. A few books and something to put on the walls would make it feel a bit homelier, but at least the bathroom was well stocked. There was even bubble bath!

I ran the water, emptying half of the foamy bottle into it, threw off my dusty yukata and stepped into the large steaming tub. The water wasn't unbearably hot but it was enough to make my skin red, so I wouldn't be able to lie here for long.
I relaxed, remembering the events of the day. The thing that stuck out was the white light and finding out later that it was spiritual energy. Something rare and mysterious.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back over the edge of the tub, visioning the white light in my mind's eye and trying to summon it again.
When it had happened, I had been trying to protect my body from a potentially deadly fall and my arms had acted like a shield forming the protective white light. I held my arms out again and tried to summon the light, but nothing happened.
"Maybe it's one of those stupid things that only happens when you need it most..." I grumbled aloud.
But then another thought struck me. If I could use my arms as a shield, would I be able to summon it in similar places for different uses? Like at my feet to run faster or jump higher, to strengthen my arms or punch harder.
"That would be awesome..." I smiled imagining myself as some sort of superhuman. I wanted to try it out the second I got the chance, but summoning the light seemed easier said than done. It would probably become easier with practice though.

After forty-five minutes of absent-mindedly pondering the meanings of spiritual energy and letting my imagination run wild, I noticed that I was literally cooking.
The water wasn't getting much cooler and forty-five minutes of stifling steam had me feeling light-headed.
I finally got out and retreated into the comfort of my futon with a clean plain white bathrobe and a towel wrapped around my head.
For the remainder of the time until dinner, I put my theories into action.

I sat up straight, legs crossed, concentrating heavily on my outstretched hands. In over an hour the most I managed to do was form a tiny speck of light on the tip of my index finger.
When it happened, I had been concentrating on my right hand so hard I was going red in the face from holding my breath. It felt like my hand was pulsing, kinda like blood flow but something else. It was the flow of energy in my body increasing, like tingling waves of coldness in my veins. Instead of trying to make my whole hand glow I tried one single finger, and it worked.

"Yes! Finally!" I smiled ecstatically and leaned in to get a good look at it. It looked almost like a shard of glass. It was nothing impressive, but it was a start.
I released the energy and it fizzled out. I felt my body relax and only then did I see how hard I was straining to force the power out. I wondered if straining my physical body for something that was more likely to be centred in the mind was more of a hindrance. So I relaxed my muscles and tried again, and again, and again until it became easy to do after a few minutes of focus.

A shadow walked past my door. "Miss Kimiko, dinner is ready," a woman called, kneeling outside of my door without opening it or announcing her arrival.
Must be one of the maids, I thought. "Thank you, I'll be right there."

I had to stretch a bit to work the tightness out of my muscles from sitting still for so long.
I threw on another Kimono that was hanging in my closet, this time grey with pink flowers, and rushed over to dinner.