Hollow Moon: A Lost Shadow

Chapter 31: Strength and Sweat

Why wouldn't Silas desire to possess their Zanpakutō? Some of them had notable skills that he could use to decimate his opponents in battle. Specifically, Shinji's Sakanade. Then there was Hachigen's list of kidō spells. If he could learn those, he would be virtually unstoppable on the offensive and defensive ends.

Imagine Ichigo Kurosaki with the combined powers of all the Visoreds. Such an opponent would be a nightmare to face. Silas needed these things to happen. If he was going to take on the likes of the members of squad zero, he absolutely had to have as many tricks in his arsenal as possible.

Giving him a six year time period to acquire that was only begging him to take over the world.

As he sat on the windowsill, formulating his strategy, a thought registered: 'Why had the Visoreds not made contact with me before I traveled backward in time?'

Time could only flow in one linear direction. This is discrediting the many theories within physics. If that rule applied here, that could only mean one thing: Silas had succeeded in slaying the Visoreds.

Although not likely to have happened, it was plausible to believe.

The day Shinji first met Ichigo was after he and his friends returned to Karakura Town. There, he continued his Soul Reaper duties while being monitored. And how Shinji even knew of Ichigo's existence was because of Kisuke. Silas's problem was that it was never told how much those two interacted both before and after Ichigo's birth.

Then there was Retsu Unohana. The way she acted during their last encounter was unlike what an enemy would have done.

To play it safe, Silas desired to gradually befriend the Visoreds and learn of the hidden information that had never been expanded upon. It would also allow him to train with them without complicated questions being asked.

Silas considered who the first person to target should be.

Hachigen's kidō was powerful, but it didn't need to be the first thing to learn. Shinji doesn't always come around the warehouse during the day, so tailing him would be ill-advised. Members like Hiyori and Kensei were too hot-headed to talk to. Just the simplest of words, and their anger got the better of them. As for Mashiro, she was too stupid.

Love rarely held any interest in anything. From the moment he saw Silas, even after hearing his story, he was already bored with his presence. Rose was almost like Love, being so relaxed about what pleased him. So much so that action was only taken when called for.

There was really only one person he could easily manipulate to get what he needed: Lisa Yadōmaru.

In comparison to her comrades, Lisa is one of the calmer, more sensible members of the Visoreds, showing a stern, detached, and secretive demeanor at most points. Although she can be somewhat temperamental and easily irritable, Silas knew what to say to avoid that side of her.

Better yet, he knew her personality well. Her hobbies included reading perverted manga or swimsuit magazines, which she often lent to her fellow Visored. She is also a very inquisitive individual, breaking the rules just to quell her curiosities.

Despite her rather distant personality, she appears to care about her fellow Visoreds. And what he knew that many weren't aware of was that she had a playful side.

• • •

Early in the morning, both Kensei and Silas arose to train together. It was Silas who initiated this, understanding that the former captain preferred to do early morning workouts before his daily routines.

"Alright! We're gonna start with ten full laps around the town," Kensei said. "No stopping whatsoever, got it?!"

With Ichigo's physique and the well-developed training Silas had already undergone, running one hundred laps in this Gigai wouldn't be a problem.

The two took off, maintaining a consistent speed. When Kensei noticed Silas was in front of him by a mere foot, he increased his speed. Silas, seeing this, ran a little faster. The act made Kensei increase his speed again, so Silas ran a little faster again.

By the time either of the two knew it, they were sprinting so fast that they were leaving huge dust clouds behind their trail. Silas kept a straight face, pacing himself without breaking a sweat. Kensei, on the other hand, had a large grin on his face with veins popping out of his temples.

"That can't be the fastest you can run!" he tried trash talking.

Silas kept his speed, knowing that he could blow past him at any time. But there was no need to show off his strength.

After their ten laps around the entirety of Karakura Town ended, Kensei had to take a breather. His chest heaved in and out, indicating how tired he was from having run so fast. Silas, who hadn't even broken a sweat, pretended to be just as exhausted.

"Tough guy..." Kensei panted. "We ran almost seventeen hundred square miles, and you barely look tired."

"Speak for yourself."

The comment made Kensei laugh. He seemed happy that he had a training partner able to push him. Before they continued to their next workout session, which consisted of weight lifting, Kensei shared stories about how Mashiro couldn't keep up with him.

This was the first time that Silas had ever heard of how the Visoreds interacted with one another. Their story was hardly expanded on, so not many understood what they did during their time after leaving the Soul Society.

For instance, Kensei would often exercise alone due to not having any partners. Not that he would deny them, but that many of the other Visoreds either had no interest in physical exercise or were too busy with their hobbies. Some simply didn't like the idea of doing army-style training.

Regardless of these things, Silas performed all of Kensei's workouts. They did one-handed pull-ups atop the edge of buildings, plyometric jumps over parked cars, and a variety of exercises that the average man would find impossible. All of them were done in one morning, and all of them were done without complaints.

"I must say, Ichigo, we should do this more often."

"I agree," Silas said, faking a smile. "Let's try and do these two to three times a week."

Just like that, he won Kensei's heart.