Survivor (Bleach Fanfiction)

Chapter 14

Off we went in our separate directions. My first duty was to find the hollows, which had always been hard for me. Sensing people was easier. Hollows? Not so much. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a sharp movement. Just a bird. I growled at myself for getting to excited. I turn, greeted by a large claw swiping towards me. I reach for my zanpakuto, eyes widening in surprise. The hit was blocked, however the force shot me down to the ground.

"Well, well, well. A tiny soul reaper. Small, but I bet you taste amazing," the hollow said in a raspy voice.

I gave a huff and pulled myself up. Bolting head on, my blade clashed with the claw of the hollow. Jumping back, I gave a deep breath and smiled at the doom which was to come to the hollow.

"Fiesty! I like it. Playing with my food always makes the experience more entertaining," it gave a roar of laughter.

"Haunt, Kurai no Suna," I said smugly but was left with nothing. I began to wave my zanpakuto around, "Wake up Suna!"

Before I could say another thing, the hollow's claw collided with my body, sending me flying. A voice came into my head, 'Well, finally taking me for a spin, huh? It's been a while since you fought. You sure you can still fight?'

'You can't really blame me for not having much time to train. Everything is about paperwork.'

'Yeah, sure. No time after meeting up with Hiyori every week. How pathetic. How are you the third seat of squad six? Well, I'm not going to lend my power to someone who can't even defeat a simple hollow such as this. Have fun earning my powers back.'

The voice disappeared as my body collided with a tree. Anger pulsed through my veins. Red hot fury exploded as I charged towards the hollow. It was taken back from the sudden surge of energy. The only thing I was focused on was taking out my anger on this hollow, causing as much pain as possible. Thousand of cuts were sliced into its skin and with one final swipe, the monster collapsed and dissolved. The rest of the night my mood stayed sour as I destroyed every hollow I came across.

It felt as if a frown would forever remain glued to my face. The whole way back was filled with a tense silence after Lieutenant Sojin teased me for my dirty clothes. This worsened my mood even more. The air became tense and filled with rage. No one said a word after that. As soon as we reached the Seireitei, I gave a swift bow to my lieutenant and took off to the nearest forest.

My whole body felt as if it was burning from the inside out, flaming with pure fury and humiliation. Without thinking, I drew my sword and began to swipe at every tree, hoping to burn off this plume of anger.

"I don't know what's wrong, but slaughtering a bunch of trees isn't going to help you," an unfamiliar voice said. A lady with short dark purpleish hair and tan skin appeared from the shadows. I groaned and leaned against a half cut tree, rolling my eyes with a huff.

She gave me a side wards look as I glared at her, hoping to get across the message to leave me alone which failed as she sat next to me.

"Hard time in your squad?" Silence. "Bad mission?" A scoff. "Ahh, so that's it. Well, based on what I just saw it's alright for an unseated officer to mess up sometimes."

I groan and shove my face into my hands. It was almost if she was teasing me, the playfulness obvious in her tone.

"No? You're seated aren't you," she smirked. "Well, seated or not, that's no way to fight."

My head sunk down further in embarrassment.

"Up," I looked up, "I said, get up," There was a tone of authority in her voice which made me scramble to my feet. "Sulking isn't going to get you anywhere. You want to get better? Let go of your anger. I don't know how bad your mission went, but you need to let go of that anger for starters. Now, instead of swinging your zanpakuto wildly like a lunatic, control your movement like this."

The woman started to guild me, showing me a number of different hand positions on my zanpakuto that even my school never taught me. This is how the rest of my night ended.

"I guess you haven't fought in a while. Just rusty, that's all," she said, giving a soft smile, "I'm here every night. Come out if you'd like. I'll train with you so you can get back into the swing of things. Sound good?"

I nodded slowly, "Thank you ma'am. My name is-"

"Kohaku, I know. It's quite nice to meet you. My name is Yoruichi Shihoin, Captain of the second squad." Immediately, I bowed. A hand met my chin and pulled me up, "However, I don't want you to treat me any differently than how you did tonight. We are friends, not just comrades. Just call me Yoruichi. No formalities, nothing. Just Yoruichi," she gave a warm smile.

"Alrighty Yoruichi," I replied with a bright smile on my face, "I'll see you tomorrow night!"

With that, I left, feeling way better, a weight lifted off of my chest. That night, I was able to get the best sleep I've ever had since I first came to Squad Six.