Huffing muffled breaths were slowly let out alongside the swishing of blades swung. The training yard was quiet except for the constant huffs and puffs from tired breaths accompanied by the singing of blades.
The Academy training grounds that should have been empty on this particular day were unfortunate enough to play host to a certain group of stubborn students.
"Oh my days. I'm spent." Someone said and what followed was the sound of them probably crashing to the floor.
No one paid mind to him as they were all focused on the reason they came out today.
Some because of nightmares, some because they felt they had something, anything, to prove, and some because they were just too stubborn to remain in their rooms.
Some fell and some stood up but it remained the same, no one cared who stood and no one cared who fell to the floor. They were together but they might as well have been in their own world. They were.
"That should be enough for today. You all should go to your rooms." Shūhei Hisagi said as he came into the room, finally breaking them off their spell.
"Not enough." Someone muttered through sheer exhaustion, making Shūhei roll his eyes.
"Yes. Enough." He repeated. "I came here four hours ago and none of you could tell I was here. Most of you are at the point where you're moving but don't even know why."
He could see it in their faces that they saw him as just another annoyance but too bad for them that he would have to spoil their fun after nine hours.
"Then let them go. I still haven't trained enough." Tōshirō muttered under his breath and Shūhei's gaze narrowed at him, causing him to to huff out hot air.
"You all will go back to your rooms or do whatever it is that you want to do...as long as it does not concern a training yard and you swinging your Zanpakutō aimlessly for the whole day."
Shūhei sighed. He was more or less familiar with this class, not only because they were the graduating class but also because they were quite skilled and he was looking for those he'd like to recruit to his Division, and he couldn't do that if they burnt themselves out before the year was over.
"What's got into you guys all of a sudden? You've been acting strange since you came back from your special assignment. Did it freak you out this much?"
Someone snorted.
"Freak us out? Please. That damned thing almost killed us. But that's not it." Chief Priest answered. He grumbled unintelligibly to himself as he sat down.
"So what is? Because why your new found zeal is good, I can't say the same about the intensity you're going at it with."
They fell silent and with it the mood of the yard became depressed.
"Say Hisagi," began Kusaka, "what do you know about Captains?"
Shūhei's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, like your Captain is really strong right?"
Shūhei nodded, "I think so. But what does that have to do with anything?"
Now he was looking at all of them and could see the small twitches in their faces. Something happened during their exercise and he was beginning to think he knew what.
Another chuckled. "What doesn't?"
"Say," this time it was Tōshirō who chimed in, "do you think you'll be as strong as a Lieutenant someday? Maybe even a Captain?"
Shūhei fell silent. 'Oh, so that was it,' he thought. He could understand where they were coming from and the thought process they currently had now that he understood what they were feeling, and why.
"Yes. I can easily see myself becoming a Lieutenant in the next two decades." They all looked at him, realizing he was serious in his response. "As for becoming a Captain, well, that's obvious isn't it? It'll be a lot harder, sure, probably not anytime soon, but I'll be one, one day."
Some looked taken aback while others were in blatant shock. He didn't say anything outlandish but he could also understand why they were looking at him like he did. He knew what had spooked them like this because he'd seen it too.
"So you mean to tell me that you see yourself becoming something like that?" Tōshirō stressed with disbelief in his voice.
Those monsters that were called 'Captains'. How could one ever think to cross that insurmountable hurdle? Because as far as Tōshirō and the others knew, that wasn't a level of strength you grow to, no. Growth progression ended far below that line, they believed, because it had to.
"I don't know." Shūhei shrugged. "I don't know how strong I'll be as a Captain, or even if I'll be as monstrous as some of them are. What I do know is that one day I'll become one and that's it."
They probably didn't understand, not yet anyway, but they will, one day.
"I'll tell you what he told me." He didn't bother mentioning who he was talking about because they all knew. "He once told me that the fact that you have to question it means you're nowhere near. The road will open up to those who have travelled that far."
The man was a great orator, Shūhei praised. He was the type of man Shūhei hoped to grow up to. "So now that we got that out of the way, are you all finally going to get some rest there?"
"I really don't feel like resting right now. I'll think too much." Chief Priest mumbled.
"Then take a walk around. Try to have some fun, at least while you can. There's a lot of things you guys can do that'll take your mind out of whatever gutter it's currently in right now."
"Fine."
"Whatever."
"Okay."
They were clearly not in the mood for anything recreational as could be heard from their mumbles and grumbles as they filtered out of the training yard.
"Hey, are the other Captains the same?" muttered Tōshirō who had come to a stop beside him.
That was a hard one, wasn't it? He more than anyone knew just how insignificant his opinions are on how strong the Captains were. If anything, it would be arrogant on his part for him to express his opinion on it. That was just how weak he was when compared to them.
"More or less. But then again, what does it matter to us?" He replied. Tōshirō looked at him in surprise before giving him a slow nod. And they were all gone.
"You know, if I didn't know better I'd think you somehow kinda like these guys."
Shūhei stiffened up a bit when he felt a hand wrap around his shoulders.
"Let me guess, you took a wild guess if I was really here or not, didn't you?" Junpei said.
He took a good look at the young man that had practically walked out of thin air. Even after all these years, he still couldn't tell why this particular person unnerved him so much. On the contrary, Third Seat Junpei was a great guy but the disconnect came whenever the man stood behind him. It was almost impossible for him to remain calm whenever that happened.
"Did he tell you to keep an eye on them?" he asked. It wouldn't be out of his character.
Junpei shook his head. "Not necessarily. I'm here just to make sure they don't do anything stupid."
Junpei looked at the door, "What about you? Do you think they are up to no good?"
It was time for him to shake his head. This set was good. Better than good even. But sometimes, just like today, they could spiral down a path without thinking too much about it. The good and bad thing about it was that they did it together.
"No, I don't think so. They're smarter than that."
"Eh, not really, but I think you might be right. Be that as it may, I'm off."
He blinked and Junpei was no longer with him in the training yard. Stuffs like these were why most Shinigami were scared of the 2nd Division. You hardly saw that outside of their Division, and even if they were wandering about you wouldn't know because it was just that hard to sense them.
The ease with which they moved showed the ease with which they could kill you. Huh, maybe that was why he always felt uneasy in close proximity with Junpei.
He walked away, leaving for his own Division, when a stray thought came to his head.
'Why did he never feel the same way in Captain Uchiha's presence?' he shook his head. The initial answer that came with that question was one he was greatly uncomfortable with.
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