[POV: With Rukia Kuchiki]
"You're doing it wrong." A harsh voice snapped at her with a particular dry calm that she had quickly come to associate with the displeasure of her teachers.
The bones in her legs creaked and sweat blurred her vision but she bit her lips and pushed her back straight.
Never let them see you accept your weakness. Always stand with your back straight. It was one of lessons her elder brother had taught her and for some reason it was something that stuck instantly in her head.
So even if her legs were gone and her back was broken she had to stand up straight because as a Shinigami, and most especially as Rukia Kuchiki, it wasn't about her but about the people behind her.
Pain was an excuse. An unacceptable one.
So even if the bones of her legs creaked and her eyes stung and her lungs felt like they were being torn open by thin blades, she pushed herself to her feet and looked her instructors in the eye.
They were never kind to her. At the beginning she wished they had been and had thought they hated her particularly because of the… unfairness of her elevated position but that turned out to be false when she realized that they were just harsh because she probably did something wrong… just like now.
"The Shunpo is not about force. You don't push yourself into it, you step into it, girl. You are piling up unneeded exhaustion on yourself." One of her instructors, a man she didn't even know his name because he never told her and just told her to call him teacher, said with open disappointment.
As usual the scathing words came but she was slowly getting used to them. As baleful as the thought was, she preferred it over the other option.
A single memory of her time in the Rukongai was enough for her to grit her teeth through all the torturous training. Being a Shinigami was already a chance most would never get. Being a Shinigami, while also being the sister-in-law to a Shinigami Captain and Clan Head, and then becoming an adopted noble daughter — that was enough fortune to last lifetimes and she got it all at once in the same day. If that was not enough for her to keep her mouth shut and push through then she might as well be the most ungrateful person in Soul Society's history.
More than that, she was also deathly afraid of disappointing Byakuya Kuchiki, her elder brother, in any way. If she had to fail after all the resources available to her, she didn't want it to be in front of Byakuya.
"We'll start again." Her teacher said, "Your balance is atrocious. You don't know how to ride the momentum your legs create."
Heeding his words, she put herself once more into position and bit back the bitter feeling in her mouth.
Nothing said bullshit more than 'moving from point A to point B with as few steps as possible, while also making all movements in the blink of an eye'. Even theoretically it sounded insane…. And now she was slowly turning into Renji.
She pushed herself forward, chanting 'ride the momentum' in her head as she did so as she got into a combat stance. According to them, the very idea that Shunpo should have a stance would make the technique obsolete. She had to transition into her Shunpo while in the midst of combat training – that was the effective use of Shunpo.
So not only was she training her Shunpo, but also her Zanjutsu and Hohō. There were no cutting corners when it came to being a Kuchiki.
She had no belief that she was talented or was some kind of genius. What she knew she had in spades was how strong she could endure and that was what she constantly reminded herself to do. She had to endure. If not for herself then for her sister. For her elder brother Byakuya who had given her this chance.
"You have spirit, girl. I will give you that, but spirit alone will take you nowhere as a Shinigami. Again."
Right. Skilled Shinigami could sense the emotion of others..
She righted herself and jumped back into her training, sword swinging in what could no longer be called a chicken dance and her legs moving without the firmness of a panicked herd.
Trying to make a seamless transition from Hohō to Shunpo, while also continuing her sword strikes was way harder than she thought it would be. She was starting to see the reason why a Shinigami had to master all forms of the Zankensōki. Making a wrong step in her foot movement, Hohō, would throw both her Shunpo and Zanjutsu into disarray. It was this intermittent connection that made it all the more harder to learn.
As for her teachers, neither of them cared about if she could continue or not. As long as she had a smidgen of energy in reserve, which they always knew, they would make sure she expended everything. Then they would leave her in the training room as a completely exhausted husk.
"Rukia."
Suddenly she was doused with cold water that immediately washed away her exhaustion and a hint of fear crept in.
"Elder brother." She hurried to her feet but one look at his face made her wince. He'd caught her 'showing' weakness.
She stood ramrod straight and straightened her spine – An action that was becoming all too familiar to her.
He looked at her for a moment longer, likely debating whether or not to criticize her lack of vigilance but he didn't, which was a good thing in her books.
"Your teachers gave me your report. As well as the one from the school." She straightened up even more as she heard the last part. It wasn't much of a surprise considering who her elder brother was but this was the first time he'd done something like that… or at least attested to it.
If she was waiting for a congratulatory remark then she was quickly disappointed as his words were anything but.
"It is subpar." He said with the same tone he said most things. He spoke in facts, not in feelings. And his facts had a way of hurting feelings.
Her head subconsciously bowed in shame but not a second later she raised it up to see the disapproving light in his eyes. This was the second time she had let him see her weakness in less than a minute.
He didn't need to say anything or chastise her, the look in his eyes already did that.
She wanted to apologize but again a single look warned her against it.
"I expect immediate improvements." He simply said. In a way she could see herself as fortunate that Byakuya did not believe in talent since he was of the opinion that everyone could accomplish anything as long as they put in enough effort, though he believed that some got it easier than others, just as he also believed that there should be no reason she wasn't doing better(even though the first semester had yet to end).
"Yes, Elder brother." It was the only acceptable reply she could give.
She simply couldn't complain. Even though she was barely passable – as said by her instructors – all she could do was endure and do even more.
Bleeding and hurting for something she wanted was a feeling she was used to at this point. Things were hardly new when the same things kept repeating itself, but in bigger patterns.
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I hope Christmas was well spent for you guys as it was for me. Wishing you a Happy New Year in advance.
On another note, this overdue not-so-mini mini arc will soon be over.
Patreøn*com/QuackVader
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