Yashiro's Training Posts

The sun was just vanishing over the horizon as Yashiro set off on her hunt. The season was changing, and unfamiliar frost was biting at her pale skin underneath the wide robes she, like all Shinigami, wore while on duty. She wished, not for the first time, that they were designed with more warmth in mind. Of course, during the Summer, she complained about the opposite.

The glare from the last rays of natural light caught her eyes and made her blink hard twice. By the point where her eyelids had opened for the second time, it was dark. Surrounded by the nearly invisible trees and bitter chill, Yachiro moved forward, adapting her pupils to the shadows as she went.

"Flexible" was her motto - always go with the flow and change with the times. But she still preferred to go out hunting at night; a traditionalist in at least that one sense. The silence of night had a calming influence on her, and staying cool and rational was the first key to defeating a hollow. For Yashiro, keeping her temper under control was a particularly hard thing to do. Even things as small as losing at shogi tended to set her temper off. Being struck full force by a hollow, even one as mediocre as her target, inflamed her.

Drowned in her thoughts, the shinigami almost missed her prey. Far beneath her perch on a high limb, the beast lumbered in a straight path, unaware that death awaited directly above. It was a hideous creature - a mix of boar and snake. The larger animal made up the body, and the elongated neck ended in a triangular, serpentine shape. The mask rested on the top of this triangle, white as the teeth that filled its mouth. Even from so far away, Yashiro could clearly see the enormous fangs that searched to find prey of its own. She made a quick note to remember that this was the first hollow she had seen that lacked any humanoid characteristics. She would have to remember to ask about that when this hunt was complete. The hollow, unaware that so nearby was someone waiting to assassinate it, trampled on in search of something to kill.

The only think it would find dead in the morning was itself.

The shinigami crept along after it for a bit longer, watching its movements closely for signs of anything out of the ordinary and, seeing nothing, began a silent descent from branch to branch. The monster stopped as she reached the ground, finally becoming aware of its stalker.

"Constrict him, Rensahanno." she whispered, unsheathing her zanpakuto. It quickly dissolved from a blade to a length of chain, which clattered against the long grass underfoot and removed any doubt from the hollow that it was being followed.

The monster turned on her almost as quickly as she swung at it. Chain met tooth and both hollow and shinigami backed up, appraising each other in the murky dark. The snake head made the first attack, launching towards Yashiro with enough force to crack the tree behind her as she sprinted out of the way, taking a quick lash at the hollow as she dodged. There was now a significant distance between her and her foe, and she decided to take advantage of it before the inevitable charge.

“Extend, Rensahanno!” she ordered, and her zanpakuto obeyed, stretching out to just under twenty feet of intertwined links. Though her attacks would now lack force, strength was never what really mattered with her shikai. Her focus was on ability, which she had in spades. Within seconds she had launched her chain to wrap about the hollow's four legs and pulled it tight, causing the mindless creature to keel over with a surprised roar.

In a flash she was on it, Rensahanno back to its normal size and ready to cave in its mask. It gave her a withering hiss and tried to strike, but Rensahanno swatted its face away with ease. Before there could be a second attack, Yashiro crushed the bony structure on the serpentine head, purifying her opponent at last. She pretended the last hiss it gave her was one of thanks.

“That will do for tonight, I guess.” she yawned, wondering how many other shinigami were out and about at a time like this. Chances were, most were drinking back in the Soul Society. There always seemed to be a party going on while she was busy doing her job.

“Well, I guess there's no harm in heading back to join them, then.” she sighed, reverting Rensahanno back to its regular form and sheathing it. Her sword almost seemed sad that the mission was over until tomorrow.

“We can always come back tomorrow night.” she promised, shivering as a gust of wind picked up. “Maybe in something warmer.”

Sorry for the wait!

Yashiro was on the hunt again.

As always, she had chosen to begin just as the sun was vanishing over the horizon and the city's lights were dimming behind her. Rather than the forests she usually liked to prowl through, tonight's target had decided to take cover in an open field. How it intended to do so was beyond her understanding, but if it was willing to stay in the open, she wasn't going to complain.

This wasn't like her normal hollow erasure missions – this one was for revenge. Already, two shinigami had fallen victim to the beast; the first was a new initiate, sent out on his first solo hollow cleansing mission. The second was a shinigami in an identical position as her, sent out for revenge. She hoped she would fare better than he did.

Rensahanno was already unsheathed and in its shikai form, shortened to about a foot in order to be more manageable. Even though there were no hiding places in the short cut field, she couldn't see any trace that the hollow had ever been there, and she couldn't sense it either. Both of these things made her tread forward uneasily, constantly turning and shifting to stay on guard.

Gradually, though, she relaxed. Over an hour of searching had led to nothing. There wasn't a single trace of the hollow anywhere. Yashiro had almost decided that she was in the wrong area, and was about to return to the city and start off in a different direction when something sharp connected with her back and she felt blood begin to slip out of a large gash just to the left of her spine. With reflexes that would have shocked a Captain, she pivoted and lashed out with Rensahanno. There was satisfying contact with her attacker.

The hollow was larger than what she was used to. Its massive upper body balanced awkwardly on two spindly legs, and the shinigami had the distinct impression that the monster would collapse on itself any second. On either side of its enormous torso two huge arms hung, finished with five claws the size of Yashiro's forearm. Its head was too human for her tastes – a thick neck and a hollow mask over where any normal being's face would be. Comically huge teeth hung from the bone white covering, a mockery of humanity itself.

“You're the one they sent this time?” it laughed, startling her with its haunted voice, “You look like you've never even fought a hollow before.”

“I've cleansed hundreds of your kind. Most more powerful than you. Just give up and we can get this over with painlessly.” she bargained, extending Rensahanno as the words flowed from her mouth.

“We're long past that point.” the hollow chortled. “Maybe you missed the fact that your back is a river of blood.”

Her zanpakuto was wrapped around the hollow before it had a chance to leap out of the way. Yashiro let her left hand slide away from her sword's hilt and pointed at the hollow. A burst of lightning flew into its shoulder, making it roar with surprise and hurt.

“Byakurai. White lightning.” she explained.

“Your aim was off, though.”

She felt Rensahanno's links loosen from the hollow, and suddenly it was free, charging at her with claws outstretched. As much as she wanted to turn and run away, or dodge, her mind told her to remain cool and focused, and to remember her kidou. Once again she held her left hand up to the hollow, but instead of pointing a finger, she kept it open palmed.

“Maishin.” she demanded, summoning the spell that would send her foe flying and thus leave him susceptible to her long range attacks yet again. Instead of being knocked away, the hollow shrugged off the spell and closed the distance between them. She could barely raise her Zanpakuto in time to swat away the impossibly large claws. She stepped back and took a swing, but it blocked and then was gone. Yashiro was alone in the field.

It dawned on her why there had been no sign of her target until it had decided to ambush her – in addition to its claws and upper body strength, it must have the ability to fade out of sight. That would explain why it was able to pick off two shinigami; a fight against what you could not see, was not much of a fight at all.

“You can cast those without the little bits of poetry.” her target chirped mirthfully from its invisible position. “That's interesting. The last two had to keep giving me whole pages of 'burn all that fear' and 'constrict the unworthy'. You shinigami have such silly little phrases.”

It appeared from behind and made another lunge at her, which she rolled to avoid and came up just in time to duck under a second, and then third, sweep of its claws. She didn't make a point of warning her opponent, but it had just reminded her of a kidou she hadn't cast in what felt like ages.

There was no time to even make the hand sign before the hollow's fourth swing came – a powerful backhand that sent her sprawling to the ground. It leaped on her immediately, and he felt a rib snap under the weight of the gigantic creature. Rensahanno was just a foot out of reach; fumbled when she fell.

“Byakurai.” she choked, pointing a finger at the crushing weight on her chest. The lightning surged straight through its kneecap, and as it pulled back to scream she charged up her second kidou.

“The full line,” she explained, “was 'constrict the unworthy, release the fangs'. Sai.”

The restraining spell, which would normally have been resisted, captured the weakened and off guard hollow, locking its arms behind its back and keeping it from moving. Yashiro struggled to her feet, grabbed her weapon, and stepped over the hollow, a smug grin on her face. The hollow's mask was met by several feet of chain and shattered easily under the blow.

Her back was suddenly on fire, and her chest didn't feel much better. If she didn't make it back to the safety of the sereitei and the fourth company's medical treatments, she wouldn't last much longer.

“Good work, Rensahanno.” she cheered, sheathing her sword and preparing to head back immediately.

Sorry, would of done this yesterday, but my computer was being a pain.

PS: The banter between the two was awesome and made me grin

Edit: Title added.

Tonight was the first night off she had earned in weeks, and it felt long overdue. Even a sixth seat couldn't cleanse hollows endlessly – there had to be some sort of break to make sure she didn't collapse from her own fatigue, rather than from wounds.

Karakura town was silent except for her light breathing, puffs of smoke twirling from her mouth and mixing with the early fall air to give the impression that the shinigami may have been using a cigar to celebrate her time off. Truthfully, she was just cold. It had occurred to her that her room in the Seireitei would have been just as relaxing and twice as warm as the rooftops of the black city, but by this point it was a bit late to head back anyway. She would sit and rest for another hour, and only then would she collect on her well earned sleep.

Despite herself, Yashiro felt her eyes begin to squeeze shut, and the already dark world become blacker as her exhaustion caught up with her. She probably would have used the hard shingled roof as an uncomfortable, makeshift bed if something hadn't prodded her awake with a sharp poke to the shoulder.

She opened her eyes to see a snow-white arm floating a foot from her face. It waved at her, and in the time it took to register that there was no body attached, a fist had met her nose and sent her careening off the side of the roof and struggling to find something to grab on to. The gutter seemed like a reasonable structure to hang from at first, but it broke after only seconds of holding her. She reminded herself to skip desert next time it was offered, and then had the wind knocked out of her as she dropped like a stone to the ground, landing three feet from a bush which would have cushioned her fall.

“You couldn't have moved over for me?” she asked the foliage pleadingly, and as soon as the words were out of her mouth, a foot the same color as the arm from earlier connected with her gut and starting her rolling for a yard before she could flip to her feet and release Rensahanno.

“Extend, Rensahanno!” she cried, stretching the chain to its maximum length and lashing out at the most recent appendage to attack her. It floating out of her reach, and then a second arm grabbed her from behind to allow the other leg, which had apparently been hidden around the corner of the building, to leap out and deliver a strong kick across her cheek.

“Byakurai.” she intoned, firing the level four hadou across her back and through the palm that was holding her in place. It released her and flew away just in time for her to catch the foot that had come by for a second cheap shot. What she was still unprepared for was the first hand, which had caught up with her and now pulled back to repeat the punch that had probably broken her nose earlier. With a palm outstretched she chanted a quick incantation for Sai, a low level, but thankfully effective, restraining spell that caught the limb off guard and allowed her to dance out of the way of the last appendage – the first foot, which she struck and held down with another rapid-fire Sai.

With the immediate danger of the four body parts out of the way for a second, her mind cleared enough for her to recognize the white shade of them as those belonging to a Hollow – on her day off she was going to be forced to go hunting after all.

Judging by the energy the individual limbs were emitting, it was nothing more than a strong hollow, certainly nothing like a Menos Grande. She would be able to tackle it alone, even as tired as she was. Her deathgrip on the foot released, and it flew away just like she had hoped. If luck was on her side, she could tail it back to the main body.

So intent was she on chasing down her target, she didn't sense the second hollow until it was on her back, pinning her to the ground easily with its heavy body. Something sharp slid lightly across the back of her neck, and blood from a small gash began to pool just above her shoulder blades, but immobile as she was, there was no way to wipe the uncomfortable stickiness away.

“Aranami” she coughed, summoning the strongest defensive kidou in her arsenal. A wall of wind lifted the hollow on her back through the air, allowing her to pull to her feet, now surrounded by a gusty barrier that would repel any weak attack. It worried her that this was the second hollow of the night, however – that always meant that another was just a step away.

The leg was nearly out of sight, and it took all the strength in her legs to catch up with it. Her senses had picked up two more hollows in the vicinity, but neither of them had noticed her yet. Coupled with these two, that meant at least four had chosen this inopportune night to dine, but she could only pick off one at a time. If multiple attacked her at once, there would be quite a struggle, and with her body in this condition, she doubted her ability to fight back.

The foot stopped suddenly, jerked around, and darted into the air. Immediately after it was safe behind the gray clouds that littered the sky, four greater hollows emerged from their hidden posts behind buildings and foliage. Yashiro was surrounded, escape not an option.

“I really should have just stayed in the seireitei.” she moaned, and then the first one leaped at her.

She fired off a Sendanhou at it without an incantation, and the damaging purple beam was enough to swat it out of the air and incapacitate it. She didn't waste time swinging her Zanpakuto at the second one. She used its guide wires to pull it under the hollow's arms and around one of its legs and then commanded it to link shut, forming a sort of seat belt with a length also bisecting it vertically.

“Tsuzuri Raiden. Bound lightning.”

A bolt of electricity set about Rensahanno, and the hollow was essentially burnt alive as the volts were sent through several feet of chain directly into its body. The effect was almost comical – smoke trailed from its body as it collapsed with a moan.

Before she could wrestle with the remainders, three more hollows had appeared. Her energy was too low to support her barrier for much longer – under the pressure of five hollows beating on it, it would collapse after mere seconds.

“REALLY should have stayed in the seireitei.” she joked, but it was more out of nervousness than anything. Without her kidou, her offensive ability was about nullified.

Hollow number one ducked down and charged, aiming for her knees. Its head was fastened with a large horn that would easily split her vertically if the attack had landed. Instead, it was the hollow that was sliced in half but an unknown assailant who had apparently come to Yashiro's aid. The other four, seeing that their brother had fallen, backed away warily, but that wasn't enough to save them. The two to Yashiro's right had their masks crushed in by a blurred figure, which moved in a flash to her left to dispatch the hollows there as well.

Despite that, Yashiro could still feel more hollows gathering – more than she had ever sensed in one place before. Some of them were regular hollows, but the majority were stronger, though none were quite menos. Even a captain would have balked at the task ahead of them.

“What squad are you from?” she asked the man who had come to her rescue. “Did they send any other reinforcements?”

“What are you talking about?” The orange haired stranger turned to give her an awkward look. “My name's Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute soul reaper. I'm helping you out of the goodness of my heart, and if you don't like that, I can always leave this mess to you.”

She apologized quickly, “I'm sorry! I'm Yashiro Bito, Squad One, seat six. There are an awful lot of them up there...”

“I'm no pro at sensing reiatsu, but from what I can tell, there's not nearly enough of them.”

The wind had picked up and was tossing Ichigo's flowing back robes suavely across his back, and Zangetsu rested coolly by his side. “Head on back to the seireitei.” he said, “I can take these things.”

She objected, “I'm a seated officer. If I let someone out of the thirteen guard company fight my battles for me, I'd never live it down.”

“Then try to keep up.”

He was gone before she could blink, a blur again that darted across the star-lit sky to cut down unseeable monsters that continued to blossom to life even as their brethren died. She let a weak kidou off at one, but it fizzled out before it reached its target, and really only served to attract the attention of a tall hollow, which lept at her, and was spliced by Ichigo, who shot back into the sky again without a word. She came to realize that he actually had the situation under perfect control.

“I guess I can have my night off after all.” she chuckled humorously, taking a seat on a nearby park bench and watching hollows twinkle out of existence like stars going black.