Training Exercise

"Well… this isn't working."

Chiaki muttered under her breath, talking to no one in particular, as the ball of spiritual energy she'd been trying to form fizzled out just before reaching any real form of solidity. She wondered if it was standing all day in the sun or if she had just gone crazy from reincarnating, but either way, she was frustrated enough to start talking to herself.

"I guess that's the difference between a human and a shinigami in the end…"

Chiaki had come to the conclusion that, while she had raw power and reiatsu enough, as it was, she didn't have a strong "foundation" to work off of in order to solidify any abilities, in the sense that none of her racial abilities had been awakened to any degree, at least not yet. As things were, she supposed that her racial heritage was the same as Ichigo's: she had Human, Quincy, and Shinigami blood, as well as Hollowified reiatsu from the influence of White from within Masaki. However… first and foremost, she didn't have any fullbring abilities: a little-known fact was that hollow reiatsu wasn't the only ingredient to make one, and a Soul King part of small caliber was necessary to grant the required power over matter. Since there was only one, and Ichigo didn't seem to be any weaker, it seemed he was the twin who received that particular power, meaning that the easiest and quickest method of gaining power was closed off to her for now.

That left the first 3 as possible options. Unfortunately, she hadn't awakened to any particular shinigami power yet, and she guessed she'd probably need to either be given some from a shinigami to jumpstart it or gain it through severing her soul chain and attempting to become a shinigami in that way, both of which weren't options. She didn't have a method in mind to form the hollow mask either, and it would also certainly raise some eyebrows if she did, something she couldn't afford this early. Then, Quincy… that was theoretically possible, but Quincy powers being used early on might raise too much suspicion as well, or at least, Blut Vene and Arterie might, along with any bow and arrow usage. She might be able to come up with something, but for now it wasn't worth the effort. All this power and she couldn't even use it yet…

Chiaki raised her hand again, this time focusing on her wrist: she had an idea now that she had been thinking about racial abilities. A shinigami's main reiatsu vents were located on the wrist, to the point where if they were blocked off the energy flow might cause them to immolate themselves. Shinigami generally had a similar body type to humans, so perhaps human reiatsu vents were located at similar locations. Ignoring some of the passersby who were looking at her weirdly (since of course, they couldn't see what she was actually doing), Chiaki focused on releasing her reiatsu outward, towards her vent on her wrist.

"Come on, come on…."

Chiaki focused a little more on her wrist, and, after a moment, a slightly noticeable burst of power erupted from her arm, stable enough to have a visible form. It wasn't very big, more like a knife than anything, but she felt if she was careful in her release and used it sparingly, she could probably produce a longer beam. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start, especially considering that she was only using her innate spiritual power as a human and nothing else. Still, it was only a knife at the end of the day, it was the sort of thing that would need to be refined by experience.

Chiaki then got a wicked grin on her face: checking to make sure Ichigo's body was still well hidden, Chiaki began walking towards where Rukia and Ichigo had gone off to.

__________

It took about a minute for Chiaki to reach Ichigo and Rukia, and she got them in the middle of returning to the area where they had been talking before. It was pretty easy to find them, since she knew they would be coming back from the park and heading back towards the same area: it wasn't long before Ichigo and his comically large sword came into view, alongside Rukia in her human gigai. Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows upon seeing her, looking a little surprised.

"Chiaki!? What are you doing here, shouldn't you be back there with my body?"

Chiaki waved aside the complaints of her brother without hesitation, a sly grin still on her face. Ichigo and Rukia looked a little uneasy, clearly feeling something was off, but Chiaki paid it no mind.

"Oh, don't worry, I made sure no one would be able to find it. What's more important is checking up on your soul! So, what did you and Rukia do while I was gone?"

Ichigo scratched his head, looking a little unsure, but Rukia stepped in front of him, looking slightly concerned.

"He's decided to help me out and take over my Shinigami duties while I recover. Now, may I ask what's so imperative that you couldn't wait for our return?"

Chiaki shrugged, before beginning to stretch her arms like she was preparing for exercise or warming up for a run.

"Is it so wrong that I wanted to check up on my brother after you pulled out his soul? I just wanted to make sure you didn't have any devious intentions. You passed the test by the way. But now that I know he's doing fine and he's going to be fighting those evil spirits now, I did have a request…"

Chiaki then stood up straight, before getting into a fighting stance, the kind that would be expected of a boxer, a wild grin on her face.

"Ichigo, spar with me! We need to protect each other right? So that means we also have to make sure we aren't in over our heads in this. If you're going to be some sort of spiritual protector, then I need to make sure you're ready to fight, no matter what the situation is!!"

Both Ichigo and Rukia's faces turned to shock; you could practically see the giant "WHAT?!" plastered next to them in a manga text bubble. Rukia was the first to regain her bearings, pointing an accusatory finger at Chiaki.

"That's the most reckless thing I've ever heard from a human mouth! Need I remind you that your brother now has shinigami powers? It's not the sort of strength which a human could match on their own! And what if someone sees you fighting? As a human, you can still be seen even when you fight invisible spirits, fighting would be nothing short of irresponsible!"

Chiaki stood her ground, unphased by Rukia's worries. She liked the shinigami, but she still clearly hadn't warmed up to humans yet, and as a result, was underestimating Chiaki, and that was something that she sought to rectify.

"You've seen me fight yourself, I did pretty well against that hollow at our house, even when Ichigo was struggling. If you're worried about people seeing me though… just use that glove you have with you to knock me out of my body too! If I'm a ghost too, then we can fight without worrying about anyone but spiritual mediums seeing us. It's an airtight plan!"

"But-"

"Hold on shortie… I think Chiaki has a point."

Rukia looked up at Ichigo, clearly expecting some sort of humor or sarcasm to be visible, but to her surprise, Ichigo's face was deadly serious.

"T-That's out of the question! Don't you-"

"I get it. It sounds totally crazy… but I can tell she really means it, and she's right. If a hollow can have any sort of shape, then it makes sense to fight against different kinds of opponents, and Chiaki has a right to learn how to protect herself… or me, if it comes to that. She did a good job last time I guess."

Rukia crossed her arms and fumed, looking angry at their insistence- but after a moment, the junior shingami sighed and relaxed her tense expression.

"Fine. I cannot argue with your judgment, and if you two accept the risks, then I agree this sort of training exercise can certainly help you. But! I will act as a referee for this match, and I will declare the winner when I feel it's right. Now, for the first step…"

As requested, Rukia retrieved the glove she had used previously from her bag, before slipping it onto her hand. Looking toward Chiaki, she hesitated for a moment, before getting an odd look in her eye:

"Do not make me regret this."

With that, Rukia slapped Chiaki with the glove, and a wave of emotions overcame her. First, a feeling of a change in pressure, like a weight had been lifted from her, followed by a feeling of nausea as her senses returned to her. As she blinked and adjusted to the new perspective, the first thing Chiaki saw was her body in Rukia's arms, the petite woman struggling as she pulled her now unconscious form to a bench. While Chiaki regained her footing and pulled herself up, Rukia sat her body in a position to give her the appearance of a napping student. Rukia then sat down next to it, crossing her arms once again as she looked towards the two.

"I take no responsibility for any injuries that occur."

Ichigo and Chiaki both nodded, before looking towards one another. Ichigo was already adjusting his grip on his blade to strike using the blunt side; Chiaki simply grinned and went back into her earlier stance. Blade or not, she was confident in being able to take him on, now that she'd devised a "secret weapon". Ichigo in turn looked a little unsure still, but his eyes showed determination as he steeled himself for combat.

"You better get ready, sis. I hope you're as good as you think you are."

"Trust me, I've got some tricks up my sleeve. I can kick your ass, magic sword or not. bro. Now… let's go!"