Fourth Division work kept us busy every day, but of course we still had days off.
Today was my very first day off since I started working as a Soul Reaper of the Gotei 13.
…Not that I was actually going to get to spend it relaxing.
“Around here should be fine.”
“Haa…
haa…
Y-Yes…
I think so too…”
Captain Unohana said it as calmly as ever, while I somehow managed to nod between ragged breaths.
“What is the matter?
Getting exhausted by this little is rather pathetic.
What exactly did you learn at Shin’ō Academy?”
“M-My apologies…”
It had all started the day before.
Just before the end of work, Captain Unohana had told me, “I’ll train you tomorrow.
Be in front of the barracks at sunrise.”
She hadn’t asked whether I had plans.
She hadn’t exactly left room for refusal either.
Very much like her, I suppose…
Well, I didn’t have any prior plans at all, so it was fine.
And then came today.
While the morning mist was still hanging in the air, I’d rubbed the sleep from my eyes and gone to the meeting place, only to find Captain Unohana already there.
“We’re changing locations.
Follow me.”
That was all she said.
From there, we’d kept moving without a single proper break, and now we were…
somewhere in the mountains of Rukon District, probably.
I honestly had no idea where.
Keeping up with her had taken everything I had.
I hadn’t had anywhere near enough spare attention to memorise the route.
We’d done training at the Academy where we had to stay active for long periods while carrying our Zanpakutō, luggage and protective gear.
But this wasn’t even comparable.
This time I’d only brought my Zanpakutō, a change of clothes, a little food and a water flask.
It should have been a fairly light load, easy to move around with.
Apparently that didn’t matter at all when the amount of movement was this ridiculous.
“Well, this will do for today—next time, we’ll move a little faster—”
“…Huh?”
Did she just mutter that last part under her breath…?
No.
She definitely said it quietly on purpose so I’d hear it.
She could have run much faster if she’d wanted to.
She’d deliberately matched her pace to mine…
Damn it.
I thought I understood the gap between a captain and someone like me.
But having it shoved in my face again made me realise just how absurdly far apart we really were.
“Then let’s begin…
your training.”
“…Ah!?”
No sooner had she said it—
No, she absolutely moved before she’d even finished speaking—
Captain Unohana slashed at me.
From my perspective, the attack looked like nothing more than a thread-thin flash of light.
Instinct, reflex and sheer terror moved my body for me.
I drew my sword and barely managed to block.
“Haaah…
haaah…”
“Hmm.
So you can stop at least this much.
Good.
I was beginning to think I might lose my student on the very first exchange.”
The moment I caught the blow and looked into Captain Unohana’s eyes, I understood.
That strike—
Even though she’d held back enormously—
had been a genuine killing blow.
If I hadn’t dodged or blocked it, she really would have cut me down on the spot.
Realising that after the fact sent an unbearable fear surging up from the bottom of my heart.
My entire body started trembling.
My teeth wouldn’t stop chattering.
I hadn’t even done anything, and suddenly breathing itself felt difficult.
…Compared with this, every bit of killing intent I’d ever felt before was just child’s play.
So this is the real thing…
Real killing intent.
“F-First exchange…?
You don’t mean there’s going to be a second and third…?”
“I won’t go that far just yet.
For now, I’m only determining the extent of your abilities.”
…Just yet!?
N-No.
Let’s not think about that right now!!
“Next, Yukawa.
It’s your turn.
I won’t attack you at all, so show me what you can do.”
“Y-Yes…!”
As if to demonstrate just how much room she had to spare, she sheathed her sword and spread both arms, practically inviting me to come at her from anywhere.
So I swung my Zanpakutō and attacked her again and again.
Downward cut.
Upward cut.
Diagonal slash.
Horizontal sweep.
Thrust.
I threw every basic Zanjutsu attack I knew at her with everything I had.
But—
“Too soft.
When your opponent shows no openings, do you truly have no plan at all?”
“Ghh…!
T-Take this!!”
“What is the matter?
Are you still half asleep?
Your blade is already slowing.”
“Gyaah!!”
“Who told you that you could stop?
I told you to show me what you can do.”
“Bweh!!”
After she’d avoided every one of my attacks several times over, fists started flying at me.
Eventually, she punched me hard enough to send me sprawling.
And that still wasn’t the end of it.
In the end, she even stepped on me.
“C-Captain…”
“Yes?”
“You said…
you weren’t going to attack…”
“And I didn’t.
That was instruction.
A weak attack is something an enemy will naturally exploit.”
“…And the last stomp?”
“That was a bonus.”
…That’s awful.
Wait.
I’m lying here face-down on the ground, but she’s not following up.
No extra blow.
No bonus.
What’s going on?
“Putting that aside, Yukawa.
There is something I would like to ask you.”
“W-What is it…?”
I couldn’t exactly stay collapsed forever, so I pushed myself up as I answered.
“There is something strange about the way you use a sword.
It feels as though you are forcing yourself to swing a weapon far too large for your frame.
Do you have any idea why that might be?”
“Any idea…?”
If there was one, then…
“The only places I learned swordsmanship were Shin’ō Academy and, before that, from my master.
So I suppose it would have to be one of those.”
“And who is this master of yours?”
“Danzomaru—ah, he’s the gatekeeper at the northern Seirei Gate.”
“…I see.
So that is the reason.”
The instant she heard his name, Captain Unohana looked as though everything had clicked into place.
“Yukawa, your swordsmanship is Danzomaru’s swordsmanship.
In other words, it is a style built for a giant of a man the size of a mountain to swing his weapon.
Of course problems arise when a small person like you tries to use it.”
“A sword style for a giant…”
I might be tall, but I’m still only human-sized.
I shouldn’t be comparing myself to Master, a man so enormous I had to crane my neck until it hurt just to look up at him.
If someone as comparatively tiny as me copied the swordsmanship of a person that size, then of course something would go wrong.
…Master.
Why didn’t you tell me…?
And my Academy teachers too…
“Against opponents at the level of Academy students, you can still make it work.
But in actual combat, your swordsmanship is nothing short of reckless.
We will need to begin by correcting that flawed swordsmanship.”
“Correcting them…?”
Right.
According to the captain, I’ve spent fifty years drilling the wrong sword mechanics into my body.
Before anything else, I need to erase those habits and learn a way of fighting that actually suits my own size.
“So…
do we start with practice swings?”
“That would be useful, but you can practise those alone.
I’ll put together the key points for you later.
When you train by yourself, I expect you to drill them thoroughly.
Understood?”
Sounds like she’s going to give me something like a personal training programme.
…Judging from everything that’s happened so far, I get the feeling I’ll have to train every day after work and sacrifice sleep just to have any hope of keeping up.
“Yes!
…Then what are we doing now?”
“Something you cannot practise alone, naturally.
Defensive training.”
As she said it, the captain swung her sword at me again.
“Wah!?”
“Your centre of gravity is wavering.
At that rate, every blocked strike will leave you in a worse position than the last.”
“That’s danger—!?”
“Your flexibility, at least, is acceptable.
With that, you should be less likely to take a fatal wound.
Next time, I’ll put a little more force into it!”
And so began a training session consisting entirely of defending against Captain Unohana’s sword.
The attacks coming at me were set at a level I could just barely block if I put everything I had into it.
And they kept coming again and again, with almost no pause between them.
She watched my condition the whole time and adjusted her attacks so that every response demanded something right at the edge of my limit.
Mind.
Technique.
Body.
If even one of those slipped for a moment, I had no doubt she’d cut me down before I knew what had happened.
Forced to read Captain Unohana’s attacks and choose the best possible response in an instant, I endured a training session with no end in sight.