Chapter 20: Training
A few weeks later.
"Urgh!" Jin grunted after he received a kick to his abdomen. His legs felt the friction beneath them and the sheer pressure of the momentum nearly send him flying backward.
But by now, he was already used to getting hit that hard and was able to keep his balance up while enduring the pain that his legs signaled through his nerves.
Panting heavily he came to a stop. His body was already trembling from all the abuse he went through. Even that last bit of strength that was used to put up his arms in front of his body to block that attack now seemed to fade away.
"Don't lower your guard." Right at that moment when those words from Hiyori fell, she appeared with a skilled Shunpo in front of Jin and already executed a vertical kick from above that was headed to his head.
Gritting his teeth Jin pushed his limits and shifted his arms that were still in front of his chest in a upward motion above his head.
All the heaviness from Hiyori´s leg came crashing down onto his crossed forearms. It immediately pressured his whole body into the ground. And at first, it looked like Jin would lose that clash and be knocked out after giving in.
But his legs kept up with the pressure when he entered into a horse stance and the contact came to a halt.
A slight smirk appeared on his face that Hiyori immediatelly saw when he looked at her.
Seeing that made her snort. "Good. But..." Twirling around and using Jin´s defense position as an initial aide she placed another kick to his abdomen after spinning.
His defense was broken because it was still occupied with her other leg and now that attck clearly hit him hard.
This time around he even went straight flying and sliding over the ground for a few meters until he stopped.
"...don't get too cocky just because you got slightly better. Your Hakuda is barely passable. Especially when someone is faster than you in Hoho you are getting sloppy with your defense."
Hiyori now mentioned some advice for Jin as if she was waiting for a reply. Normally she would have gotten a response from him but this time there was actually only silence as a response.
Noticing that she went ahead and came closer to him. What she saw was Jin lying on the ground knocked out and breathing soundly in his sleep.
"Knocked out already?" A smile appeared on her face while looking down at him.
"Arent you going a little bit too far with them?", asked another person that now appeared behind Hiyori with a silent Shunpo.
"You again? What is it this time?", asked Hiyori in a somewhat annoyed manner. It was apparent that this person already visited more than once and always made her mood bad.
"I will have to tell you again that doing such harsh training can harm them. And..."
"Your mission is to keep them safe, right? I heard that like 8 times now.", interrupted Hiyori and sighed. "Listen, its only training and it's them that want it to be this hard. Just tell Captain Shihouin that everything is fine as always."
"..." The person clad in ninja-like clothing stayed silent for a second before looking at Jin. Then her gaze went on to Matsuri and Fujimaru who were also lying around on the ground a little bit further away. All of them were once more in an unconscious state.
"Fine, but remember what I said. If you go too far I will have to eliminate you. Yoruichi-Sama was pretty clear in her wording.", hissed the person now.
"Hoo~? Do you really think you can handle me? Arent you still too green, kid?", smirked Hiyori back at what was clearly a young Soi Fon.
Soi Fon only smiled back. "Your Hakuda isn't that impressive. Yoruichi-Sama is way better than you in it. I have learned under her and can tell that you will be no match for me."
"That will be left to be seen, won't it?" Between the two sparks started to fly. One person was angry because someone endangered the VIP that her master ordered to be protected and the other was angry about being underestimated as well as annoyed by that behavior of always appearing and warning her.
But before the two could pounce at each other Jin groaned and woke up. Before he could see her, Soi Fon did a Shunpo to a distant place and remained on her lookout.
Hiyori also just sighed. "Back from the dead? How do you feel?"
"Tired...extremely. You really don't use velvet gloves when teaching us.", answered Jin and stayed on the ground for a while.
"Was there someone just now?"
Hiyori was surprised for a moment. "No one but me. Why?"
"I just thought I heard someone. Maybe I had the twins in mind. Well, looks like I am still the first to wake up as usual."
When his body felt somehow reliable to be used again, he slowly stood back up. He was still extremely wobbly on his feet but at least could stand now.
"Ugh..." He sighed now. "Now to the really bad part of the day...Would you be so kind?"
On Hiyori her face a really big grin appeared. She equipped her right hand with a red glove that had a blue flame on it.
"With pleasure", she said and moved in front of him. Then with her fingers positioned into a grabbing motion, she penetrated Jin´s chest and retrieved a small ball-shaped object out of him.
Right then Jin started to feel extremely nauseous and nearly threw up. His body could not stand anymore and he fell back on his ass.
It was that damn items fault. Every time it was taken out it put so much vertigo to one's mind it was amazing. Jin still wondered why it had such an effect even though it was inside his chest.
And truth be told he really threw up the first times when he used it the very first time. The same occurred to Matsuri and Fujimaru. So he was sure it was a nasty after effect of this pill. There was also the effect that their hunger skyrocketed after using the pill because of their depleted Reiryoku.
But all that was only a very small price to pay. All three of them clearly noticed the improvements they had in their overall performance in all disciplines after using this Reiryoku suppressing medicine.
Of course, at first, it was hell to use these pills because they felt like literal rocks that could do nothing but stand and gaze at the sky. Their bodies were sometimes even pushed hard to the ground as if gravity increased exponentially.
The explanation from Urahara was that they did the training in an exhausted state and that it would affect their usual routine. Jin actually doubted his words because of a certain fact.
Maybe he did not know it himself, but with time they became better in doing their training in that tired state. And that would have been all good and well, but the pill somehow seemed to also adapt and increased in difficulty each time they improved. At least it was the case for him.
And now that it left Jin's body, he could clearly feel the Reishi surrounding him. The Spiritual Pulse of Soul Society entered his sweaty pores and nourished his tired body that was lifted from massive boulders on it.
Jin noticed that reaching one´s peak health condition in Soul Society was not even that hard and wounds healed much faster than what he remembered from his old life. At least in this realm. The human world was probably still a rather low end in that regard.
The Reishi here in Soul Society was extremely dense and plentiful. But also hard to control through one's will. That was also a reason for why most Shinigami could not fly in the sense where they create a footing with Reishi underneath their soles the same way they did in the human world.
"Alright, I will start some meditation now. Thank you for taking some time for us as always, Hiyori."
"Jin?" Hiyori raised an eyebrow.
"Hiyori-Sensei." Jin corrected himself and smiled back tiredly. He actually didn't even have the strength left to argue about anything. "If there is something important, just wake me and the others up." Then he went on and grabbed his Asauchi and started meditation.
Hiyori just watched him sit there and start his meditation. She glanced over to her own Zanpakuto and started wondering if she should start to redo her own meditation.
When Jin always meditated his Reiryoku felt frantic and started to fluctuate greatly and that made her wonder why their ways in communication were so different. Did she do something wrong and that is why she makes no progress with her own Zanpakuto anymore?
Sighing she glanced over to Matsuri and Fujimaru. Even these two started to have that same phenomenon while meditating. And that straight after Jin only once told them to imagine a world as a place for them to talk to their swords. Not just insert your Reiryoku into the blade and telepathically talk with it but truly speak with one's very own soul.
Needless to say, Hiyori also tried out that dreamlike state and didn't really bear any fruits in regards to her Zanpakuto.
It somewhat made her angry but at the same time let her feel refreshed and at peace seeing a vast forest of red acorn trees inside her own world. The picture of the beautiful autumn that she loved so much was her own inner world.
And seeing them make such hasty improvements also made her happy. As a teacher, she was really proud. And it has to be mentioned that Hiyori did not only start teaching them Hakuda like it was planned at first. But Hoho and Zanjutsu became subjects too.
The only thing she really couldn't help out with was the Kido section.
A major influence was Jin. He used honeyed words in tempting her. Well, mostly they were provocations and a challenge to her at first but after she -proved- herself he started complimenting her.
Which turned out to be an easy way of getting Hyori to cooperate. He basically used her the way he needed her. And she would be none the wiser. But to not be an asshole he always made it up with some sweets and stuff.
Hiyori apparently likes candy.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Soulcrystal
Soulcrystal Hmm, my ideas seem to overlap with other FF and since I am a slow ass turtle with my releases I will have to rethink stuff to make it somewhat worthwhile to read I guess.
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