Miyuki: Bond Between Words CHAPTER 5

Chapter 5

Grimmjow and Miyuki walked along the huge hallways. Grimmjow suddenly stopped, turned, and tossed the extra sword to Miyuki.
"What?" Miyuki asked as she clumsily caught it. "Why are we stopping?"
"Duh, isn't it obvious, kid?" Grimmjow sighed. "This is where we're gonna be training."
"Right in the middle of the hallway?" Miyuki asked, puzzled.
"Keep answering questions and I'll have to pull your hair again." Grimmjow turned to face her. "Now, who's gonna strike first?"
"What do you m…Agh!" Miyuki dodged a vicious looking punch from Grimmjow. "What are you doing? You haven't even drawn your sword yet!"
"If I drew my sword, I'd slice through that stick like butter." Grimmjow made another swing at her, which Miyuki only just deflected. "Now, are you gonna keep dodging these attacks or are you gonna make your own?" Miyuki blinked, hesitated, and swung half-heartedly at him. Grimmjow didn't even step out the way; he just held the blade with his bare hands.
"What was that? That was terrible!"
"I…I didn't want to hurt you…" Miyuki stammered. Grimmjow groaned.
"Kid, even if you did give it your all, you wouldn't hurt me. Now, are you gonna try harder, or am I gonna have to find something else better to do?" Miyuki took a deep breath, and then began to swing at him with all her might. But Grimmjow kept side stepping away, and she didn't land one hit on him. Miyuki's face tightened with determination. She swung again, only Grimmjow jumped out the way. She managed to cut his trousers before he landed behind her and swung a punch again. She whipped around and blocked it with her katana. Grimmjow laughed and fell back.
"Hey, I guess you're not too bad for a dumb kid." He stated. "Your attacks are terrible, but you're pretty agile. But…" his smiled disappeared. "I was going pretty slowly."
"You…" Miyuki was taken aback. Slowly…? That was the fastest she'd seen anyone move in her life! She looked up at him, only to find that he wasn't there. For a split second she wondered, until from behind her she saw a hand appear and grabbed her into a headlock.
"See? Now that's the general speed of a Soul Reaper. You wanna fight them? You gotta learn how to move faster than that." He let Miyuki go. She rubbed her neck. He patted her head.
"I think that's enough for today's lesson. But I'll pick you up tomorrow and we'll go at it for longer." Grimmjow told her. She nodded, excited.
Over the next few weeks of living in Hueco Mundo, as well as researching as many things she thought would help her big brother, everyday she would train with Grimmjow. Whether it was sword training, hand-to-hand sparring or even just Grimmjow ordering her to do a bunch of push-ups when he was feeling lazy, Miyuki put her all into everything, even though she hated push-ups.

This particular morning, Miyuki had been waiting longer than usual to go to their usual training spot. Where was he? Grimmjow was barely ever late. Miyuki looked out around the corridor. She decided to go look for him at their spot; maybe he was waiting for her there? After about half an hour of walking, Miyuki knew that she was utterly, utterly lost. She didn't recognize where she was, and had no idea how to get back. She tried walking up the same corridor several times to see where she had turned wrong.
"You are not permitted here, Miss Aizen." Miyuki whipped around to see an arrancar with black hair and a white face. She recognized him as Ulquiorra Schiffer, Espada number four.
"I…I got lost."
"Looking for what?"
"I, uh, was looking for Grimmjow. Do you know where he is?"
"Your line of work does not involve Grimmjow. You do not need to see him." Ulquiorra replied. "However, today he has been sent on a mission. He most likely won't return until the end of the day, so you may as well return to your room, which is that way, Miss Aizen." Ulquiorra pointed down the hallway to a corridor Miyuki hadn't thought of looking in yet. Miyuki nodded and uttered an inaudible thank you under her breath and scurried along the hallway.

I suppose I can't train today after all, Miyuki thought to herself. She wondered what Grimmjow would think of all this. She imagined him talking to her now. "Dumb kid, use your initiative!" Initiative…Miyuki paused and looked out of a huge window to Hueco Mundo, where the hollows lived. The Hollows! That was why Soul Reapers trained in the first place, right? She could train out there! She rushed down, to wherever the exit might be.

Outside, in the sandy-white landscape and the ever-dark sky, Miyuki looked around, clutching her zanpakuto tightly. On one side of her, there was nothing but desert. And on the other, a huge forest. There was an inhuman roar behind her. Miyuki's eyes lit up with excitement. A hollow! It advanced towards her and she swung her zanpakuto right through its head (she had researched hollows beforehand and knew their weak spot). It disappeared. Miyuki gasped with delight. There were more growls. She had stirred up a commotion, and now the others decided to get in on the fight. She wielded her zanpakuto and fended off the attackers. One by one, they disappeared…But Miyuki noticed that more and more were gathering, faster than she could defeat them. I'll have to defeat them all the more faster! She thought, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't kill them all. She made a quick decision, and began to run as fast as she could back to Las Noches, but there were so many, they simply caught up with her and encircled her again. She ran back and forth, trying to shake them off, eventually running into the forest, only more became entangled in the rest of the hollows. Miyuki's chest heaved up and down. So this is it, she thought. I am going to die here. I am going to die here because I am too weak.

"You are not too weak."
Miyuki looked up. She was no longer surrounded by hollows in a forest in Hueco Mundo. She was in a glimmering cave of crystals. There was no noise, not even her breath was heard, except for the silent wind. And then she looked around. A light, shining so brightly she couldn't make out the silhouette beneath it.
"You are not too weak." The voice repeated. "You are simply not strong enough."
"Isn't that the same thing?" Miyuki asked the light.
"Oh, no, Miyuki. Many people make that mistake. You are not weak, you are simply not strong enough…yet."
"How do I become stronger?" Miyuki asked, the silent winds getting louder.
"Call my name."
"But what is your name?"
"My name…? My name is…." The silent winds grew ever louder, so loud they were deafening. Miyuki opened her eyes, back in the forest filled with hollows, advancing, attacking.


"Purify…Junsuina Kessho!"