"Sacrifice is not about what you lose, but what others gain." — Itachi Uchiha.
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Renji let out a huge sigh as he collapsed on the floor with his entire body drenched in sweat. It did not stop the geyser of curses from leaving his mouth though.
Pride and the feeling of accomplishment had him thinking that the training he underwent with Black would be the hardest thing he had ever done in his life… he was wrong.
The hardest thing he'd ever done in his life was trying to get the passing remark of a certain hardass instructor.
The months he spent training with Black had made him a bit of a tryhard but apparently that was not enough to get a good grade/remark from him.
He could get a passable grade, that he was sure of, but why would he settle for average if he wanted to be a Captain in the future. No one who settled for average would ever become a Captain so he wouldn't.
And for that he was going to train his skin off until that dead face of an instructor acknowledged him and his efforts.
"That's it. Another one." He pushed himself up and jumped headfirst back into his training. He couldn't slack off now that he was a student Shinigami. He wouldn't like that. Black wouldn't like that, nor would Rukia. And Captain Byakuya definitely wouldn't like that.
"Spirits, this is way harder than it looks. How does Rukia get it so easily." His shoulders slumped as he bit back the frustration of failing to cast Hadō #4: Byakurai.
They were to start Kidō training, or at least the basics next month, but Rukia was already learning it from some of her teachers in the Kuchiki Clan and had started teaching him a few weeks earlier. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with what they were doing since he knew some of the repeat students had started teaching some of the newer students.
But the fact of the matter still remained that he wasn't anywhere close to fully learning the first five Hadō spells. He definitely couldn't flash cast it like some of the older students.
"Lemme guess, you're having trouble with your little spark show." He heard a particularly obnoxious voice behind him.
A smile threatened to cross his face before annoyance at the mocking tone bloomed.
"It's just not clicking." Without even turning he knew it was Black behind him. "It's not the same as swinging a wooden sword, dammit!"
"Meh." Black stepped into his view with a half shrug. "It's the finer arts so it's obvious brute swinging it ain't gonna work."
As if to further mock him, Black extended a single finger towards one of the training dummies and a crackle of lightning instantly disintegrated it.
Silent casting.
That was way beyond anything he had seen or heard anyone do. No one said anything about being able to silently cast Kidō spells. Just how advanced was Black in Kidō? Matter of fact, just who was Black?
"Oi bastard, stop showing off! Are you trying to spite me?"
"I don't need to try to spite you." Came Black's ever infuriating reply. He truly knew how to get under Renji's with the least effort.
"Whatever," Renji huffed and focused back on trying to cast his Kidō spell before the humanoid distraction known as Black made himself known. However no matter how he tried he just couldn't pull it off well enough.
It took him three seconds after chanting the spell for the spell to form and fly off his hands and then it wasn't even what he would call a standard. Rukia's had more stability(as much stability as lightning could have) and was way more powerful than his, the less said about Black's the better.
"Any tip?" He finally asked Black who was sitting on a platform ratting an apple.
"Hmm… not really. Not at this point at least. You're still developing your Reiatsu muscle. All you need at this point is a good form and repetition to build it up. Get there and then you can finally ask about shortcuts."
"Shit." Renji kicked up a stone that took off the head of a dummy. "This sucks."
Black shrugged. "Well, you're not exactly talented so I don't know why you're complaining about not getting something easily enough. You're not like the rest of us, you know."
"…"
"I hate you." Renji finally said after a short silence. Black said nothing and kept chewing on his apple that never seemed to finish.
"You know, just curious, but how strong are you exactly? Are you like a Fourth or Third Seat? In fact, what Division are you in?"
Black actually chuckled at that though re no couldn't see why. Was it because of his questions?
"Either or." Black said with amusement in his voice.
Renji's brow furrowed. "Either or? That's not an answer. If you don't want to tell me then that's all you have to say. No need to be more of an ass than you already are."
Black swung his leg over and tested his face in his hands. "Where's the fun in that? How about you try to find out? You're curious, aren't you?"
Renji thought about it for a second before shrugging. He was curious, not that curious, but curious still. And besides there was no harm in doing so anyway.
"What are you doing here in the first place?" He asked. Black's mocking had almost made him forget the man's strange appearance. "How did you even get in?"
He very much doubted that the man came in through the front gate in view of everyone. He was as slippery as a snake and as distinct as a chameleon.
Black snorted. "Nothing much. Just wanted to see if you've started slacking since you finally got together with your heartthrob lass."
Renji's face took on the same shade as his hair and he pointed his Zanpakutō at Black. "S-shut up. What the hell are you saying!"
Black shrugged nonchalantly. "Heh, not like I would blame ya. Happy ending and all that."
The pitch black mask was staring straight at him and Renji had a feeling that the eyes behind them were staring somewhat intently at him. It was so… weighty that he unconsciously turned his head to the side.
All of a sudden the feeling was gone and Black was back to his frivolous and annoying self.
"Meh. You are still swinging your stick so you haven't been honeytrapped yet."
The words that were coming out of Black's mouth were so infuriating that the only thing stopping Renji from attacking the man to get him to stop was the knowledge that he would find himself with his back to the ground in the very next second.
He took in a deep breath to calm himself but by the time he opened his eyes Black was gone. How typical.
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...….
[POV: With Itachi]
He had once more returned to the cold efficiency he took with his duties but unlike times past, there was someone who didn't let him use the façade of a cold mask to hide his discomfort.
Yoruichi could be as much as a listening ear and sharp tongue. She'd known immediately, even if not the scheme with Kisuke, that his fallout with Tōshirō was something that got to him even with his frosty exterior. There was only so much he could hide behind his seeming indifference before someone started peeking in through the cracks.
Even as she made him understand that the little he did was the most he could do, there was still that festering of a bitter feeling he felt in his heart, one he felt even sharply when he finally confronted Tōshirō after months had passed.
Regardless of the truth, the pain he had seen in the young boy's eyes was something Itachi had led himself to believe that he couldn't inflict on anyone he cared about. He had told himself countless times in the past that he would never betray the trust those he cared for held of him, and yet he had done the very same thing. Directly or indirectly.
It was a different stabbing wound, one he thought he hid expertly, but as it turned out he didn't hide it well enough because Yoruichi took a single glance at him and knew what was wrong.
"It's not a bad thing. Caring too much. Caring as deep as you do." She had said in the privacy of his office with a comforting hand on his shoulders.
"I know." That had been the only thing he had said.
But then she sighed and draped herself over his shoulders. "Stop moping. Your student didn't die, you know this already. Sure, one of them might hate you but he won't hate you forever. That's a better tradeoff than whatever the alternative was."
He couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips at that point. Sure he had known, but it wasn't until he saw just how undone Tōshirō had been that he understood just how deep the scar had dug. This, he was sure, was an experience that would shape the man Tōshirō would grow up into.
Yoruichi was still draped around his body but for once he couldn't bring himself to push her away. His silent acceptance put a faint smirk on her face, one he pretended he didn't see.
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