Hitsugaya Toshiro and the other guests from Soul Society left after finishing their business. Shirou was finally released from their grasp and went to his room. He laid on his bed, looking up to the ceiling.
"Aizen, the Arrancars, the Visoreds, Ichigo..." Shirou listed all names of the people involved in the upcoming fight. "And then Noel and Ninny."
He couldn't predict what was going to happen, and the uncertainty scared him.
There were many unknowns in the situation. He didn't have any information on Aizen, the one behind the scene and the main culprit, only that he betrayed the soul society and created a group of super soldiers, arrancars.
The most dangerous of the arrancar, the espada, would be the one he had to fight eventually.
Rubbing his temple, Shirou closed his eyes, thinking about his situation. There was nothing much to do right now, especially with the Visored and Soul Society members doing their own thing.
Not only that there was no date or place set for the invasion so they had to be wary of everything all the time, there was also his brother's situation.
"Let's not think about it too deeply. I am not a strategist and there are already people working on a countermeasure. My job is to protect them, so let's do our best."
He sighed again and opened his eyes. The orange-haired boy got off the bed and went to his desk where a stack of paper was neatly stacked on the corner of his table. Taking the first piece, he started to read.
"Okay, let's get serious. I need to master that technique fast." He stood up and left the room.
His destination was the mountain where he always trained.
When he arrived at the destination, he took a deep breath and calmed his mind. Leaves fell from the trees and the sun was high in the sky.
"Okay." He muttered. "Let's do this."
Shirou drew a sword from the air—one that appeared pretty ordinary. There were many things that he learned in his lifetime, including how to wield a sword, and his skill with it wasn't half bad.
But to be able to use this thing properly, he had to be a master swordsman. It required the utmost concentration, precision, and control.
And even then, it was still difficult to use.
"I have to train this too."
Lately, he only trained with bows and arrows. He felt like his swordsmanship skill had regressed slightly, becoming worse than what it was supposed to be.
No matter how he moved, there was this missing sense of balance in his movement, a lack of flow and control that he had experienced with the bow and arrows.
He needed to practice and hone his sword skill so that he could use his ability at its fullest potential.
Taking another breath, Shirou gripped his blade tighter, his eyes narrowed as he looked forward.
"Trace, On." He chanted and reinforced the sword.
Cyan-colored circuits appeared all over the body of the sword and the weapon became sharper, harder, stronger and lighter.
Shirou smiled at his progress, though he wasn't satisfied. There was still room for improvement. His technique was far from being perfect and it was far from the real one used by that cocky bastard.
"Let's do this."
Stepping forward, Shirou did a simple slash. He quickly followed it up with another slash and another one, creating an intricate dance-like pattern with his sword.
He swung and slashed, his feet moved swiftly as he danced around the area. Every step was made carefully, each movement precise, and his sword swings became sharper and sharper.
The sound of the blade cutting the wind filled the air around him.
After a while, Shirou stopped and looked down at the ground beneath his feet, his breathing was ragged and his clothes were soaked in sweat.
Without him realizing, he had trained for half an hour, swinging his sword in every way he knew and slashing the tree in his vicinity. His sword had become dull and cracked, so he discarded it into the air.
"Not good enough."
The crack on the sword ran deeper than it should. His technique was still imperfect, far from perfect. Still, he had gotten better and improved since he first began.
"Again." Shirou said, and another blade came into his hand. "Trace, on."
Twin swords came to life with blue fire on the edge of the blades, and they burned brightly as Shirou started his training anew. He moved swiftly, his feet glided gracefully on the ground and the two blades in his hand danced in perfect unison.
It was a beautiful sight. Shirou was in his own zone, and the world around him seemed to fade away. His eyes were focused on the blades, on his targets and on his movements.
Nothing could stop him.
His hair moved, sweat dripped. Shirou was a master of his body. Every muscle, every nerve was in complete control.
"Trace, on."
Each time his swords got destroyed, he created another one without missing a beat.
Faster. Stronger. Sharper!
He didn't care about his stamina, mana or energy. All he wanted was to be stronger. That was all.
"Huff... Huff..."
How many swords had he created in this training session? Not even Shirou remembered it.
He only knew that his reiryoku had decreased by a lot. Around half of his energy had been spent in this single session, but it wasn't something to worry about.
"Okay, let's move on to the bow." He sighed and threw the broken blade into the air.
His body was tired. His limbs were aching. His eyes were red and dry.
His breathing was ragged, and he could barely keep his eyes open.
Still, training was necessary to keep himself sharp. Ready to face the danger ahead and protect his loved ones. The enemy could come from anywhere and he had to be prepared.
He had to.
***
"What is he doing?"
High in the sky above the mountain, two Dragons, a small and tame version of the real thing, were flying in the air. Each dragon carried a girl with them, one had hair as dark as the night while the other had hair shimmering like gold.
They were wearing casual outfits that showed a glimpse of their figure, Noel with black sweater and jeans, while Ninny chose to wear a turtleneck and a skirt that went down just below her knee. Both still had their distinctive checkered cape with them.
Ninny's gaze was fixed on the ground beneath her. She stared intently at a figure moving in the distance. She couldn't tell what it was exactly from where she stood, but whatever it was seemed busy doing something.
Silver light followed his movement like a river, creating an after-image that lingered for a moment before fading away.
He looked like he was training or practicing his fighting skills.
"That's Shirou, right?" Ninny asked and tilted her head, her long black hair fluttering in the breeze. "What's he doing down there? Practicing some weird moves?"
Noel shook her head. She didn't know what he was doing either. Her red eyes narrowed in thought.
She looked at Shirou, watching his movement closely. There were a lot of strange things going on with him. The way his body moved and how he was holding his weapon.
No matter how they looked at him, he was practicing swordsmanship.
"Isn't his weapon a bow? Why is he practicing swordsmanship?"
"I don't know," Noel replied, "I'm not an expert in this field."
Noel shrugged and continued observing her friend below. She wondered what kind of technique he was using to fight like that. It seemed to involve a lot of movement, as if he were dancing while swinging his sword.
Even as an amateur, they could see that he was a master of the art.
"Come on, let's land somewhere nearby." Ninny said and patted her dragon, "I want to see what he's doing more closely. I've never seen someone fighting like this before. And besides, he might need our help."
Noel didn't argue and followed Ninny.
Soon after that, they found a clearing in the forest where they landed. They hid behind the tree and observed the orange haired teen. They couldn't help but marvel at the sheer intensity and gracefulness of his movements.
He was so fast, his movements so smooth and fluid. They couldn't even follow his sword swing with their naked eyes.
"Whoa, he is fast! And what is that light around his sword?" Ninny's eyes sparkled, impressed at Shirou's skill, "He's good! Hey, isn't he- Why are you staring like an idiot, Noel?"
"Huh? No! I mean, yes, I'm fine. It's nothing!" She said quickly, her cheeks turning red. "It's just... He's very impressive."
Her face was flushed with a light blush and she averted her gaze.
"..." Ninny raised an eyebrow and stared at Noel for a moment. Then she smirked after realizing something, "Are you falling for him?"
Noel gasped and looked away in embarrassment, trying to hide her face from her friend's gaze. She was blushing furiously, unable to look at Shirou or even her best friend.
Surprised, Ninny paused for a second and her smirk got even bigger. Her lips curved upward, forming a wide smile. "Ohoho! Look who got herself a crush! It's so cute!"
"Who's there?"
Due to the commotion they caused, Shirou turned to the direction of the sound.
Both Witches jolted slightly due to the cold tone he used.
And then Shirou blinked and relaxed, sighing when he saw Noel and Ninny, "Oh, it's just you two."