Chapter 10: The Mushroom Woman in the Inner World
Fifth Division, Spiritual Power Restoration Chamber.
The gleaming polished floor was like a mirror, reflecting the figure of the person seated cross-legged at its center.
Shimiya Takeru held a calligraphy copybook in his hands, staring at the painting-like characters for a long moment before finally closing his eyes.
The copybook was filled with his own handwriting.
Before every session in the Spiritual Power Restoration Chamber, he would write the first character down without hesitation, guided entirely by instinct.
Then he would throw himself completely into visualizing, in his mind, the thing represented by that character.
He did it with the resolve to make it real.
There could be no wavering.
Shiba Ganju had once said that imagination was the true key to Kido.
Douhagane Aura had also proven through action that controlling spirit particles and souls was the real essence of Kido.
From that, a conclusion naturally followed.
Shinigami Kido was the act of using one's will to manipulate one's own soul and spirit particles, creating all kinds of impossible spiritual phenomena.
So, where should training focus?
The answer was already clear.
Shimiya Takeru's training covered everything.
Writing characters by instinct and then staring at them was a way to awaken and stir his instincts.
Visualizing the object behind the character was a full workout for his mind.
Prolonged visualization, on the surface, was training his concentration, but in truth it was training his self-control, making it easier to treat "manipulating his soul" as the same thing as "controlling himself."
And the mental energy consumed in this process was a direct test of his willpower.
Even the one part that seemed untouched, the manipulation of spirit particles, was not actually being neglected.
The environment inside the Spiritual Power Restoration Chamber was strange.
An invisible force seemed to fill the air, seeping into the body.
It did not just relieve the physical strain caused by mental exhaustion. It rapidly restored his mental energy during that dull, arduous process, allowing his training to continue far longer than normal.
As if triggering a chain reaction, it also stirred his spiritual pressure, letting it rise to the surface of his body, ready to respond to his will and take shape at any moment.
It felt almost exactly like the preliminary steps before casting Kido.
All that was missing was the incantation, the spoken formula, the final trigger that made it real.
It was easy to imagine what would happen.
Once his body and mind adapted to this state and engraved that feeling into themselves, casting Kido would surely become fluid and natural.
It really did have the feel of an expert's method.
"To let even those who are not geniuses become strong. That hope is the fulcrum that keeps the squad members emotionally stable."
From this one sentence alone, it was obvious Aizen had not been speaking lightly.
The secret he had passed on carried that much weight.
It was also worth mentioning that a simplified, refined version of this very method would one day appear in the sixth year Spirit Arts Academy textbooks, venerated by Ise Nanao as the distilled essence of Kido.
Without something like the Spiritual Power Restoration Chamber, training this way would be pure self-destruction and not worth the price at all.
Even most Fifth Division members, who lacked either instinct or calligraphy talent, had to practice a lower grade, simplified version instead.
…
The white sky looked unusually dirty, like stirred concrete.
Shimiya Takeru blinked and slowly lowered his gaze to the ground.
The earth beneath him was cracked and endless.
All across the landscape stood countless umbrella-shaped, mushroom-like things, clustered thickly like twisted trees or fields of flowers.
Takeru felt slightly unnerved. If someone had painted this scene, it would have been a thoroughly unsettling picture, a world of nothing but mushrooms climbing the mountains and plains under a flat white sky, monotonous yet strangely grotesque.
Especially because it was so quiet.
There was no wind and no insects, not even the faintest sound. Everything was smothered in an absolute, eerie silence, as if whatever life had once been here had been drained away by those mushroom shapes. Even so, the mushrooms themselves held no sense of life. They were withered and dead, only husks.
Takeru gradually remembered.
He had been training, and then, without warning, he had appeared here.
Appeared inside…
His own inner world.
"You do not seem very pleased. And who could blame you. The scenery here really is not very pretty."
The voice that rang out was sharp and clear, hard to tell if it was male or female, but it immediately brought to mind the cry of a proud eagle cutting through the sky.
The sound came from above.
Takeru lifted his eyelids and looked up.
A figure slowly drifted down from the murky sky that had been making him dizzy just moments before.
She had long flowing hair, a white cloak lined with shifting colors, and on her head sat an enormous mushroom cap. It was impossible to tell whether it was a hat or part of her body.
High density spirit particles glowed blue beneath the cap and along the inner lining of her cloak.
The underside of her black hair was streaked with blue, and a gem-like core, the color of a sapphire, was set into her chest.
Her blue eyes shone even more brightly than her refined, feminine features.
Beneath the cloak, her long legs were wrapped in black boots that made her snow white skin stand out even more.
A strip of bare calf was exposed, faint blue patterns glowing faintly on her skin.
The strangely dressed yet striking woman floated in the air and looked down at Shimiya Takeru with a calm, dignified smile.
She stood as if she were the true master of this world.
No.
More precisely, as if she were its god.
"I have never thought of myself as pretty, and I am not unhappy either. I do not care what my inner world looks like. With my situation, there is nothing strange about it being bizarre."
Takeru did not show even a flicker of surprise. He spoke to her like he was talking to an old acquaintance, stating simple facts.
"But I am very unhappy, trapped in a place like this and unable to leave."
The mushroom woman tilted her head slightly. Her smile did not fade in the slightest.
"Do you really want to leave?"
"Of course. Who would want to be locked up in a world like this?"
"I have heard that powerful Zanpakuto regard their masters as shackles. Are you that kind of person?"
"What do you think?"
"I think you are not."
"Not?"
"Not."
Takeru answered without hesitation, and the mushroom woman's smile suddenly bloomed.
She spun lightly in the air, then descended like falling petals until she landed before her master.
There was less than a meter between them. Their eyes met and locked, each reflecting only the other, until it felt like even the world around them had become unnecessary.
"A Zanpakuto is its master's power."
"Only fools are devoured by their own desires. There are no masters who are abandoned by their Zanpakuto, only those who abandon themselves."
"I used to waver between those two extremes, but you have already made the choice for me."
Her voice was soft and intimate.
Takeru frowned.
"I do not like the sound of that. It makes it sound like I was some fool who could be swallowed by his own desires at any time up until now."
"Were you not?"
"No."
"Hahaha. You truly were not."
"Calling it 'desire' is far too modest. It is the everyday mindset of a superior being, more exaggerated than any god."
"And what exactly is wrong with an everyday mindset?"
"Nothing at all. Even if there were, as long as I exist, I will wipe it away."
She leaned down until her forehead touched his.
The shade of the enormous mushroom cap completely covered him, as if the two of them were overlapping.
"In return, to wield me, you need that everyday mindset."
"So when you call my name, lower your voice. Speak the way you are speaking now, like you are whispering to the other you in your heart."
"Then I will become you, and you will become me. We will become one and together we will erase everything you dislike outside, completely and without leaving a single trace."
The instant she finished, Takeru's vision blurred.
When it cleared, he was already back in reality.
Inside the Spiritual Power Restoration Chamber, everything was exactly as before. Only the mushroom woman's clear, violent voice still echoed in his ears.
"..."
Takeru lowered his gaze to the Asauchi at his waist.
It was slightly different from when he had first received it.
The hilt had turned blue, and the tsuba was no longer simply round or square. Its outline echoed the shape of the mushroom cap.
He drew the blade in one smooth motion and stared at the cold gleam of the steel.
His lips parted. He felt a powerful urge to speak the words in his heart.
But Takeru forced the urge down.
If he released it here and shouted the command, this Spiritual Power Restoration Chamber, and possibly the surrounding buildings, would almost certainly crumble to dust in an instant. The premonition was crystal clear.
"Shimiya-kun, are you done training? It is time to eat."
A clear, gentle voice called out.
Takeru looked up and saw a bright eyed young girl standing before him.
The vice captain badge on her shoulder made it easy to recognize her.
Hinamori Momo, Vice Captain of the Fifth Division.
Because he and Ichigo had been using the Spiritual Power Restoration Chamber so frequently, and had constant contact with Aizen himself, they had naturally crossed paths with her many times.
As time passed, their relationship had gradually warmed.
Takeru could feel that her smile now was far more genuine than when they had first met.
She would even take the initiative to come get him when it was time to eat, just like today.
"Captain Aizen's methods put a big strain on your body, so please do not push yourself too hard."
"With your persistence, Shimiya-kun, in a few more years you will definitely catch up to me."
It was hard to say whether Hinamori's words were encouragement or a bit of boasting, but they were undeniably warm.
Even if she was secretly proud of her own current level in Kido, no one would find it annoying. It felt more like a little girl being quietly pleased with herself.
"It is tough, but it is worthy of sensei's reputation."
Takeru did not pay the tone much mind. He picked up his Zanpakuto and casually lifted it to show her.
"They said practicing calligraphy would help with Kido and with meditating on the sword. I did not expect the results to show up this fast."
"..."
Hinamori stared at the weapon for a second.
Her memory was excellent. Even from a quick glance earlier, she remembered clearly that his sword had not looked like this before.
That change could mean only one thing.
"Shimiya-kun, have you already achieved Shikai?"
"Yes. It happened a bit faster than I thought. I figured I would need a few more months of grinding first."
"..."
Even if it had taken a few more months, it would still have been shockingly fast.
Since the founding of the Spirit Arts Academy, how many first years had awakened their Zanpakuto's release?
At this pace, with this level of spiritual power, he might reach the ultimate secret of Zanpakuto combat, Bankai itself, before he even graduated.
"I understand how Captain Aizen feels now."
Hinamori looked at the young man standing there, radiating pressure and promise, and felt a complicated mix of envy and frustration.
"A genius like this really cannot be left alone."
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