A Hollowed Heart

Advancement in power

(none of the art is mine)

Rukia was woken up by a light jab to her ribs. Turning over on her side she was able to see y/n looking down on her with his still eyes.

In a matter of seconds she was up and standing at attention.

"Today we will be working on your speed. Have you heard of the human game tag?"

The question was almost comical but she dared not laugh, so she just nodded.

"Good, today we shall be doing that with you using shunpo and I using sonido",her pale teacher spoke.

The ravenette had no time to react before she felt a hand on her shoulder. "you're it", a voice spoke followed by the buzz of static.

Rukia followed soon after,but was unsuccessful in her attempts to touch the arrancar.

She knew that he would not hold back in his training but this just seemed like he was picking on her.

Everytime she would touch him her hand would phase right through and it would be an after image.

By the 4th hour of being unable to tag her sensei she began thinking of ways to gauge her shunpo to go farther and be more accurate so she'd actually be able to land a lit.

A voice broke her concentration,"You are overthinking, speed has nothing to do with being precise or how far you go. You must do what comes naturally to you. Do not think let your instincts guide your actions"

The pale man stood silently watching his pupil comprehend the information, when her face went completely blank and she locked eyes with him.

He blinked and when he opened his eyes Rukia was in front of him. Her small hand missed him by an inch then she was gone once more.

Around him the sand was kicking up from seemingly no source. It was easy to tell however, Rukia was flashing in and out of sight at extraordinary speeds.

In his base form it was difficult to keep up with the speed but he knew he could get her faster but it could wait until later. For now this speed was adequate, if she managed to tag him that is.

The shinigami attempted to tag him a few more times which he was able to avoid (barely).

Their speed training would come to an end when y/n sensed a presence above him. He backstepped avoiding Rukia coming down with the speed of a falling star but was unprepared to feel a hand on his back.

Craning his head behind him Rukia was standing there with a smug smirk on her face.

Seeing the smile on her face y/n stared a bit longer than was necessary before saying in a monotone voice,"Good you are able to handle the basics. We will be perfecting your speed, swordsmanship, and strength for the next six months. I will not attempt to  make any changes to your Shikai. Before you complain your Shikai is the embodiment of your fighting style any attempts to change it would only cause negative effects."

Rukia: Yes sensei, I thank you in advance for this opportunity to learn from you.

Y/n gave a curt nod while drawing his sword,"Very well, you shall hone these skills through actual combat. Prepare yourself from this point on there will be no mercy on the battlefield." 

His short companion said nothing but mimicked his stance and rushed forward.

(I'd write a fight scene for this but it's like literally just sword combat with the occasional cero to help Rukia hone her kido)

Several hours later~

Rukia was laying on her back exhausted from training. Both her and y/n were sporting damaged clothing, hers being worse than y/n's.