Tatsuki clasped her hands in front of her chest and bowed down in an earnest manner. She begged him with pleading eyes.
'Why me? I am not good at karate.'
Someone from the karate club apparently had an injury during practice, leaving the teacher short-handed for their training session next week.
Tatsuki, as a member of the club and their ace, asked her friend for help.
The first one flashing in her mind was Shirou or Ichigo. But since Ichigo was out with Sado, the choice was narrowed to Shirou.
She had asked the other members but they couldn't do it due to their schedule. Shirou was the only one free at that time, and so she was here.
"Are you sure about it?" Shirou scratched his cheek, feeling awkward, "I don't think I am the right person to do that."
"You will do just fine." She raised her head and smiled at him, "Just help them train. That's all. You can do the training method you use to kill that Hollow or anything. Just for today, okay?"
She pleaded to him again and again until Shirou sighed.
"I have nothing like that, but... Well, I can just join them in their training, right?"
"Yes! I really owe you one, Shirou! That will do just fine." She beamed at him.
Shirou just shrugged at her.
"Whatever. I hope this training is going to be a success. When will it happen?"
"Right now."
"Now?"
This time, he couldn't help but rub his temple.
Why did everyone like to do something so suddenly?
Heaving a sigh of defeat, Shirou followed Tatsuki from behind. Their destination was a mountain area located behind another park near the edge of town.
It was a place that wasn't frequented much and it was the ideal location for an outdoor activity like training.
Tatsuki led the group wearing karate gi as she guided them through the forest, her eyes were sharp and alert, and the others were also cautious. The air was thick with tension as they trekked further in the forest.
After some time of walking and running, the Karate club and Shirou reached a clearing near an observation area overlooking the town. There, they decided to have their break. Tatsuki then ordered them to sit down while she began to explain about their training.
"Everyone! Today we will start our special outdoor training! As you all know, we are short-handed and have a special helper. Shirou will help us today!"
"Hi." Shirou raised his hand, waving lightly. "I won't be able to help much, though. I am more of an observer, but I'll make sure you get through this training safely. My advice will help you improve yourself and your technique. That's all."
Tatsuki continued with her explanation after that, "Our training will start after the break."
"Well, you will run from here until you reach that big tree." She pointed to a large, ancient tree located at the end of the path leading out of the forest, "And then we will practice some karate techniques to test your stamina and endurance."
"Yes!"
Following her instructions, everyone began to move and started running towards the tree she had pointed out earlier.
Some were panting hard as they tried their best to keep up with the others and some were barely sweating even after a few laps around the park.
Shirou stood next to Tatsuki, watching them run.
The training itself was nothing special. Just a few physical exercises, and a practice on basic movement and stance. Though there was one part that Shirou didn't expect.
"Let's have a spar, Shirou."
It was the fact that Tatsuki would drag Shirou to spar.
Facing each other in the circle created by the members of the Karate Club, Tatsuki was in her fighting stance. She had her fists raised high and ready to strike anytime. Her eyes were sharp and filled with determination.
Meanwhile, Shirou just stood in his place, his posture was straight but he was still in a relaxed position, his face showed no sign of worry as he stared at his friend.
After looking at each other for a second... They moved.
Tatsuki's fist went straight at his chest. But it was easily blocked by his palm, the force was not even enough to make him take a step backward. She immediately pulled back and swung a kick toward his side.
He jumped back to dodge the kick and she quickly followed him with a barrage of punches. He dodged and weaved through them all with his own strikes, deflecting or parrying each one.
Somehow this felt like child play. His physical abilities were way above her, even without using Reinforcement.
Fighting a normal human felt pretty much the same.
In his previous life, Shirou had also joined Kyudo and was pretty serious about it until he quitted due to some personal reason. So he understands the feeling of being a competitive athlete.
However, his experience was still lacking compared to Tatsuki's. She made a feint punch and tried to trip his foot when he wasn't looking.
Shirou smiled upon noticing it, and he took a step backward to dodge the attack instead of blocking it.
Such an attack was easy to dodge for him. But he suddenly felt a shiver down his spine as a dense reiatsu suddenly came crashing down from above.
"Ugh!"
People suddenly fainted, and Tatsuki fell on her knees.
"Arisawa!" He raised his voice in worry, but Tatsuki couldn't move at all.
The reiatsu pushed her down and made it hard for her to breathe. Cold sweat poured out from her forehead and she was gritting her teeth. She tried her hardest to move her body, but it didn't listen to her.
She could only stay still and stare at the ground.
Gritting his teeth, Shirou stood in front of her and looked up. The sky was split open like a tear, and it was filled with a black and purple light.
The opening looked similar to an eye, with two people wearing full white clothes standing inside it. One had a thin frame with black hair. A half bone helmet covered the left side of his head, and he had a hole on his neck.
The second person was a muscular man with tanned skin. His jaw was covered with bone-like structure, and he had a hole on his chest.
Shirou was familiar with this type of opening, it was called Garganta and it was used to travel between worlds, especially to Hueco Mundo and back to the world of living.
And if it appeared, it could mean nothing other than a hollow.
That or the traitor Aizen Kisuke.
'No! This is bad! This is really, really bad!'
The pressure was not the problem for him.
However, other people who gathered around here could be killed. And it seemed Tatsuki was also not an exception as she could barely move.
Both people stepped out of the Garganta and stood in the sky. The opening closed just as they were about to land on the ground, the sky returning to normal.
The large man smirked as he noticed Shirou standing there, his face contorted with amusement as he bellowed, "Hey, that human is still standing! He is not a normal human!"
Following that, the thin man glanced at Shirou and nodded.
"He's one of the targets, Kurosaki Shirou. Aizen-sama wants him. We should capture him and kill everyone else." The man said.
Hearing the word Aizen and capture, Shirou immediately became alert and narrowed his eyes.
"Ulquiorra." The tanned man turned to him. "That human is mine. Don't interfere with my fight."
"Suit yourself. I don't want to get involved with your fight." Ulquiorra replied.
Grinning widely, the large man suddenly disappeared from where he stood and reappeared beside Shirou.
His eyes widened slightly as he quickly traced his beloved twin swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, to defend against the incoming punch.
Fist and swords met, and he was blown away at a great speed. The air rushed past his face as he crashed onto a nearby tree, cracking the wood in half.
Shirou groaned, pushing himself up to his feet, his hands trembling slightly from the shock of impact, he could feel blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
What a strong attack!
His body ached and hurt all over as if someone had hit him repeatedly with a sledgehammer.
However, the next attack had already arrived.
A red ball flew toward him, destroying everything on its way.
He rolled to his side and barely avoided it.
"Run away." He shouted at the club member. "You all will be killed if you stay here! Go!"
They didn't move an inch though. Even though some had woken up, the reiatsu from those two men with bone mask and hole still made them unable to move. They were all just scared, looking up at the figures in fear, even Tatsuki.
Shirou clicked his tongue. He couldn't fight while protecting them. He didn't even know if he could defeat them or not, not to mention that he needed to protect someone at that time. He was at a severe disadvantage here.
But, before he could do anything...
"Yo."
Someone arrived to help.
"You look like a wreck, Shirou."
"Ichigo..."
His brother had arrived, holding a large Zanpakutou in his hand. He looked at both men in the distance and said.
"I take the small one."
Shirou wiped the blood from his mouth and stood up, his eyes focused on the large man. "And I will take care of the large one. We should prioritize their safety and move the fight somewhere else."
Ichigo nodded, and without a word, they both dashed to different directions.