100 years was a long time for anyone. Definitely including the people of the fifth squad. New faces, people coming and going, some dying and others coming and filling those slots. Ever the overall mood of the barracks felt different, mainly for one girl in particular.
If you ever had visited the fifth, you would have no doubt saw a flash of blue hair from this said girl. A few inches taller, but everything else about her was almost the same. Himari Shimizu could always be found rushing through the halls of the barracks, from going into the library to going to train. She has spent most of the 100 years trying to get out of her room, something she had always done before. Now, she probably has seen her more than once around the Gotei 13. Training, being sent here and there, that was mainly the difference of the girl.
Goodbye with the old, and in with the new.
The 100 years had been good for the girl. Himari, always being one to love the study of Kido, trained almost daily in the art. Going from a girl who only knew a few barrier spells to knowing a few destructive spells. Listening to her captain and the advice she had from others, thanks to her Zanpakto, she really only had to focus on proper kido to help her in attacks.
So now, after many years of training, she could finally say she felt confident in her skills in Kido. And proudly was able to call herself a Kido master, something she had always wanted for herself since she joined the academy.
She just hoped that, when the time had came, she would be able to show those skills and not back out with nerve.
“Hello, Himari-Chan!”
Himari would smile only slightly, bowing her head slightly at the greeting from her fellow squad mates. She was walking super fast, as if she was floating. She wasn’t much of a social girl, one of the things that hadn’t changed in the 100 year period. She had hoped that her relationships with her fellow squad members, mainly her captain and of course Arashi whom she had known the most. But, due to her own stubbornness and fees of the both of them 100 years again, she hasn’t really been the closest to either of them. She had always felt a little judged when it came to the Lieutenant, since the day they first met. And one thing she hated was being looked down upon, even though half of it was her fault.
And as far as their captain went, she still couldn’t really look the man in the eye. Still feeling like a failure in a way, she didn’t understand how he still had her in his squad to begin with. A fourth seat nonetheless. She felt like she didn’t deserve any of this, which led her to almost avoid the man. But, it was easy to avoid him. He hardly was at the barracks anyways, something that hadn’t changed in 100 years. And he had mainly been with Higen to train, along with pretty much everyone else. Himari being one of the ones left behind.
But, that didn’t stop her forming some friendships along the way. Two people she had met along the year she would consider friends, starting of course with her captain's younger brother Katsuo Oda. He pretty much was the main person who had helped her train with Hakuda, something she still was very bad at, in exchange with helping him with Kido, something she didn’t mind. Unlike his brother, Katsuo, to Himari, was a lot easier to talk to and train with. Even with him being a Lieutenant and in a different squad.
Along with her friends she would almost add Izanagi Kiyoshi to her small list. They had met a few times, first being about her captain but, later on, it slowly bloomed into a small friendship. Someone she could escape the walls of the barracks to meet. And that was enough for her.
She sighed, standing in front of the training room she had now called her second home, before pushing the door open and walking inside. She spent many mornings and nights here. Sometimes with someone, other times just her and her Zan.
If there was anything she still couldn’t believe she had, was the black and blue handled sword she now slid out to view. To her, it was beautiful. Cold as ice to the touch, a Zan only she could touch.
Kōri no ryū(Ice Dragon) was an incredible Zan that Himari still couldn’t believe it was hers. The ice dragon sword was built nicely for her. Being a long range type sword, something Himari was always thankful for. The 100 years had been nice for her and her Zan spirit as well. Himari slowly becoming one with the dragon, but she was still not the best at wielding the weapon. It was powerful. And sometimes hard to control.
Himari spend most of her time training, strengthening her spiritual energy. She needed to do this to be able to use Kori properly. The more stronger she was, the better she could use it. She needed to be strong because even though Kori had the ability to freeze almost anything in place, with where she was before, it had a very short time limit. It took a lot of energy strain to freeze anything, let alone a person, and Himari had always wanted to get better at that. So, she was here in this training room almost every day, meditating.
One thing she had promised herself that her life would be different. No,
It was different.