Pride of the Shihoin: Iron Will vs The Future

Fond memories were something Rio Shihoin had never cherished. Her attention had always been set on her goals. There was no wavering in her path towards proving to her father that she was the rightful heir to the throne, that she would not abandon them like her older sister.

God, how long had she allowed herself to possess that type of hostility towards her own flesh and blood? Was it competition or simply a longing to admire her sister and share in her glory? Looking back on it all, it was such a childish emotion. In the passing months, a myriad of events showed her how fleeting life could be.

She still remembered the scene vividly - her father's funeral, the downtrodden visages and crying eyes of her people, of her siblings. Her father in his eternal rest with a smile on his face.

He deserved a peaceful ending, to have a smile on his face even in death. He was always a source of light when all Rio saw was darkness. No matter how stubborn or rude she acted towards him, he always found one way or another to calm her down, easing her worries as if they had never existed at all. He would be missed until the end of time. And yet, he had one parting wish before he died.


To Keep Chidori safe. To be at her side, holding her accountable every step of the way. There were no longer any excuses for Chidori to make and Rio supposed Chidori was well aware of that. Even so, in order for her to reach her true potential, there was still work to be done. Chidori had not fully tapped into the potential of her Zanpakuto.


Even if there were people there to protect her, Rio would not stand to allow Chidori to go another year without tapping into the highest extents of her potential. There was no longer animosity in her heart, only the iron will of the Shihoin protector whose aim was to bring her sister to her limit and bring her onto a path where she could truly walk into her greatness.


She stood at the gate of Shihoin estate, awaiting her sister's arrival. From there, they would decide upon a location of choice and begin her training.

...She wasn't going to pull any punches today, either.

Chidori was kinda sorta not really looking forward to this day, but she knew it was going to happen sooner than later. Despite all of her training, it seemed that her progress has come to a standstill thanks to a stubborn spirit. However, as the two have talked more and more they have grown friendlier with each other. But still, Chidori has yet to unlock her Shikai, something that most shinigami are expected to do. Yet here she was, the head of the Shihoin, and she still doesn't know her Zanpakuto's name.

Early in the morning, Chidori took care of Nakano and Yushiro before peddling them off to their father for the day. She approached the gate, sword in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Even after all these years, she was not a morning person. Slowly she started regretting her old habits, something she should really work on.

Her left hand went up in the wait as a sort of wave, though her sword was in that hand. Chidori's eyes were glaring at her sister, inviting yet annoyed.

"Yo. Good morning."

As expected, Chidori arrived with a nonchalance she was infamously known for. Rio hardly expected anything to be different in that aspect, but at least she arrived on time. Baby steps, Chidori. Baby steps. Turning to face her sister, she crossed her arms and observed the sword in her hand.

She took a curious glance at Chidori's Zanpakuto as she mused on the potential of the weapon and how it could aid her sister in battle. Rio could've held this matter off for another day or even a month, but the level of urgency was much too difficult to ignore. Chidori's safety was paramount. Rio would readily defend her without question.


Even so, there were times were Rio's position might be compromised or she may not be able to reach her sister in time - in those cases, these tiers of power were necessary tools of battle, the difference between life or death.


"Good morning, sister. As much as I hate dragging you out of bed - considering your penchant for sleeping in - I feel the urgency of this matter is not something that should be taken lightly. I could hold the matter off for days, even a month but it's been long enough, Chidori." Her tone was sharp, like a mother speaking to a child about poor grades.

"Stubborn Zanpakuto or not, it is my duty to protect you. Protecting you is my life's duty but even you know there will be times where even I can't aid you in battle. As such, tapping into your Zanpakuto's ability is no longer something that can be pushed aside for another day."

Her amber gaze bore down on Chidori as she continued; "I'm going to train you and bring out. I'm not gonna go easy on you to any degree. That's just a fair warning. Anyway, did you decide on where your training would be conducted?"

"When you start lecturing me like that, it makes me wonder if you've been looking forward to beating the shit out of me for years now. I'm glad you've finally found the occasion to vent." There was no malice behind these words. In fact, Chidori was saying them as she was sipping her coffee. By this point in her life, she has come to term with the fact that some people like her and some people just absolutely despise her existence, and when it came to her sister, Rio was probably the person that would most justifiably dislike Chidori. It makes sense, Chidori became clan head for just being born first and Rio worked her ass off just to be second in line. Though, it would be incredibly convenient if Chidori "accidentally" got injured during this fight.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. There's no way I'd be able to actually unlock Shikai if you don't go all out. Sword's got a good eye and her pride is definitely going to get in the way. Just be warned that I won't be going easy on you either. Oh, there's a place not too far from here in the woods that's a good place for us to fight. It's pretty out of the way from everything and there's enough room for us to move freely. Follow me." Chidori nonchalantly walked past Rio into the forest near the Shihoin estate. After a few minutes of walking, they would reach a clearing with a bunch of dead grass and burnt trees. Despite appearances, there was still a serene air to the place. Nothing was there besides the two sisters and the wind.

Chidori left her sister at the edge of the clearing and made her way in the middle before taking her zanpakuto and placing it firmly in the ground, chugging the rest of her coffee and throwing the cup into the distance. Her eyes were fixated on her sister, who was her enemy for the day.

"Alright. I'm not stopping until I walk out here stronger, so bring all you got. And who knows, maybe your big sis will teach you a thing or two."

Rio hummed wistfully with a hint of excitement in her tone. It would seem as though Chidori has no intentions of holding back herself. Very good, very good! She welcomed the aggression, welcomed the imminent battle that had been years in the making between the two.

As the two had yet to participate in any battles, Chidori was not aware of how much training it took Rio to reach shikai, to say nothing of nearly losing her life to attain bankai.

She had even spent time away from her family to ensure that her training yielded the results she hungered for. Her father felt that such time should have been spent mending her relationship with her sister but Rio felt otherwise at the time.

It was a harrowing length of time and commitment but she had rose from the depths of that hell - fierce and relentless. There was no longer a question of strength.

After all, Rio was hellbent on protecting her family and in the past, she had always wanted to show and prove who was the stronger among the two, for closure and to release years of pent-up frustration that had boiled inside for centuries. Part of her still admired her older sister but today... admiration would take a backseat. Sisterly affection would now become sisterly aggression.

The unfaltering shielder followed Chidori into the forest with the two reaching the clearing in a few minutes; Chidori decided to continue walking until there was enough distance between them to initiate a battle.


"Teach me a thing or two, huh? Well, I have been welcoming the thought of spending some time with my beloved elder sister..."

Rio inhaled sharply, settling into a fighting stance as she kicked off of the heel of her foot, propelling her body forward like an arrow of light, accelerating her body towards Chidori. In a flash, she paused, appearing before her older sister like an assassin ready to strike his victim. The first strike Rio would execute was an elbow to Chidori's solar plexus, a technique to disorient her and leave her unprepared for the next series of strikes.

If the elbow landed, Rio would quickly transition into ducking down and sweeping her off of her feet with her legs, so that she'd stumble to the ground. The elbow strike and sweep themselves were movements released at a speed that could only be considered lightning quick, as if Rio had mastered her body and its physical attributes. She had many follow ups but...


To be honest, this sequence of events would serve as a warm up of sorts. Rio didn't exactly intend on bringing out the big guns yet. She wanted to test her sister's limits in all ways. Hand-to-Hand. Swordsmanship. Rio wanted to see what her sister had done in all that time she spent away from her family.

She barely saw it coming.

Though seeing a hit and not getting hit are two very different things, but Chidori was trying her best. There was no way in hell that she was going to dodge the elbow or the sweep as her sister was not only stronger but faster than her and was way more talented in Hakuda. Even if she was able to it was only going to lead to a worse situation, so Chidori took the hits and planned her next move.

While falling, Chidori swapped into her tiger form. This was to remove some verticality from her and give more reach while also making the vital points more challenging to find. But this led to another problem, as Chidori was still facing away from her target. It would be slow to try and turn around, especially since Rio would just move again by the time Chidori did that. So instead, she let out a burst of her reiatsu, her signature black fires engulfing everything within 10 feet of her. While Chidori didn't plan on letting her sister burn to death, she did want to make some ground between the two. While doing this, Chidori carried her momentum forward and grabbed her zanpakuto with her tail.

Assuming the plan worked she would then flip in the air and land facing where she expected Rio to be.

Rio stifled a chuckle as Chidori struggled to mount a proper counterattack against her initial assault. The humor she felt in landing two good hits on her sister was visible in her expression as she gazed at her sister. As she could not properly counter her attacks, she relied on the strategy of tapping into her tiger form nd creating a wall of flames between the two. It wasn't a bad strategy. It had caused Rio to pause from as secondary assault, staying her hand momentarily.

If you couldn't counter, why not fight on the defensive until you saw an opening? Rio commended her sister for thinking on her feet but those flames would hardly keep her away forever.


"I like the strategy, sister. If you can't properly fight off the enemy through your own technique, your mount a proper defense until a plan of action springs forth." As Chidori flipped and landed in her general direction, Rio had decided not to execute another attack quite yet.

"Do you intend to avoid and defend forever or are you going to show your sister a thing or two like you said?" She assumed a fighting stance as she approached Chidori, sizing her up with a fierce, catlike gaze.


"I want to see everything you've learned over the years. Surely if you haven't learned Shikai or Bankai, you must have cultivated other skills, no?"

"I mean I have, but it's not like I would have been able to use it. I can barely keep up with you, so at this point it's both a test of my mental and my physical." Chidori would transform out of her cat form back into a human, her zanpakuto finding it's way into her hand. She was contemplating drawing it, but was conflicted on the matter. On one hand, she has trained her sword skills to a point where she doesn't have to draw her blade and can still be effective, but that was under the assumption that she was fighting someone of her skill level. Rio, was very much not on the same skill level of Chidori. But then again, her sword style was highly unrefined and had very obvious flaws that Rio would notice and use against her. There was also Hakuda, but even there Rio was more skilled. The one thing that Chidori had on her side would be her reiatsu, her control is now refined and pinpoint so that will be her best bet.

"Don't you worry, we're just getting started!" A quick flash step towards her sister would be followed up by a quick left jab, followed by a straight right, which was combo into a Hikeru (a spinning kick in which Chidori lights the air on fire following her leading foot). It was highly likely that her Hikeru was going to miss as it was a slow attack that really only worked on a relentless defense, so once again she had prepped up an explosion of her Reiatsu in preparation for a counter attack. There's no way that it was going to work twice, but it was still a tool in her arsenal.

"I'll have you know, I had a good teacher. When you get the chance you should go and see our great-grandfather." A smirk found itself on her face. She was starting to get cocky.

It might be her downfall.

Even though Rio was often very critical of Chidori, she admitted wholeheartedly that there was potential in the warrior Chidori could become, if she felt engaged enough to pursue that path. Strategical prowess was a chief skill to attain. Knowing one's strength and weaknesses was the first step to becoming a formidable warrior. In this, Rio commended Chidori. She was utilizing her Reiatsu as a weapon. Rio rarely ever witnessed Chidori in battle most of the time but she was aware of how potent her abilities could be when used correctly.

Her Hakuda was impressive as well. In fact, Chidori had taken a moment to catch her at unawares and show her how much she had improved in hand-to-hand combat. First, a quick left jab, followed up by a right jab, and then a transition into a spinning kick with her lead foot.

Rio's arms rose up to deflect the jabs while she swiftly evaded the enflamed spinning kick. Rio would have countered in that moment but she quickly reflected on what happened when she intended to launch a counterattack earlier in their bout.

If she executed a counterstrike, would Chidori erect another wall of fire or something else completely different - as a means of catching her off guard? There was a skill gap, certainly, but Rio was not so foolish as to underestimate Chidori. That'd defeat the point of their training, after all.

She could overcome it. She needed to rip Chidori of that one advantage, humble her, and truly push her to the brink. It was both necessary to force her into awakening her Zanpakuto and something she might take glee in. Thus, Rio had another plan in mind. She was foolish not to consider it from the beginning.

Due to the nature of her zanpakuto, Rio's body was abnormally durable. Whereas most humans were composed of carbon, her chemical composition was closer to that of a diamond. Add to that, her natural durability honed over years of harsh training imposed on herself, and she felt quite confident in being able to take complete advantage of this battle. Battle? No, it was training right? Rio had to remind herself of that fact.

Rio did not pursue Chidori this time, opting to land on the ground and assume a defensive stance. Summoning her own Zanpakuto - Tetsumaru - by her side, Rio decided to goad her sister into attacking, encouraging her to come at her once again. The ornate katana was still within its sheath as Rio waved it in Chidori's direction. Oh, how she desired to wipe that cocky smirk off of her sister's face. She'd wonder if she took the bait as Rio's stance was open just enough for a multitude of attacks. In fact, Rio even appeared to look as though she were dancing a little.


"Is that so? Did he teach you how to fight like a slowpoke? You've hardly made a dent on me, Sis. If this is what you've got so far, I think he needs to go back to he drawing board."

Oh, so things were getting real now.

That was the thought that went through Chidori's head as Rio had summoned Testumaru. Being the first of the siblings to awaken her zanpakuto, everyone made a big deal out of it when it happened. Chidori, on the other hand, was not as gifted or had the same sort of determination as her sister. But she was trying. With a breath, she relaxed, letting her reiatsu flow out naturally, the flames burning the air just around her. She dropped from and reset herself to a relaxed stance, focusing on summoning her zanpakuto. The moment it appeared in her left hand, Chidori attempted a conversation.

Hey?

What? You're cutting into my precious time.

Our precious time. We operate as a team.

Ehhhh, more like a symbiotic relationship. Don't forget you are only alive because of me.

And you only exist because of me.

Oh yeah? Then what's my name, Mom? That's right. The more and more I think about saying it, the more I feel like you're just going to squander it. The potential we have.

Ah, Chidori's zanpakuto spirit. A dramatic one, but her worries are fair. It seems like the more that Chidori gets on her plate, the less time she actually gets to spend with her zanpakuto, the less time she gets to use her powers. What would be the point of gaining Shikai if Chidori put her sword up to do her duties? Letting it collect dust? She had to be a Shihoin first and Shinigami second, but if best she should find a balance.

A sigh escaped her lips as she grabbed her sword by it's sheath. Her eyes were fixated on Rio, waiting for her next move. In the meantime, she would talk with her sword more.

Look. I get that we haven't had the best track record, but that doesn't mean we still won't do great things. When I'm in a rut, you're the one that I know I can lean on. You have yet to fail me, and I promise I won't fail you. Please. Everybody relies on me, and I rely on you.

Silence. For now, it was just Chidori and her thoughts, but for how long.