Healing Hearts [Saiko/Mizu]

And that was her answer~

When Mizu started charging toward Saiko, she did not waste time raising her sword, drenched in aqua flames, at the shinigami. However, what was unexpected was the fact that a bunch of crystal shards shot out at the hybrid's chest. At that moment, she burned away what she could; but a few did manage to hit her.

Ripping them out of her skin, Saiko had a few bruises and nicks, but she didn't let them stop her as a wisp of blue energy came from behind and sought to smack Mizu away before she could go in for another strike. Provided it made contact and wasn't destroyed, she may find herself with an attack that hit her entire body and may send her flying a few feet as Saiko gathered her senses.

With one more shard being pulled out of her chest, a tiny bit of blue blood came from it, and she dusted herself off and slowly started to close the wound up.

"That's the stuff. Keep getting up. This isn't gonna get easier the stronger you get, but you become hard enough to deal with the obstacles mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.

Barely in time, Mizu managed to raise both her arms to defend from the first blue wisp of energy, though she was still hit heavily enough to knock the wind out of her. Immediately after, faster than she could react, Mizu found her entire body overwhelmed by another attack from her opponent. This one hit even harder than the last, primarily because she couldn't defend from it at all, and with a THUD Mizu was knocked to the ground a handful of feet away from Saiko.

"If I thought...it was ever going to be easy...it wouldn't be worth..my time...!" As Mizu dragged herself to her feet, her legs shaky beneath her, she wiped a bit of blood from her eyes that had dripped from a wound on her head. She also spat out some blood that had welled in her mouth. Despite a smorgasbord of injuries and creeping exhaustion, Mizu's gaze remained unwavering as she focused on Saiko again. Ready for more, Mizu sprinted forward before leaping into the air. She brought her Zanpakuto above her head and with both hands sought to bring it down in a mighty slash right on Saiko's head.

Working your body beyond the limit of failure was a hard thing to do. Yet, growth can be had in that hellish area of straining yourself to the absolute limit. The only problem was finding a balance between pushing your limit and not being so pushed beyond that limit that you died or sustained long-lasting injuries. So, Saiko wondered how much longer Mizu could keep this up.

"Good look. Growing is painful as hell, but don't be afraid to call it if you feel yourself being pushed too far beyond that limit."

Ready for the next advancement of Mizu, Saiko had an aqua sword made of fire come to her side before slamming it against Mizu's own and holding them both in a deadlock as the ground around them both cracked, buckled and gave wave to their collective strengths. And in this struggle, her eyes remained locked on the shinigami's before speaking.

"But tell me: are you and your Zanpukto fighting as one? That is what this training is for, after all."

And at that moment, something strange happened. The voice of Saiko had both her own and a more masculine voice as a brief visage of a male who looked similar to Saiko appeared in a holographic image behind the hybrid shinigami.

Though Mizu couldn't manifest Shousenmaru, she was not wholly unfamiliar with the practice. For this reason she recognized what she believed Saiko was doing to be this very thing, and wasn't surprised someone like her was capable of it. All Mizu could do was sync up spiritually with her Zanpakuto, which at this moment was exactly what she was supposed to be doing.

"We're as synchronized as we've ever been, Siako-san!" yelled Mizu as she pulled her sword back from their clash and swung it in a series of rapid slashes meant to emphasize her seriousness. She wasn't wrong either, Mizu could not remember ever being so connected with Shousenmaru. Her Zanpakuto felt like an extension of herself, both physically and spiritually, and she felt like she could be more precise not just with her sword, but with controlling the crystal shards as well. Even as exhaustion caused every movement to made to feel heavier and every injury she sustains to be more painful, Mizu pushed onward with Shousenmaru at her side.

"That's the way, lassy!"

As the masculine voice took over, a big grin came across the face of Saiko as their souls danced across the hallway of carnage and destruction, which was combat. With Mizu reaching a higher synchronization rate with her zanpukto spirit and finding the will to push through the pain, Saiko felt it was right to keep pushing her further as she grunted, yelled, and slashed right back with the same enthusiasm as her trainee.

"Manifest your wills into reality~ You are at a breaking point, Mizu. So show me the truth behind your words of wanting to be something!"

And with Saiko's voice back in command, the woman gave another push of her blade, clashed against Mizu, and let a breath of aqua flames consume her swords to swipe at the woman and attempt to scorch her in its oceanic grasp.

Mizu appreciated her mentor's words of encouragement because they also challenged her to hit her limit and go beyond. That was precisely what she intended on doing, though she was perhaps already past what she should be capable of given the various injuries she had already sustained. Mizu could feel her movements becoming more sluggish as her arms and legs became heavier and heavier. Even her eyelids seemed to weigh on her as she struggled to keep herself upright. I must keep going!!

As she continued slowing, Mizu felt herself almost incapable of maintaining the offensive. Saiko's attack came at the end of her own, their swords meeting before more of the woman's signature blue flames expanded outward. Mizu barely registered her crystal shards swirling from behind her to form a flimsy shield in front of her. Had she not been so synchronized with Shousenmaru, she was confident Saiko's fire would have struck her directly. Even still the shield could do little against the flames licking at it and Mizu was sent stumbling backwards.

At this point Mizu knew she only had one last attack in her, and then it would assuredly be over. She was pulling forth every final dreg of energy from within herself just to keep standing, leaving only her willpower to fuel her next move. As she stumbled Mizu slammed her back foot down stabilized herself. She then shoved her Zanpakuto forward into the widened gap between herself and Saiko, causing the crystal shards making up her sword to shatter and fly at the raven-haired woman. Even as they flew through the air Mizu could feel her knees wobbling and struggled to not collapse into a heap.

Mizu was giving her heart and soul to this battle. During these struggles, the body, mind, and soul reach a state of transcendence. Saiko could see that the other shinigami was already on her last set of legs a while ago, so to keep pushing in this state meant that actual growth was taking place. So it mattered not that the hybrid would win this sparring match. No. This was a practice in the art of determination and the capacity to sit with the pain of training, growing, and indulging in the hell of combat.

So, with that in mind, Saiko let out a roaring yell together with her zanpukto spirit as they both took on the shards which exploded from Mizu's blade, causing Saiko to get cut across their arms/face and have pools of aqua blood drip as a result of her lowered and weaker state of being she suppressed herself to. And, in exchange, she gripped the blade of Mizu and had an aura of oceanic energy drench the woman and keep her under the influence of heavy spiritual pressure.

Now, with her eyes locked on the woman, she smiled and spoke:

"You've proven yourself worthy of that power. Your body is fighting against a monster, and you've coped with staying in a state of pain and fatigue with the utmost of will. Shit, that's amazing to me."

Nodding, Saiko then asked a simple question.

"Do you want to call it here or recover? I think you've more than earned a rest at this point."

Mizu felt the suffocating weight of Saiko's mighty spiritual power pressing on her body, preventing her from moving or attacking again. With the last dregs of her energy leaving her extremities, she knew she couldn't attack again even if she wanted to. Despite this, and despite Saiko complimenting her determination to fight through her limitations, Mizu tightened her grasp on her Zanpakuto and struggled to straighten up and continue onward.

"W-well..." As she spoke Mizu suddenly felt like she had been hit by a freight train. She immediately fell to her knees and her Zanpakuto forcefully sealed itself, returning to its base state within her hand. She then looked up at her mentor with her large gold orbs and gave her answer "I guess that answers that..!" With no energy left to speak of Mizu collapsed backward onto the dry ground of the training yard and spread her arms and legs like a starfish. Even just standing up again sounded like climbing a mountain at the moment, so she stayed where she was sighed deeply, thankful for the day's events.

"I think I have to be done for now, Saiko-san. Whew! Even though I'm not sure I've ever been this exhausted, I'm grateful we met. Thank you for everything Saiko-san!"