Volume 7 Chapter 376 - Whispers part 1
While both of them are walking through the 17th floor, Aika asked Yoruichi, "Why did you separate us?"
"I already said it before, but I need you three to be separated and kill some Minotaurs on your own."
"We could do that without going to different directions."
"Well, there are some issues that need to be resolved."
Aika thought for a moment and said, "Koneko's issue?"
Yoruichi looked towards her in interest, "You noticed?"
Aika nodded and replied, "I'm not sure of what's going on, but I can at least see her frustration. Sona noticed it too but we don't know what to say since she isn't telling us anything."
Yoruichi resumed walking and said, "Hmm… Well, it'll be fine. Kuroka and Koneko can manage their issues so let's just wait and see."
"I see… So Kuroka-san is involved… Anyway, what else needs to be resolved? You separated me from the rest after all."
"While there's no problem in Sona's group. You and I have a problem…"
Aika stopped walking and asked, "Problem?"
Yoruichi also stopped walking and gazed at Aika with a serious expression, "Yes…"
Aika stayed silent and only waited for Yoruichi to continue her words but she couldn't help herself from swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
"You three passed Kisuke's sh*tty test… However, while Sona and Koneko exceeded his expectations, only you performed underwhelmingly…"
Hearing this, Aika bit her lower lip and looked down. It's true that despite her crazy move, she didn't pull out the power she's supposed to be able to use. Even though Medusa and Kuroka didn't notice this, Kisuke and Yoruichi who're watching their fight from somewhere else noticed it.
"And remember… You're the one who has supposedly biggest potential among you three… What happened?"
Aika didn't answer and stayed silent.
"Are you afraid?" Yoruichi suddenly asked.
Aika hurriedly glanced up to Yoruichi's face before nodding silently.
"Haahh…" Sighing, Yoruichi patted her head, "Well, we both guessed that much…"
"Are you not angry…? Despite us being in mortal danger… I still held back…"
"We don't have the right to get angry at you as we abruptly put you three in that situation… However, you could say that we're a bit disappointed." Yoruichi then looked around and found a relatively flat rock where they could sit on. Yoruichi held Aika's hand and dragged her towards that rock and took a sit before asking, "Can you tell why are you so afraid to use your powers?"
Aika nodded after sitting down and proceeded to tell Yoruichi her fears. When she's practicing with her Zanpakuto no problems occurred until one day when she heard two whispers. She's very familiar with this whisper as those are her Zanpakuto which she hasn't heard in a while since Kokabiel's fight.
She's happy that she was able to hear them again, however, those whispers are actually very faint that she can't hear most of it and can't understand what they're saying. Nevertheless, she kept practicing her Zanjutsu and each day, those whispers would grow stronger and stronger and she's happy with the result.
However, once those whispers got strong enough that Aika is able to understand them, she shuddered as it's actually whispers of violence which urges her to follow the path of destruction. At that point, she got scared and stopped summoning her Zanpakuto and just practiced with the long sword.
At this point, Yoruichi nodded. She indeed noticed that she has already stopped summoning her Zanpakuto and kept using the long sword. She thought that she just wanted to get used to it. She didn't expect that this is the problem. However, Kisuke already has some inkling to this and sent her to take care of Aika. He could have done it himself but he thought that Aika might hold back because she thought that she's holding them back and she didn't want to be added to the problems they are already facing.
"And the reason you held back is…"
"The Shinigami powers within me suddenly manifested when I felt desperate but along with that, are the whispers that I've been avoiding. I could have summoned my Zanpakuto back then to help me with our battle, but I'm afraid that once I did that… I won't be coming back."
While she's talking, some Minotaurs started spawning around them but Yoruichi silently dealt with them with her thrown weapons, "Didn't Kisuke already told you that even though it's possible for the Zanpakuto to affect how you think, it could never alter your fundamentals… I assume that you're afraid that you'll be imprisoned by your own Zanpakuto and take control of your body?"
Aika nodded again, "I might be overthinking it but I just can't remove that possibility in my mind… What if that really happen? What if I can't get out? What if instead of imprisoning my consciousness, they erase it entirely? All sorts of questions and possibilities emerged from my mind that I couldn't dare to use the power that Kisuke imparted to me…" Aika gritted her teeth and clenched her fist in frustration. It's a very important 'gift' that came from the one she admires yet she can't properly take advantage of it. She already promised that she'll do her best but fears like this limit her 'best'.
"I see…" Yoruichi then became silent to contemplate her words, 'This is really a problem… But there's also a chance that she's looking at this wrongly and is just drawing the wrong conclusions due to her fears… Either way, I have to see it for myself first.'
Deciding on their next step, Yoruichi separated from Aika, "Take out your Zanpakuto."
"B-but…"
"Trust me. If you can't trust me, trust Kisuke as he'll surely come running if there's something wrong." Yoruichi reassured Aika.
Aika shooked her head and smiled wryly, "No… I trust you, Yoruichi-san. If I can't trust you, then I don't deserve to be included in this group." Taking a deep breath, Aika materialized her Zanpakuto, a two-meter long nodachi.
At that moment, whispers started emerging in her mind, trying to drown her with their voices,
'Destroy it~!'
'Break it…'
'Ruin it~!'
'Annihilate…'
'Smash it~!'
'Dismantle it…'
Two distinct voices of children. They were the dragon girls that Aika named Akane and Kaguya.
Along with the manifestation of her Zanpakuto, Yoruichi saw that Aika's eyes became golden and slitted reminiscing that of a dragon. She also noticed that Aika started shaking and her face slowly being contorted by fear.
"Aika! Don't listen to them! Stand your ground! You're the master here!" Yoruichi shouted at her.
Aika instantly woke up and became determined as she endured the urging of those whispers.
"Good… See? It doesn't affect you that much. Just think of it as background music."
As she said, Aika noticed that it really isn't affecting her that much and all the fear that she's feeling seems like a joke.
"However, we can't stop at that… Aika… Don you Hollow mask…" Yoruichi gave her the next instruction.
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