Bleach: Heart of a Hero

by Blackdrag-rose

Prelude: Additional Lessons

Sombra followed Yoruichi around Karakura Town that night, following her senses as they tracked down the Hollows that were trying to eat the souls of the dead, be they the souls of children, young adults, or even old people, allowing the spirits to flee the scene before Sombra dealt with the Hollows. He found that, of the five Hollows that he actually fought that night, the majority of them seemed to be related to bugs or insects in some manner, as the very first Hollow he had taken on looked like a spider and the second one was like a centipede. The spirits always emerged once the fighting was over and the Hollow was taken care of, taking a moment to thank Sombra for taking care of the creature that was after them while also giving some thanks to Yoruichi for bringing him to their aid, as if they knew that Sombra couldn't sense where the Hollows were, but then again he guessed he might be overthinking everything once more. One thing that he was worried about was the fact that, despite the number of Hollows he and Yoruichi had found over the course of an hour, there weren't any Shinigami patrolling the town at all.

As they headed back to the shop Sombra voiced his concern to Yoruichi, who said that there were times where Soul Society replaced a fallen Shinigami rather quickly, to keep up the work if there were an alarming number of Hollows in a particular area, and then there were instances where they were slow in picking a replacement. As it turned out this instance, in her opinion, was more a sense that they hadn't decided who to send yet and were still taking their time in deciding who should patrol Karakura Town next. Sombra, of course, was still interested in how she could how stuff like this, especially since Kisuke had those books in his shop, but at the same time he felt that it would be inappropriate of him to ask her how she came by her information on Soul Society, so he didn't talk about it and switched to the number of Hollows. Yoruichi, of course, also felt that it was a little strange to have that many in one night, especially after so long of not having any of them show up for the spirits that roamed the town... but she did find some good news in that, because if five showed up in one night, like they discovered during their hunt, than a Shinigami might be selected sooner.

"You know, I actually haven't had the chance to hunt a Hollow for quite some time," Yoruichi commented, causing Sombra to stare at her with a confused look on his face, though she either didn't seem to notice or she did and was planning on doing something about it, "and, after seeing how well you did out there tonight, I think I was right in thinking that you have the potential for big things... and maybe, after your next lessons, we might take a night or two to hunt down some more Hollows."

"I'd like to accompany you on some more of these hunts." Sombra replied, as while he had no idea where the Hollows were located, he found that Yoruichi had to be testing his reflexes in some manner, or even something else entirely, and that he enjoyed spending time with her, even after discovering the truth about her, "Do you think Kisuke will be happy that we found some Hollows lurking throughout the town, or will he be upset that the Shinigami aren't doing their jobs in taking them out?"

"Oh, he'll understand the situation once we tell him the news." Yoruichi said, where she flashed him the smile she had given him a few times since they left the train yard to hunt down the Hollows, though Sombra had no idea what she found to be funny this time around, and honestly he wasn't sure that he wanted to know, "He might even decide to change up your routine a little, especially with how well you handled that sword earlier."

Sombra nodded and thought about how he had instinctively grabbed the blade the moment he realized that he needed one to take care of a Hollow, how easily it cut through the legs of the spider creature he had fought, and that a single swing had seemingly destroyed the Hollow. Since he was an Arrancar he had to wonder what happened to the Hollows he had killed that night, if their spirits were cleansed and sent to Soul Society, or if he simply displaced their spirit and sent them back to Hueco Mundo, where they could recover before attacking the town again. It was like Kisuke said, there was no telling what happened to a Hollow when an Arrancar like him killed them, yet at the same time that one statement didn't stop him from thinking about the question anyway, as he was curious as to what happened to them when he cut them down. Not only was he curious about that, but he was also interested in the fact that the Hollows had this hole somewhere on their bodies, much like he had one in the center of his chest, where his heart was supposed to be, and what sort of connection the Hollows had to him and the other Arrancars, if there were any other of his kind out there in the vastness of Hueco Mundo.

Just thinking about the realm of the Hollows, where he was from, made him remember that the key to his memories and who he used to be, a weapon of some kind when he told Kisuke about not remembering anything, was lost in the vastness of that world... causing him to sigh as they walked down the street, because it seemed like an impossible task for someone to take on with no hope of succeeding.

"Sombra, is something wrong?" Yoruichi asked, as she had noticed the silence coming from her companion and noticed that the look on his face meant that he was thinking about something, only whatever he was thinking about was clearly something that annoyed him.

"I just realized how impossible the task of finding the blade that might hold the key to my memories is," Sombra replied, to which he looked up at the stars that were above them, where he wondered if Hueco Mundo had stars or if it was just an empty sky of sorts, "I have no idea where, in the entirety of Hueco Mundo, it might be resting."

"There's no need to be worried about that," Yoruichi said, as she understood that Hueco Mundo was a large place and that finding something like a sword might be harder than one would think, but she also knew that Kisuke was likely looking our for it, before someone else found it, "Kisuke said that he would help you recover your memories, and that means that Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, and I will do what we can to help you as well, so it's only a matter of time until someone finds it... and who knows, if you're lucky you won't need it to recover your memories."

For a moment Sombra wondered what Yoruichi was talking about, though after a few seconds he realized that she was referring to the fact that it might be easier to make new memories and hope that they were close enough to the originals to coax them out of hiding, or at least that was his assumption. At the same time it could also mean that he should put the past behind him and look towards the future, something that was another possibility that he couldn't just ignore, but even as he considered that option he knew what he was going to do anyway. The only thing about his past that he knew was his name, and that really didn't give him anything to go on, so he wasn't about to give up on the one thing that might allow him to remember everything, even though he knew that Yoruichi would never suggest something like that to begin with. Yoruichi was simply trying to make sure that he wasn't depressed over what he was thinking about, as he never told Kisuke about his thoughts on the seemingly impossibility that was locating the sword, though even as he thought about it he decided to follow Yoruichi with a slightly happier look on his face.

Together the two of them made their way back to the Urahara Shop, with Yoruichi stopping a few times to make sure that there weren't any other Hollows besides the five that Sombra had taken out after she brought him to them, but as it turned out it was a rather peaceful walk home. By the time they both back to the shop they discovered the Jinta and Ururu were passed out, tired from the day's activities, and that both Kisuke and Tessai were waiting for their return, though as they walked into the shop, through the backdoor, the pair welcomed them back. That was followed by Yoruichi telling the pair what they had discovered while they were out on their 'hunt', which was just them patrolling part of Karakura Town, and the more important fact that there weren't any Shinigami protecting the town at all. Kisuke was also interested in the fact that the blade Sombra was carrying, as it was resting in the sheath that Yoruichi had handed him after the last Hollow was beaten, had come in handy already, especially after what happened to it's previous owner, though all that did was prompt Sombra to ask another question. It was then that he discovered the Kisuke was keeping track of who was being sent to Karakura Town, from Soul Society no less, and found that the last two Shinigami that had been sent to the town had been killed... though while the body of one Shinigami had been found the other one seemed to have disappeared entirely, leaving behind his Asauchi, the nameless Zanpakuto that all Shinigami started with.

Sombra also discovered that, since he was an Arrancar and the majority of his power and memories were locked within his missing sword, he clearly could use the sword without any problems, though he couldn't imprint his soul onto the weapon since he already had one such weapon... but, at the same time, the Asauchi would prove to be a valuable tool in his mission to learn what he needed to learn and to find his soul weapon.

After that Yoruichi talked about the number of Hollows they had encountered in one night, an odd number that even Kisuke agreed with, and that it was only a matter of time until some of the souls were devoured because there weren't any Shinigami to take care of them. It was during that part of the conversation that Sombra was told about another part of the duties of the Shinigami that were supposed to patrol the World of the Living and send the souls of the dead to either Soul Society or to Hell, depending on what happened before they became Hollows, and that was what they called Konso, or the Soul Burial, as that was the other name it went by. From what Sombra was able to determine the technique was designed for a Shinigami to send a wandering soul to Soul Society, though there were times were a Shinigami found a soul that had committed sins before their death and sent them to Hell, without them becoming a Hollow. Once that part of the conversation was over, however, Kisuke told Sombra that the next lessons they would be going over, once he had a good nights sleep of course, was the art of Zankensoki, which he planned on explaining in the morning.

In the end Sombra went to sleep, what counted as sleep for a being like him, not a few minutes later, his mind thinking about the dead Shinigami that had been killed before he came to the World of the Living, the weapon he was going to use for some time, and everything else he had learned... or rather, that was what he had been thinking about before he drifted off to sleep.

---

When morning arrived, and breakfast was over for everyone else as Sombra stared outside the shop, Kisuke had Jinta and Ururu take care of the exterior and listen to Tessei's orders, since he was second in command when he was busy doing things like this, before he and Sombra headed down to the training area once more. A few moments later Sombra found out why he hadn't seen Yoruichi so far that day, because she had slipped into the training area before the kids had gotten up and appeared to be practicing her speed, if that was what he was seeing thanks to the blurs flashing through the air every now and then. That was before he noticed there weren't any protective gear in the area this time around, as when he sparred with Ururu he had gloves and a head piece, meaning that if someone got hurt they would have to heal normally, but since he was an Arrancar he knew that he could take the pain and maybe recover faster than Humans and Shinigami could. As the two of them walked away from the entrance they used to get down here, however, the blurs stopped and Yoruichi, not even breaking a sweat at the moment, appeared by one of the stones that the duo was approaching, though as they did so Sombra noticed that she was, once again, smiling at them for some reason.

"Okay, so what's this Zankensoki that you mentioned earlier?" Sombra asked, as he had no idea what it was supposed to be, as the books he read hadn't talked about it at all, but since they had mentioned it he was sure that they would be able to tell him what they were going to do.

"Zankensoki is the basics of how Shinigami fight." Kisuke replied, though as he talked Yoruichi stopped near them and did some stretches to work out some of the kinks in her body, revealing that she intended to either spar with Sombra or at least watch what he and Kisuke did in the next few moments, "There are four different fighting techniques for how a Shinigami fights; Zan refers to all the sword techniques, Ken does the same for the unarmed techniques, So refers to the moving techniques that Yoruichi was just practicing, and Ki refers to Kido. So far you have been learning the basics of Hakuda, the unarmed fighting techniques that makes use of one's body in a fight, that Ururu has a firm grasp of, despite her not being a Shinigami and just a Human that can see spirits. At the very least you need to learn Zanjutsu, the sword fighting techniques that both Yoruichi and I can teach you, and Hoho, the high-speed fighting movements based on the art of Shunpo that Yoruichi can show you. When you've got a good grasp on those three lessons, and I'm sure that you are ready to move on, we'll see about seeing if you can learn some Kido or not, as I'm not sure if an Arrancar can learn those types of techniques."

"Very well then, I guess we had better get started." Sombra said, to which he followed Kisuke to the open area that he intended to spar in, but as he did so he had to wonder about the types of techniques that he had been told about and what both Kisuke and Yoruichi had to teach him.

Once the two of them were ready Kisuke spent the next couple of minutes demonstrating the various motions one used when they were swinging a sword; such as a simple yet precise strike designed to graze the target, a flurry of attacks that would leave the person open to attacks and that a skilled swordsmen could turn that to their advantage, a powerful strike that required both hands and could sometimes even cut an opponent in two depending on who used it, and a few other techniques that could definitely kill a target if one was skilled enough. Kisuke, knowing that Sombra was a novice at this sort of thing, started off with the techniques that would likely harm an opponent and immediately lashed out at Sombra the instant following him demonstrating the techniques that he wanted Sombra to learn. He immediately found that Kisuke was incredibly strong, as the attacks he used, despite hiding his true strength since he didn't want to cripple him, still hurt more than he was willing to admit and several of them ended up drawing a little blood in the process, to which Sombra shook off the pain and kept going... though the impressive thing about the situation, in Kisuke's eyes anyway, was the fact that Sombra was able to withstand some of his attacks, which he attributed to the abilities of an Arrancar, which none of them knew anything about at the moment.

The tide quickly turned in Kisuke's favor as he used his knowledge on Shinigami techniques, making Sombra wonder if both he and Yoruichi were once Shinigami before being banished or something, forcing Sombra to fall into the same pattern that he used against Ururu during the first few days of his hand to hand training. Since Kisuke had watched him do this when he was sparring against the little girl, and had seen his progress over the last couple of days, that technique soon fell apart as well, because Kisuke was faster than he was and always cut him off when he was pulling away from him, always pushing him back to the same area that they had started the lesson in. While all this happened Sombra went over something that he had discovered the moment the sparring session started, Kisuke was never without a weapon because his cane had a concealed blade inside it that he could pull out whenever he desired, though if he was a Shinigami, like Sombra was beginning to suspect that he was, that meant his weapon was his Zanpakuto, hidden in plain sight and pulled out at a moments notice... and capable of beating an opponent who had next to no experience in this field, though despite that lack of experience Sombra put forth his best effort and tried to do the one thing that was asked of him, knock off the hat that Kisuke wore.

After ten minutes of trying to get at the hat, and show Kisuke that he had learned something, Sombra stood in front of one of the rock formations that littered the area and huffed as he stood his ground, though at the same time there were a number of cuts on his arms, legs, chest, and one shallow cut over his right eye that forced his eye closed... and he held his sword at the ready, indicating that he was ready to keep going, despite his injuries.

"That's enough for now." Yoruichi said, stepping between the two of them for a moment and stopping Kisuke from doing any additional damage to Sombra, especially since this was the first time he had been in a battle with someone that had as much experience as Kisuke did, before turning towards Sombra as she pulled something out, "This ointment will stop the bleeding and keep your wounds that way for some time, but then we'll need to treat them before you get an infection. Once I've put some on each of your wounds, and I'm sure that they're not in danger of breaking and bleeding again, I'll start showing you what I have to offer you in terms of training... and let me tell you something now, it won't be like what I showed you last night."

Sombra thought about those words as he sheathed the sword he was carrying, as Yoruichi had to be referring to the speed that she had shown him earlier, where she purposely kept herself on his level so he could keep up with her and not get left behind. It confirmed his thoughts that she was even faster than what he had seen earlier, though as he wondered what sort of speed she could use when she wasn't holding herself back, however, Yoruichi opened the small rectangular container that she was holding and gently spread some of the ointment on his wounds, where he watched as the bleeding stopped for now. Sure, his body still hurt and he was sure that there was another affect of the ointment that nullified some of the pain, but once all of the cuts were taken care of she put the container away and walked over to a different spot that was near where he was standing. It was then that Sombra discovered that what Yoruichi was going to teach him, the art of Hoho and eventually Shunpo, or Flash Steps as the Shinigami called it, was more focused on how fast someone could move from one point to another and that the techniques she was going to teach him were based on speed and agility.

As the demonstration started, however, Sombra got another taste of Yoruichi's skills, as she literally flashed around the area they were training in like a goddess or something, only touching a point for a brief moment before disappearing once more, always making him guessing where she would appear next while Kisuke, who was standing nearby, seemed to have a vague idea where Yoruichi was, but Sombra suspected that he might be keeping up with her. When Yoruichi came to a stop, and reappeared in the very spot where she started the demonstration, she motioned for Sombra to show her the speed that he was capable of at the moment and found that he was stuck at a run at the moment, but she fully expected that and walked over to where he was standing. Kisuke, seeing Yoruichi start to give Sombra some pointers on how to improve his skill, smiled as he headed back up to the shop to see what sort of trouble Jinta and Ururu were getting into if there weren't any customers at the shop yet, leaving the two of them to their lesson while he planned what he wanted to teach Sombra later, when he was ready for the more dangerous attacks.

---

Sombra spent most of his morning learning the very basics of Zanjutsu and Hoho, though one thing he discovered was that, despite the fact that Kisuke preferred to literally beat the lessons into his body, Yoruichi clearly had a different method for training. She took her time, showing him the various steps in the basic techniques that she had learned so long ago, while also giving him no time to let stray thoughts enter his head, meaning that he was focused solely on his training and nothing else. Still, despite that fact, he found that learning Hoho was tougher than he originally thought it would be, but Yoruichi expected this and clearly had tips at the ready if he needed them, which he occasionally asked for whenever he found something that he couldn't do or figure out without someone aiding him, which also made him grateful that she was willing to assist him in this manner. He even thanked her for her help several times during their first lesson, when he had the chance to catch his breath and regain some of his stamina, which made Yoruichi give him her usual smile before she eventually had him start up the training again.

Besides learning about Hoho, and trying to get a good grasp of the speed that Yoruichi used when she had her various demonstrations, Kisuke also came back down to them from time to time, seeing how he had improved since the last session before starting another Zanjutsu session while Yoruichi watched from a rock. Sure, learning the techniques from Yoruichi helped improve his chances a tiny bit, but even so Kisuke was more than ready for him and continued to beat his lesson into him, which involved Sombra earning several more cuts in the process, though that ruined the effects of the ointment since he was feeling pain again. There were several times where Sombra had to kneel for a moment, to catch his breath and ignore the pain he was in, before Kisuke attacked him again, but even though he was clearly losing the 'fight' that they were having he was still learning what it meant to fight a Shinigami, or at least someone with the same powers that a Shinigami possessed. Kisuke also complimented him on the fact that he was willing to stand and fight, and not run away and think of a strategy to beat him, where Sombra stated that he'd never learn anything if he decided to run away from the people that were helping him... even if one of them was swinging his sword like he was trying to kill someone.

Eventually Yoruichi called for them to stop and this time Sombra collapsed in the process, as he had spent more than enough energy trying to learn Zanjutsu from Kisuke, and a number of cuts to show that he had been hit, but that still didn't stop Kisuke from being proud that he was able to stand up to him as well as he had... even though Sombra still had to cough up some blood, since the training with him had been as tough as it was earlier that day.

"Since you did so well on your first day of training, I think I'll let you relax and take the afternoon off," Kisuke said, to which he hid his face behind his fan again, causing Sombra to wonder where he kept pulling it from, before he headed over to the ladder, "I'll see you two upstairs, when you're ready anyway."

"I'm taking him over to the hot springs," Yoruichi stated, staring at the cuts that Kisuke had delivered in the second part of Sombra's Zanjutsu training, knowing that he was trying to teach him to defend himself in case he ever had to fight a Shinigami for some reason, but even so the ointment wouldn't be enough for what was in front of her, "after this morning he definitely needs it."

Kisuke knew what Yoruichi was talking about, as he had made sure that the hot springs that were down here were the same as the one they used when they were younger, to recover from their training and heal their wounds in instants, but he said nothing as he let her do her thing. Something had changed in the last couple of days, as Yoruichi never shifted out of her cat form, much less to a complete stranger, unless she was interested in doing something else, as the last time he had seen her in this form was close to fifteen years ago. He knew that she enjoyed being a cat, it was in her nature to be like one at times when she was like this, but she never changed forms and showed her true self to a complete stranger before, which actually caught him off guard more than he was willing to admit. He wasn't sure if Yoruichi was interested in learning more about Sombra or if she was just toying with him, like she did to a number of people they had known when they were younger, though he knew that she was interested in finding out who he used to be and wasn't about to do anything that might damage the trust he had placed in them... but even then he knew that it was hard to read exactly what Yoruichi was going to do at any given moment, once more like the cat she spent a large amount of her time as.

Yoruichi, on the other hand, helped Sombra onto his hooves and moved them through the area they had been training in, taking them to the hidden hot springs that would help the Arrancar out and let him actually enjoy the afternoon, instead of being in pain all the time. Fortunately she didn't have to explain everything to Sombra, as when they arrived all she said was that he needed to take off his clothing and put it in a pile with his sword, before he could get into the water, and sure enough he did that the moment she looked away, only to glance back when he was inside the water. From there she smiled as she watched him a little, finding that the waters did restore his body and heal his wounds, much like the first one Kisuke constructed, though after a minute or two she sighed and walked over to a nearby rock, where she did the same thing that Sombra had done, before heading out and slipped into the water as well, as it had been some time since she did anything like this in her true form.

"I had no idea you guys had this sort of thing down here." Sombra commented, though he had closed his eyes the moment he slipped into the water, mostly so he could relax a little while moving some of the water over his face, finding that the cuts healed on their own after he touched the liquid... and it also came in handy when he heard the sound of Yoruichi climbing into the water as well, no doubt bare skinned like him at the moment.

"We don't really advertise this place to our customers," Yoruichi said, though as she spoke she glanced over at Sombra and found that his Hollow hole was located where a Human's heart would be, and that he was tense after his morning training sessions, no doubt because of Kisuke, "Here, just turn to your right a bit and I'll loosen your muscles... that should help you relax and calm down."

Sombra, not realizing that he must have looked stressed after 'fighting' against Kisuke, nodded a turned to the right a bit, showing his back to Yoruichi, though that was followed him feeling her hands at work as they gently touched his back and the muscles that she had mentioned. In mere moments he could feel something slip away from him, which must have meant that it was working and that there was another reason for him to be thankful for Yoruichi and Kisuke helping him figure out what he needed to know. He still wasn't sure if he was going to pick up the slack that the Shinigami had left behind, in not dealing with the Hollows and the scattered souls, but he was sure that, in time, he would be able to figure it out and discover what he was supposed to be doing. At the same time he was sure that Yoruichi and the others would be able to show him the path he needed to take, to reach his destination, and maybe he'd make some friends or something along the way.

Eventually Yoruichi stopped massaging his back and smiled as he started to enjoy himself, as he opened his eyes and started to clean the rest of himself as he soaked in the healing properties of the water, though he wasn't like all of the other men she had seen, who stared at her when she was bare like this. As she leaned against the other side of the hot springs, and watched Sombra as she lowered herself deeper into the water, she honestly wondered why he was so willing to trust her and Kisuke, especially after the crappy 'deal' that Kisuke talked about, and yet he didn't seem upset in the slightest. It was like he knew that the souls that were around Karakura Town needed a guardian or something and was trying to prepare himself to be that protector, while also gaining the skills necessary to head back into Hueco Mundo at some point to get his actual Zanpakuto back. Sombra wasn't like everyone else that she had encountered over her many years of living, and she was sure that Kisuke was thinking the same thing, yet there was one thought that separated the two of them... she wanted to know more about the Arrancar and who he was choosing to be, in place of who he had been before his memories were taken.

She also wanted to know why she felt the need to act differently around him, as it wasn't because he had no memories or anything like that... and she was sure that her answers, like the ones that Sombra was seeking, would be found at some point in time.

Comments

[Fluffy-Boi]

Ooooo!! This is getting better and better!

[prism heart]

yoruichi/sombra possible ship? any1 else consider that a possibility?

[MJ]

Awesome!

[Silent_Knight]

After that Yoruichi talked about the number of Hollows they had encountered in one night, an odd number that even Kisuke agreed with

In more ways than 1 eh author?

they fought 5 hollows on this evenings hunt

[Greenhorn]

Too bad no one has drawn MLP characters as arrancar before, so I have some difficulties imagine arrancar anthro Sombra.

[Black--Soul]

A Hollow as protector of the Innocent... Soul Sociaty will flipp their shit...