No Hesitations (Solo)

The morning cool breeze rolled over Ezrachek’s face as he woke in an instant. The morning was bright and cool, but his nightmare was dark and gloomy. It was a normal for him, and he hadn’t adapted to the cool season changes yet. He rolled out of bed, touching his toes to the soft carpet in his room. He slowly fell to the ground, his legs yet to awaken and ready for the day. He sat on the floor and laughed at his legs failures to support his weight. He then stood up and stared out the window. He could see the leaves of the beautiful flowers begin to fall as autumn was approaching, and the hot weather that he was so adept to, began cooling. A calamity of noises burst from outside of his room, and Ezrachek decided to go figure out what the issue was. He slid his door open to find some of the jerks of 2nd squad picking on a little kid. ”Hey! What the hell is going on here!?” It was still rather early and Ezrachek was in no mood for any shenanigans. He unsheathed his sword in a threatening manner. The two bullies looked at each other and dropped the kid to the ground innocently. With a glare and a jolt of his body forward, commonly knowing as “bucking”, Ezrachek had managed to scare the two off as they hurried back to the daily errands that they were tasked with. Ezrachek looked at the little kid who was sniffling and trying his hardest not to tear up. Annoyed by the whole event, Ezrachek didn’t really want much to do with the little boy. ”Go on boy. Go back to the Academy. Go back to Training in fighting. You need it. Haha” He let out a laugh and the small boy looked up with a smile. He ran off waving to Ezrachek.


Ezrachek shook his head in confusion and turned back to go back into his room. He slid the door shut behind him and removed the top of his uniform, rolling it down to hang from his waste. He dropped to the floor. He began doing pushups, counting in Japanese ”Ichi, Ni, San, Shi, Go…” As he exercised in peace. He was constantly training his body to handle any battle. Once he reached 100, he instantly rolled over and cranked out 100 sit-ups. He rested for 30 seconds and began pushups. 100 more. He rolled over and did 100 crunches. He repeated this pattern for the next 3 hours. He then stopped and rested. He grabbed a towel from his wardrobe and wiped the sweat from his body and his face. He looked at his watch. 1130. His favorite ramen shop was an hour away by foot. He challenged himself to make it there by noon. He set off on a quick-paced run. Feeling the footsteps on the rough ground pat pat pat pat pat pat pat as he ran through the streets. He made his way to a rather busy and decided to test his parkour abilities. He quickly pressed off of a heavy set man, pushing off his chest, flying towards a tall man. Ezrachek pushed off that man’s head, making his way high into the sky. He reached his foot out and made a smooth landing on the roof of a nearby building. This was the business sector of Seireitei, so the buildings were all clumped close together, which man for an easy run. Ezrachek made it there in 25 minutes. He was making a noteable improvement and decided to reward himself with a nice large bowl of shrimp and beef ramen. He walked inside and quickly ordered. He sat down and had a cup of ice water as he waited for his order. 3 minutes passed until his bowl came out. He watched as the chef placed in on the bar, steam rising quickly from the noodles. Ezrachek felt a rumble in his stomach and quickly began to scarf down the noodles. Once finished with his delicious lunch, he tossed the chef a roll of money that covered the cost of the meal as well as a fairly good tip.


Ezrachek made his way back to the barracks as he cleaned himself up. He quickly showered to wash the sweat and dirt from his body. Once he was dressed and ready to go, he made his way to the Academy, where he volunteered to teach a Zanjutsu class. He was early enough to set up the practicing dummies for the practice. The hour struck and the class was ready to begin. ”Good Afternoon class! Today you will be learning some special techniques necessary to survive in a battle. If you think this is going to be an easy class, then just wipe that thought from your mind right now. This is to prepare you for the battles that you will face in the field.” He said as he removed the top of his uniform, showing his chest. ”This is what happens when you enter yourself in battle! Each of these cuts were derived from an enemy of mine in the field of battle. Yes, it hurt, but I was able to overcome the pain and the power of my enemy to defeat them, but more importantly, survive.” Ezrachek said as he replaced his uniform back to its previous place. He had them begin with a few practice strike on the targets to ready themselves for the training. Once they each had a few swings, he called them back into the middle. ”You will now face an opponent. Face someone that will better you, and not hinder you. If I find anyone slacking off, you will answer to me. You will spar your opponent with the wooden swords so that no fatalities will occur, but know this! Fatalities will occur in the real world! You will not walk away from a battle unharmed. It just won’t happen. Begin!” He yelled out as the students hurried off to find worthy opponents and begin sparring. Ezrachek walked around, watching each group and making minor adjustments, making sure to keep an eye on the weak ones. There was bound to be someone weaker who needed to be taught the price. It was then that Ezrachek saw a student who had knocked down another student. He quickly walked over to watch the final strike. It happened, but too late for a real battle. Ezrachek placed his hand lightly on the end of the wooden blade so that the student wouldn’t feel it. He then yelled at the student who was on the ground to get up. The first student went to thrust his blade downward, but made no movements as his blade was being held back. The student on the ground, spun around, bring himself to his feet. He brought himself around and made solid contact with the first student, cracking his ribs. At this point the whole class was watching the event. The first student let out a cry as he dropped to the ground clinching his ribs.


Ezrachek then turned his attention the class, but it was obvious that his words were directed at the student on the ground. ”This is what happens when you hesitate in the battle. He hesitated to make the final blow, and gave his opponent time to recover and even make a counter blow of his own.” He then turned and looked the boy in the eyes, directly talking to him. ”You would be dead if this was a real battle! Now get up and continue to fight while you still have a life to do so with!” Ezrachek exclaimed. He didn’t necessarily enjoy being this tyrannical teacher; however it was necessary that these students, who were coming upon graduation, needed to have a taste of how the real world is. He finished the class with a few more drills and a Q&A for all the students who were thinking about joining the 2nd Squad. Ezrachek was up front with them, not telling any influential lies to reel them in. He said it how it was: Difficult as crap, but the best time of your life. Some kids laughed and Ezrachek let out a laugh of his own. He then dismissed the class and took the injured child to the 4th squad, who patched him up quickly and sent him on his way.


Ezrachek then made his way back to his room, where he laid his zanpakuto on its stand that he specifically built for it on his dresser. He then flopped his body on the bed. He lit a cigarette and blew smoke clouds into the room, which flowed out of the open window.

(OOC: Will be continued in another solo)