Chad and Orihime had made remarkable progress too. Their spiritual pressure hadn't increased, but they understood their abilities on a deeper level and could use them more effectively.
As for Senna, she spent every day sitting miserably on the sofa, staring at the broken Asauchi in her hands and trying to connect with her Zanpakuto.
Why was she so miserable? To stop the girl from slacking off, Yuko had put Yoshino in charge of watching her. If Senna dared to daydream or shirk her work, Yoshino was to bring out the stick.
But the Zanpakuto ignored her completely. Senna spent days on end doing nothing but sitting on the sofa, and she looked exhausted.
At last, the day before school resumed arrived.
Second floor, living room.
To Senna, the past few days had been worse than training in hell.
The others might have been beaten half to death in their dreams, but at least they grew stronger when they woke up. A good night's sleep could also ease much of their mental exhaustion.
What about her? Every day, her task was to hold that broken Asauchi and meditate on the sofa, trying to connect with a Zanpakuto that hadn't even been born yet.
Yoshino hadn't actually stood over her with a stick. Sometimes she even brought her hot tea and offered a few gentle words of encouragement. But that only made Senna feel more pressured.
Watching Ichigo and the others finish training each day was especially hard. They all complained, but the light in their eyes grew brighter by the day. Their visible progress left Senna both envious and anxious.
"Ugh..."
Senna buried her face in a cushion and let out a long sigh, absently rubbing the cold sword hilt in her hand. It had been days, and there was