death is misleading, and when i fall asleep, sleep with your ghost

Although Rukia has no shortage of facilities to turn to when she's in need of practice, sometimes finding someone capable of reacting to her attacks is another matter entirely. For weeks, she's been training with Urahara to try and stretch her power as far as it can go. She'd known for years that her soul is one with access to ice and cold. A mere circle of her blade can send a pillar of ice screaming towards the sky.

What she didn't realize until recently was that the extension of that power meant looking within. To freeze herself, and not just the environment.

But because her bankai is one that her body can only tolerate for brief periods of time, she's trying to focus more on her core strengths. That's what has her at the gym today, with a kendo group. She's the shortest of the group by far, grinning whenever it's her turn to step up to compete, earning a lot of overly confident smirks from her opponents before she overwhelms them entirely. Kendo is a martial art that doesn't use the sword as freely as she would in real battle, but she makes up for the gap by making sure she defeats her opponents with the most deadly threat.

Tsuki-bu, stopping just before their throat.

They're only using wooden swords, and the headgear and armor they wear protects them from any real harm, but it's still a bit thrilling to best even the most seasoned of students in the club. A swift strike earns her the second point in her match, and Rukia quickly sheaths her wooden sword back by her hip, removing her headgear in one smooth motion, shaking her head to cool down.

"Thank you," she says to her opponent, bowing before leaving the competition area and glancing out of the broad windows that stretch next to the entrance of the gym. Spotting someone familiar, she waves sheepishly.

cut me down to size so i can fit inside lies that will divide us both in time

In many ways, dropping one's body temperature is like a gradual forfeit to sleep. As Rukia feels her whole body slowing to a stop, her emotions start to bleed away, like colors fading under blinding light. The ground underneath her feet shudders, an earthquake at her beckoning, as individual blades of grass grow silent and still in their fight to reach the sun.

She's not supposed to be training here, but after a while, any misgivings die entirely. This area is mostly uninhabited by humans and the dense forestry keeps anyone from catching a ready glance of the ice that spreads quickly over the earth, like spiders' legs weaving through the bark of the trees. There's an appeal to letting all of her worries fade.

Besides, her training grounds have been occupied lately.

"Bankai."

Frost covers her surroundings in a precisely drawn circle, spreading over everything in its path, and stemming from Rukia's body itself. Only her eyes retain their color as she glances around. She spares no softness or regard for a bird that gets in the way of her technique.

A swing of her sword brings the nearest tree down, wood shattering into thin splinters.