he was out. they were out. they were finally out of that godforsaken hospital. of course, they still had to go to whatever therapy the annoying doctors recommended, but it meant ichigo wasn't basically strapped to a bed as his muscles atrophied. it was just one of those days when shirosaki came with him to watch. he wanted to see him in action again, but ... "can't this go any faster? you'll be weak for the next year if this is how it is." only ichigo could hear him but still.
‘ Alrighty, Kurosaki-kun, that’s enough. Take a break. ’
The therapist placed a hand on his back, firmly, as if to keep him from attempting another push-up. It wouldn’t exactly be out of line, really, considering Ichigo tended to have the drive to push himself as hard as he could go before it became physically painful to continue—and sometimes even beyond that threshold—if he was left with too lax supervision.
Nonetheless, Ichigo nodded, letting his knees drop to the mats. With a little help, he found himself on his feet once more and led…somewhere. Exhausted from the exertion, he didn’t really pay it much mind. There was a pressure on his shoulders that some part of his brain was alert enough to recognize as a cue to sit down because he found himself sitting soon afterward on the benches that ran along the wall of the place.
The guy, thankfully, chose that moment to go get something—he said it before he left but Ichigo could hardly make out whatever he was saying over the pounding of his own heartbeat in his ears—so he was left alone for the moment to listen to Shiro voice his displeasure at his progress. Strange how he couldn’t hear his trainer telling him possibly vital information, but he could hear Shiro complain just fine. Then again, he’d been conditioned to only listen to his hollow alone for all those months… so it shouldn’t exactly be all that surprising.
“ You know… it can’t… ” Sweat poured down the teen’s face as he dragged in ragged pants of breath. Exhaustion penetrated his entire body right down to the bone. He should have brought a water bottle with him. Normally he did… He wasn’t really sure why he forgot it today. He’d have to get one from the vending machine by the locker room… “ They’re barely letting me… go at this pace… ”
If his doctors had their way, he wouldn’t be allowed to do more than light yoga for the next month. His father had only barely convinced the other doctor to sign off on more intensive workouts once a week if only to keep Ichigo from going insane from restlessness or risking him going off on his own and hurting himself in the process. It was something Ichigo was immensely thankful for…even if he couldn’t help but privately agree with his Hollow on the matter.
it was going far too slow for his taste.
At this pace, it would be ages before he was back to his former self. He understood that his body needed time to heal after atrophying to nearly skin and bones under Shiro’s hellish training, but at the same time, he couldn’t stand it.
Every minute he spent getting worn out doing yoga and only a handful of sets of basic exercises frustrated him to no end. Sure he was glad to be out of his goddamn hospital bed and able to walk and move around relatively freely again, but fuck… Seeing himself look so physically weak and sickly in the mirror every day made his skin crawl. It triggered such a sense of visceral dysmorphia, he couldn’t bear it. He wanted his normal body back already.
“ We’ve… We’ve just gotta stick it out ‘til I stop… stop looking like a goddamn stick… ”