find solace (belong) [KNY/BNHA]

[20] we don't want to see miracles

Calm and collected; Water Breathing is likened to the surface of a lake, the flow of a stream, the tides of waves. Or rather, any large body of water. It held power and strength, fluidity and flexibility, all in one.

It was hard, difficult, borderline excruciating. It allowed for no hesitation nor questioning.

One had to repeatedly train their flexibility, to be able to accommodate the natural movements of the style. And not only did they have to train for the sake of increasing their force, they also had to remind themselves constantly of what water breathing embodied.

The flow of water. An everlasting cycle, like how rain falls, collects, evaporates and builds up, again and again and again. It is unchanging, absolute. But at the same time, it is adaptable.

Which was precisely why Charlotte found it so difficult to learn. Sometimes, she just couldn't grasp the feeling of water, so she was made to swim and stand beneath a crashing waterfall. Other times, her legs and arms wouldn't bend the way they needed to bend, so she'd strain and tear her muscles in order to engrave the position in her body.

There were days where she felt that she wouldn't get there, her abilities stagnant due to her lack of experience.

Eventually, she was able to get to a point where she could resolutely say that she had a firm understanding of Water Breathing.

As of now, just as daybreak approaches, she runs through the forms once more. The sky changes rapidly above her, a myriad of blues going into warm oranges and yellows. Her motions are automatic and smooth, flawless and comfortable. Her independent training in the morning did wonders to help her focus throughout the day. It was a time of peace, of self-reflection and improvement, of refinement and repetition.

It was safe to say that she would never even think of skipping it, if she knew what was good for her.

Water Breathing has become so natural to her that doing it came to her as easily as breathing. Whatever Urokodaki has put her through the past seven months has clearly worked, even when there were moments when she felt as if she would collapse from exhaustion.

However, the same could not be said for Sun Breathing.

Charlotte regarded that specific breathing style with wariness and caution, part of which being due to the fact that she couldn't ask Urokodaki about it as it was the original breathing style that all other styles stemmed from.

In Charlotte's brain, it was more than hard. It was impossible.

She didn't like to think of anything as impossible. Gin didn't teach her resilience for nothing, and her parents certainly didn't teach her how to give up. If they taught her anything, it would be persistence.

But Sun Breathing somehow managed to really test her limits.

With the Hinokami Kagura, every breath she took burned. Every move she enacted ached. Even the blood that flowed through her capillaries and veins felt as if it were being boiled, stretched and torn apart, for lack of better terms.

She didn't know how Yoriichi had been able to create such a breath. The further she delved into it, the further her impression of it was consolidated. It simply wasn't made for normal humans. Hell, she didn't know how Tanjurou had done it, in the middle of the winter amongst crisp snowfall and stinging coldness thay nibbled away at one's ability to breathe.

The image of him dancing replayed in Charlotte's mind every time she attempted the style. It was a reminder, a motivation. Every time her mind wanted to stop and take a break from the pain that came in the form of a dance for the sun gods, the image of that ritual that Tanjurou performed made her go back to practising with all her might.