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Post by Suigintou on Jul 15, 2009 9:23:25 GMT -5
Riku liked this part of Rukongai. It was quiet and peaceful, and it didn't have many people crowding the area, so he was rarely interrupted when he chose to train.
Training was something he did often. It allowed him to be alone, to think, to simply get away from Seireitei for a while. He did so now; it was a bright, clear morning, and though it was cool, sweat dampened his face, made his hair cling to his skin. He swung Nakukari in a wide arc, turned quickly to stab behind him. To the onlooker, it may have appeared like a dance, but Riku took his training seriously; if he didn't fight the hollows his mind created as though his life depended on it, he could lose it when faced with real combat.
Sparring may have been more efficient, but he liked the solitude. He wasn't comfortable around other people anymore, and even those small few that had found their way through his iron-wrought defenses were rarely permitted to come close.
It was much easier this way, really. He could concern himself with himself, didn't have to worry about others. And selfishly, he didn't have to worry about letting them see parts of himself he didn't want to acknowledge.
The boy paused for a moment, lifting his arm to wipe sweat from his face, then shaking his damp hair, returned to swinging his katana. For now, he preferred not to think too much - sometimes, he felt, it was better if he kept his life confined to the cold steel in his hand.
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Post by Aki Sora on Jul 15, 2009 9:42:28 GMT -5
Akina took her free time and wandered the dusty roads of Rukonai. Today, she found herself in the second district. Although not entirely sure why, but she was drawn here.
Shrugging the thought off, the mocha-skinned shinigami hummed a happy tune as she wandered around.
As she passed a clearing, Akina caught sight of a dark blur. She moved closer and discovered that it was in fact another shinigami.
"Heke?" she said to herself with a head tilt. "Issat... Riku-kun from hachibantai? What's he doing out here?"
Now that she found someone to talk to, she won't be bored. Jumping into a nearby tree, she moved closer to the boy, going from tree branch to tree branch until she was nearly behind him.
"Konnichiwa, Riku-kun!" she chirped happily as she hung upside down from the branch, her bosom surprisingly not slipping from her kosode.
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Post by Suigintou on Jul 15, 2009 10:58:47 GMT -5
"Nakase, Nakukari!"
He had barely finished speaking the words when four long knives flew directly at Akina, missing only by a hair as he saw who had attempted to sneak up on him and redirected the aim. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he returned his weapon to its katana form and sheathed it. "Tsukamoto-san. Do you need something?"
Any annoyance he felt at her interruption was hidden well enough, and in truth, he wasn't exceptionally bothered. Riku had just learned the hard way to be cautious. If he seemed a bit cold...well, he usually did.
For a moment he wondered why she had come, curious if she brought news of a mission. But why would a shinigami of rokubantai give one of hachibantai a mission? Was it company she was after, then? If so, she had come to the wrong place.
Hand resting idly on Nakukari's sheath, a gesture that indicated that he wanted to return to his training, Riku decided not to speculate.
But he did hope she finished her business with him quickly...
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Post by Aki Sora on Jul 15, 2009 11:12:37 GMT -5
"Yare yare, Riku-kun!" Akina pouted as she slipped out of the tree, landing on her feet. "That would have hurt!"
She motioned with her thumb to the blades that were still lodged in the tree she'd jumped from.
"Jumpy much?" she asked him as she approached him.
His cold demeanor was intriguing, yet sad. From this impromptu visit, she hoped to have gotten at least a little closer to him. Repositioning Kin Hana on her hip, she smiled at the boy.
"I see that you're training," she said nodding at his zanpakutou. "Mind if I watch or join in?"
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Post by Suigintou on Jul 15, 2009 11:31:10 GMT -5
"Shinigami have to be cautious," Riku returned dismissively. "A careless shinigami could be killed easily." He paused, apparently considering his words, and when he spoke again it was with some hesitation, as though admitting his fault made him uncomfortable. "I was distracted. I didn't notice your reiatsu. Sorry."
But she was an eighth seat. She should have the reflexes to dodge such an attack.
At her offer, Riku frowned almost imperceptibly, considering. He really did want to be alone, but...
He shrugged. "Fine with me, as long as you don't go easy on me because I'm not seated."
It would make a sufficient apology for his attack, he supposed, and it had been a while since he had had a sparring partner. He could use the practice.
"Ready?"
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Post by Aki Sora on Jul 15, 2009 12:01:14 GMT -5
"Fine," Akina said as she stepped forward into a shunpo, quickly drawing Kin Hana and attacking the younger shinigami from the right.
She was glad that she was able to spar with him. It had been quite a while since she had the opportunity.
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Post by Suigintou on Jul 15, 2009 12:11:49 GMT -5
Riku turned with equal speed, his reflexes an apparent match to Akina's. The boy parried her attack, then pushed away with a backwards leap, barely landing before he disappeared with shunpo as well. In an instant he was behind her, his blade swinging for her lower back.
She was fast. He'd have to keep his focus completely or he wouldn't be able to keep up.
Perhaps allowing her to become his sparring partner had been a good idea.
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Post by Aki Sora on Jul 15, 2009 12:21:41 GMT -5
As if she'd known where he'd attack, Akina was ready for the attack to her back. Ducking quickly and pivoting backward she swung again, feinting an aim for his ankles before lifting herself and making a stab at the other shinigami behind her.
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Post by Suigintou on Jul 15, 2009 13:09:30 GMT -5
Riku bent to block the low attack, and for an instant, his eyes went wide as he realized her trick. He leaned quickly to the side to avoid her blade, and realizing as he did so that it had thrown him off balance, turned the action into a roll. This wasn't enough. Recovering his balance, he sprung forward in a leap as though to attack her from above, katana lowered, but just before he would've struck pulled it away and extended his hand.
"Hadou #33: Soukatsui!"
Blue light exploded from his hand, and he took further advantage, dropping to the ground and bringing Nakukari up in a quick, sweeping slash.
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Post by Aki Sora on Jul 15, 2009 13:41:44 GMT -5
"Not bad, Riku-kun," Akina commented as she executed a one-handed backhand spring, dodging his attacks. "Bakudou #4: Hainawa!"
The lightening bolt-like kidou wrapped around the young shinigami with the intent to render his arms useless. Whether or not it held up, it didn't matter to Akina. She'd take advantage of any momentary opening.
Her light brown eyes narrowed as she charged at Riku. Her movements were swift and she came at him as if she had the intent to kill.
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Post by Suigintou on Jul 15, 2009 14:15:44 GMT -5
Riku bit back a curse. He had underestimated the speed of her kidou! It caught him off guard; unable to fully dodge it, his left arm went rigid, useless. He didn't dare take his eyes off of her, however. The moment he did, he would lose, of that he had little doubt.
He hadn't intended to do it so soon, but...
"Nakase, Nakukari!"
Again the katana split into knives, four of them in the hand that had held the katana, four swinging about in the air around him. It was these that he sent at her, with speed far exceeding his kidou; Nakukari was like a part of him, so he had exceptional control over it.
Now to see how their shikai could handle each other, he supposed...
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Post by Aki Sora on Jul 15, 2009 15:19:34 GMT -5
The rokubantai eighth seat stopped in her tracks when her opponent released his shikai. She smirked slightly at the thought. Since she was outside, she just may have the upper hand.
"Flourish, Kin Hana," she murmured as her zanpakutou changed forms.
Quickly placing the now double-edged sword in the ground, the foliage in the clearing - about 10 yards in radius - seemed to wither and die. Transferring a small portion of her reiatsu into the sword, the flora around shook with the newly given energy.
Akina leaned down and picked up a few blades of grass, the pieces turning into grass kunai in her hand.
Looking at Riku again, she took on a stance that, through trial and error, had helped her with accuracy and control.
With a flick of her wrist, she released three of the grass blade kunai, one aiming for his neck, one for his chest, and one for his groin as sort of an inhumane-ish joke.
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Post by Suigintou on Jul 16, 2009 10:12:18 GMT -5
Riku made a quick leap to the side, quickly surveying his surroundings as he did so. Grass wouldn't normally be so easily thrown! It had to be her shikai's ability, and if he was right, the rest of the dead plants would make equal weapons.
All he had to do, then, was finish this quickly, before she got to make much use of them.
The knives that had missed now swung abruptly around, flying with exceptional speed back at her. He kept his face carefully clear of any indication that he had made an attack, but if he just stood there, it would be obvious he was planning something...
With a flick of his wrist, he sent the four knives remaining in his hand at her, but rather than a direct attack, he spread them out. Dodging to the side wouldn't be an option, unless she wanted to hit the ground and make herself vulnerable.
Against a seated shinigami or not, Riku had no intention of letting himself be defeated.
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Post by Aki Sora on Jul 16, 2009 10:28:44 GMT -5
Akina's eyes narrowed as she saw the knives leave his hand. She actually hadn't expected him to spread out his attack. The rokubantai eighth seat had to give him respect... he was definitely no amateur.
Springing herself backward, to buy a bit of time, Akina picked up a stone, aiming it at one of the knives that were coming toward her from the front and dodging the four that were intending to strike behind her, two of the knives colliding and canceling one another. Though her action was successful, she was still barely able to evade the other two frontal knives, one actually scraping her cheek.
Paying no attention to the drop of crimson liquid that seeped from the scratch, the mocha-skinned shinigami knew she'd have to end this quickly. Glancing over to the side, she saw a lone flower that was pulsing with her reiatsu.
Running over to it, she plucked it, separated the flower from the stem, pumped a bit more of her energy into it and turned it into a shuriken and needle combination.
With speed, she flicked the flower-shuriken at him, then proceeded to run to him, needle stem in hand and ready to strike at a certain nerve in his neck.
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Post by Suigintou on Jul 16, 2009 10:49:11 GMT -5
The knives were too far away to use one of them to block the flower, even with the speed at which he could control them. Regardless he recalled them to him as he sidestepped to dodge the flower, keeping his eyes on Akina. He could get away with shunpo easily enough, but at the moment he was at the edge of the trees...better to stay here. It looked as though she had to touch the plants to change them into weapons, but he didn't want to find out that he was wrong by surrounding himself with them.
The hand that wasn't bound by kidou reached up to grab her wrist and stop the attack, but for a moment, he allowed himself to look past her toward his knives. They were close, now, but not yet close enough to attack - and he was at a disadvantage, with the use of only one arm.
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