The Wakizashi Bandit (solo)

Garin walked down the familiar streets of his old home. He'd spent 200 years in the Rukongai and met many interesting people. One of those people was an old man he remembered well. Technically, the man was an outlaw. A bandit, wanted by the Seireitei, old man Linuk was known best as "The Wakizashi Bandit." In spite of his outlaw status, he was generally left alone by the Gotei 13 for two reasons: Firstly, he did no harm and wasn't an active threat to the Seireitei, and secondly, what few men they sent to fight him were summarily put down by his incredible skill with his weapon. While he'd not yet fought a captain class opponent, he had beaten several lieutenants and a vice-captain, not to mention dozens of weaker Shinigami. Garin had once asked how he could beat these foes with the special abilities granted by their Zanpakuto, and he winked and said "It's all in the wrist," and laughed loudly as though this were the funniest joke ever. Today, however, Garin was looking for him for something he would have never expected to be looking for him for back when they first met. He needed to learn to use the Wakizashi Zanpakuto.

It wasn't long before Garin arrived at the shop that the old man owned. He walked in and looked around, seeing only a young girl who looked to be in her teens. Stepping up to the counter, he bowed slightly. "I'm looking for Shinmen Takezo. Could you point me to him?" The girl looked up and smirked, her eyebrows raising. She stood up and straightened her kimono.

"Well. It would seem there are still Shinigami out there who are eager to die. Judging by your robes, you're not worthy." With this, she brushed her hair aside and stepped from behind the counter. She pulled out a wakizashi and scowled at Garin. "Go back to the academy and train for another few hundred years and you just might be strong enough to challenge my master. For now, you won't see him unless you can beat me."

Garin's eyes widened and it was then that it dawned on him how this must look. He attempted to don a disarming smile. "I believe you're misunderstanding the purpose of my visit. I once worked for your master some time ago and I need advice. I assure you that you don't have to inform me that I'm no match for him." Garin chuckled at the thought of fighting his old boss. Even if it was just hand to hand combat, he had a feeling that Takezo would win in the end.

The girl began to walk forward and it was clear she was going to strike. Garin wasn't about to let this get that far. As soon as she got within range, he leaped up, swinging a spinning kick at her head. She backed up by sheer instinct, and then charged at him as he landed. He began to dodge her swings and did his best to counter, but it was becoming more and more clear by the second that he couldn't continue this fight without getting himself killed or seriously injured. He prepared to use a little Kido, but that turned out to be unnecessary.

With a shout, Shinmen Takezo halted them both. "Stand down Nami. This man is an old friend, though when last we met his fashion sense was certainly better." He approached Garin and took his hand, shaking it firmly with one hand on his shoulder. "What brings you to see me here, Garin? And since when did you start carrying a sword?" He chuckled at this. When they had first met, Garin wouldn't be caught dead with a sword in his hand, and he was an accomplished fighter without one.

Garin bowed to Takezo and sighed. "Well, as part of my training to become a shinigami, I've had to call forth a blade. The form of the blade is decided by the part of my spirit which is the source of my power, and it has chosen to reside in a Wakizashi. Alas, I'm hopeless with the thing and was hoping that maybe you could give me a few lessons." At this he smiled a bit and got a humorous look in his eyes. "I promise not to use it against you later." At this they both laughed. Garin knew better then to challenge the old man truly. He wasn't sure what the old man had done to make himself the equal of Shikai's and even a Bankai, but he knew that whatever it was made him a force to be reckoned with that even the Seireitei steered clear of.

The old man nodded. "Sure then, Garin. For you, I'd be glad to. Of course, there will be the matter of payment. You know how I work. If you want something from me, you have to earn it through jobs. I'll give you a new job every week. When you finish it, we'll get onto your training." He looked serious now and Garin did indeed remember. The first time he'd met him, he'd been thirsty and hungry. At that time, he didn't understand that sometimes hunger struck those with high Rietsu, but he knew he needed something. Takezo had taken him in, but had given him the same instruction. Once a week he had to do something to earn his place by the old man's side and he'd done this for several years before the old man told him to move on to something new in order to expand his horizons.

Garin bowed deeply and said, "What is my first job, Master?" He looked up expectantly. The old man reached behind the counter and pulled out a sheet of paper and a small back of money. "Go shopping. Some of these things will be hard to find. Some of them you'll have to get from... less desirable parts of the Rukongai...

Garin nodded. Without another word, he headed out of the building and off to do his Masters bidding.

Garin walked in, his new clothes covered in blood. He had a sack filled with the things that were asked for as well as the Spirit Vial that was so hard to get. "I got everything. Most of it was easy, but gaining the Spirit Vial took all of my skill as a fighter to gain." He began to work on removing everything and setting it out for his master, wondering what it was for.

Takezo looked at Garin with amusement and said, "Then it didn't take much, eh?" And with this, he laughed heartily. Garin knew better then to argue. Compared with Takezo, he probably was a weakling, even in regards to hand to hand combat. Yes, he knew he had much to learn, and he was eager to begin.

"Master," Garin began, "What did you need these things for?" He picked a few items over and peered at them keenly. It was at this point that he noticed his master throwing almost all of what he'd gotten into a trash can! His jaw dropped and he looked at the man incredulously! "W-what are you doing!? It took me almost two days to get all that!"

Takezo looked up and smiled. "Truly, the only item I cared about was the Spirit Vial." He said as he cleaned off the rest of the items. "Very rare that. I can make good money selling it. And it was good training for you to fight in my tournament." Garin blinked, his expression one of complete shock! His tournament!? So he held a tournament to get an item he already owned? It didn't make sense.

He shook his head. "But why make it to the death then? I would have rather not killed those people. Some were very skilled fighters who's skill I respected." He struggled to figure out what was going on. Why would he do this? Old Man Takezo smiled as he showed Garin the Spirit Vial.

Opening the vial, he said, "You often wonder how I can stop a Bankai even though I have no Shinigami training. My blade isn't a Zanpakuto, and yet, I have never lost to a Shinigami, no matter the strength." He began to drink deep from the Vial and Garin was shocked. It had a drink in it!? He hadn't felt anything sloshing around. Takezo finished drinking and looked up. "I have a power of my own that is unlike the Shinigami powers. I can call upon shadows of past foes to fight on my behalf. I've since learned that I can gain these shadows with the Spirit Vial as well. I'm now the proud owner of copies of all the fighters you faced. Congratulations!"

Garin's jaw dropped. So that was what he'd done! The Shinigami he'd faced. He'd faced several with Shikai abilities before ever fighting a Bankai. One Bankai was powerful, But Half a dozen Shikai and a small army of high Rietsu opponents would give anyone's Bankai a run for it's money. His power was truly frightening. He hoped that the man continued to be peaceful...

Takezo walked over to the mat and drew his sword, waiting for Garin to come with his Zanpakuto. "Lets begin our lesson, shall we?" For the rest of the day, Garin practiced Wakizashi Katas.

Garin walked into the training yard once again, looking about at what was set up. There was nothing on the floor except for his old teacher. The old man smiled and drew his blade. "Today, I'm going to test your skills that you learned yesterday. We'll see how well you learned." Garin barely had a chance to draw his Zanpakuto before the old man was on him, attacking in full form. It took Garin a few seconds to realize that even though the attack was fierce, he'd blocked every strike and even managed to counter attack before the short little exchange was over. He realized that the attack brought against him was "textbook" and that one of the 3 Katas he'd learned yesterday was the perfect defense. It had come naturally.

The old man attacked again, and once again, one of the Katas was the perfect defense and Garin moved with almost no thought about it as he struggled to keep up with the old man's speed. As the counter attack phase of the Kata came into play, Garin made a choice. He shifted into the third Kata which was meant for attack and saw the old man's look of pleasant surprise at his choice. He of course defended against Garin's attack with the ease of a man batting away the attacks of a small child, but he was definitely surprised at Garin's skills.

He grinned. "You're learning! You still have much to learn, but you're getting better with the blade than most would in only a single day. It would seem your potential for learning fighting skills doesn't only extend to hand to hand combat." This said, he once again attacked Garin and once again, Garin had to call on one of the Katas. In mid Kata however, the attack shifted and he had to improvise. It only took him a second however before he fell into the rhythm of the second Kata and once again shifted towards the end to the third. He realized what was happening finally. His Master was working to teach him to combine the Katas in times when he needed to improvise. Use their reflexive abilities to help make his fighting styles better, but at the same time keeping things from getting too predictable.

For the rest of the day, this is how he trained. By the time that day of training was over, he was bruised and cut in many places, but he felt like he'd learned a lot.

The next four days continued in that order. The first day he'd learn 3 new Katas and the next he would practice using them in combat situations. On the final day of the week, Garin walked into something completely different. Takeza was tightening the strap on a piece of a large machine of some kind. He looked over to Garin and grinned. "Ah! Good Morning Garin! I'd like you to meet your opponent for today!" The large machine suddenly raised a hand and waved and Garin realized it was no machine at all, but rather a person wearing very heavy armor. He wondered what was supposed to happen here.

He turned to Takezawa and asked, "And how am I supposed to get past their armor?" He looked at the old man incredulously. No matter how skilled with a blade he was, he couldn't just slice the man's armor in half. He sighed in frustration.

The old man grinned and chuckled. "Well, you're not. You will have to try to beat him, but I'm thinking he'll kill you first. However, since you're my student, I bet this man you would win. Luckily for me, he has the money now so that if you win I'll get my money. If you lose, I lose my money. Don't lose... If you win, I'll train you for another week. Otherwise I'll be very cross with you! Happy training!" The old man finished and waved goodbye as he walked into the house and stood by the window with an iced drink.

Garin moaned and pulled out his blade. He couldn't cut this man's armor, but this wasn't specifically wakizashi training. He was fighting a giant in super powered armor. A whistle blew that he'd learned to heed. His head immediately returned to the fight and He leaped into the air, drawing his blade. As he dropped, he aimed to stab it into the man's head! It appeared that the armor must not slow him much though, for as soon as he came within range, the giant smacked him off to one side with tremendous power! Garin slammed into a wall and got up, feeling a bit dazed.

He decided maybe he should think about staying away from him while he thought of a way to get out of this mess. It finally occurred to him as the huge armored man walked towards him. Pointing his fingers he smiled. "Hado Shi! Byakurai!" From his fingers shot a stream of lightning into the man's armor and a shriek could be heard. Garin grinned, feeling he'd managed to beat this guy pretty easily. The man simply got angry! With another shriek, he charged at Garin and Garin leaped to one side, watching him charge past.

Another idea occurred to him. He watched the huge armored creature turn around slowly and smiled. He wasn't exactly slow, but he was bulky and it was hard for him to stop once he started running. He was going to make it harder. As the thing began to charge again, Garin pointed at it, "Engulfed by the need of want come forward. Hado Nii! Reel!" He closed his fist, and watched as the already speeding hulk began to speed even faster, and leaped out of the way just in time as the huge mass smashed into the ground where he'd been only moments before.

He leaped forward into the air, his Zanpakuto raised high and landed on the thing's broad shoulders. He brought the sword down, stabbing into the head, willing it with all of his might to pierce the armor. Sure enough, it was able to. His heart leaped as he pushed with all of his might to put the blade through the steal.

He soon noticed he was falling, and rolled off of the shoulders just before the body crashed hard into the ground. He looked around and saw Takezo walking in with a cup of tea in his hands, smiling. "Ah! Well done, boy! You're learning more and more every day!" Garin couldn't help but smile. The truth was, the enemy wasn't nearly as hard as he looked like he'd be. It was apparent that there was far more to his Zanpakuto then an ordinary Wakizashi. He caressed the blade lovingly and could feel the pleasure exuding from it.