The Other Half of the Argument

Kuro stood on the battlefield prepared for his duel. All around the giant dirt square stood the majority of the second gotei squad, the onmitsukido, and a large amount of the Shihoin noble family. Kuro sighed as he mentally reflected on the events that had led him to this defensive fight for his captain's seat.

*flashback
It had been a few days since the playful break in of the Shihoin estate by Kaiyo and Tatsuya. Kuro had thought that all concequences were past, but he learned better when he was summoned before the same elder that had shown him mercy before. Kuro had come to the estate into a side chamber that turned out to be the elder's personal office. There he'd been given a briefing on what the real summons was about.

"Captain Kuro," he began with a voice filled with respect mixed with the shame of a bearer of bad news, "I know that we tried to lessen the impact of the event that transpired before, but some of the other nobles have raised an opposition to my lenient way of dealing with the problem. I tried my best, but they're calling for more harsher action."

"Sir, I'm deeply sorry that you-" Kuro tried to apologize.

"Oh save it. You may have a poker face when negotiating, but I know how you feel about us nobles. Not that I blame you. We can be pompous most of the time. That's why I'm glad you're the captain now. Your care for the second squad, its honor and its traditions is inspiring. It helps to maintain the honor of my family while we let ourselves fall into the comfort of luxury in this time of peace."

"Thank you sir. I am honored to receive such praise from a wise man like yourself. If I may say so, I don't mind your type of nobility. Just the types with the oversized ego."

"Haha, I can respect that. But I can't say the same for the rest of the Shihoins. Some of the members feel that they personally were assaulted or disrespected too harshly during the break in for the level of punishment, or lack there of, that I handed out. Their complaints have brought the other elders into this and we are to tell you of the decision in the main throne room."

"Sir, why then are you telling me all of this beforehand?"

"Because I wanted to prepare you for it, as well as to let you know that I support everything you've done for us. I will do my best to help you out."

With a final thanks and respectful bow, Kuro and the elder had parted, the elder leaving for the central area of the estate first. Kuro was escourted there a few minutes later. He came into the grand room facing four Shihoin elders, including the man who had spoken with him, all seated on their chairs on the opposite side of the room.

The meeting was conducted with the air of a trial hearing, with Kuro facing heavy interrogation about the events on that day. Other Shihoins came in briefly at times to give their stories. Kuro recognized the girl that had called Tatsuya a pervert. This was indeed annoying, but he kept his disrespectful thoughts to himself and waited for the final verdict. It was a woman elder that finally delivered the decision.

"Captain Akarui. We accept your explanations for the events on the day in question. And your performance record is pretty much flawless before this event. But in order to appease those in our family who insist that something more be done, we have no choice in the matter. We have decided to leave this in the hands of fate. You will participate in a duel in three days. Should you lose, you will be removed from your captain position and serve your winning opponent."

They had tried to end the meeting there, but Kuro had made eye contact with his elder ally and an idea had come to him to show his worth as a captain.

"Very well. But if the duel goes in my favor and my opponent is defeated, I will draft him or her as well as all of the younger Shihoin not currently in my command into the second squad. Is that acceptable?"

The three other elders had begun to exchange confused and nervous glances when Kuro's ally strongly agreed with the terms. Kuro had left the room after bowing with a satisfied grin crossing his face.

*present day*
Now it was time for the duel to start. A lot was riding on this duel. Basically, this was nothing more than the third basic way of appointing a gotei captain. Kuro shuddered to think of what would happen to his squad if a noble achieved the captain's position. He glared across the battlefield at his opponent and waited for the duel to be signaled.

Kuro's opponent was a young man with a physique almost identical to Kuro's. About the same height, same body structure. His hair was a spikey blonde style that acted as his major difference from Kuro in basic appearance. But the smug look he held in his eyes and the superior air that seemed to drift around him gave off the obvious identity of a noble. He was Shihoin Keita, a noble of the Shihoin that had been privately trained by the family outside of the academy and the gotei. The rumers about his talent were numerous, but Kuro wouldn't let that bother him until he backed those speculations up with action.

The elders called for the duel to begin and Kuro drew his zanpakuto, holding it in a reverse grip stance as he waited for Keita's first move. The young challenger chuckled as if insulted and drew his own zanpakuto, a weapon that boasted nobility as much as its master. Even sealed, its guard seemed made of gold and studded with a number of smooth gems. Kuro scowled as Keita called out.

"Do you mean to fight me without even unsealing your zanpakuto captain? I'll show you that such arrogance will be your undoing." He layed his sword horizontally, letting it rest in his open palms while he spoke its release phrase. "Mirror my enemy, Hanshakyou!"

The golden sword glowed with a bright light as its form changed. When the light faded, the weapon had gone through a few interesting changes. What had once been an elegant (if not overly extravegant) japanese blade was now a royal looking, western style double edged sword. It had a golden chain that extended from the edge of its handle and attached to an ornate golden bracelet around Keita's right wrist. Kuro had never seen such a zanpakuto before, but he wasn't going to take chances. He raised his own zanpakuto above his head.

"Concentrate, Seishou-sejin."

With a golden flash of light, Kuro's short blade transformed into the ninja gauntlet he was proud of. The jewel resting on his palm shone bright as his spirit power filled it. Kuro locked his eyes with his opponent's and charged forward with an incredibly fast sprint.

While closing the distance between him and Keita, Kuro extended a blade of compressed energy from his gauntlet. Keita followed Kuro's initial example and began to charge ahead too. When they were within striking distance, Kuro released more of his stored power into his hand, fueling his physical strength for a powerful swing from his energy blade. Keita smirked confidently as he matched the swing and met Kuro's attack head on. The viewers were all startled as the two blades clashed together with an insanely loud clang that echoed through the battlefield. Both combatants' feet were pressed slightly into the ground by the strength between the two of them.

Kuro was shocked. The strength he'd put into that swing should have been enough to throw Keita clean across the battlefield regardless of whether it was parried or not. But he instead had felt no surrender of Keita's resistance. Both stood with their blades pressed together, sizing each other up for the next attack.

"What's wrong captain?" Keita did his best to taunt Kuro. "Don't tell me that was you best."

Kuro's glare grew fiercer as he shunpoed back away from their current position. He dissolved his blade and prepared to fight hand to hand like he knew best. But Keita surprised him again by unhooking the chain from his bracelet and hurling his sword to the side. He too got into a ready stance for hand to hand combat. Kuro didn't waste anymore time and shunpoed forward with a powered up punce at Keita's heart. He was baffled as his attack was stopped again when Keita pulled back his right fist and met Kuro's attack. The meeting of these two forces caused the ground to fracture in a radius around them, reminding Kuro of the spar he'd had with his zanpakuto spirit when he'd learned Bankai. Keita seemed to be overly enjoying Kuro's confusion in trying to figure things out.

"The double edged sword is only to give me a weapon to use against other weapons captain. My true zanpakuto is this bracelet on my wrist. Hanshakyou's ability is to match any source of kinetic energy it senses coming in opposition to it. That way, there's no way for an opponent to overpower me. Kind of leads you to a disappointment seeing as your zanpakuto increases your strength. Now it's useless."

Kuro did not stop himself from audibly cursing Keita for his last comment. He would make him regret that.

"Nobody calls my zanpakuto useless. I will use its ability to destroy you. I won't even need to use bankai."

The fight continued. With his zanpakuto's ability to perfectly match the force of Kuro's punches, Keita was able to keep the battle at mostly a stalemate. Kuro had to admit that he was fairly skilled and fast, but not as fast as Kuro. Besides, Kuro had a plan in mind ever since his declaration. The drawn out fight was simply to catch Keita off guard. The stuck up noble, though beginning to show signs of fatigue, still talked big in his confidence.

"Why don't you just give up now captain? Hand over the position and let us deserving nobles claim what's ours."

Kuro had had enough. "I'll never hand over the leadership of squad two to you arrogant, spoiled brats!" He poured all of his stored power into one final attack from his left palm, aiming at the same spot on Keita's chest. Keita seemed to think that he had won.

"That attack will never work, just give....what!?"

As Keita had thrust his right fist out to meet Kuro's palm, Kuro had watched both of their zanpakutos closely. Throughout their fight, he'd noticed that Keita's bracelet shone brightly when it detected an opposing force and powered up to match it. During this final attack, Kuro had watched for that moment. After the bracelet had powered up, Kuro shifted his thrust to the side and caught Keita's wrist in a tight grip by switching his thrust into a hook motion. He continued the circular motion and swung Keita around several times before slamming him down into the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dirt. His opponent didn't move anymore. Kuro turned his back and began to walk past their audience as he made his exit.

"Like I promised, I destroyed you with my gauntlet's power, mirrored by your own bracelet. I'll see you and your clan members from tomorrow on in the second squad's barracks."