Training of Mind, Training Of Strength

It was a rather sunny day, the heat was overwhelming, but the samurai was walking towards the captain's room, wondering if she'd be there, he had to ask her something rather important. He had one thing in mind and it he was going to ask Kaiyo, hoping she would accept such a personal request but it had to be asked, he had been in the second division's barrack being healed for far too long. Training had been forgotten for too long. The samurai's footsteps could be heard easily, he really didn't mind about being subtle in the barracks, it was a place he felt safe in.


Wind brushed through his hair making them russle through the air along side the red bandana that was given to him by the captain he loved so much. His own blue ribbon was tied at the handle of his sheathed zanpakuto. After a short time of walking time of walking a short simple and lonely knock could be heard on Kaiyo's door.
''Captain, can I get a word with you?'' Of course he was formal he wouldn't go all affective on her in front of the whole division.

The young shinigami waited for the captain's answer hoping there would be one at all.

Kaiyo smiled politely as the woman stood back up, unwrapping the pressure-thing from the Captains arm as she began packing away. 'Well you appear to be fully healthy again Taichou, your next checkup will be in one month. My Captain said he'd like to talk to you next week though'. The read haired woman spoke confidently around the Captain, it was a lesson than common occurrence; especially with 4th squad members. But they'd spent a lot of time together s it was to be expected.

Kaiyo didn't bother putting her haori back on; it was too warm for extra layers of clothing. Hell, she didn't even have her Kosodo tied up, just a plan white vest underneath. 'Okay, thanks Doc' she added, just before the knock on her door. A curious look examined the voice behind as the girl's smile only broadened. Kaiyo leapt straight over the sofa's in her office, to the rather dis-approving glance of the medic present but oh well. Kaiyo slid open her office door with a smirk. 'Yes' she added, finding her answer more than a little comical. The Captain congratulated herself inwardly at her wit. Stepping aside for the 4th squad member to leave, 'Thanks for sayin i'm healthy!' she called after the woman. Of course Kaiyo's health wasn't so simple but in the platonic sense, she was as healthy as could be.

'Hey Tatsu, what's up?' The girl twisted around at the little buzzing that was shaking her desk. Her alarm. A reminder that she was meant to wander around the barracks now. It sounded silly, but many people didn't want to disturb their Captain, so having a walk around made her more accessible to the squad members. 'Walk with me?' she asked, her tone was chirpy and playful as ever.

Tatsu eyed the red headed woman as she left Kaiyo's office keeping his neutral glance as he glanced at her while she was leaving. Deciding it was probably a medic from the 4th division since Kaiyo made a comment about her being healthy. Turning his gaze back onto the blond girl he loved and allowed her a smile. Her greeting was the light of his day.

Being a rather polite person, he nodded farewell to the departing person and turned to the captain. Stepping forward hoping he could get a word or two before they'd be in public. Assuming she took a step back the shinigami closed the door behind him and glanced at Kaiyo, trying to spot the blue ribbon he gave her, see where she put it, he was a curious person, he just didn't openly say it.


''I've missed you, the days in the 2nd barrack were so empty...''

The shinigami took a step forward hoping he would could a kind reply in return.

The blonde girl tentatively stepped back into her office when Tatsu shut the door, wondering just how serious his word would be. The girl moved her right hand up to sweep her hair back into place, Tatsu's blue bandanna tied securely around her wrist. Kaiyo blinked slowly at the man's words, her faded smile waning in comparison to her eyes. Intently staring at Tatsu as she nodded, 'Yeah sorry i didn't visit, things got kinda...Busy' she replied sincerely. Since her fight with Junko, Kaiyo had been slightly shaken up. Not that the squad had noticed, in fact it had only strengthened their resolve and belief in her, having so nearly killed the woman she had once considered as a friend. A wave of guilt flooded through the girl as she dropped her head down. A sudden interest in her shoes was common at such feelings of regret. Worse was how little remorse she did feel, compared to how much she thought she should. There was so much confusion and chaos surrounding Kaiyo at the moment. It was nice to have a constant, a secure thing.

Tatsu... 'So what did you wanna ask? And how serious is it?' Kaiyo held back her other questions, not wanting to bombard Tatsu too much right now. Still, something was different about the short blonde girl. Her hair colour was back to normal, it was her personality that had seemed a little off. Having reached the edge of her own morality, and sanity, Kaiyo had been unable to watch her dampened emotional responses whittle into shards of something malleable. So far, nobody had noticed her slow withdrawal from such emotions though.

Tatsu believed strongly in his feelings towards Kaiyo, he didn't have a doubt she'd still wear the bandanna but he felt like knowing where. Hearing her voice was everything he wanted to hear for the present moment. ''Don't worry about it, it's not like any hollow will get me so injured that it'll kill me, they are hundred years away from my skill level.'' Tatsu gave her a bright smile, one of those rare smiles that he allows her when they are both alone, other than that he tried to remain as calm and neutral as possible, a hard training of mind. Of course the samurai was oblivious of the fight between Kaiyo and Junko he was rather injured at the time. Seeing that Kaiyo wasn't as lively as usual Tatsu used the moment that she looked at her shoes to walk forward and try to lay her head on his chest since he was taller than the woman in front of him atleast the writter thinks.

Tatsu remained silent to her question, it was very obvious to him that the blond girl in front of him wasn't as lively as usual, wasn't as energic as usual and all he wanted for the present time was to make the woman he loved so much feel better. ''Important thing's first'' Considering he wanted to ask about his training, Kaiyo was worth more than his warrior training, which meant the world for him. ''I want to know whats wrong'' He was direct and to the point as usual but that was Tatsu. ''Then we can take a walk and talk about trivial things I wanted to ask'' Yep, he did just say his question about her training him was trivial.

Kaiyo smiled lightly as she shook her head, blind optimism was always refreshing, and oh so reminiscent of herself. Following with the writers thoughts, Kaiyo lay her head on Tatsu's chest, wrapping her arms back around him as her smile held firm. It was nice, to feel so calm for once. In fact it was becoming quite a rare feeling for the Captain, given all her mounting stress, it was moments like this that cracked through her armour. Allowing whispers of purer emotions to sway, usually hidden behind the need to remain calm and strong, around Tatsu, Kaiyo could be a little less un-hinged.

Kaiyo pulled back once more. A tentative gaze lingering on the man she held so dearly. Yes, her guard was definitely down around him. The only person who'd noticed so quickly that something was just not quite right. Flashing a pearly white, and slightly amused smile she shrugged it off. Running her hand absent mindedly through her hair as her eyes trailed off to the corner of the room. 'I'm just under a lot of stress at the moment, heh, nothing i can't handle' she smirked, nudging Tatsu playfully as her gaze intensified.

'Now as your Captain i'm ordering you to tell me what you wanted to ask' Her serious tone and expression were all done very well, and lasted a fair few seconds before her signature smile shone through again. In truth, it was just a lot of stress, but it was still so rare for Kaiyo to feel affected by it. The girl spun Tatsu around and gestured towards the door. Ready to begin her rounds of the barracks.

Enjoyed the trade of affection that passed between them, he felt that she needed the attention he was giving her at the moment, for she was not usually stressed out like this. The samurai glanced at Kaiyo nodding at her comment about stress wondering how to reply about it. ''Is there anyway I can help?''

The samurai laughed out loud at the part where she gave him an order about something so trivial and decided she wanted to know right away. ''WelI wanted to ask you if you could help me out with my training, I feel like I'm on the edge of gaining what they call Shikai but I just can't reach out for it yet.''


Turning around Tatsu walked out holding the door open waiting for the captain to walk out being polite and stuff. ''I know that to become Lieutenant you have to achieve Shikai first, and of course I've been training like a mad man even though I was suposed to rest myself for the past two weeks, impressive how the human world can hide one of us.'' Shrugging it off, Tatsu walked beside the captain..

((OOC: Apologies- not such a great post :/ ))

Her crystal blue eyes flashed, like an exploding star, bright for one moment, then fading back into seeming normality. The blonde Captain shook her head gently, her hair swaying left to right against the side of her head with such a movement, 'I think you've done enough' she smiled. Her playful tone returning as she cocked her head to one side to finally hear why Tatsu had come to see her. Kaiyo was already very interested in what Tatsu had to say but the mention of shikai alone was enough for a large grin to curl up on her lips. During her time as Captain, Kaiyo had helped a fair few squad members gain Shikai, and though she had no actual method of doing so, she couldn't think of anyone she'd rather train with. A feeling of pride swelled up inside the girl as she bounded through the door past Tatsu, twisting around to him with a surprising elegance as she smirked. 'Well then, we best get training now!' she cheered.

It was no shock to her that Tatsu wanted to be her lieutenant, but Kaiyo wasn't in the market of giving any unfair treatment to anyone, and Shiku had become such a great friend to the girl. Well, she wasn't sure how that would turn out, but surely there was a way to go just yet. In fact, the tinged sadness at the thought was brushed to the back of her mind for storage. She could do without that added stress, and there was no better way to relieve stress than a good spar.

Clearly Kaiyo had changed he mind about the walk around the barracks. Holding her large blue eyes on Tatsu for a moment of silence the girl giggled gently, '...Race ya!' With that, she flash stepped off to the nearest sparring grounds. Well, the most fortified her barracks had (which could withstand a fair amount) In fact it had just been repaired after her still mis-hap with Junko. The Captain appeared in a single step in the middle of the large hall, inhaling deeply as she spun around. Her eyes tracing up at the viewing area around the top.

Tatsu kept a smile on his face as she talked about doing enough as he shrugged at her answer without vocally giving one of his own, just giving her that look where its obvious that if she needs help he'll be right around the corner, of course he wasn't nearly as strong as her but sometimes even just being present could help he thought.
Seeing her smirk as he spoke about training gave him a good feeling as if she'd reply positively. In fact she did which made Tatsu feel all that much better, he might be able to achieve Shikai and take some problems out of Kaiyo's mind for atleast as long as he can stand.

Tatsu was always up for a good fight, he usually didn't fight with alot of people cause most of them used Kido or weren't really good with sword fighting, in a way it wasn't that they were bad, Tatsu was just really as kicking with a sword in his hands.

Giving a look at the elegance of Kaiyo's movement made the samurai blush, which was a rare sight to behold but it only made his smile all that much brighter, dazing off all he could hear was her voice saying that there was a race going on and suddently she was gone. ''Dammnit!'' With those words the samurai flashed in a few seconds after as his flash steps weren't as epic as the captain's. Appearing right on front of the girl, zanpakuto unsheathed and ready for the spar. Staring in the girl's eye wondering if she was ready or had something to say, if not he'd make a quick step forward and began the dance of steel between them with a neat slash at head level.

Kaiyo nodded lightly as Tatsu appeared in front of her, he'd gotten a lot faster. Of course her own speed was nothing compared to other Captains, but she was still pretty damn fast. The Captain rolled her shoulders backwards gently, officially; she was now fully healed. Of course nobody would advise she fought to the death anytime soon, but a healthy spar is always good.

The blonde girl lowered her left hand, flicking up the guard of her Zanpakuto just an inch or so out of it's sheath. Then Tatsu moved forwards, initiating their spar with precision as he slashed at the Captains head. In the split second his attack had been unleashed, Kaiyo had pulled her blade from it's sheath, holding it in her right hand, angled down as she blocked the strike; her left hand moving up to guard her face instinctively as she did so.

Kaiyo grinned as she brought her blade over, placing both hands on the handle for a change as she slashed diagonally down at Tatsu. The Captain was obviously not fighting at full power, but she was also holding back a lot less than she did the last time they fought. Kaiyo understood the need for Tatsu to get Shikai, and she figured if she could get him rattled enough that his Zanpakuto would need to help him out, well then it would just be easier.

One of the samurai's greatest asset was indeed, speed, but it was well known that he was a fearsome swordsman too. It would be impossible for Tatsu to fight the blond girl to the death, he just liked her too much and it was visible, yet he didn't go any easier on his strikes, in his mind she was a captain, he could go all out on her without holding back and she would be fine.

Tatsu hadn't seen the girl unsheath her zanpakuto the move was way to fast for him, his movement seemed to be fast and true untill he saw the captain start her motion, thus blocking the strike that seemed so perfect. Seeing as she might have been blocking her field of view with her hand, Tatsu had a plan in mind.

Seeing as her shielding hand moved to her handle, the samurai knew the hit was coming and it would be coming in hard. Tatsu put his plan in motion, doing a flash step 5 feet backwards thus blocking the hit masterfully right before dashing forward with a vertical slash. The move was daring but strong and fast the technique used wasn't very comon and the fact he used it meant how good he had gotten.

A glimmer of Tatsu's blade glistened against Kaiyo's eyes for a split second. Gone in a flash as she girl twisted onto her side, masterfully swinging her blade horizontally with her right hand to block the strike. The girl spun around, lifting her own blade and hopefully Tatsus as she brought her right leg around as she aimed a solid kick at Tatsu's torso.

Kaiyo dropped back into stance, whipping her neck back to allow a rogue strand of hair to drape back into place. God knows what she'd do if she didn't even have her headband. In fact Kaiyo had been pretty lucky in fights, or people have just known better than to try and cut her hair...Whatever the reason, it made her giggle for a moment. Her mind void of concentration at the moment at least. 'So, how far have you gotten with getting shikai?' she pondered out-loud. Her slow digression finally finding its way back to the vague aim of their spar, the Captain leant forwards slightly.

Flash stepping behind Tatsu with a quick slash across his back the girl rolled back away to safety. Clearly not waiting for an answer just yet; though the possibility of being able to use her own shikai was quite exciting. She'd been back for a while, but injuries amongst other things had still restricted her combat time, so it was good for Kaiyo to just relax every once in a while.

One of the Samurai's trump card had been disarmed and would probably not work the same way every other time he used it, the captain had dodged the strike, but it seemed to take the captain off guard, but the girl had more than a trick up her sleeve, she used her dodge maneuver to throw a kick straight on his torso, hitting him with strength he hadn't felt in a long while sending him a few feet backward. Trying to catch his breath and stand up Tatsu smiled in her general direction.

Getting back onto his feets Tatsu glanced at the captain, falling down meant he would've normally already lost the fight, but he didn't mind, training was the reason he was here. Tossing his hair backwards with a part of the ribbon falling on his shoulder, a smirk on his face. She wanted to see what he had trained, he'd show her, dashing quickly straight in her direction, the young man started a swing at her but at the moment the contact was suposed to happen, he vanished, another flash step, only to re-appear right behind her to attempt at finish the strike.

The strike ended up wooshing, and he had this feeling where she had prevented that by appearing behind him, and suddently pain emerged from his back as he was stricken without him even being able to prevent it. Side stepping quickly, trying to evade any follow up the samurai stood up and looked at the captain and said one word. ''Pain...'' Meaning that that hurt, but knowing Tatsu he just dropped back into his fighting stance waiting for her to make the move this time.

Kaiyo's smile waned as she felt her strike make contact, never having issue with such minor injuries on combat before, she couldn't help but notice a tug of guilt washing through her. It was odd to say the least, and hopefully not a permanent thing. Kaiyo knew herself, and her limits, and knew she wouldn't cause any great deal of harm to Tatsu, but it clearly didn't make it any easier to do so. The girl shook her head gently, trying to banish such doubts in an attempt to focus herself again.

Kaiyo dropped her stance, standing back up straight as she began slowly stepping around Tatsu, keeping a comfortable distance as she did so. Her blue eyes held firmly on the man as she circled him like prey, spinning her blade with a few more visually appealing flourishes. 'So, if you could get Shikai today...Well, i think you'd have to deal with a bit more pain first, but its nothing you can't handle...You up for it?' Kaiyo stopped, dead in her tracks as her reiatsu spiked. A glimmer of golden light prickling the nerves along her arms with a tingling excitement. The raucous energy of her own power starting to pulsate through her body. A more deadly glimmer hit her eyes this time, that blood-lust that relied on the raw power of combat over any finesse.

Her sword swayed back into her firm grip, the short blonde girl facing Tatsu straight on. Kaiyo's more sporadic reiatsu had even started to draw in a few more of her aware squad members; the motley rabble ascending on the viewing area with a chattering excitement of the events. Kaiyo wanted an answer first, just so she could be certain how serious this fight would be, and how much she'd need to stop her happy-slashing addiction.

Tatsu didn't really make any notice of the slash that had hit him, he didn't expect Kaiyo to go easy on him from the beginning which is why he didn't question why she did that, if she did it, was because he needed it from the start. Dropping back into his stance he glanced at Kaiyo, sword as straight as it could be, as blood started to pearl down his back, sending out shivers at some moment. Dismissing the goosebumps on his skin he kept his icecold glance towards the girl he loved, which made this fight actually hard, but he needed to defend himself.

Seeing as she dropped in stance, she probably guessed how far the samurai was willing to go at this point, Tatsu didn't let Kaiyo move around him like he was meat waiting to be eaten, he moved sideways following the circle Kaiyo was making without breaking his glance with her, making sure that if there was a surprise attack he'd see it this time. Seeing as the captain talked and that she was no true enemy, the samurai listened, making sure that her words weren't wasted. ''I'm willing to go as far as you'll push me. And then, I'll only be halfway done'' A large grin appeared on Tatsu face, as if it was a dare to push him to that limit. The captain stopped dead in her motions as if something was gonna happen, and something did, the spiritual pressure in the area started to try and crush Tatsu's shoulders, his own spiritual pressure wasn't very high and had alot of problems keeping the samurai on both of his feets.

The samurai looked at Kaiyo and gave her a nod, as if telling her he was ready for the shitstorm to happen, Taking his second hand, and grasping the handle of his zanpakuto two handed, making sure he would be able to block the girl when those hits came in. The samurai didn't wait for the captain to move, it was like waiting for a deathtrap, if he could keep her on the defensive he might have a chance to not look stupid in front of all the other squad members, knowing he was the 13th seat he had his place to uphold, and this was the perfect oppportunity to show them what he was made of.

Tatsu's spiritual pressure spiked as high as it could under the captain's own pressure, a deep blue glimmer started to surround the man as he dashed in, weilding his zanpakuto two handed he stroke vertically at the captain wondering how she would react to the strike.


Tatsu was stressed about this, he had seen Kaiyo's power about this strong once, and it ended up destroying a field, if he needed to block that, he had better find his shikai quickly.

Challenge accepted. Kaiyo didn't want to hurt Tatsu, but she'd fought enough of her closest friends to know that if the advancement out-weighed the pain, well she wouldn't be going so easy. That issue of self control was still too hidden behind the excitement to be noticed though, she'd surely realise before it was too late. Kaiyo's eyes relayed the information with a precision most wouldn't realise she possessed, of course it was mostly just combat analysis. If her reiatsu had this much effect on Tatsu without even being fully realised, well it was to be expected considering her own reiatsu matched that of the Captain Commander.

Kaiyo pulled in all her spiritual energy as Tatsu rushed in with another strike. Using the momentary lapse in her reiatsu to hopefully throw him off a bit, the girl smirked at Tatsu's now surging blue reiatsu. This was going to be fun. His Zanpakuto alone was sharper this time, a fact he probably hadn't noticed, but the added energy he was pushing around himself gave a certain aggression to his strikes that was welcomed greatly by the girl. Kaiyo needed the exercise actually, she'd been almost lazy in past months. Healing really was the most boring experience ever, though that certainly wasn't the only change that had occurred.

Kaiyo instantly reacted, twisting around as she brought both hands onto her horizontal blade to block the strike. Sparks flying around the pair as their energies collided. Given her now capped reiatsu, the blue energy swirling around Tatsu appeared to be winning, but Kaiyo held her position strong. Saying no more, a mischievous smile hit Kaiyo's face. 'To the edge it is' she confirmed. It was more of a warning for Tatsu, the only one he'd be given in this fight. He'd need to step up his game if he wanted to compete from here on in.

'Light the Sky, Tennrai Zenpyou' she called, her voice filling with power as that al to familiar rush of energy exploded around the Captain in a golden light. A shockwave of compressed air shot around her a the shimmering light swept along her Zanpakuto; altering it's appearance to it's shikai state. The larger blade glowed with a buzzing hue of energy. Kaiyo pushed her Zanpakuto forwards, trying to knock Tatsu away from her. The short girl took a moment for herself to just glance down at her blade, it amazed her to this day what a rush releasing her Zanpakuto gave her. Plus Zenpyou was usually very good at noticing things about others Zapakuto's, though she wasn't sure, the lovely lion had seemed to have a certain aptitude for helping her with just the right moves to help push someone's closer to their Zanpakuto. Whatever, for the time being the tactics were a lot simpler. If Tatsu dies, so does his Zanpakuto. Which meant she just needed to make his sword think that was going to happen...Before he actually dies.

Kaiyo jumped backwards slightly, spinning her blade as a trail of flickering lightning followed it. Kaiyo lifted her gaze, for the time being, pushing aside all emotional responses to Tatsu. The Captain gripped her blade tightly, the ribbons attached to the hilt swaying around in violent swirls. 'Now try and get half way' she smirked, referring back to Tatsu's comment. The Captain pushed off her back foot, rocketing towards the man as she flash stepped at the last moment, appearing just a metre of so ahead of him, at his side as she slid along the floor, slicing her blade up at his body as she passed. Flipping back up to her feet, the girl held her new stance behind Tatsu.

Tatsu wasn't really scared of being injured, if it meant progress he'd cut an arm off. It could be considered hard for him to fight against the woman he loved, but crossing blades with her weirdly showed how much he loved her...in a weird way. Tatsu was a unique man anyway. His greatest strength was matching speed with his weapon skill, but in this fight speed wouldn't mean much, she was probably faster than him, stronger and it was no hidden fact that her spiritual pressure was way higher than his own, but still he would hold his ground knowing he had no chance to fight against the captain.

One day he would become like her, that was his dream for the future, he wanted to make her proud, make sure that she would be satisfied being with someone who can hold his own without relying on other when not needed. The strike came in and Tatsu tried to see through it, ducking lower than the strike lunging his body forward with a strike it was amazing what this man could do with a blade when he desired victory, the samurai's plan ended up in the blade's clashing together and he was in a weird position, seeing as his plan failed he went back to a normal stance while remaining locked with the her in a dance of death and steel. Tatsu's reiatsu was sky rocketing as high as it could be trying to suppress the girl's spiritual power. Using his own physical strength trying to crush the girl down with his own two arms. Taking a moment to take a look at the blue eye's of the captain, Tatsu gave her an honest smile and kept trying to crush her down. ''I'll never get tired of looking into your eyes.'' Making sure his voice was low enough for no one else to hear except her. It was very random that he said that but sometimes you need to say whats on your mind and on your heart and he decided he would tell her, making sure that she knew what he felt.

The lock broke, released by the captain before she twirled on herself, naturally seeing an opening the samurai stroke only to get blocked again, sparks of energy spazzing everywhere in the room, some of the onlookers even started to feel the weight of the spiritual energy in the air, mostly coming from the girl. A cute smile emerged on the face of the captain, even though it seemed rather mischevious coming from her and she spoke about going to the edge, but Tatsu was the kind of man to always push his limits to the very maximum, he would most likely faint at the end of this battle and both parties knew that. ''The edge won't be far enough, I'm weilding a stubborn blade.'' the samurai gave a smile before backing out seeing another burst of spiritual energy.

Speaking the release of her zanpakuto, Tatsu understood that his strength was world's apart from Kaiyo's at that moment, as energy started filling the air with a golden light. The shockwave that ensued was enough to make him back a few feet before getting back to his balance point. Tatsu took the time to look at the beautiful woman in front of him, glimmering with power and beauty. ''Beautiful'' Tatsu's zanpakuto was one of the more complicated one's with a parrying dagger hidden in its handle and a sheath strong enough to block blows, it was obvious that it was axed on defense and Tatsu's way of fighting was way aggressive which might be a reason why the blade was unsatisfied with him. The power hidden within the blade was bound to be great even though he wouldn't be able to tap it all easily.

Most people wouldn't attack such display of strength, but Tatsu wanted to try and surprise the girl as she was glancing on herself, without a word of warning he simply dashed forward, before flash stepping to her side and feinted a vertical attack, which ended up being a diagonal one. The tactic behind Kaiyo's plan was good but Killing Tatsu was no feat done easily he had endured so much, making his endurance very tough, and not overstepping it might be hard.

Seeing as the captain jumped backwards, the samurai glanced at her, trying to see what her next move would be. It was obvious that with the ribbons flapping around like this that her power had increased to a level he couldn't truly understand before he blocked a strike. Kaiyo charged and vanish, yet the samurai didn't move he knew she wouldn't come from anywhere except from the front, she didn't want to kill him meaning she'd appear right there, thoughts interupted by the attack of the captain, he barely noticed her that the strike was already launched, lifting his blade by mere reflex the strike was brutal and made the young man spin on himself such was the strength she used it seems. The strike hadn't hit him and he barely blocked it, whispers of squad members saying he wouldn't last more than a minute started to piss him off a little. Turning back to the captain with her new stance he smiled and dropped his second hand from the handle of his zanpakuto, only to shorten it now wielding his zanpakuto one handed and the parrying dagger in the other hand. Tatsu charged in again only attacking with his zanpakuto fine slashed were made against the captain wondering what she would do next.

Kaiyo's mind finally triggered at Tatsu's Zanpakuto, the more sneaky approach of a hidden blade didn't exactly match his fighting style. That was a problem. It was quite a while ago, but Kaiyo definitely remember gaining her shikai; the battle with her inner demons had lead to such a conversation with her equally reluctant blade. She'd even had to promise, to only fight for the more noble and right reasons, that was simply the choice of her Zanpakuto, and even one which matched her own resolve so well had been an issue; which explained why Tatsu had been having more issues.

Kaiyo had to applaud such bravery though, very few even higher ranking shinigami would still attack her head on after her Shikai release; though many had less to prove. As the man shot forwards, Kaiyo relaxed slightly, entering a more familiar state of combat for herself as she swung her blade around with expertise and speed; blocking Tatsu's slashes as discharges of her golden lightning danced along his blade with each moment they made contact. Still, Kaiyo had to start taking the fight more seriously.

Her own reiatsu higher enough over Tatsu's to not have much affect with any strikes he did make through, it was time for a different approach to this fight. The Captain's eyes faded in brightness, her eyes more hollow as her instincts took over. Aiming a heavy strike diagonally at Tatsu, Kaiyo expected the block. She hoped for it. If Tatsu didn't, well the speed her strike was, it would be a pretty deep wound if he hadn't. 'Denkou Kabe' she muttered; whether he blocked or not, he'd still be close enough, and in front of her.

A thunderous crash of light exploded up from the girl's feet, shooting literally at the speed of lightning in a thick straight line out in front of her. It shook the very foundations of the room as it shattered through the reinforced wall like glass. Kaiyo had vanished off before the attack had even hit through the back wall, flash stepping around to Tatsu as she jumped at his side, twisting around with a spinning crescent kick aimed at the side of his face.

Tatsu's second blade was in fact a parrying blade, indeed it was hidden but the purpose was really that much different. He didn't change his fighting style except that his blade was seperated for the first time, it was a style he used against the stronger academy students who knew his moves all too well and were driven on beating him to a pulp. It was obvious that Tatsu was really on the edge of knowing the name of his zanpakuto, yet he couldn't tap in her power for some reason as if it wasn't satisfied just yet.

The samurai was fearless and his daunting courage had barely any limits since he trusted the captain wouldn't kill him in a single hit. His strikes were true and seemingly lethal, yet the captain parried every single one of them without breaking a sweat, Tatsu however didn't stop and didn't seem to tire, his strikes began going faster as he got into the mood of the fight, a feint smile could be seen on the side of his mouth growing and growing as he seemed to truthfully enjoy himself in such a fight for some reasons. The girl's reiatsu flung in every direction everytime the blades clashed together and the onlookers started having a badtime supporting the spiritual pressure being released, making them wonder how the shinigami right in front of the captain substained himself.

Tatsu was deep in concentration over every move the captain was doing during the fight and suddently everything went so bright he knew something was coming and it was coming from the girl he loved so much, forcing his eyes to look at the light to see which way the move would come, diagonal a lucky shot he could guess, but he had different plans then what the captain had in mind, ducking low and positioning his blade in an angle which would deflect the blow further to his side. Picking up the little second this bought him, Tatsu attempted stepping up behind the Captain's strike, putting his parrying blade behind her neck, hoping it would prevent her from flashing away, as he tried putting his blade to where her liver would be. Tatsu stood there waiting ever so close to the captain, yet being her opponent it felt almost intimate.

Seeing as his quick idea didn't work the shinigami was forced to block, the thundering clash hit him head on as alot of onlooking viewers winced in Tatsu's stead. The samurai's back crashed against the reinforced wall breaking it like glass from the strength of the strike. A cloud of dust rose as the shinigami fell from the wall back to his feets trying to recover from what happened just now but just as he was raising his sword he was sent straight back into the wall from the power of the kick delivered straight to his face by the captain. The reiatsu of the samurai flickered as his blade seemingly started to panic, wondering if its wearer was going to be fine, slowly his reiatsu was changing form, taking shape of something else, but for the moment, it was so very feint only the keenest of eyes could see the change.

Kaiyo smirked slightly, the spike in Tatsu's reiatsu was a good sign, and equally a bad one. If such a heavy blow was the only way to stir up some change, the man she loved was in for a serious amount of struggle. Pushing aside her inhibitions the Captain cracked her neck to one side. The jaded concepts of adoration were fading from her vision in this fight, that subtle change that had been wavering through her since her last two serious fights. Kaiyo was probably not in the best mental state, and that made for uneasy terms to her opponent. Shards of rubble cracked beneath her feet as she slowly stepped through the swirling clouds of dust. The wall hadn't taken much to destroy, but it wouldn't take too long to build again either. It was almost funny that the only person to have ever gone through the wall (and on several occasions) was Kaiyo.

The short blonde girl held a hollow gaze in her eyes as she flicked her large glistening blade around her hand. Standing sideways on to Tatsu as she jabbed across her body with her right hand. Following the attack in a fluid motion, the girl twisted around, spinning her grip to reverse as she jabbed behind her right hip, following the attack further round, the girl mustered as much energy as she could with left shin kick aimed at the man's ribs. The fast motion of the movements blurred into one for the onlookers; able to knock aside the still swaying dust and rubble around the pair.

Such close proximities between the pair would have been in any other situation so private and intimate. As it was, Kaiyo didn't feel so different, she was used to people staring quite shamelessly at her, so being watched during combat was no new phenomenon to the Captain. Though such an aggressive side of her personality was usually unseen; proven by her cheerful nature that shook people when meeting the fearsome tales of the latest kenpachi. For those who had seen such a side to the Captain though; a few couldn't make eye contact yet.

Her senses buzzed with energy, heightened by the release of her shikai as a golden trace circled her vision with a glistening bright light. It was uplifting, feeling such power and it spurred the Captain on. Kaiyo shifted her body weight to the side, kicking up against the wall as she flipped backwards, arching her back as she aimed to drop down behind Tatsu with an axe kick, bringing her large glistening Zanpakuto down with a light strike for good measure as well.

Tatsu's energy kept spiking upwards, but at one point it stopped going down, it just went up and up beyond anything the shinigami had experienced before, as if his capacity of holding energy within himself had just improved for no reason. He didn't notice it though but anyone around him could feel the weight of the shinigami's reiatsu crush on them harder than it had been before. The shinigami looked at the captain back up to crack her neck and he knew that the serious part was coming then, playing had stopped. The dust scattered away from the shinigami as his energy rose at this point it was obvious he only needed to spark to light up the fire that was ready to be released in his body.

Tatsu's eye's lingered on the captain waiting for her to make her move, she seemed empty at the moment as if she cared not of what happened to him, she needed to enter this state to make sure she wouldn't go easy on him, after all he wanted to rank up after this fight. Tatsu saw the first two hits come at him extremely fast, but he did see them blocking them with much effort, but the last him caught him as hard as a truck going downhill without a driver, crushing his defence almost breaking his arms since he was blocking with his forearms and shoulders, the shinigami flew into the nearest wall, this time making it through and nearly catching some people who were walking behind it. For a moment, the shinigami lost consciousness and his energy totally died out as if he had died, but something much more amazing was happening. A few words could be heard from within the rubble and everyone opened their ears to hear them fully.

''Awaken Mizu No Megami''

A dark blue energy sprung the rubbles away and left the area without any dust in the air, the shinigami was now weilding a long sword and a shield, his sheath was no where to be seen, his kimono was replaced by a chainmail and a red ribbon was used as a belt making sure his chainmail wouldn't flail around during fights. Already the captain could maybe feel her energy drawn towards him in a bad way, as if he was absorbing it, as if the watery shield and the watery sword fed on it slowly but surely.

Marks of round one were very slowly vanishing and the Tatsu charged at Kaiyo with a renewed vigor, bringing his sword to her hips, trying to make contact with her flesh.