Imperfect Defense (Shinjo)

The large dusty warehouse in Seireitei was like a second lab for Arawn. Much like the former research center he had made the rundown building his own. The boxes were cleared away to on side of the massive complex and he had moved in various bookshelves and equipment. It was here he tested R.O.V.E.R, but he enjoyed go there for the quiet. At times he would rifle through the man boxes and books to examine the various half finished and abandoned creations. The oddities he found made him wonder if the 12th Division was driving by madness rather than genius. A foot washers that cleaned each toe. There anti-dust spray that literally made dust float off an object. Arawn tested the substance amazed to see the dust rise off a box.
"It works." he said coughing on the dust cloud. "But I see why they dropped it." He fanned the cloud away and continued his dig for treasures. As he dug he found several baubles. They were clear like glass with a light blue tint. When held to the light they had a prism like effect. There was no container they were just randomly placed throughout the box he was exploring. They in various sizes the smallest was no larger than his pinky nail. He took them and placed them in empty box, not sure what to make of them. Having finished with the box he moved on to the next. An automatic back-scratcher one wore like a backpack, electric toothpicks, fans that hung on earrings. Arawn felt like a kid opening presents on his birthday. Every box was a surprise. Two boxes later he came upon something very familiar; a large crystal. The orb was as large a basketball and had the same blue tint as the small ones he had found. Gently he removed it from the crate. It was cool to the touch and only half as heavy as it looked. There was a shape inside the glass he couldn't quite make out.
"Well this is strange." he muttered. There was nothing else in the box. Arawn ran his hand over the large crystal looking for anything to hit toward it's purpose. There was nothing. Studying the box he found a small number Item #317-1 With a grin Arawn replaced the crystal and ran to the shelves. Among the books were journals of the projects, with the number he might learn what exactly he had.

It took much time to find the book. Nearly two hours later he sat down in his chair dust covering his uniform and itching his nose. Leaning back he started to read the project notes. It was called Reishūkaku a very strange device that had been used to pierce the veil that protected Seireitei. Arawn rolled one of the smaller orbs absentmindedly while reading. By focusing energies it created a dense shield that was capable of over coming the Sekkiseki wall that enshrined the city. Arawn stared at the marble. The R&D had created these tiny orbs in hopes of utilizing them as a defensive tool. It was abandoned due to the amount of focus require. Should a person use it improperly it would fail or prove to be fatal.
"This thing is that powerful?" He read over procedure and marveled at the simplicity. It did have merit, and yet was at a great cost. Palming the crystal he focused his energies into his hand. Arawn felt the tingle as the marble pulsed. A blue field sprung up around his hand. Simone entered the warehouse whistling.
"Hey I thought you'd be here!" she waved as she made her way to his small desk. Arawn's head snapped to look and the field buckled then faded away. He opened his hand to look at the small bauble. "What's have you been doing?" she asked seeing him covered in dust. "What's that? It's pretty."
"Pretty and dangerous." Arawn muttered standing up and putting it into his pocket and reaching for the small box filled with more of such crystals. He grabbed one the size of a golf ball. "I have to go see someone. I'll be back to clean this up later." With that he ran towards the door.

"Gyah! What is with this freaking cleaning duty I keep getting assigned to?!" Shioshi complained aloud. A group of three nearby Shinigami eyed him with grins, and he only sighed and then continued along his way, broom sweeping widely across the road as he moved. He continued complaining to himself as he walked along, his day just as boring as always when he was assigned to cleaning duty, as he almost always was. He knew that it was because he was one of the newest members, but that didn't mean he liked it any more. He gave a sigh as he reached the end of his shift, the day half gone, the Sun hanging up in the middle of the sky. Sweat beaded his brow as he finally was able to throw down his broom and then sit and lean back against the wall, resting. It had been a long, hot, and boring day. So far.

"I should seriously be getting back to the Barracks soon," Shioshi muttered, and so he stood, collected his broom, grasped his Zanpakutou's hilt for a moment, and then moved along, not moving too quickly, now that he had a chance to simple relax. He stretched for a moment, after pausing to do so, staring up at the clouds above. Now that he thought of it, the weather was extremely nice. Why didn't he just sit out for the rest of the day? His higher-ups surely wouldn't mind now that more than half the day was gone. He shook the idea way quickly, though, knowing that there was no way such a thing could ever happen. He grinned, loving the idea even though he couldn't go through with it, and then continued along, taking, generally, the path back towards the 7th Division Barracks.

With the strange crystals jingling in his pockets Arawn made his way through Seireitei. He had been watching the fighting grounds with Bryce late at night and seen another of fight involving a promising student. Oddly enough he too had been defeated by Draylon. Upon reflecting he noticed he was more intrigued by those that failed than those successful. Draylon was in his squad and the only effort he had made in helping him was the device that was created. And now he was helping an young man he had defeated. Arawn's plan had been to approach the man slowly, but he didn't want to wait. His impatience hurt him in this case. When he had confronted Bishamon he found where he was before seeking him out. Now he couldn't begin to know where other man was. But he had a good guess. What little information he could get pointed towards the 7th Division. That was as good as place to look as any. He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the map. Even after all this time he still got lost. He came to a stop at a crossroad and looked at the screen's map. Then he shunpo'd in the right direction.

He arrived at the barracks within moments breathing hard. Shunpo was a great way to travel, but captains made it look so easy. Gasping for air he ask the guard about the new recruit named Shioshi. The man was shocked by his sudden appearance, but was nice enough to inform him that most the recruits left on some cleaning errands.
"They left out a few hours ago." he stated. "If you want you can wait inside for him." Arawn was quick to reject the offer.
"Can you tell me where they went?" Arawn asked the helpful guardsman. The other man rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.
"I think they went toward the west quad." he pointed down the right street. With a nod the red headed shinigami ran down the path. He'd been running for awhile until he simply just stopped. This was getting to be more trouble than it was worth. There were no other paths to the barracks, so they would have to come down the street eventually. He'd just wait for them rather than run around searching. Arawn leaned against the wall to rest.

Shioshi moved along quickly, realizing that he'd taken too long to get back. Everyone else should already be back by now, and so that meant that he would be the last to return. Cursing under his breath, he rounded a corner and nearly collided with another Shinigami. This startled him from his thoughts, causing him to slip and fall on his back. Realizing that he'd been seen by someone during his extremely rare clumsy moments, his cheeks burned red as he stood back up, dusting himself off. He brought a hand up behind his head, scratching it, and threw the other Shinigami a sheepish grin. He saw the emblem for the 12th Division etched into his kimono, and so, not sure if this was one of the crazy types or one of the sane, he decided to give a verbal apology.

"Heh, sorry about that. I was in a hurry, and wasn't really paying attention, when I rounded the corner, and simply wasn't expecting there to be another Shinigami at the moment. Although there isn't really a reason I shouldn't except to see someone out here..." he said, his voice trailing away as he finished. He grinned helplessly, bowed, and then turned and walked around the Shinigami, continuing on his way. However, after getting a few feet away, he stopped and turned around, feeling as if he recognized this Shinigami from somewhere. "Do... I know you? I don't believe I've met you before, but I think I might've seen you. Are you a seated member of the 12th?" he asked. The more he thought on it, the more he believed that this man was a seated Shinigami, because otherwise, he would never have recognized him.

So relaxed was Arawn he failed to noticed another person come around the corner. The small collision ended with neither party hurt for the most part. But it made for an awkward first meeting. As his thoughts returned him after the impact he realized this was the person he sought. He had watched the young man's performance on the computer with Bryce. Shioshi Reinuu newly inducted to the 7th squad. Bryce had informed him after working at the database. The man kept track of the fighters and their battles like a true fan. Shioshi was quick to apologize, but Arawn held up hand to stop him
"No I am sorry, I should have been paying attention." Arawn calmly replied. "I was actually waiting here for you, Mr Reinuu." he stated. The man from the 7th squad was quick to ask him rank. It wasn't something that the redheaded man liked to dwell on. "I'm from the 12th squad, but I'm currently unseated. I spend most my time doing paperwork and cleaning the warehouses." Not complete lies, but not the out right truth. He lied because he didn't want to approach the recent graduate as a superior officer. He didn't want the young man to feel threatened or intimidated.

"I saw your fight not too long ago with Draylon from our squad." He began. "Although you didn't win, I thought you had plenty of spirit." From his pocket he pulled out his left hand. Held between his index finger an thumb was the faintly blue crystal. "As I was cleaning today I found a most curious object. When I realized what it was, I somehow knew that it would be something you could use." The light of the sun caught the bauble making it sparkle. "It may not look like much, but it holds a wondrous power." Arawn took several steps back and closed his fist on the crystal.
"Attack me, I'll show you what this thing can do." A small grin crossed his face. Using the crystal he wouldn't have to hold back too much.

Shioshi eyed the other Shinigami with surprise. This Shinigami had watched his fight with Draylon when he had been an Academy Student? And now he wanted to be attacked so that he could protect himself with a strange little marble? He could definitely sense a strange Reiatsu coming from the thing, but he wouldn't say that it could protect someone from the swing of a Zanpakutou. However, since the man had asked him, and seemed to know what he was doing, he sighed and drew his blade. "If you really want me to attack you, I guess I will. But... I'm not responsible if you come to any harm," he said. Wincing a bit, he brought his weapon back, hesitation in every inch of his movement. He swallowed, quite hard, brought his weapon back, and then swung it in from the side in a powerful slash aimed at the other Shinigami's abdomen. He shut his eyes, not wanting to watch what he truly believed, with all of his heart, would happen next.

Arawn didn't flinch, he focused his reiryoku on his left hand. In less time it took for Shioishi to pull back his blade a blue bubble enclosed his fist. He moved the now protected hand to intercept the oncoming blade. Bracing his feet the two clashed. The blade stopped short of it's target, the blue shell not even scratched by the spiritual weapon. Arawn wanted to smile, but that would ruin his concentration. If the bubble should vanish the blade would continue it's path.
"You'll have to do better than that, Mr Reinuu." He stated evenly. "If this is the extent of your prowess, I think I understand why Draylon beat you. Come at me with full force. Otherwise you're going to lose to someone weaker than you." He hoped to goad some kind of response from the man by mentioning his defeat. His right hand dove into it's pocket. Inside was the other crystal. This one the size of a golf ball. This was both a test of Shioishi's skill and the strange blue orbs. The assessment was far complete on both.