The Squad 5 and 7 Banquet (Shinjo97)

The captain walked into the main hall in the squad 5 barracks 'Alright you lot, listen up! The squad 7 captain and I have made some agreements that we should host a banquet and maybe a little bit of sparring between us and squad 7; and we will be hosting it in our barracks, so clean up the whole barracks; Seated officers see to it that it is done by the sun set'. This was the first time that anything like this had happened, Tariasha wondered whether it would be worth going, he had never really had a chance to speak to many other squads, the only others seemed to be coming from squad 12; he was in mid-thought until a brush was shoved in his direction, he started to sweep the floors. The barracks was slowly being cleaned, and pieces of furniture were being brought in and laid out in a specific order; a sheet of paper was stuck on a notice board, and everyone gathered around to see. One rather large shinigami grabbed the sheet and held it in front of him, he loudly spoke out what it said so that everyone could hear; Tariasha was surprised that the hollows in Hueco Mundo didn't hear it. Due to what i mentioned earlier, each of you will be sparring a member of squad 7, with your zanpakutos. It is not to the death but only to the first blood, no kido is allowed in this. Please note that you will have no prior time to train nor practice, only the time to be presentable before your match', suddenly everyone became as giddy as young school boys, it was a long time that anyone had been allowed to spar with their zanpakutos; due to a small fighting incident.

As the cleaning and setting up had been finished, Tariasha had time to get ready, he ran down the now cleansed hall, and slid into his room. It seemed overly dirty in here now that everything else had been cleaned; he took only the essentials, his clothes, his zanpakuto and a book. He tied himself up, so that he actually looked presentable, then went back to the room where the members of squad 7 would be waiting.

Shioshi rolled his shoulders as he walked with the rest of the members of the 7th Division towards the 5th Division Barracks. His Zanpakutou hung from its customary spot on his shoulders, the hilt extending up next to his head. He patted the hilt as he walked, anticipating the match to come. It would probably be the only good part of the night, for him, so he was somewhat excited for it. It was better than no action at all, after all, and that was all that he'd been experiencing for nearly a year now. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually taken on a real mission for his Squad, aside from helping to clean the Barracks. This would help him to know if all that training he'd put himself through had been worth it.

They reached the Barracks quickly, shuffling inside one at a time to be greeted by the 5th's Captain and the Division's other officers. He bowed before the Captain, and then gave the others nods of appreciation. After that, he strode into the main hall, which had been rearranged for the banquet. He also looked over to the sparring mats over to the side. They seemed to be set up so that matches could be watched during the meal, although Shioshi had a hunch that the matches would continue long after the food had stopped coming. There were simply far too many members of the two squads for it to be any other way.

Muttering to himself, he took his place near the ranking officers, but still a bit away from them, signifying that he had been part of the 7th Division for a while, but wasn't ready to become a Seated officer yet. "Lets just get the show on the road..." he sighed to no one in particular, before turning his attention to the two Captains, who were waiting to address them all. He certainly hoped that he would fight someone who was worth the time, at least.

Tariasha walked into the room ready to hear what both the squad captains had to say about the night. Welcome squad 7 members, tonight we shall be holding a banquet, and a sparring session; these will both be happening at the same time. Your name will be called the first name will be one of our guests then one of our own. Rules will declared at the beginning of each match to avoid any unnecessary behavior. Please take your seats. The speech seemed rather short, but Tariasha guessed there would be another later, and one from the squad 7 captain as well. He looked around the tables to see that his seat was near to the seated shinigami, the captain obviously had some doing with this. The seat was a velvet teal cushion, the color of squad 5. The other members of squad 7 and 5 also took their places, stood behind their chairs waiting for both the captains to take their seats before everyone else sat down. He sat down to a nice bowl of chicken broth that had been laid out, the drinks were also served; it was water. Obviously they wouldn't have served sake at a time like this, he was imagining drunk people fighting each other, what a laugh that would be.

The squad 7 member had taken his seat next to Tariasha, without having a first look at who it was he announced who he was 'Hello, my name is Tariasha Getsu, How are you?' He held his handout towards the shinigami.

Shioshi eyed the almost annoyingly friendly Shinigami sitting next to him for a moment before shaking his hand. "I'm good, I suppose. I'm just sorta ready for the sparring matches to start," he replied. He closed his eyes for a second, feeling that distant, calm resonation with his sword, and smiled. Then his eyes opened again, and the 7th Division Captain stepped forward to announce the first match of the night. He tensed, not sure whether he really wanted to go first or not. He'd rather get a bit of feel for the general fighting style of the other squad. But on the other hand, if he were to go first... A smile crossed Shioshi's face as his Captain opened up a small scroll. He gripped the hilt of his Zanpakutou eagerly.

"Shioshi Reinuu, and... Tariasha Getsu!" declared the 7th Division's Captain. Grinning, Shioshi stood, although not before he received an encouraging clap upon the back from one of his own squadmates sitting next to him on the side that Tariasha, who also happened to be his opponent in the first match of the night, was not. He would turn and extend a hand towards his opponent, to help him to his feet, but continue onto the sparring area after a few moments whether Tariasha accepted his help up or not. He sighed as he entered the sparring area, drawing his Zanpakutou and rolling his shoulders to relieve the tension in his muscles. He went through a quick series of moves meant purely for show, as well as to intimidate an opponent. Then he turned and stood at the ready, prepared to listen to the match's rules.

"Shioshi Reinuu, and ... Tariasha Getsu" the roar of the men had begun as Shioshi stood up, they were eager to watch the spar as it was the first to come, this would possibly be the most active fight as the others would slowly avert their gazes to meet their food. Tariasha was annoyed, he had just picked up his spoon, and was ready to devour his broth. He turned to accept the hand that Shioshi had offered, a nice gesture for the man that would most probably beat him, Tariasha was really not feeling up for the spar, and had hoped he had more time.

As they both stepped onto the sparring mats they bowed, and stood opposite each other. 'The rules are simple, first to draw blood wins; eye gouges and groin shots are not allowed, all other moves are allowed. Shikai and Bankai are both illegal. Please shake hand then take several steps away from each other. Tariahas did as instructed, clasping hands with Shioshi for a third time in the past few minutes, then taking several steps back he drew his zanpakuto, the hilt rested firmly yet softly in his hand, ready to fight. 'Begin!' the roar of the crowd almost covered the beginning signal that the adjudicator had given. Tariasha stepped in immediately, swiping his zanpakuto at Shioshi and forcing him to cross his zanpakuto with Tariasha's, he brought his fist close up to Shioshi's stomach, reaching across to hopefully damage his ribs.