Snake in the Grass (Solo)

Kuro was just outside the Seireitei, in the Rukongai. He was training again like he did a lot these days. With not having much else to do, it was the only way to keep himself from going insane from boredom. His fists swung repeatedly through the space in front of him as he fought with imaginary opponents. Throwing jabs, swipes, straights and a whole bunch more of an assortment of blows at the unseen enemies, he kept increasing his tempo to produce more of a workout. The sun was not very thoughtful that day, bearing down on him with harsh rays from a cloudless sky making his training twice as exhausting. His face dripped with sweat and his breathing quickened as the process progressed. He finally felt up for a break and made his way over to a nearby rock where he had placed his teacup and a towel to try off with. To his surprise, the rock already had an occupant. A shady looking individual with sandy colored hair and eyes half shut in a superior sneering expression. It was obvious to Kuro at first glance that he was a captain, given away by the white haori that was clothed around the man's robes. But the thing Kuro couldn't explain was the shiver that quickly ran through him the moment he met the man's eyes. Dull and amber in color and luster, the eyes fixed on Kuro's were devoid of any sort of human warmth. They honestly reminded him of a predator enjoyably watching over its next chosen prey, feeling the moments of anticipation and control before the beast moved in for the kill. This man was sitting on the rock with Kuro's towel draped over his head while his hands brought Kuro's cup up to his lips to finish drinking Kuro's cool drink. Setting the cup down beside him, he spoke with a singsong type of voice that only added to the creepy feeling brought on by his appearance.

"That sure was a good drink, but don't you think you should have brought more along if you were planning on training out in this terrible heat captain? I certainly don't think that small amount would be enough to satisfy you if it wasn't even enough for me when I haven't been doing any strenuous activity. I hope you don't mind me taking it. I just needed something to cool off with. This towel helps keep the sun off too. Nice that you thought to bring it along."

Kuro sighed and sat down on the dusty ground to take a breather. It was troublesome that this man had just come along and helped him to Kuro's stuff, but Kuro wasn't going to start trouble over such a little thing like some errant rudeness. He absently pulled at some of the strands of tall dry grass growing in the ground as his breathing calmed down and he spoke to the newcomer. "I don't believe we've had the honor of meeting before Captain. I'm Kuro Akarui of the second division. May I ask who you are?" Kuro was surprised as the stranger stood up and jumped off the rock to land a short distance away. And was it his eyes playing tricks on him? Kuro thought he had seen the briefest of frowns cross the man's face as he rose to his feet. He turned his gaze back to Kuro from his new spot and revealed himself to still be wearing the same sneer as before.

"How about a friendly match Captain Kuro? You never can achieve the same results as a real fight with solo training alone."

Kuro didn't like this guy very much, and something about his sudden offer to spar was unsettling. He turned his back and took a few steps in the direction of the city gate. "No thanks. I'm not really feeling up to a fight at the moment. I'll have to take you up on your offer some other time." Suddenly, Kuro found his way blocked as the man brought himself in front of his path with shunpo.

"Oh? But surely you don't have anything better to do right now. And wouldn't it be nice to lose yourself in a fight rather than go back to your office and think about all the people you've let down?" He shunpoed again, this time standing behind Kuro and slightly to the left as his voice continued to prod Kuro's ears harshly. "Second division's seen better days hasn't it? What with the Shihoin elder being murdered and the killer remaining on the loose. Then you go sending members off on dangerous missions by themselves that they don't report back from. Have you resigned yourself to the fact that she's dead yet? Or do you still hold onto hope?"

"Stop it!" Kuro shot as he swung around with his fist balled to try and swat the man across the face. His hand hit nothing but air as the man used shunpo again and was several feet back from where he had previously stood. Feeling safe from surprise attacks at this distance, his taunts flew at Kuro once more.

"She does seem to show a level of talent and strength, but I do wonder how it is that a poor girl from the Rukongai managed to move up through your squad's ranks so fast. Word has it that you're sweet on the little lady. Did she do you some favor in exchange for her promot-" his sentence was cut off as he was forced to draw his zanpakuto and parry a furious slash from Kuro as he shot like a bullet across the space between them with shunpo and attacked his front. He had obviously been trying for this reaction, as nothing else could provide an explanation for how he had responded with enough speed to block Kuro's sudden attack. Even with this new development and Kuro's furious face savagely glaring at him with spirit energy shining wildly in his eyes, the captain's face only grew more happy and excited at the sight of it all. "I guess I'll introduce myself now before we get busy. I am the captain of squad 9, Kinnosuke Yamana. Please show me more of that anger. I just love it."

Kuro didn't say anything at this time. He had been driven past the point for words. Grunting with exertion, he pushed Kinnosuke back and darted in again for another frontal attack with his zanpakuto. Shockingly, Kinnosuke didn't back off this time, but instead pressed forward to meet Kuro halfway with a ferocious swing of his own. But unlike Kuro's which was angry and wild, Kinnosuke's was direct and planned. Before Kuro could prepare a followup, Kinnosuke's white katana was swinging again, forcing Kuro on the defensive. His mouth broke into a crazy smirking grin as he attacked again and again, leaving Kuro no room to counter attack. Each blow had thought behind it, nearly throwing Kuro off balance and making him step back from the assault. Kuro felt he had to take things up a level if he was going to get a chance here.

"Concentrate, Seishou-seijin!"

With its release phrase shouted into the air by its master, Kuro's zanpakuto transformed into a ninja gauntlet with a burst of energy in a flash of light. Kuro quickly guided his spirit power into the jewel set on the strap that ran across his palm and formed a shining golden blade of energy extending from it as a replacement for his transformed blade. With this, he had a longer weapon and therefore a wider range. Kinnosuke's advance was halted as his ability to exploit his further reach was eliminated by Kuro's fashioned weapon. However, the sneering captain's attacks didn't stop. The two stood with their feet rooted to the ground swinging and parrying at lightning speed. But Kuro could still find no opening to land a decent hit with. Their blades crossed again and this time Kuro pressed harder to keep the clash going for a while so he could think. Kinnosuke didn't seem perturbed by this, instead his grin only grew eviler. He spoke in his enjoying voice, "Nip him, Kibaomaki." His zanpakuto glowed white like its blade and handle wrap, changing its appearance into a curved new weapon. A blade that was pure white in color and curved in the opposite direction of a normal blade, its tip arching over Kuro's blade. Without warning, the snow white steel of this new weapon extended from its base, adding more length to the weapon. Instead of growing longer though, the tip of the blade led the growth on a curving path that swung around Kuro's weapon and ended puncturing right into Kuro's left shoulder. Kinnosuke leaped back as Kuro cried out sharply in pain and pushed at him. At a second glance, the wound didn't seem too serious. Blood flowed from Kuro's shoulder down his arm, but the puncture hadn't done much damage to the flesh. But as Kuro prepared to attack, his shoulder and arm both began to burn with a terrible pain. He clutched at his wound with his right hand while his loss of concentration caused his formed blade to dissolve. Kinnosuke watched with an amused face and held out his sword while pointing at its tip. Dripping from the sword's end, a shiny green liquid could be seen falling to the ground.

"How do you like your first taste of my Kibaomaki's venom? You don't have to worry much. A single quick stab like that only delivered enough poison to put you through a few waves of excruciating pain. I can't guarantee that things won't get much worse with repeat performances though."

"Thanks for the warning." Kuro muttered venomously as he slowly got back to his feet. His shoulder felt worse than if it was on fire, but he'd only lost concentration of his weapon from being caught off guard. Now that he knew the pain was there, it was easier to focus alongside it. That didn't make his arm feel any better though. His hand was twitching from the pain as he formed another blade on his gauntlet and charged in with shunpo. His head was clearer now that his angry assault from earlier had been interrupted. He still was developing a deep loathing for this new acquaintance, but the mind numbing murderous intent he'd struck with from the start was quickly being brought under control. Coming out of his shunpo behind Kinnosuke, Kuro swung his weapon at his unprotected back. He found himself unable to complete the swing as Kinnosuke revealed the index finger of his non-sword hand pointing right at him. "Bakudo 1: Sai." Kuro's arms were stopped and almost bound behind him. But a kido of such a low ranking was easily resisted. Kuro managed to hold his arms in place, but the pause was all Kinnosuke needed. Turning to face Kuro, he pointed his sword at Kuro's face and a green mist suddenly sprayed from the blade's tip. Kuro was struck with a face full of the cloud as it surrounded him. His skin began to feel hot and uncomfortable and his eyes were extremely irritated and began to water profusely. With Kuro mostly disabled by this stunt, Kinnosuke's blade flashed several times, scoring unguarded slashes all over Kuro's front. Kuro fell to the ground bleeding severely while Kinnosuke spoke to him in a very condescending tone.

"Very sloppy Kuro. Your speed is amazing, but your moves are too predictable. All I had to know was that you'd attack from behind and trapping you after that was child's play. It's no surprise how all these terrible things happen to you and your squad when their captain still makes such novice mis-" He was cut off like before as Kuro lifted himself from the ground and fired a stream of energy from his gauntlet. Unable to block such an attack as easily as he had Kuro's wild slash before, Kinnosuke was forced to shunpo away to safety. He found his path followed though, Kuro even beating him to his destination point. Kuro's hand glowed bright with spirit power as he slammed his gauntlet-clad palm into Kinnosuke's side, fueling a super strength boosted blow. The sadistic captain's grin disappeared in a flash as Kuro turned the fight around with a cold efficiency.

"I wasn't fully serious at that point. I know what you're like now. You're the kind who clouds his opponent's minds and causes them to make simple mistakes that you exploit. But how good are you when the enemy figures you out?" Kuro shunpoed again, first moving back wards to appear to be taking distance. Stopping the step short, he shunpoed again to re-position himself on Kinnosuke's opposite side where his arm sunk into his gut, bending him over in the process. Kuro didn't stop there, bringing his opposite elbow down on the hurting man's back, driving him to the dirt floor. The sun beat down on them both while Kuro's gauntlet hand reached out and whipped around Kinnosuke's neck, putting him in a lock. "I win captain. If it were allowed, I'd snap your neck right now for those things you said about my team. I hope you'll refrain from angering me like this in the future. I don't like being like this often." Kuro stood up and slowly walked back into the city, the wounds from Kinnosuke's last assault dripping blood all over his robes. Back in the field, Kinnosuke turned over on his back and held one hand over his eyes to block out the sun. Unseen by all, his face recovered from a painful grimace to his joyful grin again before he broke out in a dark laugh that demonstrated his pleased attitude with how the events today had unfolded.