Health Assesement (Ryouta and me/ pm me if ya wanna join ^_^)

((OOC: spirit please))

Kaiyo's eyes widenned with panic as the blonde girl peeked over the letter, smiling nervously, 'I really didn't get this letter i swear'. The 4th Squad captain sighed and turned to leave the room, 'It's not a regular checkup its just to keep an accurate record of our Lieutenants health' the man said, sliding openeing Kaiyo's door as he left, calling over his shoulder, 'Remember, 8am'. Kaiyo threw the letter onto the floor in front of her and sank back down into her chair.

The blonde girl wasn't late, in fact Kaiyo was one of the first there, waiting sheepishly for the 4th squad Captain to begin. Kaiyo leapt quickly out of her chair and followed the old man down the hall, Kaiyo had never been allowed so far into the 4th headquarters, where they did all the largeer tests. The girl at least felt safer than she did at the 12th squad. The group of Lieutenants stood outside the large room as the man spoke, 'The first test is rather simple, we need to guage your spirit power, so we have borred the treadmills from the 12th squad, the minimum time for a Lieutenant will be 30 minutes, please stop as soon as you feel tired'. Kaiyo looked up at the other Vice Capatins, a smirk grew on her face, there was no way in hell she was stopping first.

The large room was simply filled with 13 treadmills in a long row, all facing a mirrored glass that the Captain and his team stood behind. Kaiyo leapt happily onto her treadmill, shutting her eyes as she released all of her spiritual energy, along with her peers. The blonde girl kept her feet at the side until the buzzer sounded and all of the treadmills were turned on.

From the first step onto the machine Kaiyo could feel it literally sucking the energy from her feet. Not bothering to look to her side Kaiyo kept running, her eyes staring straight into the mirror as the sound of the feet galloping on the treadmill erupted in the room. After just 10 minutes Kaiyo could feel a slight strain, the girl had already tried to mover her reaitsu higher up her body to go longer, the girl's arms pumping side to side as her headband jumped gently with her movement. The small tingle of exhaustion spiked along Kaiyo's body as the 30 minute timer buzzed. 'Please do not push yourself Lieutenants' the man said in his calm voice from behind the mirror, the 3rd squad Lieutenant nodding and stepping back off his treadmill.

Kaiyo's heart rate had damn near double, her muscles tensing as the girl's arms pumped at her side. Another Vica Captain dropped out, but the competetive nature of Kaiyo meant she still couldn't stop, but from glancing up in the mirror Kaiyo figure it was the same for everyone else, some hiding it a lot better than others. The first 'assesement' had simply become a battle of will power, as to which Vice Captain could drop out last. Kaiyo could feel a single cold beat of sweat falling down her head, the speed of the treadmill starting to cause some trouble for her as well. Kaiyo was on her last legs, the rate at which energy was being suctioned out of her was almost worrying, 1st Squad and 7th Squad dropped at the same time. With just a few more left Kaiyo pushed her body further.

In a last effort to go further kaiyo shut her eyes, imagining herself on a long dark road, with a dim light at the end. Her resolve and ambition resting at the end of the road, the girl sped up; her spiritual energy spiking to new heights as Kaiyo's pure determination kept her going. Pumpin her reiatsuy along her body as her energised self ran faster, her steps stronger on the treadmill the girl kept her eyes shut. Engulfed by her own will Kaiyo kept going, a few final sighs of those pulling out of the race piercing through the dark road. The rythmic tapping of her feet kept her going the small girl could still feel the increasing spiritual energy flowing in her body, but her muscles unable to take the strain Kaiyo stumbled slightly. Falling back straight onto the floor, panting as the girl stared at the ceiling, Kaiyo didn't even know where she'd finished, but her surging energy agreed she had done well.

Ryouta had been listening to the 4th Squad Captain with a glazed look on his face- eyes half-closed, absentmindedly twirling his toothpick, the whole works. As the treadmills were brought out, he chuckled. This would be a cakewalk.

He stepped onto the treadmill and began to jog to let his muscles warm up. As he did this, he closed his eyes and increased his reiatsu to not only aid his stamina, but to also intimidate his fellow Vice-Captains. And then Ryouta gasped a little as he felt the treadmill actually stealing spirit power from him. Those 12th Squad bastards... he thought. And then, I'm glad my uniform is sleeveless. As he was the 2nd Squad Vice-Captain, Ryouta knew how to run with perfect efficiency. He swung his arms evenly with his stride and tried to focus on a single thing- the beat of his pace.

At the thirty-minute mark, he saw the 3rd Squad Lieutenant pass out. Pansy, Ryouta thought. He continued to stream reiatsu to his arms and legs, realizing that his arms were just as important as his legs in running. He ran on the balls of his feet, on his toes. If he were not on a treadmill, he would be covering quite some distance. Despite the intense workout that he was doing, Ryouta's breathing had not changed since the beginning- he still took deep even breaths. He knew that if he breathed too fast, it could cause cramping.

Ryouta was beginning to feel his heartbeat in his ears. There was a steady pounding that just kept him going- he concentrated hard on this sound that was only audible to him. And then a thought struck him. Ryouta spit out his toothpick so it stayed quivering in the stretch of wall directly in front of him. He focused on that in addition to the sound of his heart to further heighten his running ability. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryouta saw two more Lieutenants drop out, the 1st and 7th. He shrugged and continued on.

Ryouta had lost any concept of the passage of time. There was only the run, only the need to keep reiatsu pumping through his body (and into the damned treadmill beneath his feet). His spiritual pressure had dropped some since the assessment had started, but Ryouta felt he could still keep going.

Ryouta noticed that as the assessment went on, the treadmills spun faster. He was now going in an all-out sprint. Ryouta now had to pump reiatsu not only to his legs and arms, but to his heart and lungs as well to sustain himself. He saw Kaiyo fall beside him. And then, Ryouta felt...drained. He had nearly drained himself completely. Ryouta sighed, but decided it was wise to stop. He jumped off the treadmill and nearly collapsed. "Good god I'm tired...but I did well."

"Of course you did," said the 7th Lieutenant. "You're 2nd Squad. You're supposed to be good at running."

ooc: spirit please

Kaiyo smiled happily up at the ceiling, 2nd place was definately an achievement, especially if Ryouta had been the one to just beat her. Considering the guy was the Captain of the healing division, he was giving the Lieutenants very little sympathy. Damn near dead and panting on the floor the Captain opened the door and spoke in calm manner, 'Thank you, please follow me for your next evaluation'. Praying to God the next task was something easy the blonde Lieutenant leapt back up to her feet and followed the Capatin out of the room, giving Ryouta the nod of apprecation as she went.

Kaiyo sweatdropped as they stepped inside the next room, scratching the back of her head as she began to laugh nervously, 'That isn't for us, right?' she was wrong. Another alrge room was filled with 13 bench presses in a row, each with a 4th squad member behind, waiting for their Lieutenant to begin spotting. The Captain's face remained set in stone as he walked out to the new mirrored room. Kaiyo slouched over to her bench press. Staaring at the butch guy ready to spot for her the girl couldn't help but laugh; most of the Lieutenants were male, and pretty damn strong. With dwindling power, Kaiyo refused to resign to failure, nodding strongly as she lay down. The Captain's voice came from the mirror in front of her, 'The same as last time, complete as many reps as you can comfortably, without pushing yourself remember this isn't a competition this is simply for research purposes'. Kaiyo smirked once more, surprised that all of the Lieutenants ego's managed to fit into the room, not a single person had been fooled, it was a competition, and more importantly it was a competition of pride, and which Squad was the best; so far it was the 2nd Squad but Kaiyo had plans.

The speaker clicked off as Kaiyo gripped onto the bar above her head, letting out a steady breath the girl tried to increase her reaitsu as much as possible before beginning. The first buzzer sounded as Kaiyo firmly placed her hands evenly on the bar, just a bit further than shoulder width apart as she lifted the bar off the rack. The girl's face filled with shock at just how much it weighed. Kaiyo didn't have to wait long for the second buzzer to sound. Taking a steady breath as she lowered the bar to her chest the girl shut her eyes, just for a second to try and conerntrate. Elbows out, under the bar the small girl slowly exhaled as she locked her elbows back in the starting position. As beads of sweat began forming at her forehead the girl could only think of winning, 'I'm so screwed, 11th Squad are the combat division and we're meant to be the strongest, theres no way in hell is can win this.....unless i cheat' the sly grin only appeared on the girl's face for a moment before she gently let the bar down once more. 'Cheating bad, Kaiyo, win fair..or lose fair'.

Beads of sweat rolled gently down her forehead as the girl steadily brought the bar down once more. Unable to lose her concerntration Kaiyo only had a rough guess taht already three people had dropped out, the clanging of the bar on the rack followed by a heavy sigh seemed to indicate that. The girl screwed up her face as she pushed the bar up abover her head once more, her elbows locking and holding for a moment. Kaiyo didn't have a problem with ego, she simply refused to lose at a task designed for her squad. The girl had turned once more to her fail safe, the build up of lactic acid seering in her arms as it cried of for oxygen the girl consoled herself. 'Become a shinigami to get stronger, get stronger to stop others pain, ignore weakness to gain strength, help everyone, lift the bloody bar!'. Elbows locked once more the girl could feel her face turning redder as she slowly brought the bar back down to her chest.

Kaiyo continued to regulate her breathing, pushing herself past the pain that had scorched her arms. The girl didn't count, if she had should have stopped by now. Mentally cursing herself for pushing herself so far in the previous assesement Kaiyo slowly brought the bar down again, regulating her breathing. The girl's face was screwed up as she searched her body for any untapped energy, the flowing and swirling of the golden spiritual energy fighting endlessly against the bodies cry for oxygen and a break. The next day she wouldn't be able to move her arms, Kaiyo was certain, but the girl still couldn't lose. Even if she had been told to stop when tired, Kaiyo couldn't her stubborn competitive nature took over as she locked her arms above her head once more.

Kaiyo had learnt many things whilst being a shinigami. The most important to her current situation was that her high spiritual energy gave her a stamina boost, but with her energy gone and the girl relying on forcing out whatever drops of spiritual energy she could find Kaiyo knew she wouldn't last much longer. The small girl's face was glowing red as she pulled the bar down to her chest, Kaiyo knew this would be her last go. The girl shot her last flash of spiritual energy to her arms as she steadily brought her arms back up, elbows locking in place as the bar clattered on the rack.

Panting heavily Kaiyo dropped her arms at her side, sweat sliding down the girl's forehead Kaiyo smiled weakly. She had reached her limit, and gone further.

((OOC: spirit one more please)

Excellent! I like the way your character pushed past her limit, Kaiyo.
Kaiyo = Spiritual energy +5

Ryouta = Spiritual Energy +2

Ryouta only chuckled when he saw the bench presses. Even if the bars did drain spiritual energy, this would still be easier than the previous task- after all, he would only have to concentrate reiatsu in his arms and chest. He sat at the nearest available bench press and then laid himself down. He grabbed the bar and lifted, and then lowered it to his chest. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed myself so hard the previous test...he thought dully.

Ryouta decided to use the same tactic to get him through this that he had used with the running. He focused on a rhythm, on his breathing rate, on the beat of his heart; he made his arms follow that beat as he internally yelled at his arms to obey and continue the grueling exercise. Damn lactic acid, Ryouta thought. I wonder if 12th Squad could give me something so I don't produce it?

Ryouta felt sweat beginning to coat his palms and make the bar slippery. He tightened his grip until his knuckles turned white. He blinked rapidly to clear the stinging sweat drops from his eyes and continued to push out and pull in on the heavy weight. An animal growl escaped from his lips as he continued to push himself. His arm muscles burned with pain, but Ryouta dared himself to fight past it. Good god, I'm running on pride alone right now.

Ryouta’s arms began to feel less…solid. They felt as if instead of being composed of muscle, they were instead comprised of something reminiscent of super-hot molten lead. He closed his eyes and willed himself to continue pushing and pulling, to continue the process of his elbows locking and unlocking. Ryouta fell within himself; flipped the ‘autopilot’ switch so his body continued to work as his mind shifted to something else that needed his attention.

He dove deep into himself, shoved all of his available reiatsu reserves to the surface, to his burning muscles and heaving lungs, to his heart which was pumping blood with fantastic efficiency. Ryouta’s face contorted with the effort of pushing out every last drop of energy that he had in him. It was very flushed and almost literally dripping with sweat. And that was when he felt he could take no more. With a final animalistic growl, he pushed the bar up for a final time and set it down. Ryouta sat up and stood. “My arms feel like overcooked noodles…” he complained.

Kaiyo trudged through to the next room, had the small girl not felt so tired she likely would have tried to kill the Captain. The blonde girl's face was an unusually tired expression, although she was still smiling it was more of a close to collasping so i'll smile, kind of smile. Lieutenants had been told to stop as soon as they felt tired, so the fact that they were all practically crawling along the floor wasn't a good sign, all panting quietly to themselves Kaiyo seemed to be the only one who wasn't even pretending to be fine. The girl was leaning on the floor against the door frame; sighing heavily as the Capatin came out with a clipboard this time. 'Alright, Lieutenants you are doing well so far i have a few more tests for you to complete' the Captain kept his gaze solid as he spoke, 'And if i believe you to be pushing yourself too far i will remove you from the assesement' Kaiyo's eyes widenned as she leapt quickly back up to her feet, smiling angrily at the man.

His eye twitched, it was sublte but Kaiyo was certain it twitched, 'Alright then, the nest assement will be more physically demanding than the others' Kaiyo laughed, she couldn't help it. The girl looked down at her feet and coughed quietly, the Captain let out a small sigh and continued, 'We will be testing your reflexes so you will each be placed into a large glass box, visible by eachother and your reflexes will be tested. I know this sounds more like a 12th Squad experiment but it is all neccessary for our reports on you'. The man nodded and two of his squad members opened the large doors, filtering off the Lieutenants in large thick glass boxes with holes all around it in. The room was odd, the usual mirror had the same holes all along it. Kaiyo shuffled in her box and stared at the mirror, the other Lieutenants seemed equally confused. The clicking of the speaker came once more, 'You have an allowance of three'. Kaiyo leaned forwards in confusion, the buzzer echoed through the large room. An eery silence following.

The sound was similar to placing your ear next to the barrel of a gun, solid white balls shot quickly through the holes, the surprise alone had meant Kaiyo only had two allowances left. The girl had taken a hit directly under her knee, and not even been given enough time to recover. Kaiyo leapt quickly up, spinning at the top of her box as more balls shot through every hole, their timing sporadic and the power behind each one surely enough to break a bone. The girl's eyes widenned, Kaiyo was half tempted to just give up and let the balls hit her, but she's been placed between Squad 2 and 12, and she refused to go down without a fight. The balls weren't just travelling from in front of her, they came from every side, a few even from the ceiling.

Kaiyo kept her stance steady, remembering what Tenrai had told her, 'When we're afraid blood pumps around our body 4 times as fast, our muscles tighten and our senses heighten beyond that of any normal circumstance.'. Kaiyo's body arhced forwards as she took another ball to the back. Kaiyo clenched her fist tightly in anger. The girl let out a steady breath, Kaiyo seriously had to focus. The girl decided to take a risk, shifting her body weight backwards as another ball flew over her stomach, Kaiyo whipped over her headband. Leaping into the air the girl landed a backflip only to duck to the right and turn around. As her right foot touched the ground Kaiyo threw her arms back and her head forwards, trying the read ribbon over her eyes as she smiled. The girl really had to concerntrate now, she had done this type of training with Tenrai before, the woman had tried to kill her while she was blindfolded. The girl didn't need to simply increase her spiritual energy, she needed to focus on it. The small sound of the air being pushed aside by another firing ball echoed through the girl's ears as Kaiyo spun quickly, her arms up as she felt the rush of air move her clothes.

Kaiyo could feel her own spiritual energy circulating her body, surrounding her senses as the girl let her fear out. Smiling Kaiyo droped quickly to the ground, pushing herself back up with her hands as she twisted around and bounced off the side of her box to avoid more balls. The small girl was focusing, completely forgetting about the task and those around her Kaiyo's single aim was to not get hit. Kaiyo could almost feel the balls speeding towards her, waiting until the last moment before she tilted her head to the side, spinning on the ball of her foot and bending her knees as another ball flew over her head, her hair sprwaling in the air as the girl lept up, keeping her knees high. Kaiyo could hear the clattering of balls all around her, her own lack of energy seeming to vanish as the girl didn't think about it, only avoiding getting hit as she turned horizontally in the air to avoid two more hits. The headband had helped Kaiyo, she was able to block out everything else, even the pain and exhaustion that was still lingering around her body had been beaten out by the girl's need, will, to avoid being hit.

With the constant buzz of energy, Kaiyo was quite literally bouncing off the walls of her box. Still grinning the girl flipped down to the ground, turning quickly as she head a ball bouncing off teh side of a neighbouring box. Kaiyo's smile dropped as she turned to slowly, another white ball shooting at her wrist. The girl let out a small yelp of pain as the walls of her box turned solid. Signifying the end of the task. Kaiyo was still smiling as she slowlt pulled her headband off her eyes, the prickle of energy was rushing through her body at an intense speed as the small girl grinned even wider, figuring she had just gone into overdrive.

((OOC: spirit or speed prefereably spirit but left to judge otherwise, thanks ^^))

When Ryouta saw the reflex tester, he mumbled something profane under his breath. “What’s to stop me from just webbing over the holes with Bakudo#38?” he asked the Captain.

“Well, nothing. But that would defeat the purpose of the assessment, wouldn’t it?” replied the Captain.

Ryouta grumbled and mumbled sourly, “I’ve already proved I’m fast, and now I gotta do this? Not cool.” Still, he stepped into the box and waited resolutely for the test to begin. The first ball came relatively slowly and from in front of him, aimed directly at his face. Ryouta merely tilted his shoulder and turned his face, and the ball missed. He grinned despite himself; not because he had dodged the ball, but because he had noticed that it had a very faint reiatsu signature. That meant he would be able to at least feel balls that were coming at him, even if they were coming at him from behind or above.

Ryouta let reiatsu flow to every fiber of his exhausted being and bent his knees, ready to go. The next ball came at him from behind, aimed at the back of his knees. Ryouta jumped to avoid it- another came at him from higher, doubtless trying to take advantage of his decreased maneuverability in midair. Ryouta grinned and simply turned his jump into a flip, dodging that ball as well.

As the balls came at him, Ryouta did his best to step or jump aside by the smallest of increments to let them by. This was to conserve energy. He wanted his reiatsu to remain strong, and perhaps have a chance to recuperate and recover some while this relatively easy exercise was going. As a high-ranking member of 2nd Squad, he found this not unlike the Hakuda work he had done with members of the Onmitsukido. Many of his energy-saving moves consisted of simple head turns and shoulder rolls, low jumps and ducks, and even sucking in his stomach. It became a sort of pattern- the intervals that the balls were coming in allowed such efficient dodging. And then they began to come faster and closer in between balls.

Although it was more difficult now than with the bench press and the running, Ryouta found he could still settle himself into a sort of rhythm to follow. What he would do was always dodge certain balls in certain ways. For example, a ball flying at his head would cause him to merely turn his head. Any ball flying below mid-thigh would cause him to jump. Anything above the lowest bone of his ribcage he would duck for, and anything in his midriff/groin area he would sidestep if possible. Of course, the system did not come without a price. Ryouta found he was growing weary, that his reiatsu reserves were running low again- many times he only escaped being hit by the skin of his teeth.

Still, as the sweat beaded on his forehead, he savagely forced himself to go on. And then a ball clipped him in his lower back, sending him stumbling forward. Another ball came in now, at his head, and he ducked instinctively. Yet another ball came at his crouched form. Ryouta flash stepped to the other side of the box, knowing he couldn’t dodge that one fast enough. But he was unlucky, and a ball clipped his left arm, and shortly after that, a ball hit him in the back of the knee, and the exercise was finished. “Not bad,” he said to himself. “Not bad at all.”

Kaiyo= +3 to Spirit

Ryouta= +3 to Spirit