The perfect trap (open!)

Kuro watched as Kaiyo's power built up around her. Her counter-attack had sliced thinly across his chest and left a small scratch. As her power continued to grow he focused his own power as well and lit up the second circle on his sash, preparing for a devastating strike back from Kaiyo. He'd managed to get her shoulder, but that wouldn't stop her for long. He felt uncomfortable as her gaze burned into him. His eyes began to scan the area to try and come up with a plan for his next attack.

As Kaiyo's blade slashed the ground, another wave of lightning came flying at him. Not this again... he grumbled to himself as he remembered the first time she'd used this attack. He didn't have anything physical to block it with this time either. To make matters worse, Kaiyo was flash stepping looking like she'd end up behind him. A sacrificial attack from both sides? He hadn't expected that. Instinctively, he followed Kaiyo's progress spinning on the spot and facing her two handed attack.

Thinking fast, Kuro poured out his spirit power from both his palms and firmly coated his hands with thick coatings of gleaming yellow spirit power. He met Kaiyo's blade as it slashed down at him and caught hold of it. At the same moment he lifted his left foot off the ground, bending it at the knee to face behind him. He'd never tried this before, but now was as good a time as any. He fired a stream of spirit energy out of his boot that met Kaiyo's wave as it came upon him and her. The blast from his boot cut through the lightning wave and split its course, causing it to surge past him and Kaiyo on both sides. His attack had worked a second too late however and the wave did not spread enough to completely miss him. As he stopped Kaiyo's blade, the divided lightning wave sliced both of his shoulders and arms causing blood to flow freely and drip to the ground. He grunted with the pain and poured more power into his gauntlets, fueling him with the strength to tightly grip Kaiyo's katana and swing her violently to his left side, tossing her and her sword roughly across the ground.

Kuro took this opportunity to flash step after Kaiyo after he tossed her and aimed a powered palm thrust at the front of her stomach. In case she managed to block his strike, he also released a blast of energy from it as his strike ended.

ooc: Fighting skill and Intelligence attempt.

+.5 Fighting
+.5 Intelligence

To Kuro...

Kaiyo tumbled across the ground, almost angry at her own easy-to-move-weight as she skidded along the ground. Swirls of dust dancing around the short girl as she blew a stray strand of hair from her face, grinning wildly at Kuro as his image flashed for a moment before Kaiyo's body curled forwards, a loud crack resonating through the girl's ears as the sound of her own rib breaking followed the short girl being thrown across the ground once more. Landing this time with less grace Kaiyo winced with pain, gripping her blades tighter as she stood back up. Endurance; Check.

Kaiyo gently rolled her shoulder backwards, almost giggling for a moment, her eyes glazed over with a deep and far off thought. The girl knew what she had to do, close range combat she could deal with, it was Kuro's speed so far that had confused her. Kaiyo slowly slid her right foot backwards, grinding dusty soil behind her foot as she did so. 'Speed, Speed, Speed' she muttered quietly to herself. Shuffling a moment longer as Kaiyo inhaled sharply, yeah, broken ribs hurt.

The blonde girl kept her face blank, not wanting to show any pain, or sign of weakness to her opponent. Kaiyo let out a steady breath, trying to track the circulation of her own reiatsu as the girl kept her focus on speed. It had been quite a long time, but Kaiyo did remember one particularly annoying teacher at the Shinigami Academy, the evil glaring woman who had taught her flash step had repeatedly mentioned a mental block that the short blonde girl had. One that to other shinigami would seem rather unusual, but one that also stopped Kaiyo from exerting her muscles when flash stepping. The long and short of the story ended in Kaiyo graduating before even realising such a block. The girl couldn't help smiling, her mind rushing at a mile a minute as she quickly tensed the muscles in her body, using the lightning from her Bankai as it coursed through her body and towards the muscles, speeding up the fast twitch fibres in her legs as Kaiyo nodded shortly to herself.

The girl's image swept away into nothingness by the wind, as Kaiyo appeared quickly above Kuro, already using her momentum as she threw her body weight behind the slice down the front of his chest. Still trying to push her body further Kaiyo's feet tickled the ground for shorter than a second before she flash stepped to behind Kuro, lunging forwards, just above his hips as a shot of lightning danced along each blade. The build up of lactic acid was immediately clear to Kaiyo, her head still reeling from the speed and rushing images as the girl drew both blades back and crossed them horizontally, moving towards a double slice at Kuro's back before Kaiyo's reiatsu spiked once more. The girl appeared at the left of her opponent, finally ending with each blade swishing past the other in a flurry of slashes along the guys arms. Finally, something Kaiyo was well practised at.

Unable to continue her fast attack Kaiyo jumped backwards, panting heavily with each sharp breath, her chest piercingly sharp with each inhale. Kaiyo's muscles twitched for a moment, throbbing from the sudden wrecking of power they weren't used too. Still, the adrenaline pumped faster around the girl's body as her smile grew.

((OOC: Speed please ^^))

Kuro stood where he had landed his hit on Kaiyo, controlling his breathing and keeping himself calm. He was confident that he'd landed a nice hit, but this fight wasn't over. He couldn't afford to let himself fall into the extacy of battle when she was his opponent. Against a fighter of her experience, his speed and intelligence was the best weapon he could make use of.

Kaiyo seemed deep in thought for a moment. Against anyone else, Kuro would have taken advantage and tried a quick attack while their guard was down. But Kaiyo could be setting a trap, trying to mess with him. Instead of attacking, Kuro chose to wait and used the gap in the clash to light up the third ring of his sash. His spirit power grew more compressed and made his every move feel ever slightly more light and springy. He sensed Kaiyo's power beginning to flow again and tensed up his legs in preparation. She's coming!

Kaiyo suddenly disappeared in a flash, much faster than she'd been before. Kuro felt that even Leiutenant Ryouta himself would have been taken out by that speed. But unfortunately for Kaiyo, Kuro's natural speed enhanced by his bankai allowed him to dodge most of her surprise attack only further slicing his already injured right arm as he flash stepped out of the way after noticing her shadow. Her element of surprise lost, Kaiyo's second flash step was seen and read without much difficulty as Kuro followed her movement and side stepped out of the way of her thrust. Her double slash was daring at this point. Kuro's concentration on his opponent allowed him to notice the movements of her shoulders and her muscles in her arms tensing as she drew her swords back. He ran through a few different ways of possibly countering it in his mind, but he decided on a plan that would take him out of her specialty of close range combat.

Kuro guided his compressed power into his legs and swiftly kicked off from the ground dodging Kaiyo's final attack. As he "hovered" from his leap, Kaiyo fell back from where she'd attacked him to gain some room to recover. Kuro felt a minor stab of guilt for what he was about to do, but as a member of the 2nd squad, he'd decided to use what he knew was a major annoyance to Kaiyo and could give him an edge in a fight against her: Kidou.

Kuro bent his elbows and ran his fingers all along his bleeding arms while he focused his energy and calmly chanted, "By my hands, taste my blood as if falls from my open wounds. Hado #22: Blood daggers." His blood glowed with his spirit energy as it fell from the wounds caused by Kaiyo's lightning wave and was fashioned into two handfuls of crimson colored kunais. Kuro flung his arms out repeatedly as he finished descending to the ground, throwing a couple of these blood made weapons with each movement, raining them down towards Kaiyo. He touched ground and immediately flash stepped ten feet to the left of Kaiyo and pointed his finger at her. "Bakudo #34: Bond of Black Chains." His spirit power surged and formed four black chains of energy that sped at Kaiyo like snakes aiming to wrap her up so she could not dodge Kuro's next attack. He held out both of his hands while casting, "Though firearms are often considered weapons of those too lazy to fully devote their attention to true martial art...I will make an exception for you. The end...justifies the means. Hado #38: Cannon of the Just. A barrel of energy formed around his outstretched hands before firing a large blast of energy at Kaiyo. Kuro once again was starting to breath hard from the consecutive uses of spirit energy. He hoped he had landed more of a better blow on Kaiyo this time.

ooc: Speed and Kidou Mastery please.

((OOC: i'm so sorry Kuro it got deleted like 5 times in a row and then my sister screwed up my internet :S sorry sorry sorry...but i hope its okay))

Kaiyo could already see it in his eyes, it was the same look everyone gave her, the same look of guilt, right before they used Kidou. Kaiyo hated Kidou; in fact her hatred for it was so great they practically taught it at the Soul Reaper Academy. Nevertheless the girl tried to ready herself, Kaiyo didn't have a clue what Kuro might throw at her, so she had to be ready to any situation.

Kaiyo had only even witnessed blood daggers once before, and she really hadn't expected it from Kuro. The girl did however know the skill involved; whilst the spell wasn't exactly a hard Kidou spell, it did require a lot of control when using your own blood as weapons. Kaiyo's mind ticked over quickly as the words spun around the girl's ears. Kaiyo leapt into the air, releasing her grip of her blades as they fell straight into the ground; Kaiyo didn't have the current agility to try and avoid the sudden onslaught whilst holding her weapons. Kaiyo winced lightly as she arched her back, fairly certain Kuro's previous attack had at the very least cracked a rib...or several. Regardless, the first dagger shot eerily close past Kaiyo's ear; the second slicing clean off her Lieutenant sash and they were the best resulting ones. Kaiyo twisted her body around horizontally, spinning quickly as she landed to the ground in a crouched position in between her blades. Various cuts covered the girl, not that she was given a moment to notice them.

Kaiyo had only the time to stand up straight from her landing before Kuro appeared at her side. 'Shit' she muttered in annoyance as the chains wrapped tightly around the girl. Given the right amount of time, Kaiyo could probably have broken free, but of course, that wasn't the purpose of restraining the small spitfire. Kaiyo knew the next spell, she knew the incantation, and she knew the stance Kuro had taken. In any other circumstance the girl would have been very literally buggered. Of course, Kaiyo wouldn't give in that easily. The short blonde girl stood motionless as Kuro incanted his spell. Kaiyo shut her eyes from the very moment the chains had stopped her movement; shutting her eyes as breathed slowly and as calmly as possible. Concentration was key. Kaiyo needed more power, more energy, and a lot of focus. The short blonde girl knew she didn't have long, so she imposed an internal sense of urgency. The breaths were steady and calm, and yet powerful with each breath, as the girl attempted to raise her own spiritual energy.

Kaiyo opened her eyes as Kuro reached the end. The girl stared quite blankly at him, hoping she didn't hurt herself, or Kuro too badly with what she was about to do. 'Chouwa no tomoshibi'. The barrel of energy formed around Kuro's outstretched arm. The girl's two swords glowed brightly for a split second; the ground illuminating the two shinigami and the surrounding area with a golden hue. Kuro released his attack at the same time; the light exploded up from the ground with a thunderous roar that tore apart the sky. The large crashing of lightning exploded outwards into a large perimeter that would have engulfed the pair in a split second. Kaiyo couldn't see for hell. Completely surrounded by her own power, as it drained her body to the point of breaking. The chains around the girl cracked and dissolved into nothingness. The solid lightning had mixed with the girl's spiritual energy to form Kaiyo's strongest attack.

The solid golden light eventually faded. Kaiyo lay between the safety of her still glowing blades; panting heavily. The girl had even been injured by her own attack; unable to stop the sheer power from affecting her. A small pool of blood began forming around the girl as she looked up. To see what had happened to her opponent. The vast area around the two was destroyed, scorched to hell and leaving only a blackened ground in its wake. Kaiyo clenched her fists tightly, fighting the overwhelming need to black out as she pushed herself to her feet, resting against her blade so that she didn't fall. Her muscles torn and her body weakened from the attack

As Kuro finished his incantation, a burst of energy and lightning erupted from Kaiyo and her zanpakutos. The entire area was blanketed in electrical spirit energy that completely extinguished Kuro's kido. Kuro was unable to see Kaiyo anymore as the power engulfed both of them. He cursed himself for using such an obvious and long preparative attack leaving himself open to such a counter. Under other circumstances, he could have formed a barrier out of his spirit energy to protect himself, but Kaiyo's attack was launched brilliantly timed with the firing of his kido, leaving him unable to do any more than try to endure it.

Kuro could feel his injured body breaking further as the power encompassed them both. The only option he felt he had was to try and concentrate his power further. He scrunched both his eyes shut and focused as hard as he was able. The searing pain from his existing and current wounds made concentrating more difficult than he imagined, but practice with his zanpakuto had helped him become skilled with the art. The fourth, fifth, and finally the sixth ring on his sash began to glow with a brilliant energy as his power became compressed to the extent that he was able. (ooc: When we started this fight, I didn't have my bankai's second ability. I'm playing fair ) It was a matter of attempting quality over quantity now. He surged his concentrated power out of his body in a heavy aura that clashed with the power from Kaiyo's attack. But much of the damage had already been done. As Kaiyo's attack faded, Kuro was left standing weak, his concentration on maintaining control over his compressed power beginning to falter. In response, the condensed energy inside of him was wearing down on his bones and muscles even more.

The strength his zanpakuto was imbuing him with allowed him to remain standing firmly, yet painfully. His vision was disturbed as his face scrunched up in agony. He was calm, but stubborn. He didn't want to lose from such a careless mistake. Roaring with exertion and pain, Kuro flash stepped to the space behind Kaiyo one more time and raised his hand to deliver a crushing blow down on her hunched figure. As his arm finished pulling back, his strength gave out and so did his body. Kuro fell forward, his head slipping past Kaiyo's right side, and landed on his stomach on the ground beside her. He was conscious, but unable to move. He closed his eyes in regret, but also relief that the harsh fight was over. He'd fallen first.

"Your win Kaiyo-san"

Kaiyo wouldn't have been able to avoid the attack, the girl was only vaguely conscious of her surrounding; a dream world that had gripped her to reality. The girl's heart was still pounding, blood was trickling down her body as beads of sweat rolled to the floor so aimlessly. The faint thud of Kuro falling to the ground seemed to echo vaguely; small clouds of dust swirled into the air, falling back down silently onto the broken earth.

Kaiyo let out a small sigh. The girl felled backwards, landing like a sack of potatoes to the earth. Her chest rising and falling rapidly as her body fought once more the urge to drift into a blissful sleep. Kaiyo smiled weakly, tilting her head up to the clearing sky as she laughed through her bated breath, 'I'd call it more of a draw, Kuro'. Kaiyo's Bankai faded, her sealed Zanpaktou rattling to the ground quickly. The girl probably needed medical attention, Kuro probably did as well actually, but the amount of spiritual energy that had just checked the area from the pair's fight had probably been enough to call someone out, so Kaiyo didn't see much point in moving. The girl flung her arm into the air, lifting her head slightly as she bent her elbow and rested her head on her arm. The girl had, in truth, reached her limit, and pushed past it. 'I think...i'm...Just gunna...rest here for a while' she muttered to Kuro, deciding to close her eyes for just a moment.