[Closed] "We'll tell you why we're worried! He's not himself, today."
Who: Ukitake Jushiro (ocean_lightning ) and Kyouraku Shunsui (afknotworking )
What: FIGHT TIEMS aka an injected Ukitake is something that really shouldn't be allowed to walk upon this ship. Ever. 8||
When: Couple of days back, very shortly after this and this
Where: Third floor park area. ....YES THE THIRD FLOOR HAS A PARK NOW SHADDAP >___>;
Warnings: Eerie similarities to ( Read more... )
What: FIGHT TIEMS aka an injected Ukitake is something that really shouldn't be allowed to walk upon this ship. Ever. 8||
When: Couple of days back, very shortly after this and this
Where: Third floor park area. ....YES THE THIRD FLOOR HAS A PARK NOW SHADDAP >___>;
Warnings: Eerie similarities to ( Read more... )
Ukitake cocks his head, same hollow smile never wavering - because he hears those next words loud and clear, and the familiarity there doesn't fail to amuse, either.
Familiarity...how odd it was, to think he knew this man so well. What merit had he found in him in the first place? --So much as to call him a dear friend, his best? All Ukitake could find himself recalling for the moment were all the irritating, inconsistent things about the latter, none very redeemable by perspective.
But that's not everything. Not even a fraction. And the better aspects won out by far - don't you remember?
So a small, small little voice in the back of his head spoke, though the words were ignored - unheard. The drug still had a gleefully firm grip on Ukitake's mentality, and such musings waned into disinterest, being tossed aside in short order.
"If this is such a terrible bother to you," he remarked at length, "why did you bother coming? Clearly you've better things to do, don't you? To lament so."
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Shunsui simply sighes again-his thoughts are simple. What's the best way to avoid this?
"Aaah...I don't suppose you'd prefer to just come along with me, somewhere out of the way?"
The 'until this is all sorted out' is there, not spoken, but hovering in the air between them.
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Ukitake laughs, at that - and afterwards, the smirk has evolved into an outright sneer.
"Suppose I don't feel like it?"
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There is just the smallest tensing of Shunsui's arm, barely noticeable to almost anyone-but he's sure that his friend will recognise it as the motion he makes when he's ready to start doing what he hates most.
Fight.
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"So it would seem. Such a shame, isn't it?"
Languidly, his hand falls on Sogyo no Kotowari's hilt, while Ukitake maintains direct eye contact with Kyouraku. Challenging, daring him. True, he'd have been more than happy to get the show started himself, but...Kyouraku does dislike fighting so. At the very least, Ukitake supposes he can take some satisfaction in forcing the latter man to make the first move, just for the spite of it.
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He might make the first move against a particularly dangerous opponent, in incredibly extreme circumstances, but against Ukitake?
Never. He'd have to take that risk that Ukitake couldn't hit him with something heavy in his opening-
All this rushed through Shunsui's head, but is cut off when he realises something. His friend won't be holding back. It seems an obvious thing considering the circumstances, but what if he uses his bankai? It wasn't long ago he remembers Ukitake reminding him not to use his own.
Well. You win, Ukitake. His asymmetrical twin blades are drawn together, but he doesn't make an attack yet.
"I'm finding it hard to think of greater shame, my friend."
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He wanted the thrill of the fight again. The last one hadn't been nearly enough - it had been tiresome in its easiness and simultaneous, unecessary difficulty. If his memory was any solid evidence, though...taking up arms against Kyouraku would almost definitely prove to be more than fruitful. A wholesome, even entertaining battle.
Ukitake supposes he only has himself to blame, for the thoughts. Neglecting to take up some proper arms after so long...and now, without any moral inhibition, the notion was almost intoxicating.
His grip tightens on his zanpakuto's hilt...and then, with a fluid motion, he draws it, the single blade coming to a hover half-upraised at his side. In the back of his head, quietly stirring, there is a ripple of deep disapproval from Sogyo no Kotowari, but he ignores it.
After all, they have no choice but to acquiesce, in the end - just as they'd had to during his fight with Kaien and Urahara.
"So resigned, Kyouraku," he replies, tilting his head just slightly, smirk still lightly playing. Ukitake finds that he can almost hear the thoughts that must be whirling through the latter's head right now... "Is the prospect of fighting me that bothersome, to you? Ah, I'd apologize, but - I wouldn't mean it, I'm afraid."
He takes a step forward - just one, close enough to dance on the line of engaging. But he's still waiting, waiting for the inevitable that must come to pass...
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Shunsui simply sighed, all those little calculations and plans that most people had to work so hard for simply flowing into his head. All the angles were checked in less than a second.
The trouble was, whilst Ukitake was free to not hold back, Shunsui had to keep himself in check, not out of laziness or sport as usual, but because Ukitake was clearly out of his mind, but more importantly, he was Ukitake.
Wait.
Of course.
Ukitake was strong.
So strong that trying to kill him...
would probably fail.
Probably.
Well, you never know until you try, do you?
Shunsui's smile slid into place. No point getting all upset about a situation you're already in, is there? Now, lets move on to the next step-
A flash step, followed instantly by a swing of his wakizashi in its signature lightning speed at elbow height-if blocked, his tachi would sweep sideways from the same direction to swat Ukitake upside the head with the flat.
Okay so trying to kill him, not so much.
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Kyouraku is fast, most definitely...but Ukitake had expected absolutely nothing less. Almost out of sheer reflex - this first move was a very familiar one - Sogyo no Kotowari is whipped up to block, the force of the clash having him take one step backwards to brace. The tachi is spotted from the corner of his eye - ah, another fairly predictable move, and with only the flat? how endearing - and with speed to rival his opponent's he ducks, the second blade singing inches over his head.
He takes the new angle as an opportunity to aim a slash at the other's waist; and, knowing it would likely be blocked, Ukitake plans to follow it up with a reverse jab to the underside of the ribs using Sogyo no Kotowari's hilt.
Neither move was deadly yet, as well - though for quite opposite reasons. Besides, this was only the very beginning of the fight; might as well have some fun first.
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Shunsui, as always, pulled out a move which no one but him could do without practice-which he had never done, because he had never done this before.
Using the wakizashi, he does indeed block-Shunsui's physical strength was just shy of double his friend's, meaning that unlike Ukitake, he wasn't forced back. But then-he let go of his swords, crossing his arms to switch hands on both of them at once, faster than gravity or momentum could knock them away. With just enough time to smirk, Shunsui pulled the swords into a scissor like motion, to try and catch Ukitake's single sword a millionth of a second before the hilt made contact.
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"Tch--"
It's a small sound, but quite successful in conveying the combination of surprise and irritation that shoots through Ukitake's head, the moment Shunsui makes his move. That - why, he'd never done that before--
But of course the man would vie for new tricks, wouldn't he? It was only sensible, when fighting against someone that's known you and your skills for thousands of years...
The musings are lightning-swift, and cut off just as abruptly as they rush in to focus on more important matters - for, indeed, Ukitake simply doesn't have time to evade from the scissoring maneuver of his opponent. The double blades catch Sogyo no Kotowari's just above the hilt area - scraping the skin right off Ukitake's knuckles in the process - and the katana is promptly twisted right out of his hands.
But Ukitake doesn't miss a beat; smirk thinning into a line, he's moving to retaliate even as his knuckles are bloodied. A quick sidestep to avoid Katen Kyoukotsu's reach - which, in turn, brings him right up next to Kyouraku - and then, in a single fluid motion, he's got a right hand shooting up in a steep uppercut towards the latter's jaw.
The strike, however, is simply a diversion - after all, Ukitake's well aware that he's not built to outdo Kyouraku in a combat of strength and reflex alone. Instead, even as he throws the uppercut, his left hand is drawing back, aiming for the dead center of Shunsui's chest.
And, like a riptide, his reiatsu pulls in, an impossibly small portion of it channeling into a concentrated point...
"Hadō Number Four: Byakurai!"
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Much like the day that he had arrived, Shunsui allowed himself to take the uppercut, rolling his head up with it-all because he couldn't allow himself to dodge and to flick his wrists to send Sogyo no Kotowari flying out of his most dangerous friend's immediate reach. Even if Ukitake isn't as good as Shunsui in swordplay, he's still one of the single greatest swordsmen that Soul Society ever had, so eliminating any advantage in that area (such as, say, a sword) was the best plan.
The flow of reiatsu alerts the pink draped Shinigami to Ukitake's plan, even before he hears the stunted incantation.
"Oh!" He gasped at the same time as his friend speaks-well this is a problem. He could dodge, but then what would happen to the blast? Blocking it is-And no time for even the name. The hand holding his smaller blade lifted, only his thumb holding it in his palm as an Enkosen barrier formed. Even with the difference of level (Enkosen being level 39), the hasty way that Shunsui had thrown it up caused it crack under the force of the lighting. In fact, he was forced to flash step back, throwing out a second with his other hand just as the first shattered entirely-"Bakudō # 39. Enkosen!"
Ah, that did it.
"Phew...Don't you think it's rather cheap to be shooting off shots like that?"
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His gaze drifts to where Sogyo no Kotowari lies, several yards away, and his smile thins some more.
"Don't you think it's rather cheap to be knocking people's blades out of their hands like that?"
A short sigh.
"Regardless. Two can play at this game - if this is what you prefer, then by all means, I'm not one to object."
And, with that, he's already raising his hands again - at chest height, palms coming together...
True, Ukitake was not the most apt of physical fighters; that was a fact he'd learned very early in his life, and he'd taken plenty enough steps to remedy the shortcoming. If there was one thing he could firmly pride himself on, after all, it was his kido.
He puts more deliberate power into this next spell, now, though it only costs a half-second delay, with such hefty spiritual power already at his disposal.
"Bakudō Number 62: Hyapporankan!"
Drawing his arms apart smoothly, the bright, pale spear of energy is formed, and then thrown with a lunge. With a flash it splits apart into innumerable smaller spears, glowing intensely, and the projectiles streak through the air at a blinding speed with their characteristic whistles.
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Well, if you want to play dirty, you should choose someone who doesn't live his whole life playing games.
The second that he saw that pose, he knew what was coming, lifting his swords in preperation-his back slightly arched, the smaller blade held across his chest at arm's length, the longer held in a crooked arm with the blade pointed forward like a scorpion's tail.
As the multitude of spears approach, he simply spins on a heel, his arms twisting, either slicing or swatting them as they enter range. In some cases, the deflected spears strike others in calculated motions, knocking them off course. He can't get them all, and it seems that he simply won't be able to protect himself from a vital few that his blades are just too short to reach-
but with a flash of light, he skips the command to release, extending his reach as his shikai slices through those final few.
"I'm not that fond of Kido games, to be honest."
That's all his says, blades practically glowing from the friction of protecting him. He shoots a short glance down to the larger of the swords, looking at his reflection for just a moment.
"But you already knew that. Mmm, but you've made me decide something...I should end this right now."
And with that, his eyes return to Ukitake, slightly sharper than usual.
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Sogyo no Kotowari wouldn't release - they'd refused to, in the last fight, and...as things were, he supposed they'd be just as adamant this time around. It was ridiculous, and the reminder of the notion brings back a strange, almost displaced feeling of betrayal.
Still, Ukitake quickly pushes those thoughts aside once again, and his facial features remain impassive as Kyouraku speaks...until the words sink in properly.
All amusement now gone in its entirety, he instead gives the latter an arched eyebrow.
"Right now, you say? When we've just gottens started?" A small scoff. "Yet again you outdo yourself in your pretentiousness, Kyouraku."
He evens the other's gaze with one of his own - and, despite his words, Ukitake notices the odd sharpness now present over there, all the same. It's enough for some due wariness, at the very least; he still knew Shunsui as well as one might a brother, and that look...meant that something was going to give here, sooner or later.
But not on his watch. Not yet, not yet--
With a flicker he uses a shunpo of his own - and reappears right beside Sogyo no Kotowari, retrieving the blade with a single quick grab. Then he's gone again, materializing a split second later in very close proximity to Kyouraku...above his head, this time, taking his steps through the air on an invisible platform of spirit particles.
In a gesture that would doubtlessly appear strange to Shunsui, he neglects to even attempt countering the latter's zanpakuto release with his own - the stony silence in the back of his mind deters the notion, just as he'd suspected - and, instead, Ukitake dips down for a strike to the head.
No hitting with the flat here - this was intended to be a damaging blow, if not outright fatal.
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with a kimono, tossed upwards in a swift motion, the material bending too flexibly to be cut properly.
And then, out of a corner of the eye, Shunsui's hat, approaching from behind-
is a distraction tossed up after his flash steps had taken him behind his target-
and then Shunsui was in front of Ukitake once more, in that brief moment between the attack losing momentum and the distraction being realized.
His swords were in the ground, because he was only going to use his hands. Both hands, curving upwards to slam just below the ribs, then push up and under them, force enough to send his foe flying. It wouldn't help that Ukitake had more or less dropped onto them as well.
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