A Friendly Duel: Ryuu vs. Rave (NDE)

Rave sat in his office, bored out of his skull. He had just completed his paperwork for the day and had uncovered a couple discrepancies in his subordinate’s math, but nothing too major. It had been a few weeks since he’d gone to see his “friend” Sayuri at Squad 12’s barracks. Rave wondered if he could ask for a few favors from the Head of the Bureau of Research & Development yet or if he needed to strengthen their relationship first. Rave kicked back in his chair and stared at the ceiling which was illuminated with countless, moving, colored lights. Rave’s office was noticeably darkened and there were strobe lights, black lights, and party lights on just about every wall and corner. Lasers danced around the room as if his entire office was one big nightclub. Techno music was being blasted as Rave reclined in his chair. Just how the captain was able to do all the financial paperwork with so many distractions in such a small amount of time would be a mystery to anyone.

Yes, today was indeed what one would consider a slow day. Rave tapped his feet to the beat and half-felt like getting up and preforming just about the most epic combination of Melbourne Shuffle and Jumpstyle that anyone could ever see, but the captain was lazy. Raion was gone for today, which was good news for the captain’s nasal passages. It was beyond annoying to be allergic to one’s own vice-captain. Surely there was something that Rave had planned for today, right? The captain doubted that he just had a 3-hour block with absolutely nothing to do. That’s when Rave remembered. “Is today Friday? Shit!” he thought as he threw on his haori, turned off the music and lights, and ran out of his office. Rave had forgotten that he’d scheduled an appointment with the newly appointed captain of Squad 3. He’d promised to show Ryuu Usagi a thing or two about fighting. Apparently Rave was very skilled at combat, which he found out when fighting against Bokuga Sayuri and Shiga Urago.

Rave turned a few corners and quickly stumbled outside where everyone had been waiting for him to show up. The sunlight shown down brightly, but it did not bother Rave due to his purple visor which protected his vision. Matching bulky earphones covered his ears and gave him an almost cyborg-like appearance. Rave looked around at all the people who came to watch him spar with Ryuu and likely take notes. He also looked over his opponent with a smug grin. Ryuu Usagi didn’t look too large and definitely didn’t look like he had seen much combat, but then again neither did Rave. In fact, Rave had to wear a black, skin-tight suit over every inch of skin below his neck so that he wouldn’t have to directly touch anything with germs on it. You see, Rave was a slight germaphobe and didn’t like touching things that were likely covered in germs such as door handles or stair rails. This phobia manifested itself by Rave feeling compelled to avoid direct contact with things. It wasn’t a crippling fear, but it was a noticeable annoyance of his.

“Yo, bro!” said Rave with a smirk as he waved towards Ryuu, “Welcome to Division 8... I do hope you’ll be pleased with our hospitality. If there’s anything I can do, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?” Rave cocked his head and put on an oddly happy smile. He almost looked deviously innocent in the way he smiled at Ryuu. What exactly was going on in the ex-conman’s head? Ryuu would definitely be smart to not trust a word that the captain said, but his way of speaking just seemed to lure you in. It was undeniably friendly and kind, but with a history like Rave’s, one had to be careful. Speaking of histories, Rave didn’t know a thing about Captain Usagi. “My name, as you know, is Captain Rave Haretsu. Would you mind introducing yourself to those present who may not know you yet?” said Rave, referring to the crowd that had gathered to watch them. The captain’s arm lifted and presented the audience before them with a sweep of his hand. Interestingly enough, when Rave said his name, a loud cheer arose from the many Squad 8 shinigami present. It was clear that Rave was a very likable, charismatic leader. Whether this was the true Rave or not would be up to Ryuu to decide for himself.

“So...It's a beautiful Barracks, Captain, and very hospitable. Much nicer than mine, considering yours has walls...and a roof...there are quite a few people, though. Could they...go away? I was expecting to preform a duet, not a symphony,” said Ryuu with a fake smile. The captain noticed the empty smile and this made his confident grin widen even more. There was no fooling the captain of squad 8. He would know sincerity when he saw it due to his expertise in small mannerisms, but this was merely Ryuu’s attempt at being polite no doubt. Rave wondered why Ryuu was against having their fight observed and ignored the captain’s request. It’s not as if he could simply tell all the shinigami present that they wasted their time and had to go home. Hopefully Ryuu wouldn’t mind having people observe their spar. It was fine though since the arena they would be fighting in was immense. It spanned hundreds of yards in all directions and had walls made of seki-seki on all sides. If this wasn’t enough for Ryuu then Rave didn’t know what was.

“So. Shall we begin, Captain Haretsu?” asked Ryuu as he stood, waiting for Rave to make the first move. Rave descended to the arena, cracking his neck with a swift cock of his head. The captain’s confident smirk died down and was replaced by only a slight upwards turn on the side of his mouth. “Sure thing... Draw your zanpakutou and see if you can hit me,” said the captain as he pointed towards Ryuu’s blade, “You are fine with starting this out as a sword fight, right?” With one swift movement, Rave had unsheathed Oomizugoki, his zanpakutou, and was traveling directly at Ryuu at blindingly quick speed. Ryuu would be able to track his movement easily enough, but it would be apparent that Rave had the advantage when it came to speed. Oddly enough, once Rave had closed the distance between them he did not lash out at Ryuu with his sword, but instead stuck it directly into the dirt ground below.

It was his arm that shot out at Ryuu’s torso using a Judo striking technique called Atemi-waza. This strike in particular was aimed at the other captain’s kidney. To compensate for his lack of strength, Rave had to resort to attacking such vital points in order to compete physically with more durable enemies. Rave’s visor glinted in the sunlight and his earphones didn’t seem to impede his movements. Everything that the captain did was fluid. Him jabbing his zanpakutou into the dirt did not only not hinder his strike, but it added to it. As Rave jammed his sword into the ground he was able to pull his entire body forward using his zanpakutou as leverage to give his strike that extra oomph it needed make Ryuu keel over.

However, Rave did not expect this to be a match-ending injury. In fact, he’d set up a followup move in the likely situation that Ryuu somehow dealt with the opening move. This would only be revealed once Ryuu initiated his counter or dealt with the strike somehow. Rave gave Ryuu’s Naichingēru a look over and smirked. He hoped that Ryuu would attack him with that for certain reasons that would be revealed later. “Hope you don’t get discouraged...” he said after initiating the strike, “...but this is what it means to be a captain!” Rave was feeling perhaps a little overconfident because of how he’d been doing in his most recent battles. It was understandable. Rave had been instrumental in taking down the fifth Ogatago and had stood toe to toe with Bokuga Sayuri in unrestrained combat. Ryuu would have a run for his money fighting Soul Society’s greatest con man.

As Rave rushed forwards he’d meet no resistance at all. It wasn’t until after he punched the other shinigami that he felt a powerful energy keeping his strike from doing any damage and instead forcing the blow right back at him. It felt like he was punching a rock. The captain quickly withdrew his hand and shook it while keeping his eyes on his opponent. Ryuu had already taken moves to bend is right arm and aim his index and middle finger at Rave’s stomach. “So, Rave-kun... That... kinda felt good. If you keep doing things like that, we may end up giving your Squad a very different kind of performance...” said Ryuu with a smile. Oddly enough, as he smiled, Rave pleasantly returned his smile with one that appeared genuine. “Oh, is that so?” he said, quickly initiating the move he’d set up before. It would happen instantly, just before the Byakurai was fired. With one swift movement, Rave’s blade shot up out of the ground that it was stuck in and travelled centimeters away from the captain’s flesh in front of Ryuu’s face.

Initially, to the onlookers it would appear that Rave missed entirely with his strike, but the effects of it would be obvious to Ryuu. Because he’d failed to move back, Rave had essentially scooped up a bunch of dirt on the end of his sword and had used the momentum of the strike to fling it in Ryuu’s face. This was a trick that the captain had developed over his many years of sword to sword combat. He could flick dirt up from the ground in the same upwards movement as he slashed someone with. This effectively blinded them before cutting them open, but Rave, seeing the effect his punch had, decided not to try and cut the other captain. Rave leapt back and let Ryuu shunpo away to get the dirt out of his eyes. All the while, Rave had an innocent, carefree smile on his face. His purple visor, which hid his eyes from view, took away from half his expression though. “So. You ask if I mind if we start with a sword fight? I'm afraid to say I do mind, Rave-kun. I dislike the beat and tempo of a sword fight; it's not my kind of duet at all. But let me show you what kind of duet I do like...” said Ryuu as he pointed his blade at Rave.

Rave watched in awe as the other captain released his zanpakutou. “Hey... HEY!!! THAT GUY’S NAICHINGERU IS SHOWING OFF!!! LET ME SHOW OFF TOO!!! I’M LIKE, TEN TIMES MORE AWESOME THEN THAT!!!” complained Oomizugoki as they both watched Ryuu’s shikai. “In a bit Oomizugoki... I want to see what Ryuu can do with it. Off the bat I suspect it’s something sound-based because of how he’s been talking, so your abilities aren’t going to be as effective,” replied Rave, “In fact... I wonder if it wouldn’t be a good idea to keep him from doing anything... at least for now...” Before Ryuu completely finished releasing, Rave held his hand out towards Ryuu. “Bakudo 11. Haihin!” he stated before swiping his hand quickly pointing to his side instead of in front of him. In the time between Ryuu’s release finished and his first ability being used, Rave had cast a bakudo on the other captain’s zanpakutou. This appeared in the shape of a swastika and what it did was prevent the “Score: Silenzio” from being used, however, the bakudo was broken in the process of blocking Ryuu’s use of it. Ryuu would still lose the reiatsu and would gain nothing from it other than breaking the bakudo that had recently been placed on his sword. It was in this way that Rave avoided seeing the effects of his first technique.

Rave threw his sword over his shoulder and smirked at the other captain’s technique not doing anything. Obviously this was a result of his bakudo, but Ryuu might not catch on to that. Bakudo 11. was one that Rave had invented and it was intended to be broken by whoever it was placed on. The only catch was that it cost a zanpakutou technique to break it. If Rave kept using these bakudo on Ryuu then he’d run out of reiatsu much sooner. Ryuu was unwise to underestimate Rave’s skill in kidou. If the captain read up on Rave he’d find out that Rave had taken Squad 8 from its last captain, Zieg Revolver, using nothing but kidou while Zieg was fighting him in bankai. The captain of squad 8 was not going to be an easy opponent, but his abilities were, admittedly, a bad match against someone with powers like Ryuu. However, this handicap wasn’t something that Rave wouldn’t simply overcome. He had advantages in many other areas.

Remaining Reiatsu: 4,975

Rave smirked as his bakudo was broken at the cost of Ryuu’s zanpakutou technique entitled “Score: Silenzio.” The bakudo had worked flawlessly as it was meant to. Ryuu’s Naichingeru might find herself annoyed at this move in particular, but neither Rave nor Oomizugoki would really care. They were in it to win it. With a flick of his hand the captain hoisted his massive nodachi over his shoulders with a carefree, confident expression on his face. He waited for his opponent to finish drinking from a bottle he withdrew from his robes. It seemed that like Raion, Rave’s lieutenant, Ryuu Usagi enjoyed drinking as well. Captain Haretsu detested alcohol, but not because he thought it was evil or unbefitting of a captain. No. Rave hated alcohol because of how quickly he got drunk. A single swig of any kind of alcoholic beverage would leave him tipsy, and finishing a glass would guarantee that Rave would be completely out of it.

Rave hoisted his nodachi off of his shoulder and held it in front of him with both hands on its hilt as Ryuu put the bottle away. It seemed that both captains were once again ready to get started. Ryuu gestured slightly towards Rave and immediately a red light surrounded him, keeping him from moving. “Geki, huh?” commented Rave, unsurprised at the wordless kidou that Ryuu had cast. Wordless kidou spells were not something that Rave hadn’t dealt with before. In fact, Rave’s entire fight with Sayuri had primarily involved the use of wordless, incantation-less kidou spells. Now that he knew Ryuu was capable of them as well, Rave would be on his guard, but the other captain was engaging in a type of warfare that Rave was comfortable with. Rave was very comfortable fighting with kidou and he was certain that if it came down to his kidou vs Ryuu’s kidou, he would emerge victorious.

Ryuu might be wary by how calm Rave looked as he used a shunpo to transport himself a dozen feet away from the visor-wearing captain. Immediately the captain started saying an incantation slowly as he charged the yellow reiatsu in the palm of his hand. Straining a bit, Rave managed to turn his head slightly and look behind him. “So that’s your plan, huh?” he said with an interested tone, “Pin me in place and fire a kidou that will injure my subordinates if I happen to dodge. Unfortunately, you’ve made two mistakes...” Still affected by the Geki spell, Rave proceeded with his explanation as Ryuu continued his incantation. “First, the walls of our arena are made out of seki-seki stone. No kidou is going to be able to leave the confines of the barracks and injure an innocent observer...” By this point Ryuu had finished with the incantation and was just about to state the name of the kidou when Rave chimed in.

“...And secondly,” he stated just as Ryuu opened his mouth to yell the kidou’s name and number. “Hado 63,” shouted Ryuu. At the very last instant, Rave shattered the bakudo with ease and disappeared in a shunpo that brought him directly in front of Ryuu, with Ryuu’s extended arm aimed right past Rave’s side. Rave was too close to hit with the blast and Ryuu was out of time. But that wasn’t all. “Raikoho!” shouted Ryuu, just as Rave’s arm shot underneath the other captain’s wrist, lifting it upwards so that the kidou would discharge into the sky. This left Rave’s other hand holding his zanpakutou out to the other side. There would be no overpowering Rave, since the captain was well versed in the physics of his decisions. He had purposefully chosen to grab Ryuu at his wrist. A fully extended arm could be easily controlled by controlling one’s wrist. Ryuu was stronger, but not strong enough to overcome this basic law of physics. Rave’s timing was impeccable and his entire defense would have fallen apart if he’d done it a moment sooner because it would have given Ryuu time to react.

Rave finished what he was saying with a smirk, “A wordless, incantation-less bakudo with such a low number has no hope of holding me...” Ryuu’s plan would fall apart merely because he had underestimated his opponent. Rave let go of Ryuu’s hand after the kidou had been fired and instead used his superior speed to reach out and grab Ryuu by his robes. It was at this moment, with Ryuu’s clothing in his grasp, that Rave decided to do exactly what his opponent had done. He fired a kidou without any warning, words, or incantation. The only differences were that Rave’s kidou was a hado spell and that it packed one hell of a punch. In an instant a byakurai bolt shot out from one of the captain’s fingers straight at Ryuu’s torso. If Ryuu had been able to avoid getting grabbed or had been able to react in that split second between getting grabbed and the byakurai firing then he’d avoid injury. But if he didn’t, then he’d receive a hole straight through his chest.

Remaining Reiatsu: 4,900

There had been a reason that Rave had grabbed onto Ryuu’s robes as tightly as he did, and that reason was because even if the other captain tried to move, Rave’s hand would be dragged along with it. In an instant the byakurai discharged through Ryuu’s side between some of his ribs, making a clear hole to the side of his lung. It was true that the captain of Squad 3 had shifted so that he avoided the brunt of it, but the white lightning still made a hole right through the side of his body. He would be hurting. He would be bleeding. But he would also still be able to fight since the kidou didn’t destroy any vital organs.

But how did Rave avoid being choked by the captain’s free hand? The answer was much more simple than it seemed. He didn’t avoid Ryuu’s grasp of his neck at all. In fact, Rave welcomed it with a smile. You see, the time it took for Ryuu to grab Rave’s neck and begin choking him was enough time for Rave to simply fire the kidou as planned. The effects of choking would not effect Rave that badly for the first few moments, even with someone as strong as the Third Squad Captain. It took someone exceptionally strong to snap necks instantly and Ryuu did not possess that type of strength. So instead of maintaining his grip long enough to choke Rave, his grip would weaken as soon as the byakurai shot through him. This allowed Rave to simply step back. His mistake this time was in choosing a counter that took more time to work than Rave’s initial attack.

However, Ryuu did not stay down for long. In an instant he lunged forwards through the pain and regained his grip on Rave’s throat. This actually took the Squad 8 captain by surprise as his retreat was swiftly stopped. “So. I made a mistake, Rave-kun? Are you sure you weren’t mistaken in your overconfidence? A true Maestro, you see, plans for his plans failing. Something you have not done,” he said as kept Rave in place with his hand. It was at this moment that the captain noticed Ryuu’s weight shift to one leg. He realized immediately that he was about to go for a kick. Preemptively stopping the kick was easy for Rave. It only involved him extending his leg so that Ryuu’s shin would collide with the bottom of Rave’s foot as it came up. His nut-busting kick would fail before it even gained any momentum. However, that was not his primary attack. “So. I hope you enjoy this piece, Rave-kun. Score: Espirando.” said Ryuu with a placid expression.



Rave noticed the note-shaped zanpakutou flying at his back and knew he had to act. This attack was more than it appeared. Rave knew this because Ryuu had spoken the name of it as he used it. It was instantly apparent that Rave needed to stop the blade from hitting his back, but how? There was no time to cast another kidou and all Rave could do was block it with his sword, but Rave didn’t possess the necessary arm strength to block something like that from behind. But that didn’t stop him from trying. In the blink of an eye, Rave’s sword shot behind his back and Ryuu would instantly feel his zanpakutou stopping against a solid defense. How had Rave instantly blocked such a powerful attack with a mere sword?

The captain’s smirk returned as the top half of Ryuu’s zanpakutou fell to the ground behind him. Rave had turned the tides back in his favor with one block, but how? If Ryuu looked behind him he would notice that Rave had wordlessly activated his shikai and was now holding a thick sword with a motorcycle throttle on its hilt. Rave’s shikai had the ability to completely stop anything it touched from moving, which explained how he was able to block Ryuu’s attack with such ease. The other captain’s zanpakutou was cut in two because of Rave’s superior reiatsu strength and in an instant the momentum was shifting towards Rave. The captain of Squad 8 followed up slicing Ryuu’s zanpakutou in half by swinging his sword at the arm that was still around his neck. If Ryuu did not let go, he’d be missing an arm or worse. Oomizugoki was not a sword that was to be trifled with. It had many powerful abilities that Ryuu could not even dream of.

Reiatsu Remaining: 4,700
Shikai: 1/10

Rave’s eyes widened behind his visor as he watched Ryuu attempt to block his sword with none other than his arm, expecting the cutback effect to save him. Perhaps it was Rave’s wordless release that had caused him to slip up and forget, but it was common knowledge that the cutback effect did not work against released weapons. Rave’s Oomizugoki did, in fact, count as a released weapon and as it met the other captain’s arm it carved through it like a hot knife through butter. It would not matter if Ryuu’s spiritual pressure was thousands times greater than Rave’s. The captain of squad 8 had released, which meant that he’d be able to bypass such things. The first thing that Ryuu would notice as the sword separated his hand from the rest of his arm would be that he would unable to move his arm for as long as the shikai was touching it, but he would feel the pain very much so.

The shinigami’s severed body part remained suspended in mid-air until Rave’s shikai passed all the way through and stopped touching both the hand and the remainder of Ryuu’s arm. After Rave had finished his cut, Ryuu’s hand would fall to the ground. Could he even keep fighting in such a condition? Now that he was free from Ryuu’s grip, Rave stumbled backwards, out of close-range. Ryuu was no doubt dealing with the sudden surprise and pain at this point, and Rave really didn’t want to take advantage of such a tragic situation. He hadn’t meant to sever his ally’s hand. He’d expected the captain to release his grip so that he’d be able to keep his arm, but that wasn’t the case. Naturally, since such a sudden event happened, Ryuu would not proceed with what he’d originally planned to do to attack Rave. His plans would undoubtedly have to change if he planned to continue at all.

Rave put on a look of someone who was genuinely concerned. “O-oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. A-are you okay? Fuck... I am SO sorry. You. I-I-I seriously didn’t mean to do that,” said the captain as he quickly picked up Ryuu’s hand. “SOMEONE GET SOME ICE!” yelled Rave to the people watching their fight, “CALL SQUAD 4, NOW!” Rave’s eyebrows were pointed upwards and together with a very worried expression as he approached the Squad 3 captain. “Just lie down, we’re gonna get you help in a second. It’s really not all that bad. They’ll be able to fix you right back up in no time,” said Rave in a caring, considerate tone.

However Rave was anything but caring or considerate. If one were able to read his thoughts they would be very self-centered and full of suspicions. “Ugh... I hate pretending to care about idiots who don’t know how to properly defend themselves. Is he stupid or something? Why didn’t he let go? Is this one big act in hopes of getting me to open myself up for an easy counter? I sincerely doubt it... But now I have to go through this whole act... Does my face look worried enough? Perhaps I should apologize again, though maybe I’ve already gone overboard on the apologizing. If I’m ever going to call on a favor from him in the future, I’ll need to leave a good impression right now. But what kind of things does he have that I need? Hm... Well, I don’t really know, but there might be something he gets in the future. Will he even have a long future as a captain? I suppose it’s always better to have another friend willing to share then an enemy looking for revenge. Savor my etiquette, Ryuu... because it’s the only thing you’re ever going to get from me...” thought Rave with a false, yet believable worried expression. Rave was a master con-man, meaning that he cared little for who he screwed as long as he got what he needed.

Reiatsu Remaining: 4,700
Shikai: 2/10