The medic and Newbie (Hibiki V Zeich) [NDE, R]

Today was a rather slow day in the Fourth Division, as many tended to be. Vice-Captain Kamikawa had caught up on most of the paperwork, and there were no cases serious enough that required his attention. This allowed for Hibiki to actually spend some time getting ready in the morning. The ultimate result of this was that he looked damn good today. A tan sport coat sat over top of a light blue dress shirt and red tie. A pair of dark brown khakis covered his legs, while auburn loafers were on his feet. His usual silver-framed, purple-lensed sunglasses rested over his eyes. It wasn’t his classiest look by far, but on a body this sexy… no one was complaining. Once he had finished getting ready, he began to prepare for today’s challenge.

It would appear that the Vice-Captain of Squad Four was starting to become rather popular among the newer Shinigami. He had already successfully slept with a good chunk of the female unseated officers, not to mention a few of the better looking male ones. On top of that type of popularity, everyone seemed to want to get a piece of him in combat lately. First Raygin, the now Vice-Captain of Squad Three, had come to him with a request to fight. Then there was Kaen, who had challenged Hibiki and Raygin to a two on one match, and now an academy student had the balls to challenge him. Sure, Hibiki was good at holding back, but this was a bit odd, even for him. The idea of fighting an academy student just seemed a bit odd. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to make a habit of it.

This particular challenge had come from Zeich Yajuu, a Shinigami that the Vice Captain had never managed to hear of. He did a bit of digging and found out that Zeich was a recent graduate of Shin’o Academy, not an active academy student anymore. This wasn’t much to go on, but unless Zeich was some kind of prodigy or genius, it should be a relatively easy fight for the Vice-Captain. Nevertheless, he figured it couldn’t hurt to see what this Shinigami was made of. That was his train of thought before he heard that Zeich was a member of the fearsome Seventh Division. Captain Enma did not let weaklings into his squad. Even if this one was fresh out of the academy, it wouldn’t necessarily be a cakewalk to defeat him.

The hour of the match approached, and Hibiki made sure to take some precautions. He gathered up a few dozen of his unseated officers to come to the World of the Living with him for a few reasons. First and foremost, the Fourth Division members always could learn a thing or two about a good fight. Most of them were complete pushovers in combat, and the medic firmly believed that all members of Squad Four should be able to hold their own. If they allowed themselves to die, then who would be able to heal the wounded? The second reason he brought them along was on the off chance that someone was injured and he was incapacitated. It was an unlikely possibility for this particular fight, but nevertheless, it was better safe than sorry. With these squad members in tow, it was off to the World of the Living.

The fight was in the World of the Living for a couple of reasons as well. First and foremost, Shinigami didn’t often have a chance to go there. It would be a special treat for both him, and all of the squad members he brought with him. Secondly, it was a change for both him and Zeich to practice a battle with air ground. The new member of Squad Seven would probably be unused to fighting in three dimensions, so this would be good practice for him. The fight was set to take place in an abandoned Wal-Mart parking lot in a suburb of Detroit. It was a bit close to his home when the vice-captain was alive, but it was far enough that no especially unpleasant memories cropped up.

The general area was a ghost town, so there would be little need to worry about bystanders. The observers had long since retreated do a distance where they could safely observe the fight without being in the way. It was basically a wide open area aside from the light poles scattered throughout. The medic simply sat down in Jinzen while he waited for the other fighter to arrive through a Senkaimon. As he meditated, he began to transfer his Spiritual Pressure into Reiatsu Strength, so that the sheer burden of his pressure would not overwhelm his opponent. Several minutes passed, and he noted the energy signature of that which he was waiting for. No one else would be arriving, so, without opening his eyes, he looked in the general direction of Zeich and simply stated, “You’re here. We can begin any time you’re ready.”

Reiatsu: 1500/1500
-300 for SpPr to RS, deducted from old limit, and thus reiatsu is still at full. (Let me know if that's done wrong)





New Reiatsu Strength: 375 Real Points. 450 after Type and Limiter.
New Spiritual Pressure: 125 Real Points. 150 After Type and Limiter.

The vice-captain opened his eyes a moment after Zeich stepped out of the Senkaimon. He caught the unseated officer’s adjustment of the scarf, and it struck the medic as rather odd. It was not particularly cold out, so the fact that Zeich as even wearing such a piece of clothing confused him. Indeed, Hibiki did not understand the significance of this piece of clothing, nor any actions taken with it, but the entire ordeal was of note to him. Fashion was a huge part of Hibiki’s world, and Zeich’s appearance was something that would not go unnoted to him. The scarf could be serving any one of several purposes, but since Zeich tucked it in, it was unlikely that the scarf would be used as a battle aid.

Beyond the scarf, there were several things about Zeich that caught the medic’s attention. The other man’s clothing was relatively loose, and definitely unusual. His shoulders were clad in a mantle, and it clearly had some kind of unique clasp, but the medic couldn’t quite make out the design at this distance. Zeich also wore a sash, which seemed unnecessary with the rest of his outfit. His clothes were overall more of a western influenced style, and they appeared that they would stay up just fine without the sash. The jacket especially intrigued Hibiki, as it appeared to resemble a Shihakusho, but it was sleeveless and with a zipper down the front. This customization gave Hibiki a number of ideas for his next line of summer-wear.

These thoughts were promptly interrupted as his opponent decided to discard almost every piece of clothing that the vice-captain found interesting. This action spread an obvious look if disproval over the medic’s face. On the surface, he would appear to be rather displeased at this turn of events, but deep down there were two conflicting thought processes at work. On the one hand, Hibiki was enjoying the show. It’s almost like a poorly done striptease, he jokingly thought. On the other hand, the medic switched his analysis to a more battle oriented one. He noted the definition in Zeich’s muscles, and he began to gauge his opponent’s spiritual pressure. From these factors, he gathered that Zeich not incredibly strong. It would appear that this Shinigami was indeed a normal fighter, and this was not some kind of bizarre assassination attempt. Unlikely as it was, that thought was always in the back of Hibiki’s mind.

The healer rose from his meditative posture as Zeich dropped the last of his articles of clothing to the ground. One other point of interest about this opponent was that he was wielding two swords. This was extremely rare for a Shinigami, and it meant two things to Hibiki. Either Zeich was amazing enough to have developed two separate Zanpakuto, or he was fighting with his Zanpakuto in addition to a regular blade. Either way, it also likely meant that the Shinigami standing before him was capable of fighting with both his hands relatively well. Beyond that, it meant that Hibiki would have to be on guard against a series of dual-wielding attacks.

Play this:

Hibiki concluded his analysis once Zeich finished preparing for the fight. The unsheathing of a blade made it clear that the battle was about to begin. Since Hibiki had little fear of this opponent, he decided to actually fight with his blade. Against an opponent that the medic was actually worried by, he would either fight with Kido or with martial arts, but this would be a rare opportunity to flex his sword-arm. Rather than unsheathing his blade, he simply placed his right hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto. His left hand rested on the close end of the sheath. The vice-captain took a step backwards with his left leg, putting him into a stance similar to a typical Karate fighting stance. This, however, would be recognized by a skilled swordsman as a stance for battojutsu, the art of sword drawing.

Zeich closed the gap between the two fighters, and this was enough to give Hibiki a decent idea of the other man’s speed. The medic was considerably faster than the other man, but the limiter meant that his advantage was just under double, rather than being just under triple as much. The incoming attack was diagonal slash starting at the vice-captain’s left side. The trajectory of this strike would allow Hibiki plenty of time to respond, especially since his left leg was drawn back. It would be awkward to try and use battojutsu so exert downward force, so he simply took a short hop backwards to dodge this blow. It was quite easy for this dodge to be executed by someone with Hibiki’s superior speed and instincts.

As the medic took this hop backwards, he used his thumb to nudge the blade from its sheath. The opponent then brought their blade down in an overhand slash that could potentially cut into Hibiki’s head. Instead of a skull, it would meet with the vice-captain’s blade. He had drawn it in a flash of movement. His horizontal blade successfully interrupted Zeich’s attack, but the unseated officer’s strength quickly overwhelmed Hibiki’s own limited physical abilities. This delay proved to be enough to allow the vice-captain time to spin to the side, dodging any harmful effects of this strike.

From his new vantage point on Zeich’s right, the medic was easily able to see the third sword swing come at his legs. While it would definitely be possible for a normal Shinigami with Hibiki’s advantage in speed to defend against this blow with his zanpakuto, this member of the fourth squad was not particularly skilled with a blade. In fact, it would be perfectly fair to say that his swordsmanship was worse than that of some academy students. Instead of defending the typical way, the medic left his non-dominant arm to point at Zeich’s blade and called out the name of a Bakudo. “Hainawa!” It was a relatively weak Kido, but it was one that Hibiki had mastered long ago. Normally this Kido would bind the target’s arms, but altering the target of the Bakudo was quite easy for a master of Kido. This particular yellow rope would bind Zeich’s sword to his leg.

Considering that the vice-captain had over 22 times as much reiatsu strength as his challenger, breaking the Bakudo would prove nearly impossible. However, the vice-captain would not be so mean as to make an inescapable trap so early in the fight. Zeich would find that the Bakudo would continue to cling to him for only a few seconds before disappearing on its own. Its purpose had not been to allow Hibiki to deal a blow to Zeich, but rather to stop the attack. Regardless, Zeich had taken a jump backwards immediately after his attacks ceased. He seemed to be inviting the vice-captain to go on the offensive now. A grin spread across the face of the healer as he realized this. He was already beginning to enjoy the encounter as it had been a long time since he had even tried to fight with his blade.

His counter-attack would come quickly. With his zanpakuto in the right hand, and his left on the sheath, Hibiki began to run at Zeich. As he took the first step, he called out the name of another Kido. “Hado number 11: Tsuzuri Raiden!” No doubt the opponent would be confused by this tactic. Tsuzuri Raiden was typically used once you had something wrapped around the enemy, or if you were already making contact. This Hado would numb the part of the body it hit, and would possibly result in some minor burns. What made this application of the technique unique, was that Hibiki applied it to two different items simultaneously. Tsuzuri Raiden used both hands, so this wasn’t hard, but it did halve the power of each item’s electrical energy. The power was poured out into the two things that Hibiki was gripping at the time: his zanpakuto and its sheath.

The assault took place in three steps. The first was that Hibiki pulled his sheath from his belt and gave it an underhand chuck at Zeich. It would fly perfectly straight, like a dart. If the other man did not defend himself, it would impact him squarely in the sternum, sending a shock through his torso. The next attack was a sweeping left to right slash at Zeich’s torso once Hibiki stepped forward with his right foot to put himself in range. Regardless of whether or not that attack hit, if Zeich was still in range, the vice-captain would use the momentum from that slash to combo into a jump-spinning hook kick with his front foot.

The slash would be a shallow cut if it landed, but the Tsuzuri Raiden in the blade would numb anything it hit decently. If Zeich blocked the sword with his own, he would find that the electricity would travel down his own blade into his hand, numbing it. As for the kick, it was not supported by Kido, but it was leveled at the challenger’s head. It would still leave a decent mark if it landed. As his combo ended, Hibiki would then jump backwards a few steps to give Zeich a chance to go on the offensive once more. “Clashing blades is nice and all… but are you going to completely skip the witty banter? That’s no fun Zeich! At least let me know what your voice sounds like for Pete’s sake.”

Reiatsu: 1450/1500
-25 Hainawa
-25 Tsuzuri Raiden

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Zeich may still be physically and spiritually weak, but he was definitely not lacking any skill. Hibiki noted that his opponent was not wasting any energy in his defenses. His feet didn’t even move as he dodged the sheath. All that he needed to do was adjust his weight slightly. This method of dodging impressed the vice-captain considerably. However, this impression was countered rapidly by Zeich’s failure to dodge the incoming slash. While a block would normally have been a good defense, especially considering Zeich’s current strength advantage, attempting to parry an electrically charged blade was a poor plan at best. Even the newest academy student should know that Tsuzuri Raiden charged zanpakuto were ones that you dodged, not blocked.

Just as quickly as Hibiki had begun to doubt Zeich’s potential did the doubt fade once more. The unseated officer had flawlessly switched to a second hand and a second blade. The spinning kick that the medic was throwing put him into a position where he would not be able to block the quick slash of the smaller sword easily. As it was, his only option wasn’t a great one, but it was better than just taking a slash to the back. As his right foot came around during the spin, the zanpakuto dropped from him dominant hand. His elbow pivoted downwards as he called out the name of another Hado. “Byakurai!” A thin, white bolt of electricity came from Hibiki’s hand as soon as it would not have to go through his own leg first. Instead of simply travelling straight down into the ground, the bolt grew to only two feet long and continued to swing along with the vice-captain’s arm.

The results of this defense were far from ideal, but they were ultimately effective. It was definitely possible that there were other, better, ways to react in this situation, but one did not have time to consider every possibility in the tiny span of time available to him. Thrusting his arm downwards ruined the balance of the kick. Even if Zeich had not moved, the vice-captain’s foot would now have sailed clear over his head. On the brighter side of things, the rod formed by the Byakurai impacted the thin saber-like sword. A shock traveled down this blade as well, thought it would not even completely numb Zeich’s hand. Hibiki had forcibly restrained the power of this spell for two reasons.

First, it was hard to keep the Byakurai at a manageable length without reducing its power greatly. Secondly, the medic knew that a full strength Byakurai would cut through Zeich’s blade like a hot knife through butter. The difference in these fighters’ reiatsu strengths was enormous, so this would not be a hard feat for Hibiki. Ultimately, the Byakurai’s cutting strength was already only half as strong as the piercing strength of one fired normally just from the sheer nature of being used in this fashion; its strength was further reduced by Hibiki only utilizing a tenth of his power. This meant the Byakurai was cutting with only a force of 22.5 reiatsu strength. Such a marginal difference would be far less than was required to slice through Zeich’s blade, but it was still strong enough to stop it. Once the Hado had stopped the source of danger, it was quickly dispelled.

There was still one problem Hibiki needed to overcome in this situation. He was in the air, off balance, and his sword had clattered to the ground. Someone more skilled in acrobatics might have been able to fluidly recover the blade, but these types of maneuvers were beyond the medic’s abilities. Instead, as he landed from the kick a slide of his foot sent the blade tumbling a few feet behind him. He then retreated backwards and grabbed his blade. This pause was beneficial for his opponent as well, as it would provide time for the numbness in both hands to wear off significantly. The hand that had taken the brunt of a Tsuzuri Raiden would still be tingling. His other hand, which would have received a shock from the Byakurai, would be perfectly functional by now. The tiny amount of power placed into that Hado had surely prevented it from doing any serious damage, but it would make Zeich’s swordsmanship a tiny bit sloppier on his next swing or two.

At this point, Zeich would probably realize that this was what he should expect if he continued to fight the vice-captain. He would be up against a bizarre combination of martial arts, swordsmanship, and Kido. This fighting style would prove to be almost impossible for the inexperienced Shinigami to predict. Whether Hibiki would parry with his sword, slide out of the way, counter with Kido, or perhaps even just physically block a sword-arm with his own limb, was something that the unseated officer would have extreme trouble predicting. He might eventually be able to determine some kind of pattern, but such an occurrence would only happen by chance, not by design. The methods Hibiki employed were completely instinctual to him. To understand his fighting style was to take on the task of understanding everything about the medic, and this was not something that one could easily do in a single bout.

Play this second

Now that Zeich had a chance to retrieve his own sword he quickly returned to the offensive. A flash of Shunpo took him to a point almost on top of Hibiki, but the vice-captain had already seen through the attack. One of the things to keep in mind with Shunpo was that it required a bit of Reiatsu to perform. For someone who was yet to master the technique, it could not be performed instantly. It took just the slightest moment to build up the power to perform the technique. With someone whose reserves were as limited as Zeich’s, noticing the buildup of energy would be quite easy. This wouldn’t tell Hibiki where his opponent would appear, but it kept him from being caught off guard.

When Zeich appeared mere inches in front of the vice-captain, he found that the defender had taken a counter-intuitive defense. Rather than stepping away, the mixed martial artist’s left foot had come forward, behind the unseated officer’s own right foot. The motion took the older man’s torso out of the way of the stab for the most part, but the skinny blade did not come away completely empty-handed. While Hibiki’s body was spared, he had made one key error. He had forgotten to wear a tie bar! His crimson accessory flapped in the slight breeze as he stepped forward, and his opponent’s sword severed it cleanly. Wounding Hibiki’s body was acceptable, but destroying his clothing was a far faster way to make him turn serious. A quick flash of recognition covered his face in the form of anger, thought it would not be a full on scowl. Instead, all that would be noticeable is a slight lessening of his smile and a very mild tilt of his eyebrows. This specific tie was not important to him, and while he loved all his clothes dearly, he could make a plain tie any in moments.

The assault was far from over, and the younger Shinigami brought his heavier blade forward in a slash. Because of the vice-captain’s new position, reacting to the slash was relatively easy. It started on the far side of Zeich’s body relative to the medic’s current position, and such a blow would be impossible to do subtly. As close as the healer was to his opponent, it also meant the slash would come at an incredibly awkward angle, forcing it to loop around a much wider space than if he had dodged to the other direction. Hibiki’s right arm would come up underneath Zeich’s own right arm, dropping his sword once more in the process. The vice-captain’s left elbow popped backwards to ready a strike. Had the sword stayed in his hand, it might have been possible to end this fight, or at least lop off Zeich’s arm, but the vice-captain was enjoying this far too much to even attempt ending the fight.

As the unseated officer began to reveal this for a feint, he would fall right into Hibiki’s trap. It was impossible to completely change the direction of the swing without significantly slowing his arm, and the vice-captain was already able to move far faster than he was. At the moment Zeich’s arm slowed to change directions, both of Hibiki’s arms enacted a pincer. His right arm braced Zeich’s forearm, keeping his elbow locked out. The left came thundering in with a palm strike aimed right at the trapped elbow. The joint would be unable to move, and thus unable to resist the pressure put on it. This was a striking technique practiced by masters of Karate to instantly disable an opponent’s arm. If Hibiki was not physically limited, the blow would have shattered Zeich’s elbow into pieces. With the limiter holding back his strength, and his subconscious reducing it a bit more, the blow would only fracture the elbow a single time. The fracture would be relatively slight, and would be unlikely to overcome Zeich’s adrenaline rush in the long term. However, the blow had stopped the attack that was coming for the healer, and Zeich would have no choice but to favor his left arm to some degree now.

Play this last

Just as quickly as this part of the skirmish had begun, it was over. The unseated officer retreated backwards, likely slightly bewildered after that last exchange. While Hibiki was clearly messing around to some degree in the first clash, that interpretation would be ludicrous here. It would be plain that while the medic could have done far more aggressive things in this circumstance, he was also slowly taking off the kid gloves. It was unlikely that Zeich would force him to take these gloves all the way off, but the healer’s last defense was certainly more forceful than the earlier use of Hainawa. As the member of Squad Seven raised his guard once more, an oddly dark sounding sentence came from Hibiki’s lips. “You owe me a tie now.” From anyone else, this would sound like idle chatter, but it was clear that this was a threat since it came from one of the most respected fashion minds in all of Soul Society.

A quick flick of Hibiki’s foot scooped his blade off the ground and back into his hand. The zanpakuto flew horizontally through the air, and the instant the vice-captain’s fingers wrapped around it, he was off to pursue Zeich. His grip was only one handed, which signified that his next attack would lack power, but it would have speed. That speed is what Hibiki was leveraging in this fight. While the gap was not as large as it would be without the limiter, he was still far quicker than his opponent. He planted his right foot in front of him as he came in striking range of the unseated officer. His attack would come in swiftly: an upwards slash that would trace the length of Zeich’s lower front leg if it was not stopped in some way.

This attack would be hard to defend against for a number of reasons. Zeich’s right hand would still be slightly numb from the electricity of Tsuzuri Raiden, which would hinder the fine motor control required to parry properly. On top of that, the position of both his swords was far from ideal to defend against an attack aimed as his lower leg. The right blade could deflect the incoming zanpakuto with a sweeping motion, but it would be hard to execute properly between the numbness and a damaged elbow. On the other hand, the left blade would simply be too far out of the way to intercept this slash in time. Even if Zeich could find a way to get this blade there, the position would be so awkward that it would be an extreme challenge for him to exert enough strength to stop the blade before it cut into his leg.

If the attack landed in Zeich’s leg, the wound would be shallow, and unlikely to hinder him greatly. It was not designed to inflict serious damage. Regardless, suffering no damage was better than suffering some, so Zeich would likely retract his leg to avoid the damage. This is when the vice-captain would unleash the attack he intended to hit with. “Bakudo number four: Hainawa!” Careful observation would reveal that the master of kido’s left hand had two fingers extended as he charged at his opponent. Only a split-second after beginning his slash, his left elbow would pop out, bringing his arm away from his chest. A yellow length of energy would erupt from his two outstretched fingers. Its path would be a diagonal one towards Zeich. The movement of the vice-captain’s arm had set the spell on a path so that it would be aimed right at the center of the younger Shinigami’s chest.

This particular Hainawa was not altered from the default, and would pin Zeich’s arms to his side if he did not find a way to dodge it. The reiatsu strength of this technique was the maximum that Hibiki could offer, so breaking it would prove impossible for the unseated officer. Unlike the previous Hainawa, this one would not disintegrate quickly. No, it would stay wrapped around Zeich until the medic could get him to say something! That’s right, this was all a diabolical plan to try and get his opponent talking. The other shinigami would certainly have a hard time defending against a barrage of attacks that came at him with nearly identical timing. If this combo managed to catch him, then the vice-captain would certainly find some way to get him to say something.

Reiatsu: 1400/1500
-25 Byakurai
-25 Hainawa

Play this

The butt of Zeich’s sword flew inwards even as the vice-captain was preparing to launch his Bakudo. The words for the spell had just left the medic’s lips, but there was still a split second before the spell would actually be fired off. At this new angle, it would be impossible to fully ensnare Zeich, but Hibiki was not without options. He took the incoming strike from the pommel, and let out a scream as it impacted him. “KIIIIYAAAHHH!” This was a Kiai, a technique utilized by skilled Karateka for two purposes. First, the act of screaming out would tighten all of the martial artist’s muscles, improving striking power and reducing incoming damage. Secondly, Kiai were intended to inspire fear in the opponent. The fact that your opponent would scream at you, and clearly not with a scream of pain, would be disturbing to the average thug. This secondary effect was unlikely to do much against Zeich, but the clenched muscles still provided a much tougher surface to break.

In this specific circumstance, the Kiai had a third benefit. By concentrating on the Kiai, and not the fact that he was about to be struck, Hibiki was able to ignore any pain this might cause for a brief moment. Such a feat would only be possible for a skilled practitioner of Karate, but since Hibiki was a master, this was well within his ability. This temporary ignorance about the pain he was in allowed him to finish casting the Bakudo and hold his ground. One thing that Zeich might not be aware of, is that Hainawa’s aim had nothing to do with the motion of the arm. In the mind of the Kido Master, the act of flicking an arm to the side for Hainawa was like the motion for casting a fishing line. The arm gave it some speed, but ultimately, the aim came down to a flick of the wrist. Instead of flicking his wrist outwards, it buckled, causing his fingers to arc towards the ground.

This trajectory sent the spell towards the other man’s right hand. At this angle, it was unable to bind his arms to him, but this Bakudo would still bind something. In this instance, what was bound was none other than Zeich’s lighter sword to his injured arm. The yellow length of reiatsu wound around his hand, and instantly spiraled down his sword. The smaller of the two weapons was now encased in a layer of Hibiki’s own energy. If the medic had been aware of such a power, he would have realized that this looked disturbingly similar to how Zeich might one day appear during Saigo no Houmen. Instead, his brain went to lightsabers, but the amusement at that fact would have to wait for later. The benefit of this result would be substantial, but not overwhelming. This weapon, bound in Hainawa, would not be able to cut him anymore, and since it was now bound to Zeich’s hand, the other Shinigami would be unable to trade the blades between hands.

Unfortunately for Hibiki, this is all the Kido would be able to do. It would not stop the upwards swing of Zeich’s blade, nor would it prevent it from bruising him if it hit. As the younger Shinigami transitioned into his upwards swing, Hibiki performed a basic Karate defensive technique. It had no fancy name, for it was not an especially advanced move. His right foot, which was in front, retreated backwards to land just beyond shoulder’s width apart. At the same time, his left arm came speeding downwards, still bent at a 90 degree angle. The vice-captain’s forearm impacted Zeich’s Hainawa-bound blade, nearly stopping it in its tracks. As the impact was made, Hibiki emitted a sharp sound: “Tssst!” This too was a Kiai, though not as strong of one as the previous usage. Typically, this noise was done in the middle of a combo, while a “KIYAH” signified a powerful finishing strike. Even though Zeich was stronger, his slash was an awkward one at close range, and the backhanded grip lacked power compared to the normal one. This attack would not be able to do much more than bruise Hibiki’s forearm.

Without missing a beat, the other man withdrew his blade from the foiled attack. As Zeich did, so, the healer quickly changed his grip on his zanpakuto to the normal overhand one. The other shinigami still continued to attack with the lighter blade, despite its new lack of capacity to deal severe damage. This time, the slash came in towards the medic’s right shoulder, but the medic was now perfectly aware this blade could not cut him. Yes, it could still injure him, but it was safe to block with his bare arms. Both of his arms came up to form an “X” shaped block, and would catch the now-glowing blade in the crevice between them. It was a good thing for Zeich that the vice-captain had instinctively changed his grip on the sword. Had it still been in a backhand grip, the path it would’ve taken would have been straight though the younger Shinigami’s face. Instead, its path was a horizontal sweep through the open air before coming to rest pointing over Hibiki’s left shoulder.

The difference in strength between the fighters was not so monstrous that Zeich would be able to force a one handed attack, with an injured arm, through a two-armed defense. The impact would still jar the medic’s arms, and likely form black and blue bruises upon them, but the blade would not reach his body. Likely because he sensed this, Zeich transitioned into yet another attack. He withdrew his blade from the block, and flicked it into a quick slash at the medic’s ribs. However, the time it had taken the other man to withdraw his weapon and begin a second attack was more than enough for Hibiki to take a quick step backwards with his left foot. He had transitioned from a normal fighting stance into a horse stance. His legs were spread out: the knees were at roughly twice shoulder’s width now. His arms were chambered on his waist, and his blade pointed upwards with just a slight tilt forward.

In this new position, the slash that came from the medic’s right came up short of reaching him. The step backwards, especially with his superior speed, had been enough to get him out of the way. However, Zeich appeared to be far from finished with his assault. The momentum of that swing pulled him around into a step forward to close the gap and he came out with a vicious slash towards the medic’s ribs. While such a move packed a hell of a punch if it hit, spinning attacks were generally impractical. Zeich had demonstrated this earlier with his own defense against Hibiki’s spinning hook kick, and he had been able to punish that mistake with inferior speed. Against a faster opponent, he was just asking to be hit. Fortunately for him, since Hibiki was under the influence of a limiter, and his instincts were only that of an average human, the medic was unable to truly capitalize on the situation. On top of simply taking longer than a normal strike, spinning attacks also had the disadvantage that you were forced to take your eyes off the opponent. Even if it was just for a split second, this was something that a spry opponent could capitalize on. If it were not for how much Hibiki had been enjoying letting loose earlier, he would never have used such an amateurish technique himself.

What the younger Shinigami would realize as his head whipped around with his sword-arm was that Hibiki was ready and waiting for this strike. The vice-captain had pivoted on his left foot, bringing his right foot to rest just beyond Zeich’s own feet. The slash that would originally have been coming in perpendicular to the medic’s chest was now coming in parallel to it. Before it would be able to get there though, it would have to cut through his zanpakuto. The blade was held out vertically. His right arm was braced on his right leg, and his left hand was pushing against the back of his sword. Zeich’s blade impacted Hibiki’s own, forming a plus shape for a split second before the momentum of the strike pulled it away.

This blow pushed the medic backwards a few inches, but had no other ill effects beyond jarring his body slightly. Slashes that utilized a spinning motion were designed to cut through flesh, not penetrate a guard. The force of a blow like this was applied to its sideways trajectory, and was thus terrible at pushing forward through a sword. On top of that, even with the heavier blade, Zeich’s strength with a single arm simply would not be able to completely overpower both of Hibiki’s limbs. As expected, Zeich seemed to have caught on that this strategy simply was not enough to take down the vice-captain. His skill with a sword was definitely greater, but the healer’s bizzare combination of mixed martial arts, Kido, and the fact that a sword happened to be in his hands were proving to be a decent match.

STOP MUSIC ONE

By the time that Zeich had his last slash blocked, it was clear that, while he had not landed a decisive blow, his efforts were not entirely in vain. The medic had multiple bruises on his left forearm, one on his right forearm just below the wrist, and another on his chest. His muscles were getting sore from trying to stop all of these blows, and his tie was torn. By comparison, Zeich was sporting a small cut in his jacket. It was rather clear who was actually coming out on top right now. In the medic’s mind, this meant only one thing: It was time to stop holding back his strength so much. He would still be within the limits he had set for himself, but holding back his reiatsu strength had cost him several chances to turn the tide of battle in his favor. That bit of holding back would have to end if this fight was going to turn out in his favor.

2nd Music

It was time for this battle to get serious! At the moment that Zeich hopped backwards, Hibiki began to call out the name of another spell. “Hado number four:” but that was as far as he could get before the other man vanished with a step of Shunpo. Zeich reappeared behind and above the medic on the air ground. As he did so, the word “Byakurai” left the vice-captain’s mouth. The incoming swing from the medic’s left was fast approaching his neck. His reaction time would not be fast enough for his entire body to spin around. Instead, his head had spun part way, and he simply did the quickest thing he could do avoid the attack. He shifted his weight down, and onto his right foot. This motion caused his left knee to lock out and left him in a pose such that he appeared to be stretching. While it was possible that this might serve to anger Zeich further, it was the most efficient dodge one could make while in a horse stance.

Had Zeich continued his attack from there, it would likely have been a much better outcome for him. If the sword had not stopped, and he had not vanished in a step of Shunpo, his blade would likely have still bitten into the side of the medic’s neck for this dodge was not optimal in the grand scheme of things. Zeich had expected the healer to turn in an attempt to stop the attack, and had been planning for this eventuality. Instead, when he stepped to the other side of Hibiki, he was greeted by the medic’s chest. With the vice-captain’s head turned only 90 degrees to his left, it was easy for him to see both the moments that his opponent disappeared and reappeared.

The thing that made this circumstance the best possible for him, was that he barely even needed to react. As the younger Shinigami appeared in front of him, the Kido master was already in the process of firing a Byakurai, and he had not been planning to hold back with this one. In addition to that, his sword was still held upright on his right hip; a perfect spot to stop Zeich’s slash
. Since the name of the spell had already been called out, it had been in the process of leaving the medic’s left index finger as the other man appeared in front of him. The Byakurai fired out as the sword strike came in. Because of this, as well as the fact that Zeich was in melee range, the spell would almost certainly hit.

Originally, Hibiki had launched this attack fully expecting Zeich to dodge it, but instead Zeich had quite literally stepped into its path! On top of that, the spell was at full strength, and it would not be of the caliber than Zeich would come out in one piece. With such a massive difference in reiatsu strength between the two fighters, a simple Byakurai would easily pierce straight through any part of Zeich that was in the way. Even if he was somehow able to get Hibiki’s own Hainawa in the way, it would do little more than slow the spell down. Hainawa was not especially durable, and Byakurai had incredible piercing power.

Above all else, what would ultimately determine if this spell hit was Zeich’s reaction speed. It would be possible for him to dodge this attack with another step of Shunpo, but he would have to be capable of reacting almost immediately. On its current trajectory, the attack would pierce straight through the younger Shinigami’s chest. Depending on how he reacted, it could end up doing anything from entering the side of his body and coming out the other side to blasting out a lung. The force of the attack impacting him in such a fashion would likely stop his spin where it stood just from sheer pain. Even if it did not stop him with pain alone, the attack would send a wave of numbness through his chest if it stuck.

In the event that the Byakurai did not stop the sword coming at Hibiki, his defense would be a simple and ultimately inadequate one. His right arm would raise the sword slightly so that it would be able to exert its full force against the oncoming sword. The oncoming blade would initially impact him on the right side of his ribs, but it would first meet with his own sword. His strength would not be enough to fully stop this, but it would prevent the cut from becoming very deep at least. This action would be taken instinctively, regardless of whether or not the sword stopped. However, it would likely be unnecessary as Zeich’s options appeared to be either taking a Byakurai to the chest and suffering a great deal of damage, or using another step of Shunpo to get out of the way.

Reiatsu: 1375/1500
-25 for Byakurai

OOC: Read the entire post before reading the OOC at the bottom. Any concerns will be explained there.

Play this:

IC: That last swing never reached Hibiki. The shock of the Byakurai would have sent a jolt of electricity into Zeich’s brain, causing seizure-like effects. This was what caused him to drop his heavier blade, and what stalled him for longer than he realized. Most of the blast had escaped into the open air, and that had prevented worse effects. Had he been an inch closer to the blast, it would have sliced through his skull. The electricity would have damaged his brain beyond repair. That was what the medic initially feared. Zeich had still seized. Every bit of the healer’s senses were telling him that he had just killed another man.

No, it simply should not have happened like this. The medic had not intended for the bolt of lightning to ever be near Zeich’s head. A hole through the chest was easy for him to fix. A punctured lung could be rebuilt easily with his abilities. His own body was battered and bruised, but for a moment, it appeared that the other Shinigami might be in a far worse situation. His face erupted in blood as the Byakurai cut into his head. Because the man had twisted downwards, the surge of energy had come dangerously close to taking off his head. All that proved he was still alive, and thus all that kept the medic from cursing himself out, was the fact that Zeich was able to move his arm to grab at the wound.

This motion is what saved Hibiki from falling off a metaphorical cliff. Had the other man simply sat there silently and endured the pain, the medic would have thought him dead at first glance. The blood was so thick, so viscous, that surely his skull had been ruptured. But no, this man was still alive and breathing. If he could move, he would still live on. It was at this moment that the vice-captain’s training took over. He took a calming breath, and his mind focused on the task ahead. The task was no longer to achieve victory in the battle. The task was to stop the other shinigami from hurting himself.

As far as the medic was concerned, the fight was now over. He would stop holding back even a tiny bit of his strength. Still, he did not seek to hurt the other man. His job now was to heal. Zeich would notice, even in his shocked state, that a change had come over the medic. What little violent intent he had was completely gone. But that was not the biggest change. A quick press of his belt-buckle had activated the quick-release mechanism on his limiter, something that Division Twelve had recently perfected. His spiritual pressure and reiatsu strength would immediately skyrocket to nearly obscene values. His strength now matched Zeich’s own, and he speed was now well over double the other man’s.



At this point, Zeich still had several seconds of agony left before he regained his senses. Hibiki used that time to remove his tie and pull a navy handkerchief from his back pocket. In a swift movement, his arms came up around the other man’s head as he was groping around in pain. The handkerchief was pressed into the wound, and the tie came up around it. A quick step and pivot brought him behind the other shinigami, and a quick flick of his wrists coiled the tie into a slipknot. A second motion pulled the loose ends of the tie into a bow. The handkerchief would at least hold some of the blood back, keeping Zeich from being completely blinded.

Hibiki took a short hop back from his current position, placing him ten feet behind Zeich. He was in a relatively unguarded stance. There was no reason to expect Zeich would continue immediately after receiving that wound, but it would appear that notion was misguided.The vice-captain opened his mouth to speak, but instead words came from the other’s man’s lips. They were completely void of emotion. It was not the voice of one who should be considered an ally. This was the voice of a cold-blooded killer. This was the voice of one who would likely have enjoyed inflicting such a wound on Hibiki. That was the medic’s interpretation of the three words he heard.

“Hado Number Four--” Those words were spoken with such an icy calm, that it was completely clear the younger Shinigami was aiming for a kill in this fight. His strikes up to now had ultimately failed to produce a severe wound, but it was obvious this was not for lack of trying. He had been aiming for vital spots constantly, whereas the medic had been aiming for light wounds at best. Even as Zeich turned to face Hibiki, it was evident he must have suffered some kind of brain damage. He was pointing at the vice-captain with the arm that bound in Hainawa. Even if Zeich had no energy sensory skills, it would be painfully obvious that his energy was far too weak to break Hibiki’s own.

But the energy building within Zeich’s body was not for a Kido. Instead, he vanished in a step of Shunpo. The distance between the two fighters was closed almost instantly, and Hibiki would not have the time to react appropriately. His feet had been at shoulder’s width, and his arms were hanging down. His Zanpakuto was hanging lamely in his grasp, pointing at an angle towards the ground. Even with his superior speed, his body would not be able to react fast enough to effectively counter this with his normal speed. In this case, he would simply have to go with an ineffective counter. The vice-captain pivoted on his left foot so that his right side could rotate backwards, and his feet arched so he stood on the balls of his toes.

The result of this maneuver was less than pretty. The blunted blade, with all of Zeich’s weight behind it, slammed into the healer’s shoulder. An audible pop was heard, indicating that it had been dislocated. This arm would be borderline useless until it was able to be set back into the socket, and it proceeded to simply hang limp at Hibiki’s side. Now there was another strike to deal with, and this one was far more dangerous. This blow came in towards the medic’s stomach. It was unlikely that guarding would work, since he now had an injured arm, and was not sure if his strength would actually match Zeich's now that the limiter was released. Not to mention the angle of his sword made it virtually impossible to defend with.

How then, did Hibiki managed to escape this predicament? The answer was simple. A step of Shunpo had taken him into the air. Air ground allowed him to land 20 feet above Zeich. As he looked down towards his opponent, an overwhelming sorrow came over him. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but it was clear that Zeich needed treatment immediately. His body had locked up, his muscles had clenched completely, and his eyes seemed to look out into the distance aimlessly. From this appearance, the medic concluded that the other man’s body must be shutting down. Sure he could just knock him out and let his subordinates take care of it, but he was the fastest healer around. It would be far wiser to take care of it himself.

This plan had already been concocted to some degree in the reaches of Hibiki’s brain. He had already released his limiter, and used Shunpo. At this point, Zeich could basically claim victory since the medic had already broken the terms of the engagement twice. And he was about to break those terms a third time, for this medic could only heal effectively with his release active. He could fix things like his own dislocated shoulder just fine, but he wasn’t skilled enough to just pour his energy into a wound and fix it like Ishi-taichou was. It was a bit of a disgrace to be a member of the Fourth Division without even being able to use the basic healing techniques, but his release was more than enough to make up for this fact.

Had Zeich not be in the middle of some kind of fit, he would have noticed a massive surge in the energy above him. The vice-captain had slid the tip of his sword back into his sheath, brought the sheath up to eye level while holding it horizontally, and flicked the blade out sideways. As the tip of the blade hit the edge of the sheathe, it simply stopped. It had been traveling as fast as the medic could make it with his strength, so this simply seemed to be in direct defiance of the laws of physics. This was because this was the method of release for Hibiki’s zanpakuto. As the blade came to a stop, he softly whispered, “Design, Hitsu.” A brilliant white light erupted out of the blade and sheath, only to collapse in on itself. The weapon was replaced by a brilliant white staff, but there were black stripes near each end of the pole.

The surge in energy had not ended there though, nor had the vice-captain’s utterance come to a conclusion just yet. He knew that if he was going to heal Zeich, he needed to force him to hold still. He slowly lowered himself down using successive steps on the air ground as he called out, “Bakudo number 61: Rikujokoro.” His right arm, the one that now held Hitsu, was extended out towards the other Shinigami. A single finger, the index, was raised and pointed at the younger man. Instantly, six bars of light appeared around Zeich, and slammed into his midsection. His arms would be pinned to his side, and his legs would be unable to move.

Even if Zeich had been able to recover by this point, he would now find himself completely unable to move anything beyond below his head. But the other Shinigami was still staring blankly into space, apparently half-dead. The medic descended onto the solid ground, and slammed his staff into a convenient crack in the ground. Out from the staff flowed a brilliant white sheet of cloth. Once it had fully emerged, a red plus sign bloomed into existence across it. This sheet now separated the two combatants, obscuring each other from vision. Hibiki was still sure his aim would be spot on. There was no way Zeich was moving while bound by that Bakudo, and the spell he was about to use would be so large that it wouldn’t matter if his aim was off a bit.

From behind the sheet, the medic called out, “Hado number 33: Sokatsui!” As he uttered this, his good arm stretched out onto the sheet of cloth, his palm lay flat against it. The staff did not fall because it was firmly wedged into the crack. As the utterance was finished, a brilliant white light erupted out from the other side of the sheet. It was easily measured in the tens of meters in both width and height, thought it fell short of triple digits. A blast of this strength would normally have disintegrated Zeich for sure. The gap in power between the two was simply that overwhelming. At this moment, Hibiki’s reiatsu strength had risen to 750, while Zeich’s was still only 20 points. The difference was a whopping 37.5 times.

So why then, was Zeich not dead? Why was he instead in perfect health? The answer to these questions lay in the ability of the vice-captain’s Zanpakuto. The sheet of cloth produced by this staff was obviously not a normal piece of fabric. In fact, it was not a piece of fabric at all. This sheet was actually a piece of Reikiji, or Spirit Cloth. Each sheet of Reikiji was made of condensed spirit particles that had a specific effect on the world around them. All of them were capable of stopping attacks, and all were hard to destroy, but they had many different effects. In fact, there were four different effects that Hibiki could access with his power.

The effect he had utilized in this circumstance was the appropriately named Red Cross Reikiji. It was the part of his release that had allowed him to transfer to the Fourth Division despite being basically incompetent when it came to healing Shinigami. The particles in Red Cross acted far different than the other sheets. Two of the four simply stopped energy from going through them, and another amplified it. Red Cross was the only one to completely change the nature of the attack. It’s power was nothing short of mind-boggling. Red Cross inverted all of the harming energy found in a reiatsu-based attack and converted it into healing energy. In layman’s terms, any wound that you could make with Kido, that degree of wound could be healed via Red Cross.

Since Hibiki’s Reiatsu Strength was so high, he would be able to burn most of the flesh off Zeich’s body, even with a 30’s level Hado. Because the blast would normally be able to inflict that severe of a wound, it was no surprise that Red Cross had enabled the younger Shinigami to be completely healed. It had taken Hibiki a precious few moments to prepare all this, especially since he had been caught off guard by Zeich’s aggression before. It had also taken him a moment to be sure that Ziech’s body was shutting down. It had happened that the other man would have snapped back into consciousness only a split second before the blast of healing energy enveloped him.

Once the blast had subsided, the sheet of Red cross lazily floated upwards in the sky to reveal the other shinigami to each other. As soon it was clear that Zeich was no longer in a critical condition, the medic disappeared in another step of Shunpo, only to reappear behind Zeich. The younger man was still bound by Rikujokoro, and would not be able to turn his head to see the healer at this moment. What he did not see, was a knifehand come in to impact the back of his neck. The blow would cut the blood flow to his brain, knocking him unconscious instantly. As he slumped down, the Rikujokoro dispersed, and the medic caught him so that he did not fall to the ground abruptly.

Even though Zeich was now unconscious, the medic spoke to him. With his expertise in analytics and social understanding, he had long since realized why he had been challenged. He knew Zeich had a lot to prove, especially since he was in Squad Seven. Those Shinigami were almost universally massive powerhouses. The medic had already lost to their third seat, Kaen Youji, so he was personally aware of just how strong that division was. Apparently even their unseated officers were something to be reckoned with. The sheer will to prove himself that Zeich had would remain on Hibiki’s mind for many years to come. If a new shinigami had that much strength in him, than perhaps he could find greater power himself.

The healer took a quick glance up at the sheet of Red Cross floating in the air above him, and it disintegrated into a cloud of white particles before vanishing completely. He set Zeich down on the ground gently, and walked over to his staff. As he grasped it, it returned to a sealed state and he slung it into his belt. As loud as he could, he yelled out to the onlookers. “Oi! We’re done here. Get your butts over here so we can head back!” Instantly, a dozen or so members of the Fourth Division appeared beside their vice-captain with several buzzes of Shunpo. With a quick set of hand-signals, the senior medic indicated that the grunts were in charge of carrying Zeich back.

Hibiki unsheathed his blade one more, and pointed it out into the air in front of him. A slow turn of his wrist later, a Senkaimon had bloomed into existence. It was a typical gate. A square pair of Shoji slid back to reveal a circular one. The circular one then opened to reveal a bright white light. The vice-captain entered first, ignoring the protests of his subordinates that he should receive treatment first. He kept his speed down so that his underlings could keep up.They all emerged together into the Seireitei. The Shinigami on duty at the main Senkaimon initially blocked the path of the Fourth Division members. However, this obstruction was quickly overcome by merely pointing at Zeich and muttering the word “Injured.” Even if other Shinigami disrespected the Fourth Division enough to stop them, they knew better than to interrupt them when the fate of the injured was at risk.

In truth, Zeich was no longer injured. He was unconscious, sure, but Hibiki’s earlier healing had taken care of everything aside from dried blood. Regardless, as the group of Shinigami headed back to their barracks, Hibiki drew forth a bit more energy. He was confident in the fact that he had healed the other man fully, but he would get a second opinion to be sure. A few steps of Shunpo got him to the barracks ahead of the other members of his Squad. Once there, he located Ishi-taichou, and brief him on the status of Zeich. The Captain instantly noticed his second seat was injured as well, and with his outstanding abilities, was able to heal most of the vice-captain’s wounds nearly instantly. Once that was done, a bed was arranged for Zeich, and the vice-captain retired to his office.

Once Hibiki was in his office, he prepared a note for Zeich. It read: Zeich, you are well on your way to becoming a powerful Shinigami. I do not know what motivates you to dig so deep, nor do I know why you attacked with such viciousness. All I do know, is that one day we we will likely fight again after you have become stronger. When that time comes, you will probably defeat me. Until then, know that your skills are already great. Not many Shinigami have your talent with a blade. For now though, try to relax. After that match, you have earned it.

The vice-captain signed the letter, and sealed it with wax. He engraved the seal of the Fourth Division into the wax, and delivered it to the room that was prepared for Zeich. He placed it on the bedside table, and wandered off towards his bed. Once he reached it, he flopped down on top of the sheets and tried to get some rest himself. As his brain slowly slipped towards unconsciousness he thought about the ordeal he had just been through. Something about Zeich had bothered him. Zeich’s aura seemed neither good nor evil, but his actions had seemed far too violent for the situation. His blows had all been aimed to maim or kill, and there was no banter to be found anywhere. The medic’s mind wandered towards the academy as he drifted off to slumber. What were they doing over there nowadays to produce such terrifying students?

OOC: So, yeah, Hibiki has broken basically every rule of this fight in this post. I had a number of ways I could have countered everything while still staying in the limits of this thread, but I realized that in this situation, this is the response that Hibiki would have. The way I see it, you have three options. A) You award Hibiki the victory, and we leave it as is. B) You take the victory, since I basically disqualified myself by breaking every rule in one post. C) You request that I re-write this post without violating the rules of the thread. It's totally your choice as to what you'd like to do. I'd prefer A or B, since I put a lot of work into this post, but I can understand if you'd like me to rewrite it.

Reiatsu: 1675/2500
-250 Shunpo x4
-200 Shikai
-150 Rikujokoro
-100 Sokatsui

Shikai: Ended

Sheets Active: None