What have we learned? (Amaya vs Meian|R|DE)

This was it, Meian had finally managed to get through his journey in the Academy. Even though he wasn’t part of the 3rd Squad yet, he would soon graduate and finally be able to fight for his ideals. This meant a lot for him, since it would mark the day he would stop fleeing and instead go toward a brighter future. Through his Academy years, Meian had been happy numerous times, and sad a couple of others; he had been bored by some classes, yet found others to be extremely challenging; some situations made him angry, while others confused him… However, never did he regret anything. For him, it had been wonderful years, and he wouldn’t change them in any way.

Despite all of that, though, this day was special to Meian for another reason. Today, Meian and Amaya, the first friend he had made in his time in the Academy, had both agreed to fight each others once more in a last battle until graduation. This would be an unusual fight though; not only did they had drastically increased in strength since their last spar, but they had also both unlocked their shikai, which was, by itself, quite a feat. She knows I have shikai, I know she have shikai, yet we both don’t know the other’s shikai abilities. This should be… interesting. Although Meian didn’t say that to Amaya, he greatly awaited this battle; it would allow him to test, against someone who had gone through the same labours as him, how much his skills had increased within those years. Winning or losing didn’t matter though; he simply wanted to see if he could hold his ground in a fair battle against an opponent who, he knew, would prove to be challenging.

For that specific day, Meian had rented a room in the closest inn to the Academy he could find in order to prevent arriving late to his appointment. The fact that they had set their battle in the courtyard of the Academy was a symbolic act, as a way to say “goodbye” to their previous lives before moving forward. When he took off toward the courtyard, Meian wore his usual academy outfit, along with his leather harness and his pocket attached to the uniform’s belt, which held many vocabulary sheets like it always did. Amaya would know these clothes to be the same he had worn every year in the Academy. The only difference, this time, was what he kept attached to the left side of his belt; while there would normally be a bokuto located there, this time, it was his zanpakutou along with its scabbard. It was not different than the other times Amaya had seen it; a well-made medium-sized katana with a black grip, held inside a basic black scabbard.

While he walked on the road, Meian simply discussed with his zanpakutou spirit, Kaimamiru. Even though she was stubborn and often jealous, Meian had learned to appreciate her through the years. You won’t take it easy on her, right? Of course not, but I won’t give the killing blow either, if that’s what you’re asking… Hmf. Why does it always need to be so complicated with you? Meian kept talking with her until he reached the Academy, at which point he only had to get to the courtyard. Listen. You better not refrain from using me when the time comes. Alright. Keep an eye on me, I’m counting on you. He suddenly felt an inner-peace, as if she had been pleased by this answer…

Once Meian reached the courtyard, he could see Amaya far off, in a position that he recognized to be the stance for meditating with one’s Zanpakutou. As he approached, Amaya had likely noticed his presence, for she spoke to him. ”You ready to do this Meian?” ”Of course, Amaya. This is probably our last fight in a long while, so let’s enjoy it.” Since Amaya had been with him for five years, she could likely tell by now that he was really happy; happy to have an opportunity to fight such a good friend, since fighting meant a lot for him. Meian then took his stance of battle, his knees down a bit, his right leg kept in front and his left hand holding his Zanpakutou’s scabbard while his right one was kept close to the grip, ready to draw the sword at anytime. He patiently waited for Amaya to take her own stance as well, taking note of any detail he could deduce out of it. ”I’m leaving you the first blow. Take the initiative as you see fit.” As Meian waited for her attack, he momentarily took a look at Amaya’s Zanpakutou. So far, since her Zanpakutou was simply cloth, it wasn’t much of a threat in our previous spars, but now that she have unlocked shikai, I’ll need to keep an eye on it…

Reiatsu: 2000/2000









(OOC: If there's too much techniques, tell me. Also, in your techniques, you listed bakudo #9. Which one is it? (there are two) )

As Meian simply waited for Amaya to take her stance of battle, what she instead did was completely unexpected; she got up and walked slowly toward him, leaving him to wonder if the battle had started yet. Is this some sort of trick, or is she approaching to talk? Knowing that she wouldn’t use such trickery, but still doubtful about what her real intent was, he decided to ask her. ”Amaya, what are y-“ Suddenly, Meian noticed Amaya’s hand lift and come in for a slap behind his head, which he instinctively blocked, even though it was harmless, with the hand he kept on his scabbard. ”We’re supposed to bow first genius,” Meian was so eager to get a chance to fight Amaya that he had completely forgotten that! ”Right, right. Sorry. ”The bow symbolize the fact that we bear each other no ill will, remember?” As she said that, Amaya took a step backward and bowed, an action to which Meian complied, bowing himself too.

After both of their respective bows, Meian quickly pulled back with two backward steps, keeping a cautious eye on Amaya. While he did that, she took her fighting stance which was, of course, based on hand-to-hand combat since her Zanpakutou’s sealed form wasn’t a basic sword. Although Meian didn’t knew much about the different fighting styles in hand-to-hand combat aside from what he had learned in the Academy, he could tell, by the position of her hands and legs, that this stance was meant to perform brutal frontal assaults.

However, as he was watching her, Amaya lifted her finger and winked just before a red light emanated from it. Being right after Meian created some distance between them, it was too sudden for him to dodge the attack properly, which led him to be impacted directly by the bakudo. That was Geki, but… how could she launch this bakudo without even stating its name? Having no time to think about it, Amaya was already coming forward, which gave little time for Meian to break the bakudo. Nonetheless, their difference in reiatsu strength was high enough that he managed to break the spell’s effect almost instantly, and since he had created space between them a moment ago, it gave him just enough time to deflect the incoming palm strike with his left hand, stepping to his left and rotating his body to face his right in the process.

Not waiting for her to counterattack, Meian opened space between them, moving five to six steps backward. Even though he really wanted to fight Amaya, he wasn’t ready to start fighting at his full strength just yet. Having probably noticed it, Amaya expressed a taunt to him. ”Ready to get started for real now Meian? It’s your move.” Considering the skills that she demonstrated seconds ago, Meian knew that he couldn’t take her lightly at all now. Even if he had always been cautious in their fights, this time, he would need to be even more than usual. ”Of course, give me just a moment.” Still staring at Amaya for any sign that would suggest an attack, Meian detached his scabbard and turned it around. This would allow him to use his Zanpakutou with almost no restraint, since his strikes would now be made with the blunt side of its blade.

Meian then sighed and restarted the discussion. ”You sure seems to have improved a lot since our last spar, Amaya. In fact, if it wasn’t for my careful attitude, your previous attack would likely have worked perfectly…” He smiled for some seconds, which announced nothing good for Amaya. ”This means that I need to be careful as much as possible.” Meian slowly approached his right hand from his Zanpakutou’s grip, until he finally held it. ”Witness… the release of my katana. Seek out, Kaimamiru!” As Meian finished his sentence, his Zanpakutou got darker, like the blackest of all nights. Its shape also changed, becoming much more round, and both the scabbard and the grip would now appear to be made of wood.

However, what Amaya wouldn’t be able to see was the ability that had just activated behind all this. Even though most Zanpakutou’s ability develops in a way that is meant to be used as a tool of battle, Meian’s Zanpakutou power has instead developed as a tool of survival; it is the power to see through his opponent’s senses and energy sensory. Of course, Amaya wouldn’t know this, but she was already under the effect of this ability. All of her five senses, as well as her energy sensory, were completely available to Meian now. This meant that trying to hide anything from him would become almost impossible now, and since she didn’t knew anything about this ability, it gave Meian a great advantage in their battle.

”If you want to release now, I’m leaving you the chance to do so.” Amaya would likely understand, by his tone of voice, that he suggested it because it was the most cautious move she could do. Depending on her answer, Meian would either attack directly or wait for her to release before attacking. Once he would deem her ready, he would lower his stance, turn a little toward his left in order to hide his scabbard from Amaya’s view, and change the position of his left hand slightly. Instead of simply holding his scabbard normally, two of his fingers would now face forward, on the grip of his Zanpakutou.

As soon as he would be ready, Meian shunpoed right in front of Amaya, his right hand kept on his Zanpakutou’s grip. However, although it would seem to be a simple sword attack, the truth was far from it. ”Hado number four: Byakurai!” A blue bolt suddenly emerged from the two fingers that were now positioned above his right hand, pointing directly toward Amaya’s stomach. Since this Byakurai was fired at point blank range, dodging it would be hard, but the incantation of the spell’s name would likely give enough time to get out of the Kido’s trajectory. However, the real threat that Amaya would face was the follow-up attack, right after this one. Meian unsheathed his sword and gave a quick blow in whichever direction Amaya would dodge to, and since this strike would be so close to the previous attack, Amaya would likely not have enough time to retaliate and reposition herself, which would lead to this attack connecting fully, as Meian expected. If Amaya opened space between them, Meian would sheath back his sword, keeping ready for the next exchange of blows. No matter what happened, she would also likely notice, when Meian would unsheathe his sword, that the blade of his Zanpakutou was now bathing in a blue light, as if reiatsu was constantly flowing through it.

Reiatsu: 1725/2000 (-200 release, -50 shunpo, -25 Byakurai)

Shikai post count: 1/10

When Meian gave her the chance to release, Amaya really seemed to ponder through it. It seemingly wasn’t something she wanted to do now, but since Meian had released for security concerns, not releasing her own Zanpakutou could lead to disastrous events later. Having no answers yet, Meian simply held his stance; attacking while the other isn’t ready was not his style of fighting, he had too much pride for that. After a small moment, Amaya had likely came to the same conclusion as him, since the next words he heard were not an answer to what he had said, but rather directly her release phrase. ”Design, Hibiki.”

Her Zanpakuto, which was up to now simply white cloth wrapped around both of her arms, erupted in a flash of white reiatsu. The reiatsu then gathered inside of two orbs at each side of Amaya’s body, which grew in size until they reached around some meters of diameter. When both spheres of energy merged to become one, it suddenly condensed to form what seemed to be a cylinder on her back. Finally, the reiatsu that was still covering the cylinder vanished to show a big roll of cloth tied diagonally to her back. Wait, isn’t that weapon almost useless in battle now?

Of course, Meian knew, though, that it was very unlikely her Zanpakutou became useless for fighting in its released state. From his time at the Academy, Meian had learned that all Zanpakutou, even the weakest among all, was born with a special ability within it. Amaya surely had such an ability, which meant that he could not overlook her weapon from now on. Since he knew that she was going in Squad 4, Meian was sure that her ability had something to do with healing, but his lack of information prevented him from deducing any further; if he had to guess her ability right now, he would likely have thought of a mummifying kind of ability.

However, Amaya’s next actions gave some precious information to Meian about her abilities. As he kept a careful eye on her, Meian quickly noticed a section of the cloth attached to her back come out from the rest of the roll. The section had a strange design on it, resembling a bunch of eyes. Soon after, Amaya’s senses, which Meian had access to, started to send weird information; her senses now had a second perspective, a 360° field of view centered on the location of the cloth she had taken out. This second perspective didn’t last long, but it lasted just enough time for Meian to get a glimpse of Amaya’s back, which momentarily broke his concentration. What distracted him, though, wasn’t what one would have thought; since his very first day in the Academy, Meian had been fascinated by Amaya’s fox tail and ears, enough that it caused him some problems when he first met her, and now, he had an opportunity to look at them without any restraint or fear for the first time.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long that the cloth wrapped on Amaya and removed this second perspective. The view Meian had now was simply a 360° sight all around Amaya, which would likely prevent any kind of rear attack in their fight. Furthermore, even though he didn’t knew much about this technique, the enhanced senses information that Meian received compared to some seconds ago highly suggested that she would become much harder to take off-guard now. Even though I know more about this ability than I should, it will likely still be hard to deal with… This ability had also changed Amaya’s clothing, which were not the Academy uniform as before, but rather black jeans with a black t-shirt.

Now that she was entirely ready, Amaya took back a stance for battle. However, her stance had highly changed compared to the one she previously used in this fight. Both arms were in a position clearly meant for battle, with her right arm kept in front, the fist at an adequate height for striking the head, and her left arm remaining close to her torso. Her legs were wide, which meant this stance had much more stability than the previous one. In fact, the position of her legs could have been compared to Meian’s own leg position. If he had knew more about hand-to-hand combat, Meian would have recognized this to be the stance for Karate, but he lacked such knowledge and, as such, could only deduce the most basic things about this style. ”Well, thanks for warning me Meian! I’m good now.” Meian was relieved by this sentence; the confidence behind her tone of voice convinced him that she didn’t know anything about his ability yet.

Not long after she was ready, Meian had engaged his first move. He had shunpoed right in front of her and lifted his left hand, casting a Kido at point-blank range. ”Hado…” However, Amaya’s incredibly high awareness allowed her to react much faster than Meian had anticipated, and her hand-to-hand fighting style made her get one step closer to him, entering his safe-zone and getting out of the Kido’s range of attack at the same time. Meian had planned a sword slash in whichever direction she would dodge to, but that was not a possibility anymore; she was too close for that, and anyway, his focus was now on preventing a retaliation.

As soon as she got out of where the technique was aiming, Amaya quickly took the opportunity to counterattack. In a swift movement, Amaya’s right arm took grasp around Meian’s left arm, holding it in place to prevent him from aiming his Kido back at her. However, although Meian’s instincts were a bit lower than Amaya, his reaction time was still good enough to understand that his spell would now be useless, which led him to stop its incantation mid-way. ”… numb-“ Amaya’s movement sure was hindering, but it wasn’t the true counterattack, the threat that Meian had to fear.

While her right arm locked Meian’s left arm in place, her left arm was moving for a strike. Since Meian could see through Amaya’s 360° vision, he spotted the incoming blow almost instantly, and managed to react to it quite quickly. Meian instinctively reacted to this attack like he had been taught to in his previous training. Since his right hand was still on Kaimamiru’s grip, he pushed the whole sword backward so that he could give solid strikes with his scabbard, and then he started to rotate his body counter-clockwise. This sudden rotation placed Amaya’s right arm, which was still holding his left arm, in an awkward position, a position that would throw her off-balance by the movement if she kept holding him.

Once Meian’s back would be facing Amaya, his scabbard would impact the ribs on her left side at the same time Amaya’s attack would connect on Meian. Of course, this movement was not meant to block her attack, since Meian had too little time to get in a good defensive position; it was rather a preventive attack. If she wanted to strike him no matter what, Meian would have no way to defend against it, but she would get hit by his blow too. On the other hand, if she wanted to block his attack, she would have no choice but to stop her own strike to do so. Either way, the result would not be satisfying for Meian; to think that he had been pushed so far as to rely on a preventive attack to ensure his safety!

No matter which decision she took, when Amaya opened distance between them, Meian did not attack in any way. He knew that her 360° field of view would allow her to spot any kind of attack he would throw at her, and her reaction time was more than enough to react to them in time. If Meian wanted to get through this defense, he knew he would need some time to think of a plan. As such, while Amaya took back her Karate-style stance of battle, Meian pulled back even further to get the time to think; since Amaya seemed to wait for him to attack, he knew that she was keeping a defensive stance, and that would allow him to prepare for his next onslaught.

While keeping an eye on Amaya to prevent any kind of trickery, Meian started to think about everything he saw so far, and what he should do from now on. As of now, Amaya had proven to be a fearsome opponent; she had managed to almost get a blow not once, but twice, she had shown to have a great defensive ability when in shikai and, furthermore, most of her shikai’s ability was likely still unknown to Meian. On the other hand, Meian had kept the initiative for most of the battle since she wasn’t attacking, and he had managed to keep his release’s strength entirely hidden from Amaya up to now. Things aren’t out of control, but as long as she won’t attack, I can only hope that her defense will have a flaw at some point.

If Meian wanted to win this fight, he would need to aim for any opportunity that would occur. Luckily for him, the full extent of his shikai was still entirely hidden, which would allow him to create a gap in her defense when he would gain the opportunity to do so, and that gave him the advantage for now. He was also convinced, because of the squad she had been assigned to, that Amaya had some sort of way to heal injuries in her released state; to prevent him from having a bad surprise later, he would need to force her into using this skill and find a way to counter it after that. As such, Meian’s goal was simple; using his release to land the final blow, and prevent any form of recovery.

To reach this goal, however, was not an easy task. How can I push her into using her ability without revealing mine in the process? If Meian wanted to learn more about her way of healing, it was logical that he would need to harm her in some way. Unfortunately, his only way of wounding her was to breach her defense, and to do so, he would need to take advantage of her counterattacks. From this point onward, there would be no fallback from battle until his goal would be achieved; Meian would use the initiative he had been given to its full potential.

After all these mental reflections, Meian was ready for the incoming clashes with Amaya. His first offensive move was a shunpo on Amaya’s left side, between the 7th and 8th hour, which would place him toward her back, with her released Zanpakutou in front of him. Even though he didn’t knew much about martial arts, Meian had realised, because of his skills in battle analysis, that this location was a blind spot in her fighting stance. Of course, since she had a field of view that covered everywhere around her, this location wouldn’t be blind anymore, but it placed him, at the very least, somewhere where she would have a hard time dealing with him; her right arm was out of range except for elbow strikes, and her three remaining limbs were not in a great position either for an effective reaction.

As soon as he got there, Meian quickly gave a pommel strike on Amaya’s back without unsheathing his sword fully. This attack was different from the one she had countered previously; while the previous one was slow because it required the name’s incantation, this attack is, on the contrary, probably the fastest in Meian’s arsenal since it require simply to unsheathe the sword from some centimeters in a swift movement, and it does not, on the opposite of the previous Byakurai, have a minimal range. Fortunately for Amaya, this pommel strike lacked the required space to accelerate fully, which meant it would likely not cause much more damage than a basic bruise, but it would be incredibly hard to defend against and Meian hoped it would encourage her to use and reveal her healing methods.

However, on the contrary of his previous attack, Meian’s concentration was not focused on attacking this time, but rather on defending. Although he wasn’t sure if she would have the time for it before his blow made contact, he was expecting some sort of counterattack from Amaya, and was in fact waiting for it. He was keeping focused for any movement her limbs may initiate, and he was prepared to shunpo away if her Zanpakutou had any way of attacking him directly. His left hand was on his scabbard, his right hand on his Zanpakutou’s grip, and he was patiently waiting for his prey to make her own move.

Reiatsu 1700/2000 (+25 cancelled Byakurai, -50 shunpo)

Shikai: 2/10

Music

Meian’s counter to Amaya’s own worked well enough. Even though Amaya’s instincts right now were something that few could match, the speed at which Meian had changed his plan of attack was simply too abrupt. Luckily for her, Meian wasn’t the only one with training to fall back on. As Meian tried to pull her off balance, Amaya simply let go. On a subconscious level she was able to understand that if he was spinning that way, he was altering the line of fire enough that her defense was no longer needed. Thanks to this, Amaya was not pulled off balance, but she also couldn’t really do too much about the incoming strike. Despite both fighter’s best efforts, the end result was a mutual hit.

Amaya’s elbow caught Meian’s side, and Meian’s scabbard struck Amaya. Neither blow was exceptionally strong. Both possessed only human levels of strength. Meian was stronger though, so the damage he took was minimal. A bit of a bruise at worst. Amaya was the weaker of the two, and she had been struck with a weapon. Despite those factors being against her, she came away from Meian’s attack virtually unscathed. There would be a little bit of bruising later, but it was nothing serious. The reason she was able to take such little damage was simple: her new outfit was made of Reikiji. All Reikiji is incredibly durable. Wearing an outfit made of this fabric is often just as good as wearing a suit of armor. Even so, most Reikiji has no special ability for force distribution, so some of the force would still impact the medic.

After each landed a blow on the other, Amaya proceeded to take a few steps past Meian. She then turned to face him, still in a defensive stance. Only a moment after she had turned to face her classmate, he vanished with a step of Shunpo. The samurai appeared behind Amaya and delivered a swift pommel strike towards her back. An attack with such a short range of motion at such a fast speed was far beyond what Amaya could manage to defend against with her arms. The positioning of Meian’s strike appeared to guarantee him a hit, but his lack of knowledge about Amaya’s zanpakuto came back to haunt him here.

Just because Amaya can’t defend against a strike with her arms, doesn’t mean she’s defenseless. It was in this instant that Meian came face to face with Amaya’s primary method of defense, Tattersall. Another sheet of Reikiji had emerged from the roll on the medic’s back. This sheet was different than the first one. Rather than eyes, it was decorated with a grid made of various shades of blue. Instead of wrapping itself around Amaya, a six foot by six foot sheet simply floated in the space between the two Shinigami, having spun off the roll almost instantly. Meian’s pommel strike harmlessly impacted this sheet. Such a low level attack couldn’t damage any Reikiji, let alone Tattersall. It would either take a very strong energy blast, or something with a cutting edge and a far greater reiatsu strength than Amaya’s own to try and defeat Tattersall.

Because of Kaimamiru’s ability, Amaya was now at an informational disadvantage, even if she didn’t know it. The sheet of Tattersall between the two fighters blocked her vision of Meian, but Meian still had perfect awareness. This was the one major weakness of The Eye. It couldn’t see through things. This would be remedied momentarily, as Amaya was not done creating Reikiji just yet. A third sheet shot out from Hibiki. Again, it was a sheet of The Eye. Continuing the recent trend, this sheet did not wrap around Amaya. Instead, it split itself into 36 units, each exactly a square foot in size.

These sections of Reikiji flew throughout the courtyard, extending Amaya’s awareness even further. Now she had a massive sensory network that combined to give her a perfect understanding of everything that would happen in the courtyard. She would see everything that transpired from several angles at once. It was an odd experience if you weren’t used to it. A single 360 degree viewpoint is easy enough to adjust to, but this sensation was far more bizarre. It was almost as if you were watching in third-person, but some corner of your mind was still looking through your eyes. A normal human might even mistake it for an out of body experience. As useful as this was for Amaya, Kaimamiru fed all this information right back to Meian. They were still on even footing.

Fast though the Reikiji might be, it could only move at a speed equal to Amaya’s reiatsu strength: 200. That meant it wasn’t in fully in place before her counterattack occurred. Even while the pieces of The Eye were still scattering, the Tattersall began to tear itself into small squares as well. The first division was the most noticeable though. A single cut appeared to cut the sheet in half horizontally. As this cut formed, Amaya’s arm followed. Her strike was a simple spinning backfist, aimed for where her instincts told her Meian’s head should be. Against anyone else, this attack would’ve basically been guaranteed to hit, but Meian’s ability allowed him to know the blow was coming. Considering his impressive reaction times and speed, it was unlikely this attack would do anything.

Even if that attack didn’t hit, it was okay. That attack was merely a diversion anyway. Amaya expected it to hit nonetheless, simply because she hadn’t deduced Meian’s ability yet. Her follow-up strike was delivered as her left arm came around to point at Meian’s torso. Immediately following the backfist, a mentally casted Byakurai bolted towards her classmate’s chest from her left hand. Almost the same instant that this shot was fired, the Tattersall had split just far enough to allow the bolt through. Against a normal opponent, a reaction at this distance would be almost impossible, but Meian would have seen the attack coming from the moment it was fired. Even so, that wasn’t a ton of time to react. Would he make it in time, or would the point-blank hado be fast enough?

Reiatsu: 1050/1500
-25 for Byakurai

Shikai: 2/10

Sheets Active:
2 The Eye (1 Binding and 36 free-floating pieces scattered throughout the battlefield)
1 Tattersall (36 free-floating pieces right between the two fighters)

Music: Play it somewhat quietly for best effect

Impossible. Meian’s reaction was simply too fast, too perfect. Even though he was faster than Amaya, dodging both of those attacks so flawlessly was simply beyond what normal Shinigami could accomplish. There was only one explanation possible. His release had to have something to do with his defensive skill. Two possibilities occurred to Amaya. The first was that his release simply amplified his natural instinctive fighting ability. Even if that was the case, it was still hard to believe he was able to dodge both attacks perfectly. The distance he had vision of the attacks for was so small that his reactions would have to be pushing the boundaries of what his body was even capable of processing.

The more likely alternative was that Kaimamiru had some sort of sensory ability. Maybe it allowed him to see from other viewpoints like The Eye did. Perhaps it gave him x-ray vision. Maybe it let him read minds? There were still several possibilities, but the details no longer mattered much. As long as Amaya knew he had some sort of sensory ability, she could work around it. All she needed to do was create a situation where sensory prowess didn’t matter at all. Though, if his power was mind-reading Amaya was at a disadvantage. She was planning excessively and Meian would know exactly what to do to beat that plan. If he was a mind-reader, this would reveal it at least.

This plan hinged around two crucial details. First, Meian’s zanpakuto did not seem to be offensive in nature. He hadn’t used any special attacks since releasing. He’d been in striking range of Amaya several times. If he had special attacks, he would have used one by now. The second key assumption was that Meian was not going to use ranged attacks. Thus far he had only attacked in melee. It was likely that Meian had some ranged techniques in his arsenal, but he seemed to favor the melee approach, especially with the aid of Shunpo. He had a speed advantage, so his choice to stay in melee as much as possible wasn’t surprising. If these assumptions held true, there was a very slim chance that Meian would escape this next encounter without some kind of wound.

Back in the fight, Meian’s Shunpo had taken him out of the path of Amaya’s Byakurai. Rather than attacking, she had used that time (as well as whatever time Meian spent coming up with his own plan) to devise a plan of her own. That plan was made a bit riskier when the other Shinigami cast Kyakko, but it wasn’t anything that Amaya couldn’t deal with. As soon as Meian cast Kyakko, Amaya began moving pieces of Reikiji to counter-act whatever plan Meian might have. All of The Eye began to flood together, eventually forming a circle on the ground 20 feet to her right. Due to The Eye’s speed, it would take a moment for that preparation to be complete.

It appeared that Meian sensed an opportunity. Even if he was invisible, the distinct wooshing noise of a Shunpo echoed through the courtyard. Based on Meian’s previous movements, he was most likely going to appear right next to Amaya. If Amaya was a bit faster she would have had her trap ready right there, but she simply wasn’t fast enough to have everything set at that moment. Luckily for her, she knew that in advance. Meian’s speed was a force to be reckoned with, but so was Amaya’s analytical skill. Rather than trying to counter Meian right then and being outmatched, Amaya just used a Shunpo of her own a split-second after her classmate did.

As she took that step, she also dispelled the sheet of Tattersall that had been circling around her. She could form another one easily, and the sheet moved far slower than her Shunpo did. It was entirely possible that she would regret that action in a moment, but right then it was the correct choice. Had she not dispelled it, it would have been more difficult to Shunpo out of the way. Even worse, Meian would have been able to use Haihin on the free-floating Tattersall, restricting her next release ability from working. Amaya wasn’t aware of Meian’s intention to use Haihin, but the first reason was enough for her to dispel the Tattersall. She could defend herself against a head-on attack easily enough with this coming plan, and an attack from the rear could be defended against with a fresh sheet of Tattersall.

That step of Shunpo took her safely out of range of Meian’s attack. She landed in the middle of the circle she had made with The Eye. This completed the preparation she needed for her trap. She could still sense where Meian was for the most part, but it was a fuzzy feeling. With this setup she could take full advantage of The Eye’s power. It relayed information from all five senses at once. Usually the feedback was dulled with the exception of sight. The other senses rarely provided anything useful. This time, they did. Amaya was now fully tuned into all five normal senses of The Eye. She was also paying a bit of attention to the energy sensing part of it, but that sense always tended to blend together with her natural sense.

With this setup complete Amaya would know the second Meian appeared near her. The circle had a radius of about five feet in every direction. The other Shinigami would be hard pressed to get into melee range without stepping in to this circle. As soon as Amaya had arrived in the circle she began charging the important part of the trap: Hado Number 33: Sokatsui. Of couse she prepared it via mental incantation; there was no reason not to. If Meian made the mistake of closing the gap he would meet a fireball to the face. If he chose to take a second to think through his actions then his energy sensory would likely notice the fluctuation in Amaya’s reiatsu. The medic would be perfectly happy if this created a stalemate though. As a defensive fighter, she was more than happy to sit back and banter if that’s what it came to.

Reiatsu: 1000/1500
-50 for Shunpo

Shikai: 3/10

Sheets Active:
2 The Eye (1 Binding at 36-pieces arranged in a five foot circle on the ground around Amaya)

Music Things!

Amaya had laid in wait for Meian to make a move, but he still had tricks up his sleeve that the kitsune didn’t see coming. The true power of Kamimaru was not the sensory abilities that had been showcased with Meian’s nearly perfect reactions thus far. What made this zanpakuto so fearsome was the ability it had just demonstrated, Gyakuten. The instant Meian had spoken that one word, most of Amaya’s sensory information had simply vanished. The only senses she still had were sight and smell. Sight was largely useless at this moment because of Meian’s Kyakko. Amaya’s sense of smell, amplified by The Eye, was enough to give a decent indicator for where Meian was, but only if he was standing still. If he was moving rapidly then Amaya’s sense of smell simply wasn’t sharp enough to pick him up before he moved on.

Even with this lack of sensory information, Amaya still had a defense that would have worked perfectly in this situation. The only reason it didn’t work is because her brain was too busy trying to cope with the instantaneous loss of four of her senses. Contrary to some people’s belief, adjusting to losing four senses was not an easy task. Even with all of Amaya’s instinct and analytical abilities her body had simply gone into shock. Any time that much information is added or subtracted it overwhelms the central and peripheral nervous systems completely. One or two senses… that’s tolerable. A loss of four senses was just too much for Amaya’s system to take.

The Sokatsui that she had been charging was impossible to stay concentrated on. As skilled in Kido as Amaya was, holding charged up reiatsu together while her entire nervous system was in shock wasn’t happening. Amaya barely even registered the fact that she had been struck by Meian. The blow to her legs was strong enough to drop her down to her hands and knees, but not because of pain. The only reason she went down was because her subconscious couldn’t maintain her balance against Meian’s attack. The physical force of the blow wasn’t completely negligible, but like before, the medic’s bindings were durable enough that the force of the blow was lessened. Had Meian been using the sharp side of his blade then he may well have cut through the bindings and caused a serious injury, but that was not the case. Because Meian was using the dull side of his zanpakuto, the damage amounted to nothing more than some bruising.

It took Amaya a moment to mentally recover from what Meian had just done with Gyakuten. Once her mind had caught up, she prepared to counterattack right away. At this point, Meian might well have assumed he won since Amaya wasn’t rising. In reality, she was just setting a trap. Even with only a sense of smell to rely on, her enhanced senses were enough to figure out exactly where her opponent was after a few seconds of him standing relatively still. This was made even easier by the fact that he had already attacked Amaya. Despite the fact that Amaya had no sense of touch, it was easy enough to figure out which general area the attack had come from. She had fallen in one direction, and the laws of physics mean that Meian should be on the side opposite from where she fell.

As soon as Amaya had located her opponent, she sprung her plan. Even if Meian had the sensory advantage right now, he had made a large mistake by walking into Amaya’s zone of influence. All at once the pieces of The Eye rocketed upwards and outwards from the circle they were in. Its speed was still only 250, making it slower than Meian’s own movements. However, without a sense of touch to work with, reacting to the movements of the Reikiji would prove to be challenging for this Shinigami. If he failed to move out of their path fast enough, the sheets would simply toss him into the air and make him do the splits as they went on their merry way into the sky.

Second Music. Things are about to get good!

In the same instant that The Eye upset Meian’s footing, Amaya vanished in a step of Shunpo. It was paramount that she had a distraction to pull this off. Her friend was faster than she was by a good margin. If he was allowed to follow immediately after her, she wouldn’t be able to create any distance. The hope had been that pulling the rug out from under Meian would force him to Shunpo away in fear of retaliation from Amaya. Such a reaction was even more likely than Amaya had anticipated for two reasons. First, Meian currently had no energy sensing ability. He did not know that Amaya was no longer holding on to the reiatsu to perform a Sokatsui. Secondly, Meian’s mind was already defensive. He was already thinking about using Shunpo to escape. Even if Amaya didn’t know those things, it meant her plan had a relatively high chance of success.

That step took Amaya a great deal farther away from her opponent than she had been at any point during the fight. She had moved all the way to the wall around the courtyard that the fight had been raging in. Even though she had stepped around a hundred meters away, it wasn’t enough time for the medic to comfortably prepare an incantation. Despite her previous plan having failed, her heart was still set on using Sokatsui. The difference from before was not which spell to use, but how to use it. This was simply going to be a demonstration of raw power. Even without an incantation, Amaya was the type of Shinigami who could still bring out the maximum power of a spell.

”Hado number thirty-three: Sokatsui!” Those words resonated throughout the courtyard, even if neither of the combatants could hear them. They were announced with enough authority that anyone else who happened to be in earshot was aware of how serious the kitsune had gotten. Amaya had opted not to use a mental incantation this time because she had no desire to be sneaky. She knew this spell would pack a good deal of destructive power, and she didn’t want her friend to be hit by it. She wasn’t about to hold back because of that fear, but she did still try to warn Meian to dodge. Despite her efforts, it was likely to fall on deaf ears. Even as those words echoed throughout the battlefield, the reason for the warning was made apparent.

Two sheets of pinstripes had simultaneously emerged from the Zanpakuto on Amaya’s back. These black-striped sheets were the third variation of Reikiji Meian had seen in this battle. As strong as The Eye and Tattersall are for defense, Pinstripes is that strong for offense and then some. Each sheet of Pinstripes added another layer of reiatsu strength onto any Kido that Amaya sent through it. With two sheets having swung in front of Amaya that meant this Sokatsui had 750 reiatsu strength behind it. The resulting wave of fire swept over the entirety of the courtyard. It was strong enough that Meian would suffer painful burns if he was caught by it, but the attack lacked the power to destroy the walls and spill out into the rest of Seireitei.

The blast of fire was so immense it would be very challenging for Meian to avoid it. The only major blind spots on this attack were the corners of the courtyard on the wall closest to Amaya. Unfortunately for the other Shinigami, getting to those safe zones likely meant going straight through the inferno. The sky was also an option, but this blast seemed to stretch to the heavens. Getting high enough to avoid the attack would require an impressive reaction time and feat of speed on Meian’s part. Unless he had changed what senses were available to the combatants, the lack of warning for Meian could prove to be disastrous. This sensory Shinigami would have to pull off something truly impressive to come away from this attack unscathed.

Regardless of whether or not the Sokatsui ended up hitting, it still provided Amaya with some useful utility. If there was one thing large scale Kido was good for, it was causing explosions. When dealing with anime physics, a dust cloud always follows a giant explosion. Such was the ultimate aftermath of Amaya’s blast of Kido. Once the cloud of dust had formed, Amaya hopped into it. At that same moment, her fragments of The Eye descended into the debris. Like this, Amaya’s enhanced senses could sniff out Meian, and she might even be able to see him due to the displacement of the dust. Should other senses be brought online, the sense of touch could allow her to find Meian if a piece of The Eye ran into him. Taste wasn’t particularly useful, but energy sensory could locate Meian and her animalistic hearing might be able to hear her opponent’s footsteps.

Fragments of The Eye were set to randomly sweep through the dust cloud, and Amaya was slowly walking deeper into the cloud. If Meian remained passive, they would find him eventually. Even without a sense of touch, if a sheet ran into something in that cloud, Amaya would eventually notice it wasn’t moving. On the other hand, all Meian would see through Amaya’s vision was the inside of the dust cloud. Continuing to rely on a sense of vision would be unlikely to help either Shinigami until the dust could be removed from the battle. Even with the extra sight granted by The Eye, making sense off all this chaotic information was simply asking too much of these inexperienced fighters.

How would Meian deal with this newest series of developments?

Reiatsu: 850/1500
-50 for Shunpo
-100 for Sokatsui

Shikai: 4/10

Sheets Active: 2 Pinstripe Sheets (currently floating above the courtyard wall)
2 The Eye Sheets (1 Binding, 36 pieces searching the dust cloud)