The Big Gay [ JT | R | Hibiki | Ludwig ]

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

((Training for CTP.))

Another day, another person to go get to know. Kamikawa Hibiki, medic of Squad Four had been on a quest of sorts. He had been missing in action for several years, and had a lot of new faces to meet in Soul Society. There were a host of new Captains and a plethora of seated officers below them that he didn’t know. Back in his prime, Hibiki knew all of them, and was actually one of the longest sitting officers in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, having been around since the days of Azeru Cho. Nowadays though, most people had no clue who he even was, and he had less of a reputation, and more of a footnote in history books.

There were a lot of faces around that he recognized to be sure. He needed to visit Kaen, Kyomei, and others sooner or later, but he wanted to be able to face them when he was at least back in good enough shape to bring Hitsu out. Sure, with some of them, he could share some inside knowledge and prove who he was, but having his power back up to snuff was certainly the easiest way. And so he had set out to meet the other people who shared his strengths in Soul Society, but had never met before. He had already been to see Masaaki Kenji over in Squad Three, and this time he decided he was ready to pay a visit to his first Captain.

Ludwig Verrlicht. He was a man that Hibiki had heard a good deal about in just a few short weeks since he had returned to active duty. Apparently this man had rapidly become recognized as one of the most powerful Shinigami to ever live. Based on the rumors that he had heard, Ludwig was quite possibly on the level of some of Soul Society’s strongest. Perhaps he could even give men like Okusa and Enma a run for their money if the rumor mill was to be believed. What wasn’t rumor was that Ludwig had the power to cast high level Kido, and that was the kind of training that Hibiki needed. If he wanted to get yelled at do go do situps he could always go visit Kaen.

Given that he was off to go see a Captain, Hibiki had ensured he was dressed up to the nines. Fashion was the literal essence of his soul. His zanpakuto, though it currently slumbered, produced textiles for crying out loud. Whereas some people would ensure that their Shihakusho was pressed and perfect, he wore far more expressive clothing instead. He wore a pair of dark washed jeans with matched navy shoes on his lower half, and his upper half was hidden behind a white t-shirt and a patterned orange and blue Happi coat. Honestly the fit was a bit of Asian Dadcore, but it was both comfortable and good looking on him.

Dressed as such, he had made his way to the barracks that Captain Ludwig Verrlicht called home. Or maybe he didn’t live there. Maybe he just worked there. Hibiki didn’t know. Either way, he made his way over to the Captain’s office and knocked on the door before he let himself in. Sure, it was a little presumptuous, but that’s the kind of man that Hibiki was. He was self-assured to a fault. ”Good afternoon, Captain Verrlicht. My name is Kamikawa Hibiki, from Squad Four. I won’t beat around the bush. I am here to request training from you in hopes of regaining my strength by being exposed to the might of a strong Kido user such as yourself.” He bowed before the other man. ”Please take care of me!”

SPOILER: Click to show

{Outfit Reference}

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Skills}
Stats
Strength - [100{50)] Points
Speed - [90] Points
Spiritual Pressure - [50] Points
Reiatsu Strength - [90(135)] Points
Light Aura - [100] Points
Dark Aura - [0] Points
Instinct - [50] Points
Senses [100(50)] Points
Energy sensory - [0] Points
Healing Expertise - [100(150)] Points
Total SP: [580] Points

Skills

• [Kido] {1}
  
• [Battle Analysis] {1}
  
• [Hakuda] {1}
  
• [Mental Incantation] {1}
  
• [Calm Mind] {1}
  
• [Pain Tolerance] {1}

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Training for TTP

Today’s the day. Work’s done. I’ve made some good progress on my artwork and I finished a recent trip to the human world. It’s time to treat myself a bit.~ Ludwig smiled to himself as he opened the bottom drawer to his desk. In it were the goodies he’d snuck into the Soul Society from his visit to the human world. Or at this point more accurately his sparring session with Yoko. This wasn’t the first time since he’d returned he’d thought on Yoko and the entire event that happened at UE’s secret training ground. And certainly it wasn’t going to be the last especially if his plans had anything to say about it. But that was to be seen as time progressed given he had more work to do in a lot of area’s. Hell he still had to plan a small get together with Himitsu given there’d been a poll done about who was the “strongest” captain. Neither made the #1 position but apparently Himitsu took 2nd and somehow he’d taken the 3rd spot. It still blew his mind, to think he wasn’t very long into his captaincy and he’d been labelled as such. It was flattering for certain but honestly he was glad for one thing that came from it. The morale boost.

Those at squad 13 had been severely depressed for as long as Ludwig could remember. Since their last captain had been killed it was to be expected. Even Ludwig had to admit the lack of recovery throughout his process of getting to vice captain had been concerning however. His rise to captaincy had started to make things a bit better but even with it the morale overall was shit. But since the display with Himitsu where his squad watched him keep up with another well known captain, his family oriented organization of his squad, and just a number of smaller quality of life changes things had been on the rise. Now him being labelled as the 3rd strongest? Things were almost back to what “normal” should be with the morale damn near physical given the squads general consensus. If they could get a few more seated officers the final puzzle pieces would fall into place and then he could start working on other projects outside his squad.

“Enough of that mind. It’s time to relax and focus on these sweets I’m going to take devour. Lord knows there’s nothing quite like these sour candies, especially warheads.” Without hesitation Ludwig popped in 5 of the hard candies, all of which were lemon flavored. And most importantly what he felt were the most sour of them all. Aside from maybe green apple. It was always a debate for him. But at this point Ludwig didn’t care, hell he didn’t even take note that someone had knocked on the door. He was in heaven with his sugar high, quite literally looking like a kid in a candy store. He may have even squealed just a bit in the overpowering sour taste, not that he’d ever admit it. But as fate would have it he’d never have to, nor would he ever live it down, most likely, as a certain ex-captain had made his presence known and had currently seen him in his entire theatrical, or at least the most embarrassing part where he acted like a female high schooler.

”Good afternoon, Captain Verrlicht. My name is Kamikawa Hibiki, from Squad Four. I won’t beat around the bush. I am here to request training from you in hopes of regaining my strength by being exposed to the might of a strong Kido user such as yourself. Please take care of me!” These words finally clicked a mechanism inside Ludwig’s mind that someone had entered. His blood froze and he swore his entire body turned blue in fear that he hadn’t made up the sound of another speaking to him. Looking towards the door his fears were proven correct as he saw none other than Hibiki standing there, watching him. Had Ludwig not been consuming 5 hard candies that would probably kill him if he swallowed them he’d have crushed them into oblivion and acted like nothing happened. Sadly, hard candies were not so forgiving and Ludwig did in fact like his teeth enough not to crush them. So he just slowly put away his bag of warheads, cleaned up his desk space of their wrappers and tried to speak as clearly as possible despite the absolutely massive blush that ran across his face. He may as well have turned the color of his fair out of sheer embarrassment.

Mentally Ludwig flipped shit for a moment before making a second mental representation to bitch slap himself back together again. And once his mind was back into some semblance of order he coughed more for himself and tried to calm himself down enough so his voice wouldn’t give way. “G-good Afternoon Hibiki. Forgive the uhh… scene I didn’t hear you coming in, I didn’t even hear you knock honestly.” He coughed again and now with his candies considerably smaller in size gulped all of them down so he could speak normally and not gargled nonsense. In the meantime another point clicked, he mentioned regaining his power. An odd choice of words considering he hadn’t heard of anyone who had lost their powers. “Hibiki, not to talk to a medic as though they don’t know their job, but doesn’t restoration of spiritual abilities or restoration of one’s self fall under squad 4’s duties? Unless I’m misunderstanding your intention I don’t think I have any feasible methods of helping to restore your abilities. On top of that if your looking for kido exposure shouldn’t you look towards squad 5 or Captain Himitsu? He certainly has a far better grasp on kido than I could ever hope to impart towards you. Heh, believe it or not but I’m still learning about Kido just as you are. I just happen to have the ability to use some of the higher levels. Nothing out of the ordinary for those that train to use kido.”

Perhaps Ludwig was being a bit modest but as far as he was concerned he truly felt he wasn’t knowledgeable enough to really teach one about kido or help them learn them. At best he might be able to train someone about how to find kido that complimented their particular style of fighting but even Ludwig had to admit he was only starting to get the hang of that also. He’d had to go through some of the kido he’d known recently and swap out less effective kido for newer ones that he’d looked over prior. Beyond that with restoration of one’s abilities Ludwig was honestly stumped. He’d never heard of someone losing their abilities, merely having them withheld because their spirit had denied them access to their power. And that was more a case of figuring things out between the two than training. As much as Ludwig was willing to help out someone in need he really wasn’t certain what he could do that others couldn’t do better in their current position. Especially for such a young shinigami in his career. Or at least that’s what Ludwig thought given he hadn’t even held a seat yet and Ludwig had no prior knowledge of Hibiki so as far as he was concerned he’d just had a newly made shinigami come into his office and ask him for help. Nothing made sense and unless Hibiki explained the situation more Ludwig would have to direct him to return to his squad or another that may be able to aid him. 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Stats and Skills }


Stats:

Base — Sealed — Released

Strength: 100 — 25 — 100

Speed: 300 — 75 — 300

Reiatsu Strength: 400 — 400 — 1400

Spiritual Pressure: 300 — 300 — 1050

Instinct: 300 — 300 — 600

Senses: 100 — 25 — 100

Energy sense: 100 — 25 — 100

Healing expertise: 0 — 0 — 0

Light: 75

Dark: 25



Skills:

Strength of Will- 3

Weapon: Cartoon Drawings- 3

Battle Analysis- 2

Learning- 3

Mental Incantation- 2

Damage Recovery- 2

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

Ah, well that was a shame, but a kinda expected result. Well, him cramming candy into his mouth was not so expected, but him initially refusing to train Hibiki was within expectations. The medic was obviously imposing on the Captain, and it was only because of his self-centered nature that he had little problem doing so. At the end of the day, it looked like he hadn’t explained his situation well enough, as he had received the usual question. Why couldn’t Squad Four heal him? He had asked that question himself a number of times, and the answer was a simple one. There was nothing actually wrong with him as far as anyone could tell.

However, he hadn’t explained his entire medical history in depth. Time for him to share that with yet another person. ”My condition isn’t one that can be healed. The best way to think of it is the same as someone who came out of a coma after years. After all that inactivity, their muscles have atrophied to the point where they need physical therapy and lots of exercise to regain their strength. My current situation is much the same, except it primarily affects my spiritual capabilities.” Hopefully that would be enough to help him to understand why Squad Four couldn’t just heal him right up. He didn’t really feel like mentioning the fact that they hardly had any worthwhile healers in the Squad either.

Then there was the issue of why we had asked Ludwig in particular. ”As for why I’ve come to you, and not Captain Kasumi’Oji, it’s less a question of who and more the question of when. Our current theory in Squad Four is working off of the same model as we would use for physical therapy. A range of exercises is required both there and here. In order to not be too much of a burden on any one individual, my request is just for a small slice of time from as many talented Kido users as I can get one from. And there’s no need to be modest. Anyone who can cast Kido in the eighties and nineties is among the best in Soul Society.”

He had answered the immediate objections that the Captain had, yes, but perhaps that wasn’t enough. Perhaps he needed convincing that this was worth his time? With his thoughts on that topic, the medic continued to speak. ”I understand that your time is valuable, and would be more than happy to compensate you for your time. I haven’t munch in the way of money at the moment, but I suspect that wouldn’t do much for you given a Captain’s salary anyway. If you need anything patched or mended, or perhaps a new outfit, I do run a shop out in the Rukongai and would be more than happy to offer you a tailor made piece.”

Hibiki wasn't sure what else he could really offer the Captain. He hoped that he had been able to convince the man, but he wasn’t sure if he had been able to do so or not. There was only so much that he could do in order to get the other man to agree. If Ludwig was unreasonable and refused to help train Hibiki then that was that. What else could he possibly offer the man in order to convince him. It’s not like he was a woman or anything. Then Hibiki could just let his charisma do all the work and offer to give her a night she’d never forget. If he was already out of options, then at least he could do that, but all the Captains seemed to either be men, married, or both. C'est la vie.

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig put away his candy into his desk drawer. It was best to give Hibiki his full attention as he began to explain the situation in a manner Ludwig could understand better. Ludwig though relaxing in his chair with his left leg over the other never had his gaze waver. His full attention was on Hibiki. He didn’t even try to interrupt with a question allowing him to speak his piece with a smooth transition from one answer to the next. At the end of it all he just nodded to himself. Muscle atrophy but in spiritual form. He’d never heard of it but he hadn’t exactly looked into the medical side of things as a shinigami he’d just gone to squad 4 as necessary. If this was a possibility Ludwig needed to be extra careful with himself so that he never had to deal with this matter.

As for the man in the room who had this made him wonder just who he was. It wasn’t lost upon Ludwig that he’d all but barged into his office which meant he was either someone high up or he was just used to that in his squad. But considering the way he carefully selected his words and the tone used with them he was leaning to the latter. If anything now he had something else to look into because Hibiki had been around the block a few times to say the least. And the more he’d learn about him the easier it may be to help him out. In the meantime he was free and his own squad seemed to be handling things well enough that he could spare the time for the shinigami in front of him.

With a soft smile Ludwig would nod at Hibiki as he got up. Bringing with him a pencil and notebook just so he could take notes and hopefully figure out how best to help Hibiki out. These quickly were placed inside his inner pocket for his black haori. “I believe I understand more fully now. I’m not certain if I can truly be of some help but I’m willing to do what I can. If you’ll follow me I think I’ve a space that will not only give us some privacy but also give us the room needed for whatever we will end up doing.” Ludwig would get up, make sure his desk was in an orderly chaos and carefully move around Hibiki and a few easels he had around the room. Looking behind himself as he left the office to make sure Hibiki was following him. “Before I forget please close the door on your way out. I wouldn’t want to lose any of my art or pieces to be.”

A few minutes after he’d lead Hibiki out the building and around some of the barracks before finding his personal space he liked to train in. It was surprisingly scenic as the training ground was practically just a free space in the center of a garden. Sand placed at the edges of several bushes to give a highlight to the foliage. Walking out to the center of the grassy field of this garden Ludwig would look around before charging some reiatsu into his hand. With a quick thrust into the actual space in front of him Ludwig would bring out a doorknob and actually spawn a normal door that was commonly used in the human world. The only difference being that it had an ebony color to it and had a sleek silver knob and handle.

Waving Hibiki over he left the door open so he could join him in the section of the Dangai he’d made via his Dimension Door technique. Once Hibiki would enter he’d see that the space itself would be just as the Dangai normally looked except instead of a hallway there existed just the space he’d made. It was basically a large cul de sac in form with seemingly no roof above them. Turning around Ludwig would start cracking his knuckles and neck before returning his focus on Hibiki. “Alright so here is a training ground that will serve to ensure we have all the space and privacy one could ask for. Now I’ll admit I don’t know how I should go about training you for in particular so if you have any preferences let me know and I’ll do the best I can. Only thing I can say for here is be careful with the edges of the Dangai. Though I created this space it still follows the same rules as the normal one does.”

Ludwig would smile at him before remembering something. With his eyes lighting up a bit and a bit more goofiness added to his smile. “Just a bit of food for thought, you needn’t try to bribe me with anything next time. Though I greatly appreciate the thought behind it...However since you have I’ll have to accept the tailor made outfit. I don’t have a lot of clothes for my visits to the human world so I look forward to what you’ll make after this. All this to say let’s do our best so we each get the most out of this.”

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

Hibiki nodded along as the Captain spoke to him. Were this a few years ago, he could have been a bit more brash and forceful, but that wasn’t the case with the current situation that he found himself in. He had no authority to do anything other than ask nicely, and Ludwig didn’t seem the sort to respond well to bravado anyway. Hibiki hadn’t gotten a great read on the other man yet, but so far he didn’t have a whole lot negative to say. He definitely wasn’t in the realm of someone like Okusa, nor was he the overly cool and collected sort like Sozen. He seemed… strangely human. It was odd for sure, but perhaps the medic would get a better read on him soon.

Rather than questioning, he simply did as instructed. The door was shut behind him, and he offered only passing commentary. ”Yes, it would be a shame to see such fine works go missing.” It was flattery, yes, but it was genuine. Hibiki recognized another creative when he saw one, and he had an eye for talent. Ludwig hadn’t painted things just because he was bored. Eventually they reached the gardenesque training ground, and Hibiki remarked on it as well. Not with words in this case, but merely an impressed whistle. It wasn’t that he was unused to such luxury, having spent plenty of time at the Kuchiki manor, but he still appreciated it nonetheless.

Up until that point, everything had been vaguely within his expectations. And then Ludwig opened up a portal into the Dangai in the midst of this space and casually walked into it. That was new. Hibiki hadn’t noticed the release of a Zanpakuto, so this had to be some kind of new kido that the Captain had developed. He was modest, sure, but that was definitely a new one as far as the healer was concerned. He wasn’t aware of any other techniques quite like that, and it either meant that there had been a new development by someone else, or that Ludwig had managed to create that on his own. It looked like Hibiki had been right to go to this man after all.

Though he was unsure of any side effects it might have, Hibiki ventured into the Dangai and observed the space around him. It was oddly familiar, and yet somehow new. He put aside his appreciation for seeing the new type of kido for a moment and instead answered Ludwig’s question, but only after the other man had concluded his acceptance of the outfit. ”I’ll answer that question with another question Captain. Why do men such as myself seek power?” He’d give Ludwig a chance to provide an answer if he had one. It was as much a question to answer Ludwig’s own, eventually, as it was a chance to probe what type of man the Captain was.

”In my case, the answer is that I’m desperate. Soul Society… no. The world is full of death, and I see to cure it. You can call me an idealist, but I’ll wear that with a badge of pride. What I seek is the strength needed to save every last wounded person I come across. That power does not come easily. To find that power again, I need to push myself to the utmost limits of my capability, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I don’t intend to stop this quest until I’m strong enough to end all the suffering I see in front of me, and yes I know that quest may well be impossible. I say this not because I want you to pity my naivety, but because I want you to know the depth of my resolve.”

He took a breath and stared directly into the eyes of the Captain. ”I want to go head to head against you and experience just how much weakness I have yet to overcome. I’m not asking you to kill me or anything so foolish, but I don’t want you to hold back anything simply because you’re afraid of hurting my pride. I need to be pushed enough that I’m forced to break my limits, and I’ll take anything less than that as a personal insult.” Thought it was mostly a cinematic gesture given his lack of aptitude, he drew his zanpakuto from his sheath and settled into a Kendo stance faced towards Ludwig.

”I’ll only ask once more. Show me the kind of power that I strive for. SHOW ME THE POWER OF A CAPTAIN OF THE GOTEI THIRTEEN!"

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig watched with a small smile. Hibiki didn’t even try to hide his surprise at the fact he’d managed to manipulate the dangai and form their own private training area. Ludwig wasn’t one to just go boasting around or even try to force compliments from others however he did enjoy that look. The look of surprise that he managed to do something, let alone if it’s different or not. Just that moment of “Holy crap he managed to do something I didn’t expect.” It meant a lot to him so seeing that on Hibiki did allow Ludwig to feel at least a bit of pride in himself and his work. But putting that aside he listened to Hibiki thinking his response to his question about why he wants power. Why do men such as you seek power? Heh that’s a loaded question. There’s as many reasons that are equally important to the person asking and the person answering as to why someone would want power. However you in particular? I don’t know you well enough for this so what is your answer Hibiki?



”In my case, the answer is that I’m desperate. Soul Society… no. The world is full of death, and I see to cure it. You can call me an idealist, but I’ll wear that with a badge of pride. What I seek is the strength needed to save every last wounded person I come across. That power does not come easily. To find that power again, I need to push myself to the utmost limits of my capability, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I don’t intend to stop this quest until I’m strong enough to end all the suffering I see in front of me, and yes I know that quest may well be impossible. I say this not because I want you to pity my naivety, but because I want you to know the depth of my resolve.” Ludwig could only chuckle at the answer. Not because he didn’t think Hibiki was serious and not because he found the entire thing terribly funny. No on the contrary his goal felt like Ludwig’s goal which was to change the course of something incredibly cemented in time. A seemingly impossible task and trying to cure death? Well that was definitely up there with impossible tasks. Though his chuckling was heard his smile wasn’t disingenuous merely amused but still soft his smiles had been prior.



“Forgive me for chuckling this isn’t funny I just have a similar goal actually. Similar in how impossible it sounds however I’ll admit yours is a step above mine. Defeating Death itself. If I didn’t already have a means of doing that myself I’d tell you it's impossible. However since becoming a shinigami I’ve come to learn there’s so much potential in people from every race that if you seek something hard enough you can find the answer. The real question though is how deep is your reserve of resolve? And if your willing to make the sacrifices necessary to accomplish your goal. We’ll see that here in a moment. Given what you’ve told me I will do my best to force you to your limits and then grow past them.” Ludwig didn’t pull out his zanpakuto instead he just bowed towards Hibiki and afterwards swung his arm out horizontally. Assuming Hibiki was familiar with Sho he’d recognize that while Ludwig made it look like he was producing a shockwave he’d instead just used Sho to produce a cutting force rather than the normal push. Ludwig would proceed to make 3 more slashes, one being vertical and the other two being diagonal.



These wouldn’t be hard to dodge if it weren’t for the fact that Ludwig had fired them off in such close quarters as to force Hibiki to move to either side of air ground his way up. Regardless at 400 RS they were large enough that moving in any direction would more than likely force him to shunpo out of it. Keeping this in mind Ludwig promptly casted Sazanami with it’s incantation mentally spawning his right hand as the center for the kido. However given the nature of Sazanami Hibiki would never sense it as the reiatsu itself was too thin but once casted Ludwig wouldn’t even have to look at Hibiki to know exactly where he was. Especially considering that the radius his pulses would go would be at more than a mile long. More than enough to cover the field. At that point Ludwig would wait for Hibiki’s response to see what he’d do. He wasn’t pushing very hard yet because he was waiting for to see how Hibiki thought. What he would do to even stop something as simple as the sho cuts.



Ludwig did have one thing to be careful about however. While unreleased he needed to keep some distance or at least control the field so he could manage to physically maintain himself. Hibiki probably didn’t realize but most of Ludwig’s power was sealed by various barriers he’d produced. Without his zanpakuto spirit’s help he’d never push past them alone so for the time being he needed to analyze what Hibiki would do. How he’d handle attacks that should be stronger than his by a large margin and figure out how he’s going advance if at all. Ludwig had no intention of letting him off easy but he had to start somewhere so best slowly ramp himself up, especially if he would eventually have to release. Or worse yet end up using a high level kido too early. Neither were preferable yet as his focus was pushing not breaking the other.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}-100 for 4 sho's
-25 for Sazanami

125 total

3000-125= 2875 reiatsu

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

Well shit. Hibiki had gotten exactly what he asked for. He had gotten lost in the moment of the thing. He always had a flair for the dramatic, and that had baited Ludwig into actually bothering to try against him. Without actually intending to, the healer had convinced the captain to actually force Hibiki to break past his limits. There was just one teensy little problem with that. Even if Ludwig held back considerably, Hibiki had absolutely abysmal amounts of power by comparison. Though he couldn’t sense energy at all, he didn’t need that ability to know that his power wasn’t even anything that vaguely resembled a match for that of a captain in his current state.

Damn his flair. Damn his charisma. Damn his ability to actually get people to do what he asked them to do! He had no choice now but to try to survive. Hibiki returned the bow that Ludwig offered, but there was an audible gulp as he swallowed, a reflexive action due to the fear he felt. Yeah, this was what he asked for, but if he wasn’t careful then he was going to end up dead. He watched Ludwig’s arm move, and he knew better than to stand in the way of a Kido user’s arm, even if it was out of range of hitting him with the arm itself. He didn’t know exactly what the captain was up to, but he knew it was something.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Start Music - Bleach OST - Stand Up Be Strong}

Then the first attack hit him. He hadn’t even been able to react to it. There had been no incantation. No name of the spell. It was a basic trick for a highly skilled Kido user, but between that, the close quarters, and the invisible nature of the spell that had been used, it would have taken an act of God for Hibiki to dodge that one. The only saving grace was that it was a spell that wasn’t designed to kill him. Having felt it, Hibiki wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but due to how light it hit, it had to be something relatively low on the list in terms of destructive power.

Still though, it had hit him, and an arc of blood splashed out of his chest. The wound was shallow, but it was definitely there. It wasn’t anything that would put him down, but it also wasn’t something that he could fix on the fly. Ludwig had no intention of stopping there. Hibiki had seen the trick, and he didn’t have time to think about the prognosis of his chest wound. No, he needed to just prevent getting more injuries right off the bat. In this case, the best defense was a good offense. He watched the movements of Ludwig’s arm. The vertical swing was easy enough to dodge with a hop to the side, but the next two were trickier.

Rather than wait around to be cut to shreds, Hibiki charged right at the Captain. Right as the third slash might have hit him, he dropped down and slid right past it with a step of Shunpo. He’d arrive in front of Ludwig, right up in his space, just as he was ready to fire the fourth slash. The Captain wasn’t the only one who fought like that. A pop of Sho was fired from Hibiki’s own finger right towards the forearm of the Captain. It would blow his arm backwards, stopping that last attack in its tracks before it could angle around to hit the medic. Though the healer hadn’t known as much, he was actually at an advantage now that he was at this range.

Though Hibiki had no way to know this given the limited depth of their encounter so far, he currently possessed a slight advantage over Ludwig in terms of both speed and physical strength. Now that didn’t mean he was better than him at combat or anything silly like that, but it meant that he actually stood a chance as long as the battle was kept close. There was, however, one other problem that Hibiki expected to face. Any kind of Captain capable of using high level Kido was likely enough stronger than him to cause cutback. He couldn’t risk attacking with Hakuda directly, and would instead have to use close range Kido. Thankfully, that was his speciality.

Having defended against the sequence of slashes, Hibiki didn’t give Ludwig a ton of time to sit back and relax. He aimed his other hand square at the Captain’s chest and wordlessly unleashed another cast of Sho. It would push back on Ludwig with a force of 135. While it wasn’t much compared to his opponent’s reiatsu strength, it was quite a bit compared to his physical strength, and that’s what would be needed to ignore the effects of the spiritual shove. Though it wouldn’t do much damage or anything, assuming it hit, it would knock the Captain back a few feet, and that would be enough for Hibiki to be satisfied that he hadn’t completely lost his edge.

Unfortunately, that was probably the best that Hibiki could hope for in this fight. He wasn’t sure that he could inflict any meaningful damage on the Captain, but that wasn’t really the goal anyway. The goal was simply to stay alive through the session. No, that wasn’t even the goal. The goal was to be pushed to his limits and be forced to overcome them. What they had started with was no more than a warm up for his opponent most likely, but he had already been forced to give it everything he had. The difference in power was obvious, and painful, but just as the wound in his chest wouldn’t stop bleeding any time soon, neither would Hibiki stop trying to fight.

Reiatsu: 400/500
-50 for Shunpo
-50 for 2x Sho

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Interesting. So he chose to charge me down rather than move in either direction. With the first sho that hit him he’s taking quick the chance getting in close to me. Still not a bad idea Hibiki. Color Ludwig curious that despite the first sho slash Hibiki managed avoid and realize that Ludwig’s arm was the telltale sign of how he was using sho currently. This was good, a fresh recruit wouldn’t have that mindset just yet so his theory of the other being someone far higher than even a seated officer might have some merit to it. Still Hibiki either didn’t think far enough ahead or he didn’t have many other means to combat Ludwig’s use of Sho. Regardless he had no intention of moving from his position until made to. And currently even with his arm getting thrown back some by Hibiki’s own sho Ludwig almost didn’t have to think about the kido he would use next.



Hado# 53 Surasorutoiera. Before Hibiki could even direct his finger towards Ludwig’s chest a force shot out from Ludwig and propelled Hibiki back towards where he started and past that. Dangerously close to the wall of the Dangai which even Ludwig had to take note of because the last thing he wanted was to have Hibiki merge with the wall and get thrown into another dimension. That was of course the only downside to the dangai but with the ability to let loose and have literally nothing and no one stop their training session the benefits outweighed the negatives in this case so long as he was careful. Which lead him back to his evaluation thus far. Hibiki had fairly good speed for his current status, decent enough spiritual prowess for his sho, and even had good reaction times considering the circumstances. However what was he lacking? What would push him to the limit? For one that hado might as he just forced him to eat the entire attack at point blank. But what else could Ludwig do?



Ludwig smiled as his idea came to light. Why not make his bombs and such as he normally would? The perk of having learned a technique he was currently trying to master was he held a means of making items without his release. They were subpar by comparison but he’d manage fairly well in this case and others if he needed some extra utility. Ludwig proceeded to spawn two things then, a rubber band gun and a flash bang. They’d materialize out of his hand and each have a semi cartoon look to them. In the case of the flashbang it looked like a bomb om and the rubber band gun… well its a rubber band gun. Not much more cartoony can ya get there if you think that can be in anyway a weapon. Ludwig did.



So now with distance, a couple items at his disposal and Sazanami still active Ludwig could safely say he held the advantage on the field. Even more so with a couple of other kido he held in his reserve. He was ready to start pushing Hibiki. For now the big test was could he make his way back to Ludwig? Then if he could would he be able to manage force him to move somewhere that wasn’t where he had been standing since the start? That was his question because at this point he was certain Hibiki couldn’t force a release though he might just as a means to show him how strong he needed to be. But that would be later when things were a tad more “dire” for him. For now it was time to see what the ex-captain could do and Ludwig at this point was more than ready to respond given his current set up.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}-150 for Hado #53
-150 for a flashbang (Spiritual Projection)
-50 for a rubber band gun (Spiritual Projection)

350 reiatsu total

2875-350= 2525 reiatsu

2525/3000 remaining

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Same Music}

Before he could even hope to cast his second Sho, Hibiki found the wind knocked from his chest and felt himself flying way at a speed that far exceeded his own. It wasn’t as great as his Shunpo speed, so he wasn’t completely unable to react to it, but damn that hurt, especially as it pushed on the wound on his chest. Weakly he grabbed his sword out of his sheath and stabbed it into the ground. It wasn’t much, but it slowed him by a tiny fraction. His arm burned from trying to resist the force that had shoved him, but it was one that he recognized at least. Surasorutoiera. It was a technique he’d mastered once upon a time.

Of course Ludwig had to know that one. It made it virtually impossible for him to get close to the Captain. That left ranged attacks, but what good would those be? Against a defense like that, he could hope to pierce it with neither Kido no close quarters combat. He could do literally nothing against Ludwig, and the man had barely even raised a finger to him. Was this how weak he really was? Was he so completely and utterly pathetic that he couldn’t even make this man move an inch? Yes. He was. There was no denying the complete and utter difference in power between them. He couldn’t overcome this as he was. He had to get stronger.

He had taken a knee as he landed from that slide. His hands gripped at the fabric on his pants as he cursed his weakness, but he rose from that stance with renewed resolve on his face. He would not be stopped. Not yet. He would push until there was nothing left to give. He had no hope of victory, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t here to win. He was here to push himself beyond his limits. He had to push himself harder. He had to become stronger. There was no room for failure if he ever wanted to achieve his goals. There was no time to waste. He had to give this absolutely everything he had.

With that in mind, he began to chant aloud. ”YE LORD! MASK OF FLESH AND BONE, FLUTTER OF WINGS, YE WHO BEARS THE NAME OF MAN!” Power began to swell around him as his reiatsu flexed and strained."TRUTH AND TEMPERANCE, UPON THIS SINLESS WALL OF DREAMS UNLEASH BUT SLIGHTLY THE WRATH OF YOUR CLAWS!”His body ached as he tried to force it beyond his limits. The incantation helped to focus his power. Maybe, just maybe, he could pull it off. "HADO NUMBER THIRTY-THREE! SOKATSUI!” And then there was nothing but a giant cloud of smoke. It was the same as every previous attempt he’d ever had since he regained a body.

But he didn’t let that failure keep him down. He took the reiatsu he had built up and used it to do two things. The first was that his left hand cast a Sho directly into the pommel of his Zanpakuto. It turned it into a makeshift javelin that headed straight for the Captain through the cloud of smoke. The second was another step of shunpo that he used to propel him forward. This time he ended up not directly in front of Ludwig, but above him. As he fell from above Ludwig, aided by gravity, he drew up one more burst of power for an old standby of his, and one of the only other techniques at his disposal.

The healer cast Byakurai, but he didn’t simply aim and fire as others might do. Instead he cast the spell and forced it to hold itself out as a solid bolt of lighting that extended like a sword from his hand. It was this that he brought down with both hands towards the Captain in an overhead slash. He had no hope when it came to Zanjutsu, but he always had a knack for Kido. Even if it was just the lower level stuff, he was intent to bring out every trick he had to try and at least make an impression on the man he fought. But would it be enough? Could this even force him to look in his direction?

Honestly, Hibiki doubted that much. He had powered through it and forced himself to keep up the attack, but damn was he aware of just how unlikely any of this was to work. All it would take was another cast of the same spell, and both his attacks would be foiled. Would Ludwig do that though? This was as much an attempt to make an impact as it was an attempt to learn what kind of fighter he was up against. If Ludwig was the type that didn’t mind just spamming the same technique over and over, then honestly there was probably nothing that Hibiki could do. He couldn’t win in a direct clash, so he had tried to catch him off guard, but he wasn’t naive enough to think he could actually get the upper hand against a Captain.

Reiatsu: 325/500
+25 for cancelled Sho last post
-25 for Sho this post
-25 for Byakurai
-50 for Shunpo

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Ludwig smiled softly at Hibiki. He wasn’t about to apologize for using a medium tiered kido when he’d asked him to go out. To ensure he wasn’t going to insult the other he was acting naturally as he would in a real fight. The sad thing to say though was Hibiki looked like he was already at his wits end. Which was fair to say and even Ludwig could see it. However the look in his eye, the willingness to stand up against him, literally and metaphorically, was exactly what he was looking for. He may too much for this one to handle currently but that wouldn’t mean that he wouldn’t grow into something stronger than he was after this. And that was the goal at the end of the day right? So true to his statement he didn’t hold back yet. Not even when Hibiki tried to use Sokatsui.



Now not to be demeaning but Ludwig wasn’t really all that concerned about if the other could or couldn’t use it. The fact he couldn’t though wasn’t too surprising given their conversation in his office. If he were being honest the real depth of what Hibiki had been talking about prior to their training session only really hit him as they were training. He’d honestly not been certain as to how bad it had been but what he was currently viewing was a clear display that he’d lost a great deal of potential and power he’d had prior. He was curious at just who the man was prior, he’d definitely look into the name once they were done with this. For now though he returned his attention towards Hibiki who had promptly propelled his sword at Ludwig like a lance.



Points to him for creativity however all Ludwig did was aim his rubber band gun at it and fire one “bullet”,rubber band, at it. They collided and the blade was thrown elsewhere as the rubber band went on towards the smoke cloud and proceeded to explode into a small pink cloud. Now the question was where did Hibiki go? Ludwig knew. He’d shunpo’d above him and subsequently casted Byakurai. It was different which was yet another show of how his skills were at least somewhat prevalent even if the person who used to wield them was not. This made Ludwig all the more curious because this was definitely mid to higher level thinking and it took experience to make these kind of thoughts and decisions. Still he had to remind himself that this would be figured out later. For now he simply threw up the flash bang. It promptly exploded as Hibiki came down blinding him with it’s like and deafening him at least temporarily due to just being point blank. Make no mistake though Ludwig was not unharmed from this but he’d been more prepared and sazanami shined here immensely.



Throwing his left hand up he’d catch the byakurai blade before it hit him and subsequently use redirection to absorb the entire blade into his hand only to fire it off with his rubber band gun. The gun was pointed towards Ludwig's right as he fired it firing off the byakurai at the wall of the dangai. However Ludwig wasn’t done yet he needed to ensure Hibiki wasn’t going to be able to do much else as far as this training was concerned. Bakudo #63 Sajosabaku The grey cloth spawned right out of the hand that had captured his byakurai and subsequently wrapped around not just Hibiki’s arm but eventually tie up the entire body. With just a bit holding down Hibiki’s backside to the floor. He wasn’t going to move anywhere. And unless Hibiki knew another kido that didn’t need him to direct it he was effectively stopped in his tracks mere inches from Ludwig, who still at this point hadn’t moved from is starting position.



He’d wait a few moments to allow Hibiki to get over the blinding light, double vision, and loss of hearing so when he’d speak next he could be heard easily. Ludwig once he could be seen by Hibiki still held the same soft smile he had earlier. His eyes were still analytical and calculating but that same smile gave away that he was pretty certain the fight by this point was over. At least from Hibiki’s side of the fight. But who knew maybe he had another trick or two up his sleeve? It was entirely possible. Regardless Ludwig would speak the same conversational pitch as prior. “I mean no disrespect Hibiki but I believe this is checkmate for our training. Unless you have an ace up your sleeve. Heh I hope I gave you what you were asking for, I didn’t mean to cause extensive harm but I didn’t want to hold back lest you take it as an offense. Curiously though despite Ludwig’s concern for the other’s physical health he hadn’t yet released Hibiki which was an odd point for someone who had pretty much ended the fight already. But assuming Hibiki wasn’t in a seriously wounded condition he wanted to take an extra minute to drive home one point. But only if the other was still able bodied enough to endure it. For now if Hibiki could speak and didn’t explicitly tell him otherwise he’d consider him well enough.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Reiatsu}
-13 for a redirected Byakurai
-150 for Bakudo #63 Sajosabaku

163 reiatsu used

2525-163= 2362


2362/3000 reiatsu remaining

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Play This - Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST 2 - To Be King}

Unsurprisingly, Hibiki’s attacks had been foiled. His sword had been deflected before he’d even arrived above Ludwig. That was, without a doubt, within his expectations. The first attack was never intended to hit, but to distract. Sadly, the second attack met with possibly an even worse fate. As if it were nothing, Ludwig absorbed and redirected Hibiki’s blade of Byakurai and sent the electricity careening off into the distance. Before the healer could even attempt another move, he found an all to familiar Bakudo had surrounded him. Sajosabaku. It was never one that the medic had bothered to learn the finer details of in order to cast it, but he was familiar with it all the same as a former Kido master.

The chains wrapped around him, and he fell to the ground. Ludwig spoke to him with clear intent to be kind, but Hibiki was still all fired up. This wasn’t over. He had a moderate wound to his chest, and some bruising. He could still fight. That’s what he told himself. The truth was that his body was already in fairly rough shape, but it wasn’t at its breaking point. Not yet. The only thing that might have taken him out of the fight was his supposed inability to move. Against a normal foe, that might have been good enough, but Hibiki knew the strengths and weaknesses of Kido, and he knew that the fight wasn’t over just yet.

From his position on the ground, he answered Ludwig’s question with another question once more. ”Well, you and I both know I can’t break your Bakudo unless you let me, but I think you picked the wrong one Captain. Didya know that Sajosabaku doesn’t restrict my ability to use reiatsu?” He couldn’t move his arms, or his legs, or his head, but he could at least still wiggle his fingers, and that was all he needed. Both his left and right index fingers pointed down into the dirt. Two simultaneous launches of Sho propelled his body upwards, though not at any great degree of speed. Still, it was more than he could do with just his physical strength.

As he rose, his fingers swung forward to point at the Captain. ”I AIN’T DONE YET!” Two more blasts of Byakurai fired off from each of his index fingers right at the torso of the Captain. He had no misconceptions about this actually working. This wasn’t done to win a fight. He still knew that much was impossible. No, he had just done this to prove a point. He wasn’t the type that would give up just because someone said he should. He wasn’t the type that would let his resolve falter just because his situation seemed impossible. If that was the case, then he already would have abandoned his goals before he even came to see Ludwig.

That said, he also did have a limit. A very real one. He had no control over his feet with this Bakudo on him, and the momentum from the two Sho had sent him promptly in a perfect arc. From laying on his back, he had launched himself up, and now he didn’t have a good way to stop himself from smacking face first into the ground. A muffled ”Oof.” escaped him as his head bounced a little bit off the floor. ”Okay. Now I’m done. Didn’t land at the right angle for a repeat performance, so you just get the one show.” Sad as it was to admit, that was the end of the line for him, and he was flat out of tricks with his limited arsenal.

Reiatsu: 225/500
-50 for 2x Sho
-50 for 2x Byakurai

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

If Ludwig was honest, he’d pretty much expected the fight to end once Hibiki had been caught in his bakudo. However Hibiki, similar to Ludwig apparently did not feel the same. Instead showing quite a bit of determination by going so far as to use just his fingers if those were the only things that would work. Ludwig chuckled however as he merely crafted a small shield, leather in make that looked more akin to an artists painting palette. It’s creation was just barely quick enough due to his having known the making and construction of a palette quite intimately. It easily blocked the last two byakurai fired off by his fiery companion. Ludwig’s smile only grew as he could only imagine the shenanigans that this one would pull when he got stronger. Seriously he’d give his release a run for it’s money in the shenanigan department.



Dispersing the shield Ludwig instead pulled out his knife. Small, and standard combat knife really nothing special and it wasn’t even asian. More european than anything. Hibiki probably couldn’t see it given he was face planting the floor currently but he was certain he could hear him well enough and still sense him if necessary. “Glad to hear Hibiki. Credit where it’s due though, you almost had me move there. The only thing saving me was my knowledge of art. That’s pretty much it, for what it’s worth. However before I release you I have one thing I’d like to share with you. Something I hope will be more impactful than our training session. It’s a lesson I’m still learning currently, hopefully you’ll figure out the answer more easily than I will.”



Ludwig stepped back a few paces just to make sure he Hibiki would be safe. What his lesson entailed showing wasn’t perhaps the most well timed but if he did what he was going to outside the dangai...chances are his barracks would be harmed in at least one way or another. More specifically the garden he’d taken a good deal of time working with. With a deep breath he put his knife in front of him and spoke out the phrase quietly. “Draw out your soul’s desires, Karvaldia.” Within a moment the blade glowed with a pink reiatsu before just as quickly changing into a pencil. His notebook appeared in his breast pocket where he merely tapped it glad to see the familiar presence. With the selected barriers breaking down as Ludwig said his release phrase he looked back at Hibiki and spoke up, loud enough to ensure he was heard. All the while his reiatsu surged causing air waves a bit from just how much he was surging out at once on top of the sheer strength behind it.



“Forgive me if this initially give the wrong idea Hibiki. I am not displaying my strength in an effort to boast. Nor am I about to show you the depth of it in an effort to show superiority I want you to understand in a general idea how powerful I am.” With that said Ludwig focused his reiatsu on Hibiki as well as the surrounding area increasing the pressure exerted by his reiatsu slowly but surely. To say the weight would be immense would be an understatement. It was akin to a flood of pure steel weighing down on Hibiki just enough to not kill him but enough to show that Ludwig had every ability to do such. Especially if Hibiki could see the ground around both himself and Ludwig cracking from the sheer weight he was imposing on the area.



“I told you that I held a similar goal before we started. Let me return the favor in kind and tell you what it is. My goal is to rebuild my squad initially. But once that’s taken care of I intend to change the policies of the Soul Society. I intend to stop the hatred and distrust others have in us because of our past actions or lack thereof. And gods willing actually find an ally or two for the Soul Society so it’s not just us alone fighting anymore. I’m fighting against millenia of prejudice, pride, and self serving arrogance that the Soul Society will not admit to having. No it’s not trying to cure death itself but it is a step or two below it. So why can’t I change the Soul Society then? If I’m this powerful, if I’m labelled as one of the top captains then why can’t I even make a small impact?



The answer is relatively simple surprising as it may be. Aside from my only recently being placed in the position as well as general inexperience it’s because power will not be enough Hibiki. Hear me well, power is necessary. To make a change and see it through you need to have the strength to start it, follow it, and most importantly finish it. But you need more than that. You need to touch the hearts of others, foster relations, stand for yourself even when the remaining will not and maintain your standards. There’s so many other things that go into sparking the changes you need it's laughable that people are so narrow minded to think that only power will change it. And yet I can tell you 90% of all beings think that.



So why am I saying this? Your not one without experience. I know this beyond just from what you’ve told me. However in your current state I still see myself when I was weaker and younger. Old, young, experienced, or new beings can and will make mistakes. My concern is you will make the common mistake of focusing too intently on the power needed for your goal. That you’ll forget the why, the reason for striving to achieve the power you seek. And then once you have it to use it properly. I don’t always use the power i’ve gotten properly either and there’s been more than one occasion that has come to haunt me for it. I don’t wish the same upon you Hibiki. If nothing else I’d like to make sure I instill this much from our training. That you continue to strive and grow so you gain the power your seeking but not at the cost of something dear to you. Such as the reason you wanted it in the first place.”



After speaking his piece Ludwig would dismiss his release, his energies fading back down to what they had been prior to his shikai. Ludwig would also glance over at Hibiki and dismiss the kido binding him and reach out with his hand towards him. Smile still as soft as ever and just as wide as it had been the entire time the two had interacted. “My apologies if that last bit was too much. However I felt strongly about it so I wanted to ensure that you would remember the message. Hopefully I achieved that and helped you push past your limits today.” Regardless of whether Hibiki accepted the help up or not once he was up he’d recreate the door that was made prior opening back out to the very same garden Ludwig had initially had them go to. He’d wait for Hibiki to leave first before shutting the door, letting it fade back before walking Hibiki over towards the on barracks medical facility. It wasn’t squad 4’s but it had all the essentials for making sure that Hibiki could at least walk off the barracks and make it to his own safely.



Ludwig would sit with him offering to help if he needed it but more so watching just to make certain nothing else happened. He was still concerned that he may have overdone it with the training so he wanted to be as certain as possible that he’d send off Hibiki in as best of shape as possible. Once he’d fixed himself up he’d lead him back to the entrance of the barracks and hold out his hand towards Hibiki, his smile larger than ever. “Ah yes, Hibiki, let me know how things progress for you as you work towards your goals. If you should need some help along the way feel free to come back, I’ll see what I can’t do to be of assistance. Hehe and before I forget I’ll need to schedule some time so I can come visit your clothing shop. Just send me a message of when you’ll be free and I’ll make certain I can do the same. I look forward to seeing what you tailor make seeing as you talked quite a big game hehe. Anywho until next time take it easy Hibiki, I look forward to hearing about how your endeavors.”



Ludwig gave him one last smile and a wave as Hibiki walked off from his barracks. The mental note in the back of his head reminding him he’d need to look into Hibiki himself. There was a lot going on with the man. He’d be silly to not check into things himself so that when next they’d meet he’d be in a more knowledgeable position of the man. As well as being better suited to help him if he were to request aid from him again. Hopefully this time without the bribe but if he was as good a tailor as he said… Well perhaps one more session of bribery would be fine. He’d probably still need more clothing that wasn’t a uniform anyway by then. For now though he’d just head off to check on what paperwork if any needed to be done so that he wouldn’t leave at too late a time.

[Kamikawa Hibiki]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Play This - Bleach OST - Never Meant to Belong}

Well, Hibiki had achieved at least one of his goals. He had gotten Ludwig’s praise. Sadly, that was all he had gotten. He hadn’t forced him to take even a single step. He hadn’t pushed past his limits. Dammit all to hell! He was incredibly frustrated by his own weakness. No matter how often he pushed himself, no matter how hard he tried, and no matter how hopeless the situation was, he hadn’t been able to break through his shell and find the power that he knew lurked within him. He had tried everything. He’d sparred with Espada and Captains alike, and yet his powers still betrayed him. Only the tiniest fleeting fraction of it had come back to him.

For the time being, he pushed aside his anger and listened closely as Ludwig spoke. Even if he was fairly new to the role, it was unwise to dismiss the words of a Captain. He listened closely as the Captain began to speak, but then he recognized what could only be a release phrase. Shit. What was the Captain doing? Hibiki’s body tensed up unconsciously, but that was all it could do. He still couldn’t move from his spot on the ground. And then it hit him quite literally. The sheer weight of the difference in power crushed him like a bug. Every last bit of air in his lungs was crushed out in an instant. If he stayed like this for too long, he would surely choke to death before he was crushed.

Despite his condition, he forced himself to listen to the words that came from Ludwig. He already knew exactly how weak he was. He already knew that the difference in power was beyond immense. He didn’t need to be crushed to understand that. This whole time, he hadn’t seen Ludwig. He had seen himself. He had been fighting the ghost of his past power, not the new redhead Captain. Even the choreography had been close enough to match. Between the uses of Sho, Area Thrust, and Bakudo, it had been like staring his former powers in the face, and it was every bit as oppressive as he had expected. He couldn’t even approach the levels he used to be at, let alone the levels of a Captain who was dedicated to combat instead of healing.

Nonetheless, the healer continued to listen as Ludwig spoke. He spoke of the reasons behind power, rather than power for powers sake. As the man spoke, Hibiki felt both anger and sadness built up within him. The man meant well, but the message was absolutely the wrong one to give to a man like Hibiki. He was not some rookie who lusted after power so he could wave his big fat dick at some seated officer hunnies. He didn’t want bragging rights or to be the strongest. None of that mattered to him at all, and it never would. What he had always strived for was an end to the death that plagued his world and the others. For peace.

Most of all what pissed him off was that Ludwig was worried that Hibiki might lose something dear to him. Hibiki couldn’t control himself. The moment that the pressure crushing him faded, he screamed out in despair towards the Captain. ”YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’VE ALREADY LOST! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE HOW MUCH I’VE ALREADY GIVEN UP, AND HOW HARD I’M TRYING TO GET IT BACK!” He didn’t rise after that for quite some time, even after Ludwig’s apology came out. For some time, he just laid there on the ground and sobbed. The fact that Ludwig worried he wanted power for the sake of power couldn’t be further from the truth.

Power was a means to an end, and nothing more. He had already lost so much in his life. His body. His squadmates. His friends. His daughter. Dear Lord that last one hurt. Every waking moment of every day of his life, that one ate at him. He had tried to be a good father when that was all he could be anymore, and then even that had been pulled away from him. There was no way he could explain it Ludwig. If anyone knew the whole truth of his story, then there was little doubt he’d be locked up and thrown in a cell at best, or executed at worst. All he wanted was to bring his daughter back.

It took him a minute to pull himself together, but eventually he stood before the Captain once more. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and forced himself to apologize. ”Please forgive my outburst, Captain Verrlicht. You intended to help me find my motivation, but I’m afraid you struck a wound much deeper than your Kido ever could.” He advanced towards the edge of the Dangai and concluded that topic. ”And I would rather not discuss her ever again.” Without even realizing it, he had slipped up a little. His head was too clouded by the mix of rage and sorrow for him to be well in control of himself. It was what it was.

As the two of them made their way over towards the first aid station within the squad’s barracks, Hibiki offered a little more information as a form of penance for his rudeness. ”I’ve lost a lot of people close to me over my years of service. I was in Squad Five as the third seat when Azero Cho betrayed us. My comrades were the first Shinigami blood on his hands. I’m painfully aware that power was only one factor in that day, but I’m also not naive enough to believe I could talk him out of his ways if I could be sent back to that day.” He paused, clearly in pain both from the wound in his chest, but also from the many emotional wounds that covered his weary heart.

A deep yet ragged series of breaths filled the silence between the two men for a moment before he found the strength to speak again. ”I will save everyone I can, Captain Verrlicht, and that’s a promise. I’ll talk down every last person that I can, and I’ll find the power to save those that I can’t save with my words alone. I swear it.” With that, he felt there was little more to say on the topic. Ludwig offered just a bit more smalltalk before they reached the first aid station, and Hibiki obliged him with an overly formal, ”Affirmative. Will do.” After he was shown to the first aid station, there wasn’t anyone on active duty there, which made perfect sense outside of the Fourth.

Rather than dwell on it, Hibiki grabbed a sterile needle, some thread, and some alcohol. Though it burned him physically, he sanitized the wound on his chest with the medical grade booze and began to sew himself back up. Each movement was agony, but it was nothing compared to the burdens that weighed on his mind. If it meant that he could be a step closer to his goals… if he could be a step closer to peace… to his daughter… then he would suffer any pain. With the stitches complete, he cast a quick Diagnose on himself, and was annoyed to discover the cause of his trouble breathing wasn’t simply overexertion or stress, but rather a broken rib had punctured his lung.

Shit. He shouldn’t have talked so much. A cough escaped him, coupled with a bit of blood. This wasn’t the kind of thing that he could have fixed here. He needed a proper medic, and the few of them that were left were at Squad Four. ”If you’ll excuse me, it seems that as fate would have it, I could use a doctor myself.” Though he was sure Ludwig would have given him a ride over if he asked, Hibiki did still have his pride. He walked himself out of these barracks, and over towards his own. The journey was long and difficult, but he refused any help that was offered.

It wasn’t because he didn’t need the help or anything. Lord knows he needed help and so did he. The man was headed towards medical assistance because he couldn’t fix himself after all. No, he refused any offered help because he wanted to remember this pain. He didn’t want to forget the feeling of loss that had so completely enveloped him at that time. That feeling of desperation to have his daughter back. In that moment, he was the strongest he had ever been. Not in spiritual or physical strength, but in willpower. He was utterly unstoppable like that, and he wanted that feeling to remain with him. Though the training itself might not have given him much, in the end it reminded him of what was truly important, and why he really needed to become strong.

It had reminded him of her.

[Johnwaluigi]

+430 CTP to Hibiki
+430 TTP to Ludwig