What does it mean to be a Kuchiki?[NDE, PG-13]

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru was standing behind Souza, curious as to where this door was going to lead to. She waited patiently to see what appeared and what did surprised her. When he opened the door, she saw the couple trying to 'get busy' as it was called these days. She just stared in shock as these two would try to do something like this before. There was a reason why there were bedrooms and why said bedrooms had locks on them. Honestly, this manor is big enough where they could've found a different bedroom to do that in instead of their own.

Souza handled it well, saying the passageway won't do and shut the door to give that couple the privacy they were looking for. Hotaru was still puzzled why they would search out a passageway instead of a room, but to each their own. She continued to follow Souza through the mansion. She started to think about what Sozen was showing Asmoskon at this very moment. In all honesty, thinking on it now, he was spending more time alone with Sozen then Hotaru has. It was an interesting thought, to say the least.

She was brought back to the present by Souza. It seemed that since he was the Heir, he could request expansions to the manor, like the one they were standing in right now. He said that the room was used for exercise, but she had no idea what exercise would be done here with these weird hoops suspended off the floor. She saw that the floor was well worn, so obviously the Heir used this room fairly frequently for the exercise he was speaking off. Then, he asked her if she knew anything about the something called fencing. She thought on it and nothing came to mind.

"Sorry to say, Souza-fukataichou, I don't know about what you call 'fencing.' I honestly know nothing about any of the Human World sports. I've always tried to stay focused on what happens here in Soul Society. I might have to start learning more of the Human World now." She knew she needed to, since she was marrying a Quincy, who lived in the Human World. She also knew that she would more than likely be spending more of her time there, so she needed to know it better to fit in with the other humans better.

She thought on this when she heard someone call out to Souza. She heard Souza call him Kyoraku. She didn't recognize the name, but they had to be a Kuchiki to be wandering around the manor so freely. It didn't seem like Sozen to let non-family members run around the manor willy nilly like this. It seemed he was here to practice his fencing and wanted to practice with them. Hotaru didn't like his tone. She was brought up on respect of elders and just being polite. This man was neither and Hotaru was not pleased.

"Kyoraku, it seems that we haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet. My name is Hotaru Kuchiki, the Tenth Division Captain in the Gotei Thirteen. I will allow the initial disrespect, since I assume you didn't know of my station or who I was. Now, if you did know of me and still gave me this disrespect, I would not be acting in this way. Since I know nothing about this sport of 'fencing,' I think Souza should have the first word on the matter, since he knows at least something about the sport."

[Sozen Kuchiki]

To say the least, Sozen was disappointed in the answer that he had received. It wasn't because Asmokon lacked information. Asmokon clearly knew some things. However, what Sozen had heard was not information that he hadn't already known. As a matter of fact, Sozen, having faced all of Wilhelm Kohler's Bow release, probably knew more about it than Asmokon did. Hasn't amounted to much seemed a prideful, contemptuous thing to say. Asmokon spoke more out of hate than fact. Wilhelm Kohler was a monstrosity of incredible power. He had been able to fend off both the Kuchiki Head and Kenryoku Kawada simultaneously, and later had fought on par with both Sozen and Kuroi.

In terms of combat, Sozen had barely been able to fight Kohler. In fact, it was safe to say that Kohler would have killed him if Kuroi hadn't intervened. As it was, Kohler had also once defeated Okusa, Enma, and Sozen himself simultaneously in a three on one battle, back during the first Vandenreich invasion. Sozen did not much relish his chances at victory if he had to fight Kohler again. The man was immensely powerful. His third level ability was easily the most powerful Quincy bow that Sozen had ever come across. A man that had bested him now twice. To say the least, he didn't enjoy the thought of that fight once more. Eventually, he thought to himself, he might have to. He didn't think Asmokon could do it alone. And Sozen realized that he might be the only one that could truly help.

As for Akiyama, Sozen had heard things from what witnesses had glimpsed of the battle against Takehiko and Azumi. He had also examined a computer which stored raw data compounded from all memories gathered by Azumi and sent there. The moments before her death had captured what Sozen had wanted to know. Akiyama was, indeed, powerful. He had succeeded in destroying both Azumi and Takehiko. However, the data indicated that he should also have been vanquished with them. As a matter of fact, this was the very truth of why Sozen had bothered to ask Asmokon about them. In terms of intel, Sozen had more than anyone. But only a Quincy might know the answer to this one.

"I am most interested in knowing of why the two of them are alive," Sozen informed Asmokon. "During our invasion against the Vandenreich Palace, there is strong evidence to support that two of our Soul Reapers killed Akiyama before perishing themselves. And, in the battle against Baal, we were successful in landing a killing blow, and watched him die. Yet, the two of these men are now alive today, keeping the Vandenreich in power. What I would like to know is whether any techniques exist in the Quincy tradition which might allow them to still be alive despite their deaths." Another reason Sozen didn't want to face Kohler again. If he killed Kohler, how could he be truly certain of the Vandenreich Chancellor's death?

---

Music

"I meant no disrespect," Kyoraku said with a smirk. "Fencing is a sword based combat sport, Captain. I expect a master of swordplay such as yourself would do just fine." That was bait. Bait from Kyoraku to Hotaru, indicating that he really wanted a chance to challenge her. Souza perceived it as Kyoraku's arrogance. Though Hotaru was a member of the family, she hadn't been raised with nearly the brutality of Kyoraku's training. Trained in an effort to maintain powerful rivals that could fight against other nobles, the likes of Kyoraku were unexpectedly strong. He was also exceptionally arrogant among even nobles. If he thought that he could fight a Captain, Souza would not be surprised one bit at him.

"Enough," Souza interjected to Kyoraku explaining fencing to Hotaru. "You heard what she said. I will be your opponent." The two of them entered the fencing strip, donning fencing masks and pulling out dull sabers from the equipment in the room. These blades were significantly lighter than Zanpakuto were. The masks were also to protect their faces. Normally, other gear was required, but both were now sturdy enough that taking full on strikes was nothing. If they couldn't even handle that, then neither of them could be stated to be adequately prepared for what their futures entailed. Thus, Souza and Kyoraku began to fence.

But... The result was hardly what Kyoraku had expected.

Now this ominous track!

In fencing, one's landing of a hit indicates one point. Afterward, the two players reset their positions, and begin anew. The goal is for one player to hit 15 points, at which that player achieves victory. At the end of the bout, Souza reigned victorious with a score of 15 - 2. Kyoraku had fallen onto his butt, his knees too weak and his legs too exhausted to support him. He had dropped his blade, and so flustered had he been that his helmet had literally found its straps undo themselves from the exertion of moving his head, and the helmet had fallen to the floor. Throughout the entire bout, Souza had been in complete and total control, drawing out Kyoraku's very best, and destroying it.

In the end, all that Kyoraku could do was helplessly watch as Souza toyed with him, crushed him, and forced him to fall to to the floor. Souza removed and tossed aside his helmet as he held his saber over Kyoraku's face. "I told you," Souza explained calmly. "I am absolute. Beyond being more skilled than you, winning for me was simply a bodily function. It was never once going to end any differently than this." Kyoraku seemed angered by his crushing, humiliating loss to the Kuchiki Heir. However, this held true to Souza's known reputation. He had never once been defeated at anything. He knew that his reputation was intimidating. He enjoyed that. He despised when people didn't immediately realize exactly what level he was on.

Souza picked up Kyoraku's saber and proceeded to turn to put away the fencing gear. As he turned and started walking away, Kyoraku, in a fit of rage, stood up and rushed Souza, drawing his Zanpakuto and attempting, with enormous speed, to execute a slash to Souza's back. The Kuchiki Heir, however, dropped all of the fencing equipment, and turned inward toward Kyoraku, planting one foot in between Kyoraku's two. Well within his foe's guard, Souza suddenly spun around Kyoraku's body, momentarily become completely unreadable, even for Hotaru. A complete anomaly. Kyoraku fell to the floor, on his butt again, and Souza soon stood over him, Zanpakuto out, pointed at the defeated challenger's neck.

"The loser has no place attempting to stand on par with the winner," Souza informed Kyoraku. "You, a disgrace to our family, can never hope to overcome me." The Kuchiki Heir, full of hate for Kyoraku, started pressing his blade deeply into Kyoraku's throat. If there was any personal difference between Souza and his father, the major one was Souza's merciless attitude. They said that his father was ruthless, but not even Sozen Kuchiki would do as Souza did now. Literally breaking the spirit of Kyoraku, a family member, and telling him that he was nothing. In fact, it looked very much as if Souza was going to kill Kyoraku. This would be a terrible crime. Hotaru might just have to stop Souza from killing Kyoraku.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru stood and watched this young boy talk to her with more disrespect in his tone and attitude. She had no idea where this boy was getting this from, treating a family member and a Captain with this kind of disrespect. She immediately assumed the man was an idiot. But, it was true that she had no idea what this 'fencing' was. It piqued her curiosity when he told her that it was a sword based sport. She really did need to read up on the various sports in the Human World. This 'fencing' thing sounded like it would be a very good way for her to keep her skills sharp.

But, since she didn't know the rules or object of the game, it would be stupid of her to actually try her luck in the sport, which is why she deferred to someone that knew the basics of it to begin with. She knew that he was trying to goad her into sparring with him, but she wouldn't take the bait. She just glared at him and before she had the chance to respond, Souza stepped in. He then said that based off of what Hotaru already said, that he would be the opponent. She continued to glare at the man until his gaze left her. She immediately didn't like him.

Since this was a sword based sport, she made sure that she watched every little detail of what was done. She wanted to see the basics of it to see if it would interest her in any way, shape or form. It seemed that they didn't use their own swords, but other swords pulled out of storage. She had never seen swords quite like those before. They reminded her of the bamboo training swords that she used when she was alive, but these were metal swords. She assumed that they were dulled to prevent actual harm, but you never knew with this family.

They also put on masks, which she assumed protected their faces from strikes. It was interesting to her that in this sport, hitting the face was allowed to begin with. She would ask more about it once this was over. She saw them take a position, which she assumed was the resting stance, before she saw them act. The fight was incredible. She watched as Souza was able to move like water all over the floor, avoiding hits and making his own strikes. She knew that this man must've trained hard with a sword for most of his life to get this good.

She was good herself, but his form was pretty incredible. There was always room for improvement, even if she was skilled with swords, she could tell where she needed her own. But, just watching Souza, she was curious if he needed any improvement at all. She kept her eyes constantly moving, trying to keep up with all the movements shared between the two. She knew fairly early on that Souza was going to win, but he completely destroyed his opponenet. Souza scored many hits, while his opponent scored, if she saw correctly, only two.

His opponent fell on his backside, while Souza pointed the training sword at the man, telling him how much better he was than him. Hotaru could tell that Souza didn't like him, and what he just did made it clear of how much Souza hated him. While Souza was moving to put everything away, Hotaru was walking towards the both of them, ready to ask questions about what happened so she could get a better understanding on the sport and congratulate Souza on his victory. It was then that she saw Kyoraku stand up and charge, with his zanpaktou at the ready.

Hotaru immediately unsheathed her own zanpaktou and was getting ready to Shunpo when she saw Souza act. It seemed that Souza was able to maneuver around his enemy quite well and Kyoraku found himself back on his butt on the ground. But this time, Souza had his zanpaktou pressed to his throat. Hotaru kept her blade unsheathed, running full speed towards the both of them. She heard what Souza said and she saw what Souza was doing. He was pressing the blade of his zanpaktou deeply enough into the man's throat to hurt him.

If he pressed far enough, he could mortally wound the man, which would not be good. She then immediately Shunpo'ed, standing inbetween both of them and using her speed, put her blade under Souza's, dull edge up, to prevent the man from pushing down any further. She turned towards Souza before she spoke. "Souza-fukataichou, it's pretty obvious that you hate the man. But, even if he is a disgrace to our family, he is still a family member. You should not kill your own family, and from what I've seen, he wouldn't even be worth killing. Let him live with his disgrace, not take the easy way out of it. He's not worth the emotion that you put into him, Souza-fukataichou, just let it go."

She was using her strength to keep the blade at bay and hoping her words would be enough to snap Souza out of the haze this hate for Kyoraku put him in. The man really wasn't worth all this effort. She glance back towards Kyoraku and glared at him. She hoped that he realized what she was actually doing, saving his life. But, she had also meant what she said. She then looked back towards the heir and held her ground, keeping her sword locked with his and trying her best to make him see reason in this situation and not do something that he would regret later on.

[Souza Kuchiki]

Souza's blade, pressed against Kyoraku's throat, started to draw droplets of blood. The Kuchiki Heir could see his cousin sweating, realizing that death was less than an inch away. It was Sozen Kuchiki alone who held the weakness of being incapable of killing a family member. Souza knew it. He knew that this was his father's single greatest weakness. This compassion, mixed with his father's flaw of pride, were what could bring him down. But Souza could never be brought down like this. If a family member betrayed him... If even a sibling betrayed him.. If even his father betrayed the family... Souza would not even hesitate to execute them immediately. In this case, disgrace was as good as betrayal.

But, before Souza could kill Kyoraku, he found a Captain's blade pressing his away. Glancing to see who it was, he recalled that Hotaru had been in the room, and that he had been here showing her around. While annoyed at the interference, Souza acknowledged that she was correct. Killing Kyoraku was hardly prudent. Even Souza was unlikely to go without punishment and inconvenience if he did so, not to mention how regardless it would weaken the Kuchiki forces by costing them a member, and also by crushing some of their morale. It was important to remain a leader who could spare people, if only for the sake of charisma. This, Souza acknowledged, was his father's greatest strength. Leadership.

"You're quite correct," Souza informed Hotaru, retracting his blade and sheathing it. For he was reasonable, and could be spoken to as an equal by someone like Hotaru, who understood discipline, respect, hard work, and family values. She was a Captain, worthy of his acknowledgment. She was a family member, worthy of his love and his confidence. Regardless of what the Kuchiki Council said about her, Souza would treat her in the same way as his father did. As a welcome family member. In time, Souza would do what even his father could not do, and force the Kuchiki Council to bow to him so low that even their emotions changed, and they acknowledged all of their kin, including Hotaru, whom they had no right to reject after all she had done for the family, and how she had honored them and integrated so well into them.

"My father is right to have such confidence in you," Souza said. "You honor our family, Captain." At this, there was a light smile on Souza's face, rather out of character for him, but still handsome and natural looking. He turned from Kyoraku, not even acknowledging his defeated cousin, stuck on the floor, crushed. Souza went to gather some gear again, intent on showing Hotaru fencing. It was a simple sport, when one got the hang of it. And thus, he handed her a saber, which she would note was significantly lighter than her katana was, and was held only in one hand. She would also notice the mask, which was nearly identical to a Kendo mask. In addition to this, Souza handed her a thin, plastic breast plate to wear. It was light, barely noticeable. While she was a Captain, fencing could do considerable damage even in practice, so a hit in a sensitive area should be taken cautiously. Avoided if possible.

"If you are still interested, I would enjoy showing you this sport of fencing. As a fellow user of the sword, I expect that you might quite enjoy it, and that you would benefit considerably from this." And he was certain that she would. Footwork was strongest in fencing moreso than any other sword based practice. So long as one learned it, they could read other swordsman as if reading books designed for six year olds. It was Souza's single greatest combat advantage against other Soul Reapers and against Arrancar, both of whom used swords. And it was just a fun past time, too. Meanwhile, Kyoraku slunk away into whatever hole he had scuttled out of. Disgraced, he wouldn't dare show his face for many years after that moment.

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Asmoskon continued to sit at the table conversing with Sozen over the facts of Akiyama and Baal. After he was done giving the brief evaluation of what he had gathered on each of them so far it seemed that Sozen wasn't in the least taken aback. Asmoskon knew that he wouldn't be however throughout many of the torture sessions that Asmoskon had been forced to employ against Vandenreich soldiers in order to gain information Sozen himself had come up more often than naught. Asmoskon knew of his battles against Baal just not in much detail just like the majority of the battles that the Vandenreich faced in the recent past.

What came next was something that Asmoskon was expecting Sozen to ask him at some point after the two of them had met. He already knew of the events that took place during the attack on the Vandenreich place. Sozen was correct by all rights Akiyama and Baal should have been killed from the wounds that they suffered at the hands of Soul Society and Las Noches forces. The problem was that Quincy of their caliber couldn't be killed off with such simple wounds or without vicious and inhuman precautions to make sure they would stay that way. Sozen wanted to know how exactly the two of them could both be alive after everything, but in all truth Asmoskon didn't have a perfect answer nor a single one.

"I hope you don't take offence to me speaking freely Lord Sozen, but the reason they both still draw breathe is because neither were properly disposed of. As for exactly how both of them are alive that I know of only a few techniques that could been the cause. You are correct to believe that there is a technique . . well there was one that the Emperor himself was capable of casting. The technique to my knowledge allowed him to take life from one and bestow it upon another. It's quite possible that before his demise that old fool sought to resurrect the both of them."

"While that's a possibility I wouldn't be surprised if it was something else entirely. To be perfectly honest the both of them are more powerful than I and . . well I too possess a manner in which I'm able to come back from death's door. It's possible they know the same technique as I, but I wouldn't be surprised if either of them had knowledge of something more powerful. Akiyama more than likely created a more powerful technique to restore his own body to proper function. While Baal more than likely did something far more crude like taking the life of someone lower to sustain himself through the prevail of near death."

"I'm sorry for rambling on, but in order to kill the both of them next time their bodies much be obliterated until there isn't even the smallest trace of them." Asmoskon's face was serious now and he hadn't realized that his tone had switched to one quite stern and somewhat angry. He now realized that and tried to push his bleak emotions aside and present himself more lively as he should to his host. "While both of them remain alive though I don't believe either of them know how to preform the technique that the Emperor could. If at all possible the both of them together might be able too."

[Sozen Kuchiki]

Sozen considered what Asmokon had to say. He noted at that moment that Asmokon was unaware of the Emperor's true identity. It was hardly a surprise. Sozen doubted that even most of his fellow Captains knew. Though the Captain Commander had written a report about it for all to see, so intense had the celebrations of victory been that no one had paid much attention. No one but Sozen, who was in charge of Information Dissemination in Squad 6. That, and not to mention his role in ensuring that all reports were consistent with his own... Now, knowing who the Emperor was, and what the Emperor's intentions had been, Sozen knew that Baal and Akiyama had certainly not been ressurected by the Emperor just prior to death.

However, this left the latter options. One of them had created a technique to trick death.... Or one of them could simply sacrifice another life in place of his own. This second, more disturbing option was terrifying because it meant that it might be possible to turn that technique into something offensive. If that was the case, then how would Sozen bring them down? Come to think of it... Even if the Emperor had turned out to be merely Ousama Zansatsu, an ancient Soul Reaper of great power, his pawns were still Quincy. None of them lacked the weaknesses of the Quincy. Which meant that if it came down to it, defeating them might be just that simple.

"Tell me, then," Sozen said to Asmokon. "Speaking as a Quincy, how would you go about killing one? What do you deem to be your race's greatest weakness? My resources are immeasurable, and any weakness that you possess is something I can weaponize and use against the remnants of the Vandenreich." As a matter of fact, what Sozen was considering was the known weakness to Arrancar reiatsu. If he could create some sort of virus or disease that way, and repurpose it to target specifically users of Blut, given that only the Vandenreich could use it, then perhaps Sozen would have some luck in a genocide of the Vandenreich remnants. Wilhelm Kohler was too strong to be kept alive, which was why Sozen wanted to dispose of him as soon as possible.

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru stood their, holding his blade at bay. It was after a minute or two that Souza agreed with her and sheathed his weapon. Only after he had sheathed his weapon and his hands were away from it did she too sheathe her own zanpaktou. The hate Souza has for this man is strong and that's the only reason she waited so long. She knows what strong emotions can do to a person.

She also took a breath to ease the tension of battle from her frame. Locking swords with Souza had made her body react like it was getting ready to fight. Since she wasn't, after the short amount of time it took for Souza to sheathe his weapon, her body was still tensed to fight. The breath helped to ease this tension as well as her rolling her shoulders out. Though, what Souza said next surprised her slightly, to the point where she almost blushed.

She had no idea that Sozen had felt that way with her and honoring the family was a high priority for her. Honoring your family is what she lived for, so to hear the heir tell her this, it brought her great pride. "Souza-fukataichou, you honor me with your compliments. I always try to honor the family in all things, but I had no idea that Sozen-sama put confidence in me. I see him so rarely, I guess I had just assumed that I was like another member of the family."

She was thinking on what she said when she saw Souza come back with some kind of gear. He handed her a face mask, a very light sword and a thin breastplate. She looked at them with a confused look on her face, but she at least fastened the breastplate on. She then put the saber in her right hand and flicked the weapon around. It was so light, she didn't know how this weapon did any damage. Souza then said that if she was interested, he would teach her fencing. "I would love to learn."

[✠Asmoskon Masurao✠]

Asmoskon sat for a moment watching the expression on Sozen's face and he could tell from his eyes that he was going through theorize in his mind on how exactly they'd be able to eliminate the Chancellors of the Vandenreich. Asmsokon knew more than likely what Sozen was actually going to try just like so many others yet there were more than a few ways to bring down a Quincy. When Sozen began to speak Asmoskon was somewhat glad that he had been correct in his assumption on what Sozen was thinking yet phased it in a more open manner which would allow other options to be discussed.

"Obviously the most wide spread weakness of the Quincy as a whole is the fact that our bodies can't sustain itself when in contact with the reiatsu of Hollows. Now while this can be lethal normally it takes a lot for such a thing to occur. I know you're probably thinking of something more full proof such as air born hollow reiatsu or poisons. Such a thing is possible Sozen, but the moment either of them see something new they're guard is going to be up on that specifically. Baal more than likely will simply be able to sense the reiatsu so he'll be even harder to inflict such a tool against."

"There is another weakness that we might wish to play against them though. Honestly it's something I'm glad very few are able to do at the moment and most that can are powerful in their own right, but we might be able to disperse the reiatsu when engaging either of them in combat. The biggest weakness about Quincy is the fact that our releases require constant reiatsu and our most powerful is rather taxing. If we can somehow manage to remove their crosses from the equation in an extended battle Baal more likely than Akiyama will have difficulty keeping up."

[Sozen Kuchiki]

OOC: I think it's safe to say we should end this thread and maybe at some point branch off to separate one on one threads between Souza/Hotaru and Sozen/Asmo.

Let me know what you guys think by PCing me whenever.

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

So many parts and leavings and enterings :/

+300 for Hokori
+280 + 570 + 700 = 1,550 for Hotaru
+570 + 600 = 1,170 for Sozen
+570 + 700 = 1,270 for Asmoskon
+100 for Souza