A rare opportunity (Training, Rin)

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen saw his first blow strike Rin on the cheek and smirked. "Oh come on, Fukutaichou~ I hate to bruise such a beautiful face. You should just let me knock you out so I don't have to damage it anymore~" He teased at her, shifting into an impromtu staff fighting stance. While he'd trained a little bojutsu as part of his training in karate, he was by no means an expert. Rin's zanpakuto felt like a weapon in his hands. That was no good. A weapon should feel like an extention of the wielder's body, not as a weapon itself.

Rin seemed to be trying to fight fire with fire, grabbing Kaen's Kodachi and preparing an attack. Kaen's face split into a grin. "Oh. A switchup! This is going to be fun!" Kaen stated in a voice that suggested he was quite amused. He shifted his stance slightly to better accomodate the weight of the staff. Its weight meant he'd have to use the hilt as a counterweight to achieve any speed in his strikes, and they'd need to be short combinations. He couldn't risk multiple combos or he knew he'd lose control of the weapon.

Ah but here she came! Rin apparently realized that sitting at a distance would now be Kaen's dominant range. Alright then... how was she coming? A slide tackle!? Kaen smirked. Ah that was an interesting one! But unfortunately for Rin, he was more than fast enough to react. Due to the weapons weight, countering low attacks was a cinch. Kaen shot the hilt end down at Rin, gravity increasing the speed of the blow. He wouldn't be able to react to the slash at his leg however, and it successfully wounded Kaen, forcing the 3rd seat down on one knee. But it had come too late. The reach of Rin's zanpakuto would have still enabled Kaen to drive in a powerful thrust at Rin's chest before she would have had time to escape. A lot of factors would be in such a strike. Not just Kaen's own force, but also gravity, and the fact that Rin would have been sliding INTO the blow, all factors which would greatly increase the force of the attack.

Aiyaa.... but that leg wound was bad. Kaen was going to be on his last legs. He needed something to finish this battle. And then he suddenly had an idea. His breathing slowly became heavy, and he weakly forced himself to his feet, making an effort to ignore the pain in his leg. He truly seemed to be on the brink of defeat, using Rin's zanpakuto as a stand, to help him keep his balanced. But exhausted as he was, the fire of battle still burned in his eyes, even though his body didn't seem to have much left. Rin could probably finish their sparring match with her next attack.

But that was only half true. Kaen had one final card left to play. And it was that he was mostly faking it. Faking it rather skillfully, assisted by the fact that he really was on the verge of defeat, but he wasn't nearly as exhausted as he was making it seem that he was. He wanted Rin to be overconfident with her next blow. He'd draw her in and then finish her with a counterblow. It was his only shot now, as with his bad leg, Rin had killed his mobility in this battle. Kaen shot his vice captain a grin. "Oh dear... is that the best you've got, fukutaichou? This little cut won't stop me!" He boasted, but it sounded hollow. That was the perfect inflection. That hollow tone, as though he didn't entirely believe it himself. Mmm. That had been some good wordplay. Kaen felt it had actually sounded exactly as he wanted Rin to hear it. Now it was only a matter of seeing if she would take the bait.

[Deleted]

"Oh come on, Fukutaichou~ I hate to bruise such a beautiful face. You should just let me knock you out so I don't have to damage it anymore~" Rin raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Oh~....Well, aren't you amusing...Ne..Unfortunately for you, I'm not very fond of that idea~" She could tell that by looking at him, he wasn't used to handling a weapon like hers. His swings and hits might be on the awkward side. "Does it bother you? You won't be able to hold on to her for very long, Kaen-san." she taunted. Somewhere deep inside Rin, she knew Chimeiyoki desperately wanted to come out and wreak havoc upon the both of them. Good thing they weren't releasing~!!

That thrust was capable of stopping Rin from escaping. Oh hell, that last blow he dealt to her...that hurt. More than any other hit she'd taken. But she had to retaliate! This was her chance! Sometimes, in order to get a good hit, you have to open yourself up..because that was the only time they were open. Rin still had his Kodachi in her hand. Kaen was hurt already...and her weapon was heavy, it would take a good few seconds for him to be able to get it up again and assume the same position he had beforehand. With that being said, she grabbed onto the end of her sword with an iron grip. She was a Vice Captain. Things were far from over for her. Kaen? Not so much. She tugged it in her direction. Rin could weild her nodachi easily, so tugging it in her direction wouldn't take much effort. She held on to that. "Oh dear... is that the best you've got, fukutaichou? This little cut won't stop me!" He eyes flared with amusement and she'd laugh lightly. She had something planned.

"My dear, you're right. A cut won't stop you...But I assume stabbing you would, ne~?"

She could handle blades rather well. Nodachi, Kodachi, Rapier, daggers....throwing knives. Oh those were nice. Perfect for this situation ne~? Forget slashing! Rin hurled the blade at Kaen's stomach like a throwing knife. He was open from her tugging on her blade. He needed both hands to hold on to it while Rin only needed one. That should be the finishing blow.

[Kaen Youji]

She'd fallen for it! Kaen hadn't expected Rin to retrieve her zanpakuto from him, and even the point blank throw was unexpected. But it was all fine, because as long as she was there, Kaen would be able to execute his final blow. "Just kidding~" He stated and shifted his stance. His Kodachi skid across his belly, carving a wound of moderate depth, but it wasn't nearly enough to finish the hardworking shinigami off. Kaen then struck back with his own attack. He let go of her Nodachi sheath. It was too heavy, and awkward for him to use. He needed to be fast, and he needed to hit hard.

The reason Kaen had shifted was because he was attacking with a reverse punch. His right fist shot at Rin times with a powerful step forwards. It was almost a textbook reverse punch, fired from the hip, with full extention of the back leg and a full hip rotation. The fist was held upside down, until the point of impact, at which point it would twist upwards, creating torque and amplifying the force of the punch. Kaen was pushing off on his unijured leg for maximum effect. Though only a single blow, with Kaen's speed adding velocity and his physical strength if the blow landed, it would impact with tremendous force.

Of course, there was always a downside. Kaen's fatigue meant this was an all-or-nothing attack. It was fast, and it was extremely powerful. Kaen might have even been able to launch it a few more times. But he knew that others wouldn't land as soon as Rin realized he'd been faking his fatigue. This blow had to land. To do so, Kaen was committing his full force to offense, and ignoring his defence. In layman's terms, although Kaen's punch was monstrous, his defence was non-existant. If Rin was able to avoid this attack Kaen would be wide open to a counterattack, and in his current state would be unlikely to withstand it.

[Deleted]

He just didn't know when to quit. Hmph! Well...of course! It was only natural because he was part of the elite Squad 7! Rin watched as the Kodachi skidded across his stomach and raised an eyebrow out of irritation. Well, she was really hoping to get him with that one. Then again, he always seemed to have something up his sleeve. That was good. At least he wasn't incompetent like some other Vice Captains she knew. Yes...Rin was still angry at the whole Sasori ordeal. Really, she took him in by herself. And she did it while she was robbed of every single one of her senses. How she'd manage to turn him in was seriously a mystery...but lets not worry about that right now! She turned the bad man in and that was all that mattered!

Rin held onto her Nodachi. In close quarters like this, she should have backed up and tried something else. If Kaen wasn't always so full of surprises, she would have fell for the facade he was putting up. She'd learned to anticipate certain attacks from this one. She saw him shift. If he dropped her weapon and adjusted his position, it had to mean he was preparing to attack again. It had to be. Rin watched his movements carefully. He mainly used his legs but she'd slashed at his leg earlier so he couldn't use them...which meant he'd have to use his fists. She watched them carefully. Aha! From the hip! Rin spun away in the opposite direction on her heel, missing his punch by a hair.

Rin still had her nodachi in her hands. He'd left himself wide open. He didn't strike her as the kind of person that would make that sort of move. He'd always thought carefully about his moves and seemed to have another one planned right after. This meant that his had to be his final attack. A powerful one. It was probably safe to say that this was coming to an end...sadly. Rin honestly was enjoying herself. How long has it been since she'd been able to fight like this? It felt like ages.. All she seemed to use nowadays were modernized weapons. She had to constantly train herself with the new weapons that were coming out all the time.

Example? Let's bring up Sasori's mission again. God..she HATED him. He made her want to rip his heart out with her bare hands and make him watch it until the final beat. The thought alone pissed her off tremendously. It was a mission full of fail. Long story short, Zieg and Zanken accompanied her. Sasori was just standing there like "come and get me fools" and so they did...albeit rather foolishly. Rin stood there, being the lazy empress she was and tried to use a sniper to kill him. Somewhere after that, he found her and Zieg got his arm blown off and Sasori's birds started to steal their sense. And then she finally managed to beat him to a bloody pulp by herself and take him in. Really, making the lady do all the work just wasn't nice.

Oh, wait....she had to finish things off. Rin was now to the left of Kaen. She was going to be brutal with this one. She had to. If she wasn't, he'd come after her with something again. That and...it was to be on the safe side. Rin held her weapon in the same position Kaen did earlier slammed it against Kaen's head. She was cruel when it came to attacks. He'd left himself wide open so he had to have been knocked out...Right?

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen suddenly saw that Rin wasn't in front of him anymore. Shit! Which way had she dodged. He was tired, but he wouldn't go down without putting up as much of a fight as he co- WHAM! Rin's blade hilt collided with the side of Kaen's head. His eyes completely blanked out as the shinigami froze in mid punch. Literally froze. His eyes said that the hit had knocked him out, but his body seemed to be resisting the urge to fall down. He held the stance for a few moments, his body refusing to yield to its natural urges. But then the wound took its toll and Kaen's body collapsed, sprawling out across the ground in front of Rin.

Kaen wasn't unconscious for long. Dear god that third seat had a thick enough skull that it wouldn't let him be down forever. After a few seconds, his eyes blinked, from his position on the ground. His vision was a little blurry at first, and his head was pounding, but after a few blinks his vision cleared up. The first clear sight that met Kaen's eyes was Rin's sandal. Not unexpected, given that he was on the ground as he was. The shinigami groaned and realized he must have been knocked unconscious. He made an effort to roll onto his back so he could stare at the sky. He may have been conscious, but it seemed his body wasn't willing to listen to him quite yet.

"Hah.... well, it was fun while it lasted." He admitted, glancing up from the ground at his Vice Captain. "That was great. There's nothing like a good hard match like that... right, Rin-fukutaichou?" He asked. He groaned, and twitched his fingers a bit. Good. Control of his body was coming back fairly quickly. 'Course Kaen wasn't gonna delude himself here. Quick recovery here was good, but he should still get a checkup sometime at the fourth division to make sure there wasn't gonna be anything serious about the wounds he took here. His head had gotten smacked around a few times afterall.

Finally, there was some feeling in his arms and Kaen managed to push himself up so that he held his body up on his elbows. "If it would please the great empress, would she mind helping this meagre brawler to his feet?" Kaen asked, a bit of his humor already back in his voice as he extended a hand up, hoping Rin would help him back up. "Agh.... well, I'm glad that our Vice Captain's so strong, as well as beautiful~" He continued to tease at her.

Kaen sighed, seeming actually dissapointed about his performance. Ah well. He'd live with it. He'd learn from it. He was replaying bits of their match in his head. He hadn't honestly felt Rin's last blow. He was just standing there, trying to retract his punch. The next he was staring at her foot on the ground. The annoying thing about being knocked out, is you didn't always know what had done it! What should he have done differently? Maybe he could have used the terrain a bit more to his advantage. Hmmm.... maybe he should have made greater use of her weapon against her? All in the past now though.

Kaen could feel control returning to his body though. His head was still pounding but he was in control of himself now, and if Rin hadn't yet helped him up he could make it to his feet himself. "Well, I suppose, since you win, there needs to be some form of compensation, doesn't there? Fighting's not so simple that the loser just gets up and walks away, right? I hear you like Sushi, right, Fukutaichou? Lemme know when you're free and I'll treat ya, that sound good?"

[Deleted]

"Good Morning~" she said with a grin as she noticed the third seat wake up. Rin used her nodachi like a walking stick and leaned on it as she stood. She was breathing heavily from her last move. That hit with her nodachi was really something. Strength and Speed. He bested her in those categories but instinct and senses was what saved her and she was glad she had it. People really didn't realize just how important those two were. They went hand in hand...Like sushi and sake~ Mmmm...Ne...His little knock out almost scared her. She honestly thought she gave him a concussion or something. Well, that happened to most people ehe...[ii]buuut[/i] they were weak and just not on the empress' level. They were not worthy! That's all!

Or perhaps she used just a little too much force.

Well, that's the empress for you. Brutal...but still very charming. If that made any sense at all. "Hah.... well, it was fun while it lasted. That was great. There's nothing like a good hard match like that... right, Rin-fukutaichou?" Rin would nod her head."Indeed. It was. It's been a while since I've been able to fight like that. It felt rather good to be able to use my sword again~" she chirped. Really. It had to happen otherwise she was going to go berserk. Well, she had a technique for that..but how often did she release? Yeah, too much pent up frustration was a bad bad thing. Surely, they had to do this again. It was an absolute must. "Agh.... well, I'm glad that our Vice Captain's so strong, as well as beautiful~" At this Rin blinked...and then blushed. She'd pull her fan out of her obi and open it to hide the bright rosy tint on her cheeks. "Oh my..Ehehe" she'd nervously laugh as she looked off to the side. "Well..I'm quite glad that our third seat is strong as well. You almost had me there. Almost." she'd grin.

She vaguely wondered how he'd do against her if they released. Her release vs. His. That would be interesting. More than likely...deadly and destructive. But still very interesting. Now the curiosity was biting at her. Chimeiyoki wanted to come out. She wondered if Kaen wanted to release as well. Though, that probably would never happen. Sigh. That was disappointing, ne? This fight was an eye opener for the empress. She needed to be more careful around him. She'd underestimated him and that was wrong on her part. Next time, she won't take him so lightly.

"Well, I suppose, since you win, there needs to be some form of compensation, doesn't there? Fighting's not so simple that the loser just gets up and walks away, right? I hear you like Sushi, right, Fukutaichou? Lemme know when you're free and I'll treat ya, that sound good?" Rin shut her fan at the "S" word. "S..S.....Su...Sushi?!" she nearly jaw dropped. Sushi? Sushi!? SUSHI! "R-R-Really!? You'd do that?! C-Can it be spicy tuna? Pretty, pretty please!!?!?" she perked up instantly at the word. The thought of having her favorite treat...it made her the happiest person in Soul Society right now. "Th-Thank you!" she said while giving a small bow...which was a little unusual for her...but it's sushi! Who cares?![/size]

[Kaen Youji]

Kaen sighed. There it was. Again with the almosts. Almost had the win wasn't quite good enough for him. You did or you didn't. Almosts didn't count. Kaen was dissapointed with that, coming from his Vice Captain, but he didn't let it bother him. He shifted his weight around a little bit. Good. He could do that without falling over~ Fast recovery indeed. He sent her a grin. "We'll have to do that again sometime, then!" He commented, sounding a bit more cheerful than he actually felt. Ah, even though he'd fought respectably against a Vice Captain, and the result was no surprise, he couldn't help feel dissapointed with it. It was just a part of who he was, he supposed. Second best never sat well with him.

As for his suggestion of compensation to the winner, it seemed that Kaen had heard correctly in what his Vice Captain liked, as she seemed quite ecstatic at the idea. He grinned. "Spicy-tuna? Yeah, I think I can manage that. Just lemme know when, and it's done~" Ah. Maybe he could go and get some takoyaki at the same time! Mmmmm.... takoyaki.... so good.... Ah! Kaen had spaced out for a second and snapped back to reality. He looked his Vice Captain over, as if to try and ascertain the marks he'd left in their match. The unfortunate bruise from his headbutt was still there and would probably hang around for sometime longer. Really though it seemed to be the sheath strike at the end that seemed to be bothering her the most, as she was still breathing heavily.

Though, the pounding in Kaen's head wasn't letting up, so he knew he couldn't be too confident about that. Regardless of how bruised up the winner might have been, he'd still lost, and Rin seemed in good enough condition for a second round, while he was still a little off. Unfortunate indeed. Kaen just grinned. "Was there anything else you'd like to do, Rin-fukutaichou? Hell, if you wanna go for the sushi now, that sounds good." He admitted, smiling. Some would call what Kaen was suggesting a date! Was it intended as such? Who could really know. Well, Kaen knew, and Hachiryuu probably did too. But really, Kaen was enough of an oddball that this could actually be completely and totally, exactly what he said it was. Compensation. Kaen could be tricky to read in that regard, as his full intentions of anything he did could be awkward and difficult to figure out at times.

Speaking of Hachiryuu though.... Kaen noticed the bloody blade lying on the ground next to him. He reached down and picked it back up, tearing off a bit of his uniform near the belly, where the Kodachi had cut him earlier, and wiped the blood off the blade, before sliding it back into its sheath.

[Deleted]

If she told him that he had her running for her money, he'd probably lose motivation to try to best her. You should always strive to best your superior, ne? Rin knew that she was light years away from beating her captain. He was in a league of his own and she needed to try to best him in order to better herself. Rin did want to be a captain at some point, but not right now. Not at this level. It didn't feel right now. She still had so much to learn. She had quite a bit of training to do. Scratch that. Alot. Can't have your third seat giving you a hard time right? It was good though. He was formidable and that was incredibly important in combat. "We'll have to do that again sometime, then!" Rin's face lit up with sheer happiness. "Of course~ !" she smiled.

"Spicy-tuna? Yeah, I think I can manage that. Just lemme know when, and it's done~" Spicy...tuna...Rin could eat mountains of it. And she could do it with wasabi and soy sauce too. "Have you tried it before? It's delicious~" but to the empress, 'delicious' was a complete and total understatement. At the moment, she couldn't think of a better word. But it was far better than just delicious. She wasn't going to show it, but the thrust to her chest hurt alot more than she was letting on. She was used to wielding a heavy sword, yes. But to deal that sort of blow against her was an entirely different thing. Regardless, she could tough through it. It wasn't like she got hit by a Cero or anything. Those were painful.

"Was there anything else you'd like to do, Rin-fukutaichou? Hell, if you wanna go for the sushi now, that sounds good." At this, the mock-empress would perk up. Wait..how bad were her bruises? The empress kept a keen eye on the third seat. She wanted to see if he was still in okay condition. She didn't want him to push himself just because she wanted sushi. Rin slid the sheath of her blade off a bit and used it...like a mirror, checking her bruises. You'd have to excuse her...She was such a girly-girl...and extremely vain. Sigh. Go out beaten up in public for sushi...or call it day? Hmph...As if she needed to think it over. "That sounds delightful~. Let's go now!" she said merrily as she slid her blade back into it's sheath. Sushi...was sushi. And Sushi was Rin's all time favorite. If it was for sushi, she'd do it...well, that was within reason of course.

[Kaen Youji]

Well, at least that was a promise to have another round later on! Kaen grinned. A chance to better himself, right? She went on a bit about sushi and grinned at that too. Kaen's mood was starting to genuinely improve. "Yeah, I have. It's not bad, but I personally prefer takoyaki~" He told her with a grin. "Have you tried it? It's amazing.... Ah! My mouth's watering just thinking about it!" He admitted in a tone that almost suggested embarassment. Almost.

Kaen watched her in amusement as she seemed to be using her sword as a mirror to see if she was presentable. When she agreed, Kaen gave a short chuckle. "Are you sure, almighty empress? You sure you don't want to go put on your makeup?" He teased. Yep. Win or lose, Kaen wasn't letting up on the teasing for the poor Vice Captain. Ah well. It made life interesting, right? Kaen rolled his shoulders a bit, as they felt a bit stiff. "Ah well. If you've got a place in mind, lemme know, otherwise I'm gonna take you to the best place for sushi in Seireitei, 'kay?" He told her as he started moving out of the training grounds.

How smooth, boy. You're learning well from me~ Didn't I tell you to be quiet old man? Besides I didn't learn anything from you. The only thing you've ever tried to teach me is how to peep on women without being caught. Yes, and you ignored them, like an idiot. I'm ashamed of you. Shut it! I'm not that kind of guy![/i] Psh. Maybe not, but it was a borderline case with Kaen. Ah well. Anyways, there was food to be eaten now! That would take his mind off of his perverted zanpakuto, right?

[Deleted]

Food. She loved food. Your highness here loved to wine and dine...especially if it involved Sushi and Sake~ But then...the third seat would bring up takoyaki and that made the mock empress want to head to the nearest restaurant she could find and order a truck load. Yeah. Rin could eat too. She could totally hold her own in an eating contest. But only if it's a sushi eating contest. Other than that...well...she was okay. But sushi was definitely her forte (I'm getting hungry as I'm typing this...). "Have you tried it? It's amazing.... Ah! My mouth's watering just thinking about it!" "I have! It's delicious. Ne, Kaen-san...You're making me hungry!"

Pfft...Well, the empress must look presentable, no?! Sure, she had looks already...buuuut a quick look never hurt. Especially with all the bruises he left her. Enma-taicho was going to question her. She could just see it now. "Rin...why is your face black and blue?" or "Rin..what happened?" and then things go downhill...eventually leading him to trap her in that god forsaken office to do paperwork. Heyy...what if she could trick him into doing her paperwork! Ooh...Wait no..that's wrong..Bad Rin. Just run away from it and doing something fun! "Hmph!...I'm 100% sure!" she said with a mock stern expression. Though she couldn't hold it for a long time. Not without cracking a smile.

"Ah well. If you've got a place in mind, lemme know, otherwise I'm gonna take you to the best place for sushi in Seireitei, 'kay?" The best place for sushi in Seireitei? She did not know Kaen knew all the good places to eat at. Good places were so hard to find! Most places didn't make their spicy tuna spicy enough! Some places just sucked in general. This was good. Very good! She was dreaming about sushi now. All kinds of sushi. Spicy tuna especially. Rin picked up her nodachi and followed after Kaen. "Sure~" she said excitedly.

[Kaen Youji]

(end of training thread)

[Zou ۞]

+615 CTP.