Itou vs Aramis (DE, PG-13)

[Itou Kasui]

This is a fight between Itou Kasui and Aramis Tezuka. This fight takes place in a the training fields in the morning, both are simply there for training. This fight is DE and rated PG-13.

Fight ends when someone either surrenders, flee or KO.

First post goes to Itou.

[Itou Kasui]

It was simply a normal day in the soul society. Nothing new was happening, Itou still met his zanpakuto in his sleep. He had actually developed it recently. It had actually been really sudden. He had not been expecting it at all. There he was simply training with his blank katana, chopping at wood i nthe training fields, trying hard to perfect his swordsmanship abilities. He didn't know how it happened just that it happened. He had somehow managed to pour his heart and soul into the katana and turned it into a zanpakuto! He was overjoyed.

Itou had been wondering when he'd get a zanpakuto. All he knew is that he had to pour his heart and soul into a blade. A few times he had stuck it into the ground and stared at it, he had done this for a while. Simply concentrating, waiting for something to happen. He looked like a total retard while doing this but he didn't care, he tried and tried but nothing happened. He eventually got frustrated and simply stopped trying. "Fuck this, I'll try it another way!" Is what he sometimes said after almost half an hour trying to pour his soul into it. It was a complete waste of time. He did this with no results, it started to frustrate him a lot. Well he finally got results one day.

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How he obtained his zanpakuto
"I must get stronger, I will be the strongest, no one will be better than me! I am Itou Kasui damn it!" Itou said as he continued slashing at the log. He slashed and slashed, he had been training for hours now, only taking breaks to eat and hydrate himself. It wasn't an easy process but he was determined, he was going to find his own power someway, he was going to fight and fight until he became strong, strong enough to tackle any challenges. If he couldn't tackle challenges then what was the point in training? There was none, that is why he trained, so nothing could get in his way.Itou was exhausted now, he stuck his sword in the ground and laid down next to it, so tired from all the practice. "I need a rest!" Itou said as he sighed. Suddenly it was blackness.

Itou found himself in an abandoned black cave. It was very dark except there was a small hole letting in some light. It was like the caves you saw in movies, it was actually pretty huge. Itou was simply laying there on his back on the floor. He could hear giggling. It echoed all around him. The voice was high pitched. It sounded like it belonged to a school girl, in high school. Itou looked around, this wasn't the training field but he felt very at home. Like he had lived here all his life. The giggling continued. "Hello? Who's there? Show yourself!" Itou demanded. He went to reach for his katana but realized it was gone, there was nothing there! Well this was very odd.

"Oh honey, are you looking for this?" Asked a girl as she stepped from the shadows. She was holding a katana in one hand, holding it up to her face. She was gripping it tightly, she was smiling at the same time, she seemed so innocent, if she wasn't holding a deadly weapon Itou would think she was just a normal girl. "Wh-who are you girl?" Itou asked as he got up. She giggled again slightly, still smiling and looking cheerful. "My name is -" She said. Itou couldn't hear her name, it was like her voice muted when she tried to say her name. She simply smiled cheerfully again. "I'm sorry I didn't catch that," Itou said. She simply burst out laughing as if she was watching stand up comedy.

It took a few seconds for her to stop laughing hysterically. Itou was simply left sitting there with a confused expression."You probably can't hear my name but I am your zanpakuto. If you simply trust me I will make you strong, believe in me, trust in me and together we will be the strongest force!" She said . She actually sounded very seductive. She smiled as she threw the katana at him. Itou caught the sword at the sheath. "It's dangerous to throw a naked sword!" Itou scolded. She simpy laughed as the whole scene began fading away, giggling like the school girl she was.

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Ever since then Itou had trained more. He talked to her all the time,sometimes in his sleep others while he was simply training. They were like opposites but they were just right for each other. Itou was cold, calm, calculated and emotionless. His zanpakuto in the other hand was cheerful and always happy. Now they were training now, in the training grounds. It was early in the morning and Itou was slashing the air again, he was just practicing his technique. He was becoming closer and closer to her.

Something interrupted his training though. He heard footsteps entering the field, usually he trained alone, he usually trained in the morning so he had more privacy. No one ever came into the training fields at a time like this, so why now? Itou stopped, sheathed his zanpakuto and looked at the new arrival. He didn't smile, or anything like that. He just stood there with a straight face, no signs of greeting or anything. He was just starring at him with his cold and calculating eyes. He was analyzing him. Finally he spoke. "Hi, my name is Itou Kasui, have you come here for a spar? If so then I'd be happy to oblige," Itou said as he licked his lips slightly. He was still starring at his opponent. Maybe this training session was going to be more eventful than usual. Looks like my sword will get a workout after all. Itou thought to himself, his face stll giving off no emotion.

Reiatsu:1500

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength - 105 (157) Points

Speed - 50 (80) Points

Spiritual Pressure - 150 Points

Reiatsu Strength 38 Points

Light Aura - 20 Points

Dark Aura - 80 Points

Instinct - 50 Points

Senses 50 Points

Energy sensory - 0 Points

Healing Expertise - 0 Points


Total SP: 445 Points

[/color]

SPOILER: Click to show

Weapon:Swords 1

Battle skill:Two handed fighting 1

Karate 1

Kung fu1

Battle learning 1

Battle analysis 1

Hakuda1

Weapon:Knife1

Pain resistance1

[Aramis Tezuka]

Aramis did not suffer from illusions of meeting his Zanpakuto spirit. He was not held back by the expectations of other shinigami. Though nobody but himself, and the upper echelons of squad 12 were aware, Aramis wasn't a shinigami, and therefore, the act of meeting his Zanpakuto spirit was a question, not an expectation. Although it would be marvelously useful if he could, Aramis considered, beholding his katana. Aramis's blade, he felt, was ill suited for his style of combat. Aramis preferred a fencing style in battle, something that the Katana was not exactly ideal for.

He approached the training grounds and saw a shinigami hard at training. Envy. That was the term for the feeling that Aramis felt at that moment. Envy of the shinigami-- a race he desired to join, but, by the nature of his conception, he could not. His anger and emotions did not reflect in his green eyes, which remained calm, and emotionless as ever, but beneath that calm surface, he was boiling, for reasons he could not explain. He felt a surge of darkness inside of him, but he repressed it. No. He could NEVER do that again.

Itou suggested a sparring match. Breaking his usual aloof mannerisms Aramis nodded. "That would be appreciated." He said quietly. In a flash his zanpakuto flicked out of its sheath, and he pointed the tip at Itou. "A distraction would be nice..." Aramis was being a lot more direct than usual today. He'd been thinking too much. It was very cloudy today. No good view of the sky for Aramis to lose himself in. It got him thinking too much about who he was. What he was.

Aramis was an abomination, whom Soul Society would destroy eventually. There wasn't going to be a happy ending for him. Even if he should avoid being executed by the very organization that created him, nobody lives forever. And when Aramis died, it would not be as a shinigami, but as a Nakabakki. A spawn of hell. And such hellspawn would only have one place to go when they died. They would be dragged into hell for the rest of their days. Only a Quincy's arrow could hope to save a Hellspawn like himself, destroying the soul utterly. Hmm... there at least is something....[/color] Aramis thought to himself as his attention flowed back to Itou. He was itching for some relievance of his irritation, but he'd permit Itou the opening blow.

SPOILER: Click to show

Strength: 100 (70)
Speed: 100 (70)
Reiatsu Strength: 100
Spirit Pressure: 55
Light Aura: 100
Dark Aura: 0
Senses: 50 (75)
Instinct: 100 (150)
Energy Sensory: 40 (60)
Healing Expertise: 0
Total: 545

[Itou Kasui]

Several thoughts ran through Itou's mind when his opponent replied. He pointed the tip of his blade at Itou. Well I ain't gonna use my zanpakuto in this fight, it'll probably break and well, that would definitely piss her off. Itou thought."He's pointing his zanpakuto at me, is this a useless gesture meant to intimidate me or a mark of a warrior? Maybe this fight will show me!" Itou thought. People may think it was frustrating that Itou had developed a zanpakuto but couldn't use it but it really wasn't. It just gave him a chance to develop his skills as a hand to hand fighter against people who used their swords. Now how did Itou know that his zanpakuto was easy to break? It was easy. He knew he was spiritually weak but it didn't mean he couldn't fight. It was actually far from it.

In his evaluations he was told his reiatsu was decent but it's strength and density was weak. For this reason they had told him that fighting with a zanpakuto was impossible for him as it would simply break like glass. It had upset Itou a little bit at first but then it inspired him. It made him actually want to improve his hand to hand combat. If he couldn't fight with swords then fuck swords. He wouldn't need them, he would use his bare hands, his fingers, bone to bone! He trained and trained. He developed his zanpakuto but he knew he would never fight with her in a long time, not until he improved his reiatsu. Until that day came the sword was staying in its sheath.

"Alright perfect!" Itou said as he dropped himself into a karate stance. He always used the karate fighting style first. He did this for a couple of reasons. It was easier, he had been doing it for so long, since he was alive he'd been doing it even though he had gotten a lot more rusty because he hadn't had enough practice in Rukongai. Secondly it was a good way to see what type of fighting style he used and how his opponent reacted to the fighting style. Thirdly it was just his favorite stance to use in fights. Itou looked at Aramis for a moment then went back to his concentration, like a machine he'd be merciless. In his assault. He showed no signs of excitement, no signs of anger or any emotion at all. He just got ready to attack.

Itou looked the battle field quickly. There were plenty of things he could do. He wasn't showing anything through his facial expression, he was simply being analytical. Itou always made sure to look at his opponents and surroundings during a battle, after all anything was your weapon right? He thought about his current situation.Hmm, there seems to be a pretty empty field around here, that means no sneak attacks, no hiding, it's morning as well, this means it's as bright as day, pretty fair conditions to fight in I guess. Itou thought to himself. "Alright we shall begin!" Itou said casually as he clenched his fists. In an instant Itou had already began his assault.

Itou quickly ran at his opponent, he would use simple strikes at the time, simple strikes meant he could see if his opponent was worth his time. He ran at his opponent quickly. Itou was right in his opponents face, he had only a slightly higher speed but a higher speed nonetheless. He raised his fist ot the side of his head and attempted to ram his fist into Aramis's nose. If the attack connected Aramis would be sent back flying a fair amount, along with a broken and bloodied nose. Itou continued his assault. He went to knife chop him on the collar bone, hopefully either breaking it or just hurting it a lot. Either way if the attack his Aramis would be without an arm for this fight.

Itou then went to kick Aramis squarely in the chest. If this attack hit it'd probably knock him off balance and make him fall to the floor. If not then it'd wind him. If he was still standing then Itou would continue. Itou attempted to grab his wrist and pulled Aramis towards him, as he pulled him he did a leg sweep to get him to the ground. While doing this he let go of his wrist. Itou would then proceed to stomp on his chest and use it as a springboard to jump backwards so he gained some space between him and Aramis, further knocking the wind out of him and giving him a very sore chest. He didn't want to injure Aramis too badly right?

[Aramis Tezuka]

His opponent had chosen not to draw his zanpakuto. He was a hand to hand fighter then? Interesting. Aramis was surprised by this, but it would not dissuade him. His fencing would prove a dangerous adversary for Itou. The act of pointing his blade at Itou was not a mere gesture, it was Aramis's fencing position. In fencing, the blade was often held almost parallel to the ground, pointed at the opponent, for the fastest attack, and an easy defense. But when employed against a hand to hand fighter like Itou, it served a second purpose.

Aramis's sword was now a physical barrier, making a charging attack extremely dangerous. A careless charge would see Itou impale himself on the end of Aramis's sword. And while the fencing rapier was known to produce serious but survivable puncture wounds, Aramis's katana would cause a more serious injury. Simply moving around the tip would be difficult as well, for if Itou tried to sidestep the point, Aramis would simply use a quick turn of the wrist to keep Itou at bay. Aramis's sword had a much greater reach than Itou's arms or legs, which meant as long as the weapon stayed between the two, Itou would find his punches and kicks well out of range.

As a result, Itou would likely find his charge stalled by this razor edged barrier, unless he fancied impaling himself to get close (unlikely). But how did one go about slipping past a master fencer's guard? With Itou's attack stalled, Aramis unleashed a quick counterstrike. His movements were small and quick, using the most efficient motion possible to accelerate his strikes. Aramis struck a blow towards Itou's chest with a small flick of the tip of his blade at the precise moment Itou would likely slow or stop to avoid impaling himself on the Nakabakki's sword.

Even if it connected, however, the wound would not be particularly severe. Aramis's short strikes were fast and difficult to avoid, but sacrificed a lot of power to accomplish this. As a result, most of his attacks would result in largely superficial injuries. Still, even light scratches like the one he was attempting to put on Itou's chest would add up over time, and the trickles of blood that would flow from it would slowly mount, as more and more wounds were caused. But for one wound? This would only be a scratch.

However, it would also be difficult to counterattack, as because of Aramis's small movements and strikes, his blade would remain in front, and quickly return to its original position, remaining as a formidable barrier for Itou to overcome. It seemed that Aramis was a cautious fighter, who favored defense over offense. Someone who preferred to leave no openings for counterattacks, than to create openings. To wear his opponent down slowly until the finishing blow. That was the dueling style of Aramis Tezuka.

[Itou Kasui]

Itou was actually wondering why Aramis had pointed his sword at him in that way. His legs were positioned perfectly and he had a very tight grip on the sword. There was only one reason why he would've done that. There certainly was no coincidence as to why he had positioned his body in that way. It had to be a stance! A one handed stance. If someone used one hand then they sacrificed power for speed. There were a few stances like that, a katana was pretty much built for that sort of thing. If Aramis wanted he could unleash a quick stance and cleave off Itou's arm which would be valuable to him. "It's a trap!" Itou exclaimed, he was now running right into a trap, he'd either get slashed quickly or impale himself on the blade. This was not good!

Itou almost realized too late that Aramis was actually using a stance, it was a pretty tough stance to get around. It was a fencing stance. His strikes would be weak but he would be quick. Itou realized that if he kept running he'd be skewered which would be pretty bad for him. He'd pretty much have killed himself.Oh crap, if I don't stop running I'll skewered like a kebab!Itou thought to himself as he slowed himself down. It would be tough to stop his momentum completely. He had a few options, he could either stop his momentum completely but he's probably trip or he could shunpo around him. The second one seemed way more appealing.

Itou utilized shunpo and used it to go AROUND Aramis. First Itou was about to get impaled by the katana then he was gone, disappeared in thin air. This meant he'd be right behind him. He did this for a variety of reasons. The first reason was so he wouldn't completely impale his chest with the blade. The second reason was that it was a good counter attack, he had been too hasty in attacking so was now trying to find a way to compensate for it. Itou was learning the hard way that being hasty in battle usually meant instant death and humiliating defeat. Over confidence led to humiliation when you lost to an opponent who was supposedly 'too weak'. Itou had developed shunpo quite a while ago, it was a basic skill every single shinigami knew, it had served him well now.

Itou was now directly behind Aramis. As Itou was behind him the slash his opponent had used would pretty much have hit nothing. He would be in mid slash and would be confused as to why Itou had suddenly disappeared even though it might be warning enough. Itou was now a few feet behind Aramis. Itou then rushed at him again this was simply a fake though, a feint. Aramis would either slash at him or try to defend but Itou used flash step again to appear to the side of him(the side where his sword wasn't). In an instant, as soon as he reappeared. Itou went to elbow him sqaurely on the side of head. This would again make him dizzy, blows to the head were pretty hard to take. "A sword is much much more stronger when you use two hands instead of one even though you would've sacrificed speed. One hand has speed but no bite behind it, at least that's what they tell us in class anyway!" Itou said calmly.

It was what they told him in class. That's what his kendo teacher had said to them before. "Listen kids, Kendo might not seem important but it's one of the most important skills you will ever know. A two handed slash has much more power than a one handed slash, with more power it gives you an even greater probability to kill your opponents in one blow." At least that is what he explained to them. This was actually true, it made sense. Aramis would be slightly more quicker but his strikes would be weaker, either way Itou was at a disadvantage due to him being weaponless.[IIf that attack hit me the wound would not have been too bad, a small gash at the worst but I do not want to get a scar on my chest.[/I]

Itou then made some distance between him and Aramis. "I may not use my zanpakuto but that doesn't matter, I have my fist, they are as good as any blade!" Itou said. There had to be a way to beat that fencing stance. Every opponent had a weakness he just had to find his. Itou could hear his zanpakuto called to him. He wanted him to fight with her. "Draw me, let me bite into his flesh, destroy him!" Was what he was hearing. He had no intention of using his zanpakuto now matter how desperate she was. Itou dropped into his defensive stance, ready to counter or dodge what came at him.

Reiatsu=1400

[Aramis Tezuka]

Oh. That technique was Shunpo. His opponent had clearly noticed the danger and stopped himself short. Not like Aramis had planned on his opponent running into his sword point. Only an idiot would do that. Using Shunpo to clear the attack though.... A complete reversal of direction would be difficult. He'd have to flow with his momentum, which meant he'd evade off to either side. Probably behind him. Aramis would have to try and make some more space if he'd closed in too tightly. He lifted his left arm up near the side of his head protectively as he spun to face Itou behind him-- anticipating a blow, and hoping to cushion it as best he could.

But Itou shunpo'd again, and struck Aramis with a hard elbow strike. Thankfully Aramis had lifted his arm to defend the blow, but the gap in physical strength-- and even hand to hand training, was evident, as Itou's blow sent Aramis reeling back. The Nakabakki staggered back several steps, potentially vulnerable to a follow-up. However, something MAY have caused his opponent pause. It would have been the feeling of his elbow strike against Aramis's forearm. To sum it up in a word-- the blow would have felt wrong. In fact, Itou would probably shortly notice some minor bruising on his elbow from his own strike. The feel of hitting Aramis's arm, would have felt as though he'd just struck metal-- as though he had hit metal chain links, bound tightly around the arm.

A quick glance at Aramis's arm owed no obvious explanation either, for the Nakabakki's sleeve was particularly long, and completely covered his hand. Even his hand was covered in a black glove, which offered no answers. The truth of the matter, was that Aramis did indeed have a chain bound around his right arm. The Sinner's chain. Thankfully for him, both the chain, and his true arm, were concealed by Squad 12's technology. Aramis wore a shackle around his wrist that wove an illusion around his arm, making it look as though it were normal. But it was impossible to conceal its true nature beyond visual appearances-- and the contact that Itou had just made proved that.

Aramis swept a leg back, as Itou leapt back to create distance, reassuming his fencing stance. It seemed Itou had also wanted to create distance. Good. Aramis didn't know about the bruse Itou might have suffered, but even unintentionally, it would give him time to consider a means of attack. The potential of a hidden weapon could cause excessive caution. Aramis used his fencing footwork to close in on Itou quickly, and extended his arm as though about to thrust, before whipping his blade down quickly, intending to slash a wound across Itou's forearm. Aramis was attacking with the tip of his blade, from well beyond Itou's striking range. Even conventional hand-to-hand distance closing techniques wouldn't work when the user was fighting at the full length of their blade.

The natural disadvantage was, of course, that Aramis could not inflict any serious injury. Light to moderate cuts at the worst, with no risk of serious damage. But it was a safe fighting style, that made counterattacking difficult, especially to someone like Itou who had a significantly inferior attack range to Aramis. Closing the gap, that Aramis seemed intent on maintaining would be difficult without using spamming Shunpo, and to do something like that would become extremely predictable in a very short period of time. How would Itou deal with this overly-cautious fighting style of "death by a thousand cuts?"

[Itou Kasui]

SPOILER: Click to show

What the heck just happened? Itou felt as if he had struck a metal chain when Aramis somehow managed to raise his arm in time to block the elbow. Aramis was quick, Itou would give him credit for that. As he leaped back a variety of thoughts flashed through Itou’s head, why had that blow felt, weird. Even though he blocked an arm wasn’t THAT hard. What the hell what just happened? Did he have a hidden weapon? Was his arm made of metal or something? Itou glanced down at his elbow, a very small bruise was there. Itou barely even felt it though, it was like a paper cut. Still it was very strange what had happened, the blow should have at least partially fractured his or something but it didn’t do a damn thing, in fact Itou took more damage that Aramis did.

Itou thought, he had to figure this out before he resumed attacking. Obviously it was not cutback, if it was cutback the bruise wouldn’t been much bigger and the blow would’ve been much more painful. Does he have something hidden up his sleeve or something? I need to be more careful when attacking, nothing seems to be strange at the moment! Itou thought to himself as he resumed a stance. This was a different stance though. It was a hakuda stance. Combining different fighting styles and focusing more on speed.

It seems like I’ll have to take a much different approach to fighting him, a fencing stance means he’s using the whole reach of his blade but his cuts are shallower but it also means he’s quicker and it’s harder to slip by. Itou thought to himself. He then saw Aramis getting closer and closer to him. It seemed that he was going to have some trouble him. He seemed like someone who definitely knew how to fight. Itou got ready to counter.

He saw Aramis whip his blade down. Using his slightly faster speed Itou leaped back, he actually leaped back, allowing the blade to uselessly whip down and feel nothing but breeze. Although the leap back would make his counter slower how would Aramis be able to counter when he was still mid slash? Itou was familiar with sword styles so he knew that the fencing stance was quick but shallow. It was more of a sport but still useful when facing someone who only used their hands to fight.

Itou had already thought up a plan. A strategy to get past this pesky fighting style. To defeat a stance like this he needed to close the gap, it would be very difficult to fight with a fencing stance if someone was all up in your face. How would he be able to fight with the full length of his blace and make the thousand cuts if Itou was simply there, if he slipped past the reach of his sword then what would be the point? He’d be forced to change strategies more to Itou’s liking which was not a goot idea, if he managed to get him close range then it would be pretty tough for him.

Although Itou knew he was disadvantaged in a few areas. First of all he was unarmed and Aramis had a sword. Although he was unarmed he was still a pretty good fighter hand to hand. It was still a disadvantage but it was a disadvantage Itou planned to avoid. Itou didn’t know this yet but he was faster and stronger than Aramis. If he could force him into a close range grapple then Itou would have the edge. Already Itou had a plan to get up close and personal with him. All he had to do was slip past his blade right? It he slipped past the plade then it should give him an advantage when it came to close range.

The problem is that he has some kind of metal arm or something. Does he have a brace or a chain? I don’t know. He doesn’t seem like a hand to hand fighter though. Maybe if I can slip past his guard then I would get a closer look of what he’s hiding. Itou thought to himself. He could be trying to fulfil all his goals in one combination or attacks and strikes. He didn’t know what that thing in his arm was but he surely would find out.

As soon as Itou landed he charged. He was quick, he wasn’t being so straight forwards when he knew Aramis could simply move forwards and skewer Itou with ease. Itou then raised his fist, making it seem like he was attacking Aramis straight on. But this wasn’t the case. Itou then ducked down, ducking low so he could slip under Aramis’s fencing blade. Itou then spun, this was so he was facing Aramis’s back.

Without hesitation Itou simply raised his leg and kicked forwards towards his spine. Itou wanted to get into Aramis’s face, he wanted to grapple and injure him. Get him to the ground and pound his face in. He didn’t need to use his zanpakuto if he could simply pound his face in without remorse or mercy. By the end of this Aramis wouldn’t be feeling so good. After the kick Itou immediately followed up. He spun again so he was facing his non sword arm. He needed to test is Aramis had hidden weapons on both his arms. If he did then Itou would need to change his strategy big time.

Itou raised his leg and roundhouse kicked Aramis, this could catch him on the stomach and wind him. If he was winded then it would lower his reaction speed and make him out of breath. If he blocked with the side Itou was on then obviously he would know that he had a chain on that arm. It would probably be easier for him to block like that. Itou then decided he would try and stay close. If he was already past his guard then he should stay there. Itou then rammed his shoulder into Aramis, putting almost his full weight on it. Since they were so close how would Aramis be able to avoid?

Itou had no intent on holding back. He learned from Zeich that just because it was a spar he shouldn’t hold back in fear of injuring an opponent. Aramis was about to find Itou used that mentality first hand. Itou then stepped back a little, in case Aramis tried to slash at him Itou could avoid. He wanted to stay close range with him so Aramis didn’t get back into that annoying stance but he also wanted to make sure Aramis didn’t get up and slash him. So Itou stayed on alert, he wanted to stay close, Itou was one of the best in his class and close range fights.

Reiatsu:1400

[Aramis Tezuka]

Itou narrowly dodged Aramis's narrow slash by leaping back and then lunging forwards again. He lifted his fist. Aramis's eyes narrowed slightly. Feint....[/color] He predicted. Throwing a punch like that from well beyond the reach of the fist? Unless this man could displace the air itself with his punches, he would never connect. It was an obvious feint. And then, at the last second, Itou attempted to duck beneath Aramis's blade, but there was a problem.

While it was true that one's reactions were slower when they were in mid-attack, Aramis's concise attacks helped mitigate that weakness. Outside of a vast gap in speed, the short concise movements of Aramis's blade would allow him to return to proper form before a counterattack could be launched, especially if an adversary opted to evade his blows instead of blocking or deflecting them.

This meant that Aramis was already prepared for Itou's attack, when he tried to duck the blade. Aramis moved to try something a little less conventional. As Itou tried to duck beneath the blade, Aramis could easily have chopped downwards, and caused a wound. But if Itou attacked in a relentless berserker manner, he might just press through it and drive into Aramis, regardless. He had to prevent that. Instead of merely chopping down with the center of the blade, Aramis met Itou's charge. His hand dropped at a slight slant, angling the tip of the blade upwards, but dropping the hilt below Itou's shoulder. Aramis simultaneously drove into Itou. The upward slanting blade, versus Itou's charge would caught a deep wound to be sliced into his shoulder, as Itou's own charge would increase the severity of the draw cut-- his momentum forwards causing his shoulder to slide down the angled blade. It wouldn't take off a limb, but the damage would be serious. Additionally, because Aramis wasn't meeting force with force, the blade wouldn't merely be repelled at first contact. That was the purpose behind slanting the blade as opposed to chopping with it.

Aramis did not think he could defeat Itou in a head to head push, and so his own forwards momentum was a feint. At the moment before he would collide with Itou (and doubtlessly be knocked down due to the difference in the strength of their respective charges), Aramis sidestepped away, off to the side on which his sword had cut. As he moved aside, he whipped his blade around to try and land a shallow cut on Itou's back as his charge carried him past.

This also restored the initial distance between them, and causing Aramis to be well out of range of Itou's attempted follow up attacks. Even a kick-- the longest ranged technique in a hand to hand fighter's arsenal, would come up short of Aramis's current position. The Nakabakki leveled his blade again, in his fencing posture. The tip was pointed slightly lower this time, aimed at Itou's chest-- something that would make it more difficult to merely duck his blade a second time.

"Once there was a great tree, and some reeds by the water." Aramis mused aloud, as though trying to amuse himself. "The tree mocked the reeds for their flimsiness as they swayed too and fro with the wind. One day there was a terrible storm, and the reeds bent and swayed with the fierce winds, and thus survived, but the tree, who tried to hold himself rigid was torn in half." He commented. He thought it served as a useful metaphor for his present scenario.

[Itou Kasui]

“Arghh!” Itou screamed as the sword slashed across his shoulder, he hadn’t expected Aramis to react so quickly. It seemed Itou only had a minor speed advantage, it may be minor but he knew he could use it to his advantage. Itou then leaned forwards, he leaned forwards so he could avoid the slash to his back, he actually had no idea that Aramis had slashed towards him. Itou simply leaned forwards, almost dropping to the ground. Itou had his hand on the ground and he pushed himself forwards, now there was a gap again! That was pretty annoying, slipping past his guard was getting difficult. He had a few possibilities, maybe he could take his zanpakuto, try it out.

Itou dismissed the idea, for all he knew he could have a strong reiatsu strength and easily break it, although it took quite a lot of pummelling to break a zanpakuto. Itou scanned his opponent, it seemed hand to hand fighting was going to be what he needed to do in order to take him down. If he could just get him into a close range fight, if he could just get him into a grapple of some kind, if he could do that then he would surely be able to do some damage. There had to be a way.

Suddenly an idea hit Itou. It was risky and very damaging, not just to himself but to other things. Maybe he was being to direct, he obviously needed to try some risks, maybe he would get hurt and get numerous slashes on his body but as long as the end result worked he would be okay right? Itou thought, maybe there was a way. Then Aramis spoke. "Once there was a great tree, and some reeds by the water." Itou had never heard this story before, he was intrigued.
"The tree mocked the reeds for their flimsiness as they swayed to and fro with the wind. One day there was a terrible storm, and the reeds bent and swayed with the fierce winds, and thus survived, but the tree, who tried to hold himself rigid was torn in half." Itou was slightly irked by this comment. Itou wasn’t stupid, he understood the metaphor completely.

Itou was tempted to rush at him, ignore all slashes and attacks and simply pound his face in, he didn't care if he got blood all over his clothes, he simply did not care. He just wanted to pound him like yam. Itou refrained from this though. He tried to suppress the need to kill. The urge and need to kill was like a craving for alcohol, it was like being a drug addict and not taking drugs. He absolutely needed it. He simply couldn't live without killing. He had not killed in such a long time. Itou suppressed this urge and desire though, he simply tried to give a positive response. In truth Itou was a psychopath in reality but he hid it. He simply bit his tongue and gave a more sane response.

SPOILER: Click to show

“Oh that’s something new. I’ve never heard such a metaphor before, it seems pretty well thought out and interesting.” Itou began to say, his face then twisted into a smile. “However it’s going to take more than a strong wind to blow me down!” Itou said as he went in for another charge. What was he doing? It seemed that Itou was being stupid now. Itou didn’t like the fact he would have to damage his zanpakuto but he knew he would have to do it in order to win. Itou drew his katana and slashed towards the outstretched sword.

Although Itou’s reiatsu strength was less than half Arami’s reiatsu strength it wouldn’t cut his sword in half instantly, it would take repeated trauma to break the weapon, Itou was only usin his sword for this one attack. As Itou charged he moved to the side and swung his sword towards Arami’s outstretched sword. Now if he wanted Aramis could try and slash Itou but if he did his sword would clash with Itou’s sword, therefore blocking the strike. If he did not his sword would be thrown to the side, maybe it might disarm him with the significance but probably not likely. Either way it would be shocking to Aramis. Itou was also dashing at Aramis with speed, not a lot of speed but enough speed so Aramis wouldn’t react so quickly.

As Itou smashed the sword to the side he kept his sword scraping against the sword, holding it in bay, he could literally hear his zanpakuto spirit screaming in agony. With Itou’s small speed and strength advantage how would Aramis actually be able to react to this? If he swung Itou would only block it with his swing. Well this was obviously damaging his relationship with his ally by quite a bit, Itou would have a lot of explaining to do. It sounded like she was crying with pain. Itou simply grunted as he slammed his fist towards Aramis’s face. If this hit it would break his nose, probably make his see stars and flashing lights, Itou made sure he didn’t fall to the floor though. Itou determined he had successfully slipped past the master fencers guard at this point.

Itou dropped his now upset zanpakuto on the ground; making sure the tip was stuck on the ground. Now how would Aramis be able to use his fencing stance when Itou was literally right in his breathing and on his sword arm. Itou then ducked under Aramis’s armpit, he did this quickly, while Aramis would still be shocked from the punch. This would put him out of range of any attacks from his sword arm or from his other arm. This was the case because Itou was behind him and on his sword arms side. Itou then proceeded to grab his sword arm, holding it steady and in place, making sure it was straight. What Itou was planning to do was pretty painful, he was not doing a grapple hold no. He slammed his fist into Aramis’s elbow, it would instantly shatter the elbow and force him to drop his sword in pain.

Itou learned this manoeuvre when Zeich had used it on him in their fight on earth. Zeich had much less strength than Itou and it shattered his elbow, imagine what it would do to Aramis when Itou did it who had 157 strength (160 if you round up). After this Itou then proceeded to hook Aramis around the head, hopefully knocking him to the floor and making him very dizzy, maybe make him see more stars and flashing lights. The question was how would Aramis react. If the punch hit how would he be able to react to the other attacks? Even the punch might be pretty hard to dodge since the move was quick and so unexpected and instantaneous. Even if the punch did not hit the other moves where quick and executed without hesitation. Itou didn’t make space though, he stayed in his spot, he made sure he didn’t have to get out of the fencers guard again.

Like I said. It will take a lot more than a strong wind to knock me down and out.

[Aramis Tezuka]

Itou had now suffered a serious wound to the shoulder. That would impede attacks with that arm. While he might still be able to use the arm, Aramis doubted he would be able to employ it at more than half its normal capacity. Well within his coping range. Of course, as a hand to hand fighter, Aramis recognized he had legs to kick with and one more good arm. Maybe even his head, if he was a bit unorthodox. His fighting ability was impeded, but not disabled by any stretch. Aramis would have to keep his wits about him.

Itou was barreling in for an attack on him again. Aramis knew his sword was too low for him to effectively duck without skewering himself. Would he sidestep? Would he jump it? When Aramis saw Itou's hand drop to the hilt of his sword, however, he understood his adversaries purpose. As Itou drew his blade to strike Aramis's aside, however, the Nakabakki dipped his blade below Itou's, leaving his opponent's blade to slash through empty air. "Unfortunately, the Beat Attack is quite a common concept in Fencing. Naturally, Fencing has developed countermeasures for a technique like that." He stated.

But the dip in Aramis's blade had not been purely defensive. He had dropped the sword towards Itou's quadricep muscles, so that his adversary's charge would impale the front of his leg, drastically impeding his attack. Additionally, he was again using the distance of his blade to his advantage. Itou would be outside of the range at which he could effectively punch of kick at Aramis when he'd hit the point of the Nakabakki's sword.

While Itou could feasibly use a berserker rush to continue closing in on Aramis, to do so would risk completely impaling his leg all the way through, and rendering it completely useless. Already his mobility would be impeded from this second major injury. Would he want to risk making it even worse? Aramis expected he'd have to back off after his improvised Beat Attack had failed. However, his opponent had already revealed he was full of surprises, and so the Nakabakki held his free hand near his face for defense. One could never be too careful.

Even so, Itou's series of combination attacks would be incredibly difficult to execute with the serious wound Aramis would have inflicted on his leg. Following his Point In Line attack, Aramis retreated away from Itou whether he held his ground, backed off, or pushed in further. His retreat was no linear, as he would be too easily pursued, but rather, angled back and off to Aramis's right (and Itou's left), to make a second blow with his sword more difficult. Aramis raised the tip of his sword again, just above chest level, pointed back on the neck, as though daring Itou to try and attack his blade again. It was obvious Aramis was taking his time with this fight. Being careful not to accidentally expose himself. His method was definitely slow, but it was certain. The wound on Itou's shoulder and leg would be evidence of that, and rapidly wear down his strength. Aramis, by contrast, aside from being shaken by Itou's earlier punch, seemed relatively fine, and had seemed to have completely recovered. The deep cut and puncture wound Itou was suffering from would not go away so easily.

[Itou Kasui]

(OOC: Sorry for not as good quality as usual. I did this very late)

SPOILER: Click to show

Itou was a lot of things. The one thing he wasn’t however was stupid. He was far from stupid. He hadn’t expected Aramis to simply stand there and take it like a rag doll. He expect Aramis would do something defensive, or maybe counter. Aramis has managed to slice him across the shoulder and he had pierced Itou’s shoulder before because he had been blindly charging. He wouldn’t simply charge at his adversary who was using a fencing stance when the blade was actually pointed right at him. He wouldn’t blindly rush in and attack Aramis when he knew he could end up puncturing himself. Itou had been analysing Aramis’s stance. He’d been looking to see if there was something that could be exposed and used to his advantage.

As Aramis ducked down to dip his blade he had left himself exposed. Not only had he been aiming at Itou’s legs but that meant he couldn’t be able to see what was going on properly above. As he moved downwards to dip it down which was pretty obvious what he was doing, he was accustomed to fighting people armed without his blade, it was obvious and basic strategy that someone would aim for his legs if he’s charging. Aramis would have to duck down and dip his blade to hit Itou, all Itou would need to do is literally step to the side of the blade and his leg would be safe, the blade would simply slip right out to the side of him and nothing would happen, he’d be safe from being impaled. He had moved diagonally so the blade would miss, although he hadn’t been able to avoid it completely though, the side of his leg had still gotten scratched by the blade deep but it wasn’t the skewering of his leg that Aramis had hoped for. Blood started gushing from the wound but Itou ignored it and pressed on.

How had he been able to dodge this? With Itou's battle analysis and battle learning he had seen Aramis use that kind of counter attack about twice in this battle when he ducked the blade down in order to pierce Itou when he charged at him. Itou had thought and thought and had figured out a basic battle plan, if he didn't move as fast he would side step as soon as he saw that Aramis was planning to dip the blade down in order to skewer him. It had worked, as long as Itou moved in his zig zag motion then he could not simply be caught. Fencing relied on people moving in straight lines not in zig zag and sidesteps. Itou had average instincts but good battle analysis and battle learning in order to formulate plans before he attacked. He had seen Aramis use that and he would not fall for the same trick over and over again.

Also Aramis’s speaking gave him away. Itou used shunpo again, he did the same thing he did before, shunpo to go all the way around his opponent in order to hit them and avoid their crippling blow, However Itou was doing something different than going all the way around. He shunpo’d to the outside of Aramis, why was this significant? This meant Aramis would have trouble trying to slash Itou is he was on the outside of his sword arm. To make matters worse Itou would be inside his stance, Aramis would have no way to defend, he was outside his blade and pretty much out of his reach.

Itou would then move to disarm Aramis. He would grab him by the sword arm and ram his fist into his elbow. Zeich had used this technique on him, Zeich had inferior strength than Itou by far and it had managed to shatter his elbow, Itou would have no problem shatter Aramis’s elbow because he was so physically weak. How would Aramis be able to dodge and react to all these strikes? Itou was quicker, stronger and he had slipped past his defensive stance. Itou didn’t get out of range though, he stayed in range so he could attack, he would attack ruthlessly until Aramis couldn’t hide behind his stance.

After shattering his elbow with his punch and Aramis would’ve undoubtedly lost his grip on his sword and his arm would undoubtedly be hanging limp and useless to his side right now. Itou would grab him by any piece of clothing he had and yank him towards him, this would instantly jerk him to him and he would fall to the side, right towards Itou. Itou wdould then uppercut him, this would break his jaw for sure and leave him very stunned, Itou wasn’t holding back, he was aiming to break bones and leave the body overwhelmed. The problem was how would Aramis react to this? He had good instincts but he simply wouldn’t be able to defend due to itou’s positioning and him being slightly quicker.

As Aramis would be jerked into the air slightly Itou would then punch him in the solar plexus, winding him and sending him flying backwards and onto the floor, undoubtedly winded, coughing and in pain. Maybe these blows had been the end to Aramis and the fight could be over, it all depended on if Aramis could find a way to react to Itou breaking his arm.

Reiatsu:1400

[Aramis Tezuka]

Unfortunately for Itou his analysis was slightly off. He would avoid the point of Aramis's blade, getting off with only a light cut, but he had Shunpo'd to the wrong side of the Nakabakki. One might think that dodging towards the sword arm would have been an advantage, but it actually increased Arami's reaction time, rather than increased it. As Itou had moved to the sword arm's side, it minimized the amount of movement Aramis needed to use to bring his weapon to bear. Of course the close distance would naturally help him negate this advantage.

Grabbing at his arm would be the natural process. For a hand to hand fighter, it was obvious that if Itou could force a situation in which they were both unarmed, he would stand at an advantage. Aramis moved two points simultaneously. The first was that he stepped back from Itou. This in itself would not protect his arm from Itou's attack however. The two were, however of comparable speed. Anticipating Itou's attack, Aramis's free hand was already in motion as his blade cut upwards, attempting to score a minor cut on Itou's opposite leg. A distraction from Aramis's real purpose.

Itou's move of grabbing Aramis's arm and striking with his opposite hand would be fast, but not simultaneous. Aramis's free arm cut across the path of Itou's oncoming fist, fingers extended. Two things would happen at this point. The first, is that Itou's fist would collide with Aramis's free arm, resulting in a feeling much like before-- as though he was striking something metallic, a multi-linked chain that encircled the arm, and muffling the force of his blow, as well as potentially bruising his fist. The second thing that would happen is the tips of Aramis's fingers would strike Itou's arm.

Striking with the fingers like that, one might have anticipated a nerve strike. This was not the case. Aramis wasn't particularly skilled at hand to hand combat. A nerve strike to break Itou's grip would have been far beyond his capabilities. Aramis was planning on breaking Itou's grip with shock value. Something he could not have anticipated. When his fingers struck Itou's arm-- the one holding onto his wrist, they did not simply impact the arm, as one might have expected (Aramis was aiming at the bicep). They pierced the arm. As though he wore claws at the end of his fingertips, his fingers pierced deeply into Itou's bicep, drawing blood and even piercing through muscle!

The reason was that, of course, Aramis's free hand WAS a claw. A black shadowy talon. The shackle on his wrist may have masked the appearance of his arm, but it could not change its purpose, and so Itou had just been struck by the clawed talon that served as Aramis's arm. It was only natural that it would cause significantly more damage than the arm of a normal human. And just in case Itou had accounted for Aramis's possible interception (for there wasn't much of a way he could have anticipated the puncture wounds), Aramis had taken one final precaution. He had turned his wrist in Itou's grip.

Aramis did not have the hand to hand training to simply break Itou's grip, but he could minimize the damage if the punch slipped past his free arm. He turned his wrist so that the inside of his elbow would be facing Itou's blow. Even if Itou's blow connected now, it would merely force the elbow to bend naturally, as opposed to hyperextending it, as he had intended to. The reason that Zeich had broken Itou's elbow so easily was that he had forced it to move in a direction that it was not meant to move, very quickly, as opposed to simply hitting it with great force. By turning his elbow in such a manner, Aramis could ensure that the natural bend of the elbow would protect his arm from breaking so easily. That said, if Itou's blow slipped through he would still be damaged, naturally. There would be obvious bruising and if Itou did not recoil from the wound Aramis had inflicted on him, or the shock of the damage Aramis had caused, he may have managed to fracture the limb at least.

Either way, although Itou had succeeded in grabbing Aramis's sword arm, he would find himself in a worse state than his foe. His bicep was badly damaged from Aramis's counterattack. The best thing one could say about that was Itou's scenario was that the fresh injury was not on his damaged arm, which may have completely ruined the use of that arm. As it was, now both of Itou's arms would be somewhat compromised, however, and if he did not back away, Aramis was likely to continue attacking with that free arm, and cause even worse damage. It seemed Itou now had something else to contend with. Aramis's eyes had grown stern and dark now, with the sight of his foe's blood on his fingertips.

[Itou Kasui]

(OOC: SO SO SOOOO SORRY THIS POST IS LATE!!!)

So everything seemed to be going according to plan. He had managed to get his arm, he was going to break it. But he knew Aramis was no idiot and to have Itou simply break his arm without intercepting it was not going to happen. So instead of having to rely on instinct Itou had used his battle analysis and was sure and aware Aramis would try to intercept his attack in some way. Itou wasn’t an idiot after all. He had left Aramis a free hand. What Itou wasn’t expecting was that he would use his fingertips however, he thought he would try to use his fists in some way but he was wrong.

He raised his arm and plunged it towards Itou’s arm. Itou was a bit startled by this and so using his far superior strength he pulled Aramis towards him, this would put Aramis off balance and the damage would be minimized. It wouldn’t completely ruin his arm like Aramis had expected but it would pierce his shoulder since the blow would’ve moved further up the arm and since he was jerked off balance the blow wouldn’t be as deep as previously thought. Itou yelped slightly from the hit but tried to keep it as quiet as possible.

Itou didn’t release his grip however, with his pain resistance he would simply fight through the pain. It would take more than pain to stop him! Itou simply grit his teeth and used his other arm to grab the offending arm, although both his shoulders where slightly pierced he could still fight, maybe not as effectively but effective. He had no zanpakuto to fight with, he had no release, he only had his hands, blood and sweat. After grapping the offending arm by the wrist he didn’t say anything. He pulled Aramis towards him by both the arms and head butted him squarely in the nose, this would break it and make it bleed.

Now Itou had both of Aramis’s arms in a hold and he could manoeuvre easily. A lot of questions were running through Itou’s mind however. How had he pierced his arm with just his fingers? What was that hard thing on his arm? It seemed he wouldn’t be able to start breaking his arms with ease, there was something not normal about him and Itou was definitely going to find out during the course of the battle. No way a normal shinigami had clawed fingers and fists and wrists THAT hard.

Either way Itou had gotten pierced but not as much as Aramis had hoped. Thanks to the fact Itou had fairly decent deductive skills he had managed to pull Aramis, put off his aim and only end up with a pierced shoulder. Luckily it hadn’t completely torn through it but had still drawn blood. However although Aramis had drawn some blood Itou had managed to head butt him in the nose and draw blood of his own. “What are you?” Itou asked while still keeping a strong grip on Aramis’s wrists. The reason he made sure to grab him by the wrists was so he couldn’t maneuver it as easily.

After this Itou used his leg and swept Aramis’s feet from under him. This pretty much put him on the ground and flat on his back. After this Itou went into a basic grapple position. He put his knees on Aramis’s wrist so he couldn’t move them. After this he began to attack, he used his fists and started punching him in the face so it would basically knock him senseless. He punched him, straight in the nose for something of a knock-out blow.

Reiatsu:1400

[Aramis Tezuka]

Crack

The cracking sound was something Itou wouldn't have expected. Even Aramis hadn't expected it. It was a sheer coincidence, drawn in by Itou's move to pull the Nakabakki in towards him. When Itou had pulled Aramis in, the Nakabakki's head had unexpectedly lurched forwards, and the crown of Aramis's head collided with Itou's face in an accidental, but still hard-hitting headbutt. Though Itou was stronger, the surprise blow could very likely have stunned or dazed him from the impact. It would also potentially prevent Itou's own headbutt from the daze.

Regardless, when Itou went for his own headbutt, Aramis tucked his head as best he could, and threw a counterstrike. Both his arms were restricted, so he attacked with the only means he had left. His legs. Aramis was not a trained hand to hand fighter, but he still had some basics down, and as Itou threw his headbutt, Aramis's knee would smash into his groin. A rather sensitive spot that would probably force Itou to release him. Pain resistance was good, but a hit like that, even from someone with weaker strength would still hurt a LOT.

Of course, Itou's headbutt would still connect, but by lowering his head like that, Aramis was going to reduce damage, as the blow hit the top of his head. Still, the strength gap couldn't be denied and Aramis dropped to one knee, staggered by the blow, and slightly dazed himself. Still, between his accidental headbutt and his knee strike it was likely that Itou's grip would have been damaged. And if that weren't enough, Aramis clenched his left hand, dragging it down, to lacerate and tear at Itou's shoulder more deeply, as well as an anchor to pull Itou down slightly along with him. If Itou wanted to avoid serious damage to his shoulder, he'd be forced to disengage. Because of both combatants' lowered positions, Itou would find it just about impossible to sweep at Aramis's leg, without off-balancing himself.

What would Itou do. Try and maintain this grappling fight, and risk serious shoulder damage? Or disengage and look for another opening? As for his question, Aramis remained silent, though that might have been due to his struggle to recover, rather than a refusal to speak. Itou would probably find out which it was one way or another, pretty soon, anyways.