[BitP:R] Episode 5 - Drunken Brawl! No actual drunks included!

[Kayne650]

"Hm? Oh yes, my apologies. Lost myself in thought. Yes, I believe i'll battle Daisuke-san. He almost seems to be showing off. This will be interesting."
Arata stands up, draws the Hayai Ryoute and makes his way into the arena, his face nearly expressionless in his focus.

"All done!" Daisuke proclaimed as he finished absorbing the last Bakudo. He was now back to five tails, with each being about five feet long. They were in fact just shorter than Daisuke himself. He crouched on the ground by Magatsu, feeling very pleased with himself. Then he saw Arata walking towards him, swords drawn.

Uh oh. Daisuke hadn't actually expected to end up fighting someone himself, though in retrospect, he probably should have expected it. After all, he, Sayuri, and Arata were the only ones who hadn't fought, and Sayuri was the referee. So, this was probably something he should have seen coming.

"Um, can I help you, Arata-san?" Daisuke asked a bit tentatively, still not entirely sure of Arata's intention, but ready to defend if Arata were to attack. He was suddenly glad that he had his Shikai active.

[Frozen_Feet]

"The stage is all yours, then", Sayuri chirps. "Noburo-san and Koishima-san, please do your best."

[Kayne650]

"The stage is all yours, then", Sayuri chirps. "Noburo-san and Koishima-san, please do your best."

"EH?" Said Daisuke, confused. "Wait, we're actually fighting? I mean, I'm fine with that, but I didn't know! Are we using Shikai? Should I turn mine off?"

Daisuke was dangerously close to babbling, and he knew it. He just really hadn't expected to fight without any warning ((OOC: He hadn't heard Sayuri's discussion with Arata)). He looked at Arata.

"Would you rather fight without Shikai? Because if so, I'll need to reseal mine."

[Cyborg Mage]

"Oh, it shouldn't be a problem."
As Arata says this, he begins limbering up, losing control of his near-grin and begins smiling in anticipation, and flash-steps behind Daisuke and aiming a sweeping kick at his legs.
"In fact, I'd be surprised if you even managed to use it."

[Kayne650]

Daisuke, being completely unaware of Arata's abilities save for the fact that, being a member of the 2nd division, he was presumably fast, was caught unaware by Arata's attack, and found his legs swept completely from underneath him.

Thankfully for him, he reacted instinctively and caught himself with three of his five tails, balancing on them like a tripod while his remaining two tails lashed out at Arata, hopefully pushing him back. Afterwards, Daisuke used the three tails he was balancing on like a spring to send himself leaping upwards, where he caught himself and balanced on the air.

"All right then, Arata-san. But I'm not going to go easy on you." As Daisuke said this, two of his tails coiled around his arms, moving towards his hands. When they reached his hands, they morphed from blue tails into twin katanas, both tinged the same blue, and both tipped with the same white flames.

"Let's do this!" He shouted, lunging downward at Arata.

[Cyborg Mage]

Arata barely dodged the tail-strikes, but found the downward lunge no problem. He knew anyone would want simply to knock the opponent off his feet, especially in non-lethal combat. However, he knew there were far more effective ways of disabling an opponent. Arata flash steps randomly for a few seconds, attempting to confuse Daisuke, before raising his hand calmly and chanting, unleashing Shi*osu Sansen.

(OOC: There isn't a given incantation for Sansen. The star is also there in case the censors are that sensitive. EDIT: Apparently, they are, so the link won't work.)

[Kayne650]

Arata barely dodged the tail-strikes, but found the downward lunge no problem. He knew anyone would want simply to knock the opponent off his feet, especially in non-lethal combat. However, he knew there were far more effective ways of disabling an opponent. Arata flash steps randomly for a few seconds, attempting to confuse Daisuke, before raising his hand calmly and chanting, unleashing Shi*osu Sansen.

(OOC: There isn't a given incantation for Sansen. The star is also there in case the censors are that sensitive.)

Daisuke landed on the ground a bit harder than he expected, but managed to roll to a stand pretty easily. Okay, maybe the divebomb had been a bad idea, given his opponent's speed. Daisuke attempted to follow Arata's flash steps, and managed to keep enough of an eye on him to find him right before he used the Bakudo. Daisuke grinned.

Daisuke brought three of his tails up in defense to grab the three points of Arata's Bakudo, draining it of all reiatsu with distressing ease. He then redirected the Kido energy from his tails to his hands, gathering them for a return attack.

"Hado #4: Byakurai!" Ordinarily, such a Hado wouldn't be too much trouble, but this was supercharged with the energy from the Bakudo, and was therefore a bit stronger than usual. It would hurt.

((OOC))

Spoiler

Show

You might want to link to the Kido page on the RP Wiki instead; the link you posted didn't work because the censors are in fact that sensitive.

[Cyborg Mage]

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado 33-Sokatsui."
Arata pulled out his own Hado as fast as one of his rank could, which was even then only just quick enough to block the incoming Byakurai. The more powerful lighning blast was enough to halt Daisuke's Hado, but the resulting explosion was still enough to blast both fighters clean off their feet.

Arata recovered quickly enough, clearly in some pain, and looked at Daisuke with an expression of supressed anger, quickly turning to strategic respect.
"So, looks like this isn't going to be easy. Finally, a challenge!"
Arata runs forward at incredible speed, whirling his swords in front of him so quickly it almost resembeled a solid wall of black steel.

[Kayne650]

Daisuke was blown back several feet, but since he was farther away from the blast origin he wasn't harmed overly much. He smiled at Arata's admission, and braced himself for the incoming attack.

When Arata got close enough, Daisuke shielded himself with his three tails, attempting to grab and hold Arata's blades while striking with both katana. His aim was to distract Arata enough with his swords to yank Arata's swords out of his hands.

[Cyborg Mage]

Daisuke came close to his original intention. While he was able to hold Arata's swords, stopping his attack, his grip was quite a bit stronger while expected. After a few moments of yanking and dodging, Arata suddenly grinned as he figured out how Daisuke's plan would turn against him. Arata then flash stepped, bringing Daisuke with him, and attempting to slam him into a wall using his momentum.

[Kayne650]

"AH!" Daisuke screamed as he was pulled along. Despite seeing Seiko do the same thing to Feiyan earlier, he hadn't expected that. Thankfully for Daisuke though, his grip with his tails wasn't quite strong enough, and the high speeds of the shunpo threw him off before Arata could slam him into the wall. So, instead of his back hitting the wall, his feet connected, allowing him to rebound off of the wall and away from Arata.

"Okay, I didn't see that one coming." Daisuke said, standing. "You're pretty good, Arata-san!" Daisuke said cheerfully. He was honestly having fun. "My turn now!" He declared, punching the air above him.

"Bakudo #26: Kyokko!" Daisuke said, before promptly vanishing from both sight and reiatsu sense. Daisuke, not trusting his feet to make no noise, instead elected to walk on his three tails, which were soundless. Arata would (hopefully) not know where Daisuke was until he felt a tug on his leg, pulling him upside down in the air.

[Frozen_Feet]

As the fight between Daisuke and Arata seems to be moving under its own weight and no horrible disregard for personal safety has been displayed yet, Sayuri feels safe enough to walk near Soushi and resume their little debate for a moment.

"Nagamichi-san, now that we have time, I'd like to revisit our discussion a little, if you wouldn't mind", she says and curtseys. "I feel I failed to present one of my opinions to you. I'd like to remedy that."

"You said I may seek to purify Hollows instead of eliminating them... but to a Shinigami, those are one and the same. I'm afraid I did not understand the point you were trying to make with that. Likewise, when I said that a hateful Shinigami is one in name only, I did not imply that there absolutely can't be hatred between us and Hollows... rather, I acknowledged that those feelings sometimes exist, and tried to say that we shouldn't feel them, or at least they shouldn't be our guiding emotions. Again, I apologize if I didn't convey my message properly."

"I find it curious you brought up how Hollows are, in essence, victims, because that is the reason why I speak of forgiveness and needlessness of loathing. They are born because of our insufficiency, after all, and if we try to find who's to blame for them, the accusing finger always returns to point at us. It should be obvious how hating Hollows is fruitless in a situation like this, because it invariably turns into hating ourselves, and hatred of one's self only serves to curb one's spiritual growth."

"I'm also concerned that you insist on using war as a metaphor for our relationship with Hollows. You might be right that war can't exist without hatred, but like I said, I don't believe war is how things were, or are supposed to be. A more correct comparison would be to liken us to predators, and Hollows to prey - and while sides of a war might feel no respect for each other, hunters and the hunted surely can. Throughout history, mortals have revered their most important prey animals, made songs of their life and prayed to them for strenght. Before Ghost King made himself known to us, that practice was not lost to our kin either. 'Mask of Flesh and Bone, flutter of wings'... as a man knowledgeable of Kido, surely you know of many chants like this. There was a time when we did not spit to the ground at the mention of our enemies, but respected them and immortalized them in our poems and spells. It's a shame that practice has since fallen to the wayside."

"Because that is the way I believe things should be, Nagamichi-san", Sayuri says proudly. "Sure, Hollows might hate us and gnash their teeth at us, but that's because they are flawed. Like you said, it isn't their fault. We don't need to hate them back, because we are not like them. We are whole, we are superior, both in good and evil. That is why it's our possibility, and responsibility, to forgive them. That's what it means to be a Shinigami. If we seize to perfect ourselves, sink to the level of flawed beings, we have already lost, no matter what 'war' we might win by doing so."

[Kuroimaken]

"That's a beautiful speech, Saiyuri-san, but it's not discolored of idealism. The practices you speak of such as prayer to the game are knowingly cast aside as a society evolves. Their knowledge of things spiritual slowly vanishes, replaced by knowledge of factual nature. We know that a flute sounds the way it does because of the way the air flows inside its body, or that fire burns by turning its fuel into carbon and generating heat in the process. A hunter works the way he does to provide sustenance for himself and/or others. It is not necessary for us to hunt Hollows - we merely accept it as our reality and duty.

If you stop to think about it, we Shinigami are merely the Hollow's prey fighting back harder than they expect us to. Over time, we have come to organize ourselves into a society. The more civilized the people, the less morally justified murder becomes. With civilization came a need to justify our actions.

We hunt Hollows because if we don't, they will hunt us, as a part of an ecosystem. Suppose that we did not kill Hollows, but merely performed Konsou. Given time, the amount of Wild Hollows would increase exponentially. Little by little, the humans of the mortal world would turn into appropriate prey. In this scenario, either they learn to fight back or they die off. If the former, we learn that what we have appointed as our duty for so long was not, in fact, necessary. If the latter, when food in the Mortal World grews scarce or non-existant, they turn onto us next.

Realistically speaking, a relationship like this is bound to generate a grudge. Hollows are not mere wild beasts, after all, and I'm not referring only to Arrancar. Everything we Shinigami do is a means to defend ourselves against what, in nature, refers to as a relationship of hunter and hunted. But if we are not at war, why is the Gotei 13 structured like a military? Why do we have ranks? Why are our Captains required to be able to perform Bankai, a technique that is by essence turned towards combat?

I too wish we could solve this with something as simple as forgiveness. But that is not what I see, sadly."

[Frozen_Feet]

Sayuri furrows her brow. "Your attitude is... interesting, Soushi-san. You sound like some of the mortals who disown all spirituality - but how do you reconcile that with the fact that you, yourself, are a spirit? You speak of naturalism, even though you've seen yourself just what mere will of a person can create in this world. This is the Land of the Dead, and many of the facts that gave birth to the philosophy you hold are no facts at all here."

"Besides that, I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. Many opinions you hold are not exclusive with mine, rather, you just see things in darker light than I do. While I find that worrying, I can't say you're wrong, per se."

"But what comes to the reasons why Gotei is as it is nowadays, that's simply a matter of history. We are the Court Guard - founded by our King, not to protect him from Hollows, but from other Shinigami. Sad as it is, treachery has not been non-existent within our ranks. How things were prior to that is shrouded in myth, I'm afraid to say, but if myths hold any truth, then we were a loose collection of demigods and small pantheons, each doing their duties largely separate from each other. It wasn't until the time of the King and the fist Commander-General that we were gathered together and organized. For someone who talks about war so much, I wonder why you didn't answer your own question, Nagamichi-san."

Sayuri sounds sincerely befuddled when she says the last part. Is Soushi just trying to trick her into saying something foolish, to reveal a gap in her knowledge? That's how it feels, at least. There should be little need to state these things aloud, they are something each Shinigami is taught in the academy - had he just forgotten? With a lifespan of centuries, that is always possible. Or is it alcohol speaking again? The thought makes Sayuri wince.

[Kuroimaken]

"The part of devil's advocate is the one that belongs to me in this dialogue, Saiyuri-san. I'm afraid it's not within me to see things in the same light as yourself. But you must understand that just because we cannot explain it doesn't mean there IS no explanation. Much like humans in general are ignorant about us and us about them - try as we might, we do not fully understand their nature just as they do not perceive ours, but for a few gifted or unlucky individuals."

With that, Soushi turned towards Saiyuri. For some reason, his eyes looked... sad.

"The word Seireitei holds the meaning of 'court of pure souls'. Are we to understand that pure is that which has an absence of stain, or one that shines in spite of it? What necessitated the coming of the King? Considering the threat the Hollows present to us, would our infighting not show us as a potential target?

Our viewpoint is colored by our perception of reality. We Shinigami perceive our task as being to cleanse the souls left behind in the circle of reincarnation. But to an outside observer, it could be said we merely seek to increase the size of our own flock. When a Shinigami purifies a Hollow, the memories of his or her time as such are erased from his mind. Why is that? From the Hollow's viewpoint, I'd think they consider it as us stealing a hunter from them, much like them feeding on us makes them stronger.

In a way, I suppose we are what we want others to see. You and I of all people would know that."

[Frozen_Feet]

"I believe the reason why we remove their memories is because life of a Hollow is that of suffering. Their nature springs from suffering, and they search oblivion by throwing themselves at each other to end that suffering. I... don't think memories from a life like that are truly worth remembering", Sayuri replies as she turns her attention back to the fight, a sour smile on her face. "But I guess you are right, Nagamichi-san. Perceptions matter a frigthening amount."

[Kuroimaken]

"Assume for a moment that it isn't all suffering. That Hollows too could find moments of joy and laughter. If that's the case, would it be our right to take that from them?

The possibility frightens me. And what frightens me even more is that I will have nothing and no one to remember me by when the cycle of reincarnation claims me."

[Cyborg Mage]

"Bakudo #26: Kyokko!" Daisuke said, before promptly vanishing from both sight and reiatsu sense. Daisuke, not trusting his feet to make no noise, instead elected to walk on his three tails, which were soundless. Arata would (hopefully) not know where Daisuke was until he felt a tug on his leg, pulling him upside down in the air.

"Hm. Well, hiding won't stop me. We'll just have to-" Arata began speaking, but was interuppted by Daisuke attempting to lift him. Arata suddenly started spinning in Daisuke's tail, both swords held out, hopefully hitting Daisuke in the process.

[Kayne650]

Daisuke felt a savage pleasure that Arata hadn't actually sensed him coming until he'd grabbed Arata's leg, despite the fact that Arata's rapid spinning forced Daisuke onto a rapid retreat. Unfortunately, Arata's reach with with blades was greater than Daisuke's tail length, and Daisuke had to pull his tail back to defend himself against Arata's blades.

Daisuke pulled back just enough to defend himself from the whirlwind of blades, and grabbed Arata's swords with his tails, though this time he didn't stop there. He used shunpo to move straight up, bringing Arata with him, and then quickly flipped forward, slamming Arata back down to the ground with his tails.

[Cyborg Mage]

Arata lay on the ground for a few moments, before getting back up, limbering himself and flash stepping away from Daisuke, apparently chanting during the step, as his Okasen was ready almost immedeatly after stopping. He then flash steps behind Daisuke, hoping the effort of stopping the Hado would distract him, and striking him on the head with the hilt of one of his swords.

[Kayne650]

As Daisuke threw Arata to the ground, he immediately began chanting himself. Two of his tails flowed into his hands as spheres of energy and he began to copy Magatsu.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" At this point, two of Daisuke's three remaining tails blocked the Okasen, fueling his Hado even more. "Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens!"

Daisuke's only remaining free tail blocked Arata's hilt strike, and he turned, grinning, to face Arata. Daisuke's tail wrapped around Arata's arm as Daisuke finished his chant.

"Hado #63! Raikoho! Soren Sokatsui! Immense blasts of lightning and blue energy shot towards Arata at point-blank range.

[Wahrheit]

Magatsu was leaning on the training ground wall near Sayuri and Soushi, listening to their debate with mild interest as he kept an eye on Daisuke's fight. The kid was making a good showing of himself. Whe he began to double-chant one of Magatsu's preferred attack combinations, the Vice-Captain grinned like a fox. "Keep up the pressure, Daisuke-kun! Show them the 3rd isn't a bunch of pushovers!"

[Kuroimaken]

"Ara? I figured those Hadou were a little on the strong side for this match." Soushi offered with some mild surprise. "Amazing that a kid that size could pull it off. He sure seems the hyperactive kind." Soushi seemed genuinely impressed at Daisuke's performance, given his own specialty. And those tails were nothing to laugh at either. "But pressuring your opponent into a corner relies on you having a bigger breath and your foe using all of his on defense. It also works better if you either have or can create a corner for him to be stuck in. Daisuke-chan may well have Arata-san beat as far as the first point is concerned, but I can't shake the feeling that's not true for the second..."

[Frozen_Feet]

"Ha - Hanki!"

Second after the two spells bloom into a great explosion, hot air throwing dust to the bystanders' face and ruffling their clothes, there's a cold breeze, which blows out the blue flames and makes the sparks of thunder fizzle.

A second too late.

Sayuri stands beside Soushi, positively fuming. "Koishima-kun!", she shrieks, black hair flowing down on her shoulders, eyeglasses sliding down her nose, two piercing blue eyes glaring at the plucky 3rd seat.

Hopefully, they could still save poor Arata. If there's anything left to save, that is...

[Cyborg Mage]

Once the dust clears, it can be seen that Arata is gone entirely, along with a fair piece of the room. As both of them inspect the site where he once stood, a voice is heard from behind them.
"Now now Daisuke-san, you shouldn't just throw Hado like that without thinking."
It appears that Arata was able to unleash his Shikai at the last minute, and teleported to the other side of the room.

[Kayne650]

At first, Daisuke was horrified. Had the two Hado vaporised Arata completely? That would be awful! But then he heard Arata's voice behind him, and, wheeling around, saw Arata looking at him. Had he dodged both Hado completely? But...but...they had been point-blank! How had he dodged both? Apparently, Arata was a lot stronger than Daisuke had thought, if two level 63 Hado wasn't enough to beat him. And now, with two tails gone, Daisuke was at a severe disadvantage.

That didn't mean he was going to give up.

Daisuke looked at Arata determinedly, his chin set stubbornly. He pretended not to hear Sayuri's yell. "Pretty impressive, Arata-san. Are you going to fight me for real this time?"

[Cyborg Mage]

"Fine then-"
Just after saying this, Arata makes several shunpo "sprint-by-s" on Daisuke, running past and hitting him with the hilt and flats of his sword at high speeds-more than enough to knock Daisuke off his feet, were it not for the force of the succeding blow-before stopping behind him, attempting to pin his tails to the floor with one foot and holding his sword to the back of his neck.
"-if only to stop you nearly killing me again."

[Kayne650]

Daisuke was ready for such an assault. Shunpo seemed to be a favorite of Arata's, as well as most of the 2nd division if Kyasarin was an example, and such run-by attacks were one that Daisuke had expected. Arata's attacks came a bit faster than Daisuke had expected, but nothing too terrible.

With three tails left, it was a little harder than usual, but Daisuke managed to deflect Arata's blows enough to keep the weapons away from him, though he still felt the impacts. He did notice one thing though: Arata still wasn't using his blades, just the dull parts of his weapons. Daisuke knew that it was just a spar and not an actual battle, but the fact that he was still going easy insulted Daisuke. Did Arata think that he could beat Daisuke while holding back? We'll see about that.

Daisuke almost laughed when he felt Arata trying to hold down his tails with his foot. Daisuke reciprocated by flowing his tails around Arata's foot, forming two of them into a hammer, and slamming them down with about the force of a comical anvil. Only it wouldn't be funny.

Daisuke's other tail grabbed Arata's swords, and held them at close range. If Arata got away again, he would just keep moving and Daisuke would never hold him down. He had to keep them close.

"Sorry, Arata-san. I didn't mean to really hurt you, I knew that you would dodge. I just wanted you to know that I'm taking this seriously, and I think that you should too." Daisuke punctuated his statement by slamming his fist into Arata's solar plexus and pulling one of Arata's blades out of his hand.