The 8th Division courtyard was crowded, packed with shinigami, not only from the 8th division itself but also from 4th division, 5th division, 6th division, 7th division and lastly the 13th division. These six divisions from the entirety of Gotei 13 were grouped together for today's joint training session. Similarly, the other remaining divisions were also grouped for the purpose of training.
"LET'S GO! THAT'S ALL YOU GOT? COME ON! STRIKE THEM DOWN!" Jin'emon Kotsubaki, the vice-captain of 7th division, a well-built man with distinctive short goatee and a pair of red sunglasses, shouted at the top of his lungs whenever he crossed a pair of sparring shinigami belonging to his division.
"I wonder how efficient that is..." Commented a tall man with long black hair angling down to the left. He wore the traditional shinigami shihakusho with a purple belt around his waist that held his zanpakuto. Above his left elbow was the vice-captain badge with the 4th division insignia drawn on it.
"Shouldn't your men be a part of this too, vice-captain Yamada?"
The question came from a lean man of similar height, his light complexion complemented by soft brown hair styled in a shaggy curtain, and matching brown eyes framed by sleek black glasses. The scholarly air about him was further emphasized by the 5th Division vice-captain badge fastened to his left arm.
"I agree with you. At the very least, they should be able to defend themselves in cases of emergency." Yamada revealed his opinion, watching his squad members treat the injuries of those who were victims of Jin'emon's motivational speeches. "However, if they don't have any worthwhile combat skills, they won't be reckless enough to charge into the battlefield. The 4th division's job is to stay behind and heal the injured shinigami. This has been decided by Captain Unohana and I agree with her judgement."
"Hey, Seinosuke!" A woman's voice called out, drawing both vice-captains' attention to their right.
Beneath the shade of a nearby tree sat a young woman with turquoise eyes, sharp red glasses, and long black hair tied into twin braids. Her modified shihakusho featured a shortened hakama resembling a skirt, and the 8th Division vice-captain badge adorned her left arm.
"Could you get me one of those pink shihakusho that your nurses use?" She asked, not even taking off her eyes from the book she was reading.
"I am even afraid to ask.." Seinosuke raised his eyebrow. "Why?"
"Nothing important. I just thought I could do something like this." The woman answered before turning the book to them, showing both the men its contents.
Upon seeing the contents, Seinosuke's eyes widened to the maximum while the other man's glasses suddenly became foggy.
"What do you think? Pretty good way to use them, huh?"
"We are holding a damn training session here Lisa! Why don't you help us here instead of reading....that!" Seinosuke snapped.
"I would advise you to keep that away for a while, vice-captain Yadomaru." The bespectacled man said with his attention turned elsewhere. "Look who's coming."
"Who?" Lisa asked before looking at the entrance of the 8th division's training ground. Walking ahead of the 6th division members were two prominent figures. One was a man with blue eyes and straight, shoulder-length black hair, with a kenseikan on the left side of his head to symbolize his nobility.
Alongside the nobleman walked a young boy wearing a white-green training uniform.
"Is that Sojun's kid?" Lisa inquired.
"Yes, vice-captain Kuchiki's son, Byakuya Kuchiki." The vice-captain of 5th division replied, adjusting his glasses. "People say he will be sent to the Shin'o Academy just to silence those who say that the Kuchiki clan plays political games to allow their clansmen to graduate in less time than other people."
"Yeah, they also say that he will wipe it all in one year. A genius, huh." Lisa rolled her eyes before focusing back on her 'picture' book. "Screw it Sosuke! What's wrong if he sees this?"
"The fact he is a kid?" Sosuke tried to reason with her, but deep down he knew it wasn't worth trying.
"Good morning, vice-captain Kuchiki." Leaving Sosuke and Lisa to their devices, Seinosuke went ahead and greeted the fellow vice-captain before laying his eyes on the boy beside him. "And greetings to you, young lord."
"Morning vice-captain Yamada." Sojun greeted with a smile. Byakuya on the other hand was apparently more focused on the cover of Lisa's book.
"Curious, are we kid? Wanna take a look?" Seeing the interest in Byakuya's eyes, Lisa extended the book to him. Before the latter could take it from her hand, a thick mist came out from Sosuke's zanpakuto, shrouding all the vice-captains and Byakuya, making it impossible to see what's happening around them. "Hey what gives! Hand it over Sosuke!"
"I believe vice-captain Kuchiki wouldn't be happy if you introduced his son to such bad habits." The mist dissipated once Sosuke sheathed his zanpakuto. He reappeared with Lisa's book in his hand, his expression unflinched. Curious about the contents, Sojun approached the bespectacled man and checked the book's contents.
"What does he mean, father?" The confused boy asked. His confusion increased even further when he noticed his father's eyes going blank.
"Byakuya, why don't you go watch the 6th division's sparring matches?" Sojun suggested while occasionally glaring daggers at Lisa. "Huh? If you say so." Byakuya hesitated before eventually leaving, absorbed in his own thoughts. 'Adults are weird.'
"Do you have any idea what you were about to do, Yadomaru?" The vice-captain of the 6th division fumed, throwing the book at Lisa's direction.
"He will have to learn about it eventually." Lisa casually answered, catching the book. Her casual nature and the answer itself managed to anger Sojun even more. "Sorry, I was bored so I had to do something."
"You wouldn't be bored if you did your job." Seinosuke stated the obvious.
"Our job... We are only supposed to watch over them and give them exercises to do. This is boring for us and won't do them much benefit." Lisa shared her opinion. The two vice-captains glanced at each other, pondering about her statement before giving her a questioning gaze, as if to provide them a better alternative.
"Why don't we have an exhibition match? They will learn more from watching us fight rather than doing the same exercises over and over again." She suggested.
"You have a point. I suppose you want it to be a battle royale right?" The vice-captain of the 5th division inquired, to which Lisa nodded. He held his chin thoughtfully pondering over the proposal of the exhibition match. "I think it's a good idea, although I won't be able to participate. I have to meet up with Captain Hirako in a few minutes."
"Are you weaseling your way out of this already?" Lisa asked in her usual proactive tone.
"As much as I wanted to stay and take part in this match, the meeting holds much more importance." Sosuke said before taking a quick glance over the training yard and noticed the members of 13th division finally entering the area. "Though I don't think you will have any shortage of volunteers even with me gone."
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"This is going to be a 5-way exhibition match among the vice-captains of each division, with a ten-minute time limit." Lisa announced, after having gathered all the shinigami present in the 8th division courtyard around the five vice-captains. "Each of you should carefully observe the fighting style of the vice-captain whose approach most resembles your own. Study their movements closely, and try to incorporate elements of their techniques into your own combat style."
"Since this is merely an exhibition match, we will refrain from using our shikai." Sojun Kuchiki added with a composed demeanor. His suggestion was met with unanimous nods of agreement from the other vice-captains.
The onlookers were mostly curious about the vice-captain of the 4th division. As far as the 4th division was concerned, there were more healers in there compared to fighters. Yet here was their vice-captain, preparing to spar alongside the seasoned combatants of the other divisions, drawing curious whispers from the onlookers.
"Shall we start?" Sojun questioned his fellow vice-captains, seeing that almost everyone was done warming up. After everyone nodded, he disappeared in a flash of Shunpo, silence reigning in the courtyard with no one daring to make a move.
'This feeling..' Kaien narrowed his eyes before disappearing, just a second earlier than Sojun who reappeared right on the spot Kaien had vacated, his blade slicing cleanly through the empty air. The latter appeared some distance away from the Kuchiki-clan member. "That was close."
"Yes, indeed." Sojun agreed with his opponent, just before Kaien's left sleeve fell from the elbow down, leaving the latter in shock. "I have to congratulate you for being able to avoid my Senka."
"Damn it!" Kaien cursed, staring at his left arm. It was a perfectly aimed slash, only meant to cut his sleeve, below his vice-captain badge, revealing his Shiba clan tattoo on his forearm. No blood had been shed by Sojun. This meant only one thing. 'This guy is not even half serious..'
"HERE I COME!" Even if Jin'emon hadn't announced himself, which was something that would never happen, Sojun was easily able to block his attack by raising his zanpakuto above his head. Jin'emon stopped pressing and delivered another follow-up slash which Sojun had to block, taking back a few steps. Even if he could counter the strikes of the 7th division's vice-captain with his superior reaction speed, a power struggle was something he wanted to avoid against him.
'So this is a vice-captain's level.' Suzaku watched as Sojun was easily able to block or avoid most of Jin'emon's strikes. The former then bent down as Lisa jumped over, standing on his horizontally disposed blade, performing a frontal somersault, and ended up landing on Jin'emon's chest, with both her legs wrapped around his neck.
A lot of dirty thoughts ran through the minds of the male shinigami who were watching, before Lisa executed a headscissors takedown, propelling him into the ground with a surprising force.
Lisa barely had a moment to catch her breath, sidestepping Kaien's blade with precise agility. In response, she aimed an upward kick toward his jaw, which Kaien deftly avoided by leaping into the air, evading her follow-up circular leg sweep. Seizing the opportunity, Lisa sprang up with remarkable speed and struck him with both soles of her feet, sending him sprawling backward.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, Lisa instinctively drew her sword to meet Sojun's oncoming slash."Still mad at me, Sojun?" She teased with a defiant smirk.
"It's vice-captain Kuchiki to you." Sojun complained before attempting another slash, to which Lisa dodged with a graceful spin before hitting him with her shoulder and following up with a rising backfist on his face.
Refusing to give him any time to recover, Lisa went ahead with a kick using her right heel. The latter barely blocked it with his left forearm, stumbling back a few steps from the impact. Compared to Jin'emon, who was slow but had more strength behind his attacks, Lisa was comparatively faster, being able to execute swift and fatal attacks with practiced unpredictability. Her reputation of being a Hakuda expert was no lie.
Regaining his composure, Sojun wasted no time in disappearing with a Shunpo. Lisa went on high alert, knowing full well that he would reappear behind her. Just as she turned around, Sojun disappeared once again, with the former ending up losing her balance. 'Shit! A double feint!'
"Hado #4, Byakurai!" Appearing right above Lisa, Sojun released a stream of concentrated white lightning from his fingertips. Before Lisa could move out of the way of the spell, she felt a force surrounding her, immobilizing her in one place.
"Bakudo #1, Sai!" Seinosuke announced out of nowhere. The force that bound Lisa, forced her arms to move behind her back, causing her to fall forward. In an act of desperation, she turned her back to the ground and raised her legs in a V-shape, before twirling them through the air forcing her back to continuously roll on the ground in a circular motion, avoiding the kido spell by a few inches.
This move earned her quite the cheer from the crowd of shinigami, more so from the male audience.
"Hey! You two almost killed me!" Lisa complained, getting back up on her feet with great struggle, given that her hands were still tied by the kido spell.
Out of all the Kido practitioners within the ranks of current vice-captains gathered here, Seinosuke and Kaien were the ones considered as experts in the field of Kido. The only way to break out from an expert's kido spell was to somehow take down the caster. With that in mind, Lisa turned her attention to him. Lucky for her, Sojun was occupied fending off against both Kaein and Jin'emon.
"I thought you were bored and wanted some action." Seinosuke taunted. "Coming straight at me? You really think I will let you?"
"That's not up to you," Lisa shot back before disappearing in a flash of Shunpo. In the blink of an eye, she reappeared and struck the healer with enough force to knock him to the ground, shattering the kido spell binding her arms.
"Hado #32, Okasen!" Grumbling, the fallen Seinosuke raised up his sword horizontally, generating an orb of yellow energy in front of it right after Lisa leapt in the air attempting an axe kick.
"Hado #31, Shakkaho!" Knowing full well that facing a kido expert's spell head on wouldn't end well for her, she switched tactics, countering the incoming arc of yellow energy with a sphere of red flames. She landed some distance away from Seinosuke, the latter back on his feet, readying another spell in his palms.
Before he could bring himself to execute the spell, Jin'emon kicked Sojun, sending him crashing against the healer. He wasted no time in rushing towards the trio, intending to fight them all at once.
"Hado #33, Sokatsui!" Kaien used this opportunity to fire massive blue beam of energy towards the distracted quartet of vice-captains.
"Bakudo #37, Tsuriboshi!" Seinosuke's spell created a ball of blue energy that fired six ropes from its center. The ropes attached themselves to the two closest trees, one on each side of the vice-captains, with the center solidifying into a flat, elastic cushion. Kaein's spell clashed with the counter spell Seinosuke fired, canceling each other out.
Right after the shield went down, Sojun and Jin'emon wasted no time in rushing towards the healer, only to be intercepted by Lisa. Meanwhile both Kaien and Seinosuke had drawn out their blades, ready to engage in another clash of kido spells.
"Hado #58, Tenran!" Both shouted at the same time, invoking a wide tornado-like wind blast from their spinning katanas. Both the spells clashed and exploded, pushing all the vice-captains away from each other just from the aftershocks of the collision.The crowd of shinigami watched in awe before erupting into cheers.
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Later that night
Gin had found a nice amount of firewood, searching on one of the nearby forests. However, he wasn't able to carry all of it on his own, so he decided to return and either bring Rangiku to help him or find some sort of bag which he would use to carry the firewood. On his way back, he crossed paths with three shinigami, who were laughing and talking with each other. Ignoring them, Gin took a shortcut, so he could reach their residence faster.
The sight he saw once he returned to the main road, made him tremble from head to toe. There was a girl lying in the middle of the street.
Bloodied, bruised and battered, her clothes, more specifically the ones that barely covered her lower body were ragged and ripped. There were some strings surrounding her neck, some strings that once composed the pendant that now missed its hanging piece.
A pendant that was a gift from Suzaku and Matsuri. Matsuri specifically tied the strings together for her, making a nice pendant for her.
Once he reached her, Gin fell on his knees. Trembling and crying, he held her body against his own. A few minutes later, that crying turned into a snarl. A fire he didn't even know existed, began to burn inside him.
The feeling of rage, hatred and desire for retribution bubbled up, until he could not hold back any longer.
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