Bamboo Waltz

Wild Golden Lion II
"You're running fast, woman!" Harutō called out. "I'm surprised you can flee this fast, outstripping even my own Shunpō!" Gaikou glanced back at him momentarily—not wanting to stop out of fear of being caught, the Quincy kept moving forward with her Hirenkyaku, ensuring that he wouldn't catch up. Her goal was to get so far away from this pointy-haired jerk so that Ahatake wouldn't have any problems in destroying the area around him in his fight.

Harutō kept running after her, and smirked for a moment. "You know...perhaps being outrun isn't such a bad thing. Your skirt keeps floating up — it's a very nice sight."

Gaikou was tempted to snap back at him- but she stopped herself. Naturally, retorting to him in her own manner while in motion would have rather...bad consequences. It'd be a violation of common sense, definitely. "Tch, shush, you." She hissed under her breath, barely stopping herself from turning around, racing towards him, and choking the hell out of him.

"I think it's fine for me to admire something in plain sight." Harutō grinned, his voice rather smug as his eyes focused on Gaikou's rear. Chances were he was going to make her angry before they even started to fight.

Gaikou quickly swirled around, stopping in her tracks as she prepared to fight him, her crossbow aimed straight at his head. "Now, let's fight, you stupid pointy-haired bastard." She fired off a single arrow towards him which possessed powerful force.

Harutō stopped in his tracks, grinning as he slammed his wristguards into the arrow, deflecting it off into the sky. "Damn good, chick. It feels like it's been a few days and some odd hours, let's finally get moving!" Harutō vanished with Shunpo, his speed outstripping his meager performance from earlier as he seemingly just appeared next to Gaikou, quickly extending his hand towards her neck, aiming to cut it off with a chop of his own brute force.

Gaikou quickly evaded this strike, leaping back before his attack had the change to kill her immediately. "Stupid Shinigami...all power, no brains." She skidded along the ground, before aiming her crossbow up at his face, unleashing a payload of crossbow bolts towards his face.

Harutō bent forward, and began to run close to the ground, grinning like a madnamn as the bolts of energy flew straight over him, missing him by a few hairs. Swiftly, so swift that it was more of the sound of the air cutting than the sight of him swinging a blade that Gaikou would see, Harutō swung his blade downward on the womans torso as he closed in.

Gaikou barely defended herself against the attack- using a small shield composed of solidified spiritual energy to defend herself against the blow- however, it did crack ever so slightly and the blade cut into her skin, making her wince in pain as blood poured from her wound. "You're still pathetic..."

"Like you have any room to talk, girl!" Harutō, yanking the blade back, however, he performed a follow-up slash, his blade shattering the already cracked shield of reishi as he aimed to cut Gaikou down. "You're already finished!"

Gaikou snapped back, "I don't think so!" Withdrawing a sword formed out of pure reishi, Gaikou and the blonde-haired jerk's blade's clashed; Gaikou had deliberately caught them in a clash of swords.

As the metal clashed with Reishi, Harutō blinked, surprised. "Those are some unique abilities you've got, girly." Removing one hand from his hilt, he placed his arm at the back of back to provide support, raising his hand, and flicking his middle finger forward towards Gaikou, releasing with it a massive amount of pressure.

Gaikou snapped at Harutō as she was blown back, "It's still a lot more variable than your sword swings and invisible steps!" Truth be told, a Shinigami's arsenal, if they didn't have Bankai or spells, wasn't very varied. Heck, you could substitute any shinigami for another if they held sealed blades. Gaikou caught herself- readying her reishi gauntlet, slinging a lone arrow towards the man.

"These are staples of Shinigami combat." Harutō snapped. "Oh wait...I actually don't care, history has never been my thing." He swung his blade, deflecting the arrow into the ground and launched himself towards Gaikou, closing in as he repeatedly jabbed his blade in her direction.

Gaikou smiled ever so slightly, noting how similar the two were for disregarding the histories of their races. "...That's surprising." Gaikou's movements seemed as if she were dancing; quickly and majestically evading Harutou's strikes, she suddenly lunged in with a powerful punch aimed at his abdomen.

Harutō reacted quickly, batting her hand away before winding his onto the top of her wrist, forcing her hand (and with it, the girl herself) down to the ground. Keeping her hand pinned, he then proceeded to slash his blade down at her, aiming for her shoulder.

Gaikou utilized Hirenkyaku to speed right behind the man, aiming her Seele Schneider towards his neck as she slashed forward viciously. It seemed that it would simply be a game of 'no, I am behind you' from here on out.

Harutō, already close to the ground, ducked, placing both hands firmly onto the stone, before propelling his body in a spiral motion, repeatedly, his legs aiming to make contact with Gaikou and kick her away before he was killed in the manner of a farm animal.

Gaikou was struck in the chest by Haruto's kick- being sent careening backwards by the sheer velocity of his blow. Skidding along the ground, the Quincy quickly caught herself as she grasped her Seele Schneider with her gauntlet, supercharging. "...Come on!"

Harutō laughed as he got to his feet, grinning at the woman. "What's wrong chick, getting tired?" He launched himself forward, closing the distance between them before she could react, swinging his knee up to meet her ribs.

Gaikou swerved out of the way instantly as she leapt back- the effects of the gauntlet grasping the Seele Schneider caused the blade to surge violently, radiating pure reiryoku as she leapt forward instantly in a powerful burst of speed, swinging the shaking blade towards his head. "Not at all!"

"Glad to hear it!" Harutō clashed blades with her again, metal on energy as the ground began to crack. They bombarded each other's weapons as they maneuvered around the other, appearing to be dancing; the ground deepening. "For a human, you're not too bad!"

Gaikou didn't know whether or not to take that as a compliment. "...Ur, thanks. I guess." Gaikou fuelled more and more spiritual energy into her strikes, causing the enhanced Seele Schneider to emit further spiritual energy, striking at her foe violently.

The energy caught Harutō off guard, throwing him backwards as he caught himself. "Tell me....did you have a teacher?"

Gaikou leapt forward, blade poised towards her foe's neck. "Nope. It's all learn as you go. I don't remember anyone teaching me damn near anything, so I just picked up a few books and now bam, I'm the strongest Quincy of my generation."

"Weren't the Quincy exterminated a few centuries ago?" Harutō asked, surprised, ducking the blade and flipping back, intent on getting a few answers. "I assume you are either the last, or one of the last, Quincy. So...wouldn't that make you the only Quincy of your generation?"

Gaikou skidded along the ground, stopping a moment to answer. "No, I'm the last I know of. I think there may be more, but nobody's sure, y'know?"

"You're an interesting child." Harutō grinned, gripping his blade. "It would only insult you if I denied you a fight against my full power." He pointed the blade downward, before sliding it up, moving his palm along the flat of the blade. "Cut Away, Taketori!" The blade glew and began to shrink slightly, gaining a thick wooden handle as well was losing it's guard, while gaining a shape similar to a machete. The main blade is curved, azure, and has black under edges. There is another, vaguely oval-shaped blade attached to the top of the handle. This smaller blade is also azure with black edges. The two blades are connected by a cross shape that resembles the top half of a spike that is white with gold and dark rose pink edges. "This is my power."

Dancing Devils
Gaikou looked for a few moments, suitably unimpressed. "...Ah, that's pretty cool, I guess." She was getting bored right about now- cracking her neck, the gauntlet which she was using to hold the Seele Schneider pulsated orange- as the laser blade turned orange. "This is my power!"

Harutō vanished, appearing in front of Gaikou in the blink of an eye. Bracing himself by keeping himself grounded in a solid stance, Harutō swung Taketori towards Gaikou, aiming to cut her head off with a downward slash to the neck.

Gaikou quickly blocked Harutō's strike with her orange Seele Schneider; parrying the blow, she swung upwards at him- the orange slowly fading into purple, the texture of power.

Harutō, blocking the strike of his blade with his own durable weapon, took advantage of her focus on attacking. "Her feet are unguarded!" Keeping them locked in a blade-lock, the man aimed a sweeping kick down at her feet.

Gaikou was struck in the feet- tumbling down slightly, she had at last taken damage- using her orange seele to stand up ever so slightly, using a laser blade as a walking stick was never a good idea- as the weapon pierced through the ground, causing her to fall once more. "...Dammit...!"

Harutō followed up, however, closing the small distance between them quickly as he placed his hands on the ground, propelling his body forward like a missile; both legs extended to send Gaikou flying with a crushing kick.

"Guh!" Gaikou recieved the full force of the blow- struck straight in the ribs, she was sent flying. This battle...was taking quite a toll on Gaikou's body. While she was extremely durable, she had her limits. "...You're wasting my time!" The Seele Schneider she was grasping began to shine brilliantly, flashing multiple colours at once- a sign of the power of the laser blade reaching it's peak.

"Ahahahahaha, YES!!!!!" Harutō laughed madly. "That's it, chick! Show me what you can do!" He took a stance, grinning. As he did so, his spiritual pressure began to rise, so Gaikou could feel it's intensity; realise what she was dealing with. "Our dance is nearly done! How badly do you want to me beat me and get back to your boyfriend?" He had a crazed glint in his eye now; this girl's power excited him.

"Just shut up and fall, dammit!" Gaikou snapped back, as several etheral wings of reishi manifested upon her back. "You're taking up my time as it is!" Shooting forward with the velocity and force of a speeding bullet, Gaikou aimed her Seele Schneider towards her foe's heart.

Harutō spun his blade, swinging it at the Seele Schneider and batting it away, throwing Gaikou off her balance as he lunged, thrusting his blade towards her.

Gaikou was impaled in the chest by his blow, his weapon being driven into her chest- spearing all the way through. She couldn't move or anything. It seemed that the man had dealt immense damage with that single strike- causing her reishi to fluctuate wildly as she was unable to do anything about it; her consciousness flickering on and off. "Urk! The hell was that..."

Harutō grinned as he pinned the woman to the ground, ripping Taketori out of her chest, blood spurting from her chest and onto his front and face. He licked the blood from his lips, and began to spin his blade in the air. "It's over!" He thrust the blade down, aiming to pierce her heart and end it all.

Gaikou was struck in the chest by his blade, his weapon being driven into her chest- spearing all the way through. Naturally, she had allowed this- it was all part of her plan. Now that Harutō was within reach, she could end the fight once and for all. Slowly raising her arm, her reishi gauntlet gathered and condensed reishi in the environment into the weapon. "It's over!" She suddenly released the reishi in the form of a lone Heilig Pfeil, heading straight towards him at full speed.

"OH SHIT!" Harutō cried as the Heilig Pfeil shot straight through his stomach, ripping a hole the size of a small grapefruit. He hacked up a large amount of blood, and fell sideways off of Gaikou. "D-dammit..."

Gaikou brushed the dirt and blood off of her clothing as she walked over to her opponent, inspecting him as if he had died. "...Huh." Her breathing was heavy- as she had exerted a large amount of power on the man. "...It's...over...?"

Harutō glared at Gaikou, but the pain in his wound was too much to deal with. "Dammit chick....you...you're not half bad..." He sighed. "Never thought I'd get beaten by a half-baked human girl..."

Gaikou sneered, "There's a first time for everything. Now, you're gonna tell me what I want and if you don't comply, I can easily end your life. Where the hell is Harumi Muruiyama?!"

"The criminal on death row?" Harutō's eyes widened in surprise. "Why do you want to know where she is?"

"Because I have reasons; reasons very dear to me. Now." She charged reishi within her gauntlet once more, ready to blast him into oblivion. "You'll talk or else."

"Don't get your panties in a knot...!" Harutō chuckled, and then winced. "Oh, it hurts to laugh..." He sighed. "As a reward for beating me, I guess I'll tell you. Harumi would normally be held in the Seventh Division's personal holding cell...however...there were recent plans, only today in fact, to transfer her to the Senzaikyū."

"...The hell is the Sen...zai...whatever! Where the hell's that?" Gaikou tried to actually strangle the man- though she managed to restrain herself slightly. At least her hands were still at his throat. "I'm not very good at directions, you know! I got lost in a straight corridor!"

"You literally cannot miss it." Harutō sighed in exasperation. "It's the large white tower, it looms over the entire Seireitei." He considered going silent, but he had a question to ask her. "...I can only assume this is a rescue party. Besides you and your boyfriend, how many are there?"

"There's a team of four. That's all I need to tell you." Gaikou began to turn away- as she remembered the man's other words. "And he's not my boyfriend, dammit. In any case, your information will be useful. I believe we're done here."

"Let me give you one more piece of advice." Harutō smirked as he lay bleeding. "I'm only a seated officer. Don't get cocky because you beat me — especially because the likes of my Captain and the others are still out there." He seemed to enjoy this thought, as if he was having the last laugh. "None of your friends are going to make it."

"Don't tell me what to do." Gaikou tried to punt the man viciously. "You never know until you try. And try we damn will, and we'll god-damn succeed, got that, spikey?"

"Sure you can..." Harutō sighed, closing his eyes as he fell unconcious.

"Cold..." Ahatake's thoughts were clouded as his vision became blurred. How long had he been lying here, blood leaking out? He had no idea. He could hear Mokin in the background, trying to speak to him, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. "Am I...going to die..?" As he closed his eyes, he saw the outline of a small foot step down in front of his face.

END