Game 2 - Chapter 1

Zetsumei Oushou wrote:

"That's a mechanical watch isn't it? No wonder you're having so much trouble fixing it. Those watches are pretty complicated and difficult to put back together."

"Hmm... I suppose it's some sort of mechanical watch. I've never put much thought to it. I was given the watch by a strange man in a hat who encouraged me to try and fix it a long time ago. He never introduced himself or anything, and I've never seen him since." Chiken shrugged and slipped the watch back on.

Kasahara looked a bit baffled upon seeing Hyakushi-sensei in an amused state. He was a teacher right? They broke the rules and he seemed to be enjoying it? She could understand Ise-sensei not being angered about the recent events, but she couldn't understand why the man in front of her was amused. The girl next to her snickered rather loudly to Hyakushi-sensei, which caught Kasahara's attention. Wasn't she ashamed about getting in trouble? The tomboy was not happy about being punish and could not see the humor in causing a scene in the hall.

Unsurely, she spoke out. "I just mouthed off to her; Rikiki did the ass kicking." Kasahara wasn't going to take all the recognition and glory for the previous occurrence.

Satoko stood, taking in the scenery portrayed infront of him. Drawing in a long breath the taste of the air began to fill his lungs, it was warm and welcoming, just like always. The sky was it's usuall calm self, along with the trees who just added to the tranquility of the scene, it looked as though this Soul Society truely was the perfect world. What a load of shit. To Takeshi, this world had always been cold and uncaring, it had treated him with cruelty, and for to long he had believed the acidic words spewing from its mouth. This world, many seem to live happily, but all is not well. Evil lurks in the streets, peasants and beggars are ignored, left to starve, like a poor mother and her child. Those who are fortunate, prefer to keep to themselves, leaving those below them to ro. A helping hand will never come from those who have not experienced what you have, for they will never understand why you can not help yourself; because society, the Soul Society, ALL societies, whether on Earth or here, they have all found their order, peasants and kings, rich and poor. Living and dying by economy, this is how the worlds have ordered themselves. The weak will suffer, while the strong turn away. Satoko let out the breath he had drawn in, closing his eyes in order to block out the light, and tried to think of a single sentence to for all he had just thought of.

Cardinal Ximenez wrote:

"The world doesn't change so easily, friend. Peasants may become kings, and kings peasants, but there will always be those that are kings and those that are peasants. That's simply the nature of things."

Satoko nodded as he relayed Cardinal's words, they harsh, and cold, and meant in mockery at the time, but their was truth in them. For the world has found it's way, and it has no intention of changing easily. Satoko began to wonder if Cardinal may have some true insight under his flamboyant exterior. It was doubtful, but always possible. Takeshi took in one last, deep breat, tasting the warm, deceitful air, before leaping form his his perch. Takeshi had veered from his indoor destination earlier, and had proceeded to scale the Academy. Once upon the structures rooftop, he had proceeded to locate the highest point, and he had avoided a dense looking blue-haired girl's attention when she had arrived ontop the roof. Now, however, Satoko was decending, and simply leapt from his perch atop the Academy, falling a suicidally high height. Soon, however, he simply landed on his feet, for the height would be suicidal only for a normal human; not a Shinigami, or even a Shinigami Cadet.

Once grounded, Takeshi began a stroll indoors, this time meeting his destination. Now inside the structure he had just been upon, the tall boy began a stroll towards the cafeteria, finding himself overwhelmed by a hunger he was not used to, although for most people the small itch in his stomach would be ordinary. On his way towards his destination, the boy contemplated, wondering who he truely could have been, and he began to stare at the Zanpakutou which hung from his side. You've always been with me, you've always known, but you never could tell me, because I would never hear. Now you have a way for me to speak with you, and I screwed it up. I'm sorry. He almost expected a reply from the sword at his hip, but none came. Sighing, the sandy-haired teenager resumed his trek towards his impending destination; the cafeteria.

A slightly familiar voice reached Satoko's ears as he drew neared to the lunch room, he had heard it earlier today, rather recently actually. Satoko began to wodner who was speaking, he rocgnized a voice as Kanue's, but to whom was he speaking?

Junshirou Tenkawa wrote:

"Takeshi-san tells me that you've offered to help him with his concentration?," he asked, trying to achieve a friendly tone. "That seems awfully nice of you..."

It was that black haired boy Satoko had spoken with earlier, his name still escaping Takeshi's grasp. Satoko contemplated joining them, but as he drew nearer and the group reached his eyes, he decided them all to large in number for his taste. The teenage boy simply walked past them, his earlier depression gone and a dry, cold, emotionless feeling radiated from his very being. Once past the group, Satoko began towards wherever it was he got food here, and then proceeded to sit in the corner he had become accustomed to seating himself in. Small bites of the ramen he had got himself, along with the carrot he had managed to aquire, slowly began to dissappear into Takeshi's mouth. The boy at slowly, he expected something to happen; something was going to happen, and so he observed the rest of the room, taking in every detail, untill something did happen, small and insignificant or not, he wanted to catch whatever happened.

((Contrary to Smythe's warning, I failed to copy this post to Notepad before I clicked send/preview, and I was logged out before it was posted. I usually do copy long posts, but I didn't realize just how long it took me to write this one. It's only three paragraphs long. Fortunately, I was able to type it all back out, mostly from memory. Also, I promise that I'll try not to leave long, bothersome OOC things at the beginning of posts most of the time. ))

Junshirou Tenkawa wrote:

"Takeshi-san tells me that you've offered to help him with his concentration?," he asked, trying to achieve a friendly tone. "That seems awfully nice of you..."

Although he had been inwardly amused by Tenkawa stumbling over his words, Ryouichi mentally cursed as he was asked the question he had been waiting for. Having anticipated the question, Ryouichi had prepared an answer, but Tenkawa had asked this question first, showing that he put priority on demystifying Ryouichi's motives. Obviously, Tenkawa didn't realize that he had revealed this fact, as those skilled in fishing for information would not have asked the question so directly. This was troubling. Ryouichi's prepared answer wouldn't be enough to satisfy Tenkawa's curiosity, since he hadn't anticipated just how high in his priorities the boy had put this question.

Ryouichi quickly considered his options. He could dodge the question, but that would only make the boy more curious about his motives, which was something that Ryouichi absolutely did not want. He could come up with something on the fly, or he could stall for time and think of a more satisfactory answer. He chose the second option.

"Well Junshirou-kun, to be honest, I don't think that Satoko-kun will be able to contact his Zanpakutou without at least a little outside help. I'll gladly explain it in more detail later, but right now I think we're all overdue to have dinner. Why don't we talk about this more once we have some food in our stomachs?" Satisfied that he had sated the younger boy's curiosity, at least until they got something to eat, Ryouichi's cadet robes billowed behind him as he turned away from the group and began walking unhurriedly toward the cafeteria, gesturing for them to follow.

Igarashi payed mild attention to what was said about chiken's clock, Igarashi was not one particularily interesed in those kind of trinkets, he directed is attention at Satoko passing by, he didn't look troubled anymore, but still seemed as if he wanted to be left alone, so Igarashi decided to remain there with the others, noticing Kanue was stepping inside. He was glad about this, and hoped dinner would be now ready, and followed the rest inside.

"Heh. Nice." Fuiro walked past the two of them. "You know, I wouldn't mind socking Kazuhara Kijou one myself."

What happened next happened almost entirely in slow motion to Kasahara. In a millisecond, Fuiro's zanpakutou was in his hand, the blade screaming toward Maka's face.

Instinctively, Maka slipped Kyouryuketsu from the sheath on her back and parried Fuiro's attack. The teacher, undaunted, spun back and made two more quick slices, which Maka jumped back and blocked as Rikiki rolled out of the way.

"Yah!" Holding her sword to the side, Maka swung back at the teacher. Fuiro's eyes narrowed and, with a smirk, he drove the point of his zanpakutou in between Maka's fingers with perfect aim and twisted. Maka sucked in a breath as Kyouryuketsu flew out of her hand and stuck in the far wall of the office.

"Now!" Fuiro held his sword over his head and drove it down toward Maka's neck, a fierce-looking blow... Rikiki shut her eyes, unable to watch.

CLAP!

Rikiki opened her eyes, having not heard the sickening sound of metal cutting through skin.

Holding her hands flat in front of her, Maka had managed to catch Fuiro's sword between them, the blade just millimeters from her face.

"Not bad," Fuiro smiled, sliding his sword out of Maka's grip. "Your defense is solid," he said. "But your counterattack is awful. You're all power. No finesse at all. You fight blind, like an animal or something. You'll need to be as strong as Lieutenant Yachiru or Captain Zaraki if you're going to fight like that." He resheathed his zanpakuto and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. "Kendo Club meets every other day, starting tomorrow," he said over his shoulder to the tall brunette. "You're welcome to come if you like. Now come on," he grinned. "We've got some rounds to make."

The bell rang as Fuiro led the two girls out of his office.

Ten o'clock! Lights out!

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(Some folks have PMed me with things they'd like to do tonight after lights out. If you'd like to do something, let me know, and I'll write it into the next update)

Straight after dinner, Junshirou headed back to the dormitory to try and clear his mind. He took out his notebook and started writing down all the events of the day. It ended up filling seven pages. He put the pencil away and started reading through it all again.

So... where to go from here?

There were several things he was curious about. First off, obviously, was the whole experience with his zanpakutou. There were several unanswered questions leading off from that, including details about his past that he still couldn't remember. Perhaps it was worth finding somebody who would know more about it, but that would involve venturing out into Rukongai... it could be left until later, he decided, but he would have to try at some point. After that, he was unsatisfied with his performance in kidou class... his control of his reiatsu was definitely something upon which he would have to improve. Then there were several unanswered questions about certain people - Takeshi still seemed to have some problem or other that he was unwilling to discuss, he was still unsure why Kasahara had yelped out while contacting her zanpakutou, and Ryouichi had notably failed to answer his question.

Ryouichi... that was an interesting subject. Junshirou was sure that the underlying question behind the question he'd asked had been entirely clear. There was also the fact that he was at least as intelligent as Junshirou himself, so he would have spotted what Junshirou wanted to know immediately. The fact that he wasn't willing to discuss his motives was... well, perhaps it could be explained by the presence of so many other people, but Junshirou was still curious. He was unlikely to be doing it out of the goodness of his heart, so there was some thought process that had led him to try and help Takeshi with his training. Junshirou wondered whether it was the same train of thought that he himself had had.

He looked out of the window. "Dark already...?", he muttered, then shrugged his shoulders and turned in. These questions could wait until the morning.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Zetsumei arrived in his assigned room.

"Good night Tenkawa."

After saying good night to his roommate, Zetsumei passed out. He had a pretty tiring day, and was ready for sleep.

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(Later on that evening.)

* Zetsumei was chasing Kasahara, as if it were a game. They were in a grassy field that somehow looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t play it right away.*

"Hey, come on Zetsumei! You got to at least try to catch me."

*Kasahara was laughing and looked so happy. Finally Zetsumei caught up to her.*

"Got you Kasahara!"

*He was smiling, enjoying playing this game with her. However, as soon as he touched her arm, things went wrong. Kasahara went deathly pale.*

"Zetsumei… I don’t feel so…"

*With that, Kasahara feel to the ground. She could not be woken, no matter how hard Zetsumei tried. She appeared to be…*

"No, that’s impossible. I’m going to go get help!"

*Zetsumei ran and found Ryou strangely close by.*

"Ryou! I need you help! Kasahara, she’s…"

*Zetsumei arm accidentally brushed against his friend’s skin. His friend collapsed onto the ground, dying as well.*

"No!… I don’t understand… what’s happening to me…?"

*Zetsumei ran over to a tree with blue flowers, being strangely drawn to it. A girl with blue hair appeared from behind the tree.”

"Look what you have done."

"Yuri? What are you doing here?"

"Well, you killed me. Thanks to you I am dead."

"No Yuri, you are my friend. My first real friend. I would never hurt you intentionally."

"That is a lie! Take a look at yourself."

*Yuri holds up a mirror. Zetsumei is shocked by what he sees. He looks exactly like his zampakto.*

"You killed me and you will kill your other friends if you are not careful. Because that is what you do. I think it’s time I repaid the favor."

*Zetsumei was stabbed with Yuri’s white Zampakto. He remembered it so well.*

"Don’t lose yourself Zestu, it has already begun."

*With that Zetsumei started screaming from the pain and woke up. His voice was rather loud and it would be unlikely that his roommate had slept through it.*

I have to go outside… I have to make sure I can’t really kill anything with my touch…

*Zetsumei ran out of the room, trying to find a plant or a way outside. He had to be sure the dream hadn’t become some sort of reality.*

Midori had always been a night owl. Thus the idea of turning in at ten and getting up at six was just short of anathema to her. And despite two years before of living under this same schedule, her body and mind simply refused to adapt. So she'd just learned to lay on her bed and stare at the ceiling until sleep finally overcame her. As a result - and as a result of her tendency to let her mind roam where it willed - she would spend those silent hours pondering over various things, ranging between philosophies and nonsense. She seemed almost like a zombie in this state, and didn't even notice when Naomi returned to their room or when she went to bed, but in reality was quite awake and aware... just not of her surroundings. Her consciousness was lost now in the shifting jungle of Onorinowai's coils once again, reliving the experience she had in class.

"I can tell you're a good person now, Yuansuzaku-san," Daisuke had said after she'd explained her predicament to him. "Perhaps that's why you lost your memories when you died. So you could have a second chance of some sort. On the other hand, you seem discontent without your memories, so perhaps searching for them will give you some sort of closure or relief. I can't make that decision for you." She knew he was right, but that didn't make the reality any easier to face. She was almost certain that what she would learn of her past, should she recover it, would be unpleasant or downright disturbing. But Daisuke was right on the mark - she was discontent, and she wouldn't be able to repair that until she learned something, anything, of why her mind had been wiped clean before she came to Soul Society. And the nagging suspicion that the Hollow that had been in the 37th district that day was somehow related to all this wouldn't leave her mind.

Hours later, after light's out had been called and Naomi was presumably asleep, Midori finally succumbed to her curiosity and restlessness. She drew the blade from its scabbard at her bedside and held it in the air over her face with one hand, the other still resting behind her head, entangled in her hair, yet another nervous habit she'd developed. "Alright Onorinowai," she muttered, looking up at the reflection of moonlight from the window bouncing off the blade into her face, turning the sword back and forth so the light panned up her face to her hairline, then down to her chest and stomach before vanishing, then back up again. "I've forgotten too much, and the doors leading back to those memories are locked and barred," she murmured quietly, barely above a whisper. "But you remember, don't you? Every memory I've lost is still inside the mind behind those red eyes. Show me, Onorinowai... show me something I've forgotten."

She closed her eyes, and to the casual observer it might appear as if she'd fallen asleep holding her zanpakuto in the air above her face. But she was hardly asleep... a far cry from asleep indeed.

Kasahara picked up her zanpakutou* from the floor and followed Hyakushi-sensei out of his office but had her mind on things other than their task at hand. Her thoughts go back to what had happened in his office not too long ago. Hyakushi-sensei seemed strong, ofcourse stronger than her because he was a teacher while she was but a mere student, but Kasahara held up on her own. The teacher was right; she was strong in her defense, but her attacks lacked luster. She'll need to fix that if she is to become a high ranking shinigami. It'd be best that Kasahara join the Kendo club.



* SNORT, I thought I left it in my room. Inconsistent.
[ Sorry. I cannot post well if I cannot see. :/ ]

Back at the room, Chiken sat down on his bed. His stomach grumbled from his rushed and shortened dinner. Mildly unhappy that he didn't get to eat as much as his body wanted when he could've, he laid down and sighed. He was still happy overall with the day and was tired out from it. After a glance at Myounahanashi hanging on his bedpost, Chiken turned over and fell asleep, some small task he wanted to do tonight nagging at the back of his head ignored.

Naomi lay there concentrating she heard a loud bell. She got up and wiped a dust off her. She took the stick and her own weapon with her. She walked down to her dorm and grabbed a extra strap for her new stick/weapon. She hoisted it on and went down stairs. Naomi had to find Kasahara. Naomi crept down stairs. She was out of thee dorm looking for Kasahara last she knew she was in a teachers office. Naomi went to the teachers office. The door read Fuiro Hyakushi. Naomi could see the man on the inside, but could not tell If Kasahara was in. Naomi knocked on the door then entered. "I know I'm not suppose to be out this late but have you seen Kasahara-son?"

"Lights Out" be damned, Duggo returned to the classroom where, earlier that day, he had successfully contacted "Lucille". At this hour, of course, the room was empty, which was very much to Duggo's liking. He seated himself comfortably, blade across his lap, and let his mind wander as he had before.

After some interminable time, he became aware of intense humidity, and of light... err, lightning. It began to rain again. This time there was no shelter, and no visibility. Duggo patiently stood there in the rain, knowing that it would soon pass. He was almost immediately soaked through to the bone. Ah, well, if this was how it worked, so be it.

Soon grey gave way to green, and the chicken shack materialized from the waning rain a hundred or so meters to Duggo's left. He wasted no time in making for the weathered doors and the musty dimness behind them. To be sure, Duggo had a few questions for the crotchety old man within.

It was raining. Cold, driving rain. A young boy, five years old wandering lost through the dark and dingy streets of 78th District, his long, blond hair hanging wet in front of his face, hiding his shining brown eyes. All he wears is a makeshift covering sewn together from tattered and filthy scraps of cloth. He doesn't even feel the bits of broken glass and refuse cutting into his bruised and bleeding bare feet anymore. All around is the stench of death and human waste, the moans of the dying and the destitute. And all the little boy can focus on is the empty pit in his stomach. Why was it that nobody around him seemed to feel the pain of hunger, or the need to eat?

The boy heard a sudden rustle and a squeak. He looked up to see a rat, its whiskers twitching, skittering across the rough alleyway in front of him.

Food, the boy thought as he put his arms out and took off running after the animal. It ran away from him, faster than the boy could keep up, and the boy followed it deeper and deeper into 78th District, places he knew he shouldn't go. And down around a dark corner, and...

The boy ran straight into a tall, skinny man wearing a leather overcoat and a wiry mustache. "Cor, whadda we 'ave 'ere?" the tall man said, grabbing the boy's arm. The boy looked up, scared. There was a wagon there with bars in the windows. "Looks like we found us another piece o' merchandise, boys!" Another man, a burly, hairy man with a bald head and a beard came out of a nearby doorway with an unconscious young woman, maybe 13 or 14 years old, slung over his shoulder. "Eh, dinna be daft. She ain't even old 'nuf tae be weaned offa 'er mum's teat. Ain't gonna get nothin' fer 'er."

The burly man opened the back of the wagon and tossed the girl inside to another man, with gray hair and a skull cap, waiting inside. To his horror, the boy could see at least a dozen more young women in the back of the wagon, all with their hands bound and their mouths gagged, most with tears in their eyes.

"I'll take 'er then," the skinny man grinned, producing a knife from his pocket and holding it to the boy's cheek. His breath stank of stale tobacco and fish. The boy started shaking, terrified.

"Be quick 'bout it," the burly man snapped. "We're onto 77th after 'is one, 'en we gotta drop 'ese off'n head to 76th before mornin'."

"Won't take more'n a tick, eh," he grinned and pulled tight on the boy's one piece garment. Frantically the boy tried to pull away, but the man was too strong for him. His garment tore away, and the boy's momentum sent him careening into a wall.

"Eh?" the skinny man laughed. "Well 'ow 'bout 'at, eh? 'is girl's a boy!"

The boy, slightly dazed, became somewhat aware of the fact that he was naked. Shaking, he sat up, trying to cover himself with his hands.

"A boy?" came a growly voice as the gray haired man stepped out of the back of the wagon and began moving toward the cowering little boy. "Now 'at's a diff'rent story there. Pretty boy like 'at'll fetch us a right hefty price, alright."

The burly man locked up the wagon and came over to inspect the boy as well.

"Mind if I try 'im out?" The skinny man was practically salivating, holding both the boy's arms tight against the cold stone wall. "Boy, girl, don't matter ta me none. Young soft skin is young soft skin."

"Wouldn't mind gettin' a piece o' this one meself," the burly man laughed, revealing a mouth full of missing teeth.

The three men got closer, towering over the boy. The stench was overwhelming, more so than the paralyzing fear and helplessness. They were laughing, all of them... the cold laughter echoing through the alleyway. And all the boy could see was the knife... pointed at his throat.

"Don't move a muscle, kid... 'is won't hurt a bit..."

....

Anshou sucked in a breath and sat up. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. He shook the nightmare out of his head, having to remind himself that he wasn't there anymore. It was so very long ago... but the memories were still vivid, the scars still stung. He wasn't in 78th District anymore, he was in the Academy. He was going to become a Shinigami. No one would ever do that to him again.

He ran a hand through his hair and laid back down in bed, but he was wide awake. He looked over, his large roommate Daisuke was fast asleep. Anshou hopped out of bed and pulled on a training outfit. It was time for some late night exercise.

Igarashi had a surprisingly un-eventful dinner with those four, Nothing outstanding happened, not that Igarashi expected it to, it was kinda nice that nothing happened for a change, at least for now. Igarashi left the cafeteria, satisfied with his dinner, but far from feeling sleepy.

As he heard the "lights out!" announcement, Igarashi considered going to his room for a moment, but decided not to, seeing he would not be able to sleep yet anyway. Instead, he decided to sneak out of the school building and stepped to the courtyard, wanting to stretch his muscles for a bit, Igarashi started doing excercises alone with his zanpakutou, he did not want to get out of shape, and so far he had been unable to find a sparring partner. Still, doing it alone was better than doing nothing at all.

Igarashi did this for a while, but got bored eventually, he lacked motivation without having a live partner, so he decided to go back to the school for now. Still not feeling tired enough to go to his bedroom, Igarashi wandered the halls for a bit, not really looking for anything, In one of the halls however, he heard some noises. Curious as to see what was causing them, Igarashi headed to the door behind the noises, it was the gymnasium of the first graders. Raising a brow, Igarashi slid the door open, expecting to see some novice first year students trying to sneak away from the lights out, Instead, Anshou Mizukin was inside, dressed in practice uniform and performing hand to hand combat moves by himself, whatever his reasons, The blond boy was not there by casualty.

Igarashi smiled at this, as if it had been a gift for him, he missed having a sparring partner and Mizukin looked ready to go, not really caring if he was intruding or not, Igarashi stepped into the gym, addressing the blond figure; "Those combat moves look dull without being performed another person, Interested in having a real sparring partner this time?"

The tall sandy haired boy was running, his legs burning in pain as they worked as hard as they could, unable to fill the requirements they needed to. Each forceful step ached, sending a sting of pain through his muscles, untill eventually the pain became so unbearable, he had to slow down and eventually halt. His lungs gasped for air as though they had been submerged under water for to long, for he had found it increasingly hard to breath after running so long so fast. Everything ached, his mind stung with the pain of fear, his body with pain of exertion, but he knew he could not stop now. That thing wasn't stopping, and he couldn't either.

Satoko rolled over, tiwsting and turning in the patch of grass he had claimed as his bed. The boy was sweating profusely and gasping for air, the pain stricken expression of fear painted across his face.

He couldn't run any longer, the boy's body wouldn't let him, he collapsed onto his hands and knees, coughing slightly as he tried to refill his lungs. He heard it's footsteps, that black thing was catching up to him, he could still rememeber its glistening fangs which had been upon him mere moments earlier. He raised his head from the ground, the people around were giving him thse odd looks, why wouldn't they help him? Why did they refuse to save him from that thing which was hunting the teenager down, he tried to yell out for help, but he still had to little breath in his reserve. Staggering into an upright posistion, he reached out pleadingly to the nearest person, a rather busty woman who proceeded to slap the boy for what she assumed was an attempt to grope her. Then he heard it, the hiss from behind, the monster had caught up with him. It all happened so fast, the boy spun on his heels to face it, ended up making eye contact with the deadly creature hunting him, and he heard it hiss once more, it's tougne forming acidic words. "Hello boy, fancied yourself a man back there did you? Hurting my arm like that wasn't very nice you know. And then you went running? What do you think this is, some sort of game!? You reek of spirit energy, and I eat you, It's as simple as that!" The creature roared as it lashed it's remaining uninjured arm across the teenage boys torso, blood spraying through the air as it cut trhough his flesh, askewing the ribs, tearing the organs, yet not killing the boy.

Satoko was gasping for air now, twitching and rolling in his sleep, his scar stinging more the ever befor. Takeshi could not hold back a cry of agony as he rolled over and over, sweat staining his face.

The boy was flying, his lower half barely attached to him, one of his organs actually lay across his chest, it looked like half of his stomach, but it was hard to tell with all the blood in his eyes. The boy was not calm, but losing to much blood to focus clearly, everything seemed much more relaxing, even the sight of concrete as he flew downwards from the aerial arc he had been knocked into by the monster. The monster with the mask, with the 'hollow' sounding voice, with the power to kill. A loud crack passed through the air. Onlookers stared in amazement at the boy who had essentially exploded infront of them, their eyes not able to take sight of the monster which had done this to him. Blood sprayed upwards from the boys head as it smacked against the concrete paving of the street. There was no question that he boy would die, and that he was not dead yet. He rolled over once or twice, his eyes drooping slightly, he appeared to be watching something. The boy watched as a single Soul Reaper dispatched the monster he had been fighting and running against, and was happy to learn that it was not going to eat him after all, and finally alowed his eyes to close, and his body to die.

Satoko stopped screaming in agony, relaxing now, his shaking stopping slowly, untill it reached halt. He was awake now, his eyrs wide as they darted from side to side, searching for the beast. But it was not where to be found, just as the memories that came before that one. He sighed, sliding back into the upper part of his uniform and wiping the sweat from his forward simutaneously, which proved the by harder then he'd first imagined it would be. Now dressed, he took in his surroundings again, they were the same as they had been when he had dozed off, thank the lord. Standing upright, he took his sheathed Zanpakutou and, without reason, tossed it aside. He just stood there, staring blankly forward, looking for nothing, observing nothing, and hearing all.

"Ha!"

Anshou drove his fist ahead of him into the air. He delivered a set of three punches, then spun around with a kick behind him. The lights were off in the gym, the only light coming in through the window from the moon, making long shadows like silhouettes behind him.

Step. Punch. Ready. Step. Kick. Block. He recited the steps in his mind as he went through the motions. He took a breath before performing a series of five quick punches and a kick to the side, followed by a chop to the invisible neck of the imaginary person in front of him.

Igarashi Sakimoto wrote:

"Those combat moves look dull without being performed another person, Interested in having a real sparring partner this time?"

Anshou spun around, surprised to see someone else up at this late hour. It was Sakimoto, the boy with the red hair.

"Er...," Anshou stammered. "Um, sure. If you like." He touched his fist to his head and smiled. "Sorry if I'm not much of an opponent, though. I usually train alone."

"And over here, we have... another tree!" said Fuiro, giving the two girls a sort of mock 'tour' of the campus. "And... look! A wall!" The night was again too peaceful and quiet for Fuiro's tastes. "Sorry there's not much excitement tonight, girls," he sighed as he pulled his cigarettes out of his pocket. "Still, at least the weather's nice." He popped a stick into his mouth and lit it up.

"This over here is the First Year classrooms, remember these?" he laughed a bit. Fuiro had managed to get his first detention on the second day of class for sketching a lewd picture of Assistant Headmaster Ise on the chalkboard of his first-year homeroom.

Fuiro didn't get much time to reminisce, however, before he caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye, through the windows of the First Year Gym. "What was that?" he said quickly, suddenly getting a bit serious.

With Maka and Rikiki in tow, Fuiro crept over to the Gym building and peered through the window. Inside were two boys dressed in training gear, one pale with short blond hair, the other darker with long red hair. They appeared to be facing off, as if about to engage in a duel.

"Hey, you know those two?" he muttered to Maka and Rikiki. "They look like they're about to have a fight. They got anything against each other?"

The two brunettes were trailing behind Hyakushi-sensei as he gave a tour of the school. It was sort of dull since Kasahara has been in this school for the last 2 years and should already know her way in and out of the academy. Still, she tried to entertain Hyakushi-sensei by not saying a word and having him continue his mock tour.

Kasahara followed the teacher to the gym building. They didn't step inside, but rather peered into the building through the window. Hyakushi-sensei mentioned something about two boys getting ready to fight and it piqued Kasahara's interest. She squinted her eyes towards the two students and immediately identified the red haired boy. "He's in our class.." Upon studying the other boy, the brunette also recognized the blonde. "BOTH of them are in our class."

She took a moment to think about why they might be trying to fight one another. "The red head is Sakimoto. Blonde one is Mizukin... They don't really talk to each other often. I can't see why they'd want to fi-" Kasahara stopped as she remembered what happened earlier today. "Oh! Naomi, a girl that Sakimoto has some kinda thing for, was kissed by Mizukin. Do you think Sakimoto's fighting with him over her?"

"More importantly, should we try and stop 'em?"

Fuiro took a drag from his cigarette, making sure to blow the smoke away from the two girls.

"Nah, let's just watch for now. If they're fighting over a girl, it's best to just let 'em beat the crap out of each other for a while and then laugh about it over breakfast. I'll stop the fight if things look like one of 'em is gonna end up dead or crippled."

He turned back to the window, observing the two boys intently. "I want you two to watch too. You can learn an awful lot about a man from watching how he fights."

Quote :

"Er...," Anshou stammered. "Um, sure. If you like." He touched his fist to his head and smiled. "Sorry if I'm not much of an opponent, though. I usually train alone."

Igarashi grinned back at Mizukin, overjoyed to finally having a chance to fight with someone, sparring or not, he had not been able to do anything since they arrived, and he was getting bored. Igarashi then stepped foward at where the blond boy was standing, taking of his zanpakutou in the process; "Heh, no worries, if anything, It's fun and more useful for us if we have a real opponent to fight with."

Igarashi then stood in front of Mizukin and bowed slightly at him, getting into fighting position; "Anyway, hope you are ready for some real sparring, I don't like pulling punches" As he prepared himself, he felt for a moment something behind them, if he had put more interest in this feeling, he might have figured that some people were watching, but he shrugged the feeling off, not really caring as he was eager to fight.

"Ready... GO!" Igarashi shouted as he lunged foward at Mizukin, engaging in combat with him.

Naomi caught up to Fuiro. They seemed to be watching something inside the window. Naomi peered in to take a look. "Thats Anshou and Igarashi" she murmed to the teacher quietly. "This should be fun to watch" she said to herself. "I wonder if Anshou can put up a... Naomi could not finsih her sentence. Naomi heard someone creeping, lerking behind her. Naomi whipped around drawing Mesuokori from her case. "Whos there" Naomi hissed. She pointed her weapon in the spot she heard the noise from.

With his hands in his pockets, Ryouichi stepped out of the shadow of a nearby tree. Showing not even a hint of fear at the weapon raised against him, he flashed the young girl an amused smile before stepping toward the side window. As he passed her, he spoke to her in low tones, "Put away your weapon, Oxen-san. You've got nothing to fear from me. I was having a bit of trouble sleeping, so I took a midnight stroll. I heard those three," he said, jerking his thumb to indicate Fuiro, Maka, and Rikiki, "whispering about two of our classmates having a fight. That's more interesting than just taking a walk, right?" In truth, Ryouichi had been following the three to observe them without their knowledge, but they didn't need to know that. Sliding in silently beside Maka, Ryouichi focused all of his attention on the spar that had just begun.

Alrighty, so...

Since it would take forever and be reeeeeally boring for everyone else do to this combat the old-fashioned one-roll-per-day method, we can do things one of two ways.

1. Igarashi and Anshou each do one roll, and I type out how the combat goes from that.

or

2. We work out a time when Igarashi, Anshou, and I can all be online at the same time, and do the combat in real-time.

Whatch'all think?

EDIT: For the record, I've Wednesday off work, so I'm available all afternoon/evening. This will probably be the last time I'll be available for any extended period until next week.

((Smythe, I think option #1 sounds more reasonable to do, option #2 may be difficult to pull off.))

Rikiki was quite amused. Her detention seemed to have turned into a visitors-welcome spying expedition. This was more fun than anything she could have been doing tonight, like sleeping.

Sensing around, she didn't feel anyone else, and nudged over to Kanue.
"Hey! Canoe!" she hissed, "Are there any more creepers in the grass, or is this it?"

As she awaited an answer, she peered at the sparrring boys. If she had to make a guess, she would have to say redhead, Igrishi, or something like that, would win. Blond pretty boy was far too... blond pretty boy. A farmilar voice whispered in her brain, 'you don't look so impressive yourself, you know," but she pushed it back.

Naomi waited and then realized it was a boy she had not met. "Remove your weapon from me, you have nothing to fear." Naomi managed to give a smile and then returned her weapon. Naomi was watching in the window when she got moved by Rikiki. "Man shes a rude girl" Naomi thought to herself. Naomi begain to feel a little bored. Naomi then had an idea. " Would you like to have a sparing match Kanue?"

Kasahara wondered if ANY of the students attending this academy were actually sleeping like they were suppose to. The two troubled students and a teacher attracted the attention of Naomi, who seems to always pop up when least expected. Not only that, another student was apparently following them in the shadows. It was Kanue who was lurking behind them. The tall brunette was going to open her mouth and ask why they aren't in bed like they should be but then Kanue slid next to her to view the fight within the gym building.

It was getting a bit crowded now, with four students looking into the building and one teacher. Kasahara didn't like being crowded so she moved away from the window. It was almost the same time that Naomi, her blue haired friend, moved away and asked Kanue if he wanted to spar with her. Was Kasahara hearing things?? "Naomi.." The tall brunette started to talk, glancing nervously towards the only teacher in the area. Was it alright for them to be fighting infront of him?

Kasahara expected Hyakushi-sensei to stop them and tell them to go to back to the dorms. Wasn't there a curfew or rules against this?

Igarashi rushes foward towards Mizukin, deciding to start off quickly, he raises up his right fist and proceeds to deliver a quick blow to the blond boy.

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

, ,

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

, ,

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

, ,

Anshou focused his eyes on the redhead charging toward him. He lifted one arm and rose onto the balls of his feet, preparing to block and counterattack.

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

, ,

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

, ,

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

, ,

Igarashi is quick, but Anshou gets a lucky break, managing to duck beneath Igarashi's fist and spin, catching him in the back with a forceful kick. Igarashi is knocked to the ground and rolls a little, but quickly gets back on his feet.

Igarashi receives 2 wounds
Anshou receives 0 wounds

Anshou ducked down and charged in at Igarashi, his fists at the ready, about to deliver a flurry of blows to his face and body.

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

, ,

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

, ,

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

, ,

Igarashi quickly rises to his feet, clearly realizing he had underestimated his opponent, he then realises he is being charged, and decides to counter with a spinning kick at him, hoping his kick will reach him first.

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

, ,

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

, ,

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

, ,

Anshou is certain that his fist connected, but Igarashi manages to roll out of the way and send out a foot, tripping Anshou and sending him to the floor.

Igarashi receives 0 wounds
Anshou received 1 wound