Game 2 - Chapter 2

Anshou wasn't worried. Satoko's attack had gotten stronger, a lot stronger. But he had practice from fighting Zaraki every night, and so was used to tough strikes like that. If that was the strongest blow Satoko's sword could deal, there wasn't anything to worry about.

Anshou tried to read Satoko's movements and counterattack.

Satoko swung his sword overhead, and Anshou prepared to block, but the heat was too intense. Satoko disappeared behind Anshou and sliced through his back, a fierce cut. The pain was intense, like it was burning instead of cutting, and there was no blood; the wound had cauterized itself from the heat.

Grimacing, Anshou fired back his own slash, cutting through Satoko's side, but Satoko didn't seem to feel it too much, even as blood spurted from the wound.

Satoko succeeded on a Stealth Attack!
Satoko dealt 19 WOUNDS to Anshou
Anshou dealt 3 WOUNDS to Satoko

Anshou shook a little, that one hurt. He grasped his sword with both hands and attacked again, determined to finish this fight quick before getting hit like that again.

Satoko smiled, Anshou had been wounded like him, time to wrap this up.

Takeshi dashed at Anshou, ready to attack.

Anshou drove his sword into Satoko's side fiercely, but it barely affected him, despite the blood loss. Satoko managed to get behind Anshou again and slash his own hot blade through Anshou's ribs. Anshou's Shinigami robe was torn and singed in places.

Satoko succeeded on a Stealth Attack
Satoko dealt 16 WOUNDS to Anshou
Anshou dealt 10 WOUNDS to Satoko

Satoko nodded, he had turned the tides on Anshou, terrific, time for him and Ryuunosuke to finish this up, although he kind of wanted a good fight to keep running forever.

Takeshi launched his attack on Anshou, it was time to finish this.

How was it possible? Anshou had been winning the fight easily. Was Satoko's sword that powerful? Anshou glanced down at his own blade. Nothing else to do now but...

Anshou launced one last attack, hoping to finish Satoko off before he did the same to him.

Satoko sped behind Anshou, masked by the heat, determined not to let Anshou get that last cut in. And it almost succeeded. Anshou was strong, but his awareness was severely lacking, and he never saw Satoko drive his sword into his back, almost impaling him.

Anshou's hands began to tremble from the shock. But... both of Satoko's hands were on his sword... He was totally open for attack. Shakily, with rising adrenaline and anger, Anshou wrenched himself off of Satoko's blade and delivered a merciless strike. Anshou's sword cut straight through Satoko's neck, sending blood spurting from his jugular.

Anshou fell to his knees. There... he thought to himself. He saw Satoko fall to the ground, choking slightly on blood, and soon Anshou collapsed as well. "Yamada! Medics! Over here! Now!" was the last thing Anshou heard before blacking out completely.

Satoko succeeded on a Stealth Attack
Satoko dealt 9 WOUNDS to Anshou
Anshou achieved a Critical Hit
Anshou dealt 16 WOUNDS to Satoko

Satoko has fallen UNCONSCIOUS!
Anshou has fallen UNCONSCIOUS!

Hanatarou applied pressure and first aid to both students' wounds. They were in bad shape, but that would at least keep them alive until he could give them proper attention.
"Stretchers!" he called. "Over here! Now!" Hanatarou had Satoko and Anshou loaded onto stretchers and carried from the room.

Hanatarou used REFRESH
Satoko healed 1 WOUND
Anshou healed 1 WOUND

"Blast it," Shuhei muttered. "I wasn't expecting anyone to get his throat cut." He began heading toward the door, following Hanatarou out into the hall. "All the rest of you, keep fighting! I'll be back in a bit," he called to the rest of the class.

"Well," Ximenez said out loud, watching the teacher race out the door. "Well, well, well. This is an interesting development, isn't it? It appears we're...," a devilish grin crept over his face. "...Unsupervised." He stared down Orihime through his sunglasses as he unsheathed his zanpakutou at last and pointed its blade toward the ryoka.

"So, then... shall we?"

Ryouichi was both surprised and elated to see Shuhei speed out the door after the timid-looking Fourth Division medic. It's not often that something like this happens. In fact, maybe Satoko will die and save me the trouble of fighting him during Homecoming..., Ryouichi sighed wistfully for a moment, It won't happen, of course, but a man can dream.

Cardinal Ximenez wrote:

"Well," Ximenez said out loud, watching the teacher race out the door. "Well, well, well. This is an interesting development, isn't it? It appears we're...," a devilish grin crept over his face. "...Unsupervised." He stared down Orihime through his sunglasses as he unsheathed his zanpakutou at last and pointed its blade toward the ryoka.

"So, then... shall we?"

Hah! Unsupervised indeed! Shaking thoughts of Satoko dying in unexpected ways from his head, Ryouichi slowed his laps around the gym to a walking pace, and, after a few seconds of hesitation, quickly flash-stepped to lean against one of the gym's many rocky outcroppings, making sure to pick one that was an appropriate spectating distance away from Orihime and Ximenez. Hurriedly, he tapped into his Sensing abilities and, as the world dissolved into a sea of ghostly auras against a backdrop of dark blue, he began to gauge approximately how long it would take the teacher to step back into the classroom. Shuhei wasn't stupid, after all; he probably knew that leaving his class unsupervised like this was a bad idea.

Ryouichi planned to flash-step back to the edge of the gym to run laps just before Shuhei returned. Thankfully, his position from behind the rocks obscured his position from the perspective of the door, so he would have some cover as he resumed running. But from what I can see, we might not have much time. he thought, his eyes flickering back and forth between the hallway and his two most fascinating classmates. Hurry up and start, you two.

((Sorry if this post sucks. I'm pretty stressed right now, but I was hoping that writing would be therapeutic.))

"You really need to pay a bit more attention. If you had done what Rikiki had done, you might kill yourself. Attempting a high level kido spell like sensei's before you are ready is also really dangerous! I really reccomend not trying it if you don't want die."

Chiken cocked his head to the side when he heard Zetsumei's reply, trying to not tune it out because it was almost exactly what that 4th division guy said. "Yeah, but I still want to do that someday." Chiken said with a wistful sigh, almost ignoring Zetsumei's response to Chiken's second question.

"As for how my fight went, I lost. Igari is a strong fighter. I was really impressed with his attacks. I don't understand why I couldn't even touch him though. Maybe something else was working against me. I really wish my zampakto hadn't butted in though. That was rather embarassing."

"Hmm? What do you mean? I thought that---" Chiken stopped his sentence as he suddenly felt a wave of heat and a flash of reiatsu pulse through his head. Chiken instinctively turned his head to Satoko and Anshou's fight and saw Satoko's blade released for just a second before its shine was lost in the fight between the two. Chiken stared at them in awe, paying full attention to the fight now and coincidentally forgetting about Zetsumei.

Once the fight was over, Chiken stared mostly at Satoko as he was carried off until he was out of eyesight, taken away to the rest of the fourth division. After blinking for a few seconds to clear his mind a little, Chiken turned back to Zetsumei. "Woah, that was so cool! I can't wait to do that!"

Cardinal Ximenez wrote:

"Well," Ximenez said out loud, watching the teacher race out the door. "Well, well, well. This is an interesting development, isn't it? It appears we're... Unsupervised. So, then... shall we?"

Orihime knew that Ximenez would start without her whether she liked it or not. He was not the sort of person who needed permission for anything. After all, even the 12th division couldn't keep control of him. Was he trying to give her the illusion of choice? She steeled herself for the oncoming onslaught because she also knew Ximenez was not familiar with mercy.

I just need to remember what I've learned from fighting with General Yamamoto. The last time Ichigo and I fought together, I wasn't any help. I need to become stronger for his sake.

Even though she knew this, she was still scared. She put her hand on her zampakto and put on a brave face.

The best way to attack him will be using my new ability. I'm not sure it will work well, but it's the best plan I've got. I know Lieutenant Hisagi recommended saving it for the tournament, but I have to take Ximenez seriously. I'm going to release my shikai.

Orihime calls out, "Reject Shunshunrikka!"

Chiken Kazenosei wrote:

"Yeah, but I still want to do that someday." Chiken said with a wistful sigh, almost ignoring Zetsumei's response to Chiken's second question.

"Hmm? What do you mean? I thought that---" Chiken stopped his sentence as he suddenly felt a wave of heat and a flash of reiatsu pulse through his head. Chiken instinctively turned his head to Satoko and Anshou's fight and saw Satoko's blade released for just a second before its shine was lost in the fight between the two. Chiken stared at them in awe, paying full attention to the fight now and coincidentally forgetting about Zetsumei.

Once the fight was over, Chiken stared mostly at Satoko as he was carried off until he was out of eyesight, taken away to the rest of the fourth division. After blinking for a few seconds to clear his mind a little, Chiken turned back to Zetsumei. "Woah, that was so cool! I can't wait to do that!"

*Zetsumei had been distracted by the fight as well.*

"Chiken, you just want to be able to do everything right away don't you? It was an interesting fight though. I wish mine had gone so well. I'm a bit more interested though in how Ximenez will fight unsupervised. I have a really bad feeling about facing him in the tournament."

Orihime Inoue wrote:

Cardinal Ximenez wrote:

"Well," Ximenez said out loud, watching the teacher race out the door. "Well, well, well. This is an interesting development, isn't it? It appears we're... Unsupervised. So, then... shall we?"

Orihime knew that Ximenez would start without her whether she liked it or not. He was not the sort of person who needed permission for anything. After all, even the 12th division couldn't keep control of him. Was he trying to give her the illusion of choice? She steeled herself for the oncoming onslaught because she also knew Ximenez was not familiar with mercy.

I just need to remember what I've learned from fighting with General Yamamoto. The last time Ichigo and I fought together, I wasn't any help. I need to become stronger for his sake.

Even though she knew this, she was still scared. She put her hand on her zampakto and put on a brave face.

The best way to attack him will be using my new ability. I'm not sure it will work well, but it's the best plan I've got. I know Lieutenant Hisagi recommended saving it for the tournament, but I have to take Ximenez seriously. I'm going to release my shikai.

Orihime calls out, "Reject Shunshunrikka!"

A look of delight spread over Ximenez's face. "Excellent," he hissed, holding up his own sword. "In that case, I won't need to hold back either."

He closed his mouth and concentrated slightly. The blade of his sword took on a soft red glow. He opened his eyes and shouted:

"Grin! Onishita!"

The light slowly faded, and Ximenez stood there, his released zanpakutou slung over his shoulder.



Two long, curved blades extended from the handle, which was the colour of old blood. The hilt was the face of a demon, and Orihime could see that the face was slightly animated, occasionally smiling or snarling or laughing.

Ximenez lunged toward her with little warning, swinging one of his twin blades wildly for her face. Startled, she managed to raise her own zanpakutou to block.



It was attached to her wrist, like a buckler made of six crystal blades in the shape of her six-pointed barrettes. It rang out like a chime as Ximenez's blade made contact with it.

Ximenez smiled. "Lovely. I'd expect nothing less from the one the General selected." He leapt back before rushing in for another attack, his blade in his left hand anticipating her counterattack.

Cardinal Ximenez wrote:

Ximenez smiled. "Lovely. I'd expect nothing less from the one the General selected." He leapt back before rushing in for another attack, his blade in his left hand anticipating her counterattack.

Looks like he brought his out too. This is going to be worse than I feared. However, I won't run away. Ichigo, Chad, and Ishida are counting on me to be strong. Even if they're not here, I know my friends support me. What about that face on his sword? If there was a weak point, it might be that. I can't afford to leave myself open though. He has two ways to take me out. I've got to see how my attack fares against his before I can come up with a better strategy.

Orihime's weapon begins to glow as she decides to try a counter attack. She tries to watch her surroundings carefully to see just what Ximenez will do.

He is going to be unpredictable. I have to be ready.

Ximenez watched Orihime move carefully, and she moved exactly how he expected her to. "Too easy," he sighed, tossing his blade into his right hand with a slight flourish and spinning backhand, cleaving into her side with the other blade, but in the process he found himself staring down the barrel of Orihime's Shunshunrikka, pointed directly toward him. She didn't seem to notice the pain from the wound, and she had a clean, open shot.

"Well. Wonder how much this is going to hurt."

"Koten Zasshun!"

The frontmost blade of Orihime's zanpakutou glowed bright gold before firing directly into Ximenez's chest. A look of surprise came over his face as the bright beam pierced right through him. He fell down to his knees, and the beam flew around and returned to Orihime's arm, reforming into the sixth blade.

Ximenez coughed loudly before standing up, cricking his neck. "Not bad," he said, pounding his fist into his solar plexus. The bloodless hole in his chest was already starting to close up.

Ximenez dealt 11 damage to Orihime
Orihime dealt 6 damage to Ximenez
Ximenez healed 6 damage

Well this isn't going to work if he slashes me like this so easily. And did he just heal himself? That will make this more difficult. If I'm going to avoid his blade, I need to create some distance between us. Since my weapon is long ranged, I'll be able to hit him from further away. I can't just shoot directly at him though. It takes more time to get to him. He'll avoid it if it is that obvious. What I need is a diversion. An attack that is more unexpected. This is going to require a bit of acting to pull this off.

Orihime tried to create a lot of distance between her an Ximenez, before firing another shot. It barely grazed his hat, but that's exactly what she wanted. She intentionally missed.

"I guess I still haven't gotten the hang of this." She said sheepishly to Ximenez.

She wanted to wait until he advanced to attack her and strike when he least expected it. She just had to wait for an opening.

um sorry to bother everyone but is my fight still going on?

{I believe so, if you and Naomi ever end up on at the same time, when's the next time you can be sure you'll be on? I'll try to get Naomi on then.}

Yes and Hikari I am still waiting for your move from when I attacked you.

*Zetsumei notices he's still bleeding a bit.*

"Hey medics, could I please have some healing? I don't want to get too much more blood on the gym floor."

Well that and this is kind of painful...

[Placeholder, pending reply from Smythe... no I'm not dead yet ]

"How is he?" said Shuhei. Hanatarou and his assistants were busy treating Satoko's wounded neck, while several other medical Shinigami were working on Anshou's wounds as well.

"It's not good," Hanatarou said, his teeth clenched. "These two really ripped each other apart." He nodded over toward Anshou. "That one's lost a lot of blood, and has some serious burns from that zanpakutou, but he should be fine with a few stitches and some kidou spells. Takeshi-san, though...," Hanatarou looked a little pale, but nowhere near as pale as the blond boy on his operating table. Satoko's eyes were closed, and his lips were turning blue. So much blood was pouring from his neck that Hanatarou's assistant couldn't even see where to apply pressure.

Satoko let out a gruesome rasp, and blood sputtered from his mouth and gurgled from his neck.

"Damn! He's going into shock, this isn't good!" Hanatarou pulled his zanpakutou out. "Fulfill! Hisogamaru!" With a flash, Hanatarou's blade transformed itself into a small red scalpel, and he touched the tip to Satoko's neck. A flash of energy filled the room, but Satoko didn't seem to be doing any better.

"Fulfill! Hisogamaru!" Another burst of energy. Hisogamaru was glowing red with reiatsu, but Satoko was still choking. Hanatarou looked distraught.

"It's... no, it's... not enough," he sighed. "Get a breathing tube ready!" he shouted to his assistants.

"What's the matter, how is he?" Shuhei said, alarmed by the urgency in Hanatarou's tone.

"I... don't know if I can save him," Hanatarou answered.

Hanatarou Yamada wrote:

"I... don't know if I can save him."

The words echoed in Shuhei's ears. No... that couldn't be right. This was... this was just a training exercise. No student was going to die from a simple training exercise.

He looked into Satoko's face, contorted with agony, starved for air. He was slowly asphyxiating. Choking to death on his own blood. Shuhei had seen others die just like that. Comrades, torn to pieces by Hollows.

He wasn't going to let it happen. Not to one of his students.

"If you can't save him," said Shuhei. "Then we'll find someone who can." He looked to one of Hanatarou's junior officers, a small, meek looking girl with a nurse's cap in addition to her Shinigami robe. "You," he said to her. She looked up, slightly nervously. "Go run to classroom 3-B and get Lieutenant Kotetsu down here. Tell her it's an emergency."

Shuhei followed the girl out the door. "I'll go dismiss my class, then I'll be back to check on them in a moment."

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Ximenez grinned, threatening Orihime with his zanpakutou. "I know there's still a lot you can do with that giant hairpin of yours. We haven't even seen the tip of your power. Come on, Miss Ryoka. I've got a fair amount in reserve too, you know. If you don't come at me with everything you've got, you'll wind up getting dragged out of here like little Mr. Scarboy."

The sharp blast of a whistle interrupted Ximenez's tirade.

"Alright!" yelled Shuhei from just inside the doorway. "Everyone stop fighting! I'm dismissing class due to serious injury. Go ahead and go to lunch early, then report back to homeroom for your afternoon class. Lieutenant Kotetsu will probably be busy taking care of Takeshi-san and Mizukin-san, so you'll just have free study for SL&P class. And stay out of the medical ward. If you're concerned, the best thing to do is to stay out of the Lieutenant's way while she's trying to save your classmates' lives."

He took a deep breath. It was hard to remain as composed as usual.

"Ok, class dismissed." He turned to hurry out the door.

"Chiken, you just want to be able to do everything right away don't you? It was an interesting fight though. I wish mine had gone so well. I'm a bit more interested though in how Ximenez will fight unsupervised. I have a really bad feeling about facing him in the tournament."

Chiken nodded at Zetsumei's question. He wanted to do everything with kidou, it was so cool! As for the rest of what Zetsumei said, Chiken only shrugged. "I wonder if he'll fire that neat laser again?" Chiken said quietly, hoping he would.

Chiken had missed Zetsu's next question as he felt not one but two reiatsu flares spark through his brain. Turning to where he felt the flare, he saw Ximnez and Orihime both with their Shikai's released. His mouth falling open a little and with a twinkle in his eyes, he stared at them both, eager to see what would happen.

However, after only one attack from them both, Hisagi-Sensei blew a whistle and ended class. Frowning in confusion, Chiken turned to listen to Sensei and noticed for the first time that Satoko was completely pale and on a stretcher from that cut on his neck. Blinking in confusion, Chiken stared at him until he was completely surrounded by various fourth division personnel. Shrugging, Chiken wasn't worried and turned to Zetsumei. "Well, shall we get lunch?" Chiken asked, his stomach picking that time to rumble loudly. He was completely oblivious to any of Zetsumei's wounds, got up, and walked away in the (as usual) opposite direction to the lunchroom.

Cardinal Ximenez wrote:

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Ximenez grinned, threatening Orihime with his zanpakutou. "I know there's still a lot you can do with that giant hairpin of yours. We haven't even seen the tip of your power. Come on, Miss Ryoka. I've got a fair amount in reserve too, you know. If you don't come at me with everything you've got, you'll wind up getting dragged out of here like little Mr. Scarboy."

Orihime hadn't even noticed what was going on around her. She had been paying too much attention to the fight.

"Satoko... you're right. He's really hurt. I hadn't even noticed... I'm sorry Ximenez but we'll have to continue this another time. I have to go help that boy."

Orihime did a quick bow and left the fight.

Shuhei Hisagi wrote:

The sharp blast of a whistle interrupted Ximenez's tirade.

"Alright!" yelled Shuhei from just inside the doorway. "Everyone stop fighting! I'm dismissing class due to serious injury. Go ahead and go to lunch early, then report back to homeroom for your afternoon class. Lieutenant Kotetsu will probably be busy taking care of Takeshi-san and Mizukin-san, so you'll just have free study for SL&P class. And stay out of the medical ward. If you're concerned, the best thing to do is to stay out of the Lieutenant's way while she's trying to save your classmates' lives."

He took a deep breath. It was hard to remain as composed as usual.

"Ok, class dismissed." He turned to hurry out the door.

"Sensie Hisag, I'm sorry, but I'm ignoring you instrutions."

Orihime ran over to the medical ward that Satoko was being hauled to.

Chiken Kazenosei wrote:

"I wonder if he'll fire that neat laser again?"

"Well, shall we get lunch?" Chiken asked, his stomach picking that time to rumble loudly. He was completely oblivious to any of Zetsumei's wounds, got up, and walked away in the (as usual) opposite direction to the lunchroom.

"Uh sure, but aren't you worried about Satoko? Hey the lunch room isn't that way!"

"Oh, you're no fun at all," Ximenez sneered as the ryoka girl took off after the tattooed teacher. So... she's a healer. And she thinks she can heal better than the lieutenant of 4th Division? She's either very strong or very conceited.

He held out his weapon and exhaled a long breath. Onishita shrank back down to its normal shape and size.

"And I was looking forward to showing off a little. Oh well." He grinned maliciously over at Zetsumei. "Guess I'll just have to save it for the tournament."