Grand Chief vs. Young Captain Re:MiX [Shiro]

Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of the tenth squad, sat inside of his office as he was found most of the time, though he tried as best he could to keep out of there. He had secluded himself in his office away from most anyone except his squad for quite some time now and it had only be just recently that he had come to the realization that this might not be the best of life styles. His day had been rather boring though up to this point and it had become increasingly difficult to remain in the office alone, since as usually Rangiku was off gallivanting around doing whatever it was she wanted, despite the work that should be and needed done.

I should go do something productive; all this paper work is going to be the death of me. Half of it is just expenditures reports that need approving. I could be training or doing anything, being stuck in this prison of an office twenty-four seven is unbearable sometimes. Definitely not one of the things that comes to mind when you consider becoming a captain…the paperwork.

A voice came from just outside of his office suddenly, it was feminine and the tone was one of uncertainty or needing help. Clearly whoever it was wanted him for some reason; though to the best of his memories he couldn’t think of a reason as to why someone would be coming to his office today. It wasn’t someone in his squad, or at least he didn’t recognize the voice, but there were so many members of his squad it easily could have been a new recruit.

“Yes? Come in.” Toshiro said calmly, intrigued to see who had come to visit him.

Did I forget setting up some kind of meeting?

Could she be any more nervous than she is? I would highly doubt it, just her speech alone shows how intimidated she is by me, and she hasn’t even ever met me. Is the title of Captain that precedes my name, truly enough to cause someone such fear? At least get to know me and my skills before acting like this…

Toshiro’s thoughts trailed off as the shinigami proceeded forward, though promptly stopping with a quick fall to the ground. Toshiro had apparently been rather accurate with his initial assessment of the girl being nervous, as demonstrated by her falling over herself face first into the ground from a standing position. This of course was followed by the normal reactions of someone in that position, frustration, though it was hard if at all to decipher what the shinigami was saying, if it were words she was saying at all, it was unusual and hadn’t been heard by Toshiro before, definitely something interesting to note.

Again the shinigami bowed, flustered and nervous, and getting more so as this already brief meeting between the two continued on. It was clear that she must be a part of the Kidou Corp. from the way she was dressed, the mask said it all, and they were after all the only ones to dawn such a thing compared to the rest of the Gotei 13. It made it extremely easy to point them out, but also made it hard to determine from person to person who you had talked to of course unless they gave you a their name.

Toshiro stood up calmly and collectively, taking the letter slowly from the shinigami’s hand as she extended it out to him. He read it over as the shinigami continued to talk making her introductions. The letter itself was simple and to the point. It was a request for a duel from the captain to the shinigami that stood before him now. Apparently the Kidou Corp wanted him to test one of their students, make sure she could truly stand her own when up against an opponent with different skill sets then their own. Logically it all made sense, there was nothing Toshiro noted that was out of place with the request as often times between the divisions various captains wanted their members to experience new abilities and skills in order to better prepare themselves for what they might encounter out in the field as it were.

Toshiro, having read the letter fully, looked up at the shinigami in front of him; something he was accustom to doing do to his decreased size.

“Have you read this letter already? Do you know and understand what it all entails?” Toshiro said, his voice calm yet cold and distant. When it came to matters of business, as this was, Toshiro’s voice had seemed to develop this tone. His eyes a piercing blue, staring into Blod’s own eyes as though he wanted to see what her reactions would be, as though he was reading her every moment now already.

She must be at least a promising student if the Kidou Corp want her to fight another member of the Gotei 13, though the name I don’t think I’ve heard before. Nothing of notable value that I can think of, but then again sometimes the Kidou Corp seems like its own distant organization outside the Gotei 13…which isn’t always the best of situations…

“As long as you are aware then I see no issues with this request.” Toshiro said calmly, his tone remaining the same, icy and cold a distance to it only seeming even more harsh then normal when compared to Blod’s demeanor.

Toshiro nodded at Blod’s last remark, how she wanted to learn something from him and within a few moments she was gone, headed most likely to the nearest training ground, that being the tenth’s, though it would have been nice if she had announced where she was headed, so that maybe he didn’t have to make assumptions. Toshiro was the youngest of all the captains, but it didn’t mean that he was the most ignorant of basic social conduct.

Toshiro slowly got up from his desk, not taking the quick flash step, rushed approach that his future opponent did. It made it seem as though she was eager to get the spar under way, eager to fight the captain. The hopeful scenario would be that it was her nerves getting the best of her, making her want to start this before she had second thoughts, because if it wasn’t that, Toshiro had hoped no one would ever be so anxious for a fight, even sparring, though a good training practice should never be anticipated and accepted with such quickness and excitement. It was tough seeing so many shinigami now-a-days excited to get into battle, excited to kill, that was no kind of mindset people should be having.

Toshiro had breached the doors leading out to the training grounds for his squad, and there amongst all of it there stood the young, well young in appearance, girl that minutes ago had been in his office. For her, having left the office at the speed she had, it must have been minutes before he had arrived, most likely more than enough time for her to prepare however she felt it necessary.

“Rules? The only rules that we will apply by are those that restrict us by Gotei 13 law, namely we will not go above shikai release, fight as though you want to win with all you have.” Toshiro said calmly.

“Also words of advice, play to your strengths, but even more so guard your weaknesses.”

Toshiro stood in front of Blod, roughly ten meters away, his zanpaktou drawn from its normal resting spot in the scabbard on his back.

“Now, my name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of the Tenth Squad, and your spar begins now.” Toshiro said his blade pointed out towards the shinigami in front of him.

Toshiro watched as quickly the shinigami in front of him wasted no time in starting their little duel, starting into a step and promptly disappearing. However, she was not gone for long as she reappeared to the left of Toshiro; opposite his dominate hand, a wise move.

It was clear as Blod had exited out of her step that the entire atmosphere of the fight had changed following the transformation of Blod herself. She had become more serious and determined; her face seemed to say it all. Whatever she held as her own personal goals seemed to fuel this emotional and physical change in her. It was good to see, or at least what seemed to be, a shinigami who had planned on not holding back, who realized that it would take all she had in order to win this fight as out classed as she may be.

Toshiro watched as Blod having exited her step, thrusting her fist upwards in the attempts of successfully landing an uppercut on him. She was quick, just not quick enough for a head on attack like that, however she was smart, that much was for sure; she instinctively saw which hand was his dominant and attacked. An eye for detail always good to see amongst any shinigami, something that Toshiro himself was proud to say he had.

“Hado number one, Sho.” Toshiro shouted quickly as he jumped backwards a few meters in order to clear himself from Blod and her oncoming attack. This was certainly is going to be an interesting spar.

However, the thing that had surprised Toshiro the most was that a member of the Kidoshu, specialist of Kido would first attack without using their specialty. It was intriguing; did she have a plan with that? Did she expect to confuse him, try and surprise him? Whatever it was it was clearer that each step was going to need to be a calculated one.

As Toshiro’s feet landed back on the ground a few feet away, he watched the shinigami, planning on his next move. Would he take the offensive with her, or would it be better to simply allow her to think she had the best of him? She was determined that was for sure, but would she get carried away at thinking she had him “on the ropes” as it were.

Strategy and understanding your opponent were two essential means of besting them in a fight. It’s more important that a shinigami while fighting their opponent is able to pick up on these things, and is able to use them to their advantage.

Toshiro swung his zanpakuto releasing large beam like arcs, roughly three of them of spiritual energy towards Blod from the left, down the center, and the right of himself all headed towards her planning on impact, to keep her on her toes as it were.

Toshiro watched as Blod dodged the counter attack he had performed, not that it was a surprise. It was a low level Kido that he had announced allowed, her being in the Kido Corp., would only mean she was well versed with such small techniques. All the same it provided the distance between them, for a moment at least.

Her eyes were like his now, no longer were they full of energy and joy like they had been in his office. They had taken a different appearance, she was now focused on this fight, her eyes were a frozen blue, and her mood even represented the serious atmosphere that the training grounds seemed to emanate currently. It was only a matter of seconds before he was sure Blod would make another move, it was only the most logical. She was outranked in this fight, so logically the only outcome would to be press him until she was able to keep him off guard, she was clearly knowledgeable and well versed in various forms of fighting, however chances were like most shinigami she would sooner or later default back to what she found most comfortable, what she found easiest to use and what she had the most experience with, and soon enough his suspicions were confirmed.

Blod had, softly spoken, the incantation for Bakudo 26. Toshiro himself was familiar with the technique and watched as she disappeared not only was the disappearance physical it was spiritual as well. All traces of her were gone now, his kenatsu collided with one another converging on Blod’s former position, and it was easy to say that at this point she had dodged the attack and proceeded on with what would most likely be her counter attack.

Toshiro quickly thought through his strategy as to what he planned on doing to react. The almost constant battles of recent times had made his ability to think on his feet even more reactive then it had been. There was a downfall of the technique that Blod was using however, if she wished to launch another attack, assuming it was not purely physical she would end up breaking the veil she currently hid under. That technique was perfect for spying and for surprise attacks; however its inability to hold when launching another attack surely was its weak point.

Toshiro quickly shunpo’d away, retreating as it were to behind him before, quickly changing directions, serpenting as it were. Currently there was little he could do with Blod being hidden like this, he could continue to move, hoping that soon enough she would expose herself, or until he was confident that a counter-attack would effectively do something. For now though he moved, concentrating on what to do next, what to do when the time came to act.

Toshiro could sense the kidousho member as the two of them seemed to zip in and out of their stepping like some kind of odd dance. He was unable to fully follow where she was with pin point accuracy, since in this case he was the one being followed, but as a general location he knew that she was close behind to him. Blod seemed to be able to adapt quickly to situations, her mind following some kind of unknow progression as though she had planned this all meticulously and was just following a script, however Toshiro knew that was not the case and that she was truly at a level that she was easily able to on the fly adjust to different circumstances. Although he had known little about her, it was clear that Blod had trained hard towards someone unknown goals, most likely becoming stronger being one of the few checkpoints to achieving that.

‘Bakudo 79, Kuyou Shibari’

Toshiro knew the bakudo, it was a tricky one that was almost unavoidable. As he thought this the black holes started to already form, eight in total surrounding him with a final one situated in the middle of his chest. As the binding started to take effect Toshiro brought his blade up to his chest, he knew if anything this technique would be followed up by another in this debilitated stae. There wasn’t much that could be done at this point other than to try and break free of the bind. It was more difficult than he had anticipated it would be to break, clearly Blod had progressed extremely far in her studies and was not afraid to let loose with all she had in this battle, not at all a sense of daunting from fighting a captain.

Toshiro watched as Blod began her incantation to another kido, one he had never heard of, the sense of not knowing promptly made Toshiro go on the defensive, as a large shield of condensed reiatsu formed across his body, centered on his Zanpakuto. As the shield formed yet another exciting turn of events occurred and Blod dashed forward, stopping just out of length of his sword, launching another kido, as a large flame shot forward hitting across his shield that had been brought up just before impact. The flames dispersed, only causing small singes to his clothing as the flames and heat rushed past.

His movements had not fully return yet and the black holes surrounding him still resided, but surely enough his movement was coming back as he forced more reiatsu out against the pull of the bakudo. It was like moving in a pool of molasses right now, movements were entirely possible, but very difficult and slow. For now it looked like he would have to use the kido that this shinigami so excelled at to give himself time to recover from this binding, until his movement had returned.

“Ye Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance. Upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!” Toshiro quickly shouted just as the flames subsided and his shield dispersed. A large beam of blue fire shot out from Toshiro towards Blod, hoping to catch her off guard. Although it was not a particularly strong kido, this was only to delay and disorient for now, it was more of a tactic then an offensive move. However as soon as this bakudo wore off it was clear Toshiro could not go easy on the shinigami in front of him anymore.

Even before Toshiro had finished his incantation shooting off the kido Blod had vanished from his view. It however was too late to re-aim or even cancel the kido. It was a bother, but certainly one Toshiro had encounter numerous times before in his relatively short career as captains. These exact scenarios were the outmost reason a shinigami needed to be able to adapt at a moment’s notice in battle.

It was a kido, he couldn’t be surprised that a member of the Kidoshu would be well versed in almost all, if not all of the kido from incant. The hardest position for Toshiro, had he been able to readjust before firing the kido would be behind him, it was the most likely spot for an attack to occur and as his incantation finished the quick spike of reiatsu issuing the reappearance of Blod could be sensed do to Toshiro’s precognitive intuition, he quickly threw up another shield of condensed reiatsu the blade hitting off of the shield twice as Blod had almost been able to land a strike on him.

Toshiro finally being able to move jumped forward, disappearing with a quick shunpo, reappearing a few meters up into the air roughly ten meters from Blod. He needed a second to get his barring, having previously been restricted for a moment with lots of movements from Blod. The battlefield needed to be reassessed as any good fighter knew after such a quick succession of movements had occurred.

It took Toshiro only a moment to see the area’s layout before he fully assessed the situation and shunpo’d again disappearing from sight for a moment. His next move would need to be quick and planned if he had hoped to catch the young kidoshu member off guard.

“Drink from the overflowing cup! Sate your thirst on the cursed wine of the gods, and blanket yourself in white funeral chrysanthemums!” Toshiro would shout as he began his approach, zig-zagging left and right as he reappeared out of shunpos headed towards Blod.

Large whit circles formed above Blod and his own head as pink petals swiftly drifted down from the sky towards the ground.

Undetectable they would fall until they hit a surface, including Blod herself if she was unable to quickly get out of its large range. That is when they did their job the petals would begin to weigh down the opponent each petal having the equivalent feeling of 100 kilograms each, as the petals had begun Toshiro had reached his oppnent’s location, to the right side of her crouched down, a swing of his zanpakutou coming right for Blod’s mid-section. It would be simple for Blod to block with her zanpakutou, however that was just what Toshiro was hoping, preparing to unleash another kido if she did, sending an electrical charge through his own zanpakutou and hers as well, or anything that created a bridge between them. The kido was not an extremely impressive one, but surely enough to catch the shinigami off guard with the combination provided she blocked the attack in the anticipated manner.

Damn it…

That was all Toshiro had time to think as the dome of electricity spread out at him at an extrodinary speed. Toshiro knew the kido, but knowing it and being able to react to it were two completely different things. His kido would have no effect, not being able to come into contact with Blod as he had anticipated instead being met with the electric dome of Bakudo number fourteen as he watched Blod disappear.

The captain flew back a few meters having had the surge of electricity run through him, although it wasn’t the most potent of kido, Toshiro could only assume that was all to plan. Blod had the ability to use strong kido if she wanted, that had already been made clear, that being said this was clearly a quickly planned and timed maneuver to allow her to disappear out of sight while at the same time giving Toshiro virtually no time to react, she was by far an intelligent and well thought out on each move she made, a quality that Toshiro himself prided himself on and as such respected greatly in others that seemed to posses the trait.

Toshiro looked around quickly; it had seemed that Blod was nowhere to be found on the surface anymore at least nowhere that was visible. One of the worse things you could do in battle is lose track of your opponent, although this was a spar and the chances for death were not as high, it was still a problem, being unprepared and being caught off guard both can be utter death sentences depending on the opponent.

Suddenly the reiatsu burst appeared it was above him, everything happened so quickly, as it often did in battle, that it had been too late to locate her until this time. The chances were she either had been holding back a large portion of her power until this moment, but provided the large amount of varying kido she had preformed and with such ease it would seem unlikely that this was the case. The other option was that Blod had found herself forced into releasing her Zanpakutou a measure that would indicate an even more furious battle was about to rage on. Release states were so unpredictable and of such ranging varieties, so much so that predicted them from the blue was almost impossible, the only indicator that often times helped was the squad in which the individual was located and their fighting style in general, though there were exception often time people adapted to their stronger abilities, revolving their entire style of fighting around them. That being said, all Toshiro could assume was that Blod’s shikai-state would only reinforce her Kido abilities, but to what degree and how were almost impossible to say. Toshiro looked up into the sky, barely being able to see Blod, as he shunpo’d above to get closer, while at the same making sure to remain cautious and not close the gap between them too much.

Round two begins now.

Suddenly Blod was in sight and as Toshiro expected her appearance had changed in a way, her zanpaktou was nowhere to found, however the new appearance of three floating orbs were clearer than day and they were shooting off towards him at incredible speeds, equivalent to that of some of the fastest kido. Toshiro only had moments to react before the orbs would be one him; these were the negatives of being a captain though, even if Toshiro in order to gain more power and match the same release level of his opponent there was the possibility of knowledge working against him. People often spoke of many of the captains’ skills meaning chances were given how skilled and most likely long Blod had been in the kidoshou she more than likely knew at least a few of his skills and techniques as well. Toshiro however, did not have the luxury.

Despite how much he wanted to wait the situation seemed to only be escalating further with each step at this rate depending on what these orbs were capable of doing and Blod being in her shikai state Toshiro would be overrun. Quickly he did what he had to and released into his shikai state as he swung at the first orb deflecting it, a huge burst of reiatsu filling the air as he did so. The second and third orb came flying towards Toshiro he was only quickly able to shunpo away, but not quick enough being grazed by the second orb across his shoulder and luckily barely avoiding the third orb completely. The pain was minimal equivalent to a rough punch or strike to the shoulder, more uncomfortable then Toshiro would have liked, but not enough to put him down by a long shot.

The clouds above had begun to darken as Toshiro released into his shikai state as was usual. The sounds of thunder could be heard from all around. It was a mere test of the immense spiritual pressure that Toshiro controlled, especially when he was in soul society not being hindered by the limiter seal as he often found himself in the human world.

Toshiro was not one to have luck on his side, often times finding himself in battle take hit after hit from his enemies. It was necessary sometimes though, in order to come up with a good plan it took time, and sometimes time was not a necessity that one had without sacrifice. It also worked well in catching the enemy off guard playing the weaker of the combatants, though that was unlikely to be a useable strategy in his situation.

Strategy seemed to be tough though, his mind was clouded, but what he was unable to pin-point exactly what it was, an illusion maybe? His mind was fixated on Blod more so then on the strategy to defeat her, he tried the best that he could to suppress it and for the most part it was easy enough to do, however it was like an annoying tapping in his mind constantly trying to push to the front.

By this short time of thought the orbs had circled back around coming in to impact Toshiro again, however this time Toshiro was prepared, swinging his blade releasing a large Chinese dragon of ice with bright red eyes that flew through the air towards the orbs with the intent of freezing them in their place. Toshiro knew already with how these orbs were reacting they must be being controlled by Blod in some manner, and a key to victory would be to sealing away the movement of these orbs. To continuously fight off all three constantly would be a never ending game, going on and on until a mistake was made.