Usual disclaimer.
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The students at the Shinigami Academy were all supremely confident in themselves. They were sure that they'd attain bankai one day, and rule with the power and prestige of a captain. They delighted in their own advancement, and although they closely tracked each other's progress, each of them secretly indulged in the fantasy that he was the third-best in the class. Third? Well, yes, because they all had to admit that they were no match for Shunsui and Ukitake. Those two were amazing.
Shunsui and Ukitake had such spiritual pressure for young people, and displayed a natural talent for each aspect of training. They outpaced the rest of the class easily. They were model shinigami, despite having such different personalities. Shunsui (no one called him by his last name) was outgoing, improvisational, lecherous, lazy. Ukitake (no one called him by his first name) was noble, serene, a hard worker and a natural leader.
The two men played off each other. Ukitake gave Shunsui a chance to shine. He was always there to look on in amazement at his friend's antics. And Shunsui's absurdity made Ukitake look that much more refined.
But the sharper classmates noticed that their personalities weren't so different after all. Shunsui never let on about it, but he worked as hard as anyone. And Ukitake was quite a charmer in his own right. He didn't let the pursuit of women dominate his life the way his friend did, but he never lacked for female company.
Yamamoto tried to treat all the students equally. If he paid more attention to his two star students, it was because they were always advancing. Each new technique was first demonstrated to Shunsui and Ukitake, and the others picked it up by watching them. And it just made sense that he'd put more effort into training them, since they were certain to both end up as captains. Even among these elite, competitive fighters, no one resented Shunsui and Ukitake.
But one of them was bound to improve a little faster than the other, and as it turned out, Shunsui attained shikai first. Not just an ordinary one, either. The flashy young soul reaper had an ornate daisho set, two blades which after their initial release now existed as two separate swords. He wore them proudly on his belt, and walked with even more swagger than usual. He didn't become conceited, exactly, but was quick to show off his zanpakuto at any opportunity.
And so it was that, a month after he first released them, he was sparring with his best friend on the practice field outside the Shinigami Academy. He was fighting left-handed. Ukitake was growing impatient.
"Come on, take a shot at me", Ukitake said, as he countered his opponent's moves. "You're too slow left-handed."
"I need to practice this way as well", he said, taking a wide arc against his opponent.
Ukitake blocked it effortlessly. "A lot of good that does me. I need practice too, you know."
They leaned into each other's blades, trying to break the other's stance through pure strength.
"Well," said Shunsui, "perhaps you can practice on this!" He spun, unsheathing his second blade as he did so. He snapped his body around, and thrust the blade forward, intending to just graze his lanky friend's hair.
Ukitake reacted on instinct. He raised his other hand in defense. To both their surprise, there was a second blade in Ukitake's hand as well.