The fights had been no more than ten minutes each but some of them got close to the limit. This year's graduates were a strong batch.
Kenpachi was impressed with some of them; even since almost all of them had displayed more kido based skills than the face to face combat skill that Squad Eleven valued.
"A wonderful class, eh Kenny?" He turned to his surrogate daughter; Yachiru. She was happily munching on a lollipop that someone gave her. Either Kuchiki or Ukitake… maybe both; his daughter was just that clever.
"Yea but none of them have the Eleventh mentality kiddo," Kenpachi replied as Kuchiki's sister finished her fight. He was honestly waiting for Ichigo's fight; it was bound to be two things; good or quick.
"Finally the final fight of the day; Ichigo Kurosaki versus Mystery," That caught Kenpachi's attention. It also caught the attention of the rest of the Taichous'.
Ichigo strode into the ring, hoping the poor girl didn't chicken out. He wasn't disappointed. She walked out; a near unnoticeable tremble shaking the thin frame. The proctor watched her as she approached the center. Ichigo waited patiently for her as she reached them; praying that this fight helped her out of her shell.
Ichigo had watched the girl the whole tournament, piecing the situation together with his observations. She had a constant tremble on her and she flinched whenever a person became too loud. The class had done a good job of keeping her calm but as more and more of them had passed and had took a spot in the stands, the tremble got worse and worse. It had gotten even worse when a woman had stormed over and had demanded that she get back to the school. The students that had remained at the time had levelled the woman with a very impressive glare. One of the two students- the male; the female passing with three minutes to spare-that had washed the mysterious girls hair had told her that the girl was already registered in an icy tone. The woman-who could only be the teacher- had told the girl to fail or else and had stormed away. Ichigo came to a very startling conclusion after this unnerving confrontation.
The girl had been abused.
The girl had been abused by the teacher.
Ichigo was determined to bring her out of the shell the teacher had forced the girl to create.
"Alright, we want this to be a fair fight," Ichigo ripped himself out of his thoughts so he pay attention to the rules, "Bankai is allowed if both parties can perform it," Ichigo knew that this was just a formality because normal students- or most seated officers- wouldn't be able to do it, "And the time limit is ten minutes. No maiming or killing but cutting is allowed. Now shake hands and say your names."
Both Ichigo and the girl called Mystery nodded and shook hands.
"Ichigo Kurosaki. Who are you?" Ichigo asked as he gently cradled the shivering hand.
"I don't have a name but everyone in the class called me Mystery," The girl rasped out. They dropped the hands.
The proctor frantically leapt out of the way with a holler, "BEGIN!"
Ichigo raised his sword straight up and swung downward; a cloud of dust rising from the force of the swing. The crowd held its breath; there was no way that the fight was over that quickly. The dust settled and the girl was still standing there but she quickly shunpoed away when Ichigo raised his knife-like sword again. As she moved away, a 'clack' filled the silent air. The whole arena zoomed in on the black reiatsu inhibitor collar that rested in the dirt. Ichigo strode forward and wrapped it up in a piece of cloth that he ripped from his shihakusho.
"Toushiro, catch," He flung it at the white hair Taichou, who caught it without a fumble.
"There sweetheart, now you can do the best you can without an irritating piece of metal rubbing your neck raw," Ichigo said. Mystery gave him a wide-eyed look. She observed him for a second and slowly reached for her zanpaktou; slipping into a stance that Ichigo didn't recognize. Her left arm was placed behind her back and she faced him with her right. Her legs were loose and slightly apart.
"Thank you but this is still a fight," She mumbled softly.
Ichigo chuckled and adjusted his grip on Zangetsu, "Yea you're right. This is still a fight; so show me what you got."
Mystery smiled softly; pulling the katana out of her sheath, "Protect, Fuyuhime."
The sword lit up and it transformed. It seemed to shrink but it only made Ichigo cautious of her.
Hanatarou's was small but it packed a punch once it was charged.
The light faded away to reveal a beautiful sword. It was short, the whole weapon as long as the forearm, extending past the elbow by two inches. The hilt had a curved guard that provided protection to the hand and had a lengthy six to eight foot white ribbon on the end of the hilt- the only long part of the weapon- and it was an ethereal whitish-blue colour. The short blade was silver-gray and it curved upwards near the end, sharp on both sides.
Ichigo smiled, "That's a beautiful weapon but what can it do?"
Mystery smiled back and she suddenly disappeared. Ichigo jolted, eyes widening. He turned around in time to block the swing that was coming at him. As they struggled, frost crept onto Zangetsu, ice coating the blade. Ichigo broke the struggle and jumped back.
"Ice huh? Neat but I spar with Toushiro and Rukia. I know how to handle that already."
She gave a timid smile.
The wind picked up and snow started to whip around. Before Ichigo-and the crowd- knew it, a blizzard filled the combat zone.
"Ok," Ichigo called out, "Now I'm impressed."
Ichigo waited. He knew that she would attack in this powdery confusion. A sound on his left caught his attention and he swung Zangetsu hard; using the dull side to prevent any damage. An 'oof' and a loud crash told him that he was successful. The blizzard died down too; a bonus in Ichigo's mind. He spotted Mystery on the wall; she had crashed into it when Ichigo had hit her. She slowly climbed back up and Mystery slipped the ribbon into her right hand, looping it around her left hand. She started to twirl it around; unknowingly mimicking what Ichigo did with Zangetsu. Ichigo slipped into a defensive stance, raising Zangetsu just as she charged him. Using the ribbon as a whip, Mystery manoeuvred Fuyuhime around Zangetsu; effectively trapping Ichigo within punching range. Ichigo realized this just before a small fist connected with his left cheek.
"This position is a two way street girlie," Ichigo thought. He reared his fist back and punched her in the jaw. He thought that Mystery would Shunpo away after that but she cocked her fist back and landed a hit right on the other cheek. Ichigo countered with a blow to the nose and she punched him, using her fingernails as claws.
They traded punches for another minute before Mystery managed to detangle Fuyuhime from Zangetsu and she leapt away. They were a mess at that point; blood dripping from cuts that had been inflicted by fingernails as well as matching nose-bleeds and bruises forming on both of their faces and torso's.
Ichigo had been appalled that he had punched a girl in the chest until Mystery had delivered a marvellous blow to his nose.
He wasn't so appalled anymore.
"Not bad Mystery but I think we should take it up a notch," Ichigo said, watching as Mystery stared at Ichigo in shock than in defeat.
"How did you figure it out?" She asked as she wiped the blood away from her nose.
"You have the same power levels as me. The only two ways to safely channel and control that power is to learn your Bankai or have an inhibitor; most likely both because there was no way that collar would have kept all of it contained without hurting you. Whoever put that collar on you unknowingly helped you raise your power levels to what my level are right now and they taught you how to control that power to boot."
The crowd froze. The Taichous leaned forward; as did most of the crowd. A student that knew Bankai? This was a rare occurrence and everyone knew it.
"I'll go first," Ichigo offered.
Mystery nodded.
The crowd leaned back as reiatsu filled the arena. The Fukutaichou's, Taichou's and Yamamoto- Soutaichou were the only ones that were still leaning fully forward. Squad Eleven were also leaning forward, anticipating the fight to come.
Ichigo's shihakusho changed into the tattered black jacket that revealed a lot of skin and the slender version of Zangetsu but Mystery didn't even bat an eye.
Kenpachi… he gawked and turned the brightest shade of red. Yachiru and Toushiro were too innocent to understand why Kenpachi had turned into a human tomato but everyone else wasn't.
Mystery waited until Ichigo smiled at her softly. Her reiatsu flared and coated the stadium in a wintery but warm blanket. Many had sighed when it washed over them but it was gone as soon as they got comfortable. They looked down into the battle zone and saw a sight many would never forget.
Mystery's hakama and shihakusho had transformed into an elegant blue and white kimono. Its skirt was long and it flared open at mid-thigh to reveal her legs. The top was a shoulder baring kimono top but the sleeves were tight to the skin and the obi was long and flowing with a snowflake charm on the front. Two bracers rested on her arms and her feet were covered in boots instead of the traditional waraji and socks. A choker necklace with a delicate snowflake charm hung around her neck. A diadem rested on her forehead and it was accented with a pair of small wings made of ice. Mystery's hair had grown long and had blue ends; it floated around her as if the wind was playing with it. Two longs swords with a hilt that was similar to Fuyuhime's shikai form rested in her hands.
Ichigo let out a whistle and many people thought that he thought that she looked gorgeous and they wouldn't blame him for it.
"Damn, that's a powerful Bankai. I bet it's like mine; sacrificing speed for power but in the reverse. Your power points take a dive but your speed points get a major upgrade."
The whole stadium sweat-dropped.
Then again, they could be wrong.
Anyone that was Ichigo's friend and a constant visitor to his home knew what the hell he was talking about.
Ichigo was the reigning video game champion at his house after all.
Mystery looked surprised but she just shrugged. She had no idea what the terms were but that was the gist of her Bankai.
The proctor chose that moment to remind them that they had three minutes left.
Ichigo glared at the man, who just cringed.
"Time to dance," Ichigo said with an emotion that only Squad Eleven recognized and understood.
Excitement.
The girl that was adeptly named Mystery had the same expression on her face as she readied herself. They launched themselves at each other. Ichigo swung but Mystery neatly parried and she swung herself around and kicked at his face. Ichigo blocked and she wrestled her leg free. Mystery disappeared and reappeared on Ichigo's right, swinging the left sword at him. Ichigo deflected with Zangetsu, allowing Mystery a chance to swing the right sword at him and she managed to score a shallow cut on his chest. He kicked Mystery in the solar plexus, sending her flying. She flipped over and drove the two swords into the ground, effectively stopping herself. Ichigo shunpoed over and struck her with Zangetsu. A diagonal wound appeared on her torso. Mystery leapt away from Ichigo. They panted for a second and dove back into the thick of it.
A dust cloud formed from the intense fight and it blocked the view of the audience for a few seconds than it faded away. The scene they saw shocked them.
Ichigo and Mystery were a mess and their Bankai had dispersed at some point. Clothes all torn and barely covering some things; cuts littering both of them and blood rapidly pooling at their feet. They both had lost their zanpaktou too.
Two minutes.
They threw themselves at each other and were brawling. Fist flew, kicks were delivered and nails were turned into makeshift claws. Scrapes of black fabric and blood flew and dust was kicked up.
Squad Eleven was in an uproar. This was the best fight they have ever seen!
One minute.
They broke apart and they panted. Blood was splattered all over them and they had a few more scratches. The only thing covering Mystery's average breasts was small scrapes of fabric and barely there bandages while her hakama was shredded to her upper thighs. Ichigo's shihakusho was gone and the hakama was missing the left leg.
"One final punch?" Ichigo asked.
Mystery nodded.
"One final punch."
They charged, fists reared back.
Thirty seconds.
They picked up speed.
Twenty seconds.
They unleashed a war cry.
Ten seconds
The fists make contact with their opponents face.
Five seconds
The arena watched.
Four.
No one moved.
Three.
Ichigo and Mystery wavered.
Two.
Their eyes glazed and closed
One.
They fell over.
Zero.
They hit the ground, dust rising from where they fell and blood starting to pool around their still bodies.
The stadium was silent. No one could believe what they had just seen what was unarguably the best fight in the history of the Shino graduation tournament.
"Mystery passes the graduation tournament. She is now a member of the Gotei Thirteen," The Soutaichou announced.
The silence was destroyed by the uproar that ensued after the announcement.
Wildcat: I did my best with the fight scene? How did I do? Disclaimer... I own nothing but AU's, Headcanons, OC's and OPT's.