Disclaimer: No I do not own Bleach.
Heart of Wind
Chapter 6: A Dragon's faith
Takai stared at the sword sticking through his chest. ("I intended to kill him…I wasn't going to hold back. So why, why did he manage to beat me? I…I…") Then his eyes clouded over and he fell.
Kemura slowly pulled his sword out of Takai's chest and snapped it to one side, splattering blood across the rooftop. "A superb attempt…truly one to be remembered." Then he sheathed his Soul Slayer, the blade having already returned to normal shape.
"How?" Takai spoke through the pain of having a pierced lung, though he was quickly dying as the blood pooled at his knees.
"It is no surprise that you don't understand what happened." Kemura looked at the huge scar that slashed into the earth and stone for about eighty feet before it stopped somewhere outside the school grounds. "After all, that attack was a one in a million shot…a powerful blast of spirit energy that would have been the ultimate sacrifice. No one could fire off that much spiritual power at once and live, especially not someone at your untrained level. So honestly I did you a favor…"
"That's…not…" Takai tried to stand, but his legs gave out on him and he collapsed face-first to the ground.
"Your attack had all the power in the world to kill me, but it could never hope to hit me because you lacked speed. Without that speed, there is no way for you to possible catch a Vice Captain, no matter how powerful the strike." He turned to walk away. "Now lay there quietly and die. The wound I gave you will kill you much slower if you stop struggling."
Takai tried to stand, but froze when he felt a hand touch his back. ("I can't see clearly…is it that guy? Did he decide to kill me instead?")
"Just stay still and don't move around too much. The wound is serious, but if I can get rid of him fast enough then I'll be able to save you. Don't die, Takai Ito." Then Ryushin slowly stood up, his eyes locked onto Kemura's now stopped back. "It's been a while, Kemura-chin."
Kemura, though his face couldn't be seen, stiffened slightly in surprise. "What…" He turned, the permanent shadow around his body fading slowly to reveal a regal aristocratic face with blue eyes and long black hair in a ponytail. "…did you call me?"
"You heard me very clearly, Kemura-chin." Ryushin's short gray hair shifted in the wind that came across the rooftop, and his gray eyes locked onto Kemura's with the look of an elder scolding a naughty child.
Kemura's mouth pursed slightly. His opponent was just another high school boy, much like the one called Takai. And yet something was completely different about this opponent. ("That name…it's been so long I've nearly forgotten that name. Kemura…") His eyes lit up with rage. "Die!"
Ryushin snapped up the bokken he had been holding and stopped Kemura's attack, but it was a narrow margin of a block, leaving the edge of the blade a few inches from his nose. "You're still impatient, and still a spoiled little brat." Then he parried the attack and turned on one heel to bring the wooden sword crashing down onto Kemura's head, but wasn't surprised that by the time he had gotten into striking position Kemura was no longer there.
Kemura stood back where he had been standing before, his anger dissolved now. "I wouldn't believe it is you, but you do look like a much younger version of yourself…don't you….Ex-Captain?"
Ryushin rubbed the back of his head in frustration. "Did you have to announce it like that? It's such an uncool way of being introduced…jeez, you never had any tact for being cool, Kemura. It's a real let-down." Resting the wooden sword over his shoulder, he sighed calmly. "You really need to start learning how to be cool and make impressive entrances."
"I'm not like you, you old fool." Kemura sheathed his Soul Slayer. "I must contact Tensutsu-sama and report that I have dealt with the local Death God." Turning, he started to walk away calmly. "Gensuraku, they're yours."
Ryushin was barely surprised as another shadow-sheathed form dropped down onto the rooftop from apparently nowhere. "Jeez, such an uncool entrance. Don't any of you have any idea of how to be cool when you show up?" The helpless look on his face said he wasn't worried in the slightest. "Where are you going Kemura? And who's Tensutsu?"
"He is of no concern to you at all, Ex-Captain." Though he hated this man with all his heart, he kept the proper title in place. "I will leave my subordinate to you, since he will be more than enough. Gensuraku, you have permission to unlock your Soul Slayer if need be. Kill him."
The shadowed form leapt right at Ryushin, the dark form of a drawn Soul Slayer visible through the shadows.
Ryushin scoffed. "Underestimating me was always your biggest weakness, Kemura-chin." He emphasized the last part and grasped the body of the bokken, pushing it inwards and then pulling out sharply. With a click the wooden body slid away to reveal that it was actually a sword. "Alright you lackey, let's get this over with."
Gensuraku said nothing in response as their blades clashed in the air, sending sparks flying everywhere. The second his feet touched the ground, he pushed forward, trying to drive Ryushin over the edge of the rooftop.
Ryushin, with a bored expression on his face, turned to one side slightly and then pushed down with both hands on the wooden handle of his sword, easily breaking the standoff without wasting any energy. ("I have to be careful…the seal on this Faux Body is dangerous, and if I tap into too much of my power then I'll break it and destroy my soul in the process.")
Gensuraku readjusted instantly, snapping his sword up to cut the Ex-Captain in half, but the blade was met while it was near the ground by Ryushin's sword, which instantly stopped the movement. Without making a single noise he pulled the sword back and tried to stab forward, but the blade was stopped while it was close to his body, putting him off-balance.
Ryushin was surprised by the persistence of this opponent. ("I'd think by now he would have figured out that my hand reflexes surpass his. Instead he's just attacking again and again, with the result being obvious every single time.") He would have written it off as rookie behavior, but the fact that this guy wasn't making any noise was worrying him. ("He's not frustrated at all. He's just attacking like some kind of machine.")
Frowning at the fact that he was getting tired of countering this guy's attacks before they could he launched, he decided right then and there his resolution. "Sorry, but if you want to blame anyone for your death, then blame Kemura-chin." Then he let the next attack approach him, but easily parried it. Using the opening in front of him, he brought the blade of his sword rocketing down to slash this man's face open. ("I won't try to kill him, but I have to be…")
His eyes widened as sparks came from his blade as it slashed down across Gensuraku's face. ("What?") Kicking back with one foot, he slid back a few feet to put some distance between himself and this opponent. ("What was that? What could he wearing on his face that could stop my Soul Slayer's attack like that?")
Gensuraku's shadow sheath shuddered and faded as its owner had suffered damage, revealing a black-robed form holding a rather regular-looking Soul Slayer…and wearing the mask of a Hollow.
Ryushin stiffened slightly in both surprise and amazement. ("That can't be…no…he couldn't be a…") Gensuraku charged in again, Soul Slayer in position for both offense and defense if need be. All the Ex-Captain could bring himself to do now was continue countering any attacks, while his mind reeled with the possibility that this could be… ("No…I'm letting this bother me far too much. If he was that then I'd be dead already and Kemura would never have been able to order it around. No, it's just a Hollow mask…but the way he is moving is so relaxed compared to a normal fighter. It's hard to read his movements because of the fact his muscles don't tense up at all before he attacks.")
His mind was brought back to the reality at hand as one of his counters slipped, and Gensuraku's sword came in and left a slash mark on his face. ("Damn…I got careless.") Turning, he slammed a roundhouse kick into Gensuraku's side and hopped back a couple of steps. "While your overall fighting skill is rather lacking, I'll admit I'm impressed by your ability to mask your actions in combat. Normally I can prevent them from attacking, but in your case I have to counter."
Gensuraku didn't respond. He just stood there quietly, the only thing proving he was alive was the quiet sound of breathing that came from behind his mask.
Ryushin was rather curious as to where Kemura had gone, but for now he knew that was the least of his worries. ("I can't hold back, there's no time. I'll just kill him and end it.") His stance slowly changed from defensive to offensive. "I've been trying to figure out a way to beat you without killing you, but there's no longer any time left to debate this in my conscience. My apologies, but you're about to die."
Gensuraku slowly held up his Soul Slayer. "Dageki, Kyochiwa." Then his blade was swallowed up in a white wind. When that wind faded he was no longer holding a sword, but a huge metal fan with a long metal handle attached to it.
"That's your Soul Slayer's unsealed form?" Ryushin knew that this kind of weapon most likely had an attack that had to do with wind, but for now he was rather hesitant to close the distance between Gensuraku and himself, like most clever Death Gods would in this situation. ("Though wind type Soul Slayers are normally deadly at long range, their abilities also vary greatly. If his weapon has a limited range to it, and I'm outside that range, then charging in would be suicide.") At this moment he wished with all of his heart that he could still perform Flash Step, but he knew that was impossible in his current body.
Gensuraku slowly position the fan so that it was facing away from him, the extended metal part aimed at the ground right behind his feet.
Ryushin charged, his entire body tightened up to dodge. ("It's a long range type, if his body stance is telling me anything. That means when he unleashes its attack I'll dodge to the side and keep moving. That weapon's current form must be difficult to wield easily, so I'll have the opening I need to finish this.")
Gensuraku snapped the fan out and up, and Ryushin realized that dodging was impossible, as he found himself suddenly fifty feet in the air and trapped in an insane spin that would have left anyone else dizzy. In his case he just needed a few moments to recover from the change of location, and then he was fine. All around him was a spinning tornado of captured dust particles, which cut off his few of how high up in the air he was and where he was anyway. ("This isn't good. Against this kind of Soul Slayer my abilities are nearly useless.") He couldn't use Demon Arts while trapped in this body, and that only left his Soul Slayer, which alone wasn't going to be able to do anything a foe with a ranged attack. ("What can I do?") Then the tornado disappeared and he realized he was upside-down and a few inches from the rooftop. He barely managed to brace himself before his shoulder slammed into the rooftop and he bounced along the concrete roughly before the overhang ever so gently stopped his movement.
Gensuraku slowly turned to face the fallen Ex-Captain and slid into the same preparation stance for swinging the fan.
Ryushin lifted up his head, and through the pain in his body saw this happening. ("Well damn it all, he's going to really kill me at this rate.") Slowly, he forced himself to his feet, despite the protests his Faux Body was giving him. "Human limitations are a horrible handicap indeed…"
Gensuraku snapped the fan up again and Ryushin disappeared within the giant tornado that it created.
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A Ryushin Enjuro that was much older than his current form looked up at the beautiful clouds in the sky and smiled. It was a beautiful day in Soul Society.
"Good morning, Captain Enjuro!" A couple of non-descript (at least to his eyes) pair of Death Gods said, saluting him.
"Good morning." Ryushin smiled and continued on his way towards the 10th Squad's office. ("It should be a nice day today, as long as it doesn't rain or anything.") He stopped walking and smiled, glancing behind him. "You're not very stealthy, Kisuke."
"That all depends on your definition of stealthy, actually." Urahara, no longer wearing his hat and sandals, but the robes of a Death God and the over-jacket of a Captain of Soul Societ, said from right in front of Ryushin, catching the other Captain by surprise. "What? You're that surprised?"
"N…no, of course not!" Ryushin readjusted himself immediately. "Anyway, is there something that I can help you with?"
Urahara chuckled. "Not particularly. I guess we just are passing each other on the way to our offices, huh?"
Ryushin smiled warmly. "I know you're lying, but I won't press you for the truth because I have things to do today and none of them are stand around and waste time with you." Waving casually, he continued walking towards his office.
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("Back in those days, life was so much simpler…") Ryushin slowly forced himself to his feet, though his body was starting to weaken greatly after the fifth 'landing' onto the rooftop.
Gensuraku slid into his preparation position once again.
Ryushin could already tell that dodging was out of the question, and attacking was a waste for the same reason. ("This might really be the end for me.")
"From the look on your face, you're not acting so cocky now." Kemura said from right behind Gensuraku. "My servant is apparently more than enough for the likes of you, Ex-Captain."
"I suppose so." Ryushin frowned in displeasure. "It's been so long since I've had to fight this hard, that there's very little I can do besides stand around and get destroyed by you and your puppet."
Kemura found this rather surprising. "You normally don't say such pessimistic things. Could it be that your eternal optimism has finally started to wane after the decades you've been locked in that Faux Body?"
"Probably…but then again I'm talking like I am because as I am right now there's no way for me to win." Ryushin's eyes became calm and serious. "So therefore I'll have to take the risk…" He placed his hands on both sides of the flat of his blade, his position making him look like he was praying.
Kemura's eyes widened in surprise. "You cannot possibly…"
Ryushin closed his eyes. ("This is dangerous…building up the energy without knowing the method of releasing it might result in my demise. But…there's no choice in the matter. It's do or die.")
Kemura scoffed. "You're truly lost your mind, living in the human world so long. You would actually attempt Shikai in your current state? Your mind was cleared of all knowledge of how to perform your Soul Slayer's release when you were locked in that Faux Body, so to even build up the energy for it is a waste."
Ryushin's eyes opened, the grey irises glowing a deep silver color. "Dance upon the grave of the sun…"
Kemura narrowed his eyes in both distaste and surprise. ("I see. Over the decades he has managed to relearn the incantation to summon up his Soul Slayer's power. However…the name has been completely warded within his thoughts. He cannot actively oppose the seal, and that seal is making sure he can never remember the name of his Soul Slayer. Shikai cannot work for you, Ex-Captain.")
Ryushin's focus didn't waver. "Dance upon the cradle of the moon…" His only choice was clear now. Either he remembered the name of his Soul Slayer by the end of the incantation….or most likely lose his soul when his Faux Body tries to contain the building spiritual energy. ("Do or die. I will remember your name…I will!")
To be continued…
To Time Mage: That's still dangerous for you to do.
To Seeker of the Soul: Yup, it's called the Dimension Wound.
To G.O.T. Nick: Well put.
To Illiterate Guy: Ryushin is a better choice that Yoruichi, because she would have utterly destroyed Kemura. Ryushin's going to have to work to win.
To Darksoulkai: No idea.