Chapter 16: Impenetrable guard? Shindou's Struggle!

HES: Hey guys! I worked like crazy to finish this chapter, so I hope you like it! I tried a slightly new style which you will see; if you like or don't like it, tell me (it was an experiment after all). Anyway, onto the battle!

"That's him," a young Shinigami male whispered as he watched his brown-haored superior stride by.

"He's handsome," a girl remarked to a group of friends, who giggled briefly before continuing to follow the man with excited eyes.

"I always suspected he'd make it this far," a middle-aged Shinigami man said. "He was a student of mine at the academy for a bit, you know. Aced most exams, even those that did not contribute to his overall standing."

The Shinigami whose name seemed to be on the mind and tongues of everyone near the Grand Arena was none other than Shindou. It had been a grueling few hours, but by now the tournament had entered its semi-final round. He was pleased by the compliments passers-by offered him, whether directly, inadvertently, or secretly, but still his mind remained trained on a single mantra: only the strongest were left now, and the upcoming fight might very well be the hardest of his life.

The Grand Arena was located centrally, surrounded by the ring of numbered arenas used in the preceding rounds of the tournament, and, thanks to its immense size, it was not difficult for Shindou to find. The walls were made of a thicker and more pure form of seki-seki and the pillars supporting the structure were adorned with statues of some of the tournament winners in years past. Shindou paused momentarily to take in their resplendent marble forms, wondering if he too would someday grace the pillars of this magnificent coliseum.

As Shindou marched towards the alabaster-colored gateway, he reached into his kimono for a reddish-brown slip of paper that had the character for "qualified" written on it in bright blue ink. Several seconds passed before the massive doors swung aside and allowed Shindou to enter. He took a deep breath and then was stunned as he saw his opponent.

--

"Are you ever going to wake up?" Baiten roared, shaking the unconcious form of his friend. "It figures, of course. The irony is, you never sleep on a regular basis so when you finally do I can't rouse you out of it!" Baiten let out a moan; he'd been at this for at least an hour. Having suffered injuries that were far less damaging than Jaice's wounds, Baiten had been released from the medical tent an hour earlier. It had taken him awhile, but eventually he found the tent where Jaice was undergoing healing procedures. Several members of the 4th Squad had informed Baiten that his friend was mostly cured, and that he'd need some rest before he could go back to fighting.

"His wounds were very deep," one of the healers had informed Baiten ten minutes earlier. "It's lucky he survived. We had to devote six physicians to him in order to cure the damage in the same time it would take for one healer to cure the injuries of someone who had only suffered minor harm."

Ugh, how am I going to get him to wake up? Baiten pondered, scratching his chin with his right thumb and index finger. I've already tried yelling, pouring water on his face, kicking him, poking him, punching him...there has to be another way... Suddenly, Baiten had a stroke of inspiration.

"Hey Jaice, the semi-final tournament round is starting in about ten minutes! Do you want to wake up and watch? I hear that Shindou is fighting in the first match! It could be a great chance to analyze his fighting skills, or even see him get beaten!" At the mention of the word "Shindou," Jaice sat bolt upright. When Baiten uttered the final word of his sentence, Jaice turned and looked at his compatriot.

"Then why the hell have I been snoozing? Let's get out of here!"

--

"Arashi? Arashi Shinta?" Shindou stuttered as he noticed the familiar face of the man standing across from him in the arena.

"Ah, Shindou, fancy seeing you again. I'd heard that you were transferred to Eastern Region Hollow Extermination," Arashi replied. Arashi flicked his black ponytail over his shoulder before continuing, a gleam of excitement in his mahogany eyes. "It's funny, but they say rivals are always destined to come into conflict until one of the two dies."

"They also say old friends continue to run into each other until their dying days," Shindou responded, continuing to stare at his adversary. Arashi was roughly Shindou's height and his long black hair hung in a tight braid. His kimono was altered to have sleeves that ended halfway between his shoulder and the elbow. His skin tone was significantly paler than Shindou's though there was still a fair degree of color in his complexion.

"Yes, I've missed you," Arashi said. "After I was transferred to the 8th Squad seven years ago, I'd hoped we'd run into each other around Seireitei at least, but time creates the greatest distance, or so they say."

"Yeah, you were a good partner," Shindou answered, nodding. "We had some great times. Perhaps we should share a drink again someday?"

"Yes, that'd be nice, we really need to catch up," Arashi noted. "Sadly, I didn't come here to reminisce or learn of current news, nor did you. We'd best begin; I'd like to enter the finals and claim a desperately needed promotion."

"You might be surprised, maybe you will gain a rank increase if you prove yourself here."

"Hah, I won't purposefully lose to you, even if you are an old friend," Arashi laughed. Both men drew their swords and rushed headlong towards one another.

--

"We're lost, aren't we?" Jaice groaned as he lagged behind Baiten. "You'd figure that even you could find something called the Grand Arena; I hear it's gigantic!"

"Yeah, sorry, I think we took a wrong turn a few streets back," Baiten said, looking left and right as they came to an intersection. "Maybe we should ask for directions?"

"In case you haven't noticed, no one is around! Who are we going to ask, the wind?"

"Well, maybe if you weren't so rude you'd actually listen to me," Baiten shot back, anger rising a bit in his voice; he'd always hated being interrupted, especially when he had something he thought was important to say. "I was going to attempt to search for the location with my reiatsu."

Jaice started to laugh uproariously as Baiten made his suggestion. "You honestly think your kidou is up to that level? Even Tairos isn't that good, and he's the best of all three of us!"

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?"

"Not really, when you consider that I think I see it right over there." A second later, the two were rushing in the direction of Jaice's outstretched finger and the giant pale structure it indicated.

--

Unlike the other arenas of Seireitei, the Grand Arena was built specifically to host public matches. As such the facility was outfitted with several rows of seats and balconies that jutted out from high on the outer walls. A series of staircases within the outer walls of the enclave allowed onlookers access to these seating areas. The height of these enclaves ensured that rarely, if ever, would the viewers be harmed or threatened by the unfolding combat; several guards patrolled in balcony, ready to raise a reiatsu shield in case of a wild kidou blast or an aerial combat.

By the time Shindou and Arashi clashed swords, the majority of these chairs were filled with cheering Shinigami. Some had a favorite competitor from earlier in the tournament, while others merely wanted to view an exciting match. Some were friends or members of the combatants' squads, and hope their associate would achieve victory.

Arashi and Shindou, however, were more focused on one another than the crowd gathering to view their match. The two seemed almost perfectly even in fighting abilities; each slash was parried or dodged with grace, while the occasional kidou attack was avoided or countered with a complementary blast of energy. Shindou threw a roundhouse kick, immediately landing after Arashi dodged the blow to deliver a back kick with his right foot, catching his former partner in the ribs and pushing him several feet back.

"So you got the first hit, eh?" Arashi chuckled. "Maybe I need to start trying, I don't want to accidentally let myself lose to you."

"Ha, you want more? Maybe I should stop going easy on you two!" Shindou said. Both men resheathed their swords, causing confused whispers to arise from the crowd.

"I assume you don't have any new tricks?" Arashi asked.

"I wouldn't say that," Shindou said surreptitiously. "Though, obviously, my shikai hasn't changed. What about you, have you learned anything new these past few years?"

"I've picked up a few skills here and there. It's a shame we already know each other's shikais; it's always fun to surprise your opponent."

"We'd best stop being rude to the spectators, Arashi," Shindou stated. "Let's release our shikais."

"We're going to go all out, no holding back!" Arashi declared.

"I wouldn't expect any less of you!"

"Let's quit talking and get right to it!" Shindou cried out. Both men drew their swords and stood erect as they released their blades. "Shingai, Denkou-deki!" Shindou's weapon elongated and lightning danced and sparked around the shimmering metal.

"Guard, Iradas!" Arashi declared, causing his sword to transform. The audience gasped in shock, confused by the resulting shape of Iradas and unsure of what its abilities would entail.

--

"Excuse us, sorry," Baiten said jovially as he and Jaice moved through the seated rows of spectators. Though most seats were already occupied, the two Shinigami were able to locate several free seats. "Let's reserve an extra one in case Tairos shows up," Baiten suggested; Jaice nodded half-heartedly, for he was too focused on the combat.

"I'm wondering who I actually want to see win," Jaice muttered. "On the one hand, if Shindou wins it means I had a close match with a tough competitor. On the other hand, I'd really like to see that bastard put in his place."

"Either way, you can use this as a chance to analyze his fighting style from afar," Baiten suggested. "Maybe next time you can beat him."

"Yes, I hope so. Now quiet down, it looks like we arrived just in time to see the shikais revealed."

--

Arashi smiled, using a flourish of his left hand to indicate the shikai adorning his right arm. "You may remember Iradas?"

"There is more than one reason you were called the Impenetrable Shield," Shindou remarked. Iradas itself was a large shield with a straight top and slightly curving sides, forming a shape almost akin to a distorted isosceles triangle. The face of the shield was adorned with the image of a bronze gryphon's head while the field was a deep mauve.

"Ah yes, that nickname takes me back," Arashi said, smiling. "The Impenetrable Shield and the Keenest Edge, there was a reason we carried those epithets with pride."

"They weren't the most creative of titles," Shindou joked, "but when you're given them by a Captain, you don't really complain about that sort of thing."

"Really? I thought they suited us well," Arashi remarked. "We were always such a perfect duo; our combo of offense and defense was unbeatable." At this point, Shindou thought back to one of the last times he had ever fought alongside Arashi.

--

"That's another one down," Shindou commented as the Hollow he had just beheaded writhed in agony before crashing to the ground, sending tufts of dust erupting into the atmosphere. "Need any help over there?"

"I'm fine," Arashi noted as he swung his shield into the face of a charging Hollow, shattering the mask into thousands of minuscule shards. "You may want to focus more on your own safety than mine; turn around."

Shindou wheeled on his heels and saw a gigantic dragon-like Hollow crashing through the tree cover towards him. He raised his blade, but knew that the force of impact would send him flying. There was too little time to dodge; the beast would merely change its course. Shindou closed his eyes and tried to brace himself, but the Hollow never collided with him. After several seconds, he found the courage to open his eyes to see Arashi in front of him, Iradas pressed against the Hollow's face, holding the creature back. Shindou gripped Denkou-deki more tightly a jumped over Arashi's head, pointing his weapon downward and driving it into the Hollow's neck. Electricity surged through the monster's body as the two Shinigami pulled away, watching their target slowly dissipate as its body turned to nothingness.

"Thanks," gasped Shindou, turning to Arashi and sheathing his sword which had returned to its sealed state.

"No problem," Arashi responded, his shield changing back to a katana which he promptly sheathed across his back. "You were the one with the higher kill count today, not me. I should be thanking you."

"Yes, but I could've died numerous times if you hadn't defended me. That's why we make such a great team; we are the perfect mix of offense and defense."

"That isn't to say that I can't fight, nor that you can't guard, I assume," Arashi said smiling, "but I get your meaning. Anyway, we'd better get back to Soul Society. I heard that Captain Komamura had an important address to certain unseated Shinigami cells, including ours."

"Let's be off then," Shindou said, the gate to Seireitei materializing in the air before them. Before its wooden screen could completely slide aside, Shindou turned to Arashi and spoke. "You're a great friend. I just know that we'll become an even better team as the years go on."

"Don't get so sappy on me," Arashi moaned. "Come on, we've got someplace to be. I hope this meeting goes fast, I want to spar with you again after it ends."

"Ha, think you have a hope of winning?" Shindou joked.

"Hey, I've one three of our last seven matches, you aren't that far ahead," Arashi responded coyly. "Now let's get a move on."

It was later that same day that Arashi and Shindou discovered that they would no longer be serving in the same squad.

--

"You look a bit shocked, Shindou," Arashi joked, pleased with his own pun. "You haven't said or done anything for the past thirty seconds. It isn't like you to space out, especially in a battle setting."

"I've got a lot on my mind," Shindou remarked calmly, "but I've cleared those distant memories away for now. Our job now is to fight to determine which one of us is superior. Raise your shield, Arashi, and deflect my blows of you can!"

"Pierce my defense with your blade, Shindou," Arashi replied, "that is if you're able!"

Shindou smirked slowly before sliding his sword to the ready position and charging. "You always waited for enemies to attack, Arashi! I guess I'll have to take the initiative as usual!"

--

"Finally, they've started fighting for real!" Jaice yelled. "I was starting to get bored enough to jump into the arena myself. Who is this guy Shindou is fighting anyway?"

"No idea," Baiten said, "but from what they've said, it sounds like the two are old friends."

"Let's hope they're just that; if they're rivals, I may have to kill this Arashi fellow," Jaice took a deep breath before yelling at the top of his lungs. "Do you hear that you bastard? He's got a new rival now! Me, Jaice Gandaime, soon to be the greatest Shinigami warrior of all time!"

Why oh why did I bring him here? Baiten thought, shaking his head. He always acts this way at public spectacles...especially ones that involve violence. Oh well, at least he's enjoying himself.

--

Sparks flew behind Denkou-deki as it arced through the air, the individual bolts of electricity falling like iridiscent snowflakes onto the plane of Iradas's face. Arashi pushed against Shindou, forcing back the 7th Squad Shinigami who lowered his right arm for a low block, deflecting a cleverly aimed side kick.

Shindou spun backwards, wheeling his sword which was deftly blocked by Arashi once again. Shindou, however, had planned for such an occurrence and aimed a roundhouse kick at Arashi's temple. The 8th Squad member, however, snickered as he gripped Iradas with both hands and pulled sideways; the shield split into two halves, one part still blocking Denkou-deki while the other halted the kick, leaving Shindou in an awkward position. Arashi took advantage of Shindou's present state to headbutt his rival in the chest, sending a startled Shindou onto the ground.

Shindou regained his composure and stood, a smile of both pleasure and annoyance masking his features. "I'd forgotten that Iradas could separate," Shindou stated. "I now remember that you rarely used to use that ability, so it came as a surprise to me that you finally found a more practical application for it."

"Yes, originally when I found that feature of my zanpakuto I thought it was quite useless," Arashi admitted, "but now I see it holds excellent benefits."

"Don't think I haven't forgotten what else your weapon can do," Shindou said. "My supporters in the crowd are probably a bit confused that my zanpakuto's electricity did not surge through your shield and shock you. It'd probably be best to tell that your weapon dissipates the power of strikes on impact, meaning that the shocks are dampened and absorbed."

"At least your recall that, I was a bit offended," Arashi said, faking anger. "At least I can remember your blade's abilities."

"Yes, but mine are a bit more obvious," Shindou noted, pointing to the bolts dancing around Denkou-deki's core. "We'd best get on with our fight, the crowd is probably regretting taking the time to come down here and watch us right about now."

"I agree!" Arashi cried. "This time, I'll take the initiative!" Before he knew it, Shindou saw Arashi within a few feet of him. Shindou raised his sword, but Arashi batted it out of the way with one half of Iradas before combining the two pieces into one and slamming Shindou directly in the face with the shield. Shindou stumbled backwards, blood dripping from his crooked, and obviously broken, nose.

I never expected that'd he'd become so much better on offense in the past few years, Shindou pondered as he dodged another attempted shield strike. The 7th Squad Shinigami swung his katana towards Arashi who was now off balance after his missed hit; though the 8th Squad member attempted to block at the last second, he merely deflected the sword higher, raising its angle of impact in the process and reducing the depth of the resulting wound but not preventing Denkou-deki from biting into Arashi's right shoulder. Arashi twitched violently as the impulse from Shindou's sword flowed through his body and, whether it was a lucky convulsion or a planned withdrawal, he pulled himself away from the sword after five seconds.

"Damn, you still pack quite a punch," Arashi gasped, clutching the bleeding hole in his shoulder. "You missed the joint by only a few inches; I'm lucky I can still move this arm."

"You're more lucky that shock didn't fry your internal organs," Shindou said.

"I know you held back a bit," Arashi replied, "and thanks. If I was an actual enemy, I'd be dead at this moment."

"I don't make killing my friends a policy," Shindou answered, "no matter how badly I want to win this tournament."

"Thanks," Arashi said, turning towards Shindou, "but that blow still took a lot out of me. I'm not sure if it's best to continue fighting."

"This isn't the Arashi I remember. You always were the one telling me to never give up until all possibilities are exhausted." Shindou replied.

"That's very true, but you always told me to know my own limits," Arashi retorted. "Then again, I'd hate to lose this competition by a surrender. Let's make a deal, Shindou: put everything you've got into this next blow. This final strike will decide the winner."

"Fine with me; your strike to my skull didn't exactly leave me feeling keen, either."

The two men narrowed their eyes, staring for a mere second which felt like an eternity to the enraptured audience. Shindou pulled back Denkou-deki, pushing his reiatsu through it and causing a skin of voltage the flow over the cold metal. Arashi raised Iradas with his right hand, freeing his left and pulling it back as if ready to punch. The former partners charged, Shindou thrusting his sword forward as Arashi attempted to force his shield past the blade and slam into Shindou's body. As the two came into close proximity, something unexpected happened: Denkou-deki was blocked by Iradas, but Arashi had conjured a ball of Blue Fire in his left hand which he promptly lobbed at Shindou. With such little distance between them, Shindou was unable to dodge and the kidou hit him full force, searing off some of his clothing and pushing him back. As he was thrown away from Arashi, the 8th Squad member lowered his shield in happiness: that was his mistake, for he only noticed a blast of lightning flying from Denkou-deki's blade at the very last second.

"Your...trump card...Shindou?" Arashi muttered, before collapsing to the ground.

"I rarely use it...it requires...too much...reiatsu," was Shindou's final comment before he too fell face first into the arena floor. Members of the 4th Squad instantly rushed in to provide medical assistance to these two gravely wounded men.

"So who's the winner?" Someone cried from the stands.

"Yeah, who goes onto the finals?" Another shouted.

As more cries of confusion and arguments about the match's outcome erupted through the seating area, Jaice turned to Shindou and smiled. "Either way, Shindou didn't win."

Character Profile: Arashi Shinta

Age: Unknown, though roughly the same age as Shindou (appears 25 in human years)

Height: 180.34cm (5 feet 11 inches)

Affiliation: Member of the 8th Squad, former Member of the 7th Squad

Rank: 4th Seat

Hobbies: Meditating, cooking, tailoring, training

Zanpakuto: Iradas

Shikai: Iradas takes the form of a fairly large shield that, when lifted to the right height, can cover most of Arashi's chest. The shield can split into two halves for blocking attacks from different directions or to serve as two separate battering weapons. Iradas also dissipates the strength and abilities of weapons that it blocks or that strike it, meaning that it is harder to pierce or break than a standard shield. Thus, Iradas is a powerful defensive tool that can also act as a useful offensive weapon in certain situations.