Chapter 6: Mind Power
"Well, I guess it's our turn now, Hanako-chan," Kyouraku sighed. Hanako smiled, and the two flash-stepped onto the field.
"Please don't hold back, Kyouraku-taicho," Hanako said, "I can tell that you are someone who can force me into Bankai if you come at me with full power."
"Oh, dear. I'm not sure if I could bring myself to harm a girl like you, Hanako-chan," Kyouraku grinned sheepishly, lifting the edge of his sakkat to peer at his opponent.
"That's very kind of you, Kyouraku-taicho, but I'm afraid you will have to go all out," Hanako smiled again, but this time, the smile didn't seem harmless anymore.
"Well, let's get started, shall we?" Kyouraku drew the two swords that were strapped to his waist.
Hanako unsheathed her katana as well. "Anticipate, Maindorida." The blade changed into its needle form, and Hanako took a battle-ready stance.
Kyouraku looked slightly surprised. "Shikai form already?"
Hanako held up two fingers, looking completely different from the shy Shinigami that she was outside of battle. "I'll tell you two things about me that may help you in this fight. One, I'm not strong physically. Two, I don't know many offensive moves."
"Are you sure you should have told me that?" Kyouraku raised an eyebrow.
Hanako closed her eyes. "I told those two facts to every single opponent I've had to face in the past. Even with those two bits of information, nobody could get close enough to touch me."
"So you want to fight someone who is intelligent enough to figure out how to defeat you based on those two tidbits," Kyouraku guessed.
"Mm-hmm. The best time to try and defeat me is when I'm using Shikai. Unfortunately for my adversary, my Bankai eliminates almost all of my weaknesses."
"Yikes, that really is unfortunate," Kyouraku agreed. They stood there for a few seconds, neither of them moving.
Hanako broke the silence. "Aren't you going to attack, Kyouraku-taicho?"
"I thought I'd let the lady have the first move."
Hanako tilted her head slightly. "Are you sure?" she asked softly, "You may end up dead."
"If you don't mind me saying, Hanako-chan, I never took you as someone who would kill so easily," Kyouraku murmured after a moment's hesitation.
"I don't," Hanako corrected him, "I was just saying that as a possible scenario."
"In that case, I could say the same for you," Kyouraku pointed out, "You might also end up dead if you don't make the first move."
Hanako blinked. "What are you talking about, Kyouraku-taicho? I've already made a move."
Kyouraku's eyes widened for a split second. Quick as a flash, he turned and parried a jab to his head. "When did you make a clone?" he asked in surprise, watching the two Hanakos with great caution.
"When I was bedazzling you with my word games," both Hanakos said at the same time in the exact same tone of voice.
My, oh my. I can't even tell the difference between the real one and the clone. This will be very difficult. Hanako was serious when she said that I would have to go all out, but Shikai is as far as I'll go. I don't intend to release my Bankai in front of all these people.
Hanako frowned. "Why don't you want to use your Bankai?" she asked.
Kyouraku gave a little start. "You can read my mind?"
"Some of your thoughts stick out more than others," Hanako explained, "In Shikai form, I can read those thoughts that stick out."
"Huh? That's not fair," Kyouraku complained.
"Battles aren't fair, Kyouraku-taicho," Hanako said, "But if you need consolation, then I can tell you that it is possible for you to prevent me from reading your mind."
"Really? How?"
"Like I'd tell you that," Hanako scoffed as her clone vanished.
"That's cruel, Hanako-chan."
Not bothering to reply, Hanako ran forward, zanpakuto raised to attack Kyouraku. Kyouraku raised both of his swords as well, ready to parry the attack when she suddenly vanished. Kyouraku paused for a millisecond before turning around to block an attack from behind. That wasn't Shunpo. he thought. When someone uses Shunpo, their reiatsu is always present and undisturbed, but this technique completely erases any traces of reiatsu for a second, and the reiatsu remains disturbed for some time after it reappears. What is it?
"You're right. It's not Shunpo," Hanako agreed, reading some of Kyouraku's thoughts again, "It is a form of teleportation."
"Teleportation, eh? That won't do." Kyouraku pushed Hanako away and took a swipe at her. She teleported again, appearing a few yards away. Kyouraku raised his swords again, making them perpendicular to each other.
"Flower wind rage and flower god roar, heavenly wind rage and heavenly demon sneer," Kyouraku chanted, "Katen Kyokotsu!"
His blades had changed to resembles two scimitars, the one in his right hand slightly shorter than the one in his left.
"Bushōgoma!" he said, swinging Katen Kyokotsu to create a spinning circle of wind that flew towards Hanako. The latter dodged, jumping into the air to avoid the deadly wind.
"Takaoni." Hanako started, turning to see that Kyouraku had flash-stepped behind her with his sword raised, ready to bring it down. Hanako quickly teleported a good distance away, so that Kyouraku ended up slashing empty air.
"You didn't read my thoughts then, did you?" Kyouraku asked lazily.
"I admit I didn't," Hanako replied. Kyouraku peered at her from underneath his sakkat.
"May I ask you a question, sweet, sweet, Hanako-chan?"
Hanako blinked. "What is it?"
"How come you never use your teleportation technique consistently?" Kyouraku questioned, watching Hanako carefully for a reaction.
Hanako's forehead creased slightly. "What do you mean, Kyouraku-taicho?"
"That Bushogoma that I used right after I activated my Shikai. Why didn't you teleport to avoid it like you did with my previous attack? You teleported again to avoid my Takaoni, and I thought it was strange that you didn't teleport away from Bushogoma when you did it for Takaoni and that other attack."
Hanako didn't reply, staring at Kyouraku calculatingly.
"You can't use teleportation consistently, can you? There's a five second time interval after each teleportation when you can't teleport," Kyouraku was pleased to see Hanako look startled, "I'm right, aren't I?"
"…You are," Hanako confessed, "After each teleportation, there is a five-second time interval where my reiatsu settles down before I can teleport again."
Kyouraku grinned.
"Congratulations, Kyouraku-taicho," Hanako continued, "You are the first person to figure out that weakness."
"Why, thank you. That means a lot coming from a pretty girl like you." Even during battle, Kyouraku still found time to flirt.
"Stay away from my sister, you womanizer," Amina grumbled, folding her arms in front of her chest. Ukitake couldn't help but shake his head at his best friend's antics while Saki sat back in her chair, totally uninterested.
Amina grabbed Saki by the shoulders and started shaking her. "Hey, Saki. Don't look so bored! That's your sister Kyouraku is flirting with. Aren't you gonna do something?"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't shake me," Saki muttered.
Meanwhile, the duo in the field had taken their battle to the ground.
"Kageoni." Kyouraku plunged one of his blades into Hanako's shadow, forcing the latter to teleport into the sky to dodge it. Then, he used Shunpo to appear behind her, close enough that she wouldn't be able to use Shunpo to evade his next attack.
"Takaoni!" Kyouraku swung his sword downwards. Hanako was unable to dodge it and was sent crashing into the earth.
"You okay, Hanako-chan?" Kyouraku called, cupping a hand to his mouth.
"You're strong, Kyouraku-taicho," Hanako admitted, slowly rising from where she had hit the ground, "In that case…"
She held Maindorida out in front of her so that the zanpakuto was parallel to the ground. She let go of it, allowing it to float there.
"Bankai….Mangekyou Kineshisu*."
*Kaleidoscope Kinesis