Part 1

Akira stared at her suspiciously, but Sinthia just shrugged and looked around. The area was deserted, now, and they hadn't even got back to their squad headquarters. Akira still had a hard expression as he looked over Atsūmi time and time again, only to lose concentration to Sinthia speaking.

"Well, this seems fun and all, but don't ya think we should get goin' now?" she asked, and the captain sighed. He still wanted to nap, but this was a good point. He turned away and started walking away, Sinthia following. With a stifled yawn he pulls out another flask of sake and starts do drink from it, slightly waking up from it.

Sinthia scowled slightly, but nonetheless she kept quiet.

Natsuki felt immense disappointment when she found out there wasn't anything exciting going on. She sighed and let her thin shoulders slump as she followed behind Sinthia and the squad leader. She still didn't understand why, just a few moments ago, she woke up. Or fell asleep out of nowhere for that matter. Since nobody mentioned it, though, she decided not to bring it up.

She breathed in deeply a few times as to shake the weird feelings away. Energy seemed to flow back into her, from head to toe; her inner flame rekindled. A small smile appeared on her face. She spies Akira drinking sake from a flask.

"H-how... nonono. Why do you drink that stuff so religiously, taichou?" She said quickly, sticking her tongue out in disgust. As soon as she said it, though, she didn't care. It was a dumb question. She already knew the answer. Thus, her mind was already onto the next thing.

Atsūmi stood there for a bit lost in thought. What exactly happened? "Meh. Who cares" she mumbled herself before slowly catching up to everyone else.

Once Atsūmi caught up she noticed the captain looking at her oddly. "Why is he lookin at me like that? Wait why are we still following him anyways?" Why were they still following him? It wasn't like he said that they were in the squad yet. She pulled Natsuik and Sinthia closer with 2 separate headlocks. She ulled them in with too much force causing both of their heads to hit hers with a loud clunk. Not bothered by this Atsūmi began to talk. "Hey, why are we still followin him? Also what do you think that spiritual pressure was? Was kinda spooky if you ask me."

Akira continued as though he hadn't heard anything they said, and it was kind of true. He was dazed from the moment before, and his eyes were glazed from being sleepy. Sinthia knew, without a doubt, that he would probably have said something if they weren't in the squad, but she didn't think that her 'friends' thought this true. Suddenly, she feels herself being pulled into a headlock, and within seconds she lashes out and grabs her arm with her left hand, pulling with immense force. She then wraps her right arm around her waist, due to her height, and twists as she lift her left leg, bending her knee, into a position so that it is placed behind Atsūmi. With a slight difficulty she manages to pull herself out of the headlock and finish her movement. She kicked her left leg down onto the back of Atsūmi's knee before realizing she wasn't in any threat, and instead of finishing as she would normally, she finished by pushing her with her right arm forward and letting go with her left, giving Atsūmi a chance to catch herself from falling. Sinthia then turned on the spot with slight embarrassment, slight anger, and a bit of satisfaction.

"Don't do that to me. I am very jumpy." she said lightly, as though she wanted to mumble it. Akira broke from his trance at this point and looked around.

Just as Natsuki was about to contribute to Atsumi's thought, Sinthia had her almost on the ground. Her head tilted to the side as she eyed Sinthia with an annoyed, confused look.

"Jeeze..." Natsuki breathed, her eyebrows furrowed. She glanced up at Akira to see if he had seen what just happened.

"Don't do that to me. I am very jumpy."

"You don't say." Natsuki said with a grin. "If only you could act jumpy during our duels. You might win, then~"

"Don't do that to me. I am very jumpy."

Even though the whole series of events was very sudden Atsumi wasn't shaken in the least. Her hand started moving towards Sinthia's sides as if she hadn't heard what she said. While trying to divert Sinthia's attention Atsumi began rambling. "You know, there is this thing called dancing and as of right now it looks like we're doin it. Also you seem to be a bit more than jumpy. Most people wouldn't try to knock someone to the ground when they feel an ever so familiar arm aroud them. It's like you don't trust me or something because of my hobbies an--" she stopped talking as her hand touched Sinthia's side.

She locked eyes with Sinthia. Tension was high and all was quiet. "I need to break the tension before i lose this fucked up staring contest" Atsumi said to herself. Before she could think of anything her mouth spoke without her minds consent.

"Kinda squishy"

Akira had paused to watch what was unfolding, his hand on a smaller flask of sake rather tightly. He waited to see if any of them would get out-of-hand, but Sinthia seemed to know her bounds and stopped almost as quickly as she begun. She looked over to Natsuki when she said her little comment, and kind of gave a glare, and then as she turned to give Atsūmi attention, she felt a hand at her side. The surprise hit her hard enough to put a look of shock on her face, and quickly it changed to a half excited, half impressed grin. She lowered her hand and put it to Atsūmi's, lightly giving it a push. That was something she didn't expect: Atsūmi was rather skilled in handling a situation, and might be just as skilled when it comes to hand-to-hand combat.

"I hope you one day take me up on that notion of a dance." she said with a lightly delighted voice. Then, as though nothing ever happened, she turned her gaze back to the quiet captain. He smiled toward her before yawning, and finally deciding to voice the situation.

"So, you four want to join my squad? I rather have to say that you had already joined my squad when you sat with me," the other shinigami smiled and congratulated himself under his breath, "but what I just witnessed was rather interesting. Atsūmi, Sinthia, I want both of you to follow me when we get to the squad headquarters, okay?" and with that he looked at them, the question seeming more like an answer for them as Sinthia opened her mouth, but then closed it again. He then gave a soft smile as he held out his hand to Sinthia.

"Seeing as the headquarters is far away, I will escort you all myself with Shunpo. Sinthia, you will be on my back seeing as you're the smallest. The rest of you I will carry." he said, and before Sinthia could object she found herself flung onto his back, the speed in which he moved too fast for her eye to follow; in fact, it was probably too fast for any of them to follow. Before the other three would figure out what happened, they would all be at the headquarters. To them, it'd look as though they had just teleported. Sinthia looked around before being let go, and landed lightly on her feet. Akira turned and walked away, his eyes droopy.

"Atsūmi, Sinthia, don't forget to follow." Sinthia, with a slight bit of annoyance, followed him. She didn't like how helpless she was in that situation, not at all.

Upon seeing Atsumi and Sinthia "dancing," she raised a brow. The thing she found stranger was Sinthia's reaction, which made her laugh a little. She heard her say something, but Natsuki hadn't made out any words and didn't really care in the first place and had already looked back at the captain, who she noticed had stopped and was also watching. The words he said next brought her uncontrollable happiness.

"So, you four want to join my squad? I rather have to say that you had already joined my squad when you sat with me." Natsuki smiled brightly and raised a fist to the sky in victory, her legs marching her in circles. He then went on to say something about Atsumi and Sinthia following him when they get to...

HEADQUARTERSHEADQUARTERSHEADQUARTERS! Natsuki stopped her marching and placed her fists under her chin, her body almost shaking in anticipation. It's time, it's time! What will it look like? Who'll I meet? Is it gonna be fun? Enjoyable? Will I make something of myself?

"The rest of you I will carry." Suddenly she was thrown over Akira's shoulder. She let out a little screech of surprise and poof.

As Natsuki witnessed the change in her environment, her jaw dropped and her eyes grew extremely wide. She was instantly back on the ground and she took a couple steps forward. "That was so cooooooooooool!" She glanced around, taking in the beauty of headquarters. It looked clean and fancy and oh boy so pretty. She clapped her hands together and smiled wide, an excited squeal the only sound coming from her mouth.

That is, until she heard voices, turned around, and saw Akira leading Atsumi and Sinthia away. She sighed. What had she missed? Did she not do something right? Did it have something to do with passing out? She hadn't meant to. She couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat. She shrugged to herself and glanced around again, deciding to find something to do.

She had only pouted for just a moment before a group of people caught her attention. Everything was forgotten and--after grabbing the arm of the random guy who had also joined the squad--she was running to them, her eyes burning with overfriendliness. "Hi~!"

"I hope you one day take me up on that notion of a dance."

Dance? I don't even know how to dance. Also what the hell was that reaction I was expecting a broken arm at least... ahhhh I"m disappointed it would have gotten me out of chores for a little bit at least.  

While in this train of thought she missed the dialogue between thee other people around her. This made the action of the captain picking her up a bit of a surprise. To Atsumi it was just a random arm coiling around her waste and carrying her like a sack of rice. This worried her a little, but with the sudden change of scenery she did have much time to worry. The arm loosened and he fell onto the ground. "ow..." she said with a grunt following it.

Atsūmi, Sinthia, don't forget to follow.

Curious as to what was going on she got up and followed the captain. Sinthia was in front of her. She almost went to talk to Sinthia while they walked but she seemed a bit pissy. With her first option going down the drain she turned to talk to Natsuki, only she wasn't even there. She looked back at Natsuki and felt kind of bad. She watched her as they walked away worried. However, Natsuki was Natsuki and she quickly clung to a guys arm and started talking to him. It was with this that Atsumi let out a deep and kinda tired yawn before paying attention to what was ahead of her.

Oh shit that's right he only said our names. What does he only want with the two of us? Does he only wana share a drink? Her wishful thinking made her happy. As she continued it quickly took a different route. Oh no he'll probably get drunk and try to take advantage of us! I always knew these captains were trouble. They never let you do anything fun but when it is fun it's only them who get to have it. She became pissed off as well and knew she had to stop thinking about that.

What should I call him? Captain won't do forever. Aki? Ki-chan? Sleepy eyes? Grass head? Fuck it i'll try all of em.

Akira kept quiet as they made their way to whatever destination it was they were going. Sinthia, not wanting to make much of a mess of the situation, decided that it was, for once, in her best interest to stay quiet too. As they walked through the headquarters, she noticed that there were no doors at all, except for places where privacy was a must, and that people were conversing constantly. Akira then stopped at a door that looked to rarely be opened. He held his hand up, and without touching it it opened to reveal a dark, somewhat dusty room. He then turned to the other two.

"The training of you two pupils will be observed by me. It will be very dangerous, so I don't just expect you to behave, I demand it. Understood?" His tone was stern, and Sinthia did not feel that it was best to argue. Before they could make a response, however, he acted.

"Time is naught to a mind that is slurred, awoken and asleep; time shall drink itself to the ends of heaven, where it's known never to meet. Freeze and flow, Jōzō Jiten no Sake Nagareru." he said, and then sat down and snapped his fingers, the other two being pulled into the room and the door closing behind them. Sinthia fell to the ground, and then found that she was unable to move. What was this? If she could look up, she would, but it wasn't physically possible.

If she could, she would see his eyes closed. His sake flasks were glowing brightly, and suddenly they all unscrewed and the liquid swirled out, emptying the flasks. He held out his hand, and there was a loud sound of something flying through the headquarters. The door opened rather suddenly, and a katana flew into the extended hand. As though the liquid was attracted to the katana, it surrounded it and compressed, before stopping completely. It then expanded to cover a larger area, still hiding his zanpakuto. He then held his head back, and the alcohol siphoned itself from the sword and into his throat. His zanpakuto, now revealed, seemed to be two blade tonfa, and with a smile he took one in each hand and spun them so that the blade pointed backward. It was long enough for the blade to reach a couple of inches behind his elbow, while the end of it was about four inches past his hand. Sinthia suddenly felt the ability to move come back to her, and when she saw the zanpakuto her eyes narrowed.

THIS will get interesting. She turned to Atsūmi in hopes of knowing what she thought.

Meanwhile, as Natsuki started to converse with some of the other Shinigami, a rather grumbled, deep voice sounded a bit behind her.

"You're a new recruit, am I correct?" it asked, the man behind the voice tall and wide. He was wearing a thick grey cloak instead of shinigami clothing, and his lower face was hidden behind a scarf. A sort of cold emanated from him as he walked toward her, and a couple of other shinigami were in tow. "I am your lieutenant, follow me. We are to have a mandatory analysis of your skills." he said to her, his dark blue eyes focusing on her own. Upon closer examination, every inch of his body, except his forehead, which was hidden behind blond bangs, and his eyes, was covered in thick grey or black clothing.

Natsuki had already made some acquaintances of whom all seemed to like her, though she knew they were intimidated and/or annoyed by the look in their eyes. One of the women had just cracked an especially funny joke that had caused her to double over when she heard the deep voice sound behind her.

"You're a new recruit, am I correct?"

She straightened up almost instantly and spun around, a chill running down her spine as an intangible cold touched her skin. She didn't like the cold (long story). She sized up the man, intimidated for once. She willed herself to not let it show in her body-language, but the smile did fall from her face. She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could he was already talking. "I am your lieutenant, follow me. We are to have a mandatory analysis of your skills."

Lieutenant. Lieutenant what? Eh, no matter. Her fists clenched at her sides and she met his eyes with a confident gaze. They were the most colorful thing about him. She felt the tension fall from her shoulders and she smiled, tilting her head to the side. Her golden eyes were ablaze with excitement. She had been waiting a long, long time to show off her skills and now was her time to shine. "Alright, heichooou. I'm right behind you!"

Atsumi followed the captain and Sinthia into the dusty room. She sneezed when she sat down waiting for the captain to speak. Only when he did speak she hated every bit of it cause she knew what was going to happen.

"Time is naught to a mind that is slurred, awoken and asleep; time shall drink itself to the ends of heaven, where it's known never to meet. Freeze and flow, Jōzō Jiten no Sake Nagareru."

Watching the release of his zanpakuto made her jealous. He gets to drink all of that on his release?Maybe if I would have had more to drink this would be easier. Already having a feeling on where this was going Atsumi drew out her zanpakuto. she held it backwards, somewhat emulating a tonfa, while bending her knees slightly and spreading her legs to form obtuse angles. She then crossed her arms with her arm that was holding her blade in front of her while her other hand shifted to a flat state with her fingers half extended then folded inwards.

"You know, I think i'd prefer it if you fell asleep soon so that I don't have to move too much. Also I don't think I look good with bruises" she said mockingly.

The captain looked forward, and gave a slight hiccup. He struggled to stay on his feet, and then leaned forward. Suddenly he burst into a run straight at Sinthia. He swung directly at her without waiting for her to draw her zanpakuto, the swing more of a limp arm flinging her way, and she drew her zanpakuto and blocked it. The strength of the hit knocked her zanpakuto away from her as his arm bounced away and toward Atsūmi. The blade, however, missed completely and his hand was stuck in the ground. He shook his head in order to get the drowsiness out, but it didn't work well, and instead he felt nauseous. He then stumbled back to his feet and looked toward the two of them. He stepped forward, tripped, and before Sinthia knew what was happening he rolled forward and leaped out into a spin, his leg sending a powerful kick at Atsūmi while his hand flung toward her. Sinthia raised her sword slowly, and the blades bounced back again, the kick sent for Atsūmi stopping before reaching her and him falling onto his back. Why did he keep stopping whenever his zanpakuto hit?

"Surry." he said with a groan, his zanpakuto lazily, but swiftly, moving in a blocking motion as Sinthia aimed a swing at him. The zanpakuto made a clanging sound and flung over his body, following in tandem so that he was on his stomach. He then pushed himself back up, and he seemed a little less drunk.

However, Natsuki was to be placed into an even harder battle. After having dragged the rest of the recruits off to a dojo, the lieutenant stood in the middle, still nameless, and looked around at the recruits.

"Attack me, all of you." he said, and a couple of them looked shocked, the others invigorated. A few drew their swords, and yet he did not make a move. His eyes were resting on nothing, but the cold around him grew stronger as time passed.

Natsuki stood in one of the corners facing the lieutenant, one of many recruits that made a circle around him. Her heart was beating quickly in her chest, adrenaline pumping through her bloodstream as the seconds counted down to the inevitable battle. Is it gonna be one on one? Sparring or maybe against him? Aaagh, hurry up!

"Attack me, all of you."

She instantly unsheathed her katana, her eyes flickering around the room to see how the other recruits were responding. Only a few had done what she had done. The others looked confused. Could they not follow directions?

Nobody moved. So, she decided she'd make the first initiation.

His black-clad back was to her. She darted forwards, a smirk playing upon her lips. Her feet were nearly silent as they hit the wooden floor. She jumped up and brought her katana back over her head. When she was close enough and high enough in the air, she placed all of her momentum into a downward strike. She aimed directly for his shoulder, which happened to be just below the blade.

It was too easy.

The cold was suddenly off-putting.

There was a strong sense of regret as the sword inched closer to the lieutenant, who seemed very confident in himself.

...please don't hurt...

Atsumi watched calmly as the captain unleashed his assault on Sinthia, and then her counter attack. After the captain got back up it was Atsumi's turn. She rushed in and smashed her zanpakuto against his shikai. She felt a chill up her spine from the vibration sent back through her blade. She saw an incoming attack. She used her free palm to land a powerful strike on his tonfa. The force caused a small bit of dust to clear off of the floor that was underneath the impact area, but his strikes made an entire part of the rooms dust move. The strike moved his tonfa just far enough to cut only her clothes.

With the strike missing Atsumi bent down, extended her leg, and proceeded to turn around. She tripped him. She had her palm out and collected some of the dust which was on the floor. He rose to his feet again and Atsumi striked again. This time she felt caught the feel of how it felt when he blocked. It was almost like a perfect wall. The weaknesses in his stance shifted too often making it impossible to exploit. She moved close while their blades clashed and blew the dust at his face.

Shortly after she pushed herself away and rolled behind Sinthia. Using her sheath, Atsumi placed it on Sinitha's back so that either end was larger than the width of her body. With this prepared she launched two kicks towards either end and launched Sinthia forward while sending Atsumi face first into the wall.

The lieutenant hadn't moved at all, yet the blade stopped three inches from hitting him. He looked over his shoulder at her, and then winked. Within a second the room burst forth and started to attack him, thinking she had actually landed a blow. Within a second the man was in the air, his leg prepped to kick at Natsuki. Before she would be able to react, though, he finished the kick and the force of it knocked it from her hand and start at another Shinigami. The reaction was slow, but the Shinigami was knocked out stone cold from the hilt hitting his forehead. Natsuki's blade then stuck into the ground as the rest of the Shinigami caught up, only to be slowed down by an unseen force. The lieutenant put his back to Natsuki again in order to smack the flat of a sword out of its swing and into another persons, knocking both of them off course. He then bent forward to duck under another swing before spinning back to Natsuki and thrusting his fist toward her stomach with incredible speed, the strength behind it obviously enough to knock her off of her feet if it hit. Without hesitating against miss or hit the man kept moving, and every time a Shinigami got close to hitting him, the blade slowed down and he knocked it away. His movements were quick yet precise, and he seemed to be untouchable. A couple of shinigami were knocked out at the beginning, while others seemed to be demoralized.

"Out of the twelve of you, only three of you are any bit worthy." he said within four seconds of the fight, and suddenly all but three were standing, one of the being Natsuki. One of the three took a step back, but the other raised his hand.

"Hado 4, Byakurai!" he said, and the lieutenant held up his hand, the lightning bouncing off the back of it. He gave chuckle, and then let out a slight gasp as he heard the other one speaking.

"... mote kore o mutsu ni wakatsu! Bakudo 61, Rikujōkōrō!" he said, and then he fell forward limp. The lieutenant was suddenly hit by six rods of light and pinned in place, struggling for two seconds before shattering it with his strength. How did a mere trainee learn to do such a high level Bakudo?! Kid's lucky he didn't die...


Akira laughed in his drunken state, a calm, cheery laugh. However, he stopped just as suddenly as he had started when he noticed Sinthia pushed into a run toward him. She was fast, but not fast enough. He stepped back and fell, dodging the attack barely. She swung again, but he rolled out of the way and push himself onto his feet, facing Sinthia. She turned and swung again, and he lazily raised his hand to block. Both zanpakuto were flung away, and he was sent into a spinning motion on one foot, rather clumsily, and found himself stumbling forward with a powerful, drunken swing at Sinthia. Then, with a hiccup, time seemed to slow. With his free hand he spun the tonfa in it around and aimed it at Atsūmi, the movement would have looked like a flash to her, even though to him it was at a normal speed.

"Jisō dangan." he said, and suddenly energy formed at the tip, and vanished. The energy was gone without trace, and he then pointed, with two second lapses for her dodges, to the three directions she would most likely run, and fired three more bullets, both of them disappearing.

In two seconds, if she hadn't moved, the bullet would suddenly reappear directly in front of her, and it would pierce her stomach. The other three were two seconds paced to her natural speed, so that if she tried to run her legs would, in theory, be pierced. He then turned back to Sinthia, and everything started moving normally again, her blade just barely glancing his punch away as she jumped back. He fell to the ground, turned onto his back, and flipped his Tonfa back the right way. He sighed and pushed himself up, but held himself steady this time.

After wincing from the pain she went to try and get her sheath back. She felt like she would need it if the battle went on further. She stomped on the ground to prepare to run for it. However, when she did this, she did it with too much force causing the floor boards to break underneath her and she fell into the space between the floor and the actual ground. The movement that was to send her towards her sheath caused her trip and slam into the ground, knocking the wind out of her.

"T-Time out..." she wheezed, laying there motionless.

The blade stopped and Natsuki's feet hit the ground heavily. She struggled to stay standing, the change in plans throwing everything off and leaving her stunned. "W-what..."

As soon as he turned and winked, a look of horror crossed her face. Itsgonnahurtitsgonnahurtnoooooo!

The other recruits poured in, swords drawn. She wasn't quick enough to warn them. The lieutenant jumped up and Natsuki let out a silent scream as he aimed a kick at her. Like a flash he kicked her katana from her hand and sent it flying towards another recruit. It hit him square in the forehead and sent him sprawling to the floor.

He was too fast. Faster than her. He had already knocked too other people back and was coming back for a second hit. Move! She was still stunned, slowed, unable to react. She had gotten too confident, too set on a plan, and that would be her downfall. She wouldn't stop trying though. She lunged to the side, seeking the haven that was the floor. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a cry, expecting the worst. She was pleased to only be hit by the smoothed wooden planks. She scrambled away from the lieutenant and towards her lost sword.

"Out of the twelve of you, only three of you are any bit worthy." There were only two others standing. She had reclaimed her sword and was back on her feet, ready to go back into the battle. However, the other recruits began to shoot things at him. She raised a brow and watched to see if that was any more effective.

The first one was useless, but the second actually hit (at the cost of the poor guy falling over). "Woah." She said, letting herself relax. Is he okay? Is that the end?

The lieutenant didn't move at all, and neither did the other kido user. He was waiting, they both were, for the other to strike first. The lieutenant then pulled out his own zanpakuto, and held the blade pointing to the kido user, and he held his open hand, finger pointed, toward Natsuki.

"Hado 4, Byakurai." he said, and an explosive for fired from both his sword and his finger. The kido user raised his sword in hopes of deflecting the attack, but was instead blasted out of the room and crashing through a couple of walls. A second after the kido was fired, the lieutenant shunpo'd behind Natsuki and swung upward so that he'd cut about a centimeter deep, a foot across her back. He then shunpo'd away again, and aimed another kido from the sides so that if she dodged sideways, she'd get hit by that one instead.

"Hado 4, Byakurai." he said again, and another bolt of lightning flew from his finger tips. Suddenly, though, he turned and held his sword defensively to the wall. "Ta-"

Explosion, and he's knocked off of his feet. He flies into the wall and falls to his knees, blood covering a sliver of his face, somebody was mad with him.


Akira looked to Atsūmi again, and he raised his zanpakuto back into a position to fire at her, when suddenly he moved it to a direction not even relative to them.

"Jisō Dangan." he said, the potency of this ability ten times more than usual. He would not condone such behavior from his lieutenant, yet then again, what was he doing now other than ruthlessly fighting his subordinates? He then turned back, on time, to side-step and attack that made him trip over himself, but he hooked his shikai around the blade of Sinthia's zanpakuto, and dragged her down with him. She fell forward onto her face, directly next to him. Quickly, with anger and embarrassment, Sinthia jumped to her feet and punched at the captain. The punch, however, was met with a tonfa, and Sinthia let out a yell as her hand was impaled.

"Jikan Hanten." he said, and suddenly Sinthia's past ten seconds of activity were forced upon her, in reverse, but apparently so were his. He then stopped after having shot at his lieutenant, and dodged the attack, with a bit more ease, from Sinthia. He then spun himself into a roundhouse kick, only to find that he was still a bit drunk and the kick sent him into the air. He landed face-first on the ground, Sinthia's sword hitting his back but doing no damage.

"Good job, now, Jikan Hanten Dangan!" he said, his right Tonfa pointed backwards, but his elbow pointing at her leg. The bullet hits her in the leg and she repeats her last three seconds, along with him, but he reacts by catching the zanpakuto with his blade and firing a shot from his left elbow at Atsūmi.

"Jikan Ketsuron Dangan." he said, the bullet having the ability to stop time on the desired target, which was dead useful in certain situations. Alas, he would freeze once it hit something, and so he turned and grabbed Sinthia, stabbing one of the Tonfa into her stomach.

"Jikan Jokyo." he said at last, and both he and Sinthia were removed from time. This would last twenty seconds. He kicked her away, knowing that all was well on the outside, seeing as they were frozen in one point of time. He raised his hand Tonfa again and aimed at Sinthia, then he turned it around and pointed it at himself.

"Jikan Chinsei Dangan." he said. Sedation. This caused time to slow down for him, meaning he would appear faster. This would only last for a few seconds, so he had to end it quick. He rushed forward, Sinthia's zanpakuto moving slowly to catch up with him, and then knocked it away, along with punching her in the stomach and impaling her with the zanpakuto.

"Suimin no Sake." he continued, and her eyes started to droop in slow motion as he turned and pointed his zanpakuto at Atsūmi, ready to attack.

"Jisō Dangan." he said, but nothing happened. He shook his head, but there was nothing! He was completely sober. Quickly he took out a hidden silver flask and drank from it, giving him a little buzz, but then it was too late, and everything returned to normal. If he hit with his time stop ability, he would be okay, but if it misses she has the advantage.

She lowered her sword, thinking that it was over. The lieutenant getting hit felt like a big accomplishment that meant success for the recruits. Then he drew his zanpakuto and blasted recruit #2 through the wall, the bolt still going at a steady pace in her direction. It wasn't as over as she thought it was.

"H-hey!" She said, lifting her sword into position again, eyes wide. "Stop surprising me!" As she went to run to the side she felt a sharp pain in her back that quickly turned warm and began to throb. Did the jerk just cut me? She let out a cry of pain and fought the urge to drop to the ground. The lieutenant had already fired another bolt of lightning and she had to act fast if she didn't want to... you know...

Her eyes shot around, looking for a way out. She spun around, eyeing the wall for a split second before running up it, kicking off at the top and flying/falling across the room and out of the way of the lightning. It didn't make her back feel that great but anything's better than getting blasted through a wall.

Just as she landed on her side with a thud, she heard a loud explosion and saw the lieutenant fly across the room into a wall and then fall to his knees. With an expression of confusion, she looked towards the origin of the explosion.

Atsumi watched the captain launch an attack at Sinthia. He switched targets and shot at Atsumi. She forced herself back against the wall dodging it, with her other leg also falling in the hole. She had no time to think. She punched the floor boards causing the hole to become big enough for her to just barely fit.

In the space between the floor and the ground, Atsumi knew what she was going to do. I can't believe i'm about to do this... she thought while blushing.

While on all fours she rushed to where the captain last was. With colossal strength, Atsumi kicked a large hole just behind the captain. Using the following momentum she came out on the edge of the whole that was farthest away from the captain. Atsumi jumped and landed on Akira's shoulders with her legs on either side. Before he could even react she rotated once around his neck, grabbing his glasses off of his face and placing the arms of the glasses in her mouth, before rotating around once more but this time putting both hands on the ground flinging him into the ground head first. When she did this his glasses almost fell out of her mouth. Worried that she might break them she didn't pay attention as to how the captain reacted.

After finishing the technique she sat down took the glasses out of her mouth and looked around the room. She saw Sinthia there motionless but still breathing. Atsumi, remembering something from her past, placed the glasses down on the ground next to her and laid one hand out. She counted. 1...2....3!!! she thrust her fist as hard as she could at her hand. This impact broke several bones but she didn't flinch. This was her punishment for failing.

The Lieutenant pushed himself up to his feet, and most of his clothing was removed from the explosion, now only baggy pants and a long-sleeve shirt remaining, the shirt having tears across the left arm and a bit of the chest. He was bleeding from somewhere hidden behind his blonde bangs, which, now, fell to fit with his long hair. The hair, falling well past his shoulders, seemed to fade into a darker, yet more neutral, blue. He coughed a little and stretched before looking back at Natsuki, his face full of surprise. He gave a sharp whistle before stretching again, a few audible cracks heard here and there. With less clothing, he was now a lot more visible, and beneath the tatters was a scar running from his left hand straight up, though where it ended was not visible; occasionally, you would see a flash of it through on of the holes. He was handsome and young, maybe eighteen or nineteen, and had a very light tan. His body was muscular, yet thin, and was defined where visible. He saw his sword lying on the ground about a foot to his left, and he stomped on the hilt. The sword flew up, and he caught it in the air, the blade tilted at an angle as he does so.

"That was a pretty powerful attack the captain hit me with! I dare say, I did not expect his shikai to be released..." he stopped for a second, his voice suddenly trailing off. "I wonder, were there any other recruits." he said, then he shook his head and looked back to her as though everything were normal. He gave a light smile to her, and then it faded away.

"So, it seems you aren't much of a kido user . . . In that case, let's fight this with pure swordsmanship, yes?" his voice sounded smoother, but still had a bit of a grumble to it, and it was still deep. He put another hand on the hilt of his sword and started making slow steps toward her, as though he were getting ready to strike, before stopping completely and watching her without expression.

"You make the first move, little one... But do try to attack a bit faster than last time, we can't stay here all day, now can we?" he said, and he gave a flicker of a smile. Little taunt, nothing too far. Ever since the cloak was removed, the air surrounding him grew to an intense cold.


Akira came out of his stasis a bit jumbled, and before he did anything else he took out a red vial, tipping his head back and emptying it. Suddenly, he let out a groan and fell face forward. The ground rumbled slightly as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. It took a second for him to regain his surroundings, and when he did he got up and was leaning heavily, stumbling as he did so. He looked over to Atsūmi, his vision so blurred that he saw eight of her, but that was pointless to fight with. He opened his mouth to speak, but the only sounds he made were those of a dying cat, maybe. He closed his mouth, his eyes, his mind. He needed to focus, no matter how drunk he was. Reiatsu, that's right. Find the reiatsu. There, she was in front of him.

He lifted his hand and aimed the weapon at her, along with stumbling in his process of standing.

"Jikan Sai Kōchiku Danmaku." he said, rather choppily, but this time he lost nothing, or felt like he lost nothing, to use this ability. Was he that drunk? A wave exploded forward toward her, an almost impossible ability to dodge, impossible if you don't have shunpo. What did it do, though? That's what he kept asking himself, and then he remembered.

It recreates time.

Anybody caught in the pulse would experience time in different intervals, sometimes they would feel as though they were moving slower, others it'll be as if it had stopped for them. Perception. Perception is how it matters.

"Tuh!" he yells out, in an attempt to vocally communicate, but it does nothing. He just rolls his eyes into the back of his head and falls backward, lying on his back. He would be ready for whatever she had whenever it came, which could be a while, seeing as she would experience herself rapidly stop, speed up, slow down, and even reverse. Perception, that's all it was.

Meanwhile, Akira would continue to roll and flop like a fish.

Her golden eyes could not find the source of the explosion and she questioned if she had blacked out for a second and had a weird dream.

Natsuki looked back in the direction of the Lieutenant and she almost instantly felt her face flush of color before her cheeks turned rosy. He was standing again, the clothes that had obscured his features before gone. She let out a quiet gasp and she pushed herself onto her feet, covering her cheeks with her hands. Her back throbbed but the pain was forgotten.

Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodnesshe'sgorgeooouswhatthehellwhyisitsocold

"That was a pretty powerful attack the captain hit me with! I dare say, I did not expect his shikai to be released..." Captain? Shikai? He isn't even in the room...? He said something else as she pondered what he said. The Lieutenant gave a smile afterwards and she suppressed a screech by quickly moving her hands over her mouth.

"So, it seems you aren't much of a kido user . . . In that case, let's fight this with pure swordsmanship, yes?"

"I-uh..." She mumbled, bending down quickly to scoop up her katana. She wasn't sure how well she could fight now that she had such strange feelings. She shook her head as to clear it. Just moments ago she had felt a growing hate for him.

"You make the first move, little one... But do try to attack a bit faster than last time, we can't stay here all day, now can we?" And that's why. She shivered as his aura reached her. She locked eyes with him and readied herself, strength regained.

"Okay, faster!" She said with a grin, bursting towards him at a speed nearly two times as fast as her previous initiation. She pushed her legs to go as quickly as they could, relying on posture for the extra speed. Just before she would have collided with him, she spun to the right, swinging her blade with the movement at his side. Then, she was behind him, blade overhead, ready to return the wound he gave to her.

After breaking her hand Atsumi returned attention to Akira. He was still there motionless. Atsumi sighed and began to lean back supporting herself with her arms, only to fall thanks to her previous actions. She laid there staring at the captain. He moved

Shit.

She wasn't able to get up fast enough to get ready to deffend. However, she didn't need to because he drank something first. She let her guard down.

"Jikan sai kōchiku danmaku."

Atsumi was hit with something...but felt nothing? This isn't going to be good is it. Not wanting to wait she went to move only to feel like everything was grinding to a halt and her body feeling sluggish. Thinking it was just her nerves, she poured usually unnecessary amounts of force into her movement. She still felt sluggish at the start but then things escalated rather quickly...she went faster than she ever went before smashing into the wall.

What the hell is this? He's just laying there and I can't do shit. She made attempt after attempt only to not move at all or be flung across the room. Everything action felt futile. Even so she kept trying, smashing into wall after wall, attacks never hitting their mark. Sometimes she even landed on her broken hand, making her bones scream from their very core.

Tired of the pain and frustration, Atsumi sat down. Of course this didn't happen with ease, but hey if you can't do anything might as well take breather. She put her working hand down and leaned on it to support herself. When she did this she felt the tips of Akira's glasses. Seeing how he seems to be blind as a fucking bat I should take care of these until we're done here. She placed them on her lap, which wasn't fucking easy by the way, and did nothing but sit and wait.

Atsumi was never great at keeping time. It felt like eternities past while still managing to feel like the whole ordeal happened just a second ago. I'm tired of thinking. With this she started to dose off before completely falling asleep in an upright position.

The lieutenant watch as she rushed toward him, analyzing her movements. She was fast, that's for sure, but a head-on attack wasn't always something you aim for. He thought for about a second before coming to the conclusion that not everything is as it seems with her, for instance, she was the first to attack and he had her back to him. He got ready, and the moment she spun off course is when he follow in movements, his sword down and his hand outstretched. As the blade is coming for him, he grabs it and stops it. His eyebrows were raised, but he kept quiet as he jumped back. Not a bad attack, but that one was a bit too noticeable.

He waited again, wondering what her next move would be.


"Th' 'nts guh mu'in' uh buh uh oorah, oorah. Th' 'nts guh mu'in' uh buh uh oorah, oorah! Th' 'nts guh mu'in' uh buh uh ah ihyo uh sah oo ah suh uh ah . . . " the captain sung, his hands motioning back and forth as he did so, but they kept bumping into each-other or swing the completely wrong direction. As he did this, it was apparent that he was trying to stand still, because he still kept flopping like a fish, but no matter. He rocked his head back and forth as he thought of what he should do to finish this fight, but then his mind was lost in thoughts of sleeping, or thoughts of flying, or thoughts of dancing like a leprechaun while naked.