everyone has their demons 01 | [shi'kuyo]

Target captured. Seishiro didn't look none the worried that he'd been caught. Surely he figured his mentor put him through worse. If he remained calm minded he was likely working on a counter. A slight flare in his reiatsu made true a technique that in turn would make true of all Sei's tricks⁶.

Once activated, he could see it, the million shield defense his -senpai had in waiting. It was a pleasing feeling to know they would be gaining such a competent user of the arts who could will such spells. It was even more of a pleasing feeling to know he had spotted such a spell. It's energy hung in the air, incredibly compressed and waiting to be ruptured.

He tried a new approach to counter what he now knew. Stepping from behind curving light he reveled himself, already face to face with his peer. With his free right hand he grabbed at the chains holding Sei in place and with his free hand he fired a thick bolt of blue lightning⁷ at the hidden shield. The moment it activated to protect Sei from the beam it was spent and couldn't protect him the gut punch Shi' laid into him, the binding kidō pulled themselves to the side to provide a place for his fist.

He learned how to take a punch in the academy, nobody could take a beating like him. His century following graduation in the onmitsukidō taught him much more. The very first of which was how to throw a punch. The fact was that Shi'Kuyo mastered hand to hand combat long before he did the same of kidō studies. There were a few captains who could fight on par with him in hakuda and only one who could definitely kick his ass in a hand to hand fight and it wasn't the Captain Commander. Shi' followed up on the gut-check by drawing his head back and plowing the top of it into the redhead's nose. Of course headbutting was taught later. The blaring pain would surely disrupt Sei's train of thought, if not make him lose control in anger, where he could be goaded into depleting his energy faster. The two strikes happened in under three seconds his millions shields were still at work elsewhere.

Pushing the chains down the body tipped over and splashed in the water quickly coming to a face up float. He topped off his onslaught. A yellow blast of thunder⁸ erupted from his fist firing down at the body and the water as Shi'Kuyo levitated upwards. "I didn't want to bring hakuda into this but then again you have been using your zanpakutō. Its probably been a while since you had an opponent with two arms and two legs."

Just when he thought he'd put a dent in Sei's healthbar, gut punch excluded. His craftiness reached heights one would expect from a master demon artist. Itagaki's spit-laced shō assault knocked Shi'Kuyo on the head again and again.

The rapid succession of the lot of them coupled with his senpai's eishohaki meant he was basically punched in the face dozens of times in under a few seconds. In a normal fight one taking such shots would have done some damage definite headache if nothing else. However, Shi's natural resilience to kidō and all the actual punches he'd taken to the face in his life meant the sneaky shō had done nothing but give him a slight headache.

It was actually a good move, though his follow up was better.

Splashing into the water he went about his counter and soon after the Toko' let loose the thunder cannon was it used as a mere piece of returned fire against him.

"We never actually fought all out because of our differences in power and skill back then, or so I always thought him to be holding back." The water erupted with air-enforced force, haien bathing in the water. "He wasn't this good back then, no matter how much he might have been holding back." The wave took him underwater and for a moment he felt embarrassed, frustrated even. Then he remembered this test was his idea, what he wanted.

Even through the waters haien clung to his form, eating away at his robes but unable to consume his skin nor hair for now. As he came to surface on the water he noticed Sei's posturing and then the ship that caused it. It did him proud to see one of his own still so diligent to protect moral lives, though it was just as likely he was using this time to ready his next assault.

Any alarms or wails the ship made fell on deaf ears. Dropping to a meditative pose Shi'Kuyo sat, the flames of haien dancing about his frame. He made no further efforts to conceal himself. He only watched and waited not a grin but a soft smile on his face.

"Has your time elsewhere made you hungry for the life of a wanderer Seishiro? If you come home, what guarantee do I have that you'll be back for the long haul." It was strange question to ask while on fire. A barrier⁹ slipped around him slowly but not before he was able to take in a deep breath.

The barrier Shi'Kuyo cast as the ship crossed their path held a limited amount of oxygen. So potent were the flames of haien that it could fully function under the sea when spawned from a master. However no true flame could survive without oxygen. On his person the purple flames raged and raged until they consumed all the oxygen in the barrier, eventually snuffing itself out under its own greed. Such was the nature of both fire and rage.

Seishiro's answer was nothing short of acceptable though the question wasn't really part of the test, just casual conversation during a casual bout between kidō practitioners of an uncasual caliber. "Ah my number two." He wondered if this was Itagaki's way of asking for the position, if so it wasn't very subtle. "You remember my brother Souta, he joined the corps before I did." "His knowledge and skill in the arts fall short of your own but he brings unique qualities to the table." A genius of cognition and a lightning rod of empathy there were no shinigami quite like the younger Tokomaru. "Not sure how long he'll be able to work under me though. He's putting his best foot forward on the matter but if you remember him at all you'll remember how touchy he can be about being compared to myself and our father." True enough his little brother had given him word that he was behind Shi'Kuyo one hundred percent and would continue to be during his tenure as Commander Shi hoped Souta would live up to those words.

Like always, Shi'Kuyo would forgive him if he didn't.

With the ship and the flames gone he stood once more ready to continue. But instead of attacking he waited, his hands at his sides. In truth he had seem all he needed to; Seishiro was indeed fit for duty in his opinion. The only thing keeping him was calling it was the mere inkling that in the face of exhaustion Itagaki's eye might act as a catalyst for... something. After all, Seishiro wasn't quite a shinigami anymore. Or at the least, he wasn't just a shinigami anymore. The scrimage would have to go on for now he had to know for sure and that meant pushing Seishiro to the brink of exhaustion.

Maybe even to the brink of death.

Seishiro was annoyingly fundamentally-inclined.

He used bare bones tactics to amazing results and although clever in his combinations it seemed his time in hueco mundo had blinded him in more than just one eye. Such power and skill he had that Shi'Kuyo of all people was slowly finding the proverbial gloves about to come off.

He didn't want Seishiro dead, that was the problem. He had to go easy and gentle and work his way up depending on how much the former corpsman could handle. The actuality was that he could handle almost all of it. However, while they both showcased their talents it didn't go unnoticed by the commander that their fight was still very much in the realm of masters, if not mere experts.

Seishiro was using his trusted partner-blade to augment his abilities and Shi was holding back. He was reclutant to show Itagaki perfection in motion, as surely his senpai would see and eventually integrate that caliber of performance into his own set.

With the six rods binding his ankles he found difficulty standing, but standing he remained. It wasn't the first time his legs had been bound. Hell it wasn't even in the first thousand times. He was former onmitsukidō; first a spy, then briefly an assassin and then a jailer. Those three sub-duties alone left him tied and bound more times than he cared to remember. Usually it was back at stealth force HQ during training.

The electrified pillars however were a new challenge.

Their lot fell at him and he poised himself to take the brunt of them head-on. He was curious about the damage these meager spells would do when used in tandem from Seishiro's hands. It was valuable intel to be collected.

However as Itagaki, set forth his combined-kidō assault Shi'Kuyo did the same, though no indication of such could be found. At some point of skill demon artists began to understand how to fight using only kidō and that understanding came at the heels of a realization some kidō users never got; 'stop telegraphing your attacks'

The timing was so perfect it was fitting for someone of Shi'Kuyo unique training from the few institutes he'd served in his two-hundred eighty-eight years a soldier. As seishiro watched his mentor's son prepare to take on his tazer-rod symphony, he would see it unfold so clearly.

So clearly he would see it unfold that the chances were slim to none he would suspect what was coming. Like a mad scientist ripping the wings off a bat and sewing them to a rat to creation something new, Shi'Kuyo created two spells. They fully charged due to his lengthy exposition moments prior. He'd only needed to choose which he would use and put them in effect. He stuffed one inside the other and let the combination loose on his former student-teacher.

The sliver of an instant before the rails collided into Shi'Kuyo, Seishiro would likely feel 'something' collided into him. Given the bottom of this coffin formed first there was no place for him to slip underneath this time as invisible lances lashed out all around him, immense in strength and hidden perfectly behind the bended light of kyakko.

As the fight dragged on between the strongest demons left in their order. It needed to conclude and to conclude soon. As fun as their face off was, it was done not for sport but for the safety of their peers. "This is going on too long." As Seishiro tugged at the kidō ties binding him his body went along for the ride.

As Sei's motions hoisted him into the air just to slam him back into the water, he waited until their positioning was vertically aligned. Along the bakudō connecting them formed fire... a fire so massive and all-consuming it melted the energy of the lesser spell as if it were flesh and bone. Such was the power of Ittō Kaso in the hands of a savant of the spirit way.

The embers and fire stretched and executed into a shape; the tip of a katana. The fire was so intense even Shi'Kuyo made sure to get clear once he was no longer bound by his senpai. The blade-tip pyre began to fall with Seishiro in it's crash radius. He would have less than seconds to respond. From his place on the surface he watched Seishiro carefully, ready to advance on him once he was clear of the flames.

^{"The fire was so intense even Shi'Kuyo made sure to get clear once he was no longer bound by his senpai."}

The commander had made an error.

It was as if time flashed forward with him being frozen in place until it came to a stop. When it did, the Ittō Kaso was falling very close to him. The proximity of the heat alone pained his skin and all he could do was step and dive free of it, saltwater entering his wounds. The splash back of the kidō-made flames and the mortal realm saltwater clapping together caused fragmentation of the fiery hadō. The commander's left arm and shoulder were caught by such shrapnel.

Most of the damage was superficial; he maintained motor functions and his bones weren't visible, it was a clean break all in all. Surfacing he took in his surroundings and a senpai that seemed more disappointed than impressed, seemingly he didn't approve of the tactics the commander employed, but that was his own problem to come to terms with.

From the moment kuyo created the hadō his every intention had been to clear himself from the path of his falling flame. Obviously something had gone wrong. He was sure the binds tying him to seishiro had been melted through though the six rods around his ankles still persisted they were not watch caused his mini-blackout. He could feel the slightest of headaches, like an intense vibration in his head. It made his eyes squint and his teeth grind.

It hurt.

It was him again reaching out to the commander, just as tenacious and relentless as as always. Forcing it from his mind he forged on, hoping razor-sharp focus would help him overcome what was throbbing in his head. "There are worse spells than that one. Spells you don't know and would have taken longer to react to." By now they both had their share of wounds and neither of them were at full strength but Shi'Kuyo could plainly see the battle was taking a larger toll on seishiro.

Still, the elder artist persisted and trudged on. Taking the injuries and the weight of the battle in stride. No freak outs, no strange occurrences. The tokomaru was almost satisfied. Swiftly his hand glowed with kidō energy and he delivered a swift chop the binding rods at his ankles and soon after they splintered and fell apart. "Hear me now Itagaki Seishiro. I choose what is called for." His face devolved into a serious frown while saltwater dripped from his clothing, hair and chin.

"However my father ran the corps when you were there... my Kidōshū will be a different story. The central forty-six will not control myself nor my artists or the arts we pursue. That control is my prerogative and my duty. I give them no dominion over the Kidōshū or the demon arts we manage. Thus, they have none. The Onmitsukidō would say otherwise but they thrive on subversion, misdirection and deceit. Never forget their word is only as credible as the strength of the shinigami they send to speak those words."

It was a conversation he never planned on having with seishiro but one that was true in every regard. He accepted his leadership status and the perks and dangers that came with it. He would die for his corps and his command as a proper sōshi should. But in return, those old shut-ins would have no say in his affairs. He wasn't going to overthrow the soul society or kill any of them as far as he knew so their regulations of his beloved arts were misplaced. His facial expressions hardened, but only a little. He spat into the ocean to clear the saltwater taste from his lips. "From now on... I say what is forbidden, and what is not."