HIDDENJUDGES02-D: THE PURE BEAUTY OF A FADED DREAM [C]

For some reason, it seemed as though Moyume's skill with hand-to-hand reflected Sano's. He wasn't quite sure if that was a normal trait of shinigami spirits or if it was some illusion of hers to keep him going, but fared pretty well in their previous conflicts. Yet the stronger he grew, the harder she was to deal with. It almost made him wonder if fighting her head on was the mistake in the first place, though he couldn't resist the challenge.

The two made their kata, or bowing gesture, and began their dance towards each other. Sano would go in with the hope of drawing first blood, his forearms cycling around each other before his chest in order to get a feeling of rhythm going while also throwing his opponent off from knowing where his first palm strike would come from. Of course, it would certainly work better on someone who wasn't a reflection of his inner self.

"Left...," muttered Moyume in monotonic indifference. Sano arched a brow, as his left arm had begun to move as she spoke. It was as if she expected it, though he knew for sure he actually preferred to attack from random locations. As his hand came down with intent for a paw-strike, Moyume's right hand gracefully moved up to knock away his offending arm. Sano attempted to recover by swinging his arms to block what he had assumed would be a counter palm strike given Moyume's style of parry.

But it was a failed guess. The limb to come at Sano was her right leg, and he would adjust to circling his arms around just to barely push away the incoming foot. The rotation of his arms would continue to arc upwards as he pushed aside the incoming palm strike he had expected before the kick. Moyume's arm wouldn't completely retreat, and she clenched a fist to strike back down with her forearm. Sano went from cycling his arms to folding them in front of each other, hoping to use her momentum against her.

However, Moyume's hand would come down hard and knock his apart, then her right leg shot up once more. Perhaps she expected the pause to take away his ability to block, but his hands still moved in time to catch her knee. It was then that the biggest change of pace occurred, as Moyume turned around and kicked back with her right leg, dealing a half-horse kick to Sano's mid-section and sending him back a couple feet.

Moyume immediately turned around and assumed her defensive stance once more, fairly certain that Sano wouldn't take long to recover. Sano responded with nothing more than a slight smirk as he rarely found an opponent so entertaining to spar with that could read him so well. He moved in once more, going for a swiping attack to her face, only for her to lean back to evade while raising her right forearm and bracing her left hand to catch whatever subsequent assault Sano had planned to come at her with.

Another reach would prove even more futile, as he would over extend with his fist and Moyume would take advantage to catch the fist out with her right forearm. Her left hand followed, sweeping the arm to the side with such force as to pivot Sano's upper body in that same direction, effectively screwing up his flow and leaving him vulnerable to a counter, which came in the form of her right leg sweeping down for a low kick to the back of Sano's knee.

This quite literally brought Sano to his knees, making it seem as though he were bowing in a sense, but would only last as long as it took for Moyume's right leg to sweep into a full knee raise and strike a second time. This time, the swift kick was at the side of Sano's head, forcing him to attempt an immediate recovery else he suffer more damage in that area. Of course, Moyume would continue the onslaught with a third kick.

Sano seemed to have come to his senses, as he managed to cancel her kick with the downward push of both his hands. Moyume's body, seemingly as nimble as his, used the momentum to bring forth her upper body. One strike from the right hand moved Sano's own defending arms away as the left palm came down upon the intersection of his neck and shoulder, staggering him in place for a bit.

As her hands came down to stagger him further so that she might go for the knockout, Sano's own hands would intercept almost perfectly. Instead of admiration, his opponent would meet his reaction with another low kick to his leg. This time it would strike his shin, and the pain would force him to retreat backwards. He would, however, still attempt to recover and retaliate by dropping low onto his two palms and attempting to kick out at Moyume's head.

Moyume wouldn't even take advantage of the awful positioning by grabbing the leg or throwing Sano off balance with it. Instead, she nimbly ducked under it and then rose once more. This cycle allowed her to recover much better than Sano had, leaving him open for attack and her prepared for an attack. Her hand came down like lightning from the sky, and the impact upon Sano's chest was something that he couldn't easily absorb.

His body dropped like a fly, his back touching the ground as his legs forked in the air. It was a kind of recovery technique, utilizing balance and momentum to swing both legs downward so that he could swiftly bring himself back into a standing position. However, Moyume's body had already shifted its weight to one leg while the other arched around for another kick. Before Sano's body could even fully stand up, lightning would strike a second time in the same spot and he would find himself on his back once again.

It was then that he was truly opened up, crawling back frantically to escape a second kick before rising as fast as he could only to have to parry more fist strikes. He would retaliate with attempted strikes of his own, not wanting the pace of the dance to be further set by his opponent. However, Moyume would parry the strikes just as effortlessly, leading up to Sano pulling a bit of a surprise move with a rising jump that transitioned into a shin to the side of Moyume's head.


Moyume just barely managed to lift her arm in time to stop the kick from dealing its full intended damage, but she would reach the ground faster than Sano did. She had immediately crouched down, placing both palms on the floor as she swept her leg under the landing shinigami. This act stole away Sano's balance and caused him to fall into her advantage, giving her the opening for a kick to the face that would send Sano rolling.

"How embarrassing...," he thought to himself before finally pushing his body out of its tumble and into a standing position. He wiped away blood from his nose, as the kick to the face was certainly no love tap. His eyes narrowed a bit before he sighed, turning to look to Moyume. She, on the other hand, seemed quite displeased. Sano's eyes widened a bit in surprise, as he had never actually seen her upset.

As determined as he sounded, Sano allowed himself a short nap while the two departed. He was not lying, he could still go on for quite sometime, however he also was not insane. Every bit of rest he could get mattered, and he knew it would be around a half-an-hour before his subordinates returned. As such, he found no harm in a quick powernap. Curling a up against a wall while holding his blade close, he proceeded to dose off.

"Sir--!!" came the voices of his subbordinates, the initial two who he had begun the day with. His eyes would swiftly open, though he didn't seem panicked by the abrupt awakening. More results of his training, though none actually bothered to ask about it. He gave them a nod before standing to his feet and stretching a bit.

"Alright. Have others been told of my intentions?"

"Y-Yes! More have lined up to assist in the completion. Our only concern is your sta--," responded the soldier before finding himself interrupted by another wave of the hand.

"I am Ishikawa Sano, the Godhand, the Kanritai Gundanchō. I will continue as long as I need to master this." As confident as his words seemed, there was a bit of a lie that he had not told his men. While they were aware that he planned to take three days, he neglected to mention that spending anymore time than that was actually deadly. He didn't feel the need to mention it, really. It wasn't hubris that motivated his decision, either. It was an intuition, something that told him he probably wouldn't be able to subdue Moyume until he was on the verge of breaking.

The two men complied and returned to their posts, channeling their spiritual energy into the mannequin as Sano stabbed it with his zanpakutō once more. Moyume's visage would return, as would the mist that filled the room before. The asauchi that had been left in the doll would vanish, reappearing in both Sano and Moyume's hand. This caused him to arch a brow, as the spirit came charging at him and the two crossed swords. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but he actually found himself overwhelmed. For some reason, he felt it was more than just is lack of expertise in the field of zanjutsu.

The strikes came harder and harder, as Moyume seemed like a mad butcher with the blade. If anything, Sano felt as though she were actually mad at him. Enraged, even. Her strikes seemed to carry a fury that he could not block without feeling the weight of, and he couldn't counterattack after bearing such a weight. He found himself continuously pushed back until she finally dispatched him to the ground. Sano's eyes widened in what he could only cal fear as the avatar came in for an additional strike. His response was to drop his blade and resort to what he knew he was more capable of: hakuda.

His specialty was disarming his foes, and he was confident that Moyume would be no different. As her sword came crashing down, his hands would burn white as they clasped on the blade from either side, the shinigami smirking at what seemed to be his theory having been proven correct. It took him but a moment to realize that Moyume had actually stopped trying. He attempted to push back the blade and found himself unable to do it. In fact, almost suddenly to him, the blade began inching rapidly towards his face, just barely knicking a cut into the bridge of his nose before dissipating.

His fear was confirmed. She hadn't just overwhelmed him with zanjutsu. It was raw strength. This same strength allowed her to bypass his godhand, and the worst part was the only thing that kept him from being bifurcated was the fact that she held back. Sano's eyes widened in realization an soon fury began to set in. Every single time they had fought, he held the upper hand. In fact, he was convinced that the only reason she defeated him those countless times before were because he eventually fell victim to fatigue.

But this sent a completely different message. If she was easily capable of overpowering him now, then she was capable of doing it all along. His widened eyes soon narrowed, closing their view on the horrendous eyes of the being. As his eyes narrowed on the black inspirations of fear, he found himself still capable of movement. Was it his fury? Could he fear her through his anger? It would have made sense if he bothered thinking about it. At the very moment, however, he was only concerned with vengeance for his tarnished pride.

"How long--!?" he cried, his body burning with the same aura that his hands were. His Mugenkoutai consumed his form and caused a radiance than many would regard as divine, albeit his display of shear anger. With amplified speed his body would close the gap between himself and his zanpakutō's spirit, drawing back for a punch only to be met with what he interpreted as indignation. Was she still looking down on him to the point that she viewed his attempts as nothing more than a nuisance? His eyes burned as his hand clasped around her throat.

"How long!?!?" he roared, this time following his words with a punch to the spirit's face. Several more followed as tears began to descend from the shinigami's eyes, illuminating his true feelings. Feelings of heartbreak, that the one entity that was supposed to be closest to him had lied to him from the start. Soon realization hit of what he was doing, and he ceased the mindless firing of punches to the beautiful face of a spirit he had no intent of harming. Who was he kidding? How could he be mad at her for not taking him seriously when he never came at her with the intent to kill.

"How long? Since you've been lying to yourself? For quite some time, Sano." Her face raised from being slumped back, seemingly unscathed as she peered into the windows of Sano's soul. His reaction wasn't the normal terror one experienced in such an encounter, but sadness. Was that it? Was he still too weak to even hope to achieve bankai? His grip on her throat slacked, and his entire body grew limp.