[Private] Morning Fisticuffs [Ika/Kurama]

Today was the first day for Captain Kurama to be back on active duty - After the fly incident he got tied down in paper work and overseeing the reconstruction of the squad 2 barracks, expanding the squad 2 dojo as well as having to explain why what happened, happened. Needless to say, Kurama had got a little too zealous and deserved the forced time off as well as pitching in to help the damage he caused. But none of that mattered now because today he was back and the first order of business? Training of course.

Although in this case since Kurama was currently alone, he had settle on some image training instead. So Kurama sat down in the middle of the dojo, his captain's jacket folded besides himself and his Zanpakuto sheathed and laying across his lap with his eyes closed, relaxing and with his mind focused on various simulations of fights he had in the past, analyzing them and theorizing how different tactics might have effected the outcome. While an overall simple mental exercise it was a good tool for keeping his mind sharp and open to new possibilities as well as being convenient that it's a form of training that anyone can do at essentially any time. It did have one downside however.

"This is seriously boring.." Kurama's voice was decently deep though he spoke with a rather subdued tone of voice. Kurama gathered his things and went to the entrance of the Dojo before lighting up one of his prized smokes - his favorite pass time, a habit from the human world - and began taking slow deep drags.

"Honestly, where is everyone today?" Kurama wondered aloud. The fact is, Kurama is not a man who is used to having pretty much nothing to do. He was either training recruits, on missions or something else of similar importance but with this being his first day back there was nothing on the immediate schedule and the rest of his Squad was out doing what they should be; Their jobs. Granted, he was proud of them for this fact but it didn't change his current predicament.

For now Kurama simply let his mind wander as to ideas to keep himself busy, waiting to see if anything passed him by as far as an idea goes while enjoying the slowly burning smoke.

Oh right, Kurama was back today..

Frankly, the whole business of being CC had been growing rather dull as the months passed on. How Doku managed to do this for thousands of years was something Ika could hardly understand, the idea of living without threat or reason to improve felt almost foreign and yet in the current environment he had little incentive to train beyond the betterment of others. Kurama had been one of Ika's favorite pet projects, his former Vice Captain was now knocking on the door of legends in terms of his combat prowess. He was someone that even Ika had to mind himself around, his only rival in the Gotei was Kokoro and well.. That was saying quite a lot.

Having nothing better to do Ika cast his Haori aside and began pacing towards the dojo known as the squad two barracks. Provided he knew Kurama as well as he believed himself to, he was positive he'd be in there smoking and preparing for a long day of training. It'd been month, potentially an entire year since the two had last thrown hands and frankly, Ika had an itch to scratch and a man to scratch it with.

Upon walking through the door Ika would form a card in his hand and toss it towards the cigarette, slicing it in half as the card itself turned into smoke which would read. "Daddy's home." Provided Ika had gotten the mans attention, he would light up his own cigarette and smirk. "Seems like a slow day, don't suppose you'd have any interest in training with an old friend eh?"

Well Kurama was wanting something to do, although his old captain stopping by wasn't exactly what he was expecting from the universe, although knowing the man's personality it was probably inevitable. Being the man's Vice Captain was an "interesting" lesson in humility needless to say as although Ika's strength was undeniable his social graces were, how shall we say..Quirky. Without missing a beat, before the lit half of his smoke had fallen even a full foot Kurama had already snatched it out of the air, using the lit end to light the now shortened smoke before placing the cut end in his mouth as well, double stacking it.

Turning his attention over to Ika after taking a satisfying drag he would nod ever so slightly in acknowledgement before speaking, his voice slightly hampered by having two smokes in his mouth at once. "Of course Captain Commander. I always have time for friends." Kurama offered a small smile over to Ika before continuing.

"So, how are we doing this? Full-out or like gentlemen? If we go full out, we might want to move someplace more...expendable." Kurama wasn't speaking of just the dojo either, Kurama was thinking of the rank and file Shinigami running around and attending to their normal duties. A full-out clash against Ika and Kurama would likely cause unintended casualties from their spiritual pressures alone, not to mention the physical collateral damage, so moving to some empty outskirts would be a must. Also, Kurama just renovated this place, he wasn't eager to wreck it. Again.

Well, those were certainly fancy feet! (ba dun tsk)

The man caught his smoke and was now sucking on what appeared to be the cigarette equivalent of a double-barrel shotgun. Both ends of the cigarette were now lit and perched firmly in his mouth, and all Ika could do in response was nod in an affirmative motion. "Well, that was quite a show, well done. I do appreciate the formalities but I think those go out the window when I'm dealing with someone who's seen my ass both literally and figuratively speaking."

Ika took another drag off his cigarette, allowing the man to talk for a minute while he took inventory of the area around him. It was renovated recently, that much was obvious but it was well-kept and that was what mattered most to Ika. "Very well, if you have a place then by all means feel free to lead the way."

As the two left the building, Ika would begin to needle Kurama with small questions just to get his mind moving a bit. "So.. how do you like being Captain of the squad now? How're the subordinates taking it? You keeping them in line? And why in the hell did you decide to destroy your office over a fucking fly.. matter of fact since when did we have flies?!"

Kurama indeed had an idea for a decent spot for their spar, the forest in the near by Rukongi had a few open clearings that was decently enough away from anyone to cause any real harm. No doubt their presence would be felt clashing but at least no one would get hurt, aside from Kurama and Ika anyway. Kurama took the lead as he answered the questions one by one.

"I've enjoyed being a Captain, although I find the administrative side of it challenging; You know I prefer to be on the front lines and when I cannot be, even if the logical choice it irks me. But, nothing I can't get over. Subordinates are loyal, most either respect me or are too afraid to say otherwise which answers the latter question, I'm sure. As for the fly.." Kurama's eye visibly twitches remembering that damned demon.

"If I had to guess it caught a ride with one of the Shinigami coming back on patrol and since animals have shown to have souls...my best guess anyway. It found it's way to me...it buzzed around my head incessantly and no matter how hard I tried to slap the damn thing, it escaped. I swear, it was like it was reforming itself. I never knew something from the human world could be so infuriating." Although Kurama's face and eyes were maintaining their normal calm, the vein on the side of his head was pulsing, a sign Ika was sure to know, signaling just how much this thing pissed him off.

"and you know how competitive i get..so I tried crushing it..it failed..i tried slicing it..it failed. Throwing things at it? Failed. It. Was. Mocking. Me. So..I might have lost it a little. I didn't even notice I instinctively released my Zanpakuto. I did an axe kick. Barracks blew up. Fly died. I felt better." Needless to say, Kurama had his own unique quirks as well. By the time he was done with his explanation and at their pace, Kurama and Ika would have arrived in the forest already with the clearing only a short ways to go.

"So, how about you Ika? Managing to avoid starting political brush fires? How's my replacement? I'm guessing he isn't strong yet if you're still coming to me to kill time. Any potential?"

Ika listened slowly but surely, taking in everything the man had to say as they slowly but surely meandered towards a clearing he had gotten to know rather well from their previous spars. It was nostalgic to say the least, but also oddly confronting, times were after-all changing even in spite of the familiarity he felt walking this path again for the first time in several years. "Your subordinates will learn loyalty eventually, but your power isn't what's going to inspire them to follow you. Your unyielding passion and love for everything about this squad, your dedication to your subordinates, that is what will define your tenure here and I do hope you remember that, it's a lesson I wish I had learned a lot sooner than I did. The fly story is uh.. certainly something though, I think you should maybe look into therapy. Call it a suggestion."

Ika's now raised eyebrow would slowly return to it's stationary position, and he would take one more drag on his cigarette before letting it slowly burn up from the end on down. "Oh I'm always starting political brush fires, lord knows my father disowned me in essence roughly ten years into my tenure in this cursed fucking system. The Central 46 is a relic I have sought to replace with every fiber of my being, the squad structuring was grossly outdated and inefficient and there were several Captains who simply weren't worthy of their positions anymore, and as such I had to find young replacements for them. None of this, as you know, comes easy. There were a lot of hurt feelings and passive-aggression from certain parties but on the whole I like what I'm doing. No complaints on that front."

Ika stopped, thinking about his current Vice Captain before pitching in. "Shungi is a relic from my fathers age, he's technically of my generation but he's spent so much time with the old guard that he might as well be one of them. His potential was never anything of note, his status as Vice Captain was primarily defined by his ability to do paperwork and serve as counsel for my father, not really any expert prowess in combat. It's a shame really, Kokoro isn't exactly the sparring type and Demise is a god damned block of muted anger. Frankly, you're still pretty much my only option if I want a real challenge and conversation to go with it."

Ika would sigh, gently placing his fingers across the bridge of his nose. "But enough about that, it isn't what either of us are here for so let's not get caught up in pretense. Hands are in my pockets, start whenever you're ready."

Ika's stance was lazy, his left leg hung back slightly from his right as his hands were held firmly in his pockets. The cigarette that once occupied his lips had finally been reduced to ash, revealing a toothy grin stretching from ear to ear. For the first time in a long time, Ika was going to be allowed to have some fun.

"You know if the leader of Squad 2, the one in charge of so many of our dirty little secrets started going to therapy, how many red flags that would raise? As for the rest of the advice, I know you're right. it's just an odd mindset to get into. That said I believe in my squad, all of them are dedicated and follow orders to the letter. So long as they do that the missions will keep getting completed and the least amount of soldiers will die. I'm happy with that." Kurama removed the two smokes before crushing them into nubs and stuffing them into his pocket. While he was often construed as a cold man, those who knew him would be well aware that while Kurama does value the mission above all else, he'd do just about anything to save the lives of his comrades and keep his friends safe.

Ika's response on his vice captain was about as expected, he still had a ton of work to create his ideal Gotei, a goal of which Kurama supported him fully. Central 46 had a bad habit of causing situations to be worse than they needed to be all in the name of some kind of political game and it was Kurama and his comrades who had to pay that price. So, if Ika wanted to tear it all down and reform it, he wasn't about to stop it from happening, although he wasn't excited to help either. Politics was a bit above his head after all.

Ika, finally growing tired of catching up got into a relaxed fighting stance, asserting it was up to Kurama to make the first move. Kurama began to pull and stretch his arms and legs as he spoke. "Fair enough. Although, one of these days I'll get you to take me slightly more seriously. Let's start off nice and slow shall we? Wouldn't want to pull a muscle." Kurama got up from his stretching, hoping back and forth, just generally getting his blood flowing. Once he felt nice and awake he'd take out a coin from the human world he kept for instances like this, showing it to Ika and giving it a light flick. They've done this so many times explanations shouldn't be needed.

The second the coin touched the ground Kurama would initiate their little game by using Shunpo to close the distance between the two, appearing in front of Ika, slightly to the left of him with his leg already swinging low for his knee caps. Since Ika was set on not using his hands yet, it only made sense to go for the legs - although Kurama knew all to well that it wouldn't be that easy, he'd be disappointed in his mentor otherwise. This was a simply Kurama taking it slow, a friendly hello in sparring form to "kick" things off.

Ika simply nodded along to the rest of what Kurama had said about the state of his squad, knowing that it was almost certainly being handled well. He had left it in good hands after-all, if he didn't believe that it was possible to do so he wouldn't have left in the first place. Once they arrived he watched as the man stretched, goading Ika on a bit as he prepared himself for whatever elaborate plan he might have. Ika liked Kurama but his pre-fight rituals were always so choreographed and calculated, it never suited Ika who would much rather let things occur at a more natural pace, and he was frankly too lazy to stretch as often as he should.

Seemingly heeding Ika's instructions for the first time ever, Kurama dropped the coin and immediately sprung into action, bounding forth with an energy and resolve Ika didn't really intend to match. He jumped into the air, turning towards the man as the leg went underneath of him. His back leg sprung forward, aimed at the jaw of his new-found opponent and provided it hit he would be sent flying backwards pretty far. Ika would double down on this movement, using it to propel himself backwards regardless of whether or not his foot found purchase in the man's jaw, and he'd look onward at his former Vice-Captain with a light smirk. "You know better, come at me like you mean it or next time I won't be as gentle."

Kurama just chilled there for a second, looking up at the sky before wiping a slight trickle of blood from his mouth. Ika was always going on about spontaneity, so Kurama figured he'd give it a try..he wasn't a fan in the end. "Well, so much for trying to take it slow." Kurama spoke softly as he pulled his legs in and jumped to his feet, brushing off the foliage that stuck to him before resting his right hand on the hilt of his Zanpakuto.

"Though I suppose this at the very least was inevitable." Kurama stated rather non-chalantely although he was pretty sure even this wouldn't be enough to too much of a challenge to his Captain - Kurama would probably have to use his final release for that. Even if their strength wasn't unequal, Ika was a bad match up for him.

"Bankai" A large explosion of energy temporarily enveloped Kurama and once it dispersed he was wearing battle armor. The bright yellow armor that sung with electricity covered all the important spots: Knees, elbows, hands, feet. However the hands and feet themselves were special in this form, the fingers having and toes become Zan-like daggers while maintaining their overall flexibility.

Kurama would shunpo over to Ika, just at the very edge of what his current range was and upon arrival instantly discharge a blindingly bright solar flare lightning bolt into the sky, accompanied by the resulting sound of thunder. Following this up by clapping together his hands which were sparking with electrical charges causing a wave of electricity to fly forward for Ika's midsection.

Still, despite what Kurama's hopes were, he was keeping his guard up and not approaching recklessly and with a few tricks up his sleeve - although he wasn't expecting to win, at the very least he wasn't going to lose to his former captain easily.

It seemed as though Kurama had pretty much taken the hint, opting out of sealed hand to hand combat where he didn't really have much of a chance to find his footing, he immediately jumped to Bankai and a small trickle of joy began to form across Ika's face. "Oh?.. You really are going to give me a bit of a challenge today. I guess I'll oblige you with a bit more attention then.."

On cue, Ika would slide two cards down from his sleeves into his hands, they were sharpened along the edges and radiated with flames as a small smirk crossed his face. In this exact moment, his former Vice Captain would pull a Krillin and blind Ika for a moment, prompting him to Shunpo backwards and out, narrowly avoiding the oncoming clap of electricity even though the force of it alone was enough to propel Ika back another several feet, his sandals skidding along the ground for the most part entirely out of his own control. As he began to slide he would throw one of the cards at the mans chest, loading up the other one for whatever counter punch Kurama might make. This was however unnecessary, as unlike previous fights the man didn't lurch forward with reckless abandon looking to be intercepted.

"What a curious new fighting style you've adopted Kurama, hell I may have to enter my Shikai if I want to stay off my backfoot.. guess we'll find out eh? Come at me again!"

As Kurama had expected his former captain had good instincts from who knows how many years of battle experience, although his strike was still closer than he thought it would. Having kept his own guard up, Kurama was more than ready for his Captains' counter attack and the distance he was forced back to gave him the time he needed to react, using shunpo to go past it and arrive at a median point between his former position and Ika. Although simply dodging it was an option, having fought Ika numerous times by now having done so would have simply lead to an explosion in his face more than likely.

Ika began to simultaneously praise and mock Kurama for his new fighting style but Kurama wasn't going to wait around and give his former captain time to breath, he was too strong to take that lightly. Kurama would kick off towards Ika at his full speed however right before he entered Ika's physical striking range Kurama would pull out one of his favorite toys as he began to rapidly Shunpo around Ika.

This particular step was so fast it created three identical clones from the after image, resulting in 4 Kurama and the attack chosen was also one of Kurama's favorite, an axe kick charged with his electricity. The kick upon making contact with something rather that be the ground, Ika's cards blocking it or the ground itself would discharge a lightning bolt with rather explosive results. Kurama knew he was overall slower than Ika but avoiding the melee wasn't an option. So, his best option? Obfuscation combined with area attacks.

To an outsider it would look as if Ika was surrounded on all 4 sides with a kick raining down, covering the top - although the actual attack was coming from Ika's left side. Kurama thought he had come a long way from the old days when he would just rush blindly into a fight only to get smacked around by Ika with little effort - now he had thought behind his movements, a plan behind the attack. Although it was unlikely to close the gap between the two, it should if nothing else provide at least some entertainment for his former Captain and demonstrate his own growth.

Static Charge Level: 1

Abilities Used:

The card didn't work, and Ika was far from surprised at this new development and figured he should probably enter Shikai if he wanted to have much of a shot here. "With a deck of 52 cards I will take your life, Jōkā."

As Ika said this flames erupted around him, he sniped two of the clones off the bat with bala level cards before spinning around to kick the other, he did this just in time to catch his Captain coming down at him with an axe kick that forced him to retreat, the force alone was again enough to send him sliding across the ground and the simple reverberations of the ground and sheer energy of the attack were enough to blow Ika's sleeves clean off, his arms felt scorched down to the hairs and for the first time today, he was genuinely impressed. "That kick is quite impressive, getting hit with that was going to be quite bad for me eh?.. I mean I certainly wasn't going to walk that off if it hit. You're building up more power than you let on Kurama, well done.."

Ika would clap his hands slowly before Shunpoing forward, aiming a Shunpo speed punch at the mans stomach before following it with a knee directly up the pipeline, hoping to send the man flying from a strike to his jaw, or even just to make him crumble. "Let's see how you handle me eh?.."

True to form the one-two combo from Ika was fast, especially Ika's signature shunpo-speed punch. The first hit had Kurama bent over and although he knew the second hit was coming the pain had slowed him down far too much to do anything about it resulting in him eating the knee fully. The impact as one might expect sent Kurama flying although he'd use a mix of air walking and shunpo to regain control of himself and back away from the fight, rubbing his bloodied jaw and sore neck.

"Well..I'll take the Shikai as a small compliment if nothing else." Kurama spoke as he popped an unlit smoke into his mouth, the tip of which spontaneously combusted from being heated by his electrical output. Exhaling a small puff of smoke Kurama would continue. "Hey, Captain. Have I ever actually landed a solid hit on you before? I don't think so. How about we make this into a wager?" Kurama's competitive side was getting fired up after that last hit. He was also just trying to buy a little time for his head to stop spinning, although he did have confidence in his ability to win the proposed wager. He wasn't betting he could beat Ika after all, simply land a single hit. That said Kurama had always been a rather logical fellow, not one to make boisterous claims he had no means to back up, so this entire thing might stand out as odd to Ika. Though rather this was a rare moment of overconfidence or perhaps a scheme, who was to say?

"Loser submits to a single request to the winner. Simple and fun." Kurama knocked the ash from his smoke, returning it to full breathability. Kurama waited in a semi-relaxed posture, though not entirely off guard for Ika to respond. He figured he had a 50/50 chance of Ika just trying to kick his ass for talking or for listening to him so he wasn't about to fully let his guard down.


Static Charge level: 2

Cool Downs:

Ika's eyes watched lazily as his former Vice Captain went flying in the opposite direction, his body tumbling and fumbling in the air before he finally regained control of himself, moving himself backwards to create distance so that the fight could be approached from a new angle, or perhaps he just wanted a break. Ika knew better than to think Kurama was done after one combo, and so he was more than a little curious to see where this was going to go. "The Shikai is a compliment, it's something you never would've been able to drag out of me as a Vice Captain."

Ika stood back, watching as Kurama lit a cigarette, lazily lighting it with electricity as he seemed to be deep in thought for some reason for another. "No, you've never landed a hit on me, nothing solid anyway. Nothing of note, that much is for certain granted.. That's nothing to be ashamed of. Better men than me have tried, and better men than me have failed. The only person left in the Gotei who can claim to have landed an attack on me in the last 500 years is probably.. Kokoro. But as I'm sure you're aware he's a freak, and that's less than avoidable on my part or anyone else's part, why do you ask?"

Ika by this point was brushing himself off, waiting for some kind of response. Apparently, Kurama wanted some kind of wager and this had peaked Ika's interest in a meaningful way. "A wager you say?.. Well, I suppose I could go for that. We should both say what's at stake before any agreement is made, we're not twelve anymore after-all."

Ika's face would curl into a smirk as he looked on at Kurama who was almost certainly considering the situation at hand. "What would you have from me if you were to win, Kurama?"

Kurama had thought for a second, in all honesty he didn't have anything particularly he was wanting for, though I suppose it never hurts to sure up his squad's position a little, granted it wasn't anything he couldn't just ask for but this was a more entertaining way to do it. "I'd like permission to perform intel gathering missions in Hueco Mundo. Things have been calmer than I'm used too, I think something's amiss. Or if that's too standard a request, you can get all my smokes for the next hundred years." Kurama exhaled one last time before dropping the smoke which had been reduced to almost entirely filter to the ground and stomping it out.

Although the request it self was overall unimportant to Kurama, he simply wanted to win the bet and he was hoping his trump card could give him enough of an edge to pull it off. "So, how about you? What would you ask of me?" Kurama was pretty sure it was going to be something more on the humiliating side but who knows..He might surprise Kurama.


Static Charge Level: 3

Cool Downs:

Permission to perform intel gathering was pretty much something the man could've requested by asking nicely, but this did throw a nice wrinkle into things and so Ika was pretty okay with allowing it to continue. "Very well, now as for what I'd ask of you.. hm. That is certainly a more interesting question eh?.. Well, I guess I'll let you figure it out when the time comes. For now, I think I'm ready to kick this up a notch if you are, what do you say Kurama?"

Ika would immediately disintegrate the cigarettes in Kurama's mouth, blowing them up in a puff of smoke before Shunpoing forward with a spinning kick aimed directly at his former Vice-Captains jaw, the aim was simple. Ika was attempting to create sufficient distance and cause a reset, while planting some seeds of doubt in the mans mind. "Now.. let's get this on with. I'm not really feeling chatty at the moment."

From Ika's perspective it would appear his kick hit true, Kurama would seem to take it to the face and fly away as originally intended although it would quickly become apparent that all was not as it appeared. The image that seemed to take the kick would fade away mid flight leaving only Kurama's floating captain's cloak in the air with the real Kurama having moved a few feet behind Ika: This was one of Kurama's trump cards, a counter known as Utsusemi. "Agreed." Kurama's voice was followed by the sound of his hands clapping together a move Ika had seen earlier.

A familiar wave of lightning would discharge from Kurama's hands towards the center of Ika's back although the power difference between this one and the former one would be palpable due to Kurama overcharging it with the electricity he has been storing up since the fight had started. Kurama was hoping the counter attack would be enough to throw Ika off slightly, along with the increased power in the attack though overall he had his doubts. The most he was realistically hoping for was to prepare himself for the inevitable counter attack.


Static Chare level: 4-2= 2

Abilities Used:

Utsutsemi was a move that Ika had rendered to a science in his days in the second squad, so it was no surprise to see his former second in command using it with this level of efficacy. The very act itself brought a smile to his face, it was worth observation if nothing else. This of course lasted until it came time for him to dodge the next attack, which he did by returning the favor with his own offering of Utsusemi. Ika himself would allow the attack to have it's way, producing in it's own right a now ragged and used up cloak to be replaced alongside a visual that was less than accurate to the reality of their current situation.

Ika meanwhile was behind Kurama, lightly tapping him on the shoulder with a small smirk etched across his face. "Maybe next time don't telegraph your intentions and give me any ideas on an exit eh? I mean that was almost too easy given the outs you provided me." Ika would by this point Shunpo backwards, beckoning the Captain forward to see what, if anything, he might have to offer.

Kurama would spin around as he was touched just in time to see Ika shunpo back to safety. "Tsk..well can't blame a guy for trying. Not too many know that move after all." Kurama was growing slightly disheartened that it had no effect although it wasn't entirely surprising and worse off he was running out of tricks to use - a worrying sign of the inevitable since brute force was out. But Kurama wasn't a quitter, so he'd just have to make do.

Kurama kicked off at top speed towards Ika, once more using his totally not solar flare in an attempt to disorient him. Instead of instantly attacking however, Kurama would instead initiate his speed clone technique once again so even if he managed to avoid the flash it should still provide some confusion as to which Kurama was the real one before finally attempting a electrically charged punch for Ika's gut, while the clones made it seem he was being attacked from above, to his left and right while the real Kurama was going for a head on strike.

Static Charge Level: 3

Abilities Used:

Kurama seemed to be getting a little frustrated, that much was obvious given his current disposition. Ika figured it was probably time for the twos little tango to come to an end, and it seemed that Kurama's intentions were the same as he leapt forward, using a solar flare speed clone combo that even Ika was taken aback by. Ika's once cool and calm disposition was now wrought with anticipation, his eyes trained on the figures as they flew towards him. Ika threw two cards, blowing up two of the clones so he could focus on finding which one was the right version of Kurama. Once satisifed, Ika would focus in on Kurama's approach preparing a punch of his own. Ika had snuffed out the clone flying from his left and right, and he used the flames from the one to the left to knock the one approaching from above off course. That left him to focus on the real Kurama, and this would be the finale.

Ika reared back, his fist was cocked and ready and he launched it at near shunpo speeds, it was an uppercut barreling straight for Kurama's jaw meant to send him back flying in the opposite direction, a sore reminder of the differences between them even now but Ika wasn't exactly without injury. Ika smirked, looking down to notice a singed spot on his stomach, his clothes had been blown off and the area around the strike was bruised. He could feel his left leg giving out on him and he smirked. "Well.. you managed to graze me. More than you've done in the past, well done Kurama."

"Well, it was always going to end up like this I suppose." Kurama thought to himself as pain shot through his jaw and soon after as his flight was stopped dead by impacting into a tree, knocking the air clear out of him. After a few agonizing breathless seconds, Kurama would sit up gasping before coughing, small spurts of blood from where his lip and gums got fucked by Ika's punch. Once he was breathing normally again Kurama would use the support of the tree to stand on shaky legs as he reverted back to his sealed form, knowing the sparring match was over.

"You know you'd kill a lesser man with a punch like that." Kurama spoke in a sarcastic though jovial tone. Although he didn't win the match, it was still fun and good training, few could make Kurama have to improvise like Ika manages. Hearing the compliment from his former Captain Kurama simply smiled and shrugged before putting an unlit smoke into his mouth while offering one over to Ika.

"Well deal is a deal, a graze still isn't a solid hit. What are your terms, 'Capn?"

Ika accepted the smoke he was offered, taking careful and observant note of the damage he'd done to the man with his most recent punch. Frankly, Ika's fist did half the damage and the poor idiot's momentum did the other half. The thought on it's own was enough to make Ika shake his head, smoke having long since begun pouring out from his cigarette and into the afternoon air. "The punch wasn't the problem, you practically ran into my fist at top speed and KO'd yourself. You get so ahead of yourself sometimes, and you're way too old for me to believe you're ever going to change."

Ika shook his head, letting the smoke waft from his mouth to the air around them. "I do disagree with you a bit, I think your attack counts as far as I'm concerned so I think I'd like to come to a compromise. You're going to take me out to eat tonight, and we're going to discuss the details of this little scout mission you've got planned. How's that sound Kurama, eh?"

Provided Ika received affirmation as expected, his next stop would be the Rukongai, and Kurama would be following shortly after.

-Thread end-