[Spar] Lycoris Radiata (Hana vs Norosuke)

Members of the sixth division were encouraged by their captain to seek out battles. At least, they were prior to the last captain's demotion. Norosuke was a shinigami who was used to the old ways. He was strong enough to challenge any lieutenant of the Gotei, but for a number of reasons, he remained an unseated member. Seeing the captain get demoted wasn't enough to quite change his behavior.

"Hey, let's fight" was what he told the Third Division member Hana Ishikawa. He picked a time and a place: Tuesday evening outside the Third Division barracks, at the secondary courtyard where nobody went. He stood underneath a long pergola moonlight filtering through the roof. He wore the standard uniform of the shinigami with his headband which covered his ears along with his bright blonde hair making him stand out in the dark along with the white of his uniform.

"I'm going on a mission." Norosuke said. "I want to make sure I'm not rusty if ever I have to take on a powerful hollow."

As a member of the third division, Hana Ishikawa was doing what she did best, keeping up the morale in her division. If anything, she always had a way with words and teasing everyone equally. No matter if they were apart from her division or not, all Shinigami needed a pick me up. She gave off this goofball or loon-type mentality compared to others in or out of her division. It was something she enjoyed most, but there was one thing she enjoyed even more than giving people a pick me up, and that's fighting.

When Norosuke approached Hana about fighting, it got her blood pumping. She nodded to the challenge since it's always a great thing to deal with the excitement of fighting. The location was no other than the Third Division Barracks, secondary courtyard. Hana arrived at the desired location and being on time too. She was wearing the standard-issue uniform of the shinigami with a multicolored headband on her head to give her long blue hair a bit more pop. Also, there was a large smile on her face when she noticed Norosuke. He did say he was going on a mission too.

"It is a wonderful evening, Norosuke. Yes, I am happy for you." Hana said. "Oh yeah, I wouldn't want you to be rusty against a powerful hollow. I'm going to enjoy my time in this duel."

Hana responded in the unnatural way that Norosuke was used to. She was a good 200 years younger than he was, but they had entered the shinigami academy around the same time. He could remember the brief interactions the two of them had, though he was always going off with other people. In the academy, she was someone whose name Norosuke had known, but he didn't really talk to very often. Still, it was good to have a friend to do this sort of thing with.

Norosuke took his position standing across the pergola from Hana. He drew his zanpakuto and held it in front of him. The sword was black from tip to pommel and was straight, distinguishing it from the normally curved, katana-like zanpakuto. It still had a cutting edge, but it looked almost as if it were mass-produced compared to the normally more artisan looking zanpakuto that other shinigami had.

It has been a joy to help, Norosuke with his training or anything he needed. He was about two hundred years older than her, but she was happy when they both entered the Shinigami Academy around the same time. She enjoyed every single small interaction the both of them had, but he was more of a mingler with other people. Hana Ishikawa was always an odd one out in the Academy because her personality is so different from the usual shinigami. She's outright talkative, teasing, and overall a positive person to counter all of the negativity in the world. Still, in Hana's mind, it is great to have a friend like Norosuke.

Hana notices Norosuke took his position standing across the pergola from her. She drew her zanpakuto and held it in front of her. The sword had a similar handle color as her blue hair, with beautiful decorations all over the blade's handle, to the start of its blade. The katana-like zanpakuto was slightly curved, and it matched Hana's personality since the curved blade starts to shimmer in the moonlight. Hana's zanpakuto felt more like a custom-katana model, with the blade being the only thing that felt artisanally crafted. There was something else different about Hana; it seems in the midst of holding the Zanpakuto. Her other personality came out since she had a gleefully looking smile on her face, but it would be a big goofy grin if you looked from a different angle. It was her serious personality, which only deals with fighting primarily.

She didn't make the first move. Norosuke didn't pay too much attention to spars Hana had in the academy, but he saw enough to know generally how she fought. She was a pacer, and she liked to echo what her opponent did, which allowed her to keep tempo. Thus, Norosuke knew how to counter it, which meant one of two things. The first option was to slow his pace in hopes that his opponent would get impatient, which would require a bit of mind game on Norosuke's part. The second option was to go on the offensive and rush down his opponent, which would require Norosuke to have abilities that let him outpace his opponent. Seeing that they were about even in terms of skill and power, however, not to mention he was out-of-practice, this also did not look like a viable option.

The move Norosuke settled on was moving forward. Then, to test his opponent, Norosuke gave a quick vertical slash. His zanpakuto was roughly longer than arm's length. What was left to figure out was what that meant compared to how Hana reacted to it, and how she weilded her zanpakuto. Ultimately, the two of them had different teachers and so their fighting styles had diverged.

Hana didn't feel right to take the first move, even with her more serious personality. Her pacer tempo tendencies over other Shinigami was to keep what she echoes her opponent's moves. She did know that Norosuke knew how she fights and probably has counters to it. It didn't help she gets annoyed easier in her serious personality since it's all about the lust of battle that keeps her interested. She was waiting to see what kind of strategy Norosuke would take, overthinking too hard over the counters and getting frustrated over them. It did help that Hana kept herself in practice over the latter of being out-of-practice like her friend Norosuke were.

Therefore, Norosuke finally started to move, which gave her a large grin on her face. As if he's testing her, which is why he went for a quick vertical slash. Her Zanpakuto wasn't as long as Norosuke's Zanpakuto. Therefore, Hana countered with a quick horizontal slash to hit Norosuke's Zanpakuto. She was unusually holding her Zanpakuto with her right hand first over her left hand to attack horizontally. Obviously, they did have differing fighting styles with how he started with a vertical slash over what she did.

A parry. That was easy enough to predict. Her blade was shorter than his, in other words, Norosuke had a reach advantage on top of his arms simply being longer and him being taller. Mukuu's blade was straight. This meant that he could not use iaijutsu the way some other shinigami could. However, it also meant that it was easier for him to maneuver in other ways. Such as forward and down.

Norosuke changed from a standard grip to a reverse hammer grip with his forward hand, then pushed down with his aft hand over the pommel assisting. He slipped over and past Hana's zanpakuto and aimed to stab her in the midsection. Then, once his blade had cleared over his opponent's zanpakuto, his left hand slid down in attempt to push Hana's arm away by the wrist to keep himself from getting hit in return.

Hana did have a feeling that Norosuke would use his advantages of being taller and having a longer zanpakuto. Also, his blade was straight compared to hers. She tried to keep herself in the game by focusing on what she does with taller opponents, but something in the back of her mind was keeping her from focusing on that. It would be a spar she'll never forget, that's for sure, with a small smirk going across her face.

Hana notices the change in how Norosuke gripped his sword, and it was obviously enough, by being about his advantages over her. It caused her to move back quick enough to try to dodge the midsection strike. However, this would basically make her unable to strike back at Norosuke since she was out of place away from him. She frustratingly looks up to Norosuke with that single look of bastard clear on her face. It has been a while since Norosuke and her sparred in actuality. In this case, it caused her to think she should have actually planned somewhat with her usual more advanced pacer-type techniques, even though some people would call them devious. "Damn it. I decided not to plan somewhat ahead of the duel time all because I wanted to be fair. Hehe, but I am not going to quit on a small technicality of me being annoyed at the sight of a taller opponent, Norosuke!" Hana exclaimed, a bit frustrated at the situation at hand.

Hana's annoyance of not going her way usually causes her to think of different ways to pull off a win, but she tried to use her agility to try to get behind Norosuke and strike him from the rear. She did want to make sure to stay on the move and strike him from different angles instead of directly in the front, but he probably has better tactics than what he pulled earlier.

Norosuke's attack was risky. Changing his grip in such a way meant he had to use economy of action to get his grip in position where he could more easily go on the offensive again. His zanpakuto had a single, straight cutting edge, and at the moment, that cutting edge faced toward him. The way he held it also meant he gave up both leverage and distance, even if it was very little. He wagered that the difference wouldn't be a determinant factor in this particular battle, but against a more skilled opponent making such a mistake would have cost him.

That is, if he were facing a more skilled opponent. If. Norosuke was more than familiar with opponent's who used shunpo simply to move toward the back of their opponents. His experience and intuition combined with simple muscle memory drove his body forward first with a sweeping step with his outer foot to parry Hana's strike using the flat of his blade. His left hand, his off hand, was free. This gave him the luxury to step forward while still holding off Hana's blade, to attempt a punch aimed square at Hana's stomach.

Hana felt a bit in, hoping her strike would connect onto Norosuke's rear. However, it wasn't the case with him parrying her strike by using the flat of his blade with ease. She noticed a bit too late that Norosuke's left hand was free and not holding his blade with both of his hands like other Shinigami does. It caused her to be hit in her stomach by his left hand, and it sucked to be hit in her stomach, with the wind knocked out of her. She tried to breathe in and out slightly but gritted her teeth in response.

Hana didn't enjoy being hit in her stomach by Norosuke, and it was clear as day on her face. As her battle lust grew, though, she raised her spiritual pressure annoyingly as if wanting to take this spar a bit more seriously. "Friend, you are going to pay for that." Hana said with an annoyed and a bit frustrated expression on her face. Since the spiritual pressure increased, she recovered from being hit in her stomach, and her Zanpakuto was shimmering a bit. Her smirk did return to her face since she loves the shimmering of her zanpakuto a bit much. She did move back slightly more than the previous time. "Shimmering Atasi Shine Brightly!" Hana exclaimed. She said that her Shimmering Atasi did shine brighter for a split second; if Norosuke was looking at her Zanpakuto, it might blind him. It wouldn't be a good idea to hold out hope for blinding another shinigami just by announcing her blade's name. She did, in the end, try a different maneuver from the previous two, which was using her Zanpakuto with a lower to the ground swipe at Norosuke's legs instead of at his chest.

Norosuke recognized that command. It was Hana's shikai. For a moment, he thought he would have to be the one to enter shikai first. Which meant he was firmly into plan A, and if he played his cards right, he was well on his way to winning. He had seen Hana's shikai before, but he had never faced off against it directly. He didn't expect to even enter shikai. After all, it was supposed to be a friendly spar and he didn't want either him or her to be injured too badly. He had to do a mission afterward, after all.

Norosuke managed to close his eyes when he noticed the flash, but he could still see spots and there was definitely some disorientation going on. Enough that Hana's kick managed to get him on the ground. Normally that would have been where he ended the fight. Or really, the punch would have been. Had he not been holding off, because it was a spar, he could have done much worse. But it appears that his opponent was taking things a bit more seriously than Norosuke was comfortable with.

Norosuke recovered back onto his feet and reversed the grip on his zanpakuto so that the cutting edge faced outward. He got into a more defensive stance. The pace was his, which meant he was surely the victor.

Hana was too focused on everything other than the one thing that could have stopped her from getting impatient. It was that she was playing right into Norosuke's trap without focusing properly on it. She has problems with her more serious persona over her overly friendly one, which causes higher-ranked Shinigami to get her to cool off. There was a simple thing, her Zanpakuto's released state was still in between the unreleased and released since it was shining brighter, but it wasn't in its true form yet. However, as one can say, her focus was more about getting someone back instead of usual.

Hana noticed that Norosuke did get back on his feet and gave a big grin on her face. She hadn't noticed the defensive stance, though, since her impatience was getting the better of her. Therefore, Hana decided to go straight for Norosuke with her shining Zanpakuto. She did have a look on her face after realizing one specific thing and the defensive stance Norosuke was in. "Oh shit, you were defensive... Crap." Hana said, with a look of worry on her face. The tone in her voice was worried on top of realizing she played right into Norosuke's hand.

It was difficult to actually see where Hana's zanpakuto was due to the light was given off. He had to see in his periphery where the light was coming from and from there make a guess as to how his opponent was actually attacking judging by how the light moved. Though his opponent didn't seem to be aware of this, and even if she was, by the way she was fighting, it looked as though she wasn't completely immune to these effects either.

Norosuke's left arm flexed upward to guard from the attack. His hand grabbed her wrist to keep her in place. His right arm flexed outward and the blade of his zanpakuto looked as if it were going to take Hana's head off.

The blade touched Hana's neck. Norosuke did not flex his wrist. He did not push further. "I think this is enough." He said.

Hana had a shocked look on her face when Norosuke guarded the attack. She felt his hand grab her wrist to stop her moving and felt a bit as if she should probably dial down the seriousness a bit. If it got any more serious, he would have killed her since Norosuke's blade touched her neck. 'Damn it... I let my other personality get a bit too serious in this spar and jumped the gun again.' Hana thought to herself with a look of frustration on her part of not realizing sooner.

Hana deeply sighed about taking it a bit further than it should be; sparring shouldn't get serious enough where one might regret something. She had nervousness in her body language, and the best idea would be to end this. Specifically, her original kinder self was primarily in charge since her seriousness was shocked out of her by Norosuke's clear impression he isn't so rusty after all. "Norosuke, you win this... I-I should haven't taken it so far as I tried. I'm sorry for everything. You aren't as rusty as you think." Hana said in agreement in wanting to end the spar so his sword could go back to his sheath. Hopefully, Norosuke will let her go so she can do the same since she said she lost, and it would hurt her more if she didn't accept the facts that she lost handily to Norosuke's tactics.

Norosuke continued to keep the sword at bay for both their safety until Hana sheathed her zanpakuto. He pulled his own zanpakuto back and stepped backward before sheathing it. "Work on your basics." He advised. "Even if we're comparable in terms of power, the more skilled swordsman will always win. Not that I have a choice. My zanpakuto's abilities are meant to take down hollow. If I wanted to fight another shinigami, I'd necessarily have to learn zanjutsu, and learn it well. I suggest you do the same."

This was a learning experience for Hana, as much as everything else was. Hana frequently is the morale supporter and booster all in one while being a bit of a loon on the switch personality she has. She had a look of relief on her face, but she enjoyed getting friendly advice from others, especially people she's friends with, but everyone in her mind is a friend. "Alright, Norosuke, I will work on my basics." Hana responded. It didn't take too long for him to mention Zanjutsu, and she had to get better at that too. Also, impatience could have killed her. "Yeah, I will definitely get better in Zanjutsu! I shouldn't have been so impatient near the end." Hana added onto that.

It was one of the few things that frequently gets her sometimes, impatience is a curse, and she gains loads of it with her other personality. She gives off a big goofy smile as she has done so many times before; it usually does brighten up someone's day now and then. "Norosuke, I hope you do well on your mission!" Hana exclaimed.

Norosuke sighed. "Win your own way. You won't get anywhere just doing what people tell you to." He advised. This was something that Norosuke hadn't quite digested himself. To some extent, he was parroting his own tutor. The same tutor who had taught him how to fight in the first place. Though, teach was a bit of an overstatement.

"Thank you. I hope I do well too." Norosuke said. "In the mean time, why don't you talk to Captain Okami? He was one of the shinigami who taught me zanjutsu and he's more than willing to show you his techniques if you ask him nicely. Be warned though, he likes to be hands on with his students."

With that, Norosuke used shunpo to get away. He needed to get rest before deploying to the human world.

Hana slightly giggled at Norosuke for what he said. "Okay, Norosuke. Hehe." Hana said with a giggle on her lips. How he spoke, it sounded like he was parroting someone that taught him well. She should probably get some training from that tutor. It should be a good idea to ask for a lesson or two from whoever it was.

"Thank you, Norosuke." Hana said. Therefore, when Norosuke mentioned Captain Okami to talk to since that's who tutored him in Zanjutsu. She laughed a bit at what he said about a warning, about hands-on with his students. There wasn't that anything that bothered Hana, not even a captain who's a bit handsy. "Hmm, that's a good idea to chat with Captain Okami. He's a great teacher from most of the people who talk about him, being as such." Hana said with a smile.

As such, Hana waved Norosuke goodbye before he used Shunpo or Flash Step to get away. Therefore, Hana did need some rest before meeting up with Captain Okami. She used her agility to move quickly back to the barracks to relax for a bit with a book she was reading, one of those cutesy novels about a long journey that ends in triumph or was it a tragedy.

-End Thread-