Shin'ō Academy

[Bloodedge]

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Shinōreijutsuin (真央霊術院, Spiritual Arts Academy), sometimes called the Shinigami Academy, is an institution located in the Seireitei. The academy trains Souls with spiritual powers for each of the three military arms of Soul Society.

Applicants to the academy must pass an entrance exam in order to be admitted, and must demonstrate that they have some Reiatsu. The entrance exam seems to be open to any and all who wish to apply, resulting in a wide range of individuals of all ages joining. The social classes of the applicants range from nobles and residents of the more hospitable districts of Rukongai to its more barbaric outer regions. The results of the entrance exam are used to divide up the successful applicants into different classes, with those who obtain the highest grades being placed in the first class. At the start of the academic year, there is a welcoming ceremony for the new students. If an applicant fails the exam, it may be taken again.

The Academy's curriculum is taught over six-years, though exceptionally gifted students have been known to graduate from the academy in less time than this, such as Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Kaien Shiba and Gin Ichimaru. In addition to a more general education, the pupils are taught how to control and make use of their Reiatsu, as well as the four major Shinigami combat forms: Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō, and Zanjutsu. Students also learn how to perform Soul Burials, how to communicate with the spirit of their Zanpakutō, and are prepared for the general duties of a Shinigami. Upon completing the Academy's curriculum, a student will then apply to join a division of the Gotei 13, Kidō Corps or Onmitsukidō. On occasion, highly talented Shinigami may be admitted to a division, or even granted a seated position with a division before completing the full curriculum, or partake in missions with a division.

The uniform of the Academy is similar to the standard Shinigami shihakushō uniform, but with a different color scheme. The women's style consists of a red shitagi (under shirt), a white kosode (shirt) with red stripes, red hakama (trousers), white socks and sandals. For the male version of the uniform, the red is replaced with blue. There is a circular symbol on both breasts of the outer shirt. This appears to be the emblem of the Academy.
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Zanjutsu Training Hall

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Kido Training Field

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[Apollymi]

"That sounds tragic, really..." the young woman mentioned as she turned around backwards continuing to run. "Good thing I came along this time, huh? If ya' get that tingly feeling again, let me know, I'll be your wing-man~" she finished up. It seemed that the crimson haired lass had the opportunity to come to the Academy long before now, and had foregone it for personal reasons. Whatever the case was, she was finally dragged along into registering for this particular year, likely due to the young man she was currently in front of as she came to a stop at the steps and slipped properly into her uniform. "I win...again. Hell, I should've bet lunch on that~" she chimed as they headed towards this entrance ceremony which they were surprisingly on time for. "What class did we get into again?"

[Bloodedge]

"Kuso!" the raven-haired male spoke as he landed. The first steps forward thereafter would lead through the front gate, where Shusuke was asked what class the two of them were placed in. "Baka~. This is the entrance ceremony. We'll find out today where we placed. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I've got first class without a doubt. I barely even had to try to impress!" Moments later, they would enter the crowd of applicants, who stood before the academy's instructors to await the announcements. Shusuke stood in wait of the beginning, holding his hands against the back of his head in a very lax manner. "And they're gonna be like... Benihime, rejected for being a cheater in races!"

[Apollymi]

A smirk came to the young woman's face as she won her race and fixed her 'uniform' clothing which wasn't really to her liking. Beyond this it seemed they hadn't found out about their placement yet, but she had an aching feeling she already knew. "Eh? Is that really what we're here for? Well, maybe I was told already and that's why I think that..." she said with a chuckle knowing she'd likely just tuned out whatever unnecessary information she'd been given because it wasn't essential to the moment. But when the young man mentioned she'd likely be ejected for cheating in races she could only laugh as she nudged him with her left elbow. "Oi oi, I didn't cheat. They'll probably be like~ 'She's so proficient, I wonder what else she can do, we need her to graduate next week'~" she concluded only to follow up with a sentence of minor fondness. "But then I'll say, only if Shu-kun comes along. 'Cause he's my wing-man, even if he could use a few extra steps in his Shunpo~" she said as they would eventually come to a stand still in time to hear the announcements.

[Bloodedge]

Shusuke intended to retort, but the moment he opened his mouth to do so, the ceremony began. The speech dragged on through the welcoming of all potential students of the academy, but eventually, a man stepped forward to announce placements. "Top ten applicants are first! These are the exceptional ones among you who will automatically enter the first class! Top prospects, step forward as your names are mentioned! First, the best among you as chosen by the board of instructors: Nomura Daiki!" When the first name was called out, the summoned male passed by the pair of Benihime and Shusuke. He was a fair-skinned individual of average height with dark hair worn long, mostly in a messy braid with several wavy locks falling over his shoulders. He seemed to be cut from a different cloth than the others present in this location, and his placement among them was proof of it. Sharp sapphire eyes pointed forward as he walked through the crowd to take his place on the stage. The calling of names continued during this time, and soon, it reached the fifth name. "Niwatoko Benihime!"

[Apollymi]

She'd expected a bit more banter but it seemed they wouldn't be allowed the continued time to chat. The instructor soon announced that the top ten students would be automatically included in the First Class. A name of someone she didn't know was announced first along with a few other names which didn't seem to be of much consequence, but the fifth name called was her own, she didn't seem terribly surprised by this and instead gave a salute to her friend. "You better make the top ten!~" she mentioned as she stepped up to take the fifth place in line she had a casual glance down the rest of the line. A chuckle would ensue from the young woman. 'I probably could have tried a bit harder... huh?' she mused, not that fifth wasn't a good enough place, this way they'd expect her to be good, but she could get away with her usual slacking off and self-interest. She'd then wait up front to see who else was called along with her and the young man up front.

[Bloodedge]

The list went on, until the top ten applicants were all standing in line. Shusuke was not among these individuals, but the next statement of the instructor at least confirmed his placement in the academy overall. "These are the pupils all should aspire to be like! All others who have made it this far will be placed among the standard class! Lessons will begin immediately!" With that, the assembly was over, and the first day of the academy for these individuals could begin. 'Kuso... Maybe I should have tried harder. Guess I gotta get promoted the old-fashioned way.'

[Apollymi]

Upon the end of the top ten being announced the crimson haired young woman known as Benihime palmed her face. 'If I'd known he was gonna blow it, I wouldn't have tried so hard. This is gonna be boring now... I should kick his ass later for leaving alone with these....' her eyes darted back and forth from left to right as she tried to decide what to call her peers. 'Things.' she thought. But with that, she was done, she finished rubbing her face in time to see a portly little instructor walking up to their group. The woman had brown hair and wore glasses with thick frames. It was rather hard to believe this woman had ever done anything other than eat and read books, but perhaps there was something more to her. "Alright First Class, I'm your instructor and today's lessons will include Zanjutsu and Hohou basic training." she said to the group, the thought of this woman executing Shunpo made a huge grin cross the redhead's face. This one in particular seemed to be able to skip basic reiatsu manipulation among other things. "But before all that, you will receive a special Kidou lesson from a guest instructor. This is a special treat for the First Class, as you are more likely than any others in the Academy Class to draw the attention of the Shinigami ranked within the Seireitei." she explained as she pushed her glasses up on her face. "This year's special guest is a recent graduate and something of a prodigy, any of you who have done any studying will know his name, Kumori Raizen, and he'll be taking you all to the Kidou Training Fields." she said.

[Bloodedge]

Following the introduction by the first class' instructor, Raizen himself approached the yet-to-be seated group. It was good that they had not been situated in their classroom yet, as it was Raizen's intention to have them moved out immediately. "Arigatou gozaimashita," he said with a bow to the instructor, seeming exceedingly formal to be speaking with an individual he now outclassed in status. After addressing the portly woman, he turned his attention toward the class. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu! Let's not waste any time, shall we? Follow me to the field," he said before sauntering off. Soon enough, the class would be brought to a stage-like structure at an exit of the building, which lay before a large open field with various targets at the end of it. "Bear with me for a bit; I haven't exactly done this before. What can any of you tell me about Kidou as a form of Shinigami combat?" he asked. Nomura Daiki, the first to be placed in this class from these new students, was the first to speak on this matter. "Kidou is deemed ineffective for combat, excluding surprise attacks and the like, as the need for incantations to create a full-powered spell leaves one open to attack when casting spells."

"Good. I mean, that's the right answer, even though you obviously don't believe it," Raizen retorted, looking at the other male through the corner of his eye. "Does anyone else have an answer for me?"

[Apollymi]

The announcement that the young Vice-Captain Kumori Raizen would be teaching their introductory Kidou lesson, made such a thing just a tiny bit more bearable for the young redhead who was presently required to attend without the comic-relief and companionship of her former dojo mate. Since this was the case she soon enough followed along, taking the time to study the man walking before them, with an unabashed gaze as he began speaking about Kidou. He went on to ask about Kidou and Benihime made no move to speak, analyzing the group she figured someone else would first, and it would give her the time to figure out what kind of person this Raizen guy was to determine if she'd bother speaking this day. Nomura Daiki spoke and gave what most would consider a text book answer, but Raizen seemed to find some sort of deception in what the young man had said, this caused a grin to break out over Benihime's face. "Kidou is potentially rather underrated considering most think it isn't directly useful in battle. But skilled practitioners can use it to help them in multiple ways, including the ability to cast without use of incantations. Knowing Kidou over an evenly skilled opponent could make a world of difference in the outcome of battle, so even knowing a low level can be potentially devastating, in the right situation," the redhead continued. "Or something like that..." she said, aiming to not give a particularly political answer but instead shared how she knew the use of spells could be useful, hopefully without alluding to any potential battle experience she had.

[Bloodedge]

Given Benihime's answer, Raizen pointed toward the young woman while pacing across the yard. "There. That's the answer of someone who's used to fighting something other than Hollows," he said with a sideways glance. "Many people underestimate the practicality of Kidou. I was asked to come here and demonstrate the potential usefulness of spells to enlighten the lot of you. They called it a special treat. Not all of you will be able to make it, though," he went on to state. Without further ado, Raizen's point became one using both his fore and middle fingers, which he then swept from left to right, drawing a line across the row of students in his own perspective. This simple movement would have a rather interesting effect. One by one, in rapid sequence, the students would be afflicted with the Bakudou "Sai," the first named spell on the list. Arms would be locked behind the backs of the pupils as Raizen abandoned not only the incantation, but the name of the spell itself. "Seimeihaki. This was one of the things I discovered during my time here. It weakens a spell even further than Eishouhaki, but leaves it able to be cast instantly. It's relatively new, but this is something I feel some Kidou specialists will one day be able to call a standard with low-level spells. This isn't what I'm teaching you; it can't be taught. Show me your Reiatsu by breaking those binds. If you can't break at least this, you won't be able to participate in this lesson, and you'll have to just watch."

[Apollymi]

There was a break in Benihime's facade. One which would likely go unnoticed by most, but it was the smallest wrinkling of her nose as her eyes narrowed. She wasn't used to being called out in such a way, it'd been quite a while since anyone had noticed anything about her, and she'd gone out of her way to make sure she didn't stand out too much. Though it was quite true, she was very used to fighting things not Hollows, she didn't feel the need to share that information, and soon enough simply changed the look on her face by shifting a hand to the top of her head and allowing a smile to form there. It would seem like she was laughing off the whole situation, after all there was something of an image to be maintained here. As Raizen continued to talk, Benihime paid attention, if only because it'd been so long since anyone had managed to make her forget herself for a moment. Curiosity got the best of her as the young man went on to cast a spell without even bothering to speak at all. 'Full name abandonment? That... is pretty awesome!' she thought. Her eyes widened as her arms locked behind her back, but unlike others in the group, she wasn't so surprised by it that she fell to the ground. No instead she crouched low balanced on her toes as a reflex, it was far too hard to deny the instinct that came along with such a thing. She then exhaled, exerting her Reiatsu around her person. 'Hm, this is weaker than Eishouhaki, hm? At this rate, he's stronger than Saya-sama....' a grin came to the girl's face in this moment as she flared crimson colored Reiatsu to life around her person and after a few seconds she'd broken out of her bonds. In doing so she showcased an amount of reiatsu which most would think large for someone who'd previously just lived hidden among the Rukongai residents.

[Bloodedge]

In the face of Raizen's binding spell, there were two who stood out among the others by breaking free in a matter of seconds. Benihime was one of the two, but when she freed herself, another individual was already walking toward Raizen. It was none other than Daiki, not at all to the surprise of the class' majority. "That's a bit much for a first day of class, isn't it?" the young man asked. Raizen snickered in response. "So says the one who broke my spell earlier than anyone ever has. And look... the record was broken twice today," he said with his eyes shifting toward Benihime. "Looks like the makings of an interesting class. Come over." As he beckoned Benihime toward himself and Daiki, others finally began to show signs of freeing themselves. After a few moments, only half of the group had broken free. As one would expect, it was the top five of the new students. Three of these individuals, however, were a bit disturbed by the fact that they had taken so much longer than a person who entered after them. "Top five, huh? Good. Everyone else, sit tight. You five... show me how you fight with Kidou. I'm sure they're still handing out tomes before the entrance ceremony, so I expect some of you to know a few of the spells already. Before we begin, are there any questions about anything we've been over so far?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime wasn't at all surprised that someone had managed to free themselves before her. In fact, she sort of counted on that to maintain her active camouflage. She was however a bit surprised that more didn't go first. 'Trash, I really should have tried harder. Though, I could probably use this...' she thought absently as Raizen waved her over to apparently continue from there. "Hai hai!" she said averting her gaze and walking over to join the duo already standing. It seemed whatever else they were meant to learn this day would be done after the group showed this young man what they had as far as Kidou fighting ability was concerned. Benihime was pretty well-versed in Kidou and its active uses, but still managed to have a single question after the man spoke smiling off the concern of her peers as some sort of fluke as far as her abilities. "Only one question, what or who are we taking aim at while we show you how we fight?"

[Bloodedge]

"You've made the assumption about that already, haven't you?" Raizen asked in a rhetorical fashion when Benihime offered her inquiry. After this, he pulled a fabricated Hollow mask from within his shihakushou, bringing it to his face. "When I told them my plan, they gave me this. I thought it was a funny idea, but this should make things clear enough."

At this very moment, a smile was upon the face of Daiki. He had hoped for this opportunity to test the man he had been compared to and expected to compete with since applying. He immediately began chanting an incantation, followed by the creation of a yellow Reiryoku rope from his left hand. "Bakudou no yon: Hainawa!" At his command, the golden rope moved forward to ensnare the masked Vice-Captain, though he immediately followed with another two incantations. "Hadou no yon: Byakurai! Hadou no sanjuuichi: Shakkahou!" The first part of Daiki's attack came in the form of a lightning bolt from his left fore and middle fingers. Knowing well that this would not be nearly enough, he followed with his right hand casting a sphere of red Reiryoku meant to explode upon reaching its target. Of course, Raizen responded by simply flaring his Reiatsu to release himself from binding, and created a generic barrier in front of himself to halt the two attacks. "Not bad. Chaining spells and leading with a quick Bakudou is a very effective way to make Kidou count. Next?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime looked at this man as he answered her rhetorical question. She had indeed already made something of an assumption about how they'd be showing off their skills and chose to stand back, assuming of course they'd be going in the order they were picked for the class for propriety's sake. Raizen donned a mask made after the one's that hollows had and a small giggle would escape the young woman. "They got humor, this won't be so bad~" she chimed. It seemed that Daiki was fine with the idea of being first as he immediately showed the kind of skill which had put him at the top of the class. Benihime watching this, taking in all of the skills being shown by both parties. 'Huh, that's pretty good...' she thought, seeming to at least approve of the young man who was currently the top of their class. Though the skills of the Vice-Captain seemed to outclass everyone else's. Soon enough the second, third and forth members of this little party had tried and failed to make any real dent in the Vice Captain's defenses. Though they'd still received constructive criticisms for their efforts. One had even had a spell blow up in his face and was currently sitting off to the side wiping up the smudges and cinders from his face.

Before she knew it, it was her own turn and Benihime was bouncing on her toes pushing down the top of her uniform for the freedom of her own movement. Right after she stood in front of Raizen with a smirk on her face. "Bakudo no nijuuichi: Sekienton" the girl commanded slamming both hands flat into the ground and creating a large red cloud of smoke to obscure vision. Her abilities as a fighter would be shown this day, but she had something of a plan. 'At the very least, I have the thirties to work with without showing anyone up...' she thought as she began weaving a spell with her fore and middle fingers of her left hand. "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!!" she was speaking the incantations of two different spells for a very strange reason. "Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws," a smile came to the girls face as the orange stringing rope of her left fore and middle fingers finished forming and immediately began to snake for the Vice-Captain where ever he might be. "Bakudo no kyuu: Horin!" this would be immediately followed by her right hand being held forward and a blue ball forming at the center of it. "Hadou no Sanjuusan: Sokatsui!" this would cause blue fire to aim to encompass the area including the man himself and aim to damage him with fire while he couldn't move. This was a combination of things she'd seen recently which she used for her own. If she was actually fighting she might have done this between sword or weapon strikes but... she didn't want to give away too much by using other spells which were pretty far beyond the scope of what they could have picked up in the last couple of days.

[Bloodedge]

"Sou ka. So, this is a Vice-Captain," Daiki mumbled to himself upon seeing how his assault was dealt with. He had to say, he was a bit disappointed that nothing more came of this, but this was at least what he'd expected and hoped for in the end. After a bow, the young man stepped aside to watch the others have their attempts at the Vice-Captain's head. What he saw was like the early stages of a massacre. For these top prospects to be treated like fodder in the face of a man who would have been their peer only a few months prior. At this rate, none of them - himself included - would even stand a chance of touching this man's legacy within the academy. He did think that he could stand a chance if he persevered, but had no such thoughts about the others he saw. That is, of course, until the final student approached the white-haired man.

This one came with a similar, yet stronger binding rope than her earliest predecessor. Beyond this, the incantation for it was joined with another. Immediately after he was bound, he was assaulted by an offensive spell ranking in the low thirties. In this case, Raizen twisted his left wrist, using his hand to cast a spell of his own. "Bakudou no sanjuuroku: Enkousen." A spinning barrier was formed in front of him, keeping the blast from his person. "Yare yare. Nijuu Eishou is a bit advanced, isn't it? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've already been a student here for at least a few years."

[Apollymi]

Benihime's attempt didn't seem to fair much better than any one else's. Of course, this her intention all along, but even while not intending to stand out too much, it seemed to have drawn something of a reaction from the young Vice-Captain before her. In seeing how this young man dealt with a Sokatsui from her she tucked her hands into her pockets not bothering to return her shirt to the proper position. Her expression then immediately seemed to become blank, her brows drawing up as if she was confused. "Is it?" she asked of the advancement. "I wouldn't know, it's my first day~" she said as her coy understatement of the century. "Arigatou Gozaimasu~" she thanked the man for his time with a bow as was customary for the kinds of interactions she normally had. She then moved back to stand among her peers as if she hadn't done a thing in the world. Hoping this man was clever enough to leave well enough alone, as she wasn't very willing to explain what she did know or why in present company, lest she be forced into things she didn't like after already losing her potential amusement for the duration of her stay here.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course. Good thing I know better," he said, following up on his earlier statement. All of the examinations had been gotten out of the way now, leaving Raizen with the ability to move on with another speech. "Right. It looks like all five of you are above the standard for new students in this class. Obviously there are a couple of you who are a cut above the rest, but... that sort of thing happens sometimes. If there's one thing I want all of you to take from this lesson, it's proper timing and proper decision-making. The right spell at the right time can be the difference between a victory, and... oh, wait." He paused there, remembering that he still wore the faux Hollow mask, as well as the Hourin spell of Benihime. After breaking free of the latter, he removed the former from his face and pointed at it with his other hand. "Between victory, and ending up like this. A few of you already seem to realize that the strong spells aren't necessarily the best for any situation. Keep that train of thought. So... any further questions?"

[Apollymi]

There was ambient emptiness on the face of Benihime, and such it would remain for the duration of this man's speech. It seemed that he had some important points to make about the lesson which he'd so recently taught which basically circled around the idea that thought should be first and foremost in the use of Kidou. Well that and timing, which were both useful things to remember. 'About three decades ago, I would have found this whole thing more helpful... Well there is the whole no incantation thing... I could probably try that out later...' she thought before her gaze shifted back to the young man teaching the lesson. 'And he's easy on the eyes. Maybe there'll be more attractive guests and teachers...' the young woman thought as she shook her own head from left to right at the asking of her having any questions. She was mentally finding the bright sides of a lesson she considered boring without her usual partner around to keep her company. She didn't have any questions, though she would have asked for the others if they'd made it clear, but at least the burnt boy still appeared to be sulking a bit too much to think of anything else.

[Bloodedge]

"I have one," Daiki said, seeming to be the only one with a question for the Vice-Captain. "If you've put forth so much effort to specialize in Kidou, why would you not join the Kidoushuu? Surely they approached you," he asked. Raizen crossed his arms during this inquiry, and raised a brow by its end. "Sou ka. Not exactly what I expected, but... I suppose it should have been expected for me to go there. Let's just say... they didn't have anything to teach me," he replied. Interestingly enough, the young man named Daiki knew that the Kidou Corps targeted proficient Kidou practitioners within the academy and trained them to further their abilities. For this man to stand here and claim there was nothing they could teach him was more than a bit fishy so to speak, but he figured he would be getting no more information than that. "Understood," he said, albeit with obvious skepticism. Raizen dismissed the class thereafter, leaving them to their other studies for the day.

[Apollymi]

'And ambitions on the table...' Benihime thought as the only other person to perform proficiently this day went on to ask the young Vice-Captain why he wasn't part of the Kidou Corps. Such a thing was kind of an invasive question, but she supposed she could understand the curiosity. She at least paid attention to the man's answer and her left brow rose in response. She couldn't tell if he was cocky or if the Kidou Corps simply wasn't worth the proper investment. 'Hm, that might be worth looking into,' she thought as they were finally dismissed from this lesson and moved on to another.

With Raizen parting ways with this group it seemed their actual instructor returned with a smile on her round little face. "Alright everyone. Your second lesson for the day is also a bit of a treat, we'll be going out into the Material World to learn how to perform an essential Shinigami task, Konso." she said, this caused the gathering youngsters to stir a bit as they gathered around and headed at the woman's direction towards the Kidou Corps set up Senkaimon. The First Class seemed to get to try all of the major lessons out ahead of the rest of their peers. "Does anyone know what Konso is?" she asked of the group, giving them the opportunity to learn a bit as they prepared for their first ever outing. 'Well at least this is something I've never done before,' the redhead thought as she walked casually around the middle of the group.

[Bloodedge]

Apparently, the group was to be given Shinigami privileges from the first day, being quickly allowed to put Konsou to the test in the human world. En route to the Senkaimon, the instructor asked if anyone in the group knew what Konsou was. No one seemed to be answering. Since none of the others had spoken up, Daiki sighed, soon producing his own response for the woman as they reached the Senkaimon. "Konsou sends souls to the Soul Society, using Zanpakutou."

[Apollymi]

Since no one else spoke up the star of this class Nomura Daiki did, much to the teacher's happiness. He was also quite correct in his assertion so while they waited for the Senkaimon to open she explained the process a bit more. "Yes, that is exactly right. Most won't get to see this practice in action for a while, but as you all are the top of this class, it is likely you will be accompanying Divisions on various missions as you are scouted. This basic knowledge is very important." she said which caused a few students to perk up a bit. Benihime seemed to understand, though she wasn't that interested in the idea of going on missions she supposed testing her battle skills against things she should actually be killing was a primary function. "Shinigami serve the purpose of maintaining the balance between the Spiritual World and the Material one. You can think of it as being a guiding light for souls still bound to the human world to keep them from becoming hollows, which you would also have to deal with if the need arose," she explained as the members of the Kidou Corps opened up the Senkaimon. After the light was open she said one more thing. "Come along, and stay alert. And please, for the love of everything don't wander off."

[Bloodedge]

Roughly eight-to-nine months following the entry of the newest wave of students, the academy's first class sat within the Zanjutsu training facility. Among these individuals, of course, was Nomura Daiki. He sat in a meditative pose with his Zanpakutou in his lap. Nothing from the outside world would be capable of fazing him, as he had now entered the realm within himself, where the spirit of his Zanpakutou resided. Within this world, his eyes opened to view a room filled with endless staircases, all with different directions and orientations, along with numerous doors leading to unknown areas. 'Ohayou gozaimasu. It's been some time,' he said to a spirit which took the form of a woman with a very peculiar appearance. Her straight black hair trailed just below her shoulders and featured 2 locks wrapped in gold rings coming from behind her ears to continue in front, stopping at her neck. She was slender in build and had tanned skin. She wore a cream colored sleeveless one-piece dress with the bottom similar to a sarong, a matching waist length veil which widened and spread below her shoulders and gold sandals. Her jewelry consisted of gold bracelets, ankle bracelets, armbands and brooch bearing the Eye of Wdjat on her veil. 'Okaerinasai, Daiki. Do you believe yourself ready to hear my name today?'

[Apollymi]

Within the Zanjutsu training facility was also a girl her back against the wall. If one looked too closely, you'd think she'd fallen asleep, with her sword leaning up against her shoulders and her left leg held up while her right leg was tucked under. She was meditating in a very odd way, and presently standing within a forest of thick vines with large spikes on them. The world seemed to be plunged into perpetual darkness but within was what appeared to be a slender young woman with pale grey skin. Around her head a patch work of black cloth revealing glowing red eyes. Her right hand was normal but her left was large and clawed with gigantic red talons. She was also winged with chains decorating her body, over her left shoulder a small creature with big red eyes and a stitched together mouth, though she seemed to have a fairly good disposition. 'You're back! Can you hear me now?' the woman asked seemingly excited by the prospect. "Hai hai, seems to always be fine... until you try and say your name~" mentioned the young red head in her red hakama and bandages. She'd seen this figure plenty in her life, usually in her dreams, in fact, she figured she had this form because she'd dreamed it up before. 'Aww, that's no fair. If you still can't hear my name, you won't be able to use me. You like me right? You're not just ignoring me on purpose? Doing that thing where you hear a name and instantly forget it because you don't think it's important...' the spirit asked seeming to think it possible that the young woman could ignore her on purpose.

[Bloodedge]

'Should I not be the one asking you if I'm ready to hear your name?' was Daiki's response to the woman in his inner world. A smile crossed her face then, as if he'd said something correct. Her words, however, were a direct contradiction to this. 'Not at all. I have been telling you my name for a very long time now, Daiki. It is you who chooses to ignore it.' This statement seemed to light a spark within Daiki's mind. At last, he had something to go by. 'In that case... I am ready,' he said.

'Daiki... That is what I needed to hear. If you truly believe yourself ready to wield me, then you must first find me. Until you do, I will not appear before you again, and you will not be able to use my power. You may look upon me once more, only when the proper door is opened.' With that said, the spirit vanished before Daiki's eyes. Resolved, he immediately began following staircase after staircase. Each door he opened had its own dangers present, from pillars of fire, to spike traps. One door in particular opened to let loose a barrage of needles, which Daiki evaded only to have one make contact with his cheek. In this moment, his physical self in the outside world had a cut appear in the very same place. 'Eto. This is already the most challenging thing I've dealt with so far in this school. But... it's the most exciting!'

[Apollymi]

'Oh?' Benihime looked at the spirit of her Zanpakuto and surprisingly enough the woman gained a bit of a softer smile. She found this spirit's need for assurance to be a adorable. 'Well, I am the first to admit that I tend to immediately forget things that don't matter to me. But... if I'd actually been able to hear your name, I promise... I'd remember it~' she said this seemed to make something change in the spirits face. She floated over to the young woman and looked her directly into crimson eyes and smirked. 'I don't believe you!' these words came out almost instantly much to Benihime's surprise. 'You don't trust me, you don't trust anyone. That's why you can't hear me, when I tell you the most important thing...' said the spirit who seemed to be a tad bit moodier than the last time Benihime had visited. 'Nani? I don't distrust you...' she said to the witch like woman but this only seemed to make the conversation worse. Benihime's character flaw which was most abhorrent to her Zanpakuto was her inability to believe in things she couldn't quantify, she placed her faith in nothing she couldn't see, in nothing that was unproven. 'But you don't trust me... I see... fine!' the spirit then angrily stormed off, slipping deeper and deeper into the forest of thorns and vines, which seemed to close up around her. Before Benihime could try to slip between any of them, the other woman's voice could be heard again. 'If you just try and come in like that it won't work. But if you don't come after me you'll never get to know... it's an interesting decision, but there is a safe way to pursue me... you simply have to take the darkest path.' the spirit said.

With its words two paths opened among the thorns and thickets. One of which seemed to be lit at random intervals by small torches with green fires, one of which had no external light. Benihime looked at the two roads and frowned deeply. 'This screams test... and I don't like it,' said the redhead who immediately went towards the green fire. She was all about learning through example and figured that if the lit path was dangerous, she'd figure out why first hand. Upon walking into this path, the green fires cast spooky looking shadows and as the redhead moved to avoid them, she found herself falling into large thorns. The first of which pierced her left side, leaving a circular puncture mark on her person where it meditated in the Zanjutsu training facility.

[Bloodedge]

Several minutes passed, and Daiki continued to open door after door within his inner world. None of these doors revealed the spirit, but a rare few of them, surprisingly, had nothing that put him in danger. These finds were somewhat refreshing. On the other hand, he was growing tired of this seemingly endless search through an ever-changing labyrinth. 'This is tedious. I'd rather have entered a fight,' he thought. Eventually, Daiki came across what he was certain was the final unchecked door. Upon opening it, his body felt as if it was no longer held to the ground by gravity, and he was repelled all the way to his starting point. He fell on his rear, knowing from the brief time he was before the door, that his Zanpakutou spirit was not there either. 'Kuso. What kind of test is this? I've checked all the doors, and she isn't behind any of them!'

[Apollymi]

Several minutes later and Benihime had finally managed to crawl out of the initial path she'd tried travelling down. It seemed that it really wasn't going to work out, she had several deep scratches and puncture wounds around her body. Even so, she seemed to dust herself off and stand outside the two paths staring down the darkest one still seemingly skeptical. 'Awfully nice of you, leaving the other one open. Ah... ya' know... I expected a fight or something... or maybe for you to just give in,' she thought of the Zanpakuto spirit. 'But I suppose that was wrong, if you're anything like me, you likely intend to get your way...' she said moving to stand before the darkness of the secondary path. 'Ugh, you know... you're asking for a lot. Faith without knowing what to expect...' she said standing in front of this darkness she took a step forward. Benihime wasn't the sort of person who just took people at their word, she had to prove it, she had to know... this was the case in all aspects of her life. What her zanpakuto as asking of her, was something completely different. 'Yes, I know I am asking a lot,' said the zanpakuto spirit. 'But you're also technically asking a lot of me,' she said there was lightness in this tone. 'Alright, stepping in...' she said and she took several steps into the darkness feeling a warm tingling feeling as she did, but nothing hurting her, like the well lit path before. Instead she took many steps in thickets so deep there was no light and she couldn't see a single step in front of her own face. 'So, how am I supposed to find you... if I can't see you?'

[Bloodedge]

Even later, Daiki sat in his inner world, taking the same meditative stance his physical self had. He needed to consider the will of his Zanpakutou, and why she had not appeared behind any of the doors he'd checked. Where was she? Why did nearly every door he opened have some form of trap behind it? Why would she say to find her behind a door, if she obviously didn't intend to hide behind a specific door? These were the questions on Daiki's mind. A few minutes of thought occurred before he finally came to a realization. He stood then, moving toward a completely random door while speaking aloud. 'Gomen nasai. Every time I come here, you are nothing but kind to me, but I have never shown you the respect you deserve. Aisumimasen!' With that said, Daiki reached the door. This time, he raised his right hand to knock on the door. It opened from the other side thereafter, and there stood the tanned woman. 'Okaerinasai~' she said while stepping aside and gesturing into the room. Daiki bowed. 'Tadaima. Arigatou gozaimashita!' With that, Daiki stepped beyond the threshold, where he fell into a seemingly endless abyss. Even so, he did not seem worried. 'Hey... could I please have your name?' he asked while falling. From above, the Zanpakutou spirit replied with a bright smile.

'Of course, Daiki. My name is...'

Suddenly, Daiki's eyes opened. He had left his state of meditation, and was now able to rise. Upon doing so, his left hand rose to wipe blood from the cut on his cheek. With that out of the way, he muttered one final statement. "Yoroshiku onegaishimashita..."

[Apollymi]

Benihime was stumbling though the darkness her eyes rather slowly adjusting to the whole of this darkness. After several minutes of this warm and tingling feeling stumbling through the vines, the red haired young woman came to a stop, because a single step had caused her to stumble. In fact, the stumble had come because there was a rather large hole in the middle of the path. There was nothing around it, it was simply a sheer drop off into nothing. A sigh escaped, the young woman, 'Look, I can't get any further... it's a huge hole and I can't cross it. I can see it clearly now.' she said to the spirit. A giggle would come from the spirit seeming to have it come from all around. 'Jump,' it was a single word. This made the redhead pause, rubbing a hand across her face. 'So, let me get this straight, you want me to jump, into the giant hole... that right?' she said and the spirit giggled. 'See, this is what I am talking about, you don't trust me.' she said again. 'I told you... this way wouldn't hurt you... you still tested the other way first. I'm telling you... to jump... but you don't trust me enough, to believe I wouldn't ever lead you astray...' the spirit said still hidden somewhere else. 'And if you don't trust me, how can you ever hear my name?' she asked seeming to not understand the problem nor why her partner didn't seem to understand what she was saying.

Pacing began as Benihime walked back and forth in front of this deep hole. She tried to consider this from the perspective of her Zanpakuto spirit. 'When we first met, you said you'd always been with me...' she said. 'I suppose, if that is the case, and you are part of me then you are someone I owe my trust for still being here,' she said at the edge of the hole. 'You're right... all this time, I was acting like you were a stranger... but you know me better than anyone else... gomenasai~' she said stopping her pacing she turned her back to the hole opened up her arms and without another second of thought fell into it. The warm tingling sensation engulfed her, and soon enough her Zanpakuto spirit appeared once more, at her back as she fell into the depths of the dark hole created for her. 'It's alright~ I knew you'd be a bit stubborn. I forgive you, Benihime~' said the being as they descended she leaned into the redhead and spoke to her. 'So you ready? Can you hear it? My name is...' a grin came to the young woman's face as she learned the name of her zanpakuto and woke from her dream state immediately clapping a hand over her puncture wound on her right side. "Ouch!" she said seeming to have not realized she'd have to feel the same injuries twice.

[Bloodedge]

"That sounds dreadful," Daiki said when Benihime uttered a sound implying pain. After sheathing his own Zanpakutou, he crouched down to her level, reaching out toward her right side. "Here. I've been practicing a bit of Kaidou; I'll try to help." Though he seemed to be making a request, Daiki did not await any form of response from the redhead before a green glow emitted from his hands. The healing process would be slower than what one should expect of a Shinigami in the 4th Division, but it began immediately nonetheless. Once he had begun, his gaze shifted upward to the face of the redhead. "Some Zanpakutou you've got there. Must have been one hell of a test. Any luck?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime turned to look at Daiki who apparently was keen to help her out a bit. At the words that it didn't really sound pleasant she couldn't help but chuckle. "Definitely not a pleasant feeling, but I've felt worse," she mentioned with a haphazard grin. Soon enough the healing process had begun and though it wasn't as fast as she knew it could be, it was more than she could manage for herself. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Dai-kun," she said. Seeming to find it interesting that she was getting fixed up over something so relatively small. Moving right along, it seemed he understood at least how she'd gotten such an injury and a small smirk came to her face. "Apparently, I have trust issues..." she said and in keeping with that she didn't initially say anymore, but she thought about it just a little bit, and lowered her voice a tad. "But between the two of us in the strictest of confidences, it worked out alright~" she said with a small smile. "What about you, any luck with that pretty gold blade of yours?"

[Bloodedge]

"I'm sure you have. It's still not something you should have to deal with," he said while continuing his healing efforts. When Benihime's voice emerged in a lower tone, Daiki offered a closer ear to listen with. A grin crossed his face when she confessed to the development of her Shikai. "Your secret's safe with me. I expected you to get this far, though. It would be sad if I had reached the next level, and you of all people hadn't. At this point, we're the only ones who can push the other to greater heights, right?" he asked. Mere seconds later, the green glow around his hands disappeared. Benihime's wound would have been fully healed, freeing Daiki to rise to his feet and offer both of his hands to help the lass up.

[Apollymi]

"I am glad you think so, though to be fair, I sort of did it to myself~" she explained of her injury. Which was true considering that what she'd been doing was directly contradictory to what her Zanpakuto had asked of her. Moving right along, it seemed that her companion and rival of sorts, had also made good work of the communication with his Zanpakuto as well. It seemed they were both fairly productive this day, on top of that she was soon healed up. She had a quick stretch of her side and feeling no pain reached up for the young man's outstretched hands to help herself to her feet. "Hai, I figured I'd be bored to death, glad to have someone along with some skill. Arigatou gozaimasu~" she said as she reached her feet. She looked to the young man and asked a single question. "Are you headed home this time?" the young woman asked knowing it was one of the free times they were allowed to visit home if they wished, she herself was surprisingly headed home this time, though she'd not gone anytime before this point.

[Bloodedge]

"Really? So, yours had a test that wasn't working out so well for you either, huh..." Following a stretch, Benihime accepted Daiki's offer to help her to her feet. She went on to ask if he would be going home this time around, obviously alluding to the time they were allowed away from the academy to do such things. With this query fresh on his mind, he gripped his waist with his left hand and rubbed the back of his head with his right. "Not this time. Since you've never gone out during the vacation, I figured I would stay behind this time. You have to be bored here all by yourself, right? Or would I be imposing?"

[Apollymi]

"Hai, something like that~" she said, taking note that he seemed to have had the same sort of problems on his own. Though apparently not to the same extent that Benihime had experienced them. Beyond this point though it seemed that Daiki thought to stay behind with her on the normal trips that everyone else took home. It was the general case that she was the only person in the first class who usually stayed behind but this was by her own doing. She chuckled just a little and shook her head. "No, it's not like you'd be imposing. Actually, I'd take your company..." she said. "But, I'm actually going home this time. I sort of promised my big brothers I'd come home some time before I was made a Shinigami. And since that seems to be the case now more so than ever, I thought I'd go home for a bit," she finished rubbing the back of her own head. "So, you should go home this time, and stay and hang out with me next time~ It'll be fun~" she offered a standing invitation to join her in times where she'd normally have been all by herself, they did have one more vacation time before what would likely be one or both of their early graduations.

[Bloodedge]

Given the situationally unfavorable response of Benihime, Daiki was quickly left somewhat disheartened. The one time he had resolved to stay away from his family house for a scheduled visit, there was no point in him doing so. Still, his family was quite strange. Due to the fact that he had not arranged a return, he was left quite unable to go now. But, he supposed there were worse things than being stuck by himself at the academy. "I might be able to take you up on that. No going home for me this time, though. Noble stuff; it's complicated. I'll just continue my training for the weekend. Just don't go falling behind on me while you're out, alright?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Daiki was staying behind even without her doing so. He mentioned the complication of noble life being one of the reasons he wasn't going home. The girl couldn't help but chuckle, she would truly never know what he meant by that. Her family being about as far away from nobility as one could get. Even so, she took the commentary of the young man in stride and could only show a slightly cocky smile in the face of it. "I'm going out, you should just hope I don't get too far ahead~" the girl mentioned of her own ability to learn in active situations. Now that they were all set on what they were doing for this weekend the young woman began her walk towards the doorway. "Catch ya' later, Dai-kun~"

[Bloodedge]

"I guess we'll see what happens," he replied. Since he was already inside the Zanjutsu training facility, he soon unsheathed his Zanpakutou. Benihime chose to take her leave at this very moment, and with it, Daiki returned to his Jinzen pose. "Ja ne... Benihime," he said just before his eyes drew closed.

[Apollymi]

At the end of the vacation, Benihime returned to the Shin'o Academy. She'd had quite the eventful time home, and would be returning to the Academy to stay there until she was able to graduate. She returned to her dormitory with her Zanpakuto and the things she'd left with, and newly added bandages over her left eye. She was likely among the first to return and seemed move about with no particular purpose. 'I'm really alone now... what do I do?' she questioned herself internally. She'd spent the rest of her weekend away sleeping in Kisaragi Saya's dojo in the Rukongai trying to get over her depression, and put on the brave face she'd need for the completion of her training. Which was something she fully intended to do, if only to make good on the promise she'd made to the hollow Bergamo.

[Bloodedge]

Having never left the academy during this vacation time, Nomura Daiki was the sole student present to greet Benihime upon her return. He was walking around with his sealed Zanpakutou slung over his shoulder when he saw the redhead. "You're back!" he called out from across the room. Shifting in Benihime's direction, he got a much better look at her. His eyes widened momentarily, as the bandages upon her eye were quite a disturbing sight. Moreover, despite any intentions to keep a straight face, Daiki opened his senses to pick up on small fluctuations in Reiatsu. "... Oi. What happened?"

[Apollymi]

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Dai-kun," she said at the commentary that she was back. Within a few seconds though, the boy's countenance had changed a little bit. Beyond that it seemed, that he was a bit worried and knew that something had occurred. Then again, it had been quite an undertaking and she couldn't well say she didn't feel fairly bad. "Dai-kun you seem a bit worried. It's alright... it isn't nearly as bad as it looks," she said taking a deep breath to say aloud something she hadn't tried to explain since showing up on Saya's doorstep a while after the death of her family. "Umm, a Hollow attacked in the Rukongai while I was out there. Apparently, they hold grudges. Anyways... it kind of blew up my parents house with my parents and brothers inside. They are all dead now... but so is the hollow." she said with a curt nod. But there was something missing from her explanation there was no emotion in it, it was simply the casual statement of fact... she was now an orphan and her entire family was murdered by a hollow.

[Bloodedge]

"That's not saying much. 'Not as bad' as dreadful, is still horrible," Daiki replied. Soon enough, he was given the explanation as to what the redhead endured during her time away. If Daiki thought his eyes had widened to their limit, he was in for a rude awakening by his eyelids, as they certainly stretched further yet. It was one thing to hear that a Hollow had appeared in the Rukongai, but an entirely different matter to suddenly know that it had killed the redhead's family. After a moment of silence, he began walking toward Benihime while slipping his sheath into his obi. If there was anything to be said, he had no clue what it was. All he could think to do was stop in front of the young woman with his arms outstretched.

[Apollymi]

If Benihime could have thought of a proper counter to the fact that something less negative was still negative, she definitely would have said it. But alas she had nothing, not even something to fill the silence of the man's constantly widening eyes. 'I should say something...' she thought. 'Maybe make a joke about his eyes popping out of his head...' the sentences came out of her head as she watched this young man approach her, while putting his sword away. 'Yep, that's what I'll do...' she opened her mouth to speak as the young man stopped in front of her, but she couldn't say anything. Instead his outstretched arms and general closeness weren't something she could well do anything about. 'Say something, damnit.' she said to herself but she couldn't force any more words to come out, instead a tear fell from her right eye. If was as if she'd gone mute and soon enough she took the necessary step forward and into the man's outstretched arms, partly to hide her tears, but there were other reasons. Because she'd been numb to this entire situation, with her life in danger. Immediately after, she'd tried not to think about it. She put it off while she was at Saya's Dojo, so she could feel like she was a grown up and it was okay, so she could be angry at the hollows. But it really wasn't all of it. She was all alone in this world, and though she didn't have much fondness for her family on most occasions, she couldn't help but feeling emptiness at the thought of them no longer being part of her life.

[Bloodedge]

Though Benihime seemed somewhat reluctant to accept his invitation, she soon enough stepped into his embrace. Daiki took on a tight grip of the redhead's body, rubbing the back of her head with one hand as he did. "Don't hold it in. I'm here for you," he said softly. He could not relate at all to what she felt, but at the very least, he could sympathize. "We'll work to get past this, alright?"

[Apollymi]

If Benihime had any plans on holding back, her body didn't seem to agree with the idea. Tears continued to stream down her face, as her rival basically comforted her about the death of her entire family. In the tight grip of his young man he rubbed the back of her head, as she cried into his chest. She couldn't help it. It was as if everything she held off for a couple of days finally spilled over into her actual life. 'Damnit, I'm actually crying... and I can't make it stop...' she thought to herself. She'd like to say it was uncomfortable, but with the young man in her presence talking to her and being so nice, she could hardly try and tell that lie nor deny the comforts being offered her. After a few minutes, when she had no more tears left to cry the young woman finally answered some words spoken to her. "Hai, arigatou gozaimasu," she finally managed.

[Bloodedge]

At long last, the young woman spoke again. A smile crossed Daiki's face when she did, and he pulled away slightly to look upon her while speaking. "At least there's still a voice in there," he said. If there was one thing he could admit to, it was this individual's fortitude, even beyond her abilities as a Shinigami. Over the course of the past nine months, he had seen proof of this time and time again. Releasing her from his embrace, he placed his hands upon her upper arms. "Well, my kosode is wet now. How do you feel?"

[Apollymi]

"Hai, got a voice..." she said a small smile forming on her face, as she was released from this embrace and moved to wipe the tears from her face just a little. Benihime knew several things, and one of them was that a face covered in tears wasn't the least bit attractive. Beyond this the young man commented that his robe was wet, which was very much true, she knew this given how close she'd been to him a few seconds prior to this. She had the grace to look a little embarrassed and began rubbing the back of her head. "Sumimasen... I wanted to stop but it didn't seem to agree with me," she said of the amount of tears transferred from her eyes to his robes. As for how she felt she thought about it, and looked at the young man before her. "I feel empty. Which I suppose is better than the initial numbness, or the anger of a couple of days ago... I wrecked my room at Saya-sama's, she's gonna be pissed," she said thinking about it afterwards. Still the thought of the angry grey eyed woman was a bit of a comfort to the young woman.

[Bloodedge]

"Good. It's a nice one; don't choke up and stop using it for too long." For some reason, Benihime thought it necessary to apologize for his moistened kosode. When she did, Daiki shook his head. "Baka~. I told you, don't hold it in. If you're sad, cry. If you feel alone, use a friend. I can't relate to what you're going through, but I'll do what I can." With that said, Daiki released his hold on Benihime completely, placing his hands instead on either side of his waist. "So, friend, what are we going to do about this empty feeling?"

[Apollymi]

"Hai hai, since you like it so much. I'll try..." she said seeming to find comfort in this young man. She seemed to be enjoying herself just a little bit, enjoying the chat and seeming to need this sort of companionship to keep her more morbid and empty thoughts at bay. As they spoke it seemed that Daiki took a bit of offense to her apologizing and went on to explain that she should use what was at her disposal to help her through her problems. "Well, like I told you at the start of this weekend... I got trust issues, but, I'll keep it in mind~" she mentioned feeling a bit better about her life at this moment. Daiki let go of her and she felt a bit strange about it, like she wasn't really sure she wanted the contact to end, but, it seemed the most natural. As for her empty feeling she sighed and heard her stomach grumble. "Hm, I think... food. Wanna go for snacks? I don't think I've eaten in a couple of days." and from this moment she'd be able to move forward, both in her friendship with Daiki and her studies, able to put aside that feeling of emptiness until it was nothing but an annoyance at the back of her mind.

[Bloodedge]

"Your Zanpakutou got past the trust issues, apparently. If there's one thing I've been able to do so far, it's follow up on a good lead," he said. At this point, he was simply waiting for a suggestion of some sort as to how this void would be filled. Within moments, he received an answer, thanks in part to the apparent hunger of Benihime. "Great idea! You know, the kitchen staff hasn't come back in just yet. We could raid the place. Honestly, I'd like to offer something better, but... I don't have the Kan since I didn't return home this weekend. What I have, I'm saving for a special occasion."

[Apollymi]

A smile crossed the redhead's face as Daiki spoke of his ability to follow a proper lead when given. "Hai hai, I mean, just don't like stab me or anything~" she said given the way her Zanpakuto had gotten past her apparent issue. Soon enough the young man was agreeing that it was a good idea to get some food, and was speaking potentially on raiding the kitchen since the staff hadn't properly returned. A bit of a chuckle came from the young woman as he explained that he wished to offer more but that he had other plans for the money he saved and didn't have any extra because he hadn't returned home. "Iie, I wasn't suggesting anything other than raiding the kitchen. Also I know when the kitchen staff returns... I haven't gone anywhere in like nine months remember~" she said. "And... I know where they hide the good tea~" she said beckoning the young man along.

She'd lead to the kitchens used to serve the students and then even further in to the pantry including a special section for the staff. "So, pick your poison~" she said opening up a small drawer and revealing various air-tight tins filled with tea leaves and labeled with various flavors while she began rummaging through the rest of the place for the types of thing she normally ate while everyone else was gone.

[Bloodedge]

"Don't worry; I'm not the stabbing type," the raven-haired male responded. It seemed Benihime was on-board with the idea of raiding the kitchen here at the academy; rather, it was what she'd been getting at all along. Daiki followed along from the moment she moved toward the kitchen, and found joy in the pantry even farther beyond. "So, the instructors get special treatment. We can't exactly be having that. I'm having some of this Fukuoka," he said as he reached out to retrieve a small jar of tea leaves with the desired label. "Are there cakes? I wouldn't mind filling up on those."

[Apollymi]

"That's good. Very good~" she said as she rummaged through the cabinets eventually finding what she was looking for, among the contents. Confections eaten normally with tea known as Wagashi. They were an assortment of these cakes purchased from a nearby shop and kept on hand. A bit of a grin came to the girl's face as she heard the kind of tea this young man chose. "Figures you would chose that, also I am way ahead of you about the cakes... this weeks wagashi box includes... Dango, Daifuku, Taiyaki, and Botamachi~" she said opening the box and revealing an assortment of various sweets. "Sugoi! This week is a good one, look it!~" she said with a wide eye seemingly excited by the prospect. Once the sweets were properly inspected, she'd take the box and head back out, going on to pick up the tea she wanted and the necessary material for the making of said tea.

[Bloodedge]

"Daifuku? Sugoi~" Having decided on his tea of choice, Daiki grabbed the other half of the remaining materials needed for a proper tea ceremony. While retrieving these items, he gazed upon the assortment of wagashi, choosing in the end that he had a couple of clear preferences among them. Several seconds later, he would be in the dining hall, pouring boiling water into a pair of cups.

[Apollymi]

"Hai hai~" soon enough the pair of adolescents was setting up to enjoy something of a tea ceremony between the two of them. This would go on until the pair of them were done. It seemed the girl's spirits were lifted by the time she spent with Daiki and beyond this she seemed to enjoy his companionship as much or maybe even more than what she shared with Shusuke.

Before she knew it, between her studies and her free time spent with Daiki something like six weeks had passed and they were now only a bit more than a month left until graduation. They were leaving one of the major halls after a lecture on the history of the Seireitei. The young woman had hung back as she always did, waiting for the rest to leave. She no longer had her eye bandaged and there was a small thin scar on her face along her left eye, but it was hidden by her bangs as usual even before the thing appeared. "I hope that was the last one, these are starting to get tedious..."

[Bloodedge]

"Good news, and bad news," said Daiki, who stepped out from behind the redhead after the end of their history lesson. "The good news is, that was the last scheduled lecture on History of the Seireitei. The bad news, though..." He took a brief, slightly ominous pause while stepping out ahead of Benihime, turning to face her with a horrific expression upon his face. "That was not the last lecture on History of Soul Society. We've got at least three more lectures to go before graduation."

[Apollymi]

"Hm?" she said seeming to get a bit excited by the fact that there was good news. In fact, it seemed that this was their last lecture on the History of the Seireitei which seemed to please her. Until of course, the ominous pause which led to the knowledge that they had at least 3 more lectures on the History of the Soul Society. This caused a bit of laughter from the young woman. "I want to believe you're kidding... like really badly. Ugh, I don't like lectures... boring. I could read the history book in the time it takes for the lecture to take place. I know... I've done it already." she said rolling her eyes and seeming to be exasperated. But after a second she smiled just a bit. "Eh, good thing you're here to keep me company~" she said finally standing and getting ready to leave for the day. "So, what's up?~"

[Bloodedge]

"I wish I could say I'm kidding," was the reply of the sapphire-eyed male. With the initialization of this chat, he spun 180 degrees while still walking, as to travel alongside the redhead without backing into anyone - or anything - ahead of them. "At this point, we don't actually have to pay any attention at all to these lectures, I think. We're sort of infamous now. I don't know if it's because of us, or because of the two superstar students last year, but the Gotei 13 have already started their recruitment drives. That's what's up. You said you still weren't sure about a division, so I thought maybe you wouldn't mind joining me in checking out all the options."

[Apollymi]

As Benihime traveled with Daiki he away from her while seamlessly avoiding all coming obstacles as they moved forward. "Hm, it's probably a combination of the two. Two years back to back, really talented people coming through. They'd probably try and draft us if they thought it would get them someone as good as our predecessors~" said the young woman as she walked along. It also seemed that the recruitment drives were up and that Daiki wanted to attend. Even if she hadn't wanted to attend, it would be quite a good idea to go, since true to Daiki's words, she still hadn't decided on a division to try and join. "Of course I wouldn't mind joining you for an afternoon of sorting through potential divisions~ Sounds more fun than most other things at this point~" chimed the young woman, seeming to find a great deal of comfort in this young man's presence as he filled a bit of the emptiness she sometimes felt in her life when she was all alone with her thoughts.

[Bloodedge]

"Sounds reasonable to me," he said as his stride increased. Once Benihime agreed to joining him in attending the recruitment drive, he began moving toward the specific destination. If she hadn't agreed, he was very likely to alter his plans for the day. Though he didn't believe the redhead had gotten over previous traumatic events, there seemed to be some healthy development, and he would continue to be around to help in whatever way he could. "Great! It's right through here," Daiki stated whilst gesturing into an open doorway, into a room where the Gotei 13 had brought emphasis to their divisions via advertisements and the like. "After you~"

[Apollymi]

"Hai hai~" Benihime said. If there had been no activities suggested for the afternoon she likely would have found herself doing a bit of solo training and trying not to think about the recent trauma she'd experienced. She was actually quite happy to have a friend like Daiki around to give her things to do with her extra time and help her out in such a way. As such she ended up following him to the destination of this recruitment drive, and upon entering she'd see several different areas set up for each of the Divisions of the Gotei. Her eyes widened, as she saw this set up, but she walked in nonetheless. "Hm, so... if I was the scary sort I likely wouldn't walk in~" she said, looking around at various tables where Vice-Captains and seated members of each the divisions seemed to be trying to draw attention to each of their own tables. "So... numerical order? That seems okay~" she said stepping up to the First Division's booth to have a look at their recruitment material.

[Bloodedge]

"Hmph. Good thing you're not," Daiki said with a grin. Once Benihime stepped into the room, he followed closely behind. The young woman had the idea of approaching these tables in numerical order, and with so many options ahead of them, he could only agree. "Yeah. I like the sound of that. Good plan," he replied. With that, he was on his way toward the area set up by the 1st Division. There, he found a brochure to open; this mentioned what sort of members the division sought. "Soldiers that can set an example for every division, huh? That seems a little... uptight."

[Apollymi]

Benihime stood in front of this and took one of the recruitment brochures, she did this for the sake of appearing polite but was content to whisper to Daiki about her first impressions. "Uptight, doesn't begin to cover it... it also seems like work. But look at the Q & A~" she said with a chuckle drawing attention to the last line about the nature of the Captain-Commander. "Soutaichou is like 5000 or something according to the textbook, I don't know if I'd admit that sorta thing~" she said humorously. "Besides, I am not really an 'example' for most people. It sounds like work monitored by a super parent. Probably not for me~" she said with a bit of a chuckle as she soon enough shuffled towards the next division to see what it was all about.

[Bloodedge]

"I don't know. Soutaichou may be the oldest around, but still respectable. On the other hand, I don't think I'm ready for that sort of pressure just yet." Daiki's analysis of the division led him to believe that he, too, should likely not be seeking refuge in this particular squad. When they reached the next table, marked for the 2nd Division, he had a look at its brochure as well. "Hmm. This one is... umm..." In the Captain's interview of this brochure, Daiki found nothing too appealing. The "words for Shinigami recruits" column stated nothing more than how the division's overall combat prowess was second only to the 11th. If this was their claim to fame, he wasn't at all interested. What's more, the Vice-Captain's interview had no information whatsoever. "Next?"

If Benihime chose to move on, Daiki would do the same immediately. Something the two had likely yet to realize about the next table - the 3rd Division's area - did not exactly have an average seated member sat at it. With his chair leaned back and his legs propped up on the table, this green-eyed male waited. He sported a yellow cape with a raised hood and black markings, emblazoned with his division's insignia. Underneath this, and only somewhat visible, was a Captain's Haori. This man was indeed Yuuki Terumi, Captain of the Gotei 13's 3rd Division.

[Apollymi]

On her way to the Third Division table Benihime glanced in the direction of it. She saw the man sitting at the table in his cloak with his feet up on the table. "Somehow this feels more my speed," she said as she approached the table. She reached down to take one of the brochures, but after she did she was able to get a closer look at the man at the table. She'd nudge Daiki and look at the white underneath the man's fore cloak. "Is that what I think it is?" she mumbled to the young man at her side.

[Bloodedge]

Following Benihime's nudge, Daiki's attention was drawn to the hooded male as well. His eyes narrowed, then widened, but he would not be given the opportunity to respond as intended. "Very perceptive," he sitting male replied with a wicked grin. "Boku wa Sanbantai Taichou, Yuuki Terumi. Yo-ro-shi-ku~♪" he said. Terumi looked at the brochure held by Benihime, and his grin softened. One would find that, inside these brochures made by the Captain himself, there was nothing but funny little doodles in all of the answer slots. Under "What kind of individuals are you seeking?" there was a quick sketch of a stick figure bonking another over the head with a wooden slab. Under "How would you describe the atmosphere around your division?" there was a copy of the previous image, albeit surrounded by confetti and party balloons. Things changed up slightly as the questions went on, but for the most part, this was all there was to the Captain's interview.

Daiki, after getting over the surprise of there being a Captain present in this room, bowed formally. "Yoroshiku, Yuuki-Taichou!" he said. Even with the ability to recover and give proper greeting, he couldn't stop wondering exactly why an individual of such status would bother being physically present for an early recruitment drive.

[Apollymi]

Soon enough a compliment was issued on the perceptive nature of the young red haired woman. Beyond this she was then formally introduced to the Captain of the Third Division. But there were dozens of questions rolling through her mind. For instance, 'Why is he here?' and 'Doesn't he have Captain duties?', seemed to be at the forefront of the young woman's mind. But before she could get around to questioning any of these things, or even trying to introduce herself, she opened the brochure and giggled for a second before clapping a hand over her mouth. There were only pictures of random things, and it was kind of funny considering. This happened during Daiki's acceptance of Terumi's introduction, but soon enough the girl recovered. "Hai, yoroshiku, Yuuki-taichou," the young girl finally managed. "So no disrespect intended, but aren't you supposed to be, doing Captain things? And also what's with this brochure?" she asked having a minor chuckle at the thought of it while she waited for an answer.

[Bloodedge]

"I have to agree. It is very strange to see a Captain operating something like this," Daiki concurred. Terumi, upon hearing the words of this pair, sucked his teeth thrice while waving his finger to and fro. "No, no, no, no~. You asked about the brochure. It clearly states that everyone should kick back and enjoy the little things. This," he said, pausing to gesture at himself in his obviously relaxed position. "This is me doing that. You guys are the not-so-little little things. That Tatsuya from last year wouldn't even open an ear to me about joining my division~"

[Apollymi]

Benihime was glad she wasn't the only one generally surprised by the idea that a captain was wandering about doing something as small as looking after a booth at recruitment drive. But given his statements about enjoying the little things in life she supposed it made sense. "Oh?" she said thinking about it strangely she looked to Daiki. "He said we were not so little... that's a bit strange isn't it?" she said thinking about it a bit more. "But... got to meet a Captain today, that's pretty cool~" she finished, thinking about it, if the Captain did things like this, she could only imagine rather easily getting lost among lower seated members and getting to goof off quite a bit. "Hm... Tatsuya? I've heard that name before... where... where..." the young woman seemed to have a problem connecting that name to a particular individual.

[Bloodedge]

"You should have heard the name," Daiki said when Benihime's memory was sparked. "He had no surname. Tatsuya was the youngest Shinigami to graduate the academy early. Last year, after being a student for only a year, he left to become 3rd Seat of the 12th Division. It's the second best record in academy history." While these words were spoken, Terumi clapped slowly. "Hai, hai. That boy was a treat, but wouldn't pay me any mind. What a wasted effort~"

[Apollymi]

Daiki soon went on to explain why the name of choice sounded familiar to the redhead young woman. And her eyes widened at the news. It seemed that it would be because, that individual counted as one of their immediate predecessors. And had one of the best all-time records for completion of the Academy. "Sugei!~ I knew it was in there somewhere," she said as Captain Yuuki seemed to have a bit of a laugh at the fact that a young man such as that didn't seem at all interested in joining his division. "Wasted effort... sounds a bit sad," she said thinking about it more. "Do you always come here to recruit directly, Yuuki-taichou?" she wondered. If it was the case he knew about the previous person to be counted as a prodigy then he likely did this sort of thing particularly when he was interested in individuals. It seemed like a reasonable enough place to start since he had a bit of humor to him which would overall make Benihime's life a tad better. Plus there was a lot to be said about a Captain willing to come do menial tasks like meeting new people without being utterly intimidating.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai!" Terumi said. Shortly afterwards, though, he had to correct himself. "Well, not really. Sometimes I have other things to do. Before last year, I was busy having some fun with the 2nd Division's Captain. I cleared my oh-so-busy schedule for this one." After interacting with the Captain for a suitable amount of time, Daiki claimed one of the brochures for himself. "Sou ka. Thank you for your time, Yuuki-taichou!" he said with a bow. With that, Daiki was ready to move on to the next table.

[Apollymi]

"Hai, I'll keep this then," mentioned Benihime as she accepted the answer being given her by Yuuki Terumi since it fit her general idea that he only bothered clearing his schedule for people of interest to him. "Arigatou Gozaimasu, Yuuki-taichou~" she said as she was quite certain that this Division had suddenly risen on her list from the way back to nearly the top by virtue of their personable Captain. Soon enough she moved along with Daiki and the approached the booth of the Fourth Division.

At the table for the Fourth Division was a young blond woman in a standard Shihakusho with the hakama replaced by a small miniskirt. She looked to be tired and had dark bags forming under her eyes, but on her cheeks were strange black markings which seemed to be part of her ensemble. Finishing off her look worn on her left arm, was a badge which marked her as the Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division. She saw these two people approaching and her blue eyes lit up quite a bit. "Sugoi, first year students... you're Nomura Daiki and Niwatoko Benihime. Both of you are said to be really good at Kidou. Yoroshiku~" said the young woman much to the redhead's surprise, it was strange to be addressed so directly, especially by someone who'd previously looked like she was about to fall asleep on her feet.

[Bloodedge]

At the next table, another individual of high status was present to greet the pair. This one wore the badge of a Lieutenant, and seemed rather excited to be visited by the two, despite her apparent lack of energy. "H-hai. Yoroshiku," Daiki said, seeming slightly taken aback by the state of this woman. "You're... Oishi-fukutaichou. Are you alright? You seem very... worn-out."

[Apollymi]

"Yo!" Benihime managed. This woman looked to be truly almost dead on her feet, but Daiki's questioning of her seemed to liven her up a bit. "Iie, it isn't like I'm worn-out or anything. I just always look like this," she said with wide blue eyes. "You two have good prospects you should consider joining the Fourth Division. There is always something to do, and your help would be greatly appreciated." she said with a swift nod. At the look on the woman's face, Benihime picked up a recruitment brochure to look over it. "Oishi-fukutaichou, it says here there are always people going in and out of the Fourth Division because it doubles as a Medical Center... how many patients do you see a day?" asked the redhead. The blonde woman seemed to look a bit astounded for a second, but such a number was kind of hard to put together for her. "Ano, I don't really know how to answer that... I see a lot of patients everyone does... but the level of injury varies a lot, so it isn't terrible. The Fourth Division is actually a mellow place once you get used to it," she said, which caused Benihime's face to shift a little. This woman didn't talk like her job was truly daunting. In fact she still had a smile on her face, but something about her countenance made the redhead believe there was more to this. "Eh, Dai-kun... help me out a bit~"

[Bloodedge]

Apparently, this woman wasn't particularly tired, but always appeared this way. Daiki thought this strange, but also thought that he had maybe been a bit rude in his question initially. Whatever the case, the conversation moved on from this due to the inquiry of Benihime. The answer she received was seemingly not what she sought, and she even went on to ask the black-haired male's assistance in drawing out a proper answer. He thought for a moment, eventually producing a query which was more likely to get the necessary information. "What would be the ratio of 4th Division members to 11th Division members within the Med Center at any given time?"

[Apollymi]

Daiki's question seemed to be one more factually answerable for the Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division. She smiled when she gave the answer because it didn't seem bad to her. "Three 11th Division members in the Medical Center at any given time for every member of the Fourth who is also present. But they fight a lot, over... well nothing really," she explained still bright eyed and cheery. A smile came to Benihime's face, but it was mostly a cover for the amount of shock she felt at the overworked Vice-Captain. 'She always looks like that because she hasn't had any sleep since she graduated...' she thought. "Hai, that's more the information I was looking for, Arigatou Gozaimasu, Oishi-fukutaichou. Thank you for the time, and interest~" the young woman said with that same forced happy smile on her face. "Hai, thank you both, hope to see you again~"

She gave a quick bow and began to move away, more than willing to dance about the room, until of course, they'd eventually stopped by all the booths and met with some upper division members from everywhere. She couldn't help but think this was a strange thing to do, but talking with people gave her a pretty good idea of where she'd fit in the best. Until eventually she'd be seen sitting at a table with tea in front of her and several of the brochures of which she'd organized them by her priorities for them. "Alright, whatcha got, Dai-kun?"

[Bloodedge]

"Wow. That's actually incredible," Daiki said of the 4th Division's fortitude. Though it was apparent enough in the state of their Vice-Captain, he could only imagine how the others were. "Arigatou gozaimashita," he said with a bow to end the interaction with the 4th's representative.

Several interactions later, he sat at a table, opposite to Benihime, with tea and brochures of his own. "In order of highest to lowest," he began, sliding forward the brochures to form a line as he named them. "Yonbantai... Sanbantai... Juusanbantai. Those are my top three."

[Apollymi]

Benihime sipped her tea and watched as the young man before her pushed forward his top three. It was interesting to see how they compared, and they seemed to have a bit in common though not a lot. She looked at Daiki and his choices and she supposed given his personality it made quite a bit of sense. The choice of the Fourth Division as his top was a bit astonishing, but she figured he was nice enough that he'd want to help out anyway he could. "The amount of nice you are Dai-kun, never ceases to amaze me," she said as she sat down her tea cup and went on to point at his top choice with the index finger of her left hand. "That... by the way, is all the niceness you possess put into a single choice~" the young woman gently teased.

[Bloodedge]

After pushing forward his choices, Daiki picked up his tea cup. Benihime decided to poke fun at the obvious nicety that was his top choice, the 4th Division. He shrugged as an immediate response, sipping his tea in the following moment. It wasn't until a few sips had passed that he spoke again. "What can I say? You should know better than anyone by now; I like to help out where I can. The 4th wouldn't have made it into my top three, but... the members need help as badly as the people who come to be healed. I had to give it priority because of that."

[Apollymi]

"Hai, I do know, but... I am still somehow surprised you made it a choice~ Though I totally see the merits of going where you would be needed and utilized," said Benihime as she withdrew her own hand and pushed forward her top three choices. "I'll share mine as well, so as not to create suspense~" she chimed. "Juunibantai, Sanbantai, and Juuichibantai," she said pointing to each of the three she'd chosen for herself. This list seemed to fit the kind of person she was over all, though she had a very specific reason for choosing each of these things. She then sipped her tea. She found it interesting that both of them had the Third Division as their second choice, figuring they both might have thought about it the same way.

[Bloodedge]

"Honestly, I didn't even consider that part. It just came up when I decided to organize the choices. There isn't much more to it than that." Daiki returned to his tea while Benihime listed her highest prospects. Of these choices, one made sense, while the other two seemed relatively out of nowhere. Upon seeing the list in front of him, he had some questions. "I figured the 3rd would be on your list as well. But, the 12th and... 11th? I'll grant 12th for sheer interest, but don't you think you're a bit too capable of using Kidou to go to a division that shuns it?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime heard out what Daiki had to say and in making his statement, he pretty much made it very clear that he was entirely too nice for his own good. He hadn't even considered himself in making such a decision which was likely the biggest part of his niceness. "Hai hai~" she said to this statement. After she made clear the choices she would likely be picking from it seemed that there was a bit of confusion about why she'd chosen two, both her first choice and her last one seemed to make a fuss particularly the last one. A smile came to her face a she went on to explain both of them. "Iie, I don't think that skill would be wasted at all, in fact... I'd be able to get much better at using Kidou with no one having to know the depth of that skill. Beyond that, I'd like to believe that possess more than enough skill in the other forms of combat to be fine not using it in the face of anyone who matters. I'm pretty good at hiding things, I don't think shunning will be a problem~" she said of Kidou, as it wasn't her primary skill though it was among her primary interests. "Also you're right, the 12th Division is full interest for me. I could study what I wish without anyone thinking anything negative of it, and that is a lot of freedom for one like me." the young woman said. It seemed that most of her choices were made for keeping her mind and body busy while promoting her general need for secrecy.

[Bloodedge]

Benihime's reason for looking into the 12th seemed sound, but he remained skeptical of the 11th. From what he knew of that division, they abhorred the use of Kidou. Either way, it wasn't his choice to make, and he supposed the redhead's reasons were good enough in her own mind. "So, most likely to join the 12th. I guess we'd both be doctors of some sort in that case. It'll still be a bit weird regardless though, huh? I don't know about you, but I've gotten used to the shared space over the past half year or so. I can't imagine what it must be like for people who only have a few comrades in the academy for the full six years."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that her reasoning was accepted though probably not to any great degree. To be fair she was least likely to go to the 11th Division and considered it more or less her last resort. But there was also the thing they hadn't discussed at all, which was the possibility to going to the 3rd Division together. "Hai, I have thought about that too, my original plan was to go to the same division as a friend. It would be kind of weird after spending so much time with other people to suddenly not have them around and have to get used to completely new people all over again," she said, thinking it over. "We could both go to our first choices and hang out from time to time... But our second choices are the same and the Division itself seems pretty laid back," she said thinking it over a bit more. "Yuuki-taichou has time to come and recruit personally if it interests him... so the demands of the division itself can't be terrible, and it seems pretty light-hearted so it could be fun~" she said as she went back to sipping tea. To be fair, she'd learned to deal with most people a lot better over the last couple of decades. But she'd also always been surrounded by people she knew she could manipulate at least a little... anything else would be completely uncharted territory and she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with that yet.

[Bloodedge]

"Really?" he replied, leaning forward with his cup in hand as the discussion progressed. This new development was apparently something he had been hoping for in some respect. "You know, I was trying to avoid suggesting the same thing. I figured it would sound strange if I did. The 3rd, though... if you're also going, could easily be called my top choice. Shall we?" he asked, reaching over the table with his right hand to offer it.

[Apollymi]

"Um-hm," Benihime said to the question of really. She thought this was the most obvious choice if they were going to continue their friendship and rivalry. "Why try to avoid suggesting it, it's a good idea. Doesn't sound strange at all~" she said with a nod over her own tea. Soon enough the young man before her had extended his right hand to her, asking if they would proceed with this plan. Benihime grinned and extended her own right hand to meet his. "Hai!~" she chimed for her own agreement.

[Bloodedge]

"Well... I was trying to avoid any awkwardness, is all," was Daiki's response. Moments later, it seemed they had come to an agreement on both of them joining the 3rd Division, as to remain in their ongoing partnership. He had to admit, he was rather excited by this prospect.

Almost a week later, Daiki stood outside the door to Benihime's quarters. Other students were clearing the halls, as it was now the final weekend afforded to students for visiting their families, friends and the like off-campus. Presently, he was in wait. He knocked on the door, wondering if perhaps it was too early during the day to be reaching out to the redhead.

[Apollymi]

Benihime was getting dressed for the day knowing that all the other students in the dormitories would be cleared out for their final weekends. She was busy wrapping up her ponytail. Her body already properly bandaged and unlike most days where she wore her uniform she was wearing a pair of large flame red hakama with orange flames. Her upper body wrapped in bandages, as she heard a knock at her door. This was a curious happening as such she made her way over to the door with her hands still busy wrapping the ribbon around her ponytail. She opened her door and found, Daiki standing. "Oh? Ohayou Gozaimasu, Dai-kun~"

[Bloodedge]

When the door finally opened, Daiki first took notice of the lack of academy attire worn by Benihime. Daiki himself sported white, red and gold robes of an Arabian variety, leaving his arms and abdomen exposed to the elements. Still, though, he kept his Zanpakutou equipped to his person. "Oh, good. I suppose I didn't wake you, then. Ohayou gozaimasu. Nice... uhh... bandages. Interesting fashion statement, but I think it works."

[Apollymi]

Daiki was looking rather interesting outside of his normal academy attire. Benihime herself, was particularly fond of uniforms because they didn't allow for normal individuality. "Iie, didn't wake me... I've been up for a bit," the girl said as she finished putting her hair up. "Arigatou gozaimasu, you also make interesting fashion choices. Nice outfit~" she commented as she walked over to her bed reaching for her zanpakuto which she'd left there while she got dressed. There was still plenty of room for it to hang off the side of her body which is where she placed it. "So, what's going on with you this morning?" she asked of the young man who'd found himself at her door at a randomly early moment.

[Bloodedge]

An internal sigh followed the clause that Benihime had not been woken by his knocking. "Oh, good," he said prior to inspecting his own attire. "You think so? This is the sort of thing my family wears all the time. I thought I was just making do with a couple of alterations." While Benihime reentered the room to retrieve her Zanpakutou, Daiki chose to lean against the door frame and wait. "Almost everyone is gone now. I figured, since we missed our opportunity last time, I could use this free weekend. I've still got that Kan I've been saving."

[Apollymi]

"Hai, I think so~" she said about his outfit. She seemed to think this was an interesting enough conversation to have while fixing her Zanpakuto to her person. When he mentioned that everyone else was almost gone and that he still had the Kan he was saving up, she remembered they'd discussed such a thing the last time they'd stayed alone at the Academy together but the circumstances had been very different. She enjoyed his company enough that she was alright with the idea of just about anything, but she realized in this moment she had no idea what he had in mind. "Hm, you know I realize you never said what you were saving the Kan for. What did ya' have in mind?" she asked as she approached the doorway he was leaning against fully outfitted and ready to begin her day.

[Bloodedge]

"That's easy. I was saving it for this," Daiki admitted. Prior to the previous vacation weekend, Daiki had been given a specific amount of Kan by his family, and expected to make use of it. He was then surprised by the mention of Benihime actually taking the vacation and going home with it, so he chose to push his savings back to this, the final free weekend of the year. "The 12th has been renting out experimental Gigai technology to anyone willing to test it. In addition to getting two of them, I still have a pass for one round trip to the Human World. Interested?"

[Apollymi]

The words that Daiki was saving his money for this moment made, Benihime's right eyebrow raise in curiosity. As she came to stand before him, he went on to explain what he actually wanted to do with his saved money. This idea was rather novel, and seemed to be kind of fun, since their first trip to the Material World on their first day in the Academy, she'd always thought it would be pretty fun to go without any responsibilities. "That..." she started with a pause her face breaking into the largest of grins. "Sounds amazing~ Of course I'm in~"

[Bloodedge]

"Yosh!" the male exclaimed. He was already prepared to depart, and it seemed Benihime was prepared as well. As such, Daiki moved out. Upon reaching the academy's front gates, he spoke again. "I don't know about you, but I've been wanting to check out the Human World for years. There's so much to it, we should have been allowed field trips in class. It would have been much better than the alternative."

[Apollymi]

"You seem pretty excited, Dai-kun~" Benihime teased as she followed along behind him. Of course, she was also fairly excited herself, unbeknownst to most she'd been waiting for a time period in which she'd get to explore the Human World. In fact, it seemed like it would be good for expanding the knowledge base of every individual. "I've also been curious for quite a while. I also think it would have made a much better first trip than our first day of class~" she said with a bit of a chuckle. "Come on~ I'm kinda excited now~" she said thinking about it more, it would be one of the few times she got to go somewhere without abject supervision which was among the things she really wanted out of life.

[Bloodedge]

The Final Days


On the day before the final day of the academy year, hundreds of students and teachers alike were seated in the stands surrounding a small arena. A fighting stage lay at the center of said arena, occupied presently by a single man with a purple top hat over spiky, black and inky-green hair. This man seemed to be an announcer of sorts, while in fact, he was a Chief Instructor of the Shinou Academy. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" he called out, speaking through a Kidou spell known as Tenteikura, as to reach the ear of all present in a way similar to using a megaphone. "Today, we witness a new pair of legends in the making! Using the four forms of combat we teach here at Shinoreijutsuin, these two will face each other in combat to determine this year's valedictorian! I'm your host this evening, Sakaki Yusho! Allow me to introduce our combatants this for this special event! I give you the first choice of this year's First Class selection; a prodigy in the eyes of many: Nomura Daiki!"

As the crowd cheered, the black-haired, sapphire-eyed male named Daiki exited a corridor on the western side of the arena. He stepped out into the field left open for this event, looking toward the corridor on the opposite end of his own. "I also give you yet another prodigy, the underdog who has taken the academy by storm just the same: Niwatoko Benihime!" Yusho said, pointing an arm toward the other corridor.

[Apollymi]

In the final days at the Academy, Benihime eventually found herself standing in a corridor at the eastern entrance of the arena which she was set to meet Daiki in. A bit of a frown was on the young woman's face as she stood her left hand resting on the Zanpakuto currently strapped around her lower back and jutting out on the left side. Thus she stood with her left hip popped out as she heard the words spoken by the announcer. 'Eh, underdog? Why is it necessary to determine a valedictorian through combat? They should have just let him have it... I'm pretty sure his grades are a point or two higher than mine. Unless I messed up and we tied~' the young woman thought. Though in actuality she was quite excited. In the hours leading up to this moment, she realized she'd never actually faced Daiki in combat the year that they were here together, it seemed like it could be fun. And with this in mind, at the mention of her name she also stepped out onto the stage, her eyes darting around the large crowd apparently gathered just for this moment before settling on the young man across from her, a small smile breaking across her face.

[Bloodedge]

Daiki wore a gentle grin during the arena approach of Benihime. Noting the position of her Zanpakutou, he brought his left hand to grip the sheath of his own weapon, and pulled down on it until the hilt of his sword pointed at a downward angle. "Changing things up a bit? Stylish. A bit difficult though, isn't it?" Daiki asked. The way the redhead wore her Zanpakutou now simply seemed a bit unorthodox. His own pre-draw ritual, while it may have seemed similarly strange, had his sword with its blade pointed downward, allowing it to curve upward when he unsheathed it. Of course, that would be seen only after the announcer declared the fight's beginning.

"Welcome both combatants! Both contestants will use all abilities at their disposal to decide who will receive the title! Let the battle... BEGIN!" Yusho's exclamation was accompanied by him vanishing from the fighting stage. At this time, Daiki reached for his Zanpakutou's hilt with his right hand. "Well... ladies first."

[Apollymi]

Benihime watched as Daiki adjusted his own zanpakuto, and she was pretty much ignoring the announcer at this point. The grin on her face, seemed to spread as Daiki commented on the way she wore her sword today. "Iie, this is the way I normally wear it, when I am intending to try... I'm left handed after all~" she said to the young man before her. After this was said it was announced that their battle would begin and the announcer disappeared from their arena. She then thought about how he'd have to draw his weapon and chuckled. "Dai-kun, I don't think you really get to talk... but get ready~" she said. In this moment she shifted her body so that her left hip was out just a bit more and her left hand reached for the hilt of her sword in a reverse grip. A second later she was drawing it up from the side so that the curve ran came up in a small arc above her head, but one couldn't actually use a weapon this way so she used her fingers to spin the blade around above her head before she grabbed it out the air in a more proper grip. She then held the sword close to her left side as she ran towards the young man as if she intended to run him through, only to disappear from his fore utilizing Shunpo. She'd then appear at his rear her back to his jabbing the blade towards his side as if she intended to inflict a deep piercing wound there.

[Bloodedge]

"That's not at all what I meant, and you know it," was Daiki's response. When Benihime moved forward, he prepared himself to draw his sword. A moment of hesitation came before she reached his fore, as Daiki knew Benihime wasn't the type to be simple enough that she'd attack so obviously. Of course, she proved not to be. That was precisely what Daiki had been hoping for. The moment she disappeared from his sight, he drew his sword as well, curving it upward and overhead as he twisted his body to his right. This enabled him to slash outward in the area of Benihime's new location, giving him enough of a reaction window to parry the stab aimed his way by stepping back when he caught sight of it incoming. "That's a shame. I thought mine was going to look awesome, but you come here doing something like that." With another step, Daiki hopped away to gain more distance, simultaneously using his left hand to draw a glowing red symbol in the air. At the end, he pointed through the symbol as his body gained the same red glow it had. "Bakudou no Kyuu: Geki!" he called out. With his point aimed at Benihime, he intended to have the spell take place by paralyzing her where she stood, leaving him time to prepare something greater.

[Apollymi]

"You can't prove that~" the young woman said of apparently knowing he meant something else entirely by his words than how she chose to take them. Soon enough the young man was parrying the backward stab she'd aimed towards his torso, much to her relief. This was a sort of simple maneuver but she was never sure of the skill of other people. Actually, she'd probably gone a bit far out of her own general handicap by using her sword at her left instead of at her right as she had been the duration of her time in the Academy. "Sumimasen~ Didn't mean to steal your thunder or anything~" the young woman said, seeming to mean it, though her words came out quite playfully as the young man put more space between them. She already had an idea of what he would attempt, and she wasn't disappointed by the use of Kidou. He even went to far as to go by the book and open with a bakudo which let her know that something greater was coming. To the surprise of most the young woman didn't try and dodge the Geki spell, instead the paralyzing light engulfed her and she began to struggle against it, raising her own reiatsu slowly in a dark red glow around her person. While the young man readied himself for whatever his next spell would be, the young woman took the chance to plan ahead a bit, 'Take the little one, dodge the big one... opening for the next strike... yeah, that seems like a good idea,' the young woman thought to herself, admittedly she was a bit curious as to what Daiki would come up with, and as such she wanted to see it.

[Bloodedge]

Daiki's Bakudou was successful. As such, he had ample time to do all he needed. "Bakudou no Nijuuroku: Kyokkou!" Daiki's first spell created a shroud which bent light around him. Within it, he immediately cast a second veil, as well as a low-level barrier immediately around his body. Once inside, his visual presence and Reiatsu were both masked. From within, he utilized other spells. He began by weaving a net of Kidou between the two shrouds, to be used as a catalyst for something greater. "Bakudou no Hachi: Seki. Hadou no Sanjuuichi: Shakkahou. Hadou no Juuni: Fushibi," he whispered. With this combination of spells, the outermost shroud was laced with a repulsive spell meant to repel anyone too close to it inward, toward the net. The net itself, in the meantime, was fueled by a spell which would explode when triggered. The final spell Daiki used during this combination was the trigger itself, which he channeled into his Zanpakutou to await a moment of Benihime falling into his net. 'There. Now...' he thought, allowing minute amounts of his Reiatsu to leak through the pair of cloaks, as to bait the redhead into his trap.

[Apollymi]

A few more seconds and Benihime freed herself from the paralysis recently inflicted by the young man who'd rather suddenly disappeared from her sight. "Ano... hide and seek is funner in the dark, just sayin'~" she said a bit of a grin coming over her face as she bounced around on her toes. After a few seconds though she felt a bit of the young man's Reiatsu coming from directly in front of her. "Well, this tastes like a trap... fufufufufu~ You're responsible for fixing me up after... whatever this is, is done," the young woman mentioned absently apparently to the air itself. Even so, she needed to get into whatever was going to happen and as such she began to twist her sword around so that her right hand was against the ebony blade and her left continued to hold it at the hilt. "Bakudo no Sanjuukyuu: Enkōsen," with that a dull yellow energy was created which gave the young woman a bit of freedom to run directly into this invisible trap allowing whatever was to happen to happen while apparently only taking the most basic of precautions as she did so.

[Bloodedge]

Soon enough, Benihime was tearing through the first veil, leading into his net. When this occurred, Daiki struck the net with his Zanpakutou, causing a flame to spread along its length. By the time the fire reached Benihime's location, burning in the net would be the least of her problems. An explosion would occur due to the Shakkahou mixed into the net. The barrier immediately surrounding Daiki would protect him from this, but the blast would tear through his second Kyokkou to reveal his grinning face. He was now crouched, with his left hand placed on the ground. "You might want to watch out," he said, albeit in no way referring to the explosive spell he'd set up.

[Apollymi]

The young woman running forward was soon confronted by a burning net and a sea of explosions. "Sugoi!~" was her immediate reaction to this, though it probably would have been a bit better, if she were not caught in the middle of this maelstrom. Even so, she rather quickly opened her hand ending the use of the spell Enkosen and instead opening the palm of her right while doing a flip off of it and bounding into the air. "Seki," the small use of the supplementary Kidou spell would allow the girl to launch herself out of the most of the explosions with only a few singes and minor burns for her trouble. Not that she was completely out of the woods yet. She didn't know what would come from the warning issued by Daiki but she could only assume something heavily influenced by Kidou and as such she had to remain vigilant. While she was up on the air her flip now fully performed she let go of her sword, kicking it down into the spot where she could now see Daiki aiming to have the sword fly directly into his barrier and through his back if he wasn't careful. Beyond this a second later the fore and middle fingers of her right hand would show crackling yellow energy. "Hainawa," the rope would then be created from Reishi and let towards the hilt of her sword aiming to pull it back up to her hand after it stopped moving for whatever reason.

[Bloodedge]

For some reason or another, Daiki was no longer moving from his position with his hand on the ground. As such, he was left mostly still while Benihime's sword came crashing through his barrier. He protected himself the only way he could; his right hand rose preemptively to catch Benihime's Zanpakutou by its blade before it reached his torso. Blood dripped from his hand, but he had avoided a crippling blow. Daiki was then remiss to see the yellow rope of Reiryoku attached to the sword, which pulled it back to its owner against his grip. Daiki's dripping blood became a splatter in that moment, and he winced his way through the mighty sting of a slashed hand. "Kch!"

Still, the male remained vigilant. "You're too close," he said with a smile. Suddenly, a nearby area of the ground was broken through by an orange-hued tendril with yellow spirals around it. The spirals were joined by electrical surges, and the tendril itself carried fire with it. This spell shot up toward Benihime at an angle from behind her, reaching out to ensnare, burn, and shock her while she was still airborne.

[Apollymi]

The redhead noted as she fought that the young man was still content not to move from where he was even as a blade came crashing through the barrier he'd created to protect himself. He was content enough to catch the blade, causing himself injury both when he caught it, and when Benihime immediately reclaimed it. Though the sword didn't immediately come back to her hand and was left to dangle just a bit with the spell still active, as she spun the blade around like a fan and watched. 'Another trap? These tactics will become predictable pretty soon...' she thought to herself suspecting something else as she made her way to the ground it was eventually mentioned that she was too close by Daiki who smiled at her as there was a sudden eruption of a spell from the ground where he still had his hand uninjured hand. 'There it is,' she was unsure of where her capture would come, she turned as fell back towards the ground spinning her blade around so that the contact would initially be made with it, though she still felt the electricity through it, she would be spared a few of the other effects "Tsuzuri Raiden," such would trigger the channeling of electricity through the blade and hopefully trigger a cancellation of the final effect she was doing something about. Nullifying both sets of electricity and leaving both individuals intact. "Yare, yare... you're making me think too much..."

[Bloodedge]

Daiki's most recent combination spell was met by Benihime's blade. Though it seemed he would at least succeed in the electrocution of his own Tsuzuri Raiden channeled through the tendril, it was rendered a temporary effect, as Benihime used her own to cancel it out. "I'd like to say I underestimated you," he said as his spells began to disperse, and he stood. "But... I think I overestimated my ability to match you. Gomennasai. It won't happen again."

Daiki would allow Benihime ample time to reach the ground, as if to start their clash from the very beginning again. He was in the process of exhausting himself by using too many Kidou spells, both in combination and in sequence. He had come to realize that he needed to do more, if he hoped to gain an edge in this battle. Daiki went about removing his sheath from its home, and placing it against the pommel of his katana after retrieving the latter from the ground. The two seemed to connect, as he immediately began using his bleeding right hand to spin the two at his side. "Yorokobiutatte..." As he issued this command, Daiki's sword and sheath fully merged together, forming a golden staff with a bell-like bulb at its end, and a spear tip jutting from the bulb. "Saikirin."

[Apollymi]

Benihime once again landed on the ground, and as such she was bouncing on her toes, twirling her sword around in her right hand. "Ah, no need to apologize. Getting used to fighting someone capable of thinking properly isn't nearly as encouraged as it should be," she said of the general issue with fighting. "Besides... this is more fun than I've had fighting, since we've come here~" commented the young woman as she soon got to witness the release of this young man's zanpakuto. Such a thing was likely quite shocking to the crowd watching, but she already knew it existed. Though she couldn't say she'd seen this form before.

"Sugoi!~" chimed the young woman. "Nice looking Shikai you got there, also pretty sure you just got valedictorian. Nothing says tops like a release~" she said she was still twirling her sword around in her right hand but then passed it over to her left in front of her catching it in a reversed grip. She'd initially intended to switch hands, but... she didn't know how well this young man could handle the new weapon. His sword skills weren't as high as her own, but, wielding a staff was a bit different. "Come on then~" she said waving the young man towards herself. She was content for this clash to reconvene, but she had no desire to release her own Zanpakuto.

[Bloodedge]

"I agree. I've been having a blast. But... As long as you're limiting yourself the way you are, I'm going to be winning this one!" When beckoned toward Benihime, Daiki made the decision that she would instead be coming his way. From his own perspective, he spun his blade counterclockwise. In doing so, he manipulated the forces between himself and Benihime in a way that would pull her toward him as if he had become the singular source of gravity in the area. It was Daiki's intention to cease the spinning of his blade as she was within reach, and shift instead to a left-to-right sweeping movement meant to slam into the young woman's right side with the staff's bell.

[Apollymi]

The smile on Benihime's face seemed to spread a bit more as Daiki spoke. She found it funny that he assumed his win because she was limiting herself. Not that she wasn't fine with allowing said win, if only to keep her general low profile, but... she could really allow the idea that having something over her was worth assumable victory. Soon enough she began being pulled towards the young man, after she'd already motioned him towards herself. 'Sugei, gravity maybe... this will be fun,' unlike most, Benihime didn't seem to mind this. "Dai-kun, it's a bit early..." she stated as she begun to be pulled in, not fighting against it in the least as she suppressed her Reiatsu to the most minute levels. She added Shunpo to this attractive force allowing herself to reach the young man before he'd likely intended her to, as his weapon stopped spinning and aimed a sweeping motion into her right side she hopped over it using her right hand for leverage against the shaft. She aimed a concise kick into the young man's face with her left leg before she performed a series of back flips which would leave her standing on her feet some 5 meters away. "To claim your victory, yeah?~" she teased seemingly amused by this entire thing.

[Bloodedge]

Benihime was brought toward him, and though she hastened the movement and reached him prior to the time of his expectation, she managed nothing offensive in the extra time she had taken for herself. What she did manage, was an evasion that left her with the ability to counterattack. Daiki, however, would be allowing no such thing. He brought his free hand onto his staff to initiate a much faster rotation, which brought the lower end of the staff against the bottom of Benihime's foot during her kick attempt. During her series of back-flips, Daiki took dashing steps forward to remain within range. As such, by the time she stopped flipping, he was standing before her with the rear of his staff aiming for her right side. Regardless of its impact, he would follow this by immediately flipping the staff's momentum and swinging its head at her fore while extending its range. "It would be even earlier for you to assume I'm wrong. Come at me with all you've got."

[Apollymi]

As Benihime flipped she had a series of thoughts about this young man, knowing that her foot hadn't made contact with his face. 'Yare yare, I might have to put forth some proper effort, he's still coming. It's coming from the right?' she thought as she came to a stop the back end of his staff was aimed at her side and she met it with her right hand only to have to block the coming fore shot with the the blade in her left. The impact left her a bit stunned and pushed her backwards, but she seemed to be fine beyond this point.

"Sugoi Dai-kun, you're much better using that staff than you are with a sword~" the young woman said with a smile on her face. As for the likely hood of her going at him with everything she had, a tiny bit of light seemed to disappear from her eyes, it would be almost unnoticeable but there was a reason she didn't try very hard the entire time. Instead of speaking on this, she rotated her shoulders and exhaled, a single breath. And then she moved, it was easily twice as fast than her previous movement and would carry her immediately to Daiki's left, she'd then immediately lash out with her right hand fingers curled in like a claw aimed into Daiki's side, aiming to knock the wind out of him. Immediately following with a spinning slash aimed across the young man's upper back, timed with a swift sweeping kick aimed to his lower back with her right leg aiming to knock him forward and away from her after the initial barrage. These movements were a bit more animalistic and a tad more chaotic than she'd initially shown herself to be, it was like she'd stopped thinking, or perhaps, reached a new type of thought based solely on battle, which combined use of sword and use of physical strikes. It was what she'd not been doing the entire time she'd been in the Academy, because such a skill was only really useful, when you needed someone to die.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. Swords aren't my style," he said. True enough, during his training within the Nomura household, Daiki never touched a sword of any type. What he had some amount of play time with, however, was sticks and other such tools. Following his plea to have Benihime fight him seriously, the redhead rolled her shoulder and exhaled. At this moment, he raised his right knee, formed a hand seal with his left hand, and held his staff overhead with his right hand. Upon releasing it, it seemed to levitate where it was. Judging by Benihime's reaction to his statement, he expected more of a threat from her following movements. Her speed when moving was much quicker; almost untraceable. However, Daiki's senses at least gave him the ability to track her the moment she stopped at his left side.

Daiki's body twisted to his left, resulting in a strike of his right hand being used to counteract the attack at his side. The slash of Benihime's sword which followed would leave its arc below small amounts of recently-severed hair, as a swift crouch placed Daiki beneath it. This crouch immediately became a tuck, placing Daiki even further beneath the kick aimed to knock him away. All the while, Daiki only seemed saddened. "Hadou no Gojuuhachi," he said while using his arms as leverage, launching himself upward starting with his feet. On his way up into a flip, Daiki kicked one end of his floating Zanpakutou, causing it to spin wildly in place. Only a moment later, Daiki had flipped out of range of both Benihime, and his staff. His eyes were locked on the redhead from the moment he landed. "Tenran." Since Benihime had entered the area inhabited by Daiki and his Zanpakutou moments previously, she would be in the perfect place for his spell's activation. The staff that would be over her head produced a tornado to surround her. "You underestimate me. I know you're stronger than you let everyone know. Don't assume for one second that I'm any different, Benihime. Fushibi!" At his command, Daiki's Zanpakutou ignited the tornado to produce a flaming cyclone around Benihime, as if he intended to cook her within it.

[Apollymi]

Benihime was in a different mindset presently appreciating the young man's movements as he was able to rather seamlessly avoid her coming barrages. She seemed to be testing the waters a bit here, beyond that she found each of her strikes hadn't quite made the mark and a single moment of looking to Daiki let her know he was a bit sad for a reason she probably wouldn't be able to fathom. She'd have to remember to ask him about it later. 'Hmm... ran off, another Kidou trap coming...' she thought, and soon enough she was indeed presented with the kidou trap she'd thought was coming finding herself surrounded in a hurricane type of wind. 'So, one for me too, should I try this again??' she thought to herself a wicked smile on her face as she flipped her sword around in her hand and then planted it in the ground. She began to speak an incantation so low that it wouldn't be heard...

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle," she had a ball of yellow sparking energy in her hand as she held it up in front of the encroaching flames. "Hadou no Rokujuusan: Raikoho!" The girl let off a blast of yellow energy big enough to clear the flames before her and aim to get Daiki caught up in the attack, if he was unable to move himself. "Fufufufu~ Last time I tried that, I was out cold for four hours~" the girl mentioned, obviously more exhausted by this use of kidou than anything she'd done with her body before this point, but still cogent enough to try and keep attacking. She then moved forward with that massively quick Shunpo of hers aiming to appear above Daiki, aiming a downward kick to his left shoulder from her present height. "Dai-kun you have an interesting habit of following up dodges with kidou traps. Also don't sad face me... I am not underestimating you, I know you're capable of more than you let on, which is more of a reason to bait out different reactions~" she said to the young man.

[Bloodedge]

Daiki remained in his place so long as the tornado of flames continued. When the Reiatsu within began to rise, he anticipated some sort of Hadou used from within the confines of the fire. Both of his arms were stretched in front of him. His left hand remained open with his palm facing forward, and his right hand's fingers - save his fore and middle fingers - were curled inward as the remaining extended fingers were pressed against his left palm. "Hachiheddo Bougyokabe," he whispered. A spherical barrier of his own Reiryoku then formed around him. From within his previous spell, emerged a blast of lightning which threatened the sanctity of his barrier. However, by focusing the majority of its energy on the point of impact, he was able to keep the barrier intact. It remained stable enough to redistribute its defensive abilities once the Raikouhou subsided, leaving it capable of stopping Benihime's kick from above. "Is it a habit?" he asked, following Benihime's apparent observation and claim of baiting his reactions. "Frankly, I expected to get a real fight out of you by doing that sort of thing. But... you're too keen on not making yourself obvious, aren't you?"

[Apollymi]

This barrier created by Daiki which let him avoid the most of Benihime's counterattack, was something completely new to the young woman. Even so, it seemed her words had fallen to the young man and he was still able to simply hold up this barrier, without it being any sort of a problem. "Sugoi! This barrier is awesome!~" she said as she rebounded off of it flipping and bouncing on her toes after landing back on her feet. To his words of questioning this apparent habit of his she could only smile chiding gently. "Oh, so you did that just for me? Kinda unnecessary, it made me think you weren't really into it~" she mentioned of his apparent trickery. "Hai, intend not to make myself obvious..." she said without being specific. "Though, if you really wanna see, I'll show you later. Just the two of us~" she said offering the young man a wink. She was quite serious about not showing the full depth of her abilities to large groups of people, she was a bit too distrusting of the public at large.

[Bloodedge]

"... Tch!" was the simple retort of Daiki. While he had long since accepted the fact that Benihime would not be utilizing her Zanpakutou during this battle, he knew there was more she was avoiding as well. Daiki had been awaiting this battle as much as graduation itself, so it went without saying that he was more than disappointed in this outcome. "Some rivalry this has been," Daiki walked toward his Zanpakutou, letting his barrier vanish as he reached to pick the staff up. He continued walking thereafter, reverting his Zanpakutou to its sealed state and sheathing it. With that, he had one final thing to say to the announcer of this fight. "I forfeit. Valedictorian isn't worth it." Continuing forward, Daiki eventually reached the end of the corridor he had previously used to enter the arena. There, he met a group of individuals from the Kidou Corps who demanded his attention, and took him from the academy the moment he could no longer be seen by others.

[Apollymi]

Benihime had known Daiki for the better part of this year, and in that time she hadn't seen him lose his temper and assumed this moment was about as close as she'd get to it. 'Ano, what was he expecting me to show him exactly?' she wondered internally. When the young man went on to claim he'd forfeit because being Valedictorian wasn't worth it, the young woman's eyes widened. "What!? I don't even want to be Valedictorian, don't put that on me..." she paused and watched him walk off, wanting to call to him but refusing at the last possible second. She wasn't about impeding people's emotional time, figuring that once the young man cooled off he'd be back and they could talk properly. Even so, the young woman simply waved off this entire ordeal and spun her blade around her her hand before sheathing it, at the small of her back once more. She was more than content to just leave, headed back to her own side of the stage without any fussing.