Dog Fighting [Ishifude/Shirogane]

[freshstrawberries]

It was an ordinary and simple day in the Gotei 13.  It was an unremarkable and average day in the domain and territory of the Eleventh Squadron.  It was painfully ordinary and of course that wouldn't do at all.  If excitement was not at hand, it would have to be created, even if that excitement was painfully lesser to the real thing.

The many ordinary shinigami of the Eleventh Squadron seemed happy to see it though.  There was quite a commotion going on in one of the training yards, a number of shinigami gathered to cheer, jeer and critique as was their wont.  It wasn't an unusual sight really, given the Eleventh Squadron's focus, at least one training yard always had a multitude of shinigami sparring and practicing against each other, competing in an endless quest for strength over their fellows.

Today though was a little bit different, things were a little more exciting.  Someone passing by might hear some interesting words as cheers and jeers rose up in cacophony indicating someone had just won their spar.

"Hah, how many is that now?"

"I think that's ten in a row!"

"Bah, she's not even seated, ten in a row?  It's eight at most!"

Someone was apparently on quite a winning streak, and if someone shouldered their way to get a view, they'd see the woman in question.  Standing tall while her opponent was helped up off the ground by friends.  She had just sheathed her katana, the voluminous sleeve of her kosode not hiding the black clouds tattooed onto the arm that spiraled up and across her throat, a smirk upon her face red eyes shining. 

"Another victory!  Come now!  Let my next opponent step forward and join their sword to the chorus!  Who shall challenge me next?!"

[Ken Shirogane]

It seemed that the people in Squad 11 were having quite the party. Which wasn't that unusual given that most of the people in this squad were battle fanatics. And to some degree, Ken was one as well! He was diligent in honing his blade skills even in the next life and had shown himself to possess enough skills to land in Squad 11.

But he was still relatively new to this whole setup. Fights seemed to happen often both formal and not in squad 11. It wasn't unusual for a brawl to break out as often as a formal declaration challenge. Though it all seemed to be in the name of growing stronger, he rarely saw any sign that there were hard feelings between fighters. It was rather strange yet heartwarming to Ken. It was like they were all one big constantly fighting family testing and training each other in the hope of attaining greater strength and battle prowess. He could admire that to a degree.

However even so he had been having some personal doubts. At first, he thought this squad was perfect for him. But his pride was hindering him a little bit here. He didn't feel as though he stood out enough and that was impeding his training and growth, killing his motivation.

Perhaps he was simply in a slump. He knew his mindset wasn't in the right place right now, so this was a good chance to try and push past it and work on himself.

Shifting through the crowd he made his way closer to where the battles were taking place, and when he heard the next call for a challenger he stepped forward. Golden eyes shifted to land on the woman, taking in her appearance, noting the tattoo partially covered by the kosode and the red eyes she possessed.

Strong women were not exactly unique in the Gotei 13, but damn did she stand out to him. At a glance, he had no doubt she belonged in Squad 11. Perhaps it was just his imagination but there was a sort of intimidating radiance about her to him. It made his blood rush.

He stepped forward without much thought. This was a person he needed to test himself against.

"My name is Shirogane Ken, and I will be your next opponent." He declared with a calm mild tone, shifting to stand across from her. He was a few inches shorter than her, standing at five feet and six inches tall. His hair was a soft short feathered white, and his eyes a bright golden color locked on the darker woman, offering a short bow in her direction before straitening. His sword kept sheathed but at the ready with his hand near the grip. He was wearing the standard Shinigami uniform, though he hoped to have something a little more unique made for himself in the future.

[freshstrawberries]

"H'oh?"  The woman eyed him up and down as Ken stepped forward, declaring his intention to be her next opponent, hand already near his blade, ready to draw at a moment's notice.  "Well it is a pleasure to meet you Ken Shirogane.  I am Shitabayashi Ishifude.  May this battle stoke the flame in our hearts."

With that introduction out of the way there was no reason to delay beginning, although her opening move was...curious to say the least.  With her left hand resting on the pommel of her zanpakutou, sheathed at her side, she began to walk straight towards him.  Her posture was relaxed, she seemed to almost glide towards him, giving an impression of being completely unconcerned, but those red eyes were fixed directly upon him as she advanced.  A test?  Would she attack when she got right up to him?  Would he attempt to attack her as he approached? 

[Ken Shirogane]

A smile crossed his lips at her greeting, indeed he hoped she could stoke his flames. There was a simultaneous shift in him, tension lifting before moving to all the right places, a loaded spring ready to let loose its force, a rubber band pulled and ready to snap forward at a moment's notice.

His blade twitched in his hand as she started walking forward, golden eyes tracing every shifting step in her movements. But he only took in the way she moved for a moment before darting forward himself.

His movements were smooth and practiced, with very little bob in his motions. While he might not glide with quite the level of elegance that Shitabayashi did with his quicker movements, there was a sense of practiced balance there, a desire to remain steadfast and ready in his movements.

The first move was likely a predictable one, but the speed with which it was executed might not be. The technique was simple, used to strike the head off a standing opponent in one clean motion, a drawn horizontal slash, a line traced from his left to the right side of the opponent's throat as he drew his blade from the sheath. His Chiheisen.

He wasn't trying to kill her, not really. Though the blow itself was deadly, it lacked such intention. It was a quick and precise strike, the timing of his steps such that when he drew his sword it was intentionally a fraction of a second earlier than what he would normally consider to be a perfectly executed Chiheisen. As a result, while it could potentially take her throat, it would not have taken her head. He had no doubt she would be fine, having already defeated multiple opponents in a row and not even seeming winded. He just wanted to dance with her on the edge of a cliff, fighting with live blades, willing to draw blood his heart was pumping through his body as the excitement and desire to battle grew within him.

It was a deadly strike, yet just the first testing blow of this battle.

[freshstrawberries]

Ishifude walked straight towards her opponent without a hint of fear.  The attitude of her posture wasn't one of mockery, it didn't seem like she looked down upon her opponent, merely that she was unafraid, completely relaxed.  Her eyes never left him though, they never drifted, remaining firmly locked upon her opponent, gazing straight into his without flickering from his posture or position.

Her foe sprang towards her, a quick movement, practiced, smooth, rehearsed.  His speed was impressive, she'd seen Iajutsu before, she'd spent centuries fighting in Rukongai, and had met all flavor of swordsmen.  Roughshod brutes who tried to simply overpower, slender masters whose blades moved like lightning, and more.  She did not hesitate.  Her left hand, so 'relaxed' upon the pommel of her zanpakutou, suddenly gripped it and drew, angling to her right drawing the blade out in a reversed grip!

There would be a great clash of steel upon steel as their blades met.  With this positioning and angle, he in theory had the greater force to push through, but her right hand was not idle either.  Even as she drew with her left, her right moved, to place itself against the blunt back just below the tip of her blade.  With that extra force at the tip she would divert his swing upwards, scraping across her zanpakutou while her right hand slide back.  At some point her left hand had switched to a proper grip, what deft and agile hands she must have to do that while parrying, but in the blink of an eye both hands were on the hilt gripping properly with her sword parallel to the ground, and thrusting straight for his chest!  A smooth deflection and counter, albeit a highly unorthodox one.

[Ken Shirogane]

Ken didn't particularly expect to see fear from anyone here. In Squad 11 just about everyone was a battle fanatic after all. If someone was itching for a fight it was never a challenge to fight a willing opponent. However, Ken was likely one of the people in Squad 11 who participated in sparring matches the least. Not because he didn't enjoy them or had some sort of apprehension about them, but because he tended to meditate between them, to reflect on what had happened and how he could improve. He'd spent much of his time practicing the fundamentals of his technique and believed he held a solid foundation from which he could build and expand. His stance was certainly proof of that, solid, yet flexible, ready to move in any manner he saw fit to do so.

The move Ishifude performed came as something of a surprise to Ken. Not that a reverse draw didn't have its uses, but of course, it was a tricky grip to make use of, leverage was generally harder to maintain, and it could not make full use of the blade's length. But it was certainly a quick way to draw one's blade, and once she made use of her second hand to press on the spine of her blade able to compete with him in applying pressure. Though it certainly required some skill to do that as well, risking one hand should the blade of the opponent slip around to take advantage of the lack of guard beyond the blade itself. It likely was not a move he would have risked himself even if he was a fan of the reverse draw and grip on occasion.

The sensation of clashing steel was always a delight, the ringing that filled his ears as steel ground against steel, the squeal of their blades like music in the air.

His blade brushed upwards, deflected, but perfectly in position for his follow-up attack as he twisted the blade above her head, angling his next attack while Ishifude was switching her grip and preparing that thrust.

Those keen golden eyes stayed locked on her, as he brought his attack down at an angle while shifting his upper body, turning and lowering, both to add speed and strength to his attack as well as make it more difficult for that thrust to land a deadly blow on him, offering her his right side rather than his chest. He'd trade blows with his own being what he considered the be the more decisive strike.

Migi Kesagiri was the fifth basic cut of the Iaido style that Ken had learned many years ago. A cut aimed to take an opponent between the neck and shoulder, tracing down to the opposite hip. In this case, he would be cut from his right to left in this diagonal motion while twisting and lowering to add some force to the cut. Of course, ideally, he would be using two hands while performing this cut, however, he was utilizing more range than power in the attack with the intent to land a critical strike rather than land a deep wound. And maintaining his left hand on the sheath of his sword for now.

Ken was unsure which strike might be potentially more lethal, but he considered his attack both crippling and lethal. It could disable one of her arms, as well as potentially sever an artery between her neck and shoulder if it cut deeply enough. While her thrust could injure something vital at his core depending on what she hit, it might not be entirely debilitating. Of course, it wasn't impossible that she would catch him in the lung, or even the heart if she stabbed deeply enough, but that was part of why he was maintaining his range. He'd give a lung to take one of her arms and an artery, but ready to shift away before the blade could slip too deeply between his ribs if that's where she chose to aim.

---

Post Count: 3

[freshstrawberries]

He was leaving his right side completely open.  He was going to risk her impaling him, simply to land his own hit.  It wasn't the first time she'd fought someone like this.  It was however, a tremendous rarity.  There truly was no hesitation in his actions.  He saw her coming for the thrust, and with his blade raised, he was going to bring it down in a diagonal slash upon her body.  "Trading blows?"  Her tone was so calm and relaxed, almost curious...but her actions were anything but.

His slash was coming from a deflection, a deflection that had smoothly led to her own thrust.  He was faster than her by a small margin, but she didn't need to outspeed him, merely move fast enough.  Her actions were not the actions of a formally trained swordsman, her actions went against what someone with a clean cut style like Kenshiro had likely ever been taught about swordsmanship. 

Ishifude stepped into Ken's guard. 

She didn't even have to change her attack, she simply moved her body forwards with her thrust, letting the hilt of his blade and his hand slam painfully into her shoulder.  It would surely leave a bruise, but he might also get his fingers hurt from the unexpected motion, but a hard knock to the shoulder was a far cry from the vicious slash he'd been aiming for. 

More than likely, even with his edge in speed he wouldn't have reacted in time, but he wouldn't feel the stinging bite of her zanpakutou slipping into his side.  She'd shifted its angle even as she stepped in, into the domain of extreme close quarters, where weapons like the katana became extremely difficult to use.

She'd shifted her sword so that the flat of it would press up against his side, the edge pointed upwards, and tucked against his armpit.  The expression on her face, a mad gleam in her eyes would seem to say it all if he hadn't somehow reacted and moved before she reached this point, a gleeful expression that seemed to be saying.

I could take your arm.

A simple dragging motion in either direction, left hand on the hilt, right hand against the flat and she could cut upwards, even if he moved fast he might still take a nasty cut to his arm that could limit its use.  At the same time, even if he moved his own sword into a reverse grip, there wasn't enough distance between his fully outstretched arm and any part of Ishifude to try and stab at her, let alone room to swing for a cut!  Yet, even despite that, this was still less than the injury he might have taken if she'd simply run him through as he'd offered to let her, and yet she'd still come out with far less injury by only taking a bruise to the shoulder.

And then Ishifude would shove.  Assuming he didn't have some trick to quickly disengage from such a dangerous embrace, in that split second as her blade pressed up against his side and armpit and as she gazed into his eyes, she'd shove with the flat of her blade.  She had a good bit of strength in that tall, slender frame of hers.  Likely enough to send him stumbling backwards, but it was a shove with the flat of the blade, and ultimately harmless, at least physically.

After the shove, she'd lift her sword and point it at him, held loosely in her left hand.  "If you desire a sword to fall upon, fall upon your own.  My blade does not need the charity."

[Ken Shirogane]

It was an abrupt end to the fight that Ken was not at all satisfied with. But he'd realized he'd made a mistake somewhere the moment that Ishifude had been able to dart into his guard like it was some sort of damned open gate with naught but a bump on the shoulder for her troubles, and the press of the blade under his armpit.

The shove was hard but he stepped with the force of it, though he was hardly listening to her words as he considered the actions they had taken just moments ago. He could not help but be lost in contemplation for a few seconds considering how she had slipped into his guard like that. But it became all too obvious after some consideration. First was that while trading blows could be a valid method, he had made the unfortunate decision to hold his ground rather than make use of his speed and footwork to maintain distance and measure the length of his blade. Though the fact she had been fast enough to step in during the middle of his attack was also rather infuriating, she had been making use of her speed already, stepping forward to stab him. So all she had to do was move a little faster, a miscalculation on his part.

He clicked his tongue in resignation before considering her words. "Pretty harsh, but considering I barely scathed you I suppose it's only fitting. I didn't get nearly the results I wanted. A shame I had not been just a little faster, or that I had not prepared myself to move rather than locking myself in place prepared to take a hit and deliver one." He tapped the back of his sword against his shoulder a few times before sheathing it.

"Shall we have another go? Or shall I take my leave?" It was her choice, but he felt he'd just made a rather poor showing of himself just now. Maybe others watching would have been impressed with his speed, and the fact that he'd landed a blow though it was a weak and sloppy one compared to what he'd been aiming for. Battles could often be decided in just a few blows, but he didn't feel he'd lived up to his skills in this battle at all. He could have done better. Speed and range were his best allies and he'd forgone at least one aspect of those two things.

---

Post Count: 4

[freshstrawberries]

"A little harsh?" Ishifude asked, lifting an eyebrow, while many of the crowd of shinigami around the field would cheer and jeer in equal measure.  Several were calling on him to give her a scar for it if he thought it was so harsh.  Ishifude though would move her sword, resting it on her shoulder, hand raised as she put the other on her hip.  

"If I wanted to end the fight I would have sliced through the tendons and sent you to the 4th squad.  What, you lose a simple exchange and you're ready to give up?"  She leaned forward, and her right hand moved forward, dangling in front of her swaying slightly as if she had no control of it.  Was she mocking him?

"You're squad 11 as well right?  As long as you can still swing your sword, why does it matter that I got one over on you?  That should just be encouragement to come at me even harder, so what are you waiting for?  Why are you even asking for permission?"

[Ken Shirogane]

It was moments like these that made him wonder if he was cut out for Squad 11. He had the skills certainly, but he only had half the attitude everyone else here seemed to have.

He felt it was only polite to ask for another round, while she criticized him for even asking in the first place. He enjoyed fighting and the way of the sword, but so many people here really lacked any kind of etiquette, at least when it came to his sensibilities.

But he did eventually reply to at least her last question while preparing to attack since she made it pretty clear that he didn't need to ask permission, and that they would continue until a decisive blow was made, or they grew too exhausted.

"Politeness." He offered with a chuckle before charging forth, drawing his blade in a rising diagonal cut that traced from left to right, starting at the hip and rising towards the opposite shoulder.

This time he intended to put his speed and practiced range to good use while keeping in mind the style that Ishifude had used so far. At least assuming it was a style. It certainly wasn't one that Ken was familiar with, which perhaps meant it wasn't a formal style like his own, but all that meant was that it hadn't been put to paper and taught in schools yet.

---

Post Count: 5

[freshstrawberries]

Squad 11 was a distinct squad for the least, the members had a respect for each other, a camaraderie that went beyond 'manners.'  Hot headed, aggressive, abrasive, all terms commonly applied to its members.  Hell the captain of squad 11 was selected by someone killing the previous one!  There were no peaceful retirements, or graceful transfers of power, the very selection process of their leadership was a bloody battle to decide who was the strongest.  It was doubtful that any of the shinigami watching and jeering at both of them meant anything actually malicious, but were merely enjoying the show, and shouting squad 11's own unique brand of encouragement.

Even Ishifude was not trying to offend, but clearly trying to goad him to keep fighting, and not to humiliate him but to push him to fight harder, to do better!  He'd made a simple mistake in their first exchange, that didn't mean she was better.  This was shown by the grin on her face as he charged directly towards her, taking the offensive once again.  A grin of delight and excitement. 

As he closed in, blade drawing from left to right, she'd toss her sword down, from the raised left hand, to lowered right.  It was a bizarre move for sure, but while he was faster than her, she had the benefit of seeing his attack coming.  She was remarkably confident simply tossing her sword from hand to hand, but the right caught it with ease, and with that sword now low, her right hand swung upwards, intercepting his with a ring of steel on steel.

At this point he might learn that while he was a bit faster, she seemed to be a bit stronger, deflecting his blade upwards as she stepped in, twisting to move her blade from beneath his to over, wrist twisting smoothly.  It was an obvious if dangerous attack, she was going to run past him, slicing with her blade as she went.  However, while it would have been easy to target his throat, she was only aiming for his chest, still a dangerous blow, but it was unlikely to cut deeply enough to do serious damage.

[Ken Shirogane]

The captain's seat of squad 11 was just another example of how he was different, even had he possessed the skill to defeat the captain, kill her and take her place, the means didn't justify the end in his mind. It's not something he would have chosen to do presented with the opportunity. If he did ever reach the potential to become a captain, it would likely be of a different squad. His desire to test himself was great, as well as to become a great swordsman even in this world, but killing people for glory and position was something he tried to reserve for times of war. Or at least that was how he had felt in life, part of him might simply always cling to that long left-behind past. Amusing since he'd been dead far longer than he'd been alive by now.

Her words did encourage him to continue at least, choosing to fight rather than flee. But he could not have gone about it in the same manner she had, his attitude was just different.

The way she could switch the position of her sword was truly something to be admired. That let her go from having the sword on her shoulder to having it in a low guard in the opposite hand so quickly and defend against his attack.

This time at least he was ready to move, and she was hardly the only observant one here. He put his ability to react and his speed to better use this time. That footwork came into play, shifting with the motion of her blade like a reed, and bringing his blade into position for a light deflection, letting her strike brush off his blade, slowing it, before shifting into the opposite direction she moved. He didn't attempt to press blades beyond that, making space between them as they shifted in opposite directions before he slipped his blade into its sheath with practiced ease.

"The way you can switch hands and position your blade in an instant is truly admirable." He commented before shifting forward to draw his blade in a horizontal slash aimed to catch her across her thighs.

---

Post Count: 6

[freshstrawberries]

Ah, now he was fighting!  Trading blows was the domain of brutes and simpletons who viewed a blade as little more than a stick of metal!  Their blades clashed, and his own moved to counter hers, keeping them bound together briefly as he stepped away from her and past, both turning quickly to face each other.  The grin on her face had widened slightly as she regarded him.

Her blade was kept low, slanted angled across from thigh to past the knee, still in her right hand.  He'd sheathed his blade again, how curious, he really was a big fan of that style huh?  She'd always viewed it as simply a way to be able to start a fight even from a disadvantageous situation, but here he was sheathing his blade mid fight.  "Why thank you.  I got cut quite a few times before I had it down."  Cut from fumbling her sword, or cut by enemies when she screwed it up?  Who knew, with squad 11 it could be either, or even both. 

His blade was drawn, a quick cut towards her legs.  Naturally her blade intercepted, and again she showed that odd style.  She really did put both hands to use, her left hand coming in to press near the tip of the blade as she'd clash and shove upwards, forcing his blade upwards, but instead of a thrust as she'd gone the last time she'd done this, her blade would twist and go for a diagonal slash, from his left shoulder down towards his hip, but she wasn't stopping there this time.  No she'd follow it up with her left hand coming up and taking the blade out of her right towards the nadir of the slash, and bring it back upwards at a different angle, stepping in as she did so!  He'd recovered from his humiliation and he was fighting smarter.  It was only polite to reward that with more aggressive play!

[Ken Shirogane]

To Ken drawing and sheathing the blade was the core of his style, it was akin to the way one might put their hands together in prayer. Sheath and draw, sheath and draw. Of course, it wasn't exactly practical to do in the middle of a fight, but years of practice made sheathing his blade quickly as much a part of his art as drawing it and swinging it. Drawing the blade from the sheath for a cut was practiced just as much if not more than the basic cutting forms of Iaido.

When he had been alive his father had been his teacher in the style and done his best to train Ken. Going so far as to teach him to cut arrows shot at him from the air. Ken's reaction and precision were key elements of his swordsmanship and agility put to work. Unfortunately for Ken, while he could cut an arrow, he had not quite been good enough to split bullets, which was one reason he had not been able to avoid taking one to the head.

His sword was deflected up, and her next attack came, shifting quickly to the side so that her attack would come in lower, but bringing his blade down by then to prevent himself being cut, but clever hands switched the blade to perform the next cut, bringing it up from its angled stroke. He tilted and shifted, but even so, it was close, feeling the blade breeze by and clip a few strands of white hair that were sent flying between them.

He brought his blade across aiming to catch her on the stomach with a quick slash while he stepped back to make space between them and gripped the hilt with both hands, the tip staying pointed at her center. Being in close range with her simply was not to his advantage. The way she handled her blade allowed her to make great use of her strength, and it had been made quite clear that she held some advantage over him in terms of raw strength. Range and speed were his mantras for this fight. Though that might be the case for most fights he happened to be in, he just didn't need to keep it so firmly in mind against less skilled opponents.

---

Post Count: 7

[freshstrawberries]

Ah, but this was so much better than before!  To have this level of skill, to have such nimble footwork and agility.  Why had he ever chosen to simply stand his ground and invite her to stab him as he brought his own blade down?  Such an action was utterly unsuited to so graceful a swordsman. 

Her blade caught not but a few strands of air, a nearly imperceptible difference from catching air, and in return his blade lashed out, and she quickly stepped back herself, but just a hair too slow.  She felt the tip of his blade catch her clothes, felt the faint sting as it traced a line across a skin, scoring a shallow cut on her left side.  She could tell without touching that he'd managed to draw blade, the ferocious shinigami taking a few steps back as she grinned, blade pointed towards him, held in one hand.  "First blood goes to you, and look you didn't even have to trade blows to do it."

She sounded delighted, and would then do something strange.  Flipping her blade in her hand, before suddenly sheathing it.  However, there could be no confusion that she was surrendering.  The stance she took as she sheathed was not of one no longer ready to fight.  Feet spread, profile lower, left hand holding the sheath, right hand hovering just above the handle...it was like his own stance for Iajutsu, but this was...rough wasn't the right word.  It didn't look right, in some subtle way it did not fit with the style, there was something more...feral, more savage about her stance as she started to slowly, steadily inch towards him as if daring him to strike before she came into range.