A Spot Of Late Night Team Building Exercises

[Gaz]

Shiro #1

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Less than twelve hours remained before the exam that would see all the graduating students into the ranks of the Gotei Thirteen. The results of this exam would determine if squads were willing to take a soul in as a new member, a lot rode on this exam and the young man that was currently practicing in the courtyard of his dorms was passed the point of worry and fret. He had already graduated from the academy despite his lacking skills in Kido. He had decided to apply for a large number of squads in hope any of them would take him… he even had applied for squad two which was known more for infiltration and information gathering. If that ended up being his place, he was sure he was going to suffer as much as if one of the kidou specialist squads picked him up.

“Don’t be so worked up Shiro my boy, your friend Akira is a shoe in for Squad eleven and I’m sure if push comes to shove you can always join there with him.” A disembodied spirit spoke in his head, deep and rumbling like a rolling thunder. It was a reassurance from his weapon that was stubbornly not giving up its own name until he saw Shiro do something grandiose enough.

Shiro let out a long and loud sigh after the swing. “Thanks for the reassurance, I guess.” The young Shinigami to be spoke softly as he inspected his Zanpakuto in the growing light of the moon which was rising slowly. On his way back to the dorm after training with the others earlier he found out his final exam would be one where he was assigned to a partner, which wasn’t so bad but that all depended on who his partner was going to be.

He did not have much time to consider what was going to happen as a wave of overbearing pressure swallowed him up and made his legs almost buckle as the air felt like it turned to a soup he could barely suck into his lungs. This presence… It had to be a high-ranking Shinigami announcing themselves. A moment later the air returned to normal and Shiro managed to stand to attention, his weapon sheathed.

“Tagachi, working hard as always I see.” A cold female voice spoke, sending chills down the spine of Shiro. “Come with me, I need an unbiased tester for a series of devices the squad has built for Squad Nine.” Captain Saeki said, her words sounding dispassionate as always. The white coated woman walked past with the symbol for the twelfth squad emblazoned on the back.

“… But I have to be ready for the exam tomorrow!” Shiro spoke, trying to rebuke the order that came from nowhere. He was right, getting ready for tomorrow was important. He turned to try and protest more but a hand moved at speeds his eyes could barely comprehend and grabbed the back of his uniform and started to drag him along as if her were nothing.

“No complaints Tagachi. You are the only student I could find not either already in bed or locked in their room. You will be compensated for your sacrifice.” The captain spoke, words hitting him like iron as he stopped struggling against her and did his best to start walking, though it just looked like he was getting dragged still.

Eventually he was pulled through the barracks of squad twelve to many members flashing grins and giggles at the young man, some of them exchanging whispers that he had it rough but would rather avoid being in his shoes themselves. “Uhh, Captain… What is this device you made?” He asked, sounding very unsure before the woman let go of him and nudged him forward into a room.

“The captain of the Ninth calls it an… Escape Room.” Azai Saeki replied, a little incredulity in her voice as she herself seemed unsure of why they wanted this thing built.

---

Captain Azai Saeki: bd9ac4
Shiro: 7319e6

From this point on control of Captain Azai Saeki is relinquished to Bobbie .

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #1

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Lenalee had been caught at the library beyond closing hours again, having snuck in and found a cozy corner where she thought she could go unnoticed with a little ball of energy at her finger tip to provide a suitable reading light. Unfortunately, she had not gone unnoticed, and this was well past her final warning after the first couple of times this happened. The most natural approach? Report the girl’s behaviour to her mother.

Azai was angry that she had been disturbed from her work to see to her daughter’s studious nature causing problems. While the captain had always thought that it would prevent all the problems of an unruly child that many parents had to deal with, she never imagined that this would come with its own set of challenges as well. Of course, despite her irritation, there was hardly an expression of this other than a cold frown on the grown woman’s face, but Lenalee had learnt how to interpret even the most unemotional glance coming from her mother.

“I was studying for the exam...” Lenalee protested with a sulk, seeing that as a good enough reason to break the rules and be in the library outside of student hours. Her mother offered no response for an awkward couple of seconds, as they both stood in the barracks of squad 12 where Captain Saeki brought her. The girl was used to this of course and she let out a heavy sigh, rolling her eyes. “Mum, this is-”

“You spend too much time focussing on study-work and very little on improvisation work.”

Blinking as she was interrupted mid-sentence, Lenalee stared at the woman before her, a wave of fear washing over her as she knew her mother well enough to read between the lines.

“I will also add that you work terribly with anyone in your cohort, you are severely lacking in social skills.”

The sulk returned and Lenalee looked away, “Gee, I wonder where I get that from.” she muttered in monotone, causing Azai to reach over and suddenly snap her fingers right beside Lenalee’s ear. “Ow...” she covered her ear and turned back to face her mother, straightening up.

“You throw books, furniture, and you scream at your classmates. You will wait here until I return with further instruction.” With that, the captain spun on her very high heel and stormed away.

Lenalee waited until her mother was out of sight before throwing her head back with a loud groan, but she did as she was ordered to and waited on the spot. Sure enough, her mother returned a matter of minutes later - and she seemed to be dragging Shiro with her. Instantly, a deep frown appeared on Lenalee’s face.

“Lenalee, follow,” she called out to her daughter, who promptly sprung on her feet to hurry after them. “What is this?” she asked, just before Azai Saeki gave the official title of their latest torture chamber... “An Escape Room? What’s an escape room?” The young Shinigami looked at Shiro with pure dread all over her face - he must have been brought here for a reason... is she expecting me to work with him?

He was nudged into the room first, and then so was Lenalee. “As the name implies... escape.” she coldly replied as the door was shut behind them, the small glass window, designed to withstand the most savage force, being the only visual opening for either party to see what was on the other side as it separated the pair from the captain. “You will figure it out. I just hope you don’t take too long, as you have less than 12 hours before your final exam, and this door cannot manually be opened by anyone on your side or mine - not without completing a number of tasks and puzzles.” she paused and her eyes sparkled as if having an epiphany, then she raised a finger to her chin. “That should have ben thought about, we may have forgotten to include a failsafe mechanism... Good luck.” she concluded and began to walk away.

Lenalee could hardly see through the glass window, it being a little too high for her, but she could of course hear everything, and she was not happy about it. “WHAT!? I wasn’t done STUDYING!” she frantically began trying to force the door open, jumping on the spot to try and see through the transparent window, but it was all to no avail... it wouldn’t budge, and her mother didn't even look back as she made no indication of even hearing her. Turning to face Shiro, she was horrified as she faced the reality: she was stuck in this room with...

“You...”

---

Lenalee: #54d5e3

Captain Azai Saeki: #bd9ac4

[Gaz]

Shiro #2

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Shiro managed to stop himself from stumbling over in the dark room and turned around to watch Lenalee Enter, he had missed her as he arrived as he was too concerned trying to get his own feet under himself. He did manage to catch the captain giving the pair a run down on what an ‘Escape Room’ was before stating they had less than twelve hours and walking away as the door closed… Grand. 12 hours to escape a room that had no way to unlock it without solving whatever was contained in this room.

"Captain! I didn’t sign up for this!" Shiro called before locking his eyes onto Lenalee who seemed to be staring daggers into him. Was she blaming him for this? Wow, she would likely blame him for the first Arrancar to exist if she could… she likely did. He sighed, patting himself down and finally moving his gaze away from her to see the room they were tossed into.

“Why Me?” He asked, knowing she was going to spit venom at him for no damn reason. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Your mu-… Captain Saeki pulled me away from my down training courtyard.” He spoke, letting his eyes take in the details of the room, it had a very land of the living modern décor, alien to himself and Lenalee but common to those who made trips to the living world on their missions.

There was a Television on the opposite side of the room, a wooden dummy hanging from the ceiling on another wall. In the middle surrounded by A Sofa and a love seat was a coffee table with a board game set up. A giant archery target that looked like a button was also present. This place was set up weirdly indeed… there had to be clues or something.

“Look, Lenalee. I am exhausted and want to get some sleep before the exam tomorrow… can we please just get out of here and do that? I really cannot be bothered dealing with your height complex driven hate towards me.” Shiro spoke as moved deeper into the room, the carpet was in a weird spiralling blue and white pattern. The main light to the room was on but there were a few lights scattered around the room that were off despite the only switch in the room being on.

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Shiro: 7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #2

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Lenalee continued to glare at Shiro, hating everything about him at that moment for indeed no good reason. It wasn’t his fault this was happening, nor was it hers, actually... she was certain that this was not a result of anything either of them had been up to, but simply her mother needing test subjects. Of course, some of Captain Saeki’s comments made sense as to why Lenalee was thrown in here, but she wasn’t sure why it had to be Shiro... why couldn’t it be Ren? They seemed to get along just fine, his jokes always made her smile. Well... most of the time. Even Akira's company would have been more enjoyable than his.

The short girl rolled her eyes as he voiced her complaints, “And what exactly do you want me to do about that? I’m not the one who dragged you out of there, maybe you should have managed your time better and finished up beforehand. I was studying, but only going over what I already know, so it shouldn't be such a big deal for me.” she shrugged with a sarcastic smile, as she started to walk around the room away from Shiro. Any distance from her mortal enemy was welcome. “Oh believe me, my hate towards you has nothing to do with your unsightly lanky figure, so don't start throwing your 'taller-than-thou' garbage in my face.”

Along the wall, some odd gadgets were left on a low hanging shelf, which she picked up one by one and looked at curiously, not recognising any of them. “How are we supposed to find a way out of here if we don’t know what any of these things even are?” she picked one up and turned it in her little fingers. It was the size of her entire palm.

Holding it between her index finger and thumb, an outer ring on the item seemed to spin while the centre remained still, pinched in her grasp. With pouty lips, she raised her eyebrows in confusion and put it back down, not the least bit impressed with its spinning action. Then she picked up another thing that looked like a furry pompom.  With a devious giggle, she turned to Shiro and threw it at him as hard as she could. “Think fast!”

As the pompom collided with a hard surface, it lit up in a flux of changing colours in its core underneath a silicone layer of skin from which the hair that made the pompom came out.

Suddenly the television switched on to reveal a blinding screen of static, slowly clearing up to reveal Captain Saeki sitting at her desk. “Good, you’ve figured out how to turn the television on.” she said, her cold stare somehow seeming to penetrate the screen to reach the two young Shinigami. “Now, listen carefully.” Her gaze lowered as she cleared her throat and began to read off a paper.

Lenalee moved closer to the screen, sobering up in an instant.

“In order to escape this room, you must work together to complete five puzzles and hence release the five locks in that door. Failing one puzzle will cause any previously unlocked mechanisms to fall back into place and lock once more - the puzzles that have already been completed will not change, but you will need to start over to unlock their corresponding bolts again. Every puzzle in this room is designed to be completed by two people, working synchronously. If you resist that notion, completing all five puzzles will be impossible. Your time limit is 12 hours, which happens to coincide with tomorrow’s exam - just a coincidence - so don’t take this lightly. Any questions?” she paused to look up and make perfect eye contact with them through the screen, a shiver going down Lenalee’s spine.

“Yes! Why are we even doing this!? I would be better off studying, and Shiro was training in the courtyard.” The girl protested, crossing her arms. “This is stupid.”

With a pensive hum, Captain Saeki seemed to be lost in thought, as if she were actually considering what Lenalee said. She waited a bit longer and nodded to anything else that might have been said next. Then she looked down at her desk and wrote something down. “Second note - install microphones in the room.” The captain raised her head once more, a look of pure detachment unwavering on her face. “Good luck.” The screen then flickered and changed to another channel that had the rules that she had just read out to them displayed in clear print.

---

Lenalee: #54d5e3

Captain Azai Saeki: #bd9ac4

[Gaz]

Shiro #3

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Shiro let his eyes wander across the room, aiming to always have Lenalee in the corner so he could watch out for what she was doing. Solving puzzles and figuring things out was what she was good at with all those book smarts… Shiro liked to think of himself as a think on his feet guy, solve issues as they come in his own weird way. Even though that lately meant just powering through them with sheer power.

The warning wasn’t needed from Lenalee as the Pom was thrown at his head with all the power her little arms could muster. He raised his hand and batted the projectile away to make it land on the floor. When it did the explosion of light it let out intrigued him. “Really?” He asked, bored of her prodding when all he wanted was to go to bed.

When the TV turned on the young man shifted and looked at it with puzzlement in his eyes. Captain Saeki was on the screen and talking, telling them to listen carefully. It all boiled down to five puzzles and five locks that were dependant on the one being solved after it to staying open. All of them were designed for two people… AND A TWELVE HOUR TIMELIMIT?! That was it… they were doomed to never reach the test. Lenalee was more likely to try all sorts of Kidou on him than help him solve a puzzle… Though, she would miss the final entrance exam too. For once he agreed with Lenalee’s protests… this was stupid!

“Install Microphones?! How are you meant to monitor people in these prisons without hearing them!?” Shiro growled before looking around to see what puzzles were actually about. “Right. I don’t like you, and you don’t like me. But tonight, we are partners. We have to make that exam.” The lanky young man spoke as he headed toward the small young woman with a hand out ready to shake. No kneeling down, no prodding about her height. He knew when he had to get into serious mode and this was it…

“Are you okay with that? After this we can go our separate ways and never speak of it again.”

---

Shiro:7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #3

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With a loud sigh, Lenalee watched Shiro. She was equally frustrated, but at least she wasn’t growling like an animal. Her arms still crossed and her lips in a heavy pout, the girl raised an eyebrow at her taller counterpart. “No, I don’t like you,” she made sure to cut in the moment he made the most obvious announcement to ever grace her ears.

“I plan to make it to that exam, so basically don’t mess this up for me, okay?” The young Shinigami rolled her eyes and shook her head, before she noticed him approach her. She was instantly on edge, expecting some belittling gesture to come next, like a pat on the head, or for him to lean down to her level in a patronisingly obvious manner… yet when that didn’t come, her features softened.

She stared at his hand for a moment, then looked away in shame, before taking a deep breath and reaching over to place her very little hand in his significantly larger one, making eye-contact with him.

“We have an agreement. Let’s get these five puzzles sorted, break out of this ridiculous room, and go ace that exam.” As she included him in that final statement, revealing more belief in his ability to pass that exam than she’d ever shown, little Lena offered a genuine smile to the young man despite her previous comment. “Alright!” she finally withdrew her hand and turned to give him her back, her hands on her hips as her head turned from left to right to scan the room. “Puzzle, puzzle, puzzle… If I were a two-man puzzle then I would have to rely on each person’s strength, so what’s the most obvious strength that each of us has which is lacking for the other? What does one person have in abundance, while the other leans toward the opposite?” she continued to mumble, simply thinking out loud as she missed the most blatant contrast between the pair.

“What is within one person’s reach…” she crossed her arms for a moment before tapping her chin, lightly. “But not within the other’s-” pausing, she spun on her heel to stare at Shiro. “Don’t you dare say it! So... you have a look hi-… look around at ... your head level. I’ll have a look around at mine.”

Cautiously, she watched him, waiting for a hurtful response to come from his mouth as she tried to avoid using the words height, high, and low… but this really was the most obvious form of differentiated puzzle. Could it really be this simple?

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Lenalee: #54d5e3

[Gaz]

Shiro #4

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All in all, Lenalee agreed to be civil for the sake of getting to the exam that was rapidly approaching… it would have to do, there was no way this was going to suddenly make them the best of friends. As their hands parted. he followed her gaze and looked for puzzles as well. A small smile was gracing his lips he was going to do his best to remember this moment.

“Cover each other weaknesses, good plan. Don’t worry I’ll scan the upper walls.” He spoke, looking away to hide the smile and having his eyes scan for things that would be a miss. Lights that were on despite their switches being flicked go on… odd that could be a logic puzzle that needed to be done in the right order. Lenalee could reach the switches with out much issue… So where was the second part to it? It was meant to be a two-man operation.

He moved closer to the puzzle and flicked a switch… nothing happened to the light, but a click could be heard from the wall a few inches to the side of the lights. “I think I have something…” He mused, flicking the other switches to on and making sword shaped hole appear in the wall. Now all the switches were off.

“I think one person has to put their Zanpakuto in this hole while the other flicks the switches in a certain order….” He mused, pulling his blade free from its scabbard to examine it. He then looked over to the short woman to see if she had found anything.

“Any luck on your end Lenalee?”

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Shiro: 7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #4

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Lenalee continued to scan the area on her side of the room, only occasionally glancing in Shiro’s direction to sneak a peek at how he was progressing, partly out of the desire to get out of this mess sooner rather than later, and partly out of pure curiosity. He actually looked a little cute when he was concentrating on something and not charging in head first without thinking… the puzzled look was one that suited him, she thought.

Turning back with a smile of her own, she continued searching, her attention caught by one odd contraption that seemed to be a miniature trapdoor in the floor that could hold no more than a single foot - probably two of her own - yet claw at it as she might, she couldn’t get the two metal doors open. There was some spring mechanism that held the two halves pressed together, so she continued to look on. As her hands began to glide along a shelf, her fingers felt a slight depression. “I don’t know, maybe…” she muttered in response to Shiro's question, standing on her tippy toes to try and get a glimpse of what she found, though she couldn’t see very well on the shelf. Pressing her fingers down, the shelf itself seemed sturdy enough, tested further when she grabbed its edge and pulled herself up to hang off it as a pair of icy blue eyes peered over it.

“There’s some kind of button here, or something…” It was large enough for the girl to sit on perfectly, and as she put her weight on it, her elbows slipping into the depression, the trapdoor opened. Her head whipped round and she looked at it, the doors instantly slamming shut as soon as her weight was removed. “Got something, but I’m not sure what. I can squeeze in the space to weigh it down, it seems to open some kind of trap door.”

Letting go, she landed on her feet and turned to face him. “We’ll deal with this one next. What have you got?” she walked over to him to see the switches, and then the hole in the wall. “Okay… is it yours or mine that it needs?” She asked as she took out her own zanpakuto, but her gaze fell back onto the switches, the girl drawn in by the logical puzzle left for them.

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Lenalee: #54d5e3

[Gaz]

Shiro #5

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Shiro peered over and noticed Lenalee dangling in the most awkward way to something he could reach with ease. As she wasn’t looking a smile crept onto his face, one that he quickly hid again when the trapdoor snapped shut, making him look back to the logic puzzle that was before him. “I’ve got a feeling you might do better flicking these switches when I insert my Zanpacuto into the hole? You have always been better at the logic questions… I’ve been more an instinct person.”

Shiro nodded to her as he manoeuvred around and drew his long blade, the sound of the steel sliding from the well-oiled scabbard was music in the quiet room. With a precise thrust the blade plunged deep into the hole until a click could be heard but nothing happened. “I think it needs some Reiryoku…” He whispered before narrowing his eyes on the blade. The room vibrated for a moment as he let it all out in one go before focusing it, funnelling the energy down into whatever device was needed.

As he did the light started to burn bright in a trio of colours, A brilliant blue that reminded him of the spirit energy in a Hado#1. A deep crimson red that had the eerie glow of blood. And to complete the trio a vibrant green which gave the area a sickly glow. Each of the light’s ambience melded with the others to create a pure rainbow effect in that area. “Oh, that is cool.” He spoke before letting go of the sword to realise that without his energy constantly pouring in it would shut the lights off.

With a grunted sigh Shiro placed his hands back on the blade and began to channel his energy, something he had a vast quantity of. “Okay… Flick away Lenalee.” He said making her do the logical part of the puzzle. Shiro did his best to scan the room where he saw three boxes of the same colours of the lights scattered about…

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Shiro: 7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #5

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Lenalee nodded immediately and she put her zanpakuto away again. “Agreed,” she muttered, slipping over to the side of the puzzles and looking at all the switches for her little fingers to glide over and flick to her heart’s content. At least, until she’d have to be serious and try to figure out the puzzle.

Clearing her throat, she dismissed the childish look on her face, resisting the urge to press all the buttons, then looked at Shiro. Just then, the entire room began to vibrate with his Reiryoku until it was focused. She opened her mouth to offer advice, but raising a small hand up to her own mouth, she held back and closed her mouth again, deciding to just let him do his thing. Sure enough, he quickly got the hang of it and everything settled as her attention was redirected to the brilliant hues that filled the room. Her mouth slightly agape once more as she gasped, she nodded and then smiled with a soft giggle.

“It is- Oh.”

Her astonishment was soon interrupted as all the lights went off and she looked at him again, as he refocused his energy again, bringing all the lights back on.

“Okay!” her attention went back to the switches and she started trying out some of the combinations. The few that she tried failed, but there were only three switches, so there were not many possibilities, yet each one that she tried only caused all switches to revert back to their original neutral position. Frowning, she crossed her arms and stared at the switches in thought. “I don’t get it… I’ve tried all possible solutions.” she muttered, before she began to search elsewhere and spotted the boxes. She figured there would be a connection since they shared their colours, but other than simply using the switches to open the boxes, what more could it be?

“Hang on…” she moved to the boxes and pulled each one by the switches. “Matching would be too easy, so there needs to be something else. We’ve got a blue light, a red light, and a green light… blue box, red box, and green box.” She thought long and hard about it, before grabbing the red box and pushing it in front of the blue light, creating a pink glow that elicited a shocked look on her face. “What? That should be purple, why… blue, red, and green… why is it not blue, red, and yellow? The primary colours are wrong. Yellow is missing...”

The mutterings of a madwoman mid-concentration continued as she moved the green box up to the blue light to create a cyan glow, not too unlike the shade of her hair. As the girl’s mind was blown, she was clearly fascinated by what she was learning - colour combinations in light works differently to those in paints and inks. All that was left was to move the red box in front of the green light and-

“Voila! Yellow!” she giggled with excitement as she saw three simple letters illuminated by the yellow glow, then promptly flicked the switches in the following order: red first, green second, blue third. “R… G… B…”

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Lenalee: #54d5e3

[Gaz]

Shiro #6

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Shiro watched as Lenalee flicked the switches and saw the changing lights then placing the boxes over them as she muttered away in her own thoughts. The entire time he was left there to direct spiritual energy into this device with his Zanpacuto, something he had never considered outside of combat.

“Shiro Boi, this is a new kind of flashy. I’m not quite a fan of it.” A disembodied voice whispered in his ear as he pushed energy through the sword and into the device. “Where’s the boom? The shockwave and speed? Your heart is beating but you’re not exerting yourself.” It carried on, prodding at Shiro to do something big and extravagant.

‘I need fine control of my energy otherwise drawn-out fights will become instant losses for me… that isn’t flashy at all, is it?’ The tall Shinigami replied in his own mind to counter the blades voice that was now quietly contemplating about things. A satisfied hum came from it before it grew distant to watch the goings on.

As Lenalee clicked the right order one of the lights on the door light up and a click could be heard as one of the five locks slid free. Shiro let his energy stop flowing and the lights remained on, a sign that the puzzle had been completed. That left the Shinigami was a satisfied smile on his face as the blade he was pulled from the wall and placed back into his scabbard at his side.

“Good work!” He spoke, offering the smaller woman a high five… that was within her range of reach. A proud grin on his face that illuminated his face like fireworks in a clear night. “Shall we go to the one you were messing with earlier?” He asked, wanting to keep the momentum they had gained.

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Shiro: 7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #6

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While Lenalee was working on her part, despite all of her focus seeming to be on what she was doing, she did allow her attention to drift away at moments, just briefly enough to realise what was going on with Shiro. His silence and intense focus, followed by the gentle hum that seemed to emanate from his zanpakuto confirmed it - he was communicating with it.

A pang of jealousy ran through her as she wished she could do the same with her own, but all she ever faced when she tried was resistance or frustrating provoking - and the more irritated Lenalee got, the more resistant her blade grew. It seemed to her that it enjoyed infuriating her and receiving the angered reaction it wanted from her only fuelled it even further. It was unfair. A shinigami and their zanpakuto are meant to be inseparable allies, yet hers seemed to be more intent on making an enemy of her than anything else. It was for this reason that she couldn’t see it as anything more than a dagger. A very sharp but stubborn dagger.

Once the puzzle had been completed, she put on a bright smile and turned to Shiro, giving him an awkward high five, before giggling at how goofy he looked with such a proud smile on his face. It wasn’t one that she often got to see from him directed toward her.

“Yes! So, it’s over here…” she turned and led him back to her side of the room where she had previously been hanging on the shelf. “There seems to be a switch on this shelf that opens this strange trapdoor…” she pointed to two miniature metal doors that were in the floor, only a square foot precisely. “I… need a boost to get up on the shelf, but while I was hanging from it, it seemed to open the doors. I couldn’t see what’s in there, because it seems to need all of my weight to keep the doors from springing shut again - and watch your hands. It’s like a monster that would chop them right off… look.”

Hopping on the spot, she grabbed onto the shelf to hang from it. It wasn’t until she pulled herself up onto her elbows with great strain that the trapdoors opened. “There’s something else up here… I don’t know what it is, but if I look away from it, the doors close again.” If her voice wasn’t enough to reveal that she was getting tired in that position, her swinging feet should have been enough of an indication as she stared into what she didn’t know was a facial recognition camera.

Finally, her arms gave way and she fell back down on her feet, the doors slamming closed again.

“Did you manage to see what’s in there?”

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Lenalee: #54d5e3

[Gaz]

Shiro #7

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With the awkward high five and unlawfully cute giggle out of the way Shiro followed the small Shinigami in waiting to the puzzle she had found. It was adorable how she jumped to swing from a shelf he barely had to reach up to touch, though he could tell by how her legs swung that she was struggling. Her little body didn’t have the strength for this kind of task. In a moment he shifted his gaze and looked into the trap door and saw that it was a small tunnel, something he could barely fit in.

“A tunnel.” He spoke catching the young woman as she fell to cushion her fall, his hands gently grasping under her arms before letting go and standing tall again to look at the shelf and the camera… He could easily put his weight on that and maintain a hold for a while, maybe even use one hand to flick any switches and the likes that were up there too.

“Shall we swap Lenalee? I take the shelf and you get the tunnel?” He asked, standing on his toes to reach the shelf properly and then as he placed all of his weight on it, lying his forearm flat across it, lifted off the floor just an inch. The trap door snapped open, revealing the decently lit tunnels that ran under the room to different puzzles.

“I can hang here all day!” He joked as his other hand moved to poke the facial recognition camera to investigate what it was. As he did a board dropped down beside his head listing low level kido spells and riddles associated with them. “Crap.”

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Shiro: 7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #7

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Shiro’s hands caught her perfectly as little Lena landed very softly with a gentle gasp escaping her. She remained on her tiptoes for a moment, as she glanced down to be sure she wouldn’t step on his feet and then let her own flatten on the floor. Her cheeks had reddened in act of protest as she willed them to cool down with a subtle clearing of her throat. “Thank you…” she mumbled in a very small voice, directing her attention at the floor, at the trap door, anywhere but at Shiro. For somebody who came across as so impulsive, he really did have a more thoughtful and gentle side to him… she couldn’t help but wonder what drove him to hide it so well most of the time.

As she was close to becoming lost in her thoughts, Shiro’s voice brought her back and she whipped around to look at him with a hint of confusion for a moment before his words registered and she then nodded. “Yeah, good idea.” She hesitated as she turned once more to look down into the tunnel as the trapdoor opened, tilting her head as she calculated whether she could fit in there or not. Again, she nodded. “Okay, just… don’t let go, please.”

Lenalee giggled at his joke which was a pretty decent answer to her concern, and then she disappeared into the tunnel, crawling on all fours at first, but soon had to squeeze a bit to get through it while lying flat on her stomach and squirming through it like a snake. As she crawled, her laboured breaths could be heard coming from a miniature speaker beside the camera that was recording Shiro. “Just keep going, Lena… ignore the walls around you, just keep going forward…” unaware that she could be heard, the girl quietly consoled herself as she moved through a very uncomfortably tight spot that most people would feel claustrophobic in. “Of course it’s a freaking tiny tunnel!” she hissed through her teeth, the strain evident in her tone.

As Shiro cursed, Lenalee suddenly froze, hearing his voice ringing through the tunnel. “Shiro?” she called, looking around as best as she could in the limited space she had. “I can hear you… say something else! There must be a speaker somewhere here. Can you hear me? What happened?” her last question was followed by a sudden squeak and then a splash as the small shinigami made it to the end of the tunnel, which opened into a drop to little shallow pond below.

Lifting her face out of the shallow water, she spluttered and then let out an aggravated groan, before she stood up in the water that reached just below her knees and she yelled at the top of her lungs, “My mother has such a twisted mind!”

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Lenalee: #54d5e3

[Gaz]

Shiro #8

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As he watched the short woman disappear into the trapdoor he smiled before returning his head to the wall. The sounds of her chattering away to herself did bring a warm smile to his face. Even Lenalee had fears and it showed a side to her he and nearly all the other students hadn’t really seen. An adorable self determination to keep going on even through the worst. It was a genuinely endearing factor that was growing to really appreciate in this small time they had together as true allies.

As he opened his mouth to reply to her question and what seemed like obvious concern for him, he was cut off by the sound of her squeaking and a splashing sound. He winced for her at the sounds before she splooshed to the surfaced and screamed so loud that it caused the speakers near his head to make an otherworldly sound. Lena, despite her small size, had a real set of lungs in that tiny frame. His free hand moved to rub each of his ears in turn to relax them and soothe away some of the pain the screech had caused.

“Am I allowed to agree?” He asked with a light teasing tone to try and diffuse some of the woman’s anger, it was only going to cloud her mind. “I can hear you; I think you can hear me…” Shiro spoke as he adjusted his position and looked around the riddles. I have a bunch of riddles here that don’t have answers but the little lights by them are not lit up. “There’s three riddles, One blue, one red and another green.” He explained.

“As a spell I am restrictive, effective and red. My name is deceptive, what am i?” Shiro spoke, his hand following the words on the blue writing that stopped with an inactive blue bulb. Inside the underground pond area that Lenalee was trapped in there were side rooms, each labelled and coloured. The Blue Bakudō titled Geki was her answer if she could spot it and complete its small trial.

Shiro moved his hand over to the second plate that was in red with the next question and spoke. “I normally appear in the sky when heavens must smite, with a delicate colour I destroy. What am i?” With a raised eyebrow he let his finger run across the words again as his Zanpakuto chuckled.

“When were we ever delicate my boi?” The blade hummed in amusement, was he hinting at his own name? or being clever… or both? The red room titled byakurai was in that chamber below where Lenalee was. There were so many small off shoots for her to wander down not knowing the answers would make those in this trap spend an entire day here let alone 12 hours.

“Last one…” Shiro spoke as he pressed his finger to the green. “An ignored art, an essential tool. I am utilised by the many but my cousins by the elite few. What am i?” This one stumped shiro and his face twisted as he thought hard… how many schools of Kido were there? Hadō, Bakudō… and a third that everyone knows but doesn’t use? Healing? Reiki? The green room of Keikatsu was the answer… not that Shiro knew though.

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Shiro: 7319e6