Captain Shunsui Kyōraku (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sake_shinigami) wrote2019-12-19 03:08 pm
sake_shinigami) wrote2019-12-19 03:08 pm
Fake Karakura Town [Thursday, 12/19 FT].
Shunsui didn't need much time to rest, really, though there was a part of him that desperately wanted to use this as an excuse. If the Visored and the Shinigami forces combined weren't enough to take down these Espada--and Aizen still!--then what would be the point of putting in the effort? Why not just enjoy his last moments in peace, with the very last thing for him to remember before it all ended being the ruffle of Lisa-chan's incredibly short skirt?
But no matter how hard he might try, he knew that wouldn't be what he would remember in those last moments. It had been a nice distraction, while she was there, but sitting there by himself, all he could think of was that feral Arrancar child, the expression of delight on his face as he clutched Jūshirō's heart in his hand.
Shunsui closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. It just couldn't end like this.
"Well!" he announced, to no one in particular, since he was clearly by himself. He couldn't even see much of the battle from here, but he still put a show into slapping his knees, pulling himself up, pretending to be far more battered and worn down than he felt. "Guess I'd better get back to it..."
But he wasn't alone, not really. He was never alone, and he felt a sharp, sudden shift in his own reitsu the moment he picked his swords back up.
"Oh," he snorted faintly, his lazy grin gone crooked again, "so now you're ready, ohana? Well, then, let's just go see how our Visored friends are doing against dear old Espada-san, neh ♥?"
No one could hear it, except Shunsui, and it was more of a feeling than sound, but the answer was a resounding yes. And not a moment too soon, he discovered. The two Visored who'd gone up against Coyote Starrk and his companion-turned-guns (Lisa-chan, thank goodness, had wound up elsewhere) were crouched down amid the dissipating clouds of released energy, struggling to even catch their breath, and the Espada was, not surprisingly, back to monologue mode, no doubt about to end them simply by talking their ears off...
"...Game over," the Espada was saying. "But if you want to run, I'll look the other way."
Not a bad offer, really, but the Visored, of course, scoffed at it. "Give me a break."
They didn't believe Starrk. And who would? Except maybe Shunsui, who'd gotten to know him, who knew that he might actually mean it. Shunsui almost might have sympathized with him enough to leave the Visored to their fates, but all he had to do was remember Jūshirō, remember what Starrk had said, remember that they could no longer afford these games.
It was time for Katen Kyōkotsu to play her games, instead.
"I see," the Espada continued, slowly setting himself down on the flat, solid surface of the building below him. "You leave me no choice, then. I hate the word 'death blow,' but..."He lifted his arm, aiming his gun, "here comes the death blow."
He was right. It was time for a death blow, but it would not be at Coyote Starrk's hand, but rather at his expense. A long, slightly curved black blade pierced firmly through his chest from behind. "Wha--?" Starrk stared down at the injury in shock, before twisting back to look behind him. The blade retracted sharply, releasing a small splattering of blood. "What...the hell...is this?"
When he looked back, all Starrk could see at first was his very own shadow cast on the roof of the building where he stood. There was no one there! Except...his shadow began to move, a strange lump forming in the center, growing slightly bigger, more defined, until the figure of Shunsui Kyōraku began to emerge from it, like a beast pulling itself out of the murky depths of a swamp, his nearly-twin schimars weilded at each side. The shadows slowly sloughed off of him as he stepped onto the roof with Starrk.
"What kind of techique is that?" Starrk managed to mutter. "A silly trick where you dive into the shadows? So you were still hiding something like that, huh?"
This bastard did like to talk, didn't he? Well, then, they'd talk. "Kageoni," Shunsui said, his tone almost dull and bored, but perhaps it was just that, finally, he was feeling a little tired. "I wasn't hiding anything. It's just that she wasn't in the mood. That's why playing with her wears me out so much, she demands a terrible amount of energy and attention. The power of my Katen Kyōkotsu, you see, is to make children's games real. Katen Kyōkotsu decides the rules, and everyone that steps into the domain of her reitsu is forced to obey those rules, especially myself. With Takaoni, from before, the one who gets the high ground wins. With Kageoni, the one whose shadow gets stepped on loses. If you win, you live. If you lose, you die."
Shunsui then laughed, a small sound, an ironic little chuckle. "She's a spoiled one, for sure ♥! I'll do anything for the sake of my lovely swords, but I must admit, being the one pushed around like this...is hard work!"
And those lovely made a slash for Starrk once more, who quickly jumped up, clearly vouching for the higher ground, for Takaoni.
"You learn quickly!" Shunsui remarked. "Just what I've come to expect!"
But that first blow had been significant, and it had harmed Starrk much more than he'd realized. He was still bleeding, and Shunsui was unrelenting, charging for him again. Starrk reached up, forming a sword in his hand from the energy around him.
And then Shunsui was there, and he murmured, "Irooni. Grey."
Shunsui swung his sword, and, this time, Starrk wasn't fast enough, the blade knicking him slightly in the arm. Barely enough to cut into his grey sleeve and pull forth a small string of blood, but it felt deep enough that Starrk was actualyl surprised the force of it hadn't just blown his arm completely off.
"What's the matter?" asked Shunsui, as Starrk stared at his arm and then back at Shunsui, who appeared to be waiting. "It's your turn. Call out a color."
Starrk narrowed his eyes.
"White," he murmured, and Shunsui knew it was an excellent choice that would cause him trouble before it finished leaving the Espada's lips. Of course he'd picked up on it quickly, he was smarter than he had any right to be, and in any other circumstances, Shunsui would admire that. In any other circumstances, he felt that they could have gotten along, after all, they could have been friends, settling their differences over a jug of sake. But these were not any other circumstances, and Starrk took a swing for Shunsui, who turned as he dodged, only to have the blade slice across his back, into his white Captain's robe.
"...damn," said Shunsui, feeling the blood burst from his back. "Good one. With Irooni, of course, if your opponent cuts you on the color you call out, you'll take damage. The higher the risk the color is to you, the greater the injuries you'll inflict. Since we're both wearing white, we're both at a high risk, so the damage you deal is proportional. Although, if I were wearing less white, you'd have done far more damage. A smaller target on the other person, especially if the risk is great to you, is where the real power lies."
Was it any wonder that these rules were so completely draining to him?
"And here I was planning on slipping you hints a little bit at a time!" Shunsui remarked. "To think you really figured it out the rules in one shot!" His smile went crooked and wry. "You really are hard to deal with."
"That's my line," said Starrkand about fifty million other people in various fights in Bleach, good god, Kubo, but Shunsui was attacking again. Starrk blocked the swing, but Shunsui lowered his head to charge forward, not only pulling back his swords, but also shedding his white captain's robe, letting it fall away from his body, leaving him only with his black Shinigami ones.
Black. Which was the exact color Shunsui called out once he was close enough to slash both his swords across the black, empty, fathomless Hollow hole in the center of Starrk's chest, one of the few spots of black actually on his person.
The amount of blood was immense, and the sheer force of the blow sent Starrk rocking back before the weight of his now dead body pulled him crashing back to Earth. Unlike the blow that sent Shunsui himself falling, he knew this one had been fatal. It was finally over. But he felt no joy in the victory, just a deep, heavy sadness pulling at his heart, the same way gravity had pulled Starrk.
In different circumstances....they could have been friends.
Then a voice behind him pulled his attention away.
"Nicely done."
It was one of the two Visored, but Shunsui couldn't turn to face him quite yet. "Yeah," he said, instead, adding, after a small pause, "Glad you're safe."
"Some things never change," the Visored grunted, and Shunsui realized that, while he might not remember this particular man (he never really bothered to actually remember most other men), the Visored would certainly have remembered him. Like Lisa-chan, he had once been a Shinigami, too, more like likely had fought beside her on that mission that had gone so horribly wrong all those years ago. "You still lack the style to keep your nose out of other people's fights."
To that, Shunsui could only pass a cool glance back over his shoulder, before turning away again, giving one of his swords a little turning toss in the air, catching it smoothly by its hilt. "Throwing away victory for the sake of style and manners is a rookie mistake. Captains don't have the time to waste on that kind of thing." If one listened closely, they might be able to pick up on the deep undercurrent of regret in those words. "Don't waste your time trying to play the good guy, No matter what debts you may owe, no matter what the situation, from the moment you start a fight, you are wrong either way."
[[ BECAUSE WHO WANTS A NICE, SIMPLE ABILITY? NOT SHUNSUI, LOL. Part 3 of 4 (unless I get super lazy). Parts 1 and 2 are here and here! And anyone actually reading this nonsense is getting all the kittens and cupcakes ]]
But no matter how hard he might try, he knew that wouldn't be what he would remember in those last moments. It had been a nice distraction, while she was there, but sitting there by himself, all he could think of was that feral Arrancar child, the expression of delight on his face as he clutched Jūshirō's heart in his hand.
Shunsui closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. It just couldn't end like this.
"Well!" he announced, to no one in particular, since he was clearly by himself. He couldn't even see much of the battle from here, but he still put a show into slapping his knees, pulling himself up, pretending to be far more battered and worn down than he felt. "Guess I'd better get back to it..."
But he wasn't alone, not really. He was never alone, and he felt a sharp, sudden shift in his own reitsu the moment he picked his swords back up.
"Oh," he snorted faintly, his lazy grin gone crooked again, "so now you're ready, ohana? Well, then, let's just go see how our Visored friends are doing against dear old Espada-san, neh ♥?"
No one could hear it, except Shunsui, and it was more of a feeling than sound, but the answer was a resounding yes. And not a moment too soon, he discovered. The two Visored who'd gone up against Coyote Starrk and his companion-turned-guns (Lisa-chan, thank goodness, had wound up elsewhere) were crouched down amid the dissipating clouds of released energy, struggling to even catch their breath, and the Espada was, not surprisingly, back to monologue mode, no doubt about to end them simply by talking their ears off...
"...Game over," the Espada was saying. "But if you want to run, I'll look the other way."
Not a bad offer, really, but the Visored, of course, scoffed at it. "Give me a break."
They didn't believe Starrk. And who would? Except maybe Shunsui, who'd gotten to know him, who knew that he might actually mean it. Shunsui almost might have sympathized with him enough to leave the Visored to their fates, but all he had to do was remember Jūshirō, remember what Starrk had said, remember that they could no longer afford these games.
It was time for Katen Kyōkotsu to play her games, instead.
"I see," the Espada continued, slowly setting himself down on the flat, solid surface of the building below him. "You leave me no choice, then. I hate the word 'death blow,' but..."He lifted his arm, aiming his gun, "here comes the death blow."
He was right. It was time for a death blow, but it would not be at Coyote Starrk's hand, but rather at his expense. A long, slightly curved black blade pierced firmly through his chest from behind. "Wha--?" Starrk stared down at the injury in shock, before twisting back to look behind him. The blade retracted sharply, releasing a small splattering of blood. "What...the hell...is this?"
When he looked back, all Starrk could see at first was his very own shadow cast on the roof of the building where he stood. There was no one there! Except...his shadow began to move, a strange lump forming in the center, growing slightly bigger, more defined, until the figure of Shunsui Kyōraku began to emerge from it, like a beast pulling itself out of the murky depths of a swamp, his nearly-twin schimars weilded at each side. The shadows slowly sloughed off of him as he stepped onto the roof with Starrk.
"What kind of techique is that?" Starrk managed to mutter. "A silly trick where you dive into the shadows? So you were still hiding something like that, huh?"
This bastard did like to talk, didn't he? Well, then, they'd talk. "Kageoni," Shunsui said, his tone almost dull and bored, but perhaps it was just that, finally, he was feeling a little tired. "I wasn't hiding anything. It's just that she wasn't in the mood. That's why playing with her wears me out so much, she demands a terrible amount of energy and attention. The power of my Katen Kyōkotsu, you see, is to make children's games real. Katen Kyōkotsu decides the rules, and everyone that steps into the domain of her reitsu is forced to obey those rules, especially myself. With Takaoni, from before, the one who gets the high ground wins. With Kageoni, the one whose shadow gets stepped on loses. If you win, you live. If you lose, you die."
Shunsui then laughed, a small sound, an ironic little chuckle. "She's a spoiled one, for sure ♥! I'll do anything for the sake of my lovely swords, but I must admit, being the one pushed around like this...is hard work!"
And those lovely made a slash for Starrk once more, who quickly jumped up, clearly vouching for the higher ground, for Takaoni.
"You learn quickly!" Shunsui remarked. "Just what I've come to expect!"
But that first blow had been significant, and it had harmed Starrk much more than he'd realized. He was still bleeding, and Shunsui was unrelenting, charging for him again. Starrk reached up, forming a sword in his hand from the energy around him.
And then Shunsui was there, and he murmured, "Irooni. Grey."
Shunsui swung his sword, and, this time, Starrk wasn't fast enough, the blade knicking him slightly in the arm. Barely enough to cut into his grey sleeve and pull forth a small string of blood, but it felt deep enough that Starrk was actualyl surprised the force of it hadn't just blown his arm completely off.
"What's the matter?" asked Shunsui, as Starrk stared at his arm and then back at Shunsui, who appeared to be waiting. "It's your turn. Call out a color."
Starrk narrowed his eyes.
"White," he murmured, and Shunsui knew it was an excellent choice that would cause him trouble before it finished leaving the Espada's lips. Of course he'd picked up on it quickly, he was smarter than he had any right to be, and in any other circumstances, Shunsui would admire that. In any other circumstances, he felt that they could have gotten along, after all, they could have been friends, settling their differences over a jug of sake. But these were not any other circumstances, and Starrk took a swing for Shunsui, who turned as he dodged, only to have the blade slice across his back, into his white Captain's robe.
"...damn," said Shunsui, feeling the blood burst from his back. "Good one. With Irooni, of course, if your opponent cuts you on the color you call out, you'll take damage. The higher the risk the color is to you, the greater the injuries you'll inflict. Since we're both wearing white, we're both at a high risk, so the damage you deal is proportional. Although, if I were wearing less white, you'd have done far more damage. A smaller target on the other person, especially if the risk is great to you, is where the real power lies."
Was it any wonder that these rules were so completely draining to him?
"And here I was planning on slipping you hints a little bit at a time!" Shunsui remarked. "To think you really figured it out the rules in one shot!" His smile went crooked and wry. "You really are hard to deal with."
"That's my line," said Starrk
Black. Which was the exact color Shunsui called out once he was close enough to slash both his swords across the black, empty, fathomless Hollow hole in the center of Starrk's chest, one of the few spots of black actually on his person.
The amount of blood was immense, and the sheer force of the blow sent Starrk rocking back before the weight of his now dead body pulled him crashing back to Earth. Unlike the blow that sent Shunsui himself falling, he knew this one had been fatal. It was finally over. But he felt no joy in the victory, just a deep, heavy sadness pulling at his heart, the same way gravity had pulled Starrk.
In different circumstances....they could have been friends.
Then a voice behind him pulled his attention away.
"Nicely done."
It was one of the two Visored, but Shunsui couldn't turn to face him quite yet. "Yeah," he said, instead, adding, after a small pause, "Glad you're safe."
"Some things never change," the Visored grunted, and Shunsui realized that, while he might not remember this particular man (he never really bothered to actually remember most other men), the Visored would certainly have remembered him. Like Lisa-chan, he had once been a Shinigami, too, more like likely had fought beside her on that mission that had gone so horribly wrong all those years ago. "You still lack the style to keep your nose out of other people's fights."
To that, Shunsui could only pass a cool glance back over his shoulder, before turning away again, giving one of his swords a little turning toss in the air, catching it smoothly by its hilt. "Throwing away victory for the sake of style and manners is a rookie mistake. Captains don't have the time to waste on that kind of thing." If one listened closely, they might be able to pick up on the deep undercurrent of regret in those words. "Don't waste your time trying to play the good guy, No matter what debts you may owe, no matter what the situation, from the moment you start a fight, you are wrong either way."
[[ BECAUSE WHO WANTS A NICE, SIMPLE ABILITY? NOT SHUNSUI, LOL. Part 3 of 4 (unless I get super lazy). Parts 1 and 2 are here and here! And anyone actually reading this nonsense is getting all the kittens and cupcakes ]]