Captain Shunsui Kyōraku (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sake_shinigami) wrote2022-02-22 05:18 am
sake_shinigami) wrote2022-02-22 05:18 am
Shunsui's Jinzen; the Spirit Realm; Tuesday [02/22].
Shunsui generally wasn't in the habit of caring about the opinions of other men (or even most women, for that matter), but something that did hold him under heavy sway, no matter how he tried to ignore it, was his zanpakutō. Katen Kyōkotsu, after all, was a pure extension of his Soul, even more a part of him that that gigai he went parading around in while in the mortal realm. And so while he was quite convinced that Jon's words on Sunday had very little consequence to him personally, he absolutely could not ignore the fact that his swords seemed to have latched onto them quite firmly and had no intention of letting him forget about it.
Which was...terribly distracting, and was clearly setting him off his game, and so, if he wanted to continue enjoying this little excursion, he would have to go and take care of it. He'd waited until well into the morning, when he was certain most people, especially his suitemates, would be out and about on their various adventures, so he could work relatively undisturbed. Not that it would matter, once he was under, and it didn't take long, either, not when they were practically pulling him in and the setting was incredibly condusive to inspiring the deep meditaiton that jinzen required.
As expected, Shunsui was greeted almost immediately with the downward slash of a long, curved scimitar; he deftly moved out of the way in a flurry of robes, only to have a smaller but otherwise identical scimitar come slicing at his waist. Again, deftly, as if moved by the rush of air created by the these powerful swings, he dodged effectively out of the initatial attack, drifting far enough away that he could pull his own pale imitations of their weapons as he grinned almost wearily at the two figures before them. Bold and looming Katen with her ostentatiousness putting Shunsui's own to the test, and smaller, slight, silent and intense Kyōkotsu at her side.
"How kind," the emphasis on the word came with a smirk, "of you to join us, Sakuranosuke. We weren't....bothering you, were we?" Her one turquoise eye seemed to flutter innocently. "But that frail little man...he did make us laugh." She nodded to Kyōkotsu, who, without hesitation, when zig-zagging off into the foggy distance of this emphemeral landscape. Shunsui's eyes were naturally tempted to follow, but he kept his gaze steadily forward on Katen....and smiled.
"You always did have a rather wry sense of humor, Ohana."
Katen breathed out a small laugh. "He called you mean." Her tongue clicked in distaste, chin lifting as she peered over at him. "For your treatment of the blacksmith? Ha! As if he has any idea of the true depths of your cruelty! As if any of them ever could! And o one ever truly will ever know, will they? No one...but me!"
With that, she surged forward again; Katen from the front, and, unsurprising, Kyōkotsu from behind, but Shunsui didn't merely dodge out of the way this time; he did float slightly to the side, so that he could turn to catch Kyōkotsu's slightly faster swing first, blocking it with one of his own, twirling the other to free his hand enough to gesture forward to push a blast of wind toward her, to push her back and away, with just enough time to turn back around and cross the blades against Katen's attack.
She pressed into him with everything she had, until there was very little left between them but a few inches and their interlocked blades. "So you actually came to fight this time?" Katen asked, the fire eager in her intense eye.
"Maybe," Shunsui grinned back, "I'm not nearly as cruel as you think I am, Ohana."
"But you arrrrre," Katen all but purred it out, pressing just that small bit closer, head tilted, lips parted, close enough as if for a kiss, "Sakauranosuke, the cruelest man to ever exist. There is no greater cruelty..."
""...than a woman's love," Shunsui finished dutifully, keeping his gaze steady on her face, "gone unknown to a man. And yet..."
They were connected so profoundly that even the words spoke so far were unnecessary, but he let that one trail off, and her glare hardened for a moment before she tilted her head so that she could merely whisper in his ear, "Prove to me that I've chosen well."
Before she'd even finished, she was attacking again; Kyōkotsu, too, darting from behind, from the side, like a quick little lightning bolt trying to strike at where Shunsui might be the most vulnerable while Katen went for more direct attacks that required either his strength to directly block or his spped to deftly avoid. And he responded just as quickly, just as fiercely, in kind, and between all their flowing robes and long, artistically arched swords, it resembled a dance just as much as it did a battle. Sweat began to spring up on his forehead even in the real world; bruises and scrapes from where Kyōkotsu had managed to trip him or a particularly fierce blow from Katen sent him crashing into an outcropping of rock. Katen managed, as always, that little sharp cut on his cheek, just below his right eye, as if a little reminder that all it would take was a few more inches ("We are, after all, but mirrored images of each other, are we not, Sakuranosuke?"), opening up a wound in both spirit and flesh, but Shunsui was not bothered by it.
Eventually, the clashing of swords and barbed words and their bodies became far less of a battle, after all, giving way into that dance, especially once Shunsui had finally overpowered her, had her cornered against an outcropping of rock, and the tip of his sword pressing lightly into Katen's side. He heard the sharp intake of her shuttering breath, but he also heard the near-silent pitter-patter of Kyōkotsu's feet from behind. He pulled his sword back to turn toward Kyōkotsu, with a gust of wind from his hand powerful enough to push her back well past the emphemeral horizon of this no-where place, and then turned back to where he was.
It had happened incredibly quickly. The blink of an eye, if that, but it was still more than enough time for Katen to have moved in that fleeting moment. But she didn't. She stayed where she was, let the sword return to its vulnerable spot at her side, and lifted her chin defiantly. Her unspoken surrender. And in that moment, the true weight of Shunsui's exhaustion from the fight seemed to crash into him, just as his mouth crashed into hers, and a very different kind of dance could commense.
[[ NFB, NFI, for being literally in an entirely different plane of existence ]]
Which was...terribly distracting, and was clearly setting him off his game, and so, if he wanted to continue enjoying this little excursion, he would have to go and take care of it. He'd waited until well into the morning, when he was certain most people, especially his suitemates, would be out and about on their various adventures, so he could work relatively undisturbed. Not that it would matter, once he was under, and it didn't take long, either, not when they were practically pulling him in and the setting was incredibly condusive to inspiring the deep meditaiton that jinzen required.
As expected, Shunsui was greeted almost immediately with the downward slash of a long, curved scimitar; he deftly moved out of the way in a flurry of robes, only to have a smaller but otherwise identical scimitar come slicing at his waist. Again, deftly, as if moved by the rush of air created by the these powerful swings, he dodged effectively out of the initatial attack, drifting far enough away that he could pull his own pale imitations of their weapons as he grinned almost wearily at the two figures before them. Bold and looming Katen with her ostentatiousness putting Shunsui's own to the test, and smaller, slight, silent and intense Kyōkotsu at her side.
"How kind," the emphasis on the word came with a smirk, "of you to join us, Sakuranosuke. We weren't....bothering you, were we?" Her one turquoise eye seemed to flutter innocently. "But that frail little man...he did make us laugh." She nodded to Kyōkotsu, who, without hesitation, when zig-zagging off into the foggy distance of this emphemeral landscape. Shunsui's eyes were naturally tempted to follow, but he kept his gaze steadily forward on Katen....and smiled.
"You always did have a rather wry sense of humor, Ohana."
Katen breathed out a small laugh. "He called you mean." Her tongue clicked in distaste, chin lifting as she peered over at him. "For your treatment of the blacksmith? Ha! As if he has any idea of the true depths of your cruelty! As if any of them ever could! And o one ever truly will ever know, will they? No one...but me!"
With that, she surged forward again; Katen from the front, and, unsurprising, Kyōkotsu from behind, but Shunsui didn't merely dodge out of the way this time; he did float slightly to the side, so that he could turn to catch Kyōkotsu's slightly faster swing first, blocking it with one of his own, twirling the other to free his hand enough to gesture forward to push a blast of wind toward her, to push her back and away, with just enough time to turn back around and cross the blades against Katen's attack.
She pressed into him with everything she had, until there was very little left between them but a few inches and their interlocked blades. "So you actually came to fight this time?" Katen asked, the fire eager in her intense eye.
"Maybe," Shunsui grinned back, "I'm not nearly as cruel as you think I am, Ohana."
"But you arrrrre," Katen all but purred it out, pressing just that small bit closer, head tilted, lips parted, close enough as if for a kiss, "Sakauranosuke, the cruelest man to ever exist. There is no greater cruelty..."
""...than a woman's love," Shunsui finished dutifully, keeping his gaze steady on her face, "gone unknown to a man. And yet..."
They were connected so profoundly that even the words spoke so far were unnecessary, but he let that one trail off, and her glare hardened for a moment before she tilted her head so that she could merely whisper in his ear, "Prove to me that I've chosen well."
Before she'd even finished, she was attacking again; Kyōkotsu, too, darting from behind, from the side, like a quick little lightning bolt trying to strike at where Shunsui might be the most vulnerable while Katen went for more direct attacks that required either his strength to directly block or his spped to deftly avoid. And he responded just as quickly, just as fiercely, in kind, and between all their flowing robes and long, artistically arched swords, it resembled a dance just as much as it did a battle. Sweat began to spring up on his forehead even in the real world; bruises and scrapes from where Kyōkotsu had managed to trip him or a particularly fierce blow from Katen sent him crashing into an outcropping of rock. Katen managed, as always, that little sharp cut on his cheek, just below his right eye, as if a little reminder that all it would take was a few more inches ("We are, after all, but mirrored images of each other, are we not, Sakuranosuke?"), opening up a wound in both spirit and flesh, but Shunsui was not bothered by it.
Eventually, the clashing of swords and barbed words and their bodies became far less of a battle, after all, giving way into that dance, especially once Shunsui had finally overpowered her, had her cornered against an outcropping of rock, and the tip of his sword pressing lightly into Katen's side. He heard the sharp intake of her shuttering breath, but he also heard the near-silent pitter-patter of Kyōkotsu's feet from behind. He pulled his sword back to turn toward Kyōkotsu, with a gust of wind from his hand powerful enough to push her back well past the emphemeral horizon of this no-where place, and then turned back to where he was.
It had happened incredibly quickly. The blink of an eye, if that, but it was still more than enough time for Katen to have moved in that fleeting moment. But she didn't. She stayed where she was, let the sword return to its vulnerable spot at her side, and lifted her chin defiantly. Her unspoken surrender. And in that moment, the true weight of Shunsui's exhaustion from the fight seemed to crash into him, just as his mouth crashed into hers, and a very different kind of dance could commense.
[[ NFB, NFI, for being literally in an entirely different plane of existence ]]