Tai and Ryu stroll down the fields in the forest-outskirts of Soul Society. Tai sighs in annoyance "Why are we here again?" Ryu smiles at him "Training, man!"
Takeshi and Shion walked along a path in the forest; chatting about everything that had transpired.
They notice them. Ryu mutters to Tai "Wanna pull a prank on them?" Tai replies "No." He glances over at Takeshi and thinks to himself "Ugh... him again..."
Takeshi and Shion continue to walk, with smiles on their faces.
Ryu has already used Shunpo to tie a thread from one end of the road to the next then pull when they step on it, causing them to trip and fall. He chuckles to himself while Tai rubs his temples in annoyance.
Takeshi and Shion smirk, disappearing and pushing both Ryu and Tai down, causing them both to fall and roll down the hill.
Tai lands perfectly on his feet whilst Ryu lands on his back. He rubs the back of his head "Oww... That kinda hurt, ya' know."
Takeshi and Shion look down on them. "Yeah, well if you try to mess with us, you'll end up getting hurt... its simple logic," said Takeshi.
Tai mutters under his breath while his teal, slitted eyes glare up at Takeshi "Is that right..."
Takeshi simply smiled at them, while Shion continued, "You would feel better if you calmed down you know."
Ryu asked "What are you talking about? I am calm."
Takeshi yawned, "She meant Tai."
Ryu glances at Tai, who was still glaring up at them. Tai finally asks "What do you want?"
Shion looked at him with a cold stare, "You're the ones that tried to push us, shouldn't you be the one's answering that question?"
Tai replied "That was his idea..." Ryu gives a comical chuckle while rubbing the back of his head "Well, you see... I had a logical explanation for why I did that..."
Takeshi yawned, "Whatever, I don't have the time right now. I'll see you two later." He began to walk away, with Shion following.
Ryu burst out "Wait, maybe we can sparr together for a quick sec? Not often we get to meet the prestigious Takeshi and Shion..." He smiles while Tai gives him a threatening glare.
Takeshi stops and looks up, "Well... we do have a few minutes." He glanced at Shion, who nodded. "Alright then, let's see what you've got. We start right here, and now."
Ryu unsheathed his large Zanpakuto and charged at the two. Tai sighed "Idiot..."
Takeshi and Shion disappeared, then reappeared behind Ryu. They both kciked him in the back, sending him into a tree.
Ryu waves at them all "I'm ok!" Tai slapped his palm against his face while drawing his sword "Moron."
Takeshi chuckled, and then both he and Shion disappeared again. With incredible speed and stealth, Takeshi appeared behind Tai and kicked him into Ryu.
This advance only made Tai move a few inches forward. He caught himself in time to hault his fall and slashed behind him directly at Takeshi.
Takeshi hopped up onto his blade, and then kicked him in the face even harder than before, sending him plummeting at Ryu, who then carrened into him and caused both to roll away.
Ryu staggers to his feet and offers a hand to Tai "Are you alri-" He is cut off by Tai shoving him out of the way and shouting "Sing, Tsuinken!" Ryu protested "Woah, Tai, easy! No need to go releasing your Zanpakuto! This is only sparring!" Tai glared at him "Shutup!" His Zanpakuto evaporated into red mist that planted itself on the ground, forming a glowing purple pentagram under his feet. He generates an energy Katana in his hand and arches back to throw it.
Takeshi disappeared again, then appeared kicking Tai out of his pentagram, causing the katana to disappear.
The pentagram dissipated and reformed back into his sealed Zanpakuto. He shouted "Fight like a warrior, you coward!"
"Don't be so full of yourself... or you will die. The number one rule of combat is to never fight fair. If you fight fair, you'll end up dead." Takeshi disappeared again, and reappeared kicking Tai back into Ryu.
Ryu stopped him this time, but Tai merely shrugged himself away "Very well then..." He disappeared using Shunpo and reappeared behind Takeshi, bringing his blade up to his neck. It seemed to sing as the cold steel pressed against Takeshi's neck and flung back, slicing part of it. Blood trickled down his neck as Ryu gasped "Tai, have you lost it?!"
Takeshi felt his neck, then laughed, "Alright then... I'm going to make you wish you had stayed in bed today." He drew his blade, and with a single slice sent Tai careening into a tree, though blocking the blow.
Ryu stepped in "Let's all just calm down and think things through for a second here, okay?" Tai ran out of the tree, charging toward Takeshi while screaming, blood on his lip and chin from the crash.
Takeshi pointed his blade at his forehead, "Sleep, Sakayume... Inga Tekimen" Takeshi's blade lengthened, and lightly tapped Tai's forehead. As he did, Tai collapsed in sudden pain, but also felt his mind begin to crack, doing what pain did anyway; fear for your sanity before your life.
Takeshi looked down at him, and then sighed, sheathing his sword. Shion reappeared, tapping her blade against Takeshi's neck healing his injury.
Ryu restrained him while lifting him up due to Tai struggling to attack them again "Why did you heal me?! Why!?"
"Because the pain will be forever in your memories... and this enough for me." Takeshi turned around, a walked away with Shion at his side. He continued, "I told you to lighten up before, and that was because I knew if we fought and I released, if you didn't you would lose. Because you aren't strong enough yet."
When he felt Tai loosen up he released him. Tai collapsed to his knees, gritting his teeth. "I will crush them..." Ryu muttered "Tai..." Tai continued "...I will crush them all. All those who look down on me. I won't leave a single one standing... Not even him... This I promise." He looked up to see Takeshi and Shion walk on.
Shion hummed a tune to herself, and Takeshi smiled, "So... we going to take that job or not?"
Shion shrugged, "If we do, you and I both know we'll eventually blow it."
Takeshi grinned, "Well, when we do, at least it will be with style..."
They both laughed and disappeared among the trees.