A Rip in Space & Soul

*The hado changes course due to Kyousuke's clever counter. She smirks and bends back just enough for his foot to merely graze her jawline. She jumps back a few feet and laughs warmly.* Koga-taicho sure can pick 'em. He knew what he was doing when he recruited you. *Rizu smiles and tilts her head, speaking as though her words were as casual as can be.* I'm going to increase power now. *Her faint glow of white reiatsu increases around her, becoming brighter. She shunpos behind Kyousuke and sweeps her left leg towards his ankles in order to knock him down.*

Kyousuke smirks as the Lieutenant of their respective squad seems to compliment him handsomely on his skills displayed thus far. However, this would not go to his head, for he knew she wasn't even taking this fight seriously; a notion that seemed contradictory as more of her power began to pour out, informing him that she could control her energy output; something which he continuously struggled with.

As she began increasing her power, Kyousuke also made another observation, 'Strange. It feels like the air suddenly became 10 degrees cooler.'

Distracted by that thought, he was surprised as Lieutenant suddenly disappeared, then felt his legs getting swept out from under him. He flails a bit before planting onto his back with a *thud*.

'That was faster than any other move she's made.' He mentally surveys, 'I completely lost her that time.'

*Rizu shunpos a few feet above him, kneeling in mid air as she tilts her head and grins down at him.* Never lose focus, Kyou-kun. Or this will happen more than you think. *She's holds her left hand out with her right hand grasping her wrist firmly.* Hado #31. Shakkaho. *She sends a ball of red energy shooting towards him and as soon as she does she shunpos back to the ground, out of range of the hado blast. As she does, she glows brighter than before, her reiatsu output causing her hair to whip and the leaves of nearby trees to blow.*

As he manages to catch his breath, Kyousuke looks up to see the Lieutenant's beautiful, young face directly above him, wearing an angelic smile. It was almost a relaxing sight to see, if he hadn't been learning, little by little, just how incredibly dangerous she is. His eyes suddenly grew wider as she held her hand out in front of him, noticing it starting to glow a bright scarlet red color. He knew this technique...

As the ball forms and launches out at him, Kyousuke throws his arms crossed in front of his face as the kido erupts against him with awesome force, sending a cloud of dust and smoke into the air...

*Slowly as the dust clears, Rizu walks towards Kyousuke.* Staying focused can mean the difference between being alive or being dead. *She stops a few feet in front of him and smiles.* The most beautiful of wildlife are often the most dangerous, Kyou-kun. Never let down your guard to admire aesthetics. *She straightens her posture and holds her arms out antagonistically.* I want to see your offensive abilities. Come at me.

As the cloud of smoke slowly dissipates, he heard the Lieutenant continuing to lecture him about staying focused in combat, and poetically encourages her point by reference of wildlife. To be perfectly honest, he was starting to get annoyed by it.

'She trying to make me feel like I'm back at the Academy?' He wondered.

However, when the dust had fully blown off, Lieutenant Rizu would not find his body still laying there on the ground, as he had just managed to use a shunpo just as the blast struck him, burning the sleeves of his Shihakusho a bit, as well as leaving a minor burn marks on his forearms, but other than that, he was just fine as he appears beside the officer.

"As you wish, Lieutenant." As he says this, he fires a knee up into her right kidney...

Bakudo #39, Enkosen. *Rizu forms a kido shield to deflect Kyousuke's knee, sliding back on her heels from the impact. She smirks.* -This guy's got potential.- *She increases her reiatsu output a little bit more, blowing her hair back a moment.* Shunko. *Smiling softly, Rizu takes a step forward and shunpos directly in front of Kyousuke. Pulling her left arm back, she sends an extremely powerful punch towards his stomach.*

Kyousuke puts up his guard as he creates a bit more room between himself and the Lieutenant, noticing the smirk on her lips.

'So far so good, I guess.' He thought to himself, observing her.

As more of her power explodes outwards, he felt the air growing more frigid with each passing moment. He wondered how her reiatsu could effect the weather in such a manner before she suddenly announces a technique he had not heard before... Shunko.

'Shun-what?'

Then, in a blink, he felt her fist bury into his stomach, forcing a pained gasp from his breath before he was thrown backwards across the land, bashing through the trunk of a tree with such force that it was torn in half. He skids to a halt, laying on the ground amongst the rest of the trees, gasping for air.

Oops. *She frowns, looking at the tree now cracked in half and shunpos over.* I quite liked that tree. *Tilting her head, she studies Kyousuke's aura. Despite the disruption from her punch, Rizu notices it still remains strong.* You have an impressively strong aura, Kyou-kun. I would have thought for sure you had long since reached your limit. My apologies, but I want to see more of what you're capable of. *With a sincere look in her eye, she offers her right hand out to him to bring him to his feet.*

His eyes were squeezed shut as he coped with the pain in his gut, thankful she had missed his ribs, otherwise he would probably be spitting up mouthfuls of blood by now. It didn't take long though, until his body began to adapt to the pain, allowing him to overcome it. In all honesty, he hadn't even felt the tree his body had broken apart. A few more heavy pants for air, he heard the woman hovering over him. His eyes slowly peek open, noticing her hand extended out to him.

'I felt it.' He tells himself, 'With that last attack, I could feel the true depths of her power. Incredible. Even after all of this, she's still not even trying.'

Deciding it was time to get a bit more serious before he suffers any serious damage, he extends his hand up to hers, allowing her to help him to his feet, trusting the look in her soft green eyes. She was correct; he still had a lot of fight left in him...

*Rizu, despite all given opportunity to attack, helps him up and steps back. She stands straight and stares at Kyousuke calmly but seriously.* Everything you've got then. Please don't hold back. *She decreases her reiatsu output by half and stands still with her hands at her side, glowing faintly once again.*

Watching her step back from him, he adheres to her request to turn it up a bit. Giving her a nod, he offers a tenet, seemingly apologetic expression before beginning to concentrate, allowing the frail walls he had put up around his reiatsu to come down.

His body suddenly explodes, emitting an aura of darkness around himself, outlined by a violet light. The air immediately grows much thicker around them, making it hard to breathe for the average person. Unlike the beautiful Lieutenant, whose reiatsu was a storm of bitter cold, his output seem to cause the blades of grass and the branches of trees to bend downward, as though in submission. In fact, closer an object or branch was to him, the more it seemed to sag, as though the gravity became stronger and stronger the closer one was to him...

*Instinctively, Rizu takes a step back as Kyousuke explodes with a dark reiatsu and studies the spikes in his aura intently. She feels her feet sink slightly into the earth and weight pushing on her chest and lungs. A crooked smile creeps onto her face.* Beautiful. *Bowing her head in respect to the power Kyousuke unleashed, she takes three steps forward and stops, smiling softly.* Come at me, Kyou-kun.

The blaze of dark fire around him grew at a steady pace while he studied the Lieutenant's visage. She seemed more amused, perhaps even a bit taken by his display. He watched her closely as she beckons him to attack her. Wasting no time, he disappears in a shunpo, then reappears just as quickly directly in front of her. He uses the shunpo technique as momentum as he drives the point of his left elbow forward to meet the sweet spot in her stomach; located between both ribcages, otherwise known as the sternum...

*Caught slightly off guard by his speed, Rizu uses her hands to catch Kyousuke's elbow, getting pushed backwards several feet. She digs her heels into the ground as she stops and pushes her hair out of her eyes. Taking a deep breath, Rizu shunpos forward, kneeling in front of Kyousuke. She concentrates reiatsu in her left hand and punches upwards to his stomach.* Ikkotsu!

Kyousuke was slightly disappointed when he saw that even after exerting that much energy into his attack, he could only budge Lieutenant Rizu a few feet.

'Damn. I thought I was stronger than that.' He berated himself before he saw her suddenly appear beneath him. He gasped as she launches another powerful punch at him, but that wasn't what surprised him...

'I could see her all the way through!'

He wasn't sure if perhaps his increase in power had sharpened his reflexes, or if perhaps the gravity of his reiatsu was making her movements a bit more sluggish than she suspected. Either way, he wasted no time countering, bending himself away from the punch before twirling himself around and snapping a hard sidekick toward her exposed midsection.

*Rizu uses Hagane to lessen the impact of the kick, grunting as it tosses her back. She quickly stands herself up, shaking her head.* -It seems I've slowed down...and he sped up.- *She smiles to herself and increases her reiatsu output threefold. Her reiatsu engulfs her in bright white and she shunpos several feet above Kyousuke. Holding her hands out in front of her, she whispers.* Hado #73...Soren Sokatsui.

Watching the snow-white field of her reiatsu spew out of the Lieutenant's lithesome frame, he was suddenly surprised as she vanished too quickly for him this time. He caught trace of her hanging high above him, and looked up to see her forming a high-level kido in the sky...

'Shit!'

The twin orbs of blue light hurl down at him, his reiatsu only helping to increase their velocity. With no time to concentrate a shunpo, he impulsively dives out of the way, just as they crash into the earth. The blast wind hurls Kyousuke through air like a tumble weed caught in a tornado befote he slams, upside down against the thick trunk of another tree...

"Nggh..."

*Shunpoing back down to the ground, Rizu walks towards Kyousuke, careless of any potential attacks to come.* You and I both know that you are not finished. Get up, Kyou-kun. I know you've been holding back, your aura betrays you. *She takes one more step forward and stops, her face cold and serious with her eyes on the ground.* Hit me... *She looks up from the ground and grins.* ...Like you want me dead. Right now, I am your enemy. I am all of the people you despise, combined in one. Look at your power. Your aura. The pain and anger behind it all. I caused it.

Hit me. *She lets a quiet laugh go under her breath.* To kill me. *She lets more reiatsu spill out, her shihakusho billowing, trees groaning and her hair blown forward, covering her face. She shunpos directly in front of where Kyousuke is slumped.* Do it.

Kyousuke moans under his breath, slowly recovering from her last attack. His eyes opened to hers, a tender look of seriousness beinf them, even some concern. Once again, she was direct; he was still holding back a lot, but only because he wanted to learn of his own capabilities by being pushed to his limit. Not to mention, he was still fighting for control of his powers, which was no easy feat.

Looking away from her, he rolls his body back away fromit's awkward position against the tree, resting on his knees for a moment, then quietly rising back to his feet, "Is that really what you want from me, Rizu?" He inquires in a tender whisper, skipping the formalities this time while he casts a glance at her from over his shoulder, "Do you want to see my true power?"

*Rizu nods firmly, standing with her arms motionless at her sides. She tilts her head, looking down at him.* You're in my squad now Kyousuke. I want to see exactly what got you here. I want to experience it. *Keeping her reiatsu output where it is, she takes one more half-step forward. She stares at him with serious face.* And I want you to grow. Do as I say, Kyou-kun. Don't hold back any more. *Her hair covering her eyes, she smirks.* Because if you do, I won't.

Kyousuke held his silence as he listened to her response, noting the seriousness of her tone and the sincerity in her attitude. He still wasn't entirely sure what she meant when she mentions his aura, but perhaps it revealed more about him to her than he would openly show. He turns his head back around, facing away from the strong-willed beauty.

"If that is truly what you want, then you will see what I am capable of." He assures her calmly, "But..." Suddenly, he slowly began to raise his arm back toward one of the swords strapped behind his back, "if you really want me to show you my power, you're gonna have to force me to use it!" With that, his hand wraps around the hilt, spinning around on his heel as he pulls the sword free and slashes down across the lovely Lieutenant's chest in one, fluid motion...

*Rizu unsheaths her zanpakuto swiftly from her back with her left hand, meeting his slash with her blade. She pushes back with her zanpakuto, pushing down fiercely in an attempt to disarm him. Smiling, she lifts her right hand and points her forefingers towards his right hand.* Hado #4...Byakurai!

The steel of their blades meet with a deadly ring which resounds like a beautiful song throughout the forest. He fought against her strength as she began to force him back a bit. He stared into her eyes with quiet ferocity, wanting to push her so that she would push him.

His eyes then suddenly fell on her hand as she points it toward his wrist. He was beginning to recognize the attack before the command was uttered. Knowing he had to act fast, he breaks away from her sword and pivots on his forward leg, spinning himself around behind the Lieutenant. As he comes full-circle, he makes another strike at her open back...

*As Kyousuke's blade is about to reach her back, she uses Hagane to strengthen her skin to a steel-like strength, almost completely eliminating the impact of the attack. She shunpos back several feet, her reiatsu whirling around her.* Time to force it out of you then...Kyou-kun. *Holding her zanpakuto horizontally in front of her, she smiles and whispers.* Engulf...Hisame. *As she speaks, her reiatsu bursts again as she doubles its output. Her simple katana transforms into a 7 foot long, silver and white naginata with a serrated blade.* Soon Kyousuke...I will not hold back at all. Prepare yourself.

Hado #32. *She continues holding her zanpakuto horizontally in front of her. As she speaks, a ball of yellow kido energy begins to form in the middle of her zanpakuto.* Okasen! *The energy ball releases, growing into an arc the width of the length of her zanpakuto, hurtling towards Kyousuke.*