#tier1-1
#bgm
#sakura
#ryuuichi
©2013 Alexis Grey

He maneuvered his body in a way that let her blow glance off of him; it was never intended to actually hit or do damage, but more to show him that there was an opening in his attack and it could be abused. If she was trying, she could have actually punched him, and it would have screwed up everything else he had tried to do next. He grabbed hold of the top of her head and pulled her towards his knee.

Well, at least he knew how to use hand to hand combat in unison with Zanjutsu, which was more than she could say for most of the people she trained. He was proving himself worthy of being an Emergency Captain, but Sakura wasn't going to let that end the fight. Her left hand was placed flat on the ground as she began to twist her body, her right hand pressing off of Ryuuichi's knee to move her head out of the way and begin the rest of her motions, thrusting her right forearm up to break his grip on her head, and she felt the pommel of his Zanpakutou crash into it hard enough to leave a bruise.

If that attack had hit, it would have definitely blurred her vision for a moment, but luckily that'd be about it. Regardless, since she was moving her body still he used Shunpo to dash out and make sure she didn't counter attack. Standing back up in full, Sakura shook her arm to get the tingles out of it as she smiled at Ryuuichi.

"Very nice. You're quick on your feet, combining Hakuda and Zanjutsu, that's pretty good work. I'm gonna give you two choices, though: we can keep things as they are, and keep going... or, if you want, I can play more seriously. That's up to you. Come at me when you're ready, just tell me which one you want me to be: casual or serious." The vice-captain of the Onmikitsudo winked at Ryuuichi lightly and took her stance up once more, bracing herself for whatever he attempted next.

#tier1-1
#bgm
#sakura
#ryuuichi
©2013 Alexis Grey

The cocky comment about saving something for later made Sakura's smile fade. The moment he said to get serious, Sakura activated Shunko; the lightning-like energy pulsing around her body would be familiar to Ryuuichi, both due to his own lightning-like abilities and because he'd seen it once before, during a spar that took place between himself and two other Shinigami; Sakura didn't realize it was him, but feeling this energy, he would likely realize it was her.

As the orbs of lightning began to crash down on her position, Sakura crouched down; when Ryuuichi closed the distance to thrust towards her, Sakura would use her own Shunpo to dash straight towards him and then chicken to the side at the last moment and get behind him, holding her hand up as she silently cast Bakudou 9: Geki at him. Paralyzed as he was in the position, she would stand back up and flick him in the back of the head.

If, for some reason, the Bakudou didn't land and she didn't keep him paralyzed, she would just create some distance between them.

#tier1-1
#bgm
#sakura
#ryuuichi
©2013 Alexis Grey

He dodged the kidou by continuing to move, which confused Sakura since she had launched it in a way that would hit him, but disregarded it and wrote that off as a glitch in the code.

The lightning orbs collapsed together and formed a larger ball, and it moved behind him as he used Shunpo to get behind her, sweeping with his sword at her legs while the orb came at her from above.

Spinning around, Sakura activated [Soul Scale] as her arms and legs were covered in a material as durable as a Zanpakutou, grabbing hold of the blade. It gave her a light shock, but Shunko was shifted to Earth Element and ascended to Perfect Shunko almost simultaneously, and the earthen elemental material coating her body grounded and nullified the shock. She continued to move, holding the blade as tightly as she could, stepping to the side of Ryuuichi so the ball would have to pass through him to get to her, while she made a motion to hit him in his back with her elbow, not planning on letting go of the sword.

#tier1-1
#bgm
#sakura
#ryuuichi
©2013 Alexis Grey

Ryuuichi was very quick on his feet. Sakura admired that he had almost no delay between her own actions and his; unfortunately, as the more seasoned one of the two, Sakura was going to win this.

That said, she didn't want to use everything, as there were still some things of hers that she wasn't fully prepared to unleash. He had proven himself capable, her report was finished; all that was left was neutralizing his attacks and surviving the barrage. Luckily, Sakura knew exactly how to do all of that.

Releasing his Zanpakutou, Sakura shifted her Shunko back to Lightning - She needed to move fast for this part, and only had a split second to do all of this correctly. As the two orbs of lightning began to circle around Ryuuichi to hit her, she jumped backward; naturally, the two would stop due to Ryuuichi's control, but before they would start moving towards her again, the black lightning beam of darkness was shot towards her.

As it moved through the air towards Sakura, she instinctively fell backward, the beam shooting clearly over her as she rolled to the side and jumped back up just in time for a lightning bolt from above to strike at where she was. Realizing the assault wasn't over, Sakura used Shunpo back and forth until the lightning bolts missed, then took a moment to catch her breath.

"Impressive assault, Mazino-san. You reacted quickly, efficiently, and worried me enough that I didn't want to get hit by any of that. We're done here." Standing up straight and stretching her back as it cracked, she smiled at Ryuu lightly. "Let's just say I'm happy you're working for the Gotei. Fifth Squad is lucky to have you. Report to Rena Lisola first thing in the morning for your Haori... Mazino-Taichou."

Deactivating Shunko, Sakura gave a loose salute to Ryuuichi before disappearing without a trace. Her reiatsu couldn't even be sensed anymore, and she was completely gone.

[Thread Exit]