With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
It took a few days of rest, but now fully recovered from her severe bout of fatigue Sayuri was ready to get back into action. Though, a little paranoid her ability may have been dulled just by the mere few days, she went straight to the 2nd Devision training area without much of a thought about it. It was not her Kidou ability she was concerned about, that is not bound by physical conditioning, as having been a seated member of the Kidou Corps in the past, for all intents and purposes she can somewhat be considered a Kidou Master; but the Executive Militia branch relies on a certain aspect of fighting very much, which is the hand to hand combat style of Hakuda.
It was somewhat late at night when most of the other Division members tend to be out on assignment or elsewhere, so Sayuri was left to reap the benefits of practicing her technique on her own as she often did for hours on end when not working. It is one of the contributing factors to her lack of rest and sleep. Her style with while certainly not mastered in form and technique, she certainly grasped the concepts of it to hold her own against another Hakuda combatant. Her style by her own movements with relied heavily on catching her opponent by surprise, not just by ambush, but in regular confrontation as exclaimed by her form in her training. Highly agile and mobile method of it to take advantage of her small, light weight size.
She paused after a few swift kicking strikes in the air at equal height to where her opponents head would be. She ruminated on the form of it and shook her head disappointed with herself, "It's not good enough...", she deduced and criticized herself aloud unaware of the possible presence of another...
Post by Rebel Raven on Jul 20, 2009 0:27:21 GMT -5
"So, this is part of the reason you are exhausted all the time?" Came a voice from out of nowhere. It was Soifon, of course as she caught Sayuri wearing herself out some.
She walked in wearing every part of her usual captain's outfit cept the Haori. As she walked in, she crossed her arms lightly, "Maybe you need a better way to train to ensure you get some rest?" she smirked lightly.
With Omaeda gone, she needed to be more hands on with her team, and that was that. She couldn't afford to ignore her underlings... as much. Now she needed to worry about balancing give, and take here.
She walked up to Sayuri, and stopped a good 5feet away from her, "So what do you say?" she offered herself, it seemed, to be a training partner.
Sayuri abruptly tensed up the second she heard Soifon's voice, her eyes widened in surprise - she spun around, "C-Captain!", she side glanced a little bit when the question registered finally within her mind passed the shock of Soifon's appearance, "It's part of the problem... Captain... I volunteer for assignments as much as possible, then train for several hours in between assignments or when I have no assignments. It leaves little room for sleep and relaxation. I do... sometimes... usually a couple hours a day... if that... it's not surprising when I go for a few days with no sleep.", she then stated earnestly, "It only to stay productive, Captain. To be more efficient and serve you.", the fact she said 'you' instead of '2nd Division' or even 'Onmitsukido' went right by Sayuri, she never realized she said it.
Soifon's suggestion gave Sayuri a second of pause, she fell silent for a second as she conceded, "Yes, Captain... I have been trying to come up with a better means of rest than what I have been.", as per usual with her Sayuri she could not help but blush a little in reaction to Soifon approaching her, looking at her, or getting close to her. With Soifon only a few feet Sayuri could not help herself.
Although Sayuri's eyes lit up when Soifon offered to be a training with her, she bowed gratefully and respectfully in that very instant as she immediately replied, "Of course, Captain! It would be an honor.", she took a stance that slightly relied on being a little more defensive. She was being precautionary as she recognized Soifon as the far superior combatant out of the two of them with Hakuda, and did not know what to expect from her.
Post by Rebel Raven on Jul 20, 2009 1:49:03 GMT -5
"How was your trip to Squad 4? Not too helpful if you continue to work yourself to an early grave?" Soifon said seriously, though she kept that small smirk on her lips. She walked to a square on the mat about 20 feet away from Sayuri, then waited for her answer. It wasn't a plot to have her drop her guard, or anything. She really wanted to know.
Soifon kept her own guard up, though. She almost fully expected Sayuri to attack when she had the opportunity to distract the opponent.
In the back of her mind she wondered how to break the habit of this woman to work constantly. She needed her top seats active at the drop of a hat, and it was difficult to have that with her if she were pretty much always exhausted.
Well, hopefully Soifon could help this girl get some rest by wearing her out in combat.
Sayuri's face nearly turned bright red in reaction to the question by Soifon as she replied, "It was very... hospitable, Captain...", she shook her head trying to build up some composure for the sparing match, because this is Soifon in front of her - her Captain that can easily out class her in a second with Hakuda.
Sayuri kept up her guard and as she expected Soifon never let down hers, perhaps it was impatience from the excitement of actually being able to spar with her Captain, but in that instant she decided to go on the offensive instead of wait for Soifon to come to her. It is a very, very rare instance when Sayuri smiles, in fact, the last time she smiled was back when she made the cut to join the Onmitsukido, which was well over thirty years ago. A small smile cracked on her face, she relaxed from her guarded Hakuda stance. Standing up right while resting the ridge of her left hand against her upper abdomen the bottom of her right wrist resting upon the palm of her left and her right middle and index finger point up looking like a ninja casting some kind of spell, then with a tiny utterance almost too quiet to be even heard she vanished in a explosion of crimson smoke. It was the Bakudou Kidou spell No. 21 Sekienton often employed by 2nd Division and Onmitsukido members for quick escape, but the manner of subtlety she was able to do it was truly the mark of a Kidou specialist.
Sayuri knew no matter what, her Shunpou would not be fast enough to catch the likes of Soifon off-guard, so she fell back on her other strength, Kidou, using Sekienton to displace herself elsewhere unseen so she can strike from a far less obvious angle to attempt to surprise Soifon. In a flash she appeared directly to Soifon's back left side halfway into completing flying left kick at her Captain hoping it might surprise her...
Post by Rebel Raven on Jul 20, 2009 4:31:40 GMT -5
Soifon actually smiled a bit more when she saw Sayuri smile. Good, at least she would enjoy herself during this.
Soifon should have mentioned she would be going easy on Sayuri, but she neglected that part. Going easy wasn't exactly in her vocabulary, though, so she was hard pressed to say it. The lowered spiritual pressure might have been a clue.
Bakudo 21 done like that? Oh, yes, Soifon was impressed that she managed it. Still, she trained extensively so a specialization was to be expected. It'd be a shame if she nearly killed herself every day and not have some impressive talent.
Her eyes shifted from side to side slowly as she waited for the inevitable attack, and it came. Her wrist snapped up, and caught the kick before it could impact her body. The impact made her body slide back on her feet, and she flinched a bit as it sent a wave into her body which caused her to get a serious look on her face and a small frown.
Reflexively she twisted her body towards Sayuri, and hammered the hand that caught the kick down at Sayuri's midsection in a rapid movement. It wasn't as fast, or as strong as she could go, but she made sure she tried to be a challenge to Sayuri.
This was not a spar to pummel someone in a one sided battle, this was a spar of talent, and skill. To test techniques, and, well, practice.
The hope was dashed but not entirely unexpected, her kick deflected away and with the same hand Soifon used now coming at her mid-section - Sayuri narrowly blocked it with her forearm. But she knew her Captain is faster than this, realizing Soifon's lowered spiritual pressure, it clicked in her mind Soifon is testing her skill. Even on a level of talent and skill, she recognized her Captain is still by far her superior, but at least she had the comfort in knowing the one she is infatuated with is not going to break in two during this sparring match.... at least... so long as she manages not piss Soifon off... then all bets would likely be off the table.
Directly after very narrowly blocking the strike at her abdomen, she attempted a left knee at Soifon's side, completely ignoring whether or not it connected she immediately went into flurry of quick jabs the second her left foot hit the ground. They were not out of desperation, each one was precise though not quite up to par with her Captain's level, though she tried her earnest to land a shot she did not expect to and also expected a few shots to come her way in the process as well...
Post by Rebel Raven on Jul 20, 2009 5:40:45 GMT -5
Soifon's eyes widened as Sayuri let lose a move that'd normally be awkward for most, and put her in an awkward position to defend herself as she blocked the knee shot, and one of the punches only to have the other hand jab through her defenses to collide with her face.
It was fast, and thus was light at the same time, but it was felt.
Soifon purposely let herself fall back with the impact to her face to roll with the punch and lower the damage, and then as she fell she kicked her legs out at Sayuri's waist.
If the kick connected it'd allow Soifon greater momentum to backflip away, but even if the attack missed, the thrust of her legs coupled with her arching back allowed her to gain enough momentum for a slower backflip to try and put distance between them.
Sayuri's eyes flashed wide for a second surprised she landed a hit on Soifon, but she did not let it go straight to her head she then immediately wen to attempt a leg sweep in case she could get her during an unguarded moment from that hit. But even thinking that was a sign she just underestimated her Captain far too much as a kick was delivered to Sayuri's waist. With Soifon using it as momentum to backflip off of, the pressure knocked Sayuri back several harsh steps back to the point she tripped up on her own feet a fell on her back and slid for a few feet.
The very second afterward she adroitly popped right back up onto her feet. With a healthy distance now between them, Sayuri walked a quarter circle around Soifon - she was indecisive, she was uncertain which move to make next. She had never fast someone at Soifon's caliber before, and more than that her infatuation for Soifon was also a little distracting. It was hard to concentrate on precisely what she wanted to do next.
But, there was still a larger problem in of itself... she was hesitating against a superior opponent...
Post by Rebel Raven on Jul 20, 2009 6:20:56 GMT -5
Soifon finished the backflip with one hand on the ground which guided her to a low 3 point stance on the floor with her other hand in the air behind her as if it were ready to strike, or defend, which, much to her dismay, was a precaution that was not needed as she read Sayuri.
"Tch! Don't hesitate! Forget that I am your captain! I'm not fighting you with all my power," Soifon spat out angrily with her head shaking from side to side once.
Soifon then charged head on, then leapt at Sayuri with her right fist cocked back for a punch. Instead of a punch, her left foot kicked for Sayuri's side, then she brought her right fist down at her head.
She did her best to move at the same speed, and assault with the same brawn as Sayuri to keep things even, and not use all her abilities at her disposal. She needed to let this go on a while, and she needed to keep her subordinates in the dark about some special tricks she kept up her sleeves.
