Fighting to get stronger

Yuki sat cross-legged in the grass, closed in on all sides by trees, as she attempted to talk with her zanpakuto. She had been feeling for a while that she should get stronger, but she hadn't wanted to talk with her nasty and manipulative spirit - how she was a part of her soul Yuki would never know. However, the time had come when she knew it was unavoidable and so she had been trying for the last hour - unsuccessfully - to gain entrance into her inner world. Apparently Touketsu Suru Hi was a little (a lot) angry that Yuki had been avoiding her, which wasn't the reason because the two never talked much anyway, but in the time of no talking Yuki hadn't been getting stronger and that's what the power hungry spririt was angry about. It wasn't her fault though, there was just hardly anybody to train with that she wouldn't accidently crush with her captain's power. She could only think of another captain, but usually none of them wanted to fight her. It was frustratingly annoying. Letting out a sigh Yuki tried once again to contact her zanpakuto, wishing that hopefully somebody would come around and say 'hey, lets train' to save her from getting her head bitten off by the temperamental spirit. However, she didn't believe in miracles, so she wasn't holding her breath.

"Wow, what a chance meeting! I didn't expect to run into the Squad 10 Captain. What's up? You seem quite troubled today." A man a few feet behind Yuki said happily. This man was the Former 9th Espada, Kyouga Manti. Meeting a Shinigami Captain really made his day, but he wondered if he could make her day better. Currently, Kyouga had his hands in his pockets and wore a Gin-like smile.

Yuki lightly leapt to her feet when she felt the presence of somebody else entering the area she was in. She saw that he had his hands in his pockets, and the grin he wore on his face was oddly disconcerting and only slightly creepy. She could tell by the man's reiatsu that he was an arrancar; a pretty strong one too - maybe espada? She wasn't getting any hostile vibes from him so felt it safe to respond.

"Not troubled, merely frustrated at my useless zanpakuto. She won't let me into my inner world until I get stronger." Brushing off her problem as though it wasn't really a problem at all - which it was - Yuki looked at him with analysing dark brown/almost black eyes that seemed to pierce the soul.

"You seem to know who I am, but I can't say I know who you are."

"Me? I'm the former 9th Espada, Kyouga Manti. Yet, you seem to be unable to enter your inner world. Fortunately, I can train you and/or force you into your inner world. Of course, the decision is yours." Kyo said calmly as he opened his eyes. Kyouga wondered if she really was struggling so much, but it was unwise for a Captain to not use Bankai. "Anyway, what is your name Captain?" Kyouga asked politely, seemingly unfazed by her stare.

Yuki thought over his request for a moment. She didn't really need to be forced into her inner world, but if she trained with Kyouga then she would be able to get stronger which would please her zanpakuto greatly.

"Training sounds good, though I must warn you even without the use of my zanpakuto's powers I'm no pushover." Yuki picked up her sword which she had left on the ground, but didn't draw it yet until she got his answer. Who knows, maybe this fight might even be fun.

"Very well, would you prefer to fight with or without Cero?" Kyouga asked, giving her the choice of handicap. However, it didn't matter to Kyouga either way. At least she would set her mind at ease.

"I don't mind, I doubt you'd be fast enough to hit me anyway." Yuki loved pre-battle banter; to her it always made the fight more fun. Drawing her sword from her sheath she got into a fighting stance.

"I'll let you make the first move, just so you don't lose before the fight even starts." Fighting was the only time Yuki ever let out the arrogant side of her personality - and she wondered where her zanpakuto got it from. However, she could tell that this would be a pretty good fight because her opponent genuinely seemed strong.

Kyouga quickly sonidoed and cut Yuki's shoulder, and sheathed his sword before he reappeared a few feet away from her. "I do believe that Byakuya Kuchiki uses this technique as well..." Kyouga said calmly towards her as he awaited her to react to the instant injury.

(OOC: Hey, just warning you that saying that people have an instant hit is a form of godmodding, you need to let them have a chance to dodge, but don't worry I'll let it pass ^^ also I play fair so if an attack looks like it will hit I let it hit so you don't need to worry about me dodging every single attack)

Yuki saw Kyouga go into a sonido, and even though he was extremely fast she wasn't a captain for nothing. She twisted out of the way enough so that the slash across her shoulder was nothing more than a shallow cut, though she was disappointed in herself for allowing the attack to connect at all.

"I see you have some skill, maybe I should take this more seriously for the sake of avoiding any more injuries."

With her blade already drawn Yuki shunpoed to minimize the distance between them and slashed her blade upwards in a graceful arc across his chest before shunpoing away slightly. That attack was mainly to show her speed, which was just as fast as his own - maybe even more so but she couldn't make that call considering she hadn't really seen him move yet.

Kyouga swung his sword horizontally to block her attack, and he sonidoed behind Yuki in an attempt to cut horizontally across her back. Finally, he sonidoed away and he started to charge a Cero. "Let's see how you can fare against this." Kyouga said calmly as continued to charge the Cero.

Yuki brought her blade up as she twisted herself around to block the slah across her back, the sound of metal on metal ringing through the trees. She watched as he moved away while charging a cero, and her mind calculated that she should have enough time to attack again before it was ready, though she couldn't be one hundred percent sure of that. Quickly moving forward, Yuki feinted to the right before changing direction mid-shunpo and going for a low sweeping shot on his left side across the upper thigh on his left leg.

In an attempt to force Yuki away, Kyouga finally shot his Cero before he attack could connect. However, Kyouga did get a flesh wound from the attack. Regardless, Kyouga awaited her next attack. "You're improving, that's good!" Kyouga complimented Yuki politely.

Yuki flipped to the side, the cero just grazing over her clothes, close enough for her to feel the energy coming from it, slightly singing the skin beneath them. Too close. She would need to be more careful than that.

"Thank you. You're a good fighter." Now that the fight had started Yuki's words were now humbled and had lost the arrogance in them.

She shunpoed forward once more and started to make quick flash steps around him, each time when she stopped making a slash at an exposed part of his body, before shunpoing to a new position without waiting to see whether it connected. The aim of this was to try and disorientate him and force him on the defensive, making him try to block each blow and sometimes having to twist his blade in awkward positions because she was moving too fast around him. She had always been extremely quick and light on her feet, and so she used this to her advantage now.

Kyouga was able to block every attack, but he wasn't given enough time to attack Yuki. Ultimately, he was being forced to defend himself. However, Kyouga wondered if she would ever get really serious about the fight.

Yuki continued to attack, even though all her blows kept getting blocked, but she got the overall sense that he was holding back and not fighting as best he could. Pushing down on the blade that had just blocked her attack, Yuki used it to push away from the former espada, and landed slightly crouched not too far away.

"It is true that you're a good fighter, but I feel as though you're holding back on me. I'm not so fragile as to break under your true fighting potential, so it would be nice if you took this more seriously." The words weren't meant to be harsh - and they didn't sound harsh - they were just simple facts. She could also feel the familiar throb of her zanpakuto in her veins and knew that the spirit was slightly happy - maybe she would be happy enough to even allow Yuki shikai in this battle.

watches oi oi