[5th/11th] Week ---: Temptations

[Shun]

This here thread is for that there Haresuno Uchiharu.​

A beautiful and serene resort awaited the Gardener, a huge contrast to moments ago when the Fifth's Captain was inside Gungnir. Whether or not this was the afterlife beyond the afterlife was to be determined - if such a thing even existed that is. What was for sure though was that the scenery here was absolutely picturesque, something from a romance novel. Skies were painted with splotches and hues of orange and red coupled by the occasional doves that passed by while it was late in the evening. The sun seemed to be coming down, signaling that it was just short of nightfall. Meanwhile, the shores remained unmarred from any sort of pollution or heavy tides of any sort.

In the center of the beach, there was an elegant mattress fit for a couple with red velvet and yellow curtains. Around it, lit candles were strewn about. Despite everything that made this realm so breathtaking, nothing could compare to the woman.

Lying down seductively, there was an ebony-haired Goddess adorned with a white corset as if she were a bride to-be. She seemed to twiddle with the ends of her locks innocently as she waited for the other presence to emerge.​

[ 201 ]​

ahem

 

[Apeiron]

Though you couldn’t quite call it emerge. More like a stumble. The tall man practically fell through the doorway he had not walked through. Out of the hardpan desert and onto the soft grains of sand where the smell of putrefaction rushed to meet him on a comforting breeze.

Haresuno knelt there, in front of the door as it disappeared, for a moment to collect his thoughts. A second ago he was mid-air with his reiatsu flaring against the tides of the impossible, daring to challenge a mountain of power as if he stood a chance. As if nothing were truly impossible for him. The last thing he remembered of that room, was the fading presence of Ciro, and the lingering one of Kago. His heart felt a quiet pang of regret that Kago might have met the same fate as himself, but Haresuno didn’t know what fate that was yet.

Bringing his head up, the Captain of the Fifth looked past his silver glasses and beyond the tousled raven-black bangs. His cyan eyes soaking in scene.

It was beautiful and relaxing at the same time. A far cry from the scenery of his forests and gardens, but nonetheless beautiful. So this is the sea(?), he asked to himself, still a tad confused as to what had happened. For all he knew he was still in the maze.

But if that were true.

Reaching into his kosode, Haresuno withdrew his phone for a moment and checked his messages. Sure enough, there was a message from Raifuku that contained a new piece of the map. He’d have to remember to update his own map shortly. Snapping his phone shut and stowing it away, he took some solace knowing that Kago was probably alive and still in Raifuku’s game.

Rising to his feet, haori dragging through the golden sands, the Adept came to his towering height and started forward. His brain worked on new strategies he would need to use if he came across people. But before he could even do that, he needed information.

And there was someone just ahead. He couldn’t make them out, not yet, but he desperately hoped it wasn’t going to end up like Gungnir.

[368]

Because it fits

Kinda
[video=youtube;m8OlDPqYBLw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8OlDPqYBLw[/video]

 

[Shun]

Whatever preconceived notions that Haresuno held were quickly dispelled as he came closer and saw what awaited him. Staring innocently up at the newcomer, Mai the Temptress smiled warmly as she got up and touched foot onto the comforting sands below. She had not expected a shinigami to reach her so soon - let alone a Captain at that.

Giggling as she noticed that the man hadn't noticed her before probably because of his terrible vision, she finally spoke up, her gentle, melodious tone almost too inviting to resist.

"Why hello there handsome, can you see me now?" she said, waving her hands and beckoning for the shinigami to come closer.​

[ 312 ]​

​

 

[Apeiron]

He was hesitant, but slowly Haresuno shuffled forward. His free hand came up and swept back his long bangs, clearing his sight and revealing even more of his face which was a slight red of embarrassment. There had only been two women who had remarked on his looks, and one of which had been demented. Hearing people praise his looks was not something he was accustomed to. The knot in his shoulders, which had been worked there out of worry, started to dissipate as he walked closer. So far it didn’t look as if he would have to fight.

But how was he supposed to respond to handsome? He wasn’t a smooth talker like Hayato, and he would not respond in kind to a strange woman right away with any sort of word like beautiful or lovely ... or ...

Cyan eyes looked down at delicate feet that poked out from under the hem of the woman’s flowing dress. He followed the creases in the dress up to the bodice where he found the stranger to be wearing - surprisingly - nothing more than a plain corset. It showed him more than what he thought necessary for a woman to show in such garment, and that alone brought a greater heat to his face. Flailing as to where to look, his gaze followed her slender neck up. Her face was soft edges, lovely in a way that demanded attention, with her eyes captivating pools of swirling silver, and her hair a mess of ebony curls.

Haresuno felt his heart beat against his ribs, and his mouth go dry.

What was he going to say?

Before he could really think through his words, he spoke. And with those words was carried with them a tone he had thought reserved only for Iida. Surprise, awe, and captivation, “And I see you.” It had been barely more than a whisper, but with the distance between the two of them it had been loud enough to hear.

[701]

 

[Shun]

"What was that?" she teased, sticking her tongue out and winking.

"My name's Mai, oh shy one," the ebony-haired woman said, her hands caressing the man's face before running through his raven-black hair. She noticed how worked up the man was getting, and his beet-red face seemed to only egg her on even more. Although the hesitation was clear, whether it was from the fact that she was still some stranger or if he had another lover, he slowly seemed to succumb.

It was quite simple with these types. In her trade, she had dealt with all sorts of men, each one of them having their own soft spot that made them tick. Amongst them all though, the very flustered ones were by far the more enjoyable.

And even still, if he wouldn't admit it, she was his ticket out of here, something that was slowly beginning to settle in but not enough so as to dampen the mood. If Haresuno ever wished to go home though, then he would have to please her. She was Circe, and he was her Odysseus.

"I'm curious though, what's your name, and why do you seem like you're so troubled?"​

[ 510 ]​

 

[Apeiron]

The gesture of Mai running her hand over his face, through his hair, had been familiar - comforting even - and that brought a shiver running down his spine. Some semblance of Haresuno’s person returned, however, as he replied albeit soft, “My name is Uchiharu, Haresuno. I am worried about my friends and subordinates. They are somewhere within this maze, and I need to find them.”

Pausing, the captain wondered how much this woman knew. He found himself talking to her easily, a notion that wasn’t abnormal, but at the same time it seemed unusual.

Why was he being so cautious?

Pressing his lips together in a thin line, Haresuno broke away from looking at Mai. He started searching for a doorway, some way out.

He couldn’t stay here.

Or could he?

Would staying with Mai be really such a bad thing? She was lovely, and didn’t seem to be any threat. He could take a break, momentarily, from the world and all its chaos.

But that would leave Raury, Takuramu, Yukiko, Sunai, Nana, Lilith, Sayis, and all the others to deal with what he should be shouldering.

The haori resting across his shoulders suddenly felt heavy, reminding him of his duty and his obligations. Looking back to Mai, desperately trying to ignore the pounding of his heart, Haresuno swallowed down a nervous lump in his throat, asking her, “I don’t suppose you know of any doorways that lead to other rooms, do you, Mai?”

[946]

 

[Shun]

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," she began, as she pushed him onto the mattress. Smirking, Mai leaned forward, giving him more eyecandy than he would have expected. Like a wildcat, she leaped forward to join him.

"Why would you want to go and play hero when you can just stay here with me where you're safe? You should relax. You deserve it Uchiharu-sama." Laughing, she moved her hands down the Captain's midsection. Although he was ultimately complying without much of any resistance, there was still a part of him that knew that he needed to focus on his mission. Realizing this and frowning, she said, "But if you're so intent on leaving then, can you do me a favor please?"

And like that, the chemistry that they were building with one another was tarnished. The lover's touch that she once had faded entirely, and the enchantment that she had placed on Haresuno was instantly removed.

Her hands began to glow, and in a brilliant flash of red, a piercing Cero shot forth towards the Adept at point blank range, threatening to engulf his entire frame and end his existence for good this time.

"Can you just die."​

[ 708 ]​

 

[Apeiron]

The crimson light, and the unmistakable whine of a cero were the only warnings the captain got before the power of the woman slammed into Haresuno’s chest.

The bed was utterly torn, and Haresuno’s body skipped like a stone across the waters, dropping suddenly into the warm sea and drenching him. Pain, familiar and cruel as always to the Face of Bad Luck, racked the front of his body. His seared chest registered the most pain as Haresuno’s head popped out of the water, gasping for air.

His eyes were wide with surprise, and once again his hair was disheveled and now matted down by the salty water.

Picking himself up, uniform soaked and in pain, the Captain of the Fifth coughed water and wiped his mouth with the edge of his sleeve. A failed attempt at clearing away water and spittle.

Shock held on to him for a moment while some other part of his brain tried to work out what had just happened.

He had been deceived. But by what? Vizard or hollow, he did not know. The woman looked human enough to be a vizard, and that sent a disturbing thought across his mind. Especially if she was a hollow.

Haresuno was thankful for one simple fact: though his mind could be tricked, his reiatsu in all its twisted and corrupt beauty could not. The moment the cero had begun to charge - in that split second before it was released - it had rolled out in every direction and squandered the power of anything that drew upon reiatsu.

Without waiting, Haresuno dredged up the power of his bankai. His right hand darted for Xiezhi, drawing it and letting the distinct metallic ring fill the air as it cleared the scabbard.

Waiting last time had cost him and Kago.

Whenever he waited, he was supposed to move. Whenever he moved, he was supposed to wait. Whichever moment this would be, he didn’t know, but he could not wait. Mai would not let him, and she already had made her first move to get a hold of the current.

He had to take it back.

Before he could dare let her onslaught of attacks begin, Haresuno felt the immediate rush of power he knew so well from his final release. It swelled and churned inside his body, pumping every fiber of his being with power and infusing his muscles with superhuman skill. “Final release,” he stated. Azure eyes burned holes at Mai as the sword in his hand glowed with white-hot power.

Trees sprung up all around the two fighters. Uncaring and indifferent to what environment they were brought into.

“Repulsion System Xiezhi.”

Like that his dwindled power lashed out through the room, and Haresuno waited no longer.

With a shunpo he was close enough to Mai to strike her down with his staff.

As the bronze scales glinted soft light, it came around for the woman’s head with the full weight of a master wielding it.

[1445]

 

[Shun]

The sheer force behind it was enough to pummel an ordinary adversary; however, Mai was no such thing as he was slowly beginning to discover. Try as he might to turn the tides of the battle back into his favor, Haresuno wasn't going to be afforded such a luxury so simply. Although she was quite clearly unarmed and seemingly defenseless against the full might of the taichou's Final Release, which had changed the scenery around them, there was no slight flinch or hesitation in her movements as she saw through the flash step that bridged the distance between them. As the bladed edge of the rod came down to cut into her fair skin, the Temptress didn't bother sidestepping or bursting into a Sonido. Instantly, she grabbed hold of the side of the weapon with her own hands, receiving the full brunt of the strike. Instead of blood spewing forth from her reckless stunt however, she remained relatively unscathed, her grip almost vice-like.

A glint seemed to come to her irises as she smirked deviously. By now, it should have occurred to Haresuno that he was not dealing with a Vizored. Instead of donning a mask, she just appeared to look like any other ordinary human; however, her hierro-like build should have quelled any other theories that Haresuno had.

"That's right, Uchiharu-sama. I'm an arrancar," Mai declared, her voice still soothing as ever no matter how much enmity was displayed. In fact, it almost seemed to lull and attempt to coax the shinigami once more.

Digging her feet into the ground whilst still gripping onto the staff that Haresuno held, she spun around before tossing him to Yggdrasil, the gargantuan tree that had sprouted in the center of the cluster of trees.​

[ 1000 ]​

 

[Apeiron]

The section of the staff Mai held snapped off unexpectedly, clinging to her hand and refusing to let go. The powerful swing that would have tossed Haresuno now turned itself into a gaping opening. To which the captain gladly took advantage of.

His assault, having been stopped mid-swing by his enemy, still had the backing of his reiatsu-infused muscles. So when Haresuno detached the single rod from the rest of his weapon, his body carried through with the strike as if he hadn’t been deterred.

He didn’t hit Mai - not immediately, at least.

As the bronze staff came level with her gut, Haresuno changed the direction of his strike, slamming the head of his short-staff into Mai’s gut. “That’s such a shame, Mai,” he commented. His own bass of a voice carrying with it - surprisingly enough - something very close to actual remorse. “That means I have to kill you.”

[1597]

 

[Shun]

A resounding crunch could be heard as Haresuno's staff slammed home. Although her skin was durable, his weapon seemed to gradually become infused with raw magnitude of his spiritual pressure, its strength crackling with each and every strike. Sooner or later, it seemed like he would honestly be able to completely to get through her impenetrable iron wall. For once in her life span, a shinigami had been able to launch her back. Grimacing as she steadied her footing so she could land lightly, the arrancar quickly launched forward, her form shimmering. With a booming noise echoing from the Sonido, Mai appeared in front of her opponent, her hand outstretched in a stabbing motion. Thrusting her hand forward, the siren attempted to pierce right through Haresuno's bare chest, riddled with all sorts of scars. What was more peculiar was the criss-crossing ebony straps across his body, as if he had been infected with some sort of incurable plague which would not be far from the case.

"I see you've met Prometheus. Instead of killing me, we can always go on a double date with him," the arrancar said, knowing full well that the Vasto Lorde must have shaken this Captain so much so as to give him something far more than just an ordinary collar.​

[ 1215 ]​

 

[Apeiron]

What Mai failed to realize, Haresuno kept to himself, completely engrossed in the arrancar’s banter.

Melding together his practiced art of zankensouki, Haresuno took in the sound of the sonido, only to realize Mai was in front of him before he could move. Surprise washed over his face, and then, her words snapped him out of his surprise. His body flowed like a running stream. Natural, calm, controlled within its environment, and engulfing all that entered its domain.

Mai’s strike came fast, almost too fast. His training with Hayato and Lucia had paid off. The two hand-to-hand fighters had taught him to catch subtle movements and guess their target.

Haresuno slipped around the seductive arrancar, barely missing her lethal attack as it took a chunk from his sleeve.

“Thanks, but no,” the Adept replied. His left leg came up, aimed to land a swift blow to Mai’s side. The blow landed but seemed to have little effect, and he backed off. “We got to chatting, but he wasn’t my type. Too forceful.”

What was he doing? Hiding the sinking feeling of fear that welled itself in his gut. Prometheus had ripped into Haresuno’s soul, stealing from him everything that the shinigami had gained by striving to the top, and that left the Adept with a feeling of emptiness. As if he hadn’t been able to make a difference, even with all his power. It had driven him mad.

Take that feeling, Hare, Hayato told him one day in the hospital. You hold on to it and you use it if you can. We’ve all got our madness - I should know. If you can’t use it against someone, find someway to use it against yourself.

Maybe that’s what this was.

But he had to do something.

Standing across from Mai, as the lull in their fight grew a tad, Haresuno examined himself.

It didn’t look good. Not if he wanted to make it out of this fight in a better state than dead.

The front of his uniform had been torn to shreds by Mai’s cero, and his all too recent fight with Gungnir had left him with a number of scrapes and bruises still fresh. His body ached with a familiar feeling of tired that he expected and accepted. The leaves of Yggdrasil were changing color from their lush green to a sunset red, which didn’t bode well for Haresuno if he continued to burn through his reiatsu.

Changing his stance, the Captain of the Fifth made himself look relaxed, lowering his significantly shorter staff. “Look, Mai, I’m sure you and I could really enjoy killing one another, but we don’t have to do this now. I need to find a man named Raifuku, and the rest of the shinigami that are here.

“Why don’t we strike a deal?” he asked. “We both go our separate ways for now, as part of this deal, you can ask me any question you deem fit, and ask of me one thing to give to you. If it’s a fair deal, I’ll accept and in turn do likewise.”

Bartering with an arrancar, what next? Another Vizard army in Seireitei?

[2124]

 

[Shun]

If there was one thing that you never did in the midst of a life-or-death situation, it was trying to bargain with the Devil. For a Captain, he seemed to be pretty ignorant - no, that probably wasn't the case. She didn’t doubt that Haresuno knew this, but it was probably apparent that in his current condition he would be putting himself into more peril than he would have liked. Even if his wounds from his previous battle had healed up, his reiatsu was tinged with and still held traces of the battle with Gungnir.

Nonetheless, no matter how foolish this pathetic attempt at trying to narrowly dodge what could be the Captain’s last fight, Mai seemed to have stopped momentarily as well because in all honesty now the Temptress herself felt tempted at this opportunity. She never really intended or expected to settle into some sort of agreement though; in fact, her next words would brush aside the possibility of this exchange.

“A deal, hun?” Mai said, giggling, “Be careful what you say. There’s not really much I want besides loving you to death.

“Although if you insist, I could let you leave under one condition though. Slice one of your arms off, or allow me to dislocate it and rip it off myself. After all, I need something to remember you by,” she requested, smirking as she knew that her requisition would not be followed through with. Unlike her and others of her kin, shinigami weren’t fortunate enough to possess arrancar-like techniques and regenerate lost limbs.

As an icy silence encroached upon them, she knew what the response would be. There was absolutely no way that he would comply.​

[ 1500 ]​

 

[Apeiron]

“Fine.”

Snapping his three rod-length staff into two pieces, Haresuno took the longer section and stashed it behind his obi - under his haori. The sand under him sparked with lightning, flaring to life with reiatsu and power as Haresuno exerted his will on the world around him. It grabbed the sand like a rock and rose it like a fountain, solidifying the normally loose grains and created sandstone.

Placing his remaining staff between his teeth, the captain ripped off his sleeve and revealed to the woman the bisecting lashes across his arm. Stripes of such a darkness that shadows would be consumed by them. Stripes which matched the ones on his chest which so blatantly stood out against the tanned color of his chest.

Kneeling, Haresuno placed his right arm against the alter, his cyan eyes glaring at Mai.

With the torn sleeve he wrapped it just over his elbow, wrenching down to slow the blood-flow. Sweat dotted his forehead.

This was what she wanted.

Haresuno’s power roiled. His left hand shot up behind his back, right to his remaining two rods.

This was going to hurt.

The rest of this whole maze wasn’t going to get easier.

Reiatsu swam through the air, tangible. It thrummed as Haresuno gathered it all around himself, splitting what power he had to his sword, to his body, to the land around him. The vile nature of his power was sickening, added to it was the corrupt and parasitic nature of Prometheus’s curse, and the combination was enough to change the world putrid alone.

But the Captain of the Fifth took no notice of it. His eyes were on his own arm, biting down on the rod like a bit as he growled around it.

A gleaming white blade jumped out from the head of the rod in his left hand, its serrated edges rotating like the blades on a saw. It was all too clear what the purpose of the weapon was, and Haresuno had turned it on himself.

One moment, Haresuno was kneeling with his blade held high over his head, sweat beading his forehead until it ran down his face in rivers.

Then the blade fell, and the air around him shimmered - wavering as if the powers he wielded had just shirked backwards in horror of what sin he had committed.

And like that it was over.

One quick and clean blow had severed the captain’s right arm, the bronze rod fell from his lips as he leaned forward against the small alter. Then, without warning, blood erupted from the dead limb.

Haresuno prayed to the seven gods.

[2563]

 

[Shun]

No such prayer would work to change her mind although there was evident shock.

“You are too trusting Captain. Your actions make me wonder why Prometheus even went so far as to mutilate your body so much. It makes me wonder why you're even a shinigami let alone a taichou to begin with,” Mai said, holding out her outstretched hand. As if reacting to it, the felled arm seemed to levitate before floating towards her. Grabbing hold of the bloodied limb, the arrancar stared down at it for a brief moment, wondering if she could possibly whip him with this arm of his. Laughing at the thought, she finally returned her gaze back towards Haresuno.

“Only a fool would cut their own arm off. When I saw you earlier, I never thought you had that sort of conviction in you,” the Temptress continued. “It’s stupid. It’s reckless.. it’s..

“Admirable even.”

As she finished her statement, her hands glowed with reiatsu as if she were supercharging something. It was not Haresuno that was her current target however at least not yet. Rather, the siren seem to direct her attention to the detached appendage once more, blood dripping down from it and painting the gentle sands of the resort. Tinging the arm with her own burning spiritual pressure, she flashed out of existence.

“By now, you should have realized that there are only two ways of leaving a room. Either killing whomever you come across or beating them senseless to the point where they can't fight any longer... neither of which you've accomplished."

It was half of a lie, but he didn't need to know that.

"Haresuno Uchiharu-sama, had this been another life time, we could have become great lovers. But you are truly an unfortunate man," she concluded, appearing before him and attempting to beat him with his own body part.​

[ 1812 ]​

 

[Apeiron]

The illusion shattered.

As Mai brought down what she thought was Haresuno’s limb, it exploded. Or rather, the image surrounding it exploded.

A single bronze rod flashed out from a fleshy collection of sand and earth, held tightly in Mai’s hand. It bashed into the side of her face, tossing her off balance.

In a seamless motion, Haresuno spun on the offset arrancar. Twin white blades crossed over her stomach, one from his left hand and the other from ... his right?

No blood fell in drops around the stump where his arm had been, but a single rod floated with its reiatsu-wrought blade coated in Mai’s blood.

Slowly, as if regrowing itself, skin unmarred beyond more than scrapes and scratches, came back into place.

Haresuno’s right arm was still intact.

“You haven’t got the slightest clue, Mai.” Watching her stumble backwards from his blow Haresuno’s eyes seemed distant, uncaring. “The only unfortunate are the ones who cross my path, attempting to steer me off it or deny me what is mine.

“I gave you a chance to do something not many of your lot get. A chance to prove a shinigami wrong. But I knew you wouldn’t pass up the chance to kill me. Too much power to let go walking away. Too tempting. I don’t know if you can appreciate this, Mai, but splitting my reiatsu into three separate weaves like I just did is a bit exhausting. I can’t do it repeatedly, and not when my enemy is so far away.”

Smiling a sad smile, something that only made his distant and uncaring eyes look all the more haunting, Haresuno’s voice lilted in a single line of honest truth, “I needed to get close to you.”

[2852]

 

[Shun]

Plop. There was always a first time for everything, but this was uncalled for. Her blood splattered forth from where the white blade had penetrated through her skin. For the first time in generations, since she had evolved from an adjuchas, Mai was staring bewilderingly at her own blood as she clutched the wound. Her smooth hands were soon filled with this red liquid. Although there was no denying that such a thing coursed through her veins, it had become almost nonexistent to her until now. Indeed, as impossibly as it may have been, someone had quite clearly cut her, and who less than this tactician.. this man that had at first flailed around like some innocent boy, giving off the impression that he was never even meant to carry a sword.

Hmph. Bringing one of her fingers to her lips, she curiously stuck her tongue out, sampling the bitter and iron taste of her own blood.

While she would have normally been interested to hear Haresuno's explanation about how he had been able to deceive her, his words fell to the wayside. As a lone leaf from Yggdrasil landed lightly on her shoulder, she noticed the brownish-red hue that it had taken on. Slowly but surely, as time progressed, the seasons were changing right before their eyes, transitioning from the hot summer days to a crisp and cool autumn evening. Eventually, it would be winter, a spectacle that could only be explained by this man's Ban Kai release. Before such a thing could happen though, she knew where this was going to lead. Although it was not exactly quite the scenario she would have pictured in some classical romance novel, it was nonetheless a tragedy that would at least bind the two together for eternities to come.

With the silence still existing between them and Haresuno still wondering if she had anything to say, the ground rumbled beneath them and shook violently, increasing its magnitude with each passing minute. Her thoughts and intentions soon became clear as something materialized overhead. It was still intangible and would take a while before anyone could touch it, but the outline of it was unmistakable. It was a door, more specifically, the exit to the next room that would carry Haresuno away from harm... if he could last long enough before the entire room caved in on both of them that is.

"Join me," she said invitingly, her hands motioning for the Master of Traps to come at her.​

[ 2228 ]​

 

[Apeiron]

Haresuno shook his head, sadly.

“I gave you more chances than I would normally give any enemy that stood before me.” Which was something he would have to reflect on later. Mai was truly stunning, and that both annoyed and confused Haresuno. This creature, who looked so human, had given him a reason to momentarily doubt his belief that he would have to fight his whole way through this game of Raifuku’s. She had nearly goaded him into death - and seductively so. But it was for another time. “There is a small pang in my heart for what I am about to do, Mai, and so I say this to you:

“Hit me with your most powerful attack.” Haresuno’s body shifted, and both of his hands came to grip a single rod. “This is as much respect as I can show you before you die. Your ability to tempt me, your lying and trickery, are worth my respect - so I will bring to you the full weight of my respect.

“I cannot join you, but I can finish you with my strongest attack. In turn you should strike me with all your might.”

Inhaling the salty air, Haresuno brought up the memory of the spell he had just used during the fight with Gungnir. “Hadou Number Ninty-Three,” the captain intoned. The world seemed to darken, and a field of blades resembling the scaled rods Haresuno wield appeared.

There were not eighty rods for the single rod in his hand, but eighty pairs of five rods, in every color under the rainbow. “Gun no Kyousei.”

All about the two fighters, the leaves of the garden of trees fell into the whirling powers that flared in that brief and instantaneous moment. Yggdrasil, the mightiest of all the trees under Haresuno’s bankai, was the last to shed any leaves.

Lingering power, the last of Haresuno’s reserves, was but the faintest flickering candle as he stood across from Mai.

“This is my full respect, Mai. Zankensouki Art: Knight's Force.”

[3189]

 

[Shun]

As that world began to fall apart before the two combatants, neither of them could care less, not even for the fact that the door, the only safe haven left, had completely opened up.

“When you’re done being assured that you’ve already won,” Mai began, “Then allow me to remind you that you’ve made one fatal error.”

She smirked as she noticed the puzzled look that she had garnered from her statement. It was to be expected though. Being an arrancar didn’t allow her to completely transcend the barrier between shinigami-like and hollow techniques, and as such, she could not match the Captain’s kidou prowess; however, it did grant her with something else, and as Haresuno might have thought, there was still a trump card that she had not yet revealed.

“In all this time, you’ve been brimming with confidence, and you’ve already released your Bankai, but in the meantime, did you ever wonder why I didn’t have a zanpakutou with me?”

As her words began to settle in, a huge spike in her spiritual pressure washed forth, bathing her in a teal glow. Soon, her hands were encased in ice. The air around them suddenly became frigid and arctic, going so far as to change their surroundings. Although Yggdrasil still stood proudly, most of the other trees in the cluster were beginning to suffer from the spreading of the ice around them. As it is at times connoted with, winter is a time of reflection when everything dies off before becoming anew during spring. In this case, her concentration was Haresuno, the man who had already cheated death once in Raifuku's game. This time she would make sure to get the job done and send him to the reincarnation cycle.

Without further ado, even though hundreds of rods surrounded her, she charged Haresuno, bringing her fist back for a devastasting blow. The waves nearby seemed to follow suit as they crashed forwards, seeming to change states of matter instantly. The gentle ocean soon became a violent and crashing maelstrom of snow and ice, threatening to engulf the Captain and freeze him permanently.

And like that, the glacial conditions of winter had settled in, sending shivers through one's spine to forewarn of an impending tragedy.

"Goodbye dear."​

[ 2613 Final ]​

 

[Apeiron]

Haresuno’s first strike hit without him so much as moving an inch.

Followed by another.

Then a third.

And finally, a fourth.

As the world around the two came to its frigid form, the army of multi-colored rods descended. They flew through the air, like broken glass from a mosaic picture, and converged before Mai could come so much as get within striking distance; before so much as the first frost could touch Haresuno.

In his full might, Haresuno reached out with his own will and felt the grip of the four cylindrical rods he had placed throughout the fight. He combined his prowess in zanjutsu, coupling it with potential when wielded with his reiatsu-infused muscles, and backed by Gun no Kyousei.

The result was devastating.

The first gash came from the rod Mai had originally caught. He had attached it to the back of her bicep, where she was less likely to notice. The wound inflicted once Haresuno had taken control had rent the hollow’s arm making it useless.

The second gash was across the gut, from when he had counterattacked. That one had almost cost him when he surprised Mai, double slashing at her exposed front the moment she went to beat him with his “arm.”

The third was along her spine, controlled by his mind just before his surprise. If it didn’t leave her completely unable to move, it was at least the most serious of the four.

The fourth strike, the one he had hoped to put at her side, had been buried under the sand between them. If Haresuno had been successful, it would have been up her other side, destroying Mai’s good arm. Instead he had to improvise, cutting off one of her feet when she was within his domain.

“You were so dead to your own body,” Haresuno muttered. His voice a regretful whisper. In a flash Haresuno was before the mutilated Mai, the sword in his own hand coming to bear the final sentence as he cut through her from shoulder to waist. “Good-bye,” he lamented.

His bankai shattered, taking with it the trees and the other rods but giving him back his zanpakuto. Without any flourishing movements Haresuno returned Xiezhi back into its scabbard with a solid clink.

Silently standing amid the frozen paradise the Captain of the Fifth refused to move.

Too tired, in too much pain - body, soul, and mind -, he didn’t know if he actually could move. His reiatsu was practically all gone, and the toll of his fight had come down on him like the weight of the world. Even if he tried, the best he could manage with his god hand were a handful of smooth stones.

Raising his heavy head, tearing his cyan eyes from Mai’s dissipating body, Haresuno walked forward to the door. Dragging his feet through the snow-covered sand.

The fight was over, but he was wounded.

Final [3675]