Hiana Maisaku - Momo
Kanosuke Jinju - Me
5,374 Words
Kanosuke Jinju - Me
5,374 Words
Kidoushuu Induction for Kanosuke Jinju
Kidou...It is referred to by some as a shinigami's secret weapon, the ace in the hole that can easily turn the tide of a close battle if used properly. In some ways, it can even be considered enough to rival the strength of bankai, the shinigami's ultimate ability. For the longest time, Jinju was only able to watch how others were able to craft this energy, forming seals and launching attacks that he would only think were possible in fairy tales. Then again, back when he was alive the entire concept of Soul Society or shinigami existing was enough to get someone thrown into a crazy house.
At any rate, the Third Seat had only recently gained the ability to use Kidou. While he had become quite good at it in that short time, the only thing he lacked was the array of Kidou to use against his opponents. He wanted...no, needed to learn more. In some ways, he felt like the sadistic antagonist of a story who gained some power and endlessly craved more. And that may have been true to some degree, the part about endlessly craving strength. Since Jinju had become a shinigami, he always trained his blade to the best of his ability. He wanted to change that. He wanted to expand his knowledge of this new power he had attained.
Jinju was in a bit of a bind though. He wanted to learn so much more, yet he didn't have anyone to go to. While Ame was an expert when it came to barriers, Jinju wanted to focus more on Hadou so he had a wide variety of Kidou to use at any given situation. Hadou was something he knew his captain wasn't the best at. After spending an eternity pondering about it, he found there was someone he could go to. It was a member of the Fifth Division. Who better to go to for help in Kidou than someone from the Kidou division?
Standing at the entrance of the Fifth Division taisho with his hand rested on the door, Jinju was trying to remember this person's name. He had heard her voice twice before, both of those times happened to be at the tournaments at the ancient execution grounds, one of which was his. She was not just any member of the Fifth, but the Vice Captain, so it was pretty obvious she had to have been proficient in the arts if anyone was. If he was lucky, she might even remember him so it wouldn't be so difficult for him to ask for her assistance. But what was her name again?
"Hia...Hiana Mai... Gah! I can't even remember her name and I'm going to ask her to help me? Great job there Jinju, you really thought this one through."
"Paperwork... Mnhm... Paperwork.. grr.. More paperwork!? Good God!" Several sheets of paper flew around the air inside the Vice Captain of the Fifth's office. It was a busy day as ever, and Mai was stuck.. with paperwork. I swear... What does Yukiko-Taichou do all day? This, even after so much time as a Vice Captain, still bewildered the red head. "I have to get out of here.. No way am I getting all this done today." Nearly growling, the woman turned off the light on her desk, opened a window and rushed out the door.
Once outside, she breathed in a deep breath of air as if she had just reached the surface of the ocean and had taken in a sweet breath of air. It did feel like she had been drowning inside that office... Drowning in paperwork! Flailing down the hallway, Mai passed several members of the Fifth. She smiled at them as they bowed towards her. "Hey.." she spoke up, making them stop in mid-bow. "Didn't I tell you guys to stop that? We're equals." With a wink, Mai waved at them and walked on.
Behind her, the group of shinigami smiled and waved at their Vice Captain and started to whisper to each other. Rolling her eyes a bit, Mai folded her arms behind her head lazily while slowing her pace a bit. As she strolled by a window, the sunlight outside caught her attention and she turned to lean on the window still, smiling as she gazed over the front yard. "Kirei~" How long hadn't it been since she'd just stood still and smelled the roses.. Far too long in Mai's mind and now was the perfect opportunity.. Why not take it? She laughed at her own stupidity and scratched her throat a bit.
A frown slowly appeared on her facial expression as a new sensation entered her mind. It was a strong reiatsu signature and immediately, Mai hid her own. "It's close... really close.. But.. no one in the division is that strong.. It's over Sophia's level as well.. Definitely Vice captain level.." the red head murmured to herself with her eyes closed. She could clearly see the person's reishi thread in her mind and wondered why she hadn't felt it before... wait.. yes.. it was definitely familiar.. She couldn't put a finger to who it was though.. but she'd felt it before..
Glancing towards the lobby, Mai narrowed her eyes and awaited the stranger's entry.
Show yourself..
Two arms flailed over the Third Seat's head at his internal predicament. To some outside looking in, it may have appeared like some lunatic thought the doors to the taisho were locked and was venting from anger at missing some important meeting. Jinju's memory usually wasn't too bad, but for some reason it had a grudge against him on that day, not allowing him to make any intellectual progress in the outside world. Finally admitting defeat within himself, he reached for the door handle once again and pulled it open, something he had to do to keep from just sitting outside all day long. Hmm. Maybe I can trick talk my way out of not knowing her name. The entire thing was pathetic, Jinju worrying so much about not knowing someone's name.
Stepping inside the taisho, the first thing he noticed was the large abundance of female shinigami. In the entire lobby, there may have been at most two or three men, and three to four times that in women. Now, to any male no matter if they were single or not, it was like winning a lottery that would have never existed in the other world. Simply put, it was because Jinju had never seen a female shinigami that wasn't rated at least an eight. "So that's where they've been hiding." He naturally blurted out at his thoughts, not even paying attention to what he was doing.
Walking forward a few steps and scoping his surroundings, the Third Seat looked ahead, noticing one specific shinigami in particular. She had luscious red hair, was taller than most women, and had a Vice Captain's badge to boot; she easily fitted the physical description of who Jinju was looking for. He simply blinked a few times for a moment. At first he wondered if shinigami were ranked differently in the Fifth, ranked based on looks rather than strength and experience...because she was definitely off the chart. Shaking his head back and fourth to get thoughts out of his head that could get him in trouble, Jinju walked forward towards the Vice Captain.
Great...so now that I'm here, what do I do? The young shinigami pondered for a moment, and then spoke, trying not to have too much of a silence gap. "Hiyo! Hi-- " Aha! I remember! "ana-fukutaichou. I'm Kanosuke Jinju, Third Seat of the Thirteenth."
When the reiatsu signature entered the room, Mai let out a relieved sigh. Ah.. Only a shinigami. She thought to herself as she surveyed the man that'd just walked through the door. Tall, dark and handsome huh? Grinning, the Vice Captain averted her eyes out the window once again as she leaned on the still. She felt a pair of eyes gazing at her and figured it was the male shinigami since he was moving towards her.
Mai's eyebrow rose a bit when the man introduced himself. "The Thirteenth?" she asked as she turned towards Jinju. "Ah, so you're one of Ame's goons huh? Welcome to the Fifth Jinju, I see you already know my name.." Mai said and folded her arms over her chest a bit while her eyes narrowed momentarily. Kanosuke Jinju...? Hnn.. Wasn't he the one who fought Takero?
With a soft smile and small wave of her hand at the Third Seat, she nodded a bit as if confirming her own thoughts. His azure eyes weren't to be mistaken and she remembered him vividly. "Ah yes.. You fought Takero in the Soukyouku battle a while ago.. What can I do for you?"
The Third Seat blinked, not quite understanding what she meant by "Ame's goons" . It was clearly obvious they had met each other at some point; she wouldn't have referred to him like that otherwise. It could have either meant one of two things. The first being that she didn't like Ame, which would have made asking for help difficult. The other possible conclusion, and the one he had hoped was true, was Mai being just a friendly, but slightly goofy and cheery person. The latter sounded so much better, and much more fitting.
"Oooooh yeah~ that was me in the arena with Takero." He blindly replied to the Vice Captain, biting his lip in thought about coming up with some excuse such as "the sun got in my eyes" or "Takero said he would show me naked pictures of women if I let him win" , but it was best that he didn't. Jinju still had pride and dignity after the fight, even if he was beaten in front of everyone's eyes; though it took him some time and a bap on the head to realize it at first.
"I'm here to ask for your assistance." The Third Seat bowed before continuing. "I have recently discovered I'm not that bad of a Kidou user. My problem is...my lack of Kidou to use." Realizing he might be trailing off in a direction and straying from his main purpose, he just cut right down to what he wanted to say. "Who better to come to for assistance with Kidou other then the people who specialize in Kidou mastery? I ask you, would you lend me a helping hand by teaching me a few things to become a more effective shinigami?"
"Being a suck-up won't help you my dear Kanosuke-san." The Vice Captain joked as she flicked some of her crimson hair over her shoulder. Her jade eyes gazed upon the young man and she tilted her head a bit. Kanosuke Jinju.. she repeated in her head. I've seen his name before.. except for when the Soukyouku was going to be held. a deep frown entered her expression as she entered a deep thought.
After a moment, the woman's face lit up with a smile and a thrust of her hand into her palm. "Ah! Kanosuke-san, join me for a second will you? We can talk better inside my office." Smiling, Mai turned on her heel and stalked off towards her office with Jinju trailing after her. Of course.. His name was on the Kidoushuu papers, he's the guy I have to induct. I wonder if he knows he's been accepted.. she glanced over her shoulder. Heeeh, this will be fun.
A door to an office opened shortly after and revealed the large room in which Mai usually resided in. The black leather chair stood firmly behind the large mahogany desk, and the bolstered brown chair stood invitingly in front of it.
"Take a seat." Mai gestured towards the brown chair as she strode around her desk and flopped into her leather chair. The whole time there had been a satisfied smirk on her face and as she turned on the desk lamp, the warmth of the yellow colors lifted the expression even more.
"Well then, Kanosuke-san.." the red head started and locked her jade gaze upon the dark haired shinigami. "You said you need kidou to use, correct? And which spells, may I ask have you thought about learning?" asked the red head while starting to shuffle around a stack of papers, obviously looking for something.
Jinju sheepishly grinned at the vice captain, who had apparently become very interested in his curiosity at mastering more kidou. He noticed that her reaction towards his request suddenly changed, almost completely shifting to a different direction then where it was going. The shinigami wondered if it was a shift in the light in the room that made him suddenly appear charming, or maybe if she had recognized him. It was most likely the latter, but it still perked his curiosity as he flopped down into the chair on the other side of the vice captain's desk.
"I'm not worthy of receiving the title of san from someone like yourself, not to mention being treated with such respect can raise my ego a bit over the top. Jinju is fine...that is unless you want to continue to boost my ego." It didn't take much for him to realize Mai was a bit of a kidder, and enjoyed having a friendly conversation just as much as the next shinigami, which was good for him. It meant he wasn't asking someone callous for training, but someone who was likable by those around her. It was a real nice trait to have, something too few seemed to possess.
Getting down to business, the Third Seat answered the question that was asked to him. "I was hoping to learn some hadou, and maybe a little... err... learning some bakudou." The last part of his sentence startled him; he didn't want it to be taken out of context. "Whatever you think one of 'Ame's goons' might be able to handle." Jinju finished, still smiling bright towards the vice captain.
"Well, you know, men usually have a large ego by default.." Mai said absentmindedly as she kept rummaging through the stack of papers. "No need for me to enlarge what you can enlarge by yourself." She didn't look up at Jinju but kept her gaze on the papers. **** mess, I can never find anythi- oh.. wait, here it is!
A faded manila folder was heaved out beneath the stack of papers. Mai smiled brightly as if she had just discovered the reason for the world's evolution. She opened it and studied some of the papers inside, mulling over something in her head. "Yep." She said out of the blue whilst closing the folder again and directing her gaze at the Vice Captain. "This folder here..." she waved the manila folder in her hand, "Contains information about you, Jinju. And I was assigned to be your Kidoushuu inductor. You've had an interest in the Kidoushuu right? That's why I remembered you since I got this from one of the senior Captains when he left the Kidoushuu." Her red hair flipped over her shoulder as she stood up and made her way around her desk.
Standing in front of Jinju now, she smirked at him. "And I know just what to do."
"Sou da ne?" The vice captain of the Thirteenth equally returned the smirk, wondering exactly what Mai had up her sleeve.
He took a brief moment to analyze what he could be up against. She knows Ame well, and isn't the slightest bit afraid to admit it, which can be tricky since we are similar in some ways. She also happens to be the one who supervises my entrance into the Kidoushuu, which means I am at her mercy anyway. But...the most troublesome part of all is that I happen to be located in the division with the better-looking gals in it, which means there could be many distractions. This could be more challenging than fighting that ****ed arrancar back in Hueco Mundo.
The elegantly painted grin on Jinju's face faded into nothingness, transforming into an expression that showed what he feared. He could very well be in trouble on this one. But like all near-impossible feats he had encountered in the past, he realized there was always a way to win. And like always, he would win with style. More challenging, but even far more fun.
The shinigami simpered once more, being renewed with the confidence he hadn't ever really lost in the first place. He didn't just want to join the Kidoushuu, he needed to. If that meant he were to spend several days running around Seireitei naked on his hands while holding an apple in his mouth and balancing three shinigami on his feet then so be it.
"I'm prepared, Mai-chan. Show me what I have to do."
Watching Jinju's expression change into a kind of horror, Mai laughed. What is he thinking I'm gonna do to him? Shaking her head, she flicked the Vice Captain's forehead playfully and whispered. "Follow me."
Slowly, she started making her way over to the door, motioning him to follow her. Through the hallways, many of the Fifth Divisioners were raising an eyebrow at the two Vice Captains. Wondering if there might be a fight going on or something else. The red head raised an eyebrow herself at the groups of people staring and they resumed their daily chores; not wanting their Fukutaichou to ice them over.
Outside, the sun was shining brightly. The lavender garden looked as fresh and inviting as always. Smiling as they walked by the purple flowers, Mai took in a deep breath, letting her senses enjoy the freshness. Once they reached the Fifth's training area, the red head walked into the center of the area and turned to face Jinju with a smirk.
"Jinju, how well do you know your Captain?"
The shinigami flinched at the question asked to him and blinked curiously. Why that particular topic kept being brought up was starting to make him wonder. There was obviously a good reason behind that line of questioning, but no matter how hard the vice captain tried, he couldn't seem to figure it out, let alone figure out the person who asked it.
"I'd say I know him pretty well. He obviously trusts me enough to make me his second-in-command and I try not to let him down."
There was a strange feeling creeping up Jinju's spine though. He was always a firm believer that you never do truly know someone unless you see them fight, no matter if it is with you or against you. And yet he had never really seen his taichou fight, outside of what Ame had done to him for the sake of his own twisted humor like letting him fend for himself against a pack of hollows. It wasn't like didn't know him though, he looked up to the guy after all.
"I know him well enough to trust his judgment and give my life for him if needed. I'm not someone to openly do that for just anyone."
Jinju tilted his head to the side and smiled as he glanced at his friendly interrogator. "But the question that's been really bugging me is how well you know him."
Chuckling slightly with her gaze set upon the young Vice Captain, the flaming haired woman slowly moved her hand to the sword which rested on her lower back. She grabbed the tsuka and slid Yukihari out of its sheathe; the sword instantly starting to emanate a white reiatsu, despite its obsidian blade. Mai closed her emerald eyes. Soon after, three yellow rings of kidouryoku formed around Jinju's body at his shoulders, waist and legs.
In a quick shyunpo, the Kidoushuu member had disappeared from her previous location, to be standing right in front of Jinju with her obsidian sword grazing his neck ever so slightly. Her eyes pierced into Jinju's own and there was a devilish smirk on her lips.
"Do you think your Captain would be able to save you now, Jinju..?" She hissed in his ear. "What would you do... if I pushed my sword only a few inches deeper into your throat..?" Gazing over the man's form, her grin never faded. The yellow rings kept their hold on the Vice Captain as Mai slowly moved behind him, her fingertips running along his neck whilst keeping her sword at his neck.
Again, she whispered into his other ear. "What would you do?"
"Wha?" The confused Vice Captain was unable to decipher what had just happened. It happened all so quickly. One second the red head was asking him a personal question, and the next he found himself bound (rather tightly) with her zanpakutou at his throat. Jinju hesitated at first, not knowing what to expect. He knew he was trapped in some kind of bakudou, but she hadn't even spoken any incantation or released her shikai.
How the hell is that possible? Is that the true powers of someone who is trained as a Kidoushuu soldier?
Adjusting himself as much as possible in the current situation, Jinju relaxed his muscles. Given the fact she seems like a kidder and more importantly, I don't think I've said anything that would turn her crazy, she probably isn't going to kill me. If she does, than it can be noted that I was killed by a hot woman with some pretty **** amazing abilities. I don't think many men would complain.
Bringing his grinning expression back out to play, Jinju let out a sigh. "It is rather simple. I would turn my head and then I would kiss you. Then if that wasn't enough to sway your thoughts and let me go, I would still die a happy man."
Mai smiled. "That's very bold of you." Closing her eyes, she released the bakudou on his form, pulled her sword back into its sheathe and stepped back. Inside, she was very happy with this new candidate for the Kidoushuu but didn't let it show too much. She still needed to test him a bit. Turning on her heel, Mai walked exactly ten steps away from Jinju, turned again so as to face him and rested her hands on her hips. A moment of silence followed, before the red head spoke up with a rather unexpected request.
"Now, I want you to do exactly as I say, Jinju. No questions asked." She said softly, opening her eyes and looking straight at him. "Fire one of the strongest beam-type kidou you know..."
She tilted her head.
"At me."
Feeing the bonds release around the vice captain filled him with a wave of relief he had sought out for what seemed like an eternity. While he did call her bluff, there was a period of time where he thought she might actually try to kill him. It didn't matter much anymore; what was done was done and apparently Jinju had succeeded in passing the first part of his "test" . But if Jinju knew anything about how tests worked for shinigami, and he did, they always seemed to have a progressive level of difficulty to them.
The words his trainer had spoken echoed through his head for a period of time. She literally outright asked him to attack her with his strongest beam kidou...the hardest class of kidou to evade Jinju had ever seen.
Why is she asking this of me now? Is it to see if I have it in me to attack another shinigami? No...she saw me fight Takero with everything I had. What is the hidden purpose behind this test?
Without giving it much more thought, Jinju shrugged his shoulders and would follow the request given to him. "Let's see. I don't particularly know many beam-type kidou. In fact, I only know one of them, but I'll give it a go."
The vice captain of the Thirteenth raised his gloved right arm with his index finger pointed at Mai. He simply spoke the incantation for the kidou as he gathered energy to his finger. "Hadou #4, Byakurai."
The white kidou manifested itself and shot towards the red headed Vice Captain. She watched it with a bored expression and held her hand up in front of her, murmuring, "Temperance." The liquid barrier shot up instantly, deflecting the kidou without any hardship. A frown creased Mai's brow as she cancelled the barrier and watched Jinju intently.
"You call that an attack?" She asked with an irritated tone. "That was some of the weakest things I've ever seen. Do you want to be in the Kidoushuu, Jinju? That had nothing in it. No emotion, no power."
She glanced to her right, eyeing one of the training dummies on a stick in the ground. Quickly, she held up her arm towards the dummy and started pouring kidouryoku into her arm. "Raigen!" She yelled whilst massive amounts of kidou poured from her arm, sending out electrical charges that made the few trees that were around them light on fire. The yellow, cracking kidou burst forward with a large amount of power, and when it hit its target, it blasted the doll into millions of pieces; the flash of light nearly blinding and the gust of air so powerful one would have slight trouble in resisting against it.
Dust and debris flew around everywhere. Once it had settled, Mai turned her gaze back to Jinju with her brow still furrowed. "That's what your attack should have looked like."
Sugoi! She can do all of that and she doesn't even have to speak any part of the incantation. What a level of strength...and to think I was worried about hurting her. I guess I'll have to give her what she wants, a good display of power.
"Sorry to disappoint you." Jinju graciously bowed down, "I'll use something with a little more kick but it won't be a beam-based kidou. Please don't forget to guard yourself, I realize I can't hold back if I want to gain entrance to the Kidoushuu."
With that said, Jinju began to gather a massive amount of energy into the jet-black glove on his right hand. A large orb of dark matter formed in the palm of his hand, getting larger as he put more and more energy into it. Like the impressive display of lightning just showed to him, hundreds of small bolts of black lighting swirled around the ball of energy, causing an intended imbalance of power to make the attack volatile. The vice captain clasped his fist together, crushing the ball of energy; only to ignite a black flame around the entire surface of his hand.
"Hadou #38, Coiling Abyss!" The shinigami shouted the words of power before heaving his flaming arm into the air and slamming his fist hard into the ground below him. Like water pouring from a faucet, the black energy quickly dispersed itself into the ground, forming a jet-black puddle around his fist. As the final stage of the kidou set itself into motion, the puddle started to take shape, launching several waves of dark energy at the Fifth's vice captain.
Snickering, Mai watched as Jinju took her words to heart and put some effort into his casting. She studied his energy levels and thought about getting her suisei to investigate some more but decided against it. Truly, it was starting to be an intimidating sight. Mai had never seen that kidou used before, only read about it in the Fifth's library. So it was almost a learning session for herself as well.
If she didn't start up a kidou herself however, there would be a good chance she would be caught in his casting. The Vice Captain stood with her front against the raging kidou that hurled towards her and spoke out the incantation, kidouryoku starting to gather all around her. "Surround, Dark Wind! Protect the fragile soul and wash away all ill intent. Bougyoudo no gojyuugo, Black Tide"
Wind starting blow forcefully from behind her and soon, a large burst of black wind shot out from all around the red head. The massive wave of wind pushed against the dark energy coming from Jinju's kidou and started pushing it back as if it was a barrier of wind. The two kidou met and grinded against each other, building up to a point where the black torrents exploded, dust and debris whirling up in the training grounds and enshrouding the both of them in a thick layer of dust.
"So I guess that one didn't disappoint you nearly as much as the previous one?"
The vice captain of the Thirteenth chuckled to himself as the remains of the powerful black wind died down between the two of them, allowing the area to return to its peaceful state. Looking around, it was obvious the area was slightly destroyed, but still peaceful once again.
It was one of the strongest Hadou I know, but I could tell; I could feel that I am capable of much more than that.
A grin formed on the Kidoushuu member's face, Jinju's form appearing behind the layers of dust. The attack had been powerful. More so than she had thought it would be, yet a sparkle started to twinkle in her eyes. A spark of hope, perhaps? Simply nodding, Mai started walking towards the younger Vice Captain and put her hand on his chest when she reached him.
"I knew you could find your true heart." His heartbeat pounded inside his chest with a slightly swift, yet steady rhythm. The level of energy that started producing from him as she stood there was what she had hoped to achieve. "If you hadn't pulled off a stunt like that, I wouldn't have let you in the Kidoushuu. And I think your heart knew that." Mai withdrew her hand from his chest and resumed her position with her hands on her hips instead. "When fighting someone with a larger difference in strength than yourself Jinju, you never need to hold back. If you hold back during a fight, even if it is against people you know and love, you will lose. In so many more ways than you can imagine." Replacing her grin with a gentle smile instead, she nodded as if to confirm something within her own mind and turned.
"Welcome to the Kidoushuu, kid." Emerald orbs glanced back over the female's shoulder. "You'll feel right at home here."
She started walking a bit but stopped suddenly and grinned. "Oh, by the way.. Ame is my boyfriend." With that, she sent a salute at the newly inducted Kidoushuu member and kept on walking with a satisfied smirk on her face.
If I hadn't pulled a stunt like that off I would have been showed up by a woman. But what makes matters worse is if Ame finds out I said what I said to her I'll end up tied to a post in his office to be used as a punching bag. Let's just hope what happens in the Fifth stays in the Fifth. Jinju mused to himself, obviously delighted to hear the good news regardless of how it was portrayed. He had succeeded in making it into the Kidoushuu, which only meant the road was only going to be uphill like it always was no matter what techniques Jinju had mastered. The vice captain found it ironic in a way. No matter how strong someone got, there would always be a need to get stronger. Such was the life of a shinigami.
And who said anything about me fighting someone with such a greater difference in strength...
"I've heard that a lot, about always fighting with my full power, no matter who it is against. Unfortunately that is one thing I've yet to understand. Maybe one of these days I'll figure it out, that is if my own ignorance doesn't get to me first."
Jinju let out a chuckle as he brushed the dust off of his clothing. Looking up at the fellow vice captain, he could only smile as he replied. "But you know, I think I'll feel right at home as well."
