Vote Tally : Bleach: Derailed | Page 173 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 4305-4531]
##### NetTally 1.9.9
[97] Hold back some, but not a whole lot.
[41] Go full out. Showcase your skills fully.
[6] Try to roughly match your opponents.
Total No. of Voters: 144
"Matches are until one fighter cannot continue, or ring out." A captain says from the VIP box. At a glance, he's tall enough that you're going to need to stop calling people 'giant'. You have to revise your expectations of what that word means whenever you see a taller guy. This one is ten feet tall, and not just stretched out either. He's simply proportionately a little under twice as large as a normal person.
He wears a wicker helmet and huge thick gloves, obscuring every inch of his skin, which makes him the seventh division's captain, Sajin Komamura, if you remember right. "You are here to show the efforts of your studies. Do not forget that." He booms. "Blood will be shed, but blood itself is not the goal of a soul reaper. If you find yourself on the other end of a friend's blade, then treasure the confrontation, and let it go. Do not let this consume you. Do not let it endanger the bonds formed between you at this academy. That is all."
The captain sits down.
A vice captain stands to take his place, a woman with tousled white hair cut short around her head. "I am Isane Kotetsu, vice captain of the fourth division. There are members of my division stationed nearby to patch up your injuries, but please be polite and keep the intent behind your blows less than lethal."
Then the tan man with the glasses who gave the acceptance speech at the beginning of the year steps up. "In order to create a more level playing field, I have decided to randomize the matches. When I call your numbers, step forth into the ring. You will begin when I say 'go'."
The first four matches go by quickly. Academy students mis-matched against others of higher skill quickly find themselves either sent to the general seating instead of the part of the stands reserved for competitors. Your first round comes more quickly than you expected, and you're actually surprised when he calls out, "number fourteen and ten."
Your opponent is a thick man who quickly whips out his blade and charges at the mark. He's coming straight at you, and Zangetsu is still on your back! He barrels forward with the force of a truck, unstoppable.
Predictable.
He's so much slower than Kukaku. You step into his guard before he can bring down his sword, throw him over your hip, and then help him on his way with a pointed finger and, "Hado One, Sho."
That pretty much sets the tone for your first few matches. You bash the man in the second round out of the ring with your shield bakudo, and things don't get better from there. The people in the stands notice, quieting down when you take to the ring and watching you with keen interest. You can almost feel the weight of the captain on the back of your neck. His spiritual power is... actually something you can almost feel, like a warmth or a breeze. Is that what people feel around you?
There is one other person watching worth mentioning. "That's it! That's my cousin!" Kukaku hollers as you send your third opponent down with a cry of "Hado Four, Byakurai!" and a flash of electricity.
Blushing slightly, you go back to your seat and do your best to think about the rest of the matches. Round one had fifty, round two had 25, round three had 12, or was it 13? You weren't counting. You're not sure if you're going to fight Takako before that Jirobo guy or not, but...
"Flap away, Tsunzakigarasu!"
Takako must have gotten called up while you were distracted, because she's in the ring. Glints of silver metal arch through the air around her in a storm of flashing steel. It only takes a second for her pale skin and white uniform top to turn as red as her pants, and she drops like a stone.
"Winner, Jirobo Ikkanzaka." The announcer says, but your attention is focused on the man in the ring, all your intent bent toward the back of his neck. Sweat suddenly covers his skin like a sheet, and he slowly turns to face you.
"I'm not actually very good at hado, or bakuda, or hakuda." You say, and Zangetsu almost leaps eagerly to your hand. "But you're not the only person in this tournament with a shikai. Be ready."
And then you sit down again. Jirobo licks his fat lips, but soon regains his earlier bluster.
What are you going to do to him for being so brutal with your friend?
[] Just beat him down and be done with it.
[] Beat him with your most impressive moves.
[] Drag the fight out until he regrets it.
[] Throw him out of the ring to deny him a fight.
