Miki's Rank-Up~~ ^_^

It began one cold morning just at the brink of dawn. The sleepy scientists of the Fourth Division were desperately trying to catch up to their deadlines. With huge bags under their eyes, which were blood red with fatigue, they struggled with their own individual problems and hypotheses. Some rapidly typed out reports and were finishing up scientific dissertations. Others were collecting data on various specimens (or better yet, monstrosities) that were floating in huge cylindrical vats filled to the brim with a thick translucent blue liquid. The remaining few who were not doing either of these had given up and had resigned their fate to the inevitable; they slept quietly with their heads face down on their tables. It was that time of the month again, the time when he decided to show his face.

The doors to the research laboratory swished open and a pale-skinned man wearing Shinigami robes walked in. He had a slender build and shoulder-length, unkempt, seemingly unwashed hair which strangely, seemed to go well with him. His lime-green eyes reflected annoyance and irritation paired with a subtlest hint of disdain. He brought with him a certain air of superiority that he carried like a badge, a sign to show others he was and always will be, better than them. He was the low key and mysterious third seat of the fourth division, Kazu Arakawa.

Upon his entrance, all the researchers in the room stopped what they were doing and an eerie silence quickly spread across the laboratory. Sensing their fear, Kazu flaunted his reiatsu level, making the weaker ones in the room pass out. Not a soul dared to speak nor move as the man slowly walked from scientist to scientist taking a look at what they handed to him. Most of the time, he would just rip up the fruits of their hardwork and be on his way but there would be instances, at the most three, where Kazu would actually take the papers with him. A few days later, an announcement would be made through the PA system about the third seat’s new discovery. Today would be no different, or so he thought.

A few cubicles away, a certain dark-haired girl closed her eyes in order to control her ever growing temper but each time she heard the sound of papers ripping, she couldn’t help but gnash her teeth. A vein throbbed in her head as she heard Kazu’s footsteps come closer and closer to where she stood. Then, something in her snapped; she couldn’t take this injustice any longer. She banged her fist against the nearby wall and quickly made her way to where Kazu stood. As the sound of the impact resonated through the air, the scientists shifted their attention from the man, to her. Her name was Hoshiko Miki, the fourth division’s fourth seat.

She walked up to her superior and stared him straight in the eye, a daring feat in itself. He literally and figuratively looked down at her as she began to make a scene. All the while, the rest of the people in the room watched in anticipation.

”You know what, SIR,” she began, her frustration clearly showing in the way she spoke to her superior. ”I’ve had enough of your extortion! You hardly ever show up here and when you do, you just take the SHIT we worked so hard on and claim it as your own. It’s just not fair! Oh wait. Maybe YOU don’t even KNOW what FAIR IS! I mean—“

Before the girl could even finish, a sharp clacking sound echoed through the room. Shiko’s head was turned slightly to the right and the man held up his hand close to her face. A distinct red outline of a hand began to form on her cheek and for the first few seconds, she was in shock. ”Quiet worm,” the man said coldly.

Shiko slowly lifted her hand to where the man had slapped her and touched her cheek. She rubbed a finger against it and a stinging pain throbbed as she moved her hand. She squinted slightly and gritted her teeth. Her eyes, now filled with rage, shot towards Kazu and her other hand reached for her Zanpakutou. She gripped its hilt ready to lunge full force at the heartless man in front of her but her reason told her otherwise. Going at him now would get her court marshaled and she would have to relinquish her position. However, there was another way she could get back at him.

She drew her blade at pointed its tip at Kazu’s head. ”I Hoshiko Miki, 4th seat of the 4th division, challenge you to a duel later at noon for your seat and the privileges that comes with the title.”

The scientists in the room stood with their jaws dropping to the floor and the hushed buzz of countless voices whispering resonated in the laboratory. Kazu took hold of the girl’s blade and slowly pushed it aside. He rolled his eyes and annoyance and spat to the side. His eyebrows narrowed and his eyes locked with Shiko’s. ”I’ll show you your place.” With that, he turned around and walked towards the exit of the building, leaving behind the girl who was shaking not from fear, but from anger…
**********
The hour of the fight came and the two of them, Shiko and Kazu, stood at opposing ends of the field, with clouds overhead blocking the sun. At the sides were other Shinigami, mostly members of the 4th division, who had come to watch the battle unfold. A few whispers could be heard coming from them about how the girl would get herself killed or about how she had damned all of them with her lack of restraint. A few others could be seen shaking their head in disappointment or with one of their palms tightly pressed against their face. Most of them expected Shiko to lose but deep inside themselves, they wanted her to win, their eyes could attest to that.

A figure pushed his way through the crowd and cleared his throat, the adjudicator of the battle. In a loud booming voice he gave the only rule for the confrontation: the winner of the fight would be the last person standing. After a brief pause, he raised his hand which was the sign for the battle to officially begin.

Wasting no time, Kazu was the first to react. In a heartbeat, he drew his blade and lunged towards Shiko, a strike poised to pierce her chest. Luckily, she was able to draw her own sword in time and with an upward slash, was able to knock the man’s Zanpakutou off its trajectory. The man hissed and spun counter-clockwise, using his right leg as a fulcrum. He extended his other one and using the centripetal force, launched a kick aimed for Shiko’s lower body. She tried to bring her blade down at the man’s approaching leg but she was too late. His attack had connected and Shiko was knocked to the ground, her knees giving way. Kazu was now poised for a deadly strike; all he had to do was bring his sword down at the girl’s neck.

He tightened his grip on his hilt and brought the blade down at Shiko. Her peripheral vision took sight of this and she rolled forward out of its way. The sword continued its path and impaled itself on the ground instead. The girl saw her chance to counterattack. She held her Wakizashi in her left hand with her blade pointed sideways. Shiko tensed the muscles in her leg and lunged at Kazu. He was wide open, or so she thought.

As she got closer, he jumped into the air, his hands still holding onto the hilt, and circled counter-clockwise once again, using the sword this time, as the fulcrum. Shiko’s eyes widened in shock as the man now stood behind her. He had dodged her attack with ease and held his blade high above his head, planning a diagonal slash at her exposed back.

The girl, in an attempt to block, turned around, hoping her own blade would stop his, however, she was too late. Kazu’s blade had cut through Shiko’s left arm, ripping though her sleeve, leaving a nasty incision that began from the top of her shoulder to just below her elbow. She bit her lower lip, trying to take her mind off the stinging pain in her arm. Her opponent’s move had been well-thought out but Shiko wasn’t one to lose so easily.

She twisted her left wrist, and her blade came into contact with Kazu’s which was only a few inches away from hers. Shiko began a chant and a smirk formed at the side of her lips upon its completion. ”Hado# 11, Tsuzuri Raiden.” A favorite move of hers, an electric current began to flow from her blade, to her opponent’s, and into his arm. Her eyes met with Kazu’s, hoping to see a bit of fear in the man, but a chill ran down her spine when she saw that they showed no emotion at all; this was just a minor inconvenience for him. He was like a tiger toying and stalking his prey.

With his free arm, the man held his palm out at her chest. ”Hado# 1, Sho.” A blast of energy collided with Shiko’s frame and sent her flying back a couple of feet. Her own Kido had been cut short, doing only minimal damage to Kazu.

She landed on the ground, the force of impact causing the wound on her arm to open up some more. A few drops of blood dripped onto the soil and she had to press her right hand against it to quell the bleeding. Shiko was panting heavily, trying to catch her breath as the sound of footsteps slowly made their way towards where she was.

”Tell me, what the difference between a snake and a worm?” Kazu said as he came ever closer to the girl. ”A snake is an apex predator on the top of the food chain. It is cunning, sly, deceptive and feared. A worm is on the other end of the spectrum, brainless, pathetic and food for those above it.” At this point, he stood directly in front of Shiko, his eyes mocking her pathetic condition. ”Know your---“ It happened in an instant and took everyone by surprise. More drops of blood fell to the ground, however, they weren’t from the girl. Kazu stood dumbfounded at what had happened. His eyes darted to his side and saw Shiko’s outstretched arms. He was impaled by the girl’s sword.

”You…friggin’…talk to much…”

She withdrew her blade and Kazu stumbled backwards, putting his hand on his side to slow down the bleeding. His eyes glanced at the audience and saw the shocked faces of those watching; they stood in disbelief at what the girl had done. Their stares were like daggers that pierced through him, even more painful that the stab inflicted on him my Shiko. He started to sweat and his breathing became heavy. He was being made a fool of in front of all these people. His calm, collected, cold façade shattered into pieces before all his subordinates. Kazu creased his brow and gritted his teeth; he wouldn’t be made a fool of, not here. ”Bind…Orochi.”

A wave of spiritual pressure erupted from Kazu’s body which kicking up dust, temporarily blinding all those caught in its blast. Shiko squinted and placed her right arm in front of her eyes. She took a few steps back to prepare herself for her opponent’s inevitable assault. He was going all out so she decided to do so as well. After all, she couldn’t win this fight if she didn’t release too. Shiko held out her own Zanpakutou in front of her with the blade pointed towards the ground. ”Reap…Ketsu Shido.” Her blade took the form of a black satanic scythe and her blood was slowly flowing towards the faint red markings on its blade.

As the dust settled, Shiko could see the vague outline of Kazu still unmoved from the spot where he stood a few moments ago. Her mind was telling her to stand her ground, that rushing at him now would be suicide. She felt something slowly inch its way up her leg and her eyes darted to a thin cloth-like fabric wrapping itself around it. She swung her scythe and cut it loose but as she did so, the cloth already covering her left calve hardened into a material as hard and heavy as iron. She glanced towards her opponent and Kazu had a look of mockery on his face.

With a flick of his wrist, the white tendril on the ground shot up towards Shiko’s head. Luckily, she was able to move it in time. She turned around and saw that the white strip was going straight for her once again. With great difficulty, the girl launched herself in the air and held her scythe high above, she concentrated her reiatsu into it swung it in an arc facing Kazu. A stream of red poison flew from her weapon and rushed speedily towards the man. Victory seemed certain for Shiko. Once the acidic poison she had launched came into contact with her opponent, the match was as good as won. A smile curled on her lips but it was too soon to celebrate.

Sensing this danger, her opponent quickly retracted his cloth-like tendril and waved his arm quickly in front of him. The cloth was directly in the way of the blast of poison launched by Shiko and her attack collided with it instead. Bits and pieces of the Kazu’s unusual Shikai fell to the ground, only to be replaced with more. Her attack had failed and now gravity was working its magic. Shiko pummeled downwards with nothing to break her fall. In a last ditch effort, she launched another arc of poison at her opponent but the weight of the metal surrounding her left leg made her change her trajectory. The blast she released went straight up towards the sky. Strangely, only stoic calm could be seen on her face.

She hit the ground and pain immediately shot up from her leg and loud crack reverberated and hung in the air. Shiko let out a scream and her face grimaced in agony. Kazu’s Shikai was now wrapping itself around her body as tears welled up in her eyes. He walked towards her and kicked her square in the chest. Blood came out of Shiko’s mouth and her vision started to go dim. ”Now, you die.” Her opponent said coldly.

At this point Shiko gave out a weak smile and her opponent was seemingly puzzled by this. ”It looks like…I win.” She said weakly.

A drop of red liquid landed on Kazu’s shoulder and his eyes widened in fear. Another landed directly on his head and he started to panic. The drops multiplied and soon it appeared to be raining blood. At this point, Shiko was already completely wrapped up in Kazu’s Shikai that the drops of poison acid didn’t hit her at all. Her opponent wailed out loud as the acid burned through his robes, his hair and his eyes. The stinging heat of the acid was too much to bear. When the short shower had ended, the audience let out a collective gasp at what they saw. Kazu was covered in red rashes and blood. He stood almost completely naked with his hair all but burned off. He fell to the ground, unable to move, still alive but in great pain. The last thing he saw as his vision blackout out, was the sight of Shiko struggling to stand, leaning against her scythe to prop herself up…