On A Whim [Private]

With a smile on her face, she was not surprise at his actions. Sure, guessing his movements, his motives, and his future behavior was not possible. But given his position, and what she expected of him, she would see it no other way. It was obvious by then that the temperature in the field was increasing at a rather hastened and increasing rate. Shocking as it was, it had started snowing. Given the properties of the snow and how they felt, the only guess possible was that it was a byproduct of Iriko's abilities. Most likely a passive ability given his detached nature or the lack of movements that seemed to indicate a connection to it. But no matter. Even with the snow falling from above, it was truly only noticeable quite a few feet, possible even quite a few meters above them. Given the temperature of the field, the snow melted into nothingness much earlier than it would have taken to reach them. She was alright. Not only was she largely immune to the effects of her own ability given the action of others of her own, but she was, for the most part, acclimated to most kinds of weather.

The are wasn't just hot however. It was very, very hot. It was near-impossible for Iriko not to be sweating profusely from his hands and most areas of his body. This was not nearly half of the power of her temperature control but it should have already started to weigh in on her opponent. As the seconds passed by, the ground seemed to become somewhat coarse, being stripped of the little remnants of moisture that might have been present earlier. Her opponent was no different. Sweating as he likely was, dehydration was not far away, even at the controlled level of heat she maintained. Dehydration was the least of his worries. However, other effects were likely not of concern to his well being, at least not at that exact moment.

Still rushing, though not at her top speeds yet, his bubbles did their best to catch up with her. Naturally, not because of a gap in power but rather out of the difference between an ability and the being itself, they trailed somewhat behind her. She recognized their speed as they did indeed trailed her, but it was not close enough where she felt threatened yet. Arms still outstretched, palms facing down, she grinned as her hair grew rather rapidly. Striking the ground with extreme power, it made a number of small holes on the ground. It was obvious, given the action, that the hair was of an extremely durable and tough and at the moment. While most of his sealed bubble attacks would likely not have a profound effect on her hair, perhaps some of the stronger form of his attacks would. Her hair was made not only to be extremely tough and hard however, it was also specially flexible and easily bent so long as she wished it to be when she willed it to be.

Pushing her up rapidly into the air, her hair acted like a form of extremely powerful spring, firing her into the air. Though he could definitely attempt to hack at her hair and cut it, it made little difference if he did so. Assuming there was a strong enough attack to cut her hair, regrowing it at the same speed at which it was caught, or even faster would be as simple to her as breathing. The hair pushed her up at such blinding speeds that it easily matched that of a bala shot, one of the fastest forms of attacks. On top of that, she had used the momentum from her earlier rush and made use of her flash steps to further increase her step. The combine use of the rapid techniques meant her speed of travel was much faster than his attacks could react or follow to, and possibly even faster than he could take notice of. All else being well, she would be nearly on top of him, in any specific position she had willed to end up with, before he could conjure up a concise and prepared form of attack or defense.

Given the extreme speed displayed, it was not difficult for Aiko to bypass and thus dodge the three incoming hados. If he had actually gotten up and at least attempted to move around while he fired them it might have been different, but he had chosen to do what he chose to do. While in motion she spoke rapidly, "Rikujōkōrō. Sajō Sabaku." Before he had time to even blink, six wide beams of light would attempt to slam into his midsection holding him in place, while the second bakudo created a very thick rope, almost chain-like that would bind him strongly. Although Iriko's power with kido was impressive, Aiko was also an extremely powerful kido user as it was likely her best area. The lack of an incantation meant very little as there were few who could summon kido as powerful as her without an incantation. If the latter was indeed spoken well... it would not be a pleasant feeling for the foe.

Since her movements were so fast, it was not rare to see her hair all over the place around her. Whether there was any purpose to it was beyond comprehension, at least for Iriko. As high and as quick as she had traveled, the sunlight from above shun directly behind her likely obscuring or momentarily blinding her opponent. The rays of the sun must have made her hair look somewhat yellowish or golden as it was still rather early. Barely noticeable as it was, she seemed to move her lips extremely fast. It was way too fast for regular or normal comprehension. What she spoke would likely be nearly impossible to decipher and it was difficult to tell whether he ought to be worried about it or not.

Surging through the air at those speeds it was obvious he was having a challenging time keeping his eyes on her, or at least he should have. The bakudos, nearly instant-fast as they were had successfully hit. The six rods had hit hard, slamming his midsection into place and momentarily rendering him immobile. At the same time, the extremely strong rope had risen from underneath him tying his upper body with incredible power. As it was obvious, he had made an attempt to get at her to stop her advances and likely wound her in the process. Though what looked like a blade had been created from the bubbles to be by the side of her leg, Aiko would quickly move past it. It was not really a factor, to be fair. Even if the weapon-constructed bubble were to trail her on Iriko's command, the conglomeration of a bala speed spring up movement of her hair plus her flash steps were just way to be much to be matched in terms of speed by techniques of that nature.

Still, there were bubbles in between her path and his location, but given her plan, it made little difference whether there were truly any or not. All around, the temperature continued to increase exponentially. If one were to take a sample and compare, the temperature that had been exhibited minutes earlier was nothing compared to what was being felt in the battlefield at the moment. like night and day, the temperature had risen by nearly immeasurable amounts, and it seemed to be increasing by the second. Given the insane speed at which she had traveled thanks to her hair and her flash steps the extremely fast words she had spoken, or better yet, made out, were just impossible for Iriko to decipher. Perhaps if she had been still or actually spoken normally he would have, but not on this case. It was a specialty she had build on from the teachings of Hachigen and Tessai, and given the speed, deciphering what she had said would not be possible until it was too late. Also, the shining sunlight above her would have nearly blinded or obscured his sight. Even if he had a general idea of her location, knowing where she was just not plausible since she traveled so fast. Not only was the sunlight shinning hard on him and goldening part of her hair from the rays of sun, but the extreme levels of temperature and his unnatural amounts of sweat must have likely gotten into his eyes and made his sight that much harder to attain.

Spread as her hair was, she would appear close to him given her insane speed. Her hair, arriving before her, would do so in the form of a myriad of strands. Strong, sturdy, and powerful as they were they would have easily pierced through most bubbles in their way with their tips. Though Iriko could create an incredibly large amount of bubbles, it was also truth that an individual had a near-limitless amount of hair follicles, and given Aiko's abilities, simple numbers just did not matter. With that, a seemingly very powerful kido shot out from Iriko's location in a massive roar to attempt to impale and damage Aiko. However, to think that she had gone so close to Iriko without a plan was a foolish assumption in it of itself. As the kido got in distance to hit her, a light green hexagonal barrier appeared and sucked in the kido gathering all the energy in one area, momentarily absorbing it, and forcing the attack outward and away from the shield-like barrier, possibly even hitting Iriko for the kido's intended damage before caving into itself.

She hadn't wasted a second, as she never even waiting for the attack to be sent elsewhere or getting closer to him. From the time she was propelled by the hair and her flash steps, numerous strands of her had motioned forward impaling with their tips his bubbles and laying just above her and even surpassing her intended position. Golden still, Iriko would likely notice too late that it was not the sun which produced the golden hue. It was just not plausible to notice earlier. It was something Aiko was used to doing. She had practiced this kind of techniques before. She never left the area from which the sun shined so the color was naturally the same all the way through and justified. The words she had spoken up there had no meaning to Iriko as deciphering their meaning was just not possible at that time. Still, hair before hair, her body made no ulterior motions. What would befall would be strange, even for someone as strange as Iriko. Specially since he was well versed with Hadō. From the tips of her hair, a massively and catastrophically devastating golden energy shot down onto Iriko. Given their close proximity and her speed and surprise-factor of her intent, it would be silly to assume that it could be dodged. Having being fired earlier than he could start his eventual phase into his shikai, the powerful kido would slam into him with devastating force, crackling and destroying the ground beneath them and wounding the Captain beyond normal recognition. Raikoho was an extremely devastating kido and it would have definitely affected him greatly. Even if his eventual shikai provided some form of healing, the damage would have been evident and likely lasting and the pain remembered. What's more, at the same time, massively powerful amounts of hair would shoot up from the ground beneath Iriko. Her hair earlier, the one that had aided her spring was just a rouse. Though the added speed helped, it wasn't the main point. The hair had traveled during that time unnoticed, tunneling underground given its sharp qualities and upon exiting into the surface they would wrap onto his lower body in conjunction with her bakudos. The tips of her hair would become sharp and shaped like fish hooks so that, should they be removed by her or his attacks they would rip and tear the flesh and muscle tissue off creating even more damage. Thus, the hair held in him place making the damage from her kido even more devastating.

Though her hair itself would be equally damaged. She cared very little. She could easily sever it and regrow it. Then, finally having hear his shikai transformation, she caught a few glimpses of his new form. Though it was indeed a form she was not used to and definitely caused some strange and undefinable feelings within her, it was best to move back at least until she had figured out what to do. By then, her blast would have already done its thing and caused what it shalt to his body in conjunction to her bakudos and her hair. The eventual decimation of her bakudos meant nothing as Iriko's body was likely wounded to a point of near-no return. By then, she had also purposely re-shorten her hair to avoid any damage. Thus, turning on her heels and regrowing her hair into a very sturdy material coiling around her, she sped off. However, in due time, a very peculiar action had been taken. Very dark bubbles had been made by her opponent. They became boxes, full of power a bubbles seemed to flow into them readying some extremely strong attack. Grinning as she kept speeding away, another single light green hexagonal barrier-like shield appeared near one of it and absorbed the power of the black boxes and the entirety of the bubbles flowing into it before redirecting the energy away as it caved down into itself and nonexistence.

It was simple, really. Aiko was a very unorthodox combatant. Most of the things she did never made sense. Figuring her out was hard. However, figuring her out, if done so, was even more dangerous. Her abilities and personality made it so that the normal was normal and abnormal and the strange was normal and strange. Nothing ever made sense, and if it did, soon it would not, and there was no telling when the prior would have held true again. Though known likely only to herself, her temperature control was an ability that did not require her limbs. Sure, she could definitely make the process even faster by physically touching an object but she had no need of it to let her ability take effect. The earlier actions towards the start of the battle where she had spread her arms outwards with hands supinated had a meaning. There was a very particular kind of bakudo she enjoyed, and she had used for that very reason. It helped a lot that the bakudo was invisible until it was used, but nevertheless, the battle continued.

There, in that form he had acquired, Aiko looked at him. There were no more of his attacks lingering around as there was likely none of hers either. The space between them largely clear of anything but their eyesight connected to one another, she held a firm expression, not daring smile. It was true, his appearance was far from what she would consider hot. Nevertheless, she did not think less of him. He was a Captain and likely, her friend. "Wait.." she said rather softly. Walking towards him slowly, hand still down, she had an expressionless look on her face. Granted he could attack her at this time if she so wished for she would truly be hit. She had no plan on dodging or evading as she was putting a momentary pause to the battle. His looks were indeed...far off. It was initially hard containing the odd feeling, but she had managed. She cared for him, as she did for many. Coming into his personal space, she would close her eyes and wrap her arms around him. Even as slime dirtied her arms and her outfit, and maybe even her face, she did not seem to care. Nestling her head against his, she said, "I don't care, you are important to me." She made no mention specifically as to what she was talking about but she didn't need to and didn't want to. It was not strange that her already high riding top would have shifted some so that her large breasts accidentally brushed up against the man's body as her mini skirt showed more than many would have intended, but those things were beyond her interest, at least completely, at the moment. Upon his acceptance of the hug she would look at him, close as they were and smile. The battle would resume in a bit no doubt, but this was needed. The anger she had bottled up inside was definitely not gone and it would show up eventually once more. However, for the time being, the momentary peace of this embrace was necessary. She was happy. She was.