Sleeves Wet with Dew [Fuuen, Erika]

While Fuuen understood that it was probably quite presumptuous of him to send a formal letter of challenge to a vice captain, much less the vice captain of the first division, he had nevertheless done so with no hesitation when he had heard of her skill with the blade.

It was said that her mastery of numerous styles was exceptional, and as a man who pursued swordsmanship for its own sake, he always wished to compare mastery to those who walked the same path as he. It was a formal letter, naturally, written in only the most polite terms and avoiding any terminology that might have come across as hostile or threatening. He doubted that would be necessary, but there was nevertheless a sense of propriety when it came to challenging one's superior.

He had chosen a place which was neither public nor secluded, a rarely-used training field not terribly far from the 7th Division's barracks. The nature of their barracks meant there was little use for a formal training ground, but at the same time, there was nothing stopping anyone from coming if they so wished. What mattered far more to him was the match itself, and Fuuen sat seiza as he waited for Erika Masamune to arrive.

To say she was expecting a letter of challenge was something that hadn't crossed her mind in a long time, not since she served Tsubaki and people were aware of her relationship to the Captain Commander of that era. She purposely avoided ever letting slip her experiences being able to witness Zero Division for the sake that she was terribly worried that it would elevate her to some similar situation as the Kenpachi. Where others would come and seek to fight her for no other reason that she had walked amongst the best.

Yet Fuuen was so polite that she had decided to entertain the unseated member's request, she was after all a woman of honour and it would be disingenous to her pursuit of swordsmanship to not show up so the vice-captain came upon the training ground and gave it a couple of looks. A couple of different swords that were slung over her shoulder that she had made.

It would be incredibly rude in her mind to show up and utilise her katanakaji, over time she was beginning to view it as an affront to her passion towards swords and it was becoming ever more apparent to her that she was reaching its peak. She needed to evolve it or give it up entirely in the pursuit of something superior. That much was clear to her but it was not important now, instead she just adjusted the swords dangling off her shoulder. A wakizashi, nodachi that was bigger than her frankly and a katana. Enough to give him a good display if he asked it.

"I hope I didn't keep you, Fuuen. It was a little surprising to receive your invitation to a challenge."

"Not at all, Vice Captain. Thank you very much for accepting."

Fuuen bowed graciously from his seiza position, before standing and adjusting the two blades that he himself was carrying. He knew that he should realistically use his zanpakuto, but at the same time, he would not be giving his best in this match if he avoided use of the Yuudachi. It seemed that she had come prepared for multiple weapons as well, but that only further impressed him. Even with his knowledge of many styles, he had yet to reach a state where he could shift between different blades effectively.

"I understand that you are exceptionally busy, but I am always intending to advance my understanding of swordsmanship, and I have heard that you are among the most skilled in the Gotei. I would be honored to see as much of your mastery as I am able to match."

It was a very humble way of requesting it, but Fuuen was nothing if not a man aware of propriety. He knew that it was fairly likely she would best him, but he wished to see as much as was possible. He would hold out for as long as he could, however long that proved to be.

There was a pecularity about what she saw, he had two swords but she suspected it was not like Kyoraku's since he seemed to put the asauchi aside. Then what was this blade? Erika stared at him - specifically the yuudachi - for a bit longer than she thought would be considered polite until she snapped back to reality. There would be time to discuss that later.

"Very well, I accept your challenge to a match."

Placing her own collection down and reaching for the katana, she thought it best to start simple with the most common type of blade but Fuuen would see her donning the sheathed wakizashi as well. Maybe she'd be prompted to pull it out.

"Are you interested in something formal as judged swordsplay or are you asking to see the extent of my swordsmanship in a battle?"

A controlled battle but a battle nonetheless, no "illegal" moves which were forbidden.

"I do not believe in violence, but I would never expect this to be an unrefined brawl. I would prefer to see the full extent of your style and its capabilities, if you are willing to show it."

Fuuen set his hand carefully onto the hilt of the Yuudachi as it remained on his back, not drawing it yet. After all, his style was one which allowed for a duelist's iai draw even at its massive length, and his eyes studied Erika carefully. He did not wish to seem overeager, but it was difficult to deny that this was the sort of thing he had missed. Too much of his combat of late had been for the sake of survival. There was little opportunity to truly study or develop.

"I hope that my own style is able to compare. I understand that you have studied a great deal longer than I."

"I have had roughly eight-hundred years to hone my swordsmanship, I would hope that I compare."

She said while her hand remained fixed around the blade, a thumb against the tsuba which was ready to pop it out in a moments notice. She stood there while her eyes remained just as fixed on his. Much like a game of chess, reading the situation and anticipating. Connecting swords in the mind's eye while they were still sheathed and yet to feel the air.

Erika reached into her focus, becoming hypersensitive to her surroundings in the process. The wind on her skin, the way her hair blew and dragged against her cheek. No one existed in this moment besides her, Fuuen and the space that they occupied.

"I am afraid that my mastery has not had the opportunity to grow as it should have, and that you have been training for longer than I would ever have had the chance. Your ability is undoubtedly far more refined."

That was, after all, precisely why Fuuen wished to see it. But the time for simple niceties was now over, and he knew that much with utmost certainty. His thumb ran carefully over the hilt of his sword, all of his senses focused now on this match. He knew that most would never have dared to challenge someone like her to a proper match using a real blade, but even in his humility, he believed in his own ability.

One foot slid carefully over the ground, as he slowly moved around the small arena. He knew that one of them would need to approach, and that in many ways his longer blade would provide him the advantage. However, she carried a blade of similar length, so he suspected that his sword's own nature would not sufficiently throw her off. If anything, she would be prepared for it.

So, instead, he continued to slowly approach, circling at the same time. It was an exceptionally traditional methodology, which was contrasted quite strongly with his unorthodox choice of weapon.

She remained still for a minute while she watched him beginning to move, reciprocating in kind while she mirrored him in kind, the match had already begun in her mind. Visualising his blade's movements, impacts and possibilities, the first move made by each of them and studying them to conclusion but at the same time it was little more than a simulation within her thoughts that passed in an instant.

Unsheathing the katana and taking it with both hands rather than making full use of the daisho, it was a little different to have to hold back. Well aware that the full power of her speed could make her appear to teleport to someone of his level, the strength of her blow could cut him like butter but this wasn't about winning, it was about technique and so she would use nothing but her technique against him.

If this were any other, she might've used the full extent of her zanjutsu - though some of it was not unique and universal amongst shinigami - but she wanted to utilise her own style here.

A couple of moments and she took a step back to set up for her Hakutōgaeshi, a technique which attempted to bait the opponent into stepping forward and follow her before delivering a swift counter in attempting to catch them off guard while they approached. Ultimately a testing cut from her Hoshōgekiryū since a skilled swordsman would not be taken advantage by the sudden offensive or attempt to backpeddle like an amateur.

Fuuen's own attention was on Erika's form, studying her footwork and the movement of her hands more than anything else. He kept his eyes low, his hand still squarely on the hilt of his sword, and he nodded more to himself than to her as she stepped backward. That made sense, he didn't suspect that she would simply move blindly toward him. Well, he did not mind taking the offensive, and he took a testing step forward, not yet entering into what would reasonably be assumed as her reach. Of course, given the mastery that he had heard she had, he expected that the whole of this battlefield was within her reach, and he was prepared for that.

What was her intention? Likely to draw him forward, of course, but he knew that was the case. The real question was whether or not she had utilized such a technique knowing that, as well, and that she was ready for him to expect a feint.

Such thoughts were the most fascinating part of any duel, the discerning of every intention and every action simply in one's mind. It was what differentiated mere martial technique from proper arts, what made a style into something worthy of praise.

Fuuen began to draw the Yuudachi from its sheathe on his back, though he did not pull it more than an inch out. He was prepared for her, and his body was tensed in readiness to perform the Thirty Second of his Thirty Six Views; Koushuu Kajikazawa. All that he needed was to see a single motion against him, and he would cast out his blade from the sheathe in a wide arc, ready to cut down everything in a circle around him. A defensive technique, but one built on the premise that none would be prepared for the speed or ferocity at which he could arc a blade as unwieldy as the Yuudachi.

So that was his angle, Erika caught the faint movement that told her that he was going to act. Such a large blade had only a couple of movements that could be made with such a cumbersome size though her feign turned into advancing onto him, turning on her heel in an unconventional way to become perpendicular to him and prevent him from finishing his arc.

Erika's body then demonstrated two actions simultaneously to fluidly change forms. Her hold became a single hand on the katana as she met his sword near the base of the blade to if he did not adjust to her sudden advancing on his personal space, her second one that was now free reached to her wakizashi and tried to trap him against her back with the shorter blade aimed to have been stabbed into his side and puncture his kidney if she had followed through.

Even if it had failed she had little doubt that if Fuuen was as good as he thought he would've been able to visulise the peculiar movement which did not follow rhyme or reason and see her intention. The same way that she could percieve what would've been a clean cleaving her in half if she were to have failed to adjust to block the yuudachi's absurd arc.

She liked his strange sword, it felt like something that she would utilise with her Gokkotōryū.