Cross Fire[Rio, Igen]

Igen was having himself a very grand time. Hardly one to squander the time that he DID have away from his duties, the man was on a bar hop at the present. Smiling from ear to ear and wavering only slightly as he moved from the last bar toward the next one on his list. Enjoying himself immensely as he did. The next bar was owned by a very nice and enegetic person, just the kinda gal that usually livened things back up! It was usually his policy to visit a few similar establishments at the tail end of these little crawls of his. To keep himself from just flat out falling asleep. As such he was on the tail end of his little traipse when he spotted a face that seemed familiar? Not on a persona level, but he noticed the aimless expression of none other than Rio Shihoin. Perhaps one of the more famous (for positive reasons) Shihoin among the flock of them.

The Shihoin family, of course, was well. There sure were a lot of wacky rumors. Not that he paid much mind to that shit. Not even altering his course, he put on a big smile and promptly flashed a big grin and a wink in the woman's direction. "Good afternoon! How are you doing this fine evening?" He promptly called out to her, his usual boldness a bit amplified as he walked right up to her. Pased, and then gave a slight bow of his head as a measure of respect. The Shihoin didn't really command much respect, but if nobody else, this woman had some clout so far as he knew. Unless his rumor knowledge was just really out of date. He could be giving a nod to that Chidori woman for all he knew. But it wasn't like he cared.

"You look a little lost. Do you need some directions?" He promptly asked, canting his head to the side. The notion that the woman was jusr, wandering aimlessly not even crossing his mind. However, the wheels WERE turning a little in his head. Now that he had a closer look at her, he WAS thinking maybe he had guessed right in which Shihoin it was. Wasn't there something she was famous for? He had to think....

Igen perked up and promptly smiled just a bit wider, immediately pleased as his theory was confirmed. So this WAS the Shield of the Shihoin! A legendary woman with very few peers. Or well, at least that's what the Shihoin liked to tout, He actually had no idea how she'd stack up to people these days. But he sure as hell wanted to find out. After all, who WOULDN'T wanna see how they measured up to a woman like Rio Shihoin?

"Is that right?" He raised his head, standing up to his full height. He was fairly tall, possibly taller than she was. "Hah, I can understand that. Always did wonder how crazy it'd be to be one of you Noble types. So hey, why don't I help you out?" He ventured, crossing his arms across his chest and puffing his chest out. "I was gonna do a bit of bar hopping, but how about a little contest? A bit of hand to hand combat, no Zanpaku'to. A quick bout, and then we can go snag a drink and relax." He offered, smiling from ear to ear. Of course, some might have sensed some overconfidence in his plan here. But the truth of the matter was that Igen fully expected that he'd probably lose. He ABSOLUTELY would lose. But fighting wasn't about winning or losing, it was about enjoying yourself! There were plenty of 'strong' fighters around the Gotei. But very few could actually make a fight enjoyable! If Rio oculd give a fun fight? That was one more homie to go out and drink with. If not? Well at least he'd get to measure himself against a Shihoin.

"Oh right, you asked my name. It's Igendai. Igendai Gyakusuma. Waddaya say?~"

Igen grinned, promptly pleased that she was so into the idea! Not that he'd have minded if she declined, that was something of a regularity these days even as charismatic as he could be. All the same he cackled a bit to himself as she promptly agreed to the spar. Throwing a thumb over his shoulder and giving a snort. "A courtyard? Nah it's not like we're gonna have an audience. Just the clearing out behind the bar'll do fine. S'where I always do this kinda stuff." He pointed out and promptly turned to lead the way past the bar he had come out not moments before. Very much pleased with himself.

The location itself was exactly what one might expect. All sorts of drunks and vagabonds that started a fight were shoved out to one side of the bar to duke it outside. Of course in the sereitei that sometimes dealt a little bit of damage to the surrounding area. As such, something of a large clearing had been made from the section just outside the bar. A grassy area that had clearly had trees at some point now riddled with a few stumps and large grass patches.

Igendai found a nice spot without as many stumps and promptly turned to face the woman. HE reached in and promptly unwound a bit of chord from his sheath and wrapped it around the hilt of his zanpaku'to. Thus fastening the blade to it's sheath so that if he attempted to draw it, it would remain in it's scabbard. "Gotta keep this bad boy at my waist. I like to think if he tags along for enough fights he'll tell me his name. You're free to check the chord or add to the restraint if ya want." He noted calmly enough. Certainly some people were less trusting than others. Not that he minded, having to fight with it at his waist was a nice little handicap.

All the same, he shifted into a hakuda stance, not a particularly fancy one, but a solid stance that Rio might recognize. At the very least it wasn't for beginners, she'd have some peace of mind that he wasn't some hakuda scrub at the very least.
"Ready when you are. As the challengee, you get the first move."

Igen felt his own excitement start to boil over. A Slow bubbling heat that coursed through his veins and pumped energy through his system as his eyes practically glowed with it. Igen was a pretty chill guy, friendly, and he definitely enjoyed drinking a little and hanging out with his homies. But he'd be lying if he didn't admit that on some level: he felt most alive at times like this. Not necessarily combat. But a contest.

He didn't just FEEL alive. He was BECOMING alive. One never usually knew how they stacked up against others. You see and talk to people day by day, and you have a general understanding of them. People boast. People play humble. But where do you REALLY stand? Finding that out, and FEELING just where he was. Wether that was above, below, or beside someone. It felt truly defining. And her he was, defining himself against Rio Shihoin.

When she suddenly pounced in his direction, his eyes lit up. She was holding back. That much was instantly apparent. Of course, if this were something IMPORTANT, or an actual fight to the death, it would be insulting. But for Igen, it was exciting. She was putting herself down on his level, ish. She was fast, even holding back. Just slightly above his own speed if he had to guess. He wasn't exactly the fastest guy around. But all the same, as her fist railed in, aiming for his shoulder, he snapped his forearm up and connected it with her wrist, diverting the fist up and over his shoulder as he SHOVED himself forward. Promptly he got directly into her business and executed three consecutive strikes to try and interject before her own movements.

A sharp jab of his left fist into her forearm, turning with the punch to shove his back and shoulders into her chest, and then finishing with his right elbow hacking back to connect with her shoulder. It was a bit less precise given that she was a bit shorter than him, but his body would be positioned well within her actual arm's reach, so that if her fist did roll in and insist on connecting with him, it woulnd't be a full extension with proper strength behind it.

Of course, in the event that Rio managed to avoid his little string and connect a solid punch (which frankly he wasn't doing much to avoid) she'd find her first hitting a surprisingly solid frame, and with her holding back, the man wouldn't even flinch. Perhaps, a sensation of Deja Vu as once again, Rio found herself tussling with a very particularly sturdy(if slow) shinigami.

RIO SHIHOIN| A HUMBLE SHIELD

Rather than evade her attacks, Igen decided to soar in and face her head-on, executing three strikes to disrupt her own set of movements. A sharp jab of the left fist into her forearm, turning with the punch to shove his back and shoulder into her chest, and then a right elbow for the shoulder. As none of her strikes featured enough force to compromise her movement, she could easily shift her body out of the collective range of his attacks.

Yet, she held no intent to do so. Her body represented her title as a shield well. When the left fist shot into her forearm, Rio quickly aimed to utilize his momentum against him by swinging her forearm downward, aiming to divert the punch off it's intended course. If the disruption of his attack sequence was successful, Rio would continue in with her intended punch. However...

Much to her surprise, her fist would be met with a remarkably sturdy frame. Moreover, Igen hadn't even flinched. He took it right to the chest. Rio hadn't executed it with much force. If anything, she wanted to match her opponent's level rather than engage in a battle that might well leave him injured. Even so... why did this feel so familiar? Reminded of Nanashi, who seemed to just take strikes head on and act as if they didn't shake her in the slightest, Rio could only smile as she gazed up at Igen, impressed by his durability.

"Impressive..."

It was a light remark but it was more than enough time for him throw one in if he desired. Even if he did, Rio would shift her body backward in preparation before crouching down to sweep at his his legs with a swift kick. Again, impressed as she was, she wasn't trying to injure him. But, then, if her leg connected and he still remained upright, maybe she'd have to turn it up just a little. This felt fun so far, truth be told. To simply let loose. No instruction. Just hand-to-hand combat in it's truest sense.

END POST | IN SEARCH OF PURPOSE

The impact to his body actually kinda surprised him too. Sure, he figured she'd be staying around his speed, but she was also being pretty modest with her strikes! His own combination didn't seem to do her much harm, but at the same time, the hit she threw his way. Even so, her form was impressive! It wasn't simply that she took his hits, but the fact that she didn't even flinch from taking them. Immediately her found himself perking up! HE himself especially knew that it was almost impossible to tank your own durability. And promptly a big grin spread across his face and he promptly winked at her. "Ditto." He chimed out, even if he wasn't particularly fast, he WAS fairly strong.

But well. His ability to SAY as much was interrupted. He darted in, faking a strike to her shoulder, ducking to get ready to slam his shoulder into her chest when that leg SWEPT in! Yyyea he still couldn't match her speed! Even with his solid stance, her own interjection caught him enough off guard that he staggered! Not quite swept, but more tripping over the impact to his legs and stumbling toward her! But if nothing else he was quick on the draw! Staggering past her he tumbled for the ground, catching himself onto a stump and pressing down, applying force to LIFT himself up before he could properly fall, using that force to twist his lower body and snap out a hook kick to Rio's shoulder before springing back up to his feet, still stumbling just a little, but ready to keep going!

"Pretty impressive yourself! Even holding back you're hard to keep up with."