The Sweet Trap of Work [Kyo, Makoto]

As Makoto struck him and sent her reiatsu into him, Kyo rather quickly understood what had occurred, and he finished the kaido before beginning to spin his zanpakuto in his hand once more to charge it. He was already on his last legs when it came to what he could bring to bear against an opponent like this, so he had no choice but to give this his all.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"

As he finished the incantation, however, he stepped closer toward Makoto, knowing fully that she could avoid something like this at range. Of course, she probably could up close, too, but that was fine.

"Hadō 31: Shakkaho!"

The spell fired forward, faltering only a bit on account of Kyo's focus toward his zanpakuto. Even then, he was ready to step away, ready to avoid any strikes before his weapon finished spinning.

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!"

She muttered the incantation in tandem with his own but the benefit of using a lower spell was its much briefer incantation that went with it and therefore would let her execute it a lot faster.

"Bakudō #9. Geki."

The spell enclosed around its target, restricting him in spinning his zanpakuto, stopping him dead in his tracks in his short advance and even restricting his ability to aim the spell properly at her. She didn't care to hold it for long though, the paralysis was only to keep him stuck there momentarily so that she could come at him from the side and bring a kick to launch him a few metres away from her.

The bakudo Makoto cast hadn't been what Kyo had been ready for, but in hindsight, that had been his mistake entirely. He'd been too caught up in staying mobile, harassing her when he could, that he hadn't planned for if she actually held him down. The fact that he hadn't been able to prepare his shikai's ability certainly put a damper on his plans, but he simply began spinning the weapon again as he skidded to a halt after being kicked away. Raising his free hand upward and readying his hand as if to flick his middle finger forward, Kyo quickly spoke a simple incantation. Longer ones wouldn't work against an opponent this much faster, after all.

"Push into the clouds, pour the blood from my veins! Hadō 5: Soudan!"

Flicking his middle finger forward, a small sky-blue bolt of spiritual energy shot out of his hand, moving quite quickly as it traveled in a coiling, almost drill-like pattern toward Makoto. It wasn't a particularly impressive spell, but if nothing else, it would require briefly more time to defend against than a Byakurai, for little more effort on his end.

Taking her zanpakuto, the spear held out before her while both of her hands began to spin and generate her reiatsu in front of herself as a barrier to block the oncoming spell. The cerulean bolt hitting the spear with a thwack and being tossed to the side to char the pavement.

Putting her spear behind her and generating her four appendages once more, the constructed replicas of her hands floating ominously in front of her momentarily like a cobra tensed before a strike.

"Shide: Amearare."

The hands dashed forward towards Kyo, digits outstretched in such a way to ensure that all five of them would connect first. It was not exactly a terrifying hakuda technique due to using quantity over quality, it's just that Makoto was able to multiply that quantity by four.

They'd advance and aim to make contact, each contact of her fingers feeling like a small stab had been delivered as a barrage. A flurry of light hits which would try to wear down his durability and pepper him like a swarm of bee stings to fell the giant.

While Kyo was certainly a competent combatant, he wasn't nearly enough so that he could evade such a wide array of attacks. At best, he could avoid some of the blows, but the sting of contact still coursed through him as he was struck. At the very least, however, he managed to finish the spin of his shikai, the faint gong sound once more ringing out as he returned to his proper stance. He knew he could likely attempt another stab at range, but he'd kept the more dangerous nature of his empowered strikes a secret for a reason.

Going on the offensive, still burning through the second wind Makoto had provided for this brief window, Kyo dashed forward and made a rapid flurry of stabs toward her. He imagined that if he were more practiced, even if just at Nao's level, he might have had a significantly better chance at striking her. As it stood, however, his above-average form would have to be enough. Even one strike, when in this doubly-powerful state, would have to count for something.

He was quite determined to advance, a respectable effort to attempt a last ditch effort against her but Makoto's red eyes glared him down as a reminder of the futility of such an attempt. She was the stern and unrelenting vice-captain of the sixth that enforced the law of Soul Society equally and fairly. Ally or enemy, her opponent was met with the same equal treatment.

They were something to crush.

While she managed to dodge most of them she had an idea of his ability now, it shot a ranged attack but if that was the case why did he come in closer to her. It wasn't necessary unless he was trying to reduce the distance and make it harder for her to avoid but avoiding them all wasn't something she was pressured to do in this match.

That train of thought of letting him have one bit her in the neck as his empowered spear struck her forearm and pierced it. Her foot quickly coming up and kicking him away to throw him a few metres in front of her.

The familiar feeling of pain running through her nerves and warm feeling of blood down her pale skin. She turned her eyes to look at the wounded arm since she expected his second wind to be nearing its end. Sure enough a chunk of flesh was missing and there was clearly a chip in her visible bone too, it was almost a perfect semi-circle in her forearm.

"Well done, Sawachika."

As the kick from the Vice Captain slammed into Kyo's midsection, he could feel the last of his energy wearing out, and where once he might have caught himself, he simply collapsed now, his breathing difficult and uneven. He was quite proud of himself for having successfully landed that single blow, but he couldn't quite go any further.

Vice Captain Arima's words were encouraging, but he refused to accept them here on his knees. Gritting his teeth, Kyo forced himself to stand, even as he had so little energy left in him that his zanpakuto had reverted to its base form. Despite the extreme effort it took, he offered a respectful bow, and spoke loudly despite how obviously ragged his voice was.

"Thank you, ma'am!"

It was simply a man's spirit to always be respectful and upright, no matter the difficulty. It wouldn't do to be anything else.

She liked his attitude, Makoto's fierce garnet eyes staying on the persistent and unrelenting giant to the point he went the extra mile even when he was spent like this. That kind of behaviour appealed to her and realistically she might've considered trying to poach him for her own division to fill the role of a seated officer but that wouldn't be appropriate and she didn't stoop to those kind of division politics.

Shimensoka disappeared, returning to its sealed wakizashi state behind her back. She relaxed her posture and cocked her hip a bit, the free hand yanking the sleeve off her shihakusho to give her a makeshift bandage and wrap around her maimed forearm.

"Now you mentioned helping out with our division duties earlier, yes? I'm sure Twentieth Seat Awayuki would appreciate someone to help her. Thank your for your hard work, Sawachika."

There was a ghost of a smile on her lips as she turned to quickly return to her duties. He could pay her back for that chunk of her forearm that he'd taken from her, she didn't earn her reputation among the vice-captains for nothing. The sixth was not made for the faint of heart but she had a suspicion that Saki wouldn't work him ragged after learning of their bout, maybe she was just being soft.