Long Time No See [Saiko/Henrex]

It was nice playing around like this. As Henrex ruffled her hair, Saiko giggled and took a moment to reflect on how different things were compared to this time two years ago. To be at ease like this by having a purpose, good people around her, and like she was investing back in the world; it was all priceless to her. So, even as the other hybrid mentioned there wasn't much of a reason to train or fight, Saiko shook her head and disagreed with that sentiment entirely.

"Nope. There will always be new threats in the future. We even have that crazy guy Ichigo running nuts on Earth. So we must train to make ourselves useful enough to save ourselves, our people, and the world if necessary. And we can't do that by getting lazy, can we?"

Speaking with resolve in her voice, Saiko felt as if this was the correct path forward. Understanding just how vicious Shadow Fall was, they pounced on their foes when they sensed weakness and took full advantage of it. She won't let that happen to herself or others here if she can help avoid that gruesome fate from another future threat.

"In fact, if you are feeling bold, perhaps we can spar right now even."

With a smirk on her face, Saiko folded her arms and waited for a response from Henrex to see how he would take things.

"Of course, if we did do it, it would have to be in our sealed forms as we are now. We can't risk messing up the seiretei, after all."

Given what had happened to his home in the year that he had been absent, Henrex was unfortunately all too familiar with the never-ending new threats that would plague the world. He had briefly heard of the incident in the Living World, with Ichigo making an appearance, seeming to have fallen and turned to an Arrancar. It was saddening, concerning, and unnerving all at the same time. Perhaps she was right. Even if there was a limit to how high he could go, he needed to stay on his guard.

"Mm. Even if there is a limit, I do need to stay on my guard and stay in shape. That much is true."

However, her proposal brought a sly smirk to his face.

"I wouldn't be opposed to that."

Perhaps he was feeling rather bold today. A hand fell to rest at the dual swords at his side, and he remembered the rain outside. He could still hear the gentle tapping of the droplets against the window and door, and it just so happened that weather like this fell right in line with remaining in their base forms. Part of him wanted to do more, but, to not risk damaging the Seireitei or potentially injuring other people by mistake, it was best to keeps things on a relatively reasonable scale. So, Henrex stood up, walking over to the window and gently pressing his hand against the glass.

"And it just so happens that this weather is rather perfect for that."

"Yup! Maintaining your strength is important, but when you slack off, weakness sneaks up on you like a spooky, scary demon, and one day you find yourself out of practice against an actual devil."

Still, as playful as ever, Saiko gleefully slipped into the role of her pretend devil and had a pair of fangs come from her teeth. After making a fake hissing sound, she promptly put them away and giggled again after looking at the rain outdoors. Given how gloomy things were, most people would find the day depressing. Yet, as far as their powers were concerned, this was the perfect backdrop for a sparring match.

"But let's take this outdoors~"

So, given that fact, The Mistress Of Glum walked outdoors and motioned for Henrex to follow her to a small opening nearby that was perfect for some close-range combat. When she found that spot, Saiko spread each of her feet out, held out her right hand, and called her blade to her hand in a flash of blue fire. Then, with a smirk on her face, she called out to Henrex:

"Come at me~!"

God, she was adorable.

He couldn't help but laugh as she committed to the bit, even going as far as to make a pair of fangs appear and make a fake hissing sound. Even with such gloomy weather, with two half-devils who, for the longest time, had powers and hearts that thrived in such a drab environment. But, now, it was a perfect backdrop, as well as just scenery that the Captain himself enjoyed. It was a strange source of relaxation and comfort, hearing the sound of rain, and even on cloudy days.

As his half-demon companion walked outdoors, motioning for him to follow, Henrex chuckled softly, removing his haori and setting it on the back of the chair, as well as setting a cloak on top of it. For a friendly spar, having equipment that he usually reserved for stealth was hardly necessary. Following the woman outside, he reached behind him, pulling his Zanpakuto from seemingly nowhere. As the weapon slid from the sheath, small bolts of azure blue danced along the blade.

As the rain hit the weapon, it sizzled and sparked, and the moment that she called out to him, he said only one thing:

"Gladly."

A quick, nimble step took him forward as his body seemed to dance with the rain, a simple swing from the right to slam the blades together. If the blades connected, as if on cue, the loud rumble and crash of thunder roared through the Seireitei, as if the world itself recognized the power that these two wielded, and the heavens responded.

"Good strength!"

The feeling of each of their blades clashing against one another made the ground around them groan under the heel of their strength. The pair of hybrids training, even while in their base forms, resonated a lot of power as their strikes would have been mistaken for another clap of thunder. The effect of their blows would have a small shockwave from the collision. As a result, Saiko felt a harsh vibration and brief ringing of the ears as she winced her eye in pain.

Following that impact moment, a burning feeling traveled up Saiko's arms. In that instance, the woman smirked and had her sword dissolve into blue flames to have an element of surprise. When you are on the battlefield, enemies will use whatever trick necessary to throw you off your game. And being ex-Shadow Fall, she had plenty of craft ways to dash around the battlefield.

Squatting down at break-neck speeds, Saiko cocked her arm back and pushed her strength into her elbow so that she could use the momentum, strength, and energy of her spiritual power as a catalyst to hit his gut in a powerful strike. She didn't want any facial shots in this sparring match, so she kept things below the neck for now.

Not wasting time, while squatting, Saiko had a surge of energy hit her legs so that she could use this hang time to trip the ankles of Henrex and use her speed to try and get on top of him to give him a resounding kick to the upper chest. Even if she missed, her control over her power would only allow for a small dent in the ground to be had as she was warming up.

He found himself smiling at the compliment, though he didn't respond. His heart flared with excitement, even with sparring. The desire to fight with another on his level had ached at his heart for so long, to let loose this power he had culminated over so many years, rather than let himself rot away.

When Saiko's sword vanished into a spiral of blue flames, Henrex quickly dug his sword into the ground as she suddenly lashed out with a strike to the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Were it any stronger, he probably would have heard and felt something break. Nevertheless, he kept his grip firm on his Zanpakuto and twisted his body, using his sword as a fulcrum as he narrowly avoided the trip. In the same movement, he pushed away from her and brought his sword with him. Landing on the ground a decent distance in front of her, he found himself smiling again.

"You as well."

His body flared with cerulean light as his body surged with lightning, augmented his body and allowing him to reach even greater levels of speed. In the blink of an eye, he shot forward like a bullet, a sharp swing from the left, before lurching forward in attempting to thrust his knee into Saiko's stomach. Should that be successful, his body would quickly adjust, pivoting to suddenly swing his sword in the opposite direction.

Like Saiko, he too was just warming up. It had been a long time since he had fought someone, even if this was only sparring. It felt good to get the rust off, to use the power that he had cultivated and culminated over so many years.

The speed at which these two hybrids moved may as well have taken place in blinks of the eye. Yet, in the perception of Saiko, it may as well have been in normal time. It's one thing to have speed; it's another to perceive high-speed combat and react in time. Therefore, when he got away from her kick, the body of the mistress of glum was already on high alert.

Sensing he would come in for a strike, Saiko quickly reforged her zanpukto to use it as a shield to block off the hit. However, given the speeds at which he moved, Saiko's entire body felt the shockwave of it. Once again, a resonating thunderous clap roared around the area these two were in. It resulted in Saiko hitting the ground with a loud thud as debris scattered about for a few feet around them. Still, it was better than taking the hit on, even if her ears were ringing and her body had become lit with pain.

Wincing her eye in pain, Saiko did not want to be prey at the moment. Hence, she pointed her blade at Henrex and shot a cluster of energized strikes at him that totaled around nine plum streaks of energy. These weren't meant to damage him severely, but it would be akin to taking a punch head-on from a powered-up demon lord if they were to hit. Likewise, when they explode, these attacks weren't meant to leave any burns or scar marks; but he would feel the spiritual energy of Saiko explode around him and feel as if he got hit with a Mack truck.

Regardless of whether that worked, Saiko got her guard up and had an aura of plum energy ignite around her as she watched him like a hawk (heh) and awaited further developments in the battle.

"Fun, fun~"

Those pangs of excitement surged through his body as he slipped nimbly across the ground and toward her as she soared away. As he drew his weapon back to make another attack, he saw her arm raise and shifted his stance. A barrage of energy blasts suddenly let loose from the woman's Zanpakuto, and while they didn't burn him or do any kind of damage to his skin, he felt his ribs and sections of his sternum crack from the striking force.

He winced, his movement halted from the brief stun. He was fast, and it was incredibly difficult to kill him, but, his body was fragile. Bones broke and muscles tore far easier, but he could heal them quickly. With the lightning surging through him, his body immediately went into overdrive to repair himself. The bones knitted themselves back together within seconds, as if nothing happened.

He didn't advance immediately, rather, he took a moment, to tap into another of his abilities. He didn't make any movements, gestures, or faces, he merely willed it to happen, making it seem as if he had nothing to do with it. As the rain fell upon Saiko's clothes, she'd notice that they were becoming increasingly heavier. A power attributed to the short sword of the two swords that formed Henrex's Zanpakuto, perfect for naturally rainy days, where he didn't have to give away the secret so obviously.

Soon after activating the ability, Henrex charged forward. He brought the weapon to his shoulder and thrust toward Saiko's sword arm as soon as he got within range. Like her, he was aiming toward anything below the neck, making sure to avoid hits to the face, even if he could take it. After all, it was only natural to respect the wishes of his sparring partner, even if unspoken.

"Excellent strength, and wonderful adaptability. Even if it was for Shadow Fall, you're still well-trained."

Everything around Saiko felt heavier like some ability had been activated. She sucked her teeth as she couldn't tell what he was using just yet, but she decided to roll with it and accept whatever had happened. In this way, the demonic senses of the hybrid kicked into overdrive and sent a large volume of energy to her arms. Then, augmented with spiritual and demon energy, the woman could use that jolt of power to match his strike as Henrex came charging at her.

When the two would strike, a shockwave of energy would spread around them as the earth groaned for the next block over. While Saiko was holding back to avoid spilling to much power or hitting above the neck, the strength of the two would be felt as the rain around them evaporated for a few seconds as a result of these two dense powers clashing against each other. In this way, the two of them would feel as if their body were punched from the impact of this explosion and more of the earth around them turned into a small carter as she cackled and coughed simultaneously from getting dirt in her mouth.

"Shadow Fall is shit, but those devils know how to train you to be a menace."

Feeling the moment, a confident grin came on the woman's face as she started to press forward to try and overpower Henrex before fainting, flash-stepping, and appearing ten feet above Henrex. The woman released the energy in her arms without a sound as two streaks of aqua, and plum energy came at him. They were akin to ceros, but she held the power to keep them contained in the small area they were fighting in. Their impact was intended to consume Henrex in a ray of blinding white light and get more damage going as she tried to catch her breath from their last exchange.

For now, she just sat in the air and let the rain wash over her as she wanted to see how effective that attack was.

Clash and separate. That was the prime theme of their little sparring session. As the explosion from the surge of power between them pushed the two back, Henrex acted quickly, digging his hand and sword into the ground to slow himself down. He didn't waste time getting to his feet, flicking the dirt and grime from his sword as a warm, yet competitive smile spread across his face. It was no surprise that what was the most oppressive organization of demons in the world would have effective ways to turn every aspect of your body into a weapon.

As the woman's body vanished, he returned to his stance, turning to look up sensing her energy signature moving. The twin-colored rays of energy rained down on him, and Henrex pressed a foot harshly against the ground. His body flared with lightning, and he kicked off the ground, firing off like a bolt of lightning toward Saiko. His body was engulfed in the twin-colored light, and he could feel the bones in his body creak from the strain.

Cuts and gashes split open on his face and body, but he kept his momentum, driving through the attack, coming out the other side. Without wasting a beat, Henrex swung his sword, stopping it just short of her neck.

"Wonderful. We might be holding back, but, I for one would love to see just how far we could go if we were unrestrained. But, I think now is a good place to start winding down. You're still strong, of that I have no doubt. I'd love to spar with you regularly."