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A soft shunpo occured as Krin Kenpai the captain of division seven neared the entrance of the tower where the combatants were gathering. He regretted that Shan and Demon had talked him into to it and was even more disappointed that when they got Kojima into it he practically drafted Krin. It was true he had been in the gotei the longest out of the remaining captains however that didn't mean he wanted to put his skills on the line, as far as he was concerned he was no more of a veteran than an unseated shinigami. As he approached the staircase to enter the tower he noticed traces of shattered glass which in all honesty made not so much afraid as it made him incredibly annoyed. While he was hoping to get some sleep before his match it turned out to be that he would have to deal with riled up barbarians that couldn't keep their zanpaktou sheathed. Making his way up the stairs the noises continued to grow to levels Krin did not think were humanly possible and as he opened the door to the observation room, the last barrier keeping the sound from reaching it's full levels, the noise hit him like a brick wall. With a loud yawn Krin scratched his head and bit down on his lip in order to deal with the unnecessary screaming and brutality being shown by the competitors. Being able to scout at least a couple of people he knew. Almost instantly after noticing Shan he went up in a rather sloppy looking walking posture almost as if he was in fact another one of the drunkards which after smelling the strong stench of alcohol wasn't a hard story to believe. Leaning against Shan so he could stand and take a minor snooze at the same time he mumbled in his comrades ear due to the loud noise in the room.

"Oi oi, if they keep it up like this I feel sorry for the opponent who faces me when I am cranky." Krin mumbled expecting Shan to get both the joke and horrifying truth of that statement. Krin didn't mess around when it came to sleep. When he has a good nights sleep he performs better, when somebody prevents this sleep and he is cranky, he performs on a level even higher then that out of sheer annoyance.

Hyjueken walked over to a group of captains he recently saw in the society. He thought in his mind that it would be better to at least introduce himself then to be sitting lonely against the wall. He walked up the group, both were really strong, as hyjueken scanned them with his eyes. He stepped up to both one with brown curly hair and the other who..well just looked strong. "Excuse me captains" hyjueken bowed. "My name is Hyjuekem Yambow, Ken for short." "I just recently joined squad 2, and was asked to help out in this matter." " it's nice to see some people here I know, well at least partially know." Hyjueken stood there hoping for a response.

ENEMY,
you may think,_____
but never VILLAIN…__________

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Was that...?" Fefnir had begun to ask before stopping himself with the ever-so-subtle "Ah, nevermind," and a shake of the head. The question was something along the lines of 'was that really necessary', but with Yuki, he knew he shouldn't bother asking. She'd more than earned the right to kill whoever she wanted, and he had robbed her of, or stole, if you will, the kill she could have delivered much more viciously, not that it mattered much with a Vita-Chamber so nearby to revive the combatants. He wondered for a moment whether or not it would do the same for those who were killed during the tournament, but quickly pushed the thought away as well. This was a TOURNAMENT, after all. If someone died, it was their own fault for doing poorly. Besides, knowing that you would be revived could cause him to be more careless with his actions since they would have no 'ultimate price' in the end, and mortality was never more of an issue than when his teacher was around.

He'd been to the brink of death so many times in simple training with her, much less the serious fights they'd exchanged through the years, that it was no stretch of the imagination to say he knew her fighting style like no other person in the spiritual world did. At least... none that had survived fights with her, which was a sparse number indeed. Fefnir was no slouch either, but compared to her absolutely bloodthirsty utilitarian fighting style, he was a ballet dancer slapping at a tank.

He shuddered involuntarily. Fefnir couldn't even imagine Yuki losing. Neither could he imagine himself falling to any opponent he faced, having been trained by her. Now that Arthion had been returned, it would be just like old times between them in that finals match, and even if he was defeated then, just being in combat with her again would make it all worthwhile.

In the meantime, however, he'd be paying close attention to her matches. She was the biggest threat, from an objective stance, so he would need to be familiar with any tricks she'd picked up over the years they'd been apart.

Without Arthion, Fefnir felt alone, colder, and worst of all, weaker. Another shudder almost overtook him, but he suppressed it. "Yuki..." he began, swallowing the frog in his throat, "Do you want to take Kaji as well? Your match is long before mine, so I can get him back when I need him, and he might be useful to you. I know you don't need him or anything like that, but..." The red man paused for a moment, then finished the statement, "But the offer is there, because you let me keep Arthion for you,"

But I want you to know what it was like for me to always have you there... he corrected himself in his head.

A British baritone voice interjected there with a sigh and the words "That thing, boy," and a slight bit of heat on his neck.

At first, he was confused, but in a flash of memory, he gave a pronounced "Oh!", a bit louder than he'd intended. Swiftly, the First Captain reached a hand wrapped in gold metal and red fabric up to his neck and pulled a small chain of silver from it, a pair of women's rings dangling from the sparkling metal. He removed one of them, a thin gold band inset with a round ruby, and offered it to her. "I held onto this for you. When you retired, they wanted to get rid of everything from your personal quarters, but I wouldn't let them until I had taken anything that may have been important to you, in case you ever came back. This was one of those things," He smiled brightly at first, but his face rapidly fell. "It was from Nagiko, wasn't it? You can still feel the cold coming from the metal. I... I knew you'd want it,"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

FOOL,
_____you may think,
__________but never SINNER...

Shan looked at Hyjueken for a second, and was about to reply when the alarm for the rounds to begin rang off. He sighed, and slowly moved himself away from Krin, placing his hands on Krin's side so that he can angle the sleepy captain against the wall. "Krin, rounds are starting." He says slowly, making sure the man is in a stable position before letting go.

He turns to the new member speaking to him and raises an eyebrow. "Yes, good to see a friendly person in this crowd, but I can't say that I know you well enough to have more than a friendly hello." Shan picked himself up, and headed towards the door when he heard another rather friendly voice.

Listening to his first captain speak, he turned and bowed out of respect. "I didn't catch my opponent's name, Sotaichou, only the place of my match." He lifted himself out of the stance, and flipped his hood back over his delicate features.

"But I will do you honor and glory in the name of the Gotei 13, my captain, I assure you."

In the few moments Fefnir took reminiscing about past disembowelments Yuki unsheathed her blade, carefully looking it over for scratches, dings, or any sign of misuse. She had to smile when she saw the blade as she left it, if not better, running her finger lightly over the blade and feeling how well kept it was, sharp enough to cut with even the slightest pressure. 'He cares for you a great deal.'Yuki looked up from her reunion with her blade at Fefnir's offer, ignoring the dragon stating the obvious. For a moment she wondered why he would offer it to her, surly he didn't believe that in her retirement she had grown soft? That she needed such a crutch?! For five years she had roamed the human world, with hollows an arrancar hounding her every step. Did he think that it was an easy trip to earth with such a high spiritual pressure?! How dare he- 'want to be there on the battlefield with you?'

The rage that had been building slowly on her face suddenly vanished in a cloud of pure understanding. She had been angrily glaring at her own blade for the past few seconds and hadn't noticed until Arthion brought that thought to her. She looked up at Fefnir slowly, her eyes seeming to know his thoughts, she reached over and took her student's blade from his waist, sliding it into her belt, and placing her own blade just above his for easier reach.

"You never know what you'll need on the battlefield... Thank you"

She said, feeling a twitch in the back of her mind as the phoenix, she had known only briefly, sidled into her inner world next to the dragon. Arthion made some comment about how Kaji shouldn't get too comfortable, and she already knew the two must have fought constantly and she took pity on Fefnir, who must have endured this daily squabbling for the past few years. As the two spirits fought in the back of her mind she wondered if she had indeed gone soft in her old age, taking a useless thing into battle for the sake of her student. Hopefully it wouldn't just distract her with it's rude twittering, and it would prove of some use in combat.

Yuki stood up, now that the battles had been announced, her turn was almost up. She took note of another man leaving the room at the same time as her, that must be her opponent. She quickly checked the boards on his stats... An earth user... A smirk crossed her features. It had been quite some time since she fought someone like that... But then again, the last time she did, it was the most powerful one of his kind... This should be easy compared to that fight.

Just as she was turning to leave, she heard Fefnir's voice call out to her once more.

"I held onto this for you. When you retired, they wanted to get rid of everything from your personal quarters, but I wouldn't let them until I had taken anything that may have been important to you, in case you ever came back. This was one of those things, It was from Nagiko, wasn't it? You can still feel the cold coming from the metal. I... I knew you'd want it,"

She turned to face Fefnir, her breath catching in her throat as she heard the mention of her long lost love. Yuki couldn't even speak at the sight of the ring, it was Nagi's promise. She had forgotten about it after so long looking for him, she bit her tongue as she thought about how he hadn't kept his promise to stop a tear from flowing. Without a word she snatched the ring out of Fefinr's hand. She couldn't express with words how grateful she was, especially now... She couldn't even speak, her throat was tight with memories of her lost lover as she slipped on the ring. All she could do to express her gratitude was to nod, tight lipped, at her old student before walking out to meet her opponent on the field of battle.

(EXIT to battle ground)

Crawling in your skin...

The sound of blood and screams filled the air around Iku. It was nothing new for him, such things were commonplace. The thing that interested him was that the latest stabbing seemed to have been performed by a cloaked man, who had seemingly materialized from a rather.. small, woman. Now that was interesting.. He had never killed a spirit before. Eh, it probably would be a boring fight anyways. No one could stand against the writhing horror of his sword for long, especially not if he fully released it, and let the rage consume his mind. An intriguing thought, but still.
"I was wondering when someone would stab that f*****t." He grunted, taking a long swig from his stolen bottle of sake. "First time I've seen a b***h wearing heart-studded pants last more than three seconds in a bar." He cocked his head to the side, surveying the carnage, and the man who caused it. "That's a pretty wicked looking blade there, you enjoy pulling out organs with that little hook?" For some reason, Iku didn't feel so hostile towards the shadow-man, perhaps it was because he recognized a familiar killing urge. Or perhaps it was because blood calmed him.

...these wounds just will not heal