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As soon as he finished speaking, Okojo spoke up and added on his rank. Gah! How could I forget to say my rank! Mortified for a moment, he bit his lip, glad that Okojo caught it for him, but feeling like an idiot for that slip-up. Oh well, no use fussing over something that already was done.

At the mention of the tournament, Hibiki listened first, not offering much in way of an answer. He had been given a by for the first round, due to his 3rd seat before it started, and his second round match had been uneventful considering his opponent had failed to show. He was just happy to keep his old rank. Change caused too many unsettling things. He liked his current habits for now.

As Hinata talked about her zanpaktou being impatient, Hibiki gave a quiet laugh, and said, Well, my Nephele electrocutes me when I don't listen to her, so I think I know what you mean, Hinata-fukutai." Electorcute, shout at, paralyze... His head strayed to the dual personality of Neph, and all his unnerving times in his inner world. Oh he knew what Hinata meant only too well.

Hibiki turned as Alder walked in, but said nothing since he didn't speak to him, only the vice captain. Though he offered felicitations to her, the squad mate seemed in a sour mood. Hibiki wasn't sure of the tournament results for everyone, since he had seen his own and the senior officers and had moved on, not reading the rest, but he could guess that may be the reason for his quick downing for alcohol.

Alder didn't drink anymore, he just sat there with his face in his hands. He wasn't paying attention to anyone at the moment. He was too pissed off at himself. A voice boomed again in his head, this time, it wasn't after his life, for it would seek much more pleasure in ridiculing him.

"A lowly Eighth Seat...why do I have to be YOUR Zanpakuto...why couldn't I get someone worthy of my power, like the Vice Captain girl....? I guess this just shows how useless you are. I should've killed you when I had the chance."

Of course, having a Zanpakuto who he didn't even know, who was ridiculing him didn't help. 'Yeah, and I wish you'd shut the hell up about it...' Alder thought angrily to himself, knowing that his Zanpakuto could hear.

"You say this now...you'll be happy when all my motivation pays off, and you kick that girl's a** later.....even kill her-"

"NO!" Alder screamed at the top of his lungs, causing Kenta to drop a few glasses, along with a stream of curses. Alder threw his Zanpakuto on the table, and pointed two fingers at it. "Bakudo number four, Hainawa!" He yelled, as a tangling rope ensnared his Zanpakuto to the table, preventing it from tainting his thoughts anymore. "God, I hate him..." Alder said aloud, as he sat back down, and stared blankly at the table.

Mashiro gave a slight smile to hear about injuries during trainning. He also thought it was ammusing that a shinigami was being pushed around by his zanpakutou. " Don't worry about it. If you ignore your zanapkutou long enough it will shut up..... then again you might not be able to use Shikai again, and Bankai is way out of the question."

Not seeming to hear Hinata, Mashiro continued his conversation. " Just so you know sarcasim is not to be taken seriously. Do not try to shut out your zanpakutou, because if he or she is trying to talk to you its for a good reason. Never would I shut myself from Jou-shirû. And if you don't believe me let me ask everyone this. If I, 4th-Seat Morimoto, had shut myself from my zanpakutou and still used the Shikai. I would not have been able to take a draw in our sparr." with that Mashiro took a sip of his sake which was brought to him by one of the waitresses.

(( Edited: I would like to request that all members of Squad 13, Minus the Captain, Vice-Captain, 3rd, and 4th seats, Adress me as 4th-Seat Morimoto. I know it sounds a little corny, but I am very formal as you can see in my posts. Also, don't get offended, please this is not my intent. I just simply would like to be called 4th-Seat Morimoto from here on end, until my rank either changes or we become friends. Thank You ^_^))

Placing his right finger on his chin, Mashiro began to think. " Hmm.... Perhaps we should consult with the Captain about this. After all he would be the one who knows more about a Zanpakutou behaivor more than any of us at this table." Thinking deeply, starting to ignore the others responding to his comment, Jou-shirû spoke to him. ' The power of a Zanpakutou resides within a Shiniagami's Soul. In that sense the Zanpakutou acts like a lightning rod to a Shinigami's hidden thoughts..... I would beware of getting to close to a wild person such as Alder...' Just as typical, Mashiro listened to the advice of his Zanpakutou and acted upon it. " Alder come with me.... concider this your first order." with that Mashiro rose from the table, payed his tab, and walked out of the bar knowing full well that Alder would follow. After all he was now his supirrior. And it was time to talk to his Sensei again.

[Exits to Captain's Office]

(( Muffin meet up with me at the Captain's Office ^^ Hopefully we can get you the character plot you have been looking for.))

Hibiki nodded to Mashiro as he came in, not that he himself was getting acknowledged. Sipping his sake passively, he watched semi-amused as Alder full on bound his zanpaktou with a bakudo. His expression however only showed a mere raise of an eyebrow at the spectacle. Interesting to behold a fight you couldn't listen in on and interpret for yourself sometimes. Taking another sip, he regarded the other female shinigami giving congratulations to Hinata-san. He hadn't met her yet either if he could recall.

Mashiro's comment about needing to stay on speaking terms with one's zanpaktou interested the red headed shinigami. He and Nephele rarely spoke unless in a battle, and that usually consisted of a tag-team style process, his moving about, following her shouted pointers like law. What could he say? She was excellent at keeping him from getting skewered. She always said it was he had fast reflexes, but doubted that was it.

As the two continued to discuss Alder's zanpaktou and shikai, Hibiki moved his attention back to the new Vice Captain, and asked, "So Hinata-fukutai, what element or type is your zanpaktou? I don't believe I've had the opportunity to see it in action," He asked, actually starting some idle conversation, and avoiding stammering.

Sighing, Hinata watched Alder and Mashiro exit the room. She knew Alder was suffering from it- and admired his strong character. Deep in thought, she did not notice that two people were talking to her- she snapped back to reality, giving them her attention.

"Well, if you hone your powers well enough, you'll be ready to communicate with your zanpaktou, and earn Shikai in no time," Hinata said as a matter-of-factly. "Don't get me wrong- it's by no means an easy task, but the challenge is good for your training. It helps if your zanpaktou is co-operative, though..." Her sentence trailed off at the end. "- Hey, sometimes I wish I never learnt to communicate with Harikaze in the first place!" she joked.

"You're gonna die for that," Harikaze threatened in her mind. Hinata winced- though she was used to being beaten up by her zanpaktou, it was by no means a pleasant experience.

"Trust me, you really don't want to see Harikaze in action," the shinigami shook her head exasperatedly in reply to Hikibi’s question. "Sometimes I can't even control its power- well, it's rare, but I have had cases where she's exploded and acted of her own accord," she continued.

"Anyway- 'Harikaze' means 'Crystal Wind'. Its Shikai form is a long... rapier kind of thing. As the name suggests, it's an Air type, though I'm not quite sure what the 'wind' part refers to, since it manipulates air particles. Its shikai has the ability to make air into solid structures- hence the 'Crystal', as it looks like shards of crystal. Well, I can control these crystals- they move by using wind to push them along, though I don't control the wind itself. Erm, I can also join separate shards to create a bigger structure. Technically, there's no limit to how many I can create, though it does cost spiritual energy to form and maintain them,” Hinata babbled on for a long time, before returning the question. “How about yours?”