Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aiko was sat cross legged on a rock, her eyes closed and her palms on her knees. Her hair was blowing gracefully in the gentle breeze. The grass swayed softly in waves as the gentle wind past it by. It was warm, but not uncomfortably warm. A comfortable temperature to pe putting someone to the test.
She waited patiently for Taoyaka to arrive. Though she had begun to wonder if the girl would show up at all. After the look of fear on her face, she couldn't help but wonder if Taoyaka would even want to join the squad. No matter, she would wait all the same.
Her zanpaku-to was already attatched, though there would be no pity blows here. She was planning to release as soon as Taoyaka arrived, and to push her past her limits. From what she saw before, there was a lot of work to do.

Aiko didn't move and her eyes remained closed. "So you did decide to grace me with your presence?" she asked sharply. She was obviously still in one of her odd moods, she was not usually so irritable.
With a quick motion, she pushed up off the rock with her hands a small way and then again with her feet to flimp over Taoyaka. She landed soundlessly on the grass and rested a hand the the hilt of her sheathed zanpaku-to. "I hope you aren't going to turn away and run away this time. I won't have squad eleven embarrassed by cowards that are affraid of death." she snapped. Her deep red eyes were baring down on Taoyaka with an unreadable look.
Aiko spun on her heels and walked away. About twenty five feet away from Taoyaka, she stopped and turned to face the girl. Her hand gripped at the hilt of her zanpaku-to, which she hadn't let go of as she walked. Slowly, she removed the blade from its sheath and held it horrizontally across her. Her left hand, wide open, came to meet the back of the blade as her reiatsu began to rise. "Tear out their soul....Cry. Ake Nakami." she simply spoke the words without raising her voice. Quickly, the same ring of fire formed at her feet and rose to alter her appearance, the lightning crackling around her just like before.
"Show me you aren't a coward, girl."

Aiko suddenly surged forwards, a cloud of dust being kicked up behind her as she sprinted towards Taoyaka. Her right hand pulled a kunai away from the attatchment to her thigh. She held it so the the blade was the opposite side of her hand than a zanpaku-to would normaly be held, pointing behind her if she held her arms at her sides.
She brought her arm around, the razor edge of the kunai targeted for Taoyaka's throat. She rather hoped the girl would block the attack, it wouldn't be much fun if she died so early afterall. Aiko's expression was blank, knowing full well that her attack was fast, but actually rather weak. She put very little physical muscle behind it, instead using her momentum to create the entire force. "Think fast, girl! I'm going to kill you, what do you do?!" she asked calmly, even during her rapid approach to the girl.

Aiko similarly rotated her body, just in the opposite direction to Taoyaka. She dropped low as she spun and kicked her leg out in an attempt to sweep the girls legs out from under her. The kunai stayed firmly in her hand but she made no move to use it whilst she attempted to sweep Taoyaka's stance away. Whether she sucessfully hit the girl with her sweep or not, she continued the momentum, though brought her body up. Her right arm moved out slightly to allow the kunai to be on course for another slash at Taoyaka's throat.

Aiko's kunai connected hard with Taoyaka's blade. She was still holding back considerably and there still wasn't much force behind the swing. She was aiming to create false hope, making the girl think she had what it took to bring Aiko down if she used her full effort. The effect was also backed up the the fact that Aiko was making it appear as though she was putting a lot of effort into the fight.
The moment her kunai collided with Taoyaka's blade, she planted her feet and pushed herself backwards. She got herself back a few meters and kept a wide, ready stance, adding to her illusion of true effort.

"Silly girl, fooling you would have been fun...but you really want to face me at my prime? I doubt it." she smirked slightly, her deep red eyes seeming out of place until a shadow passes over her face from her hair. The shadow cast really began to bring out her eyes, and something that looked sinister and cruel. n top of that, as she expected, her hair hadn't stayed and had taken on a rather solid black colour, something that helped portray the true extend of the third part of her split personality.
It was time she started to show the true extent of her shikai, even to someone who clearly didn't need her full effort yet. Without so much as a slight fluctuation in reiatsu, her kunai began to morph into a larger sword. The sword is about the length of her from head to knee, from tip to the end of the hilt. Jagged metal edged lead from the guard into the blade, the metal changing from a dark grey to a poliched silver. The guard is simple, though the edges lead into what appear to be dragon wings.
The change was difficult to see through, but it was an illusion. However, the illusion was solid. It weighed, felt and performed as it could be seen.
"Can you really fight what can constantly change?" Aiko was taunting Taoyaka now, goading her into making a mistake.

"Well, I hope you don't mind if I step up then." the words sounded briefly friendly. Although that was canceled out by the sinister look on her face. Seconds after speaking, she used shunpo, moving herself a few feet infront of Taoyaka. Her sword was already raised and hurtling down in a powerful overhead swing directed at Taoyaka's right shoulder. Her left arm was free and moving up behind her to allow the most free movement and to keep up momentum. She was actually hoping the girl would block her as, currently, she had but one goal. Taoyaka probably wouldn't realise until it was too late, but that's when the true fear would run deep.

It doesn't take long for Aiko to realise her strike would miss and, seeing Taoyaka spining off to the side meant she had an opening. Instead of letting her blade hit the floor, she twists it slightly to the side and lets her body fall. Keeping her blade to the side, she uses her momentum to fall into a roll, getting herself clear of Taoyaka's attack. As soon as she finished her roll, she was back on her feet and turning quickly to face Taoyaka.
"Come on girl! Take it head on, like an eleventh division would!" she was growing impatient.
Aiko pushed herself into a rapid spin, almost causing herself to blur. She held her altered zanpaku-to at an angle and began to direct her reiatsu. Not long after starting, her zanpaku-to was glowing black and red with her reiatsu. Without warning, two wide waves of reiatsu, one two feet and the other three feet off the ground, launched themselves from the spinning form of Aiko. The waves of reiatsu hurtled towards Taoyaka with enough speed and energy to create two dust trails on the ground below the two tips of the waves. Two rapid fire 'blood cutter' waves that were made solely for distracting Taoyaka. As powerful as they were, they were predictable, and easily avoidable.