Blade and Sword

**Date Started:** 16 December, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Previous Role-Play**:
**Next Role-Play**: N/A
**Users Involved:** User:Starving Skeleton, User:Ash9876
**Setting:** Seireitei, Uro
**Characters Involved**: Hakyō, Akaoni Ouga

## Drink Down The Blood

Within the Seireitei was a bar known as Uro. It was noted among Shinigami to be a place to communicate their struggles and future endeavors while drinking away the exhaustion of daily activities. A bar run by Shinigami, for Shinigami. It did not accept patronage from anyone other than Shinigami, and was seemingly frequented even by most Captains.

Two Shinigami were seated on one of the tables, their Zanpakutō placed aside, while they drank another cup of sake. Oddly, they both had masks. While one had taken their mask off to drink the alcohol, the other had the alcohol with the mask *on*. This was Hakyō, the 3rd Seat of the Seventh Division and a mysterious, but well-respected Shinigami of the Gotei 13.

"Say, Ouga. What do you think is stronger? The blade that fells a Shinigami, or a sword that cuts down a Hollow?" Hakyō asked. Although his face couldn't be seen through his mask, his higher inflection let through the sincerity his face could not show.

If there was ever a freakshow...this would be its cover. An ebony giant drinking his sake from a pulled back mouth due to his monstrous mask. And a straw hat wearing swordsman who poured his drink through the straw.Of course they caught eyes. But those privy to the Gotei 13 knew that these men were no mere shinigami. Each one garnered their own fame due to a unique approach to Zanjutsu. Akaoni Ouga and Hakyō. A dangerou situation considering they were only one Kiokushi Hotsuka away from an all out brawl.

Akaoni took a second to think. He enjoyed the man's questions as they reminded him very much of his sensei's from the temple. They beleived that swordsmanship was developed not to kill one another...but to better oneself. And to understand such a being required a level a self-reflection rivialling the moon above water.

"A blade that kills a hollow." Akaoni finally answered. "Shinigami are complex souls. Every battle is just an ideological war between different parties. So how is victory determined through our blades?" He asked with the same sincere tone. "An ideological war solved by swinging metal makes just as much sense as playing music for a painter's expert opinion."

"But a hollow?" Akaoni continued. This time, his voice crackling with a certain excitement. A desire for that ugly thing which boiled within one's gut. "Creatures driven by instinct. You're not fighting to prove a point...you're fighting for survival."

"Hmmm." Hakyō pondered for a moment, taking another sip. "Well, see, I must disagree there." Hakyō spoke eloquently. "A difference in ideologies must be completed with the blade. After all, *ideals* do not possess any strength. How do you determine which ideal is correct if both weigh against each other equally?"

Hakyō paused for a moment, allowing Akaoni to think. "Strength. Strength determines which ideal must be pushed forward." Hakyō's voice was firm, unwavering in his logic. "Is *surviving* a measure of strength? Or is leaving a mark of their ideals on the world a measure of strength?"

His voice lightened. "What do you think?"

"Hm. But then what about surviving against someone trying to impose their ideals?" Akaoni asked with a slight grin. "After all, not everyone whose strong desires to bring change to the world. Some wish to simply protect what they already have."

"It doesn't mean their ideals are weaker or stronger. It just means the person was able to withstand it." Akaoni leaned forward and stirred his drink in his cup.

"More imporantly what is your definition of strength? A strong leader does not have to know how to swing the sword. Just convince others to do so. I've yet to see the Soul King on the front lines yet we pledge our lives to him."

"Withstanding someone's ideals while being able to protect your own...My, you talk a big game, Ouga." Hakyō couldn't help but chuckle. "Perhaps you don't realize it because you're saying it as words, so let me reconstruct the meaning of your statement." Hakyō was genuinely intrigued by Akaoni Ouga's ideals and reasons to pursue power. It was fascinating to someone like him, whose pursuit of power was purely self-driven.

"What you're saying is, you'd be willing to fight any enemy who would stake their entire life onto defeating, no, *killing* you, defeat that very enemy, while still allowing them to live...and then be content with co-existing with that enemy for the rest of your life." Hakyō began to laugh, "Hahahaha! I see your wish to be the strongest isn't just a pipe dream, Ouga! Only the strongest person could ever consider doing something as brazen as that with no hesitation!"

When Hakyō heard the words about the Soul King, his tone seemed to darken. Now *that* was probably a topic that shouldn't have been spoken in public. "As for the Soul King..." Hakyō paused, realizing that the others in the bar were looking at them with confusion, if not malice. "How about we take that conversation elsewhere?"