Keep on Moving

**Date Started:** 25 November, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Next Role-Play**: N/A
**Users Involved:** User:EmperorSigma,
**Setting:** Seireitei,
**Characters Involved**:
* **Present:** Kamui Shihōin, Kazuo Shihōin, Haruto Yamakage,
* **Mentioned:** Kurome Kuchiki, Central 46

## NEXT

There, in an open field, stood Kamui Shihōin surrounded by over twenty of his comrades within the Onmitsukidō force. He was visibly much younger than he had been introduced, about ten years to be exact. Before any words came out from anyone present, the force members each attacked Kamui from every angle possible, using his blind spots as places to land more fatal blows. But Kamui was no rookie.

Blocks, dodges, and counter attacks were sent back in reaction to their many attacks. His skills in hand-to-hand combat were exceptional and had become the topic of discussion right after his complete mastery of Shunpo. His particular fighting style and career-like mindset are all what earned him a high rank within the Stealth Force and had even garnered the attention of Central 46 who had been already seeking to recruit him into the Gotei 13. Aware of the praise of his peers, Kamui still had no interest in getting big headed. He wasn't necessarily humble he just didn't care.

"Hiya!" One of the Stealth Force members shouted, clearly much stronger than the rest. For a total of thirty seconds the two exchanged blows. Their strikes blurred with each move made until they finally clashed with opposing strikes. Kamui's forearm blocked his fist sending a shockwave throughout the training field which generated a gust of wind that sent the idle assassins skidding backwards with gathered dirt under their feet.

The member git his teeth but his efforts would be cut short due to Kamui's sudden burst of strength that would send him flying backwards. The ebony assassin looked to the man, but he said not a word. He returned to a passive pose and did away with his fighting stance. his golden gaze gave light to the man as he refused to take his eyes off of him.

"You're stronger, Kamui." He said.

Kamui turned his head up at the sky. "That is what naturally happens when you train. You condition your body to fit your style of combat and employ it on the battlefield. Remember that as your body will only continue to grow as much as your mind will allow it to. You are not always working on physical condition. You are working on your mental conditionally as well." Turning his back to the Stealth Force members they all nodded their heads and applaud. Though before he could take a single step forward, a branch member of the Stealth Force appeared before him on a single knee.

"Shihouin Kamui," The man said in a bowing manner. "I've been ordered by Lord Kazuo Shihōin to bring you back to the palace for a meeting."

The ebony man stood in silence for a moment. His body became stationary and didn't even move to show signs of breathing. He and Kazuo didn't have the greatest relationship as far as strength went, but he knew if he calmed for him it must've have been important. With a simply nod of his head he and the Stealth Force unit worker disappeared with the palace he spoke of in mind.

Kamui appeared before Kazuo in a sudden formation of a wind gust and falling leaves and so did the one who retrieved him but in a less flashy way. He kneeled before the man who was Kazuo, sitting on a throne with the crest of the Shihōin Clan sitting behind it. Kamui's eyes immediately locked onto Kazuo who was virtually a spitting image of himself.

"I see you refuse to bow before me." Kazuo said with a cracked voice. It was much deeper than Kamui's which made it hold all the more presence behind it.

Without changing his expression in the slightest Kamui's lips split apart. "Indeed. You are my father, not some sort of king. I bow to no man who would not respect me." Kamui said.

Kazuo's brow lifted, "Oh, I see. Then the Stealth Force is doing what it should be in training you. I've been keeping up with your progress, you've been doing well to keep the Shihōin Clan looking good. I appreciate that."

"You'd do good to remember that, Kazuo." Said Kamui, referring to to his father by his first name. "I do nothing for you and strictly for the protection of my people. Cut the shit though. I am not here to have a casual conversation, I would have liked to have continue on with my training."

The elder Shihōin let out a deep sigh. Kamui hadn't changed in all these years despite being such an adult, but he had no one to blame but himself. He tossed Kamui into the Stealth Force the moment he found out he could punch at the air, how else did he expect him to act towards him? Nonetheless, Kazuo didn't lose any sleep over it. "Indeed, you did not. It seems Central 46 are truly pushing to have you join the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. You performance as a member of the Stealth Force is not going unnoticed. Thirty-seven confirmed assassinations and not a single failed mission yet. You can only duck them for so long."

Still, as stoic as ever, Kamui just started at his father. There was nothing for him to say to him. He was well aware of Central 46's request to have him join the Gotei 13, but he didn't have any interest in joining the faction. He was fine where he was as the Commander of the "Royal Corps".

"When that time comes, because it more than likely will, I want you to go down in history upon entering. As such, I think it's best you begin training on what will best suit you as a Shinigami. It's time you begin to focus outside of your Hakuda expertise and begin shaping up and getting more in-tune with your Zanpakuto so that you may achieve Bankai."

Though he didn't change his expression, Kamui was relatively surprised to hear his father bring it up. He was never the type to wonder how his training with his Zanpakuto had been going. Hell, Kazuo abandoned his Zanpakuto very early into his career and claimed he saw no real benefit to utilizing it. "Why are you even worried about me achieving Bankai? Didn't you state that a Zanpakuto is not necessary in this career path?"

"Well, you see," Kazuo said, tucking his gaze. "I didn't say that exactly, you're miss remembering my words. What I said was *MY* Zanpakuto was not necessary for that career path. It was too flashy in both its Shikai and Bankai states. However, that's very different in your case. Your **Odori no Futanami** is much different from my Zanpakuto and its also much more fitting. I'm sure you see what I'm getting at here, correct?"

"Right. And I was summoned here for that?" Kamui asked.

"Oh, indeed. But see, I want you to try an older method. A three day training method that's far more difficult than the average ten year training that is presumed. It hasn't been used in quite some time, Kamui. Of course its far more dangerous with a lot more risks, but I'm sure you can handle it because you are my son. You made it out of Stealth School after all." Said Kazuo, attempting to sway Kamui into accepting.

"So, you would like to sacrifice me in an attempt to figure out if this method is viable still or not?" Kamui asked once again.

Kazuo immediately responded with a laugh, "In my case, no. I just figured you'd love to reach that point," Kazuo paused. "Before Kurome Kuchiki does. Her training is set to begin soon as well."

Eyes drifting to the corner of his eyes, Kamui immediately turned around and began to head for the entrance of the room. He walked with light steps, there was no sound from his movement. He knew what his father had been trying to do and refused to give him a reaction and instead excused himself.

## Love Hate

Kurome had stood in the training grounds shared by the Four Noble Families. She was seen meditating in the Jinzen position. Her sword was placed in front of her as she sat cross-legged, her eyes closed. It was an extremely sudden demand when the elders of the Kuchiki Clan told her to go through the accelerated process of Bankai. It seemed that they were aiming for captaincy once again. It was strange, though. She had never seen this kind of urgency within the Kuchiki Clan. Even her father, who normally spoke on these matters, seemed to fall silent to the elders' demands.

An attendant was with her, standing with the Tenshintai needed to manifest her Zanpakutō spirit. Truth be told, Kurome was pursuing Bankai on her own for several years. She was reaching close to manifesting its spirit, and she felt dishonored when the elders told her to use the device. Nonetheless, she continued meditating for a brief moment, attempting to establish communication with her spirit within her inner world to explain what would happen.

Until she was interrupted.

The sudden influx of spiritual power in the area awoke her. She looked to the left, where the Shihōin normally occupied. "Kamui?" Kurome stood, unsure as to why Kamui suddenly appeared here.

As just as suddenly as she sensed him, he appeared. Normally, he'd allow his visage to slowly phase into existence but not this time. "Zanpakuto training, huh?" Kamui said, gripping Kurome by the Shihakusho. His expression may not have changed for his usual one, but his anger passed through her being with the emphasis and aggressiveness of his words.

"The two of us always update each other on things and you mean to tell me the biggest evolution of the Zanpakuto is to occur and you told me absolutely nothing, Kurome?" Removing his grip from her Shihakusho, Kamui pushed Kurome backwards and slightly grit his teeth though since they were being hidden by his lips, she wouldn't have been able to notice it anyway. More than anything, Kamui was upset with the fact that his, even though this was yet official, bestfriend had betrayed his trust by not informing him that she would be taking the next step. It had nothing to do with his father's trivial guess of him not wanting Kurome to get ahead of him, it was simply because he was surprised she wouldn't share such good news with him.

"I see. So news got to the Shihōin Clan before I had the chance to say anything." Kurome held onto her stance even as Kamui pushed her back. She was impassive in the face of Kamui's accusations. She stood firm, and although she was upset by Kamui's suspicions of her, she suspected that this was simply the way the Shihōin Clan plotted Kamui to learn the news.

"You may choose to believe me, or not." Kurome dusted her shihakushō as she spoke. "I was only informed about this ritual merely hours ago. In that span of time, several preparations were done without my knowledge, and I was dragged here." Kurome picked up her zanpakutō and returned it to its sheath. As the sound of the blade clicking against the sheath could be heard, Kurome spoke.

"Did you really think I was so insecure about my strength that I wouldn't inform you I was attempting to acquire Bankai?"

"No." Kamui said firmly, "I do not think you would be insecure about your strength at all." He went on to confirm, "But it would have meant more to have heard it from your mouth." He held his hand up and spread out his palm, "It is clear that you were going to intiate the training soon, so I have no doubts that you were going to share this information with me. But, to have to hear it for Kazuo-"

The assassin stopped himself from going on that tangent. "Then again, I do think that there is something that must be proved, Kurome. Only the better of us should be allowed to train for our Zanpakuto and that is clearly me."

"You wish to engage in battle before fighting our Zanpakutō?" Kurome asked, her hand softly touching the hilt of her blade. "It seems you wish to fail in acquiring your Bankai."

Caught off guard by the response of Kurome, Kamui shook his head. "I will not fail, Kurome. I could battle my Zanpakutō spirit for five days if need be." A boastful and arrogant statement sure, but it was every bit of true. "I would not worry much about me and save that all for yourself. But, I do have something I want to ask you."

Kurome's eyebrows raised. "You wish to ask me something? What could that possibly be?" It was strange to see Kamui marred by curiosity at all. He was a very objective-driven individual. Perform his task, obtain the reward, and leave. Something like this was abnormal.

"Recently Kazuo has been pushing this agenda from Central 46," Kamui started, immediately diving into everything. "Every time I speak with him, he mentions how they won't give up on their attempts to get me to join the Thirteen Court Guard Squads." He took a pause, "I personally have no interest in joining that organization. I have a military might of my own. By taking that position, I would be adding onto more of my task that will only cloud that. Have you too be offered?"

Kurome sighed as Kamui referred to his father by his first name once more. But it was to be expected of Kamui, so she simply shook her head.

"Yes, I have been offered." Kurome responded quickly. "I was unsure why at first, but looking at the current state of the Kuchiki elders I can surmise a guess." Kurome's eyes scanned the immediate area, before she closed her eyes to sense any spiritual pressure in the immediate vicinity. She could never be sure that the Kuchiki Clan had their eyes and ears peered in every conversation.

"I cannot explain why. However...it seems Byakuya-sama and Rukia-sama can no longer be our only pillars of strength in the Gotei 13."

Kamui turned his head to the clouds. "Do not be naive, Kurome. I looked over this area before I approached you, are you under the assumption that I am sloppy?" Kamui knew exactly what Kurome had been preforming when she closed her eyes. He knew her way too well. Still, he stopped himself from going any further and returned back to the intial response at hand. "It has nothing to do with Byakura nor Rukia." He immediately snapped Kurome back to reality.

He turned back to Kurome, "You should get more in-tune or you will fall behind, Kurome. I have never been pressured this hard before. It feels as though something is happening that I am not being informed of. The only way for me to find this information out is through the Kuchiki clan."

Kurome clenched her fist at the accusation, but she took a breath and kept calm. "Indeed. There may be something happening in the midst of Soul Society. We have experienced years of peace after a long time." Kurome sighed. "Of course, that has nothing to do with us, Kamui. We're nothing more than soldiers to be groomed. You may be the technical successor to the clan, but..."

Kurome observed Kamui's body, noticing that he was carrying a few new scars since the last time they met. "You're a warrior- No, you're an assassin. And I am a soldier. For us, information of that nature is irrelevant." Kurome began walking away to the Tenshintai prepared for her, saying one last thing to Kamui.

"Do not seek aesthetics in waging war. Do not seek virtue in death. Do not think your life is your own. If you wish to protect the king and five heads, then you must slaughter every foe from under the shadow of the leaves."

Kurome bitterly smiled. "I'm sure you remember that, don't you?"

## MANIFESTATION

The Royal Training ground. A place where the Noble Clans could train in peace away from the rest of the World. It was like a plains biome with trees all across its face and a large open grass field which had been artificially grown. Two were directly side by side but they were separated by the way they were constructed. One the left was Kamui and on the right was Kurome. Just a few days ago the two got into a fight which shook the scope of their meeting quarters. They were great friends but even greater rivals and Kamui, even though he didn't say it, felt a bit betrayed by the fact that Kurome had failed to mention this to him. Hearing it from his father made the situation all the worse.

Kamui stood alone on the field, but he was informed that this training would need to be done with someone else to look over it. He was never given a name and while he wasn't necessarily on edge about who it was, just knowing the name would have been only good for his knowledge. But, in the end it didn't matter who it was because Kamui had already decided that he would not leave that place without learning his Bankai.

He cleared his mind of all thoughts and took a deep breath. His stance was firm but his eyes remained opened as he looked forward at the other end of the plain waiting for the man or woman to make their appearance known. Then finally, after all of that hoping, there the man was. He possessed similar skin tone to himself, but instead of the purple tinted hair this man's was all black. Under his arm was a white human-sized doll. Upon entering he made his way towards Kamui.

His lips curved upwards, clearly he was smiling at Kamui from a distance. Of course Kamui's expression didn't break, bend, or fold. He remained focused on the task at hand and didn't care for the back and forth expression war that the two could have had. Plus, he couldn't see the man just yet so he had no idea who he even was.

"Hey, Kamui!" The man said, lifting his hand in a waving manner at Kamui. "It has been a while. You're all grown up now, I'm so proud that my favorite student is still head-strong with his ideals."

Kamui knew who he was. That voice. That carefree nature. Even that odor. "Haruto Yamakage," Kamui nodded his head, "I has been a while my older teacher. I would have never thought that you would be the one to teach me bankai. I didn't think the Thirteen Court Guard squads would have been allowed any access to these type of things."

"What do you mean, Kamui? Captain Nishikawa is a rather reasonable guy. Asking him to step off and do something like this is easy, he'd never deny us such a thing. Plus, the Yamakage are considered the most elite when it comes to the teachings of this topic. You of the Shihoin are considered the grandmasters of the Shunpo, wile us Yamakage are considered grandmasters of the Zanpakuto and Zanjutsu However yo-"

Haruto was cut short of his words by Kamui tossing his palm up. "I would like to skip past this part and get right into the training. We may catch up once this is done, though for now, I would like to remain on topic of what this is all for to begin with."

The Shinigami smiled. "Very well then, I'll waste none of your time." Reaching under his arm he pulled the doll out and held it in front of himself. "I'm surprised you have no idea what this doll is. To be honest, the Noble Houses are lucky to have access to these. They're the most valuable spirit tools of the Stealth Force. By stabbing this doll with your Zanpakuto you will be forcefully bring out your Zanpakuto spirit into the physical realm, rather than the one which is used to mentally link with it. Above all of the other spirit tools of the Noble Houses, I feel as though this is the greatest."

He took a pause from his many words and allowed his statements to marinate into the mind of Kamui before he finally continued on. "However, might I warn you of this, in order for you to get out of this training alive you will absolutely need to achieve your bankai within three days. If you were to go past that, then you'd without a doubt suffer from wounds so fatal that you may never be able to live the same again. It's a rather high risk but if you make it out the reward will definitely separate you from your peers."

The mental image of Kurome played in his head and their battle and exchange or words quickly took over his mind. He shook his mind and ridded his memory of that exchange as it seemed to have been nothing but a blockade for the coming future. What was best for him now, was for him to simply worry about surpassing her and being everything he wanted to be.

"That starting time is up to you. Feel free to begi-," Again his words were cut. However, instead of by the lifting of Kamui's hand, it was by the appearance he made directly in front of the doll with his sealed Zanpakuto in hand.

Kamui thrust the blade into the doll and his eyes squinted as he glared back into the darkened eyes of Haruto. The blade sliced through like butter and with his eyes stuck into the gaze of Haurto's he said, "*Jump, Odori no Futanami*," His sword vanished into thin air as a brilliant flash of purple reiatsu filled the air and swallowed the doll before dispersing and slowly forming into some sort of humanoid figure.

There stood what was clearly a man. Every inch of his body was covered by a black slightly armored body suit with plenty of knives of different variety sitting in a pouch on its side. His mouth was covered by a set of bandages that were wrapped around it and his head was covered by a red hood of the short sleeved open fronted trench coat. Kamui knew who this man better than anyone else and it was Odori no Futanami, the spirit of his Zanpakuto.

"Ah, then this is it manifested," Haruto said, "Then, I'm ready to begin when you two are."

Hundred of black markings in the form of kanji began to spread across the battlefield like being spilled over a canvas. The plains quickly match the sight of a school essay, but this was no coincidence, simply the doings of his Zanpakuto.

Odori no Funatami disappeared into thin air, only to reappear behind Kamui with one of his many trench knives held up to his neck. "I've been hearing everything. The only way for you to ever achieve bankai will be to defeat me, you're aware of that correct."

Kamui closed his eyes and lifted his foot so fast that he managed to get past the eye of both Odori no Funatami and Haruto before disappearing where he stood and reappearing at the side of Odori with his fist being driven into the Zanpakuto Spirits ribcage. The resulting strike let off a shockwave which crushed the ground beneath them.