Captain to Captain [Sano]

The roar of combat echoed through the halls of the Fifth Division headquarters, not that it would come as a surprise. The centre of the complex held an impressive training arena, it dominated much of the building, but the Fifth needed to keep their edge and that often meant sparring sessions.

A crimson blur central to the commotion could be none other than the newest to take up the mantle of ‘Kenpachi’ Akane Makishima, a precocious red head who had lived within the Soul Society just shy of a century. The unseated Shinigami among the division were attempting to prove their mettle to their new Captain and were failing miserably. “Slow!” Akane casually swatted an incoming strike to the side only to launch the attacker back into the crowd with a well-placed kick. “We’re going to be here a long time if this is what I’m working with.” Right now, the whole squad were working against each other, the superior numbers weren’t any use to them if they didn’t cooperate.

Being taunted did the trick at upping the tempo of course, which meant one of them were bound to slip a strike through. Were it not for a familiar figure appearing in the background, Kenpachi Akane might have been at this for hours. Her guest was welcomed with the thud of one of the Fifth division members careening back to the wall beside the doorway. Which turned to a good moment for her to escape. “Alright! I’ve seen enough… Pair off, keep training. We’ll try again when I get back.”

Akane sheathed her zanpakuto, helping level the spiritual pressure in the area while she strides across the arena floor to leave her men to get back to work. They didn’t need too much prompting; a fight was a fight after all. Sparks began to fly from the clashing blades as she approached the entryway. “Showing up unannounced is a little rude, isn’t it?” Akane hadn’t really expected to be dealing with her old captain today. She just hoped that Sano could behave himself for once.

Big ask, but she could still hope.

Sano glanced over the 5th division barracks, his eyes seemingly alight with the joys of combat as the sparks began to fly and the blades began to clash. "If you want to give them a real test, you should have them all fight me alongside you. Some of you might even live, my treat of course."

Sano's face betrayed an almost.. evil confidence. He couldn't help himself, watching these fine young Shinigami falter against his most noteworthy pupil did bring him an almost unusual sense of pride and bemusement. She was strong, she was fast, she hadn't quite put together the years of experience needed to have an acumen like he and Ika possessed, but she was wonderfully talented for her age and experience level. "Impressive showing, even if it was against nobodies. You seem to be acclimating to this position well."

Sano's eyes continued to dance between the various conflicts, his eyes almost studious with each of them. "I suppose I can't interest you in returning to do my paperwork?"

“You know most of them would take you up on that offer.” Akane opted to join her former Captain in overseeing the events for the moment. Despite their inability to keep up with her, the squad as a whole were well trained. From what she heard her predecessor had a rather intensive regimen of his own and the results spoke for themselves. “It wouldn’t look very good if I was losing men before I can see how they do in the field.” She brushed off the suggestion after quickly deciding that whatever entertainment she might gain wouldn’t justify the casualties.

She peered toward the elder Shinigami with barely veiled surprise. It almost seemed like pride, but she found it difficult to believe he’d so openly offer praise. “Well… Thank you. It was easier to get than hang of than I expected.” The position of Kenpachi was always open to challenge after all, though so far none had plucked up the courage to go through with a duel. Though Akane was certain she was ready for that, too.

“You haven’t been doing your own paperwork have you?” Akane couldn’t imagine it had taken long to find someone to replace that part of her role. She crossed her arms while turning her attention back to the arena. “Anyway, not happening. I hope you didn’t walk all this way for a joke.”

"Most of them are buffoons you should wrangle towards some sense of reality then." Sano smirked slightly, walking down the line of would-be combatants with a somber smirk. They really were.. a work in progress.

"I'm not sure it'd matter much honestly, if they fight like this against the Hollows you'll be fielding an empty squad sooner rather than later. Stay on top of them, if there is truly war headed our way as I believe it to be you will need all the backup you can get. These new Hollow.. Arrancar I think we're calling them, they're bad news. A mid range one seems like it'd probably gut your entire squad as it stands."

Sano clicked his tongue, surveying the field as the once confident soldiers seemed to lose some nerve. "I was never good at training. Most squads train so that they can stand in front of their captain, a wall between their leader and the perils of the world beyond. I always stood up front, and when possible I neglected to bring any tag alongs. Just felt more.. comfortable that way I suppose."

Sano looked down, unbuttoning his haori before lifting his shirt to reveal a rather scarred mid section. The scars were layered, some seeming to be a literal millenia old while others were almost fresh. "Just think, if you fight alone you can end up with the same tattoo's I have."

Sano's eyes moved towards his midsection, and his fingers began tracing a scar from the top of his shoulder to the bottom of his naval. "This one in particular is.. actually the reason for my visit. I heard a rumor that someone is coming back to the Gotei soon, and that man once held the position you're currently occupying.."

“Well, I’ve only just started, it’ll take longer than that to knock the stupid out of their heads...” Akane countered, opting to wander along beside her fellow Captain as he offered some advice. It wasn’t something she had expected either. It felt like she was being taken seriously for once, or at least as seriously as Sano could muster.

“I don’t intend to let them lag behind. When the time comes, they’re going to be ready.” She was determined at least, if a little optimistic.  Akane wanted to believe she could make something out of this group, even if they were rough around the edges now.

“Really? Never noticed” Akane sass had grown out of control. She couldn't argue with the results of him actually taking training seriously. Sometimes she forgot just how far she had come since her apprenticeship under Sano. This whole conversation had been something beyond that though. “Strange tattoos…” She mused, noting the scars he was showing off would have likely carved through her entire body. It was hard to imagine the kind of monster that could wound her old Captain like that.

“Excuse me?” Akane was startled by the revelation, clearly. “That’s wonderful news.” It was hard to tell if it was sarcasm from her tone, so she clarified. “I’ll be able to earn my title for real.” The confidence was admirable, though she didn’t seem to understand the magnitude of what she was seeing.

The girls radiant optimism and overzealousness regarding her dumb little squad was heartwarming, but largely unwarranted. These men were meat for the slaughter, the only question left lingering in the air was how long it'd be before it happened, and what the specifics of their untimely demise would be. Given the ever-looming spector of war and these men being seemingly incapable of getting their shit together, he suspected whatever end they met would be best described as "unfortunate" and "untimely."

Nevertheless, if Akane believed they could be whipped into shape he saw no need to fight her on the topic. She wasn't the smartest girl he'd ever met, but she was a high-end talent and had begun to make a real name for herself within the Seireitei. If Sano had a capacity for feelings beyond loathing and mild aggrievement, he might even feel proud of her for the work she'd done in getting this squad in better shape than it'd been in since he left the Maggots Nest all those years ago.

The way the girl took the news Sano was presenting her was typical, to be expected by someone who had tons of power and no practical use-case in their life where it had to be used for self-preservation. A spirit that had grown as quickly as Akane did would find itself sorely lacking in combat experience, and more importantly than that they'd find themselves lacking in the requisite amount of fear that a superior foe should inspire in them. "Any man who was able to do this to me is far beyond what I've taught you. If you fight him in your current state and he's half the man he once was, I'll be saving you or you'll be dying. There is no third option. I really don't think you understand what's coming."

Akane didn’t really have an option beyond optimism. She wanted to believe that this squad was something she could be proud of, it just needed work. And with this new threat to her position so very clear that wasn’t all so certain anymore. “Then explain it to me. Because really all I’m hearing is that I’m probably going to die or something pretty close... I’m not going to run from this.” She started, understanding enough of her plight that she could narrow down some options.

“It’d be over if I ran, I’d never be able to get them to respect me.” She had found that difficult enough already, when she had to look up to a majority of the squad to try and order them about. That and her age had made wrangling these idiots even harder than it needed to be.

“If you’ve got any other suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them.” That was all there was to it, Akane wasn’t going to step down, that was clear. There was always the chance that these rumous were false after all. But she knew better than to hope for the best outcome. History told her that death could come at any moment, so she needed to be ready for it.

Sano smirked as the girl spoke and shook his head. "Perhaps this will better explain it.. draw your blade girl, we don't have long."

Sano left his Haori to hang around his waist to reveal a surprisingly stalky frame, etched with scars but none deeper than the giant gash that seemed to be decorating the middle of his torso. "I want you to try and cut me, anywhere, cut to kill and don't ask questions. This is the only way I think you'll truly be able to understand what I'm trying to say to you."

Sano stood firm, confident, letting the Reiatsu wash over his skin as armor while the girl prepared herself for what would soon reveal itself to be a useless task. Even if she swung with all her might, Sano knew the score. Her blade in it's sealed form would never have a prayer of piercing his skin, yet his had cleaved it's way through Sano like he wasn't even there. She needed to understand the difference, the gap she was going to be forced to deal with sooner rather than later or else, well..

Sano would be burying two Kenpachi's much sooner than previously anticipated.

Akane hated that expression. It meant that this was another one of Sano’s ‘lessons’ that he wasn’t able to just tell her. In his credit, so far this approach had worked. Though his immediate move toward attempting to cut him down was exactly what she didn’t need.

Her squad respected strength, and the ‘Kenpachi’ was supposed to be the strongest. So, anything less than cutting Sano down right now would be another reason to deny her respect. It could have been easily avoided, maybe a conversation to be had in private. Not in front of the rapidly congregating members of the Fifth division who had started to crowd around and watch.

“Fine…” Akane huffed, but readied her zanpakuto with everything she could muster. Her spiritual pressure spiked, and most of the squad were promptly reminded why she was Captain, the immense weight of her power proving too much for a majority.

The golden energy that had become her signature began to drift from the blade itself before she burst forward in her attempt. A straightforward, but quick and well executed attack. Akane’s dedication to her sword practice was showing off, though there was a lack of imagination. As refined as the edge might have been by now, she couldn’t know the outcome until she struck. She looked to be aiming directly for the scar, maybe there'd be a weakpoint.

Even in the face of this impossible task, Akane refused to back down. If Sano wanted more scars then she was more than happy to provide them. At least, that was what was going through her head.