Strong and Afraid [Tento | Kaminari]

Be it for one reason or another. Tento found himself being overwhelmed with a killer intent and mental conflict after unleashing an aggressive barrage of attacks towards Amaranta. Time was running out, with the fatigue of battle he had felt the control he could muster on the mask dwindling down. But he should have had more time. A lot more. But…he just, froze. Prepared to give his all in this battle to only be stuck in a mid-motion action as if spirits within his body were defying him. Twisting and fighting his spirit within for control as it felt as if Tento's energy was different.

A toxic bitterness was in his mouth though. He could still see. He could still hear. A living statue stuck to see, a bystander once again. Waiting for the fiery tongue coming from Kaminari to lash at him as she appeared next to him. White cloth wrapping and twisting around them to relocate. With the success of Kaminari's kido the two were miles and miles away from their previous battle location. She fell to one knee and Tento let out a painful sound. A mixture of a howl or dying gurgle. A painful groan came as Tento's body shook and wobbled. His eyes popping out as if they were deer caught in headlights as his hollow mask suddenly shattered. His body fell backwards as he fell flat onto his butt. Air tight in his chest as he tried and failed to mouth out a response through attempts of gasps as his spiritual pressure and energy plummeted.

Kaminari stepped back from Tento as they landed, watching him closely as he attempted to regain control of himself. Of course, she wasn't sure that was his goal. Who could tell with a vizard? She only hoped regaining control was Tento's goal. Otherwise, she would have no qualms in killing him. 'Give me a reason...'

The mask shattered and Tento fell. Still, Kaminari stood tense and stared at him. She had already used a lot of reiryoku over the battle with the number of kido and shunpo she utilized, not to mention the release of her shikai. Since her shikai was still released at this point, she looked to her sword, sighed, and re-sheathed it.

Dropping to a knee, she took a few deep breaths, her eyes still on Tento and waiting for the man to speak up. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF," Kaminari snapped suddenly. The law protected him from retaliation right now, so something he said better be good.

Short and fiery. Yep, this was most certainly a start to a mouthful he was about to get from this slender beauty. But such intense attention was absolutely not something that was his kind of tea.

Energy spit and in full honesty, far below the wells of his reiryoku. Even consciousness was a bit of a mental strain. Even more so keeping the wrath from welling up like a roaring fire storm inside of his heaving chest. He could still feel people fighting far away. Dying. The unease of…that thing showing up after so long of being docile again. Tento held his zanpakuto with unease at the tense stare. But who could blame her given what had happened? If things were reversed he would have been cautious too. Sitting up, Tento managed to re-seal and sheathed his zanpakuto. Hands in his knees as he met Kaminari's gaze.

“My body…gave out. Fighting that Arrancar took its toll far more than I had realized. Lot of pain and mental exhaustion, hit me all of a sudden like something cracking in my mind or…inner world? I was fine. Or at least I thought I was. The asshole likes to pop up at the worst random of times. But for some reason the inner hollow…was different. Felt different. Stronger resistance to me, it wanted to consume me. And my body suddenly just…couldn't move. I could not attack any further let alone speak”, he wheezed out.

With that he wobbled as he tried to take the setup yo stand up to his feet. Faltering a few times into a bow that sunk as deep and low as his tall stance could muster. “Regardless, we have failed due to my failure and you having to save us. Thank…you. I cannot say sorry for it means nothing to the value of the cost. Our mission and duty in jeopardy, and the world balance in our care under threat. You must hate me, at the least have concern about it. But I will face what our superiors will give out. And if allowed make it up to you and Soul Society as a whole”.

Fighting that Arrancar…

Kaminari would not ignore the fact that they spoke to each other like friends. Any positive relationship with an Arrancar was a shameful, disgusting thing that no Shinigami should ever allow. How is Kaminari supposed to trust Tento? Their enemy was his friend, and if her life was on the line, she could not trust someone like him to actually protect her, to defeat their foe. Tento was a liability and she had no choice but to report this incident, especially since it combined with his inability to control his inner hollow. Absolutely appalling. It cost them the fight.

“At least you can admit this was your screw up,” Kaminari said, still trying to catch her breath. The last bit of that fight was hell. She could feel her muscles screaming at her, and the amount of reiryoku she used to try to keep up with two Arrancar, especially with a leg wound, was exhausting. Finally, calm enough to relax, Kaminari used her zanpakuto to open the senkaimon. “We cannot stay here any longer; they may find us.” She gave Tento a single glance and then gestured for him to go in first. She had little interest in being stabbed in the back. “Let’s get going.”

Friends. Acquaintanced. Friendly terms. All the above. Former. That was all a small thing for Tento. When he had reported his encounter with her before it was a generally neutral one. One to be cautious off and noted but not a huge threat in his examination. She had no care for civilians or even the ones with a high amount of spiritual energy. She did not attack or hunt humans, even attack him on sight. Aminara was an arrancar, a hollow at the end of the day. Her innate existence is a challenge in the cycle and a threat; one to monitor and be aware of. And Tento made that fully known in his report. However, at that stage with her high level, she had no never ending drawing urge to consume souls. From civilians, hollows, or other spiritual creatures. Just a lust for battles and strong foes; a possible threat and something to be eyed. Her actions would not be ruled out from causing the Gotei United opposite. And Tento was no fool to ignore that just because she was a bit hot.

That did not take the surprise away or stop his confrontation. But really, what reason did the arrancar have for siding with these attackers? He aimed to stop her then and he would do so if he ever got the chance again. He would get stronger….and he would protect those he needed to. And he had to think this with a tightened lip softly growing on his lips.

“Yeah, now no telling how bad it's going to get over there”. With a swift sigh at Kaminari's words. Tento accepted what he knew what was coming. Soul King knows what in truth, and the hint of venom in her words. Least she was still alive after all of this. And quite good from the energy she was letting loose from her words. The ragged breath as a testament of that or just how far she pushed herself at the last stretch of the battle.

Pausing to match Kaminari's side glance, he let the light of the senkaimon shine as he gave a bit of a gulp before gathering himself and stepping in.

A couple of weeks later…

Kaminari was so uncertain about so much now. After the events in Africa, she had a lot to think about. She felt she wanted to deal with those arrancar on her own, even if the cowardice of the second prevented any real battle. But clearly, she could not rely on the teammates of this Gotei United. Weak minded, weak willed, and lacking discipline. Seeing a fellow Shinigami be referred to as friend was a problem, but having found news of an Arrancar joining the ranks of the Gotei was bound to make her blood boil. Shinigami have fallen farther than she thought possible.

In the training grounds, Kaminari began focusing on zanjutsu and hakuda to refine her skills further. She was slowly regaining a more positive relationship with her zanpakuto spirit and felt proud of that, but she was lacking in hakuda. She wished to utilize it more, especially since her shikai could cause problems for her allies if wielded too quickly or carelessly. Taking a deep breath, she focused her reiryoku throughout her body and over her skin. If there was one thing Kaminari was a prodigy at, it was the usage of reiryoku. It always came so naturally to her.

A shunpo later and three dummies were kicked or punched from their original placement, each with small evidence of scorch marks on them, as if they had been hit by fire or lightning. There was no elemental evidence in her reiryoku, yet, but it may come with this happening. It was a surprise since her zanpakuto abilities were very much the opposite of what one would consider normal. Now, to refine it.

Several days, weeks, had passed and with no response to the situation reported. Tento was sure Kaminari had done so. Her intensity of declaration was a pretty reassuring factor of such. The consequences of his inability to control his inner hollow hung over his head like a dark cloud. He tensed at the thought of the consequences. Jail never sounded like a good thing to him and if he was a liability of concern for the Gotei United he could get locked up within the Maggots nest! Even that was the least on his heart though. The bodies that needed to be buried from the attack. Division members, the ones at least pleased enough to have full bodies or at least parts to be…associated with them, had deserved to be put to rest. After the events of Africa, there was a lot for the Gotei United to deal with. A lot for the newer or vulnerable to consume and deal with. A lot…for him to deal with.

The night flashes of hands reaching out for help, only to be burned away to ashes. To the whispering voice, voices. That lingered in the shadowy background of his mediation; communication with Shiōmaru. Pickling voices, shadowy hands that seemed to always linger, crawling in their approach to wrap around Tento. Whispering in the mimicked ghastly voices of the deceased that he knew.

To be honest this situation he was in was much much in preference. He would take any scowl Kaminari could give him instead of having to fight his inner hollow in its current state. And so, when, for some reason, he was asked to drop a report off to her specifically after shaking off a failed meditation. He could not have moved as fast if he had a date with Hanako in five minutes. With a note showing the request given to him to deliver the report to Kaminari. Tento was led in and eventually found his way to the training area that she held. In the distance, he stood his arms held behind his back as he watched and waited her striking attempts against her training dummies. “4th seat Hatakeyama, a moment of your time madam”.

Kaminari took het stance again, ready to take a step and continue the assault on her practice dummies, but a familiar voice range in her ear. Kaminari was instantly reminded of the battlefield and the frustration it all came with. With her back still to him, she dropped her stance and barely turned her head to look over at Tento. Her eyes were narrow, annoyance clearly in her furrowed brows.

"And what do you want?" she said, her words harsh and unempathetic.

Tento stood im the same position. Arms held behind his back, spine straight and a straight line jaw after calling out to Kaminari. A soft deep breath, an inhale, before she turned her head in acknowledgment. Not a bad look from his view, she had a good stance for her hakudo.

To answer question, Tento removed one arm from his back. Holding up a folder that contained paperwork held up to the side in his left hand. He extended it out to Kaminari remaining where he was. “Reports and paperwork. I was requested to hand deliver them to you. I believe you need to sign off on some things as well”, he said flatly and in as much a professionally calm voice he could managed that should a lack of emotion.

Kaminari was going to continue, but she saw the paperwork she was being handed. Taking a breath, she relaxed and walked over to Tento. He was acting much less casual than he had in the past, probably because he knew she was still pissed off at him. She walked over and took the delivery from him. She skimmed through it a moment and gave him a quick nod. They were just some basic paper work, equipment requests she had put in for the training areas. With how many dummies she destroyed practicing kido, they were really low on things to target.

"Thank you for the delivery," Kaminari said, tucking the stack of papers under her arm and looking at Tento. She glanced the man up and down, eyes narrowed. She then sighed and shook her head. "You can relax. Standing around like some statue isn't helping. No point in being so rigid. You look like you're holding your bladder."