Bleach: Shinigami Quest 34

The fight has begun, and the warrior of the 11th has made it clear that he intends to give no quarter.

The rusted spear in his hands is thrust forward, its sharp end aimed at your chest. The air crackles, forced into disarray by the weapon's strength. Not the wind, not the pull of gravity, not even the user's own imperfect movements can stand in the spear's way. No matter how skilled a martial artist, no motion can be perfectly steady, no strike can be like a straight line; but this spear refuses to go along with any factors that could hold it back, even the flaws of its own user.

This strike really is a straight line from point A to point B. The efficiency of the attack is absolute. That perfect trajectory cannot be disturbed, because the attack itself is unstoppable. The only hope of survival is to get out of its path before it's too late.

You dart away. The edge cuts your side, drawing blood and tearing at your black uniform, the unrelenting force behind the blow not diminished in the slightest by the brief, painful contact. That force nearly catches you off-guard and knocks you off your feet, but you manage to hold your ground and take the initiative as your opponent readies for his next blow.

"Flourish, Haname!" You swiftly exclaim the name of Hikari's shield, releasing your blank sword. As the shield of light forms in front of you, the spearman's eyes widen and his swift feet push him backwards. It seems that even Ryuu is hesitant to face the mysterious force that supposedly repelled the Menos Grande.

"A shield?" He mutters after a brief inspection, his tone cautiously relieved. His expression suddenly regains its fierce confidence and he charges back into the fray. He doesn't attempt to bypass the semitransparent barrier - Ryuu's dash is as direct as the path of his weapon - both are headed directly for your copied release.

(1/2)

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The unstoppable Zanpakuto blurs into the shield of light... and stops.

...No, saying that it stopped would be inaccurate.

It is still going.

The outer layer of the reflective shield ripples wildly, like a sea in the midst of a storm. The mad spear presses on, not even a speck of its power lost upon collision with the barrier - on the contrary, it's growing stronger. Haname saps at your spiritual reserves to reflect the unceasing attacks of Ryuu's Judenmaru, so you can feel what's going on clearly; the frequency and the volume of each strike, and their steadily increasing might. Even so, the spear does not budge - it gains even more power before the force of its previous strike can knock it off-course.

It's as though the shield is being barraged with hundreds of strikes. If Haname was made of steel, the sparks would be like fireworks.

But even so, the spear can't advance an inch. A few seconds have passed since the collision, but Haname still holds. Its inner layer begins to give way to tiny cracks, but the damage is negligible. It can hold out for a little longer.

Even though the spear possesses an unbelievable ability, it's still limited by the user's capacity. Perhaps Ryuu's spiritual power will run out before he breaks through.

Or maybe that isn't a chance worth taking.

...

>Use a Hado spell while Ryuu is trying to get through Haname.
>Use a Bakudo spell while Ryuu is trying to get through Haname.
>Don't do anything but maintain Haname.
>Other. (Write-in).

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Ryouta's Armory: pastebin.com/r47wTEiu

Archive: suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Shinigami Quest

Ryuu's Attributes:
>STR: C
>END: D
>AGI: C
>SPI: E
>REIA: D (D)

SHIKAI: Judenmaru
>Command: Charge
>Rank: B-
>Type: Anti-Unit
>Range: 1
>A spear that never stops in its course. Once thrust, it cannot be swayed or deflected in any direction until it reaches the destination set by its user before the strike. If it collides with something it cannot go through, whether it's an object of terrain, a spiritual barrier, or simply high endurance, instead of losing any force behind the strike, it gains more power over time until it grows to a point sufficient to overcome the obstacle. When this weapon hits, it counts as having struck seven times instead of merely once.
>Because of the user's poor compatibility with the spirit dwelling within the weapon, the Zanpakuto is difficult to wield and not at its full strength. While this negative is not 'replicated', it is still impossible to draw out the Zanpakuto's actual strength without first analyzing it at its prime.

Take our time casting a Bakudo and make sure to move a bit so the spear is no longer pointed at us. When the spell is finished, dispel Haname and don't cast until Ryuu completes his thrust.

That seems possible right?

Alternatively we could just circle around so we're behind Ryuu and then dispel Haname and have our sword at his neck. I'm not sure how mobile Haname is though.

>Use a Bakudo spell while Ryuu is trying to get through Haname.

Bakudo #9 - Geki may give us an in if we can cast it while holding the shield up then I'm all for that.

Honestly I think Ryuu is more of a fighting guy so I'm heavily thinking that our magic advantage is the best we can try on this scenario.

Wait we can totally do Geki without incantation right? It's E rank so that means it wont drop lower than that. We can do both Geki and Sai with no incantation, and then we do a Soukatsui with incantation to fuck him up.

True, but the problem is that we have presumably identical amounts of reiatsu, but using kido whilst maintaining Haname might make us run out faster.

Also it's possible that Judenmaru has more energy efficiency than our shield

Even with his REIA he will take damage when he breaks out (if I'm wrong mushroom pls correct me) so we put the 2 rank E bakudos on him, if he breaks out he wastes a turn and takes damage, however while he's doing that we are preparing the soukatsui to split his asshole, right?

Voting over, writing!

I feel like just pointing our sword at his vital spots while he's bound would be enough to end it. Also my assumption was that if we use bakudo while he's still thrusting Judenmaru, we'd pretty much drain ourselves dry because our kido is at a lower level than Judenmaru's "unstoppable" quality. That's why I think we need to time it just right so he's between attacks.

Iunno, also the rank is the actual rank or the potential rank of the zanpakuto? Like "this zanpakuto is garbage-tier" or "the user can handle the zanpakuto at garbage-tier"?

Pretty sure it's actually tier because the reason Judenmaru is B- instead of higher is because Ryuu can't handle his Zanpakuto well.

In any case, we agreed on what to do, just not when.

The rank of the Zanpakuto, as analyzed by Ryouta, reflects its general power and energy cost without taking the abilities of the user into account. For example, Haname would still be C-Rank even in Moeka's hands, who's pretty much completely inept as a Kido user. However in Ryuu's case, his synchonization with his Zanpakuto is so poor that it actually detracts from the overall release!

Then holy fuck is Haname good. A C shikai is handling a B- shikai dayumn man. I mean it took a cero to the face but still.

Oh so B- is the overall quality of the zanpakuto, it doesnt take into account how much has the user tapped of that, gotchu.

Wait are power and energy cost pretty much directly proportional?

You would assume so

I dont know who was that had Haname but we should totally send the gal some gift or something. That fucking shikai is bestest.

Also mushroom is the pastebin wrong? It says shikai??? and we already know it's the armory.

It was Hikari from the academy.

What's funny is that Moeka didn't recognize the shield despite being Hikari's friend, and Ryuu won't recognize it either despite being in the Academy with us.

In fact was he with us in the living world when the hollow attacked and we first saw Haname?

Those are just copies of other zanpakuto, we haven't made contact with our own yet

Technically we don't know our "true" name, if we havr one, and all we have are copies. Though honestly I feel that n/a would be more applicable than ???.

Well the academy is explained easy since shikais are not usually released in that tier right? Most guys graduate with no shikai, that's enough to land an officer seat if I'm not making this up in my head so maybe she didnt get a release after that and probably Ryuu didnt see any of that.

Now Moeka I dont have any clue because you would think they would've shared the fact that they released their shikai. Maybe she lost contact or something? Iunno man.

Inb4 our release is unlimited blade works and I just fucking jizz 10 buckets.

Nah we don't have Unlimited Blade Works, that's Clarissa's power.

Foregoing an incantation, you call out the spell's name, pointing at Ryuu to mark him as the target. A red glow coats his skin, the Kido pinning down his spiritual being. The fighter of the 11th is locked into place. You pull Haname back, and Judenmaru's advance ceases, held back by its wielder.

The red haired Shinigami curses, struggling against the pressure of your binding magic. His muscles remain tense in defiance, but his scowl gives way to a look of casual frustration; instead of being fearful, he's annoyed.

Perhaps Kido isn't a common tactic in his Division. That's why he's not used to fighting someone who can both use Kido and defend himself while using it. But maybe it doesn't have much to do with his Division. This shield of light negates the risks of casting spells in the heat of battle - and with those downsides removed, Kido can be utilized not as just a situational tool, but as a main fighting style.

Ryuu lets off a grunt, his spiritual body pushing against the spell. The grunt escalates into a furious roar. The red glow flickers, straining against the opposing force. It's a low level spell, but it still isn't a joke. Not only will it take time, but it will cause him harm when he does manage to break out.

You think you have enough energy left to cast a few more spells. But would that be necessary? Would he see reason if you point out that he's already lost?

...

>Use Hado #33. Power it up with an incantation.
>Use Hado #33 without an incantation.
>Pummel him barehanded.
>Seal Haname and tell Ryuu that he's lost.
>Other. (Write-in).

>Use Hado #33. Power it up with an incantation.

I dont think he's gonna admit defeat until he's down.

Use Sai to bind him even more and then disarm him?

>>Pummel him barehanded.
What no go in for the kill, coup de grace this little shit!

Quick question dudes
Should we use #33?
Thanks.

Supporting this nvm Double bakudo I think he'll probably give up, can only hope he will.

I changed my mind, we should do non-lethal take down. Sai is good enough to deter him from continuing the fight.

It's obvious he aint gonna admit defeat so it's just a matter of how do we do a non-lethal takedown.

Why is everybody so keen on a non-lethal takedown?
Can we at least chop off his sword arm?

For what purpose would we hurt the guy? He's not an enemy, he just wanted to test the waters. I mean it's common in that division to be a fighting maniac.

Why would we murder this guy? He's the closest thing to a friend we have.

>>Use Hado #33. Power it up with an incantation.

And even friend might be stretching it. Man we fucking suck at social links, if this were a persona quest we would be the fucking worse fool in the history of fools.

Even if he won't, given his rank E SPI, he'll tire out before we do, especially if we dispell Haname.

Also with Sai his endurance is reduced 1 rank which means when he breaks out he's gonna fucking get hurt.

Voting over, writing!

Uh. Isnt there a quest board now?

You cast another spell, piling another invisible force onto Ryuu's shoulders. Perhaps his body is already strained to the point where he couldn't feel it, as he presses on against Geki, soon violently forcing his way out of the spell. You don't expect you could have taken his weapon while he was like that, so you kept to Haname's safety.

Ryuu stumbles back, enduring the shock of your broken spell. That's when you dash in and grab his Zanpakuto, pushing him further back with a free hand to knock him off his feet and disarm him. The red haired fighter plants his foot into the ground with unexpected tenacity and thrusts his head forward, counter-attacking with a headbutt.

This time it's you who has to stumble back, blood dripping out of your nose. Ryuu regains hold of his weapon and swings it at your head like a club, but you leap to the side. Although battered and clearly exhausted, Ryuu uses the brief pause to reassume a proper stance. It seems that he still intends to fight.

But this should be fine. He's still weighed down by Bakudo #1. He can't break through Haname, not right away. You don't think he's in any state to flank you, either.

"What an annoying fighting style." The Shinigami suddenly says. "That's the exact kind of crap I was hoping to avoid dealing with when joinin' the 11th." He plants the blunt end of his spear into the grassy earth. Has he given up? His eyes once again show annoyance instead of bloodlust. "But you're just messing around with me, aren't ya? There's no way what you've showed me so far could've stopped a Menos. If this much could do it, then they're not as scary as people say. Did you block the Cero with your Shikai? Is it really that much tougher than it looks?"

(1/2)

Ryuu regards the barrier of light with a suspicious gaze. He shakes his head.

"There's no way. As I've said, this can't be all. I bet you're not showing me everything just cause there's no need to show it; like I don't need the same kinda force that you'd need against a Menos. I know you don't give a shit about it, but that kinda attitude really pisses me off, Ryouta." Having said that, he grips his spear properly, preparing himself for more. "...I'll prove it to you. I'll prove that you couldn't have taken a Cero and survived. I'll break that damn shield with my next attack."

You really don't think that his next attack could be any worse than his very first one. He must be at his limit. Maybe he knows that, too.

...

>Try to talk him out of continuing the fight.
>Raise Haname, let him try.
>Steal the initiative with another Kido.
>Other. (Write-in).

>Raise Haname, let him try.
>Steal the initiative with another Kido.
Hado #4 repeatedly

>Try to talk him out of continuing the fight.
Reaching the level I did with the menos has a terrible cost. I don't mean any disrespect by not using it on you.

>Try and talk him out of it
"It was able to block the cero though only for a couple seconds. That bought be enough time to, effectively, 'cheat' using something that could be described as dangerous, experimental, and classified, which is why you couldn't find any records of my presence, but instead I assume you had an eyewitness account?

In any case, I didnt imply I repelled the Cero on the basis of reiatsu."

>Try to talk him out of continuing the fight.
A spar is not the same as a life or death situation, and even if you manage to bring yourself to try and kill me with all that you have I still wouldnt be able to treat you like an enemy, can we stop this or are you gonna keep trying until one of us gets hurt?

Voting over, writing!

Maybe we could do that thing where we boost Haname's rank for one action at the cost of it breaking afterwards?

I dont think he'd even be convinced until we fucking drop him, I'm hoping we managed to stop this before shit gets outta control.

Shit, I'm worried that trying to talk our way out of it will make him upset and forgot we could boost our Zanpakuto copies. Like we need people we can hang out with and I don't think this will impress him.

I dont think he'd be impressed with a boosted copy honestly. He's gonna keep crying about how we could never beat a menos even after seeing that we could've blowed up his ass if we wanted to.

I mean we didn't beat a Menos just endured it. Something we wouldn't have done without Analytical Mind rank B, which I don't really want to use again even if considering how easy it was undone last time, maybe I'm too nervous? At the least it would make our post fight speech with Ryuu more awkward

I really dont want to analytical mind rank B, that's like last-resort I'm gonna get murdered tier.

I kind of wish we could tell someone the truth but I don't see how.

First we'd need to make a friend, and yeah you're right, that's a hard one considering we're so dull everytime we visit someone they go "uh... do I know you?". I have no idea how someone as deadpan as our MC could really connect with somebody.

Hanae seems indebted to us so she could be a good start

Sounds like it could be worth a try, but I swear to god if she goes "uh who are you" when we visit I'm just gonna fucking activate protocol omega.

I feel like your concern is irrational. People have sought us out pretty consistently.

Like Ryuu, Moeka, Hanae, two sword guy, even crossbow guy wanted to meet with us despite us never being introduced.

We saved half of those people's lives.

And I'm sure half of them forgot about us already.

"Sorry, I can't really show you how I stopped the Menos." You tell him outright. Ryuu remains still, so you think you have his attention. "I used something that was dangerous, experimental, and classified, and all it allowed me to do was stall for time until I could escape."

"...Experimental? So it was some kinda invention? Is that what you're saying?" His voice takes up a disappointed tone. When you say that you can't talk about it, it seems to suffice for him as confirmation.

"I never meant any disrespect by not using that on you."

Ryuu lowers his spear, tension slowly leaving his body. He seems to ponder something for a short while, a hand on his hip."...I guess I shoulda known that you didn't mean any disrespect. I kinda did. From what you've told me, you don't really mean anything with what you do. Not that it doesn't piss me off, but... that's not really the point..." He heaves the rusted Shikai onto his shoulder. "I guess if you had a way to get rid of me quickly, you'd have used it by now. After all, you don't really care, do you? It's not like there are any witnesses here, so secrecy's not the point. If you had that on hand, whatever it is, you'd probably experiment it on me, wouldn't ya? Isn't that how you fellows in the 12th do things?"

(1/2)

That's pretty cold, dude. I thought we were trusted acquaintances.

Ryuu lets off a sigh. "Nevermind. Y'know... I have no idea how to deal with someone like you. Knowing that I did it just fine before you told me the truth doesn't make it any easier, either. It was creepy knowing that everything we did was like talking to a doll or a mirror or something. The more I thought about it, the more creeped out I felt." He shakes his head, placing the spear across his shoulders.

"Honestly, I don't know what to think of you. I'm not good at reading people, but in your case, there's nothing to read at all, right? So you're completely unpredictable no matter what. No one can ever guess what you're thinkin'. You're not kept together by honor or love or any other crap like that, like everybody else is. So how can anyone trust you? And knowing that some people don't even have a clue about it makes me feel disgusted. It's pretty damn scary. At the same time, it's not like you chose to be this way... so just what the hell am I supposed to think here? Those kinds of hoops also piss me off. Why's it so damn hard for things to just be straightforward for a change?"

The grassy field grows silent. The reddish spear flickers with pale light and returns to its katana form. "...Anyway, I put it as bluntly as I could for you, so if you still don't get my problem with ya, well, I can't do better than that." Ryuu pauses again. After a shake of the head, he slowly walks towards the discarded black sheath, mumbling something along the way. "...Guess that's that. Honestly, if I knew it was you, I wouldn't have gotten worked up about it at all..."

...

>"I think I've been getting better lately."
>"Using the thing I've talked about actually makes my condition worse."
>"What do you mean, you wouldn't have gotten worked up about it?"
>Quietly let him leave.
>Other. (Write-in).

>>"I think I've been getting better lately."
>>"Using the thing I've talked about actually makes my condition worse."

>"I think I've been getting better lately."
>"Using the thing I've talked about actually makes my condition worse."

"You're missing a key element, Ryuu. I blocked the Cero. There was no guarantee I'd survive doing so, indeed the odds were against me. But I couldn't leave Hanae behind. Regardless of what else I am, being a shinigami is one of the few things I chose."

Voting over, writing!

"Urahara chose me to do one specific task, and all but ordered me to leave immediately when whatever I was sent to investigate proved unrelated to that task. And yet on almost every mission, the shinigami I've been partnered with was placed in mortal danger, and every time I've placed myself at risk to help them. I'm... Not very good at recognizing my own emotions and I know that that is the bare minimum of what would be expected of a shinigami... But... It's not nothing, is it?"

Damnit, I took too long to write my post. Does anyone else think it'd work, or is it too emotive?

>Other. (Write-in).
You know I wish I could feel rage right now about what you said. I wish I could get worked up at you spitting at everything I've worked on for the past god knows how many months. I wish I could feel sad because the closest thing I have to a friend thinks I'm a fucking creep or a doll with no feelings at all.

But at the end of the day, I can't feel any of that. I guess you're right, Ryuu, you can't hurt someone without feelings. Maybe I should just give up and be the monster you want me to be, maybe that'd be straightforward enough for you.

That'd make two of us. I still posted it in case mushrooms wants to add it in.

>MushroomS

THEY'RE MULTIPLYING

I'm not sure about that one. Like it comes across as incredibly passive aggressive.

Iunno I just wanted to tell him he's an asshole but if it dont work well it dont work.

Eh. We really haven't given him any reason to think we're not dead inside and we're the ones who told him in the first place.

Still is pretty fucking rude man. We're working on it and he himself said we didnt chose to be like this and he still says shit like "I'm disgusted" and whatnot. That's pretty awful man.

Still there's a better way to phrase it. Like we can be annoyed at Moeka so we can be mad at this guy, no need to make this pic literal.

Like I don't know, it seems like you're more mad at Mushroom than Ryuu, if that makes sense.

On the whole, I don't think there's any way we can trust this guy knowing what we really are.

Also we should totally check on two swords guy to see if he killed himself attemtping to rebel yet.

Well now I'm really worried. Like even if Ryuu doesn't seem like that great a friend, this delay makes me concerned that we just made things much worse.

"Actually... I think I've been getting better lately."

Ryuu crouches down to pick his sheath off the ground. He slides the blade into the scabbard and sets it onto his shoulder, his back turned away. You continue.

"I don't really know how to explain it. I think it's been starting to feel easier to make choices that are right. Not 'right' from the perspective of being correct or efficient; some of the decisions I made were probably the worst choices I could have made at the time in those regards. But even so... they still felt 'right'. Even though they clearly weren't, they didn't feel wrong when I went through with them."

"...Like when you used the dangerous, experimental, classified thing to save that girl?" He asks with a hint of irony, placing a hand on his hip.

"I still can't tell you what it is, but it... makes my condition worse. That's why I didn't use it in our battle. Unless I felt that I absolutely needed to do it... I'd never use it." With just his back facing you, it's hard to tell what Ryuu might be thinking right now. "I do wish I was different. If there was a way, I'd go through with it without a doubt. But as you've said, my situation is not something that can be helped. But... that's also why I can't help but at least try. I can't tell how successful I've been so far. If you don't think there's anything different about me, then I must not have made any progress at all. But even so, I'm going to keep trying. I don't intend to stop until I get it right."

Once again, the field grows silent. Ryuu doesn't reply for a while.

"It makes it worse, you say... If something can get worse, that obviously means it can get better, too, don't it? So... you're saying that it's something that can just get better, Ryouta? You really think so? I ain't no expert, but I seriously doubt things like that can just happen on their own..."

(1/2)

"...But then again, if there's one thing you can afford not to care about, it's me. You've got a family, after all. Your mother believes in you. If you just make yourself right before she catches on, then it's as if there was no problem in the first place, right? So who the hell cares what someone like me thinks when you have more important things to worry about? You can get yourself a friend any day, a friend who's miles better than me, but family's not something that you can just find at a bar. So don't lose it. Don't let some unrelated asshole discourage you and just keep doing what you think is right. Hell, that's what all humans do. And a lot of Shinigami, too. That's probably one of the most human things about us."

He lowers his scabbard and ties it to his belt.

"If there really is a way, then whatever it is, effort, invention, or even a fuckin' miracle, you should keep trying for it. Whatever it takes, it's gonna be worth it for sure."

A miracle. Perhaps that's really what it might take. It's not that the thought hadn't crossed your mind before... but what about the Hogyoku? Hasn't the Captain referred to it as the wish-granting orb? Could it grant your wish, too? Would it even recognize your wish, considering what you are? The Captain said it needs to be destroyed right away... would even such a small exception be too much?

Perhaps it's something to speak with him about. Or perhaps you shouldn't bother; maybe altogether, or maybe just yet.

Having said everything he wanted to say, the red haired Shinigami waves and takes his leave. "Farewell, Ryouta."

His goodbye sounded rather final. But more than that, it sounded regretful.

...

>Talk to Shiori about your origins.
>Talk to Urahara about the Hogyoku.
>Talk to Miyu about her origins.
>Keep training with Hikari for a while longer; let the peaceful days continue.
>Other. (Write-in).

I really don't like this at all Mushroom! All of these options seem like they have massive red flags and yet I have no idea what could actually help.

Like this isn't fun at all!

>Talk to Hanae in private, see if you can confide in her.

I guess?

>Keep training with Hikari for a while longer; let the peaceful days continue.

Also by this I don't mean the quest as a whole, more just where we are now. Like you're even tempting us with something that we know isn't actually an option.

>Talk to Shiori about your origins.
Time for best mom!

I mean she is the best mom, but I'm worried that telling her we're not a real boy will just put her through more grief that she doesn't deserve.

She already knows what's wrong with us, she'd want to know the root of the problem and she's the best person to talk to about it.

I guess I just feel like despite what we talked about last week, all we did was make things worse again and actually burned one of our social links because... we didn't finish the fight or something? Like I legitimately do not think we can figure out how to get out of this hole on our own.

Why would we talk to Hanae about it? We barely know her and she barely knows us.

But do we tell her everything, including how being a person might kill us? And that we might have actually made ourselves worse over time when we boosted Analytical Mind from D to C+?

Because she's very private and is already at "Will die for you" tier.

>Talk to Shiori about your origins.

What's the best that can accomplish beyond her being really sad but saying she still loves us with traces of hesitancy in her voice?

Our analytical mind increased but we've also gotten more emotional at the same time due to our choices.

We can say we've made progress despite our origin. She'd want to be kept up to date on our condition and know about what we are. She only cares about ryouta as he is now, she won't get all depressed by finding out his origin.

I don't know, Ryuu seems to think we should fix ourselves before Shiori catches on to what we really are, and we're just doing the opposite of that?

It just seems like a mistake.

We can tell her about how Miyu's cuteness helped us somehow and it might help her think of more ways like that to help us. I think talking to Shiori about it is the best way for Ryouta to improve.

Even if it kills him? Remember that stupid bomb Urahara dropped in Ryouta, as if we didn't have enough problems?