fandomhigh | Building a Better Fighter [Week 4, Period 5]; Thursday 06/07

Heyyyy, Kenpachi wasn't looking nearly as battered and bandaged up as he usually did when he came lumbering into the Danger Shop. He, however, did not see this is a good thing. HAnds behind his back, Yachiru on his shoulder, he paced in front of the students as he talked.

"Weapons," he said. "Nothing more than a tool, like a fork, a wrench, a pulley. I've noticed that many of you use weapons; I, myself, have a sword." At this point, Kenpachi reached behind him; the rough, broken edges of his long katana scratched against the scabbard as he pulled it out, the brittle teeth making sounds not unlike fingernails down a chalkboard. He grinned maliciously as he held it out in front of him, took a moment to run his tongue along the jagged edge, savouring the taste of blood for a moment. "Most warriors will tell you how important it is to maintain your weapon, how important it is to maintain a relationship with a weapon. That the warrior and the weapon are one whole, that they share a bond, that together they can fight to be stronger."

With a dramatic shout that would definitely wake up anyone who'd been dozing off, he jammed the sword into the floor of the Danger Shop's faux dojo. The thin weapon waggled back and forth from the release of pressure as he left it there. "I say that's rubbish. I prefer to use a sword not because I feel a special connection with it. You can see that I don't even take care of my sword. But it still cuts. That's the important part. It is a tool to assist us. As long as it does its job, that's all that matters."

"Now." With a grunt, Kenpachi pulled the sword back out of the floor and rested it on his shoulder. His other one, not the one with Yachiru on it. "Today, we're going to talk. Disagree with me? Fine. Whatever. Agree with me? Good. And after the discussion has hopefully gotten us riled up...we're going to play. After the discussion, there is a ridiculous amount of any weapon imaginable that you can play with. Try something new; see how other tools work. If you're used to a sword, pick up a boomerang. If you're used to a gun, which, might I add, is a weapon I loathe more than anything else, try an axe. Try a freakin' spoon, for all I care. Just try something different. There are practise dummies to work against. Or, if you're feeling really bold..." Kenpachi flashed them all his trademark grin of insanity. "I offer myself as someone to try your new tools on."

[[ ~~please wait for the~~ ridiculously OCD OCD is up! My original plans didn't pan out, so this class is a little different from the syllabus. Just a little. No Voltron frogs, woe. Also, if you haven't yet, please sign into the abilities list. ]]

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"Do you know what these black robes that I wear signify?"

"No. Should i?" Ami was sure that in Kenpachi's case, they were probably signifying that he killed lots of people.

No, that was what his name was for.

"It means I am Shinigami," Kenpachi told her. "You're Japanese, so you should recognize that as a death god. A soul reaper. My ilk and I are responsible for the carting of souls from one world to the next. And, in all my thousands of years as a Shinigami, I have never once heard of the transporting of the soul of an object....If everything has a soul, girl, what happens to those souls of object? Don't you think a death god would be able to know what has a soul and what doesn't?"

Ami stared at him for a moment. But she was a smart one and recovered quickly. With a shrug she said "Maybe things have different spirits. Maybe spirits are different form souls. Maybe your world is just that different from everyone else's." She thought for a moment. "Maybe the spirits of objects do not need your help."

"What does that say about mortals, then, that they do need help?" Kenpachi countered back with a grin. "Pathetic, Dependant little creatures. Need the assistance of religion to handle their souls, need the assistance of weapons to feel strong. Need the company of someone else to make them feel validated. And, in all that dependence on other things, other people, they forget that the only thing they can be dependent on..." Here, Kenpachi paused. The grin was gone from his face; his expression might actually be brimming on sincere. "is yourself. If you are not strong, if there isn't strength from within you, what makes you think that the strength of a person, a weapon, an external idea, is going to be enough to hold you up?"

"It won't" Ami said simply. "But it will help." she expected his first words, about the weakness of humans. She did not expect he last.

Kenpachi observed the girl for a moment longer. "Help, yes," he agreed. "But we should never allow ourselves to take that sort of help for granted; it might not always be there."

"It will definitely not be there if we are not good to that which may aid us."

Kenpachi rolled his eye. "You're quite a one-track record, you know that? Thousands of years with this sword, and I've only lost one battle, girl. I don't think it cares if I treat it well or not, seeing as I still manage to kill my man."

"Maybe. though i have to ask. If others want to take care of their weapons, why d you protest so much? It is not as if anyone is trying to get you to do it."

"Did I protest?" Kenpachi asked her pointedly. "Or did I simply voice my opinion and explain why I believe as I do? If I have protested, it is just because, when I meet with someone, I want to battle them, not their weapon. I find it annoying when a good fighter hides behind a weapon."

"What about a bad one?"

Kenpachi gave Ami a look like she should know this one already. "Shouldn't even be fighting."

"I suppose." she did not agree but did not feel like she wanted to have this argument. "So... why are you teaching here? I mean everyone starts out bad and get better, but you dislike bad fighters so much, why in theory surround yourself with them?"

"Actually, the majority of your classmates are excellent fighters," Kenpachi informed her, a touch annoyed that it would seem that someone he felt was at the bottom tier of the class wouldn't be paying attention to the efforts of her peers. "However, being here is not by my own choice. Since this is a discussion on weapons and not my personal life, Miss Mizuno, I suggest you move along to playing with the weapons."

Ami shrugged. "Sure thing." At least he hadn't made her cry this time.

Building a Better Fighter [Week 4, Period 5]; Thursday 06/07

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