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Late at night, two figures moved slowly down a moonlit trail. More accurately, one figure carried the other on his back—Su Li, hauling an unconscious, wine-reeking Sui-Feng, sighed under his breath.
She had insisted on tagging along, despite not knowing how to hold her liquor. He figured she'd sip some juice, sit back quietly, and enjoy the evening. Instead, she picked a fight with Rangiku Matsumoto the moment drinks hit the table. When Rangiku raised her glass to toast Su Li, Sui-Feng blocked her, declaring that anyone who wished to honor her captain would have to go through her first.
The men in the tavern were left speechless. What followed was a drinking contest between two of the Gotei 13's most unrelenting women. Rangiku, a seasoned drinker, fought with fluid grace. Sui-Feng, all pride and defiance, drank like a soldier going to war. But pride couldn't beat experience. She dropped after thirty shots, face red, limbs limp—and still clinging stubbornly to Rangiku's collar to block her path.
The tavern exploded into cheers. Even the toughest Shinigami had never seen anyone drink like that, let alone a woman who had never touched sake before. Had it been anyone else, they'd already be in emergency care.
With Sui-Feng out cold, Su Li saw no point in lingering. He bid farewell to Shunsui and the others and left, Sui-Feng slumped over his shoulder like a shrimp flushed pink.
She murmured nonsense through hiccups, the scent of alcohol heavy in the air. Su Li shook his head. "If she wanted to show respect, just let Rangiku toast me. Why did she have to compete like that? It's not a business dinner."
He walked slowly, venting his frustrations to the night. In his previous life, he'd suffered under toxic drinking culture and loathed it. In this life, he had vowed to stay free of it. And now, of all people, Sui-Feng had dragged him back into it.
But what he didn't understand was that Sui-Feng wasn't thinking of drinking culture at all. She simply didn't want to see him drink with another woman. Her defiance was less about sake, more about declaring her claim.
"More... I can still drink... Don't let her... hic..." she mumbled, nestling her face into his neck like a sleepy cat. "So warm... This chair feels amazing... I love it..."
Su Li rolled his eyes. "Chair, huh? Drunk beyond reason."
Under the silver moonlight, a boy carried a girl through the quiet night, the image soft, romantic—unlike what stirred on the other side of Soul Society.
---
Rukongai, North Street, District 80—the most lawless, violent slum in all the Soul Society.
A tall man sprinted through its twisted alleys, a small girl perched on his shoulder. Zaraki Kenpachi, followed closely by Kusajishi Yachiru, moved like a predator hunting prey.
"You sure this is the right way, Yachiru?"
"Definitely, Kenny! Su Li has to be here!"
Kenpachi scanned the crumbling surroundings. "Looks familiar... but why would that guy come to a dump like this to drink?"
"Don't doubt me, Kenny! I have a perfect sense of direction!"
Kenpachi clicked his tongue, fists clenching. "Damn brat. Didn't say a word when he got out. Now we have to chase him halfway across the world."
Despite his grumbling, his heart burned with anticipation. It had been forty years. He needed to know how strong Su Li had become. Yachiru was just as eager. The moment they heard Su Li was out of retreat, they left to find him—but, as always, their combined sense of direction betrayed them.
They had wandered out of Seireitei, through the entire Rukongai, and now stumbled into the very edge of civilization.
"Well, well, what do we have here?"
Wretched laughter echoed from the shadows. Dozens of thugs emerged from the ruins, eyes glinting with greed.
"Look at those robes. Gotei officers, maybe? And the girl's kinda cute... heh heh..."
"Yo, she's mine!"
In District 80, these ambushes weren't just common—they were law. Murder and theft thrived under the moonlight, and every stranger was either predator or prey.
Zaraki didn't flinch. Instead, recognition flickered in his eye. "Ah... I remember this place now." He exhaled with something between nostalgia and contempt. This was where he had grown up. This was his home: Zaraki District.
Yachiru blinked. "Oops... maybe Su Li's not here after all..."
Of course he wasn't. No sane person would choose to drink in this pit.
Kenpachi looked at the scum surrounding them with utter boredom. "Well, if I can't fight Su Li, I guess I'll warm up with you."
Bloodlust exploded in his eyes. In a flash, he vanished. Screams followed.
Arms flew. Heads rolled. Blood painted the ground.
The older thugs, veterans of violence, suddenly remembered. That monstrous pressure, that mad gleam—they had seen it before.
"It's him!"
"The Killer Star of Zaraki District!"
"Run! RUN!!"
But it was far, far too late.
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