Makoto yearned for a quiet life.
From childhood, he'd seen himself as a man of few desires.
No strife, no greed, no grasping.
In the eyes of others, the things they prized, wealth, affection, status, power, knowledge, held little weight in his heart as if they were mere trifles.
Once, in the throes of his chuunibyou phase, he'd fancied himself destined to live out his days in such serene detachment.
But then, like glimpsing the Mona Lisa's boobs shadowed form in an art gallery...
The moment he first gripped his own little dragon...
Everything changed.
Makoto discovered, for the first time, that he harbored desires as ugly and fierce as those of the "common folk" he'd once judged.
No... fiercer still!
Far fiercer!
Yet all of it had remained cloaked beneath his understated, untainted exterior, hidden so well that no one ever suspected.
Until this moment, facing his own heart.
He could hide no longer.
How absurd, though.
In battle, the very desire that should've been his weakness had become his trump card.
Makoto lifted his head slowly, his gaze sweeping over the little imp standing on the white sand beach, clad only in a children's swimsuit. His eyes roamed, and a chilling, predatory grin crept across his face.
"Careful now."
The gremlin zanpakuto froze.
In an instant, her body, muscles, nerves, and every fiber, tensed like a rubber band stretched to its limit. A visceral sense of impending doom surged within her.
The next second...
Makoto's form vanished from her sight.
Neither wind nor sound could match his speed.
Her danger sense screamed to its peak as she halted, sword raised. Her pupils shrank under the Flawless Circle narrowing into twin black pinpricks.
In a heartbeat, time seemed to stall.
Her eyes locked onto the blade hovering inches from her neck.
The phantom sting of torn skin, the dread of defeat at Makoto's hands and the grim fate that might follow stole her usual quips. With a desperate swing, she countered.
"Second Form - Revised Silent Stream!"
Unruly Reiatsu flared outward, casting wavering shadows around her. Using the brief cover, she slashed, aiming to disrupt Makoto's relentless advance.
But his speed eclipsed her wildest guesses!
Before her blade could graze his chest, a sharp sidestep-kick rocketed toward her abdomen.
Short arms against long legs!
Boom!
A violent burst of Reiatsu exploded at her midsection, hurling her spinning through the air. She crashed into the sand with a muffled thud, a plume of dust spiraling upward, obscuring the scene.
Before she could catch her breath, Makoto leaped high, a charged overhead slash arcing down with blinding sword pressure.
Clang!
She thrust her blade upward to meet it. The impact jolted her hands, her grip trembling. Her bare feet sank into the sand with a boom, kicking up waves of dust. Within a ten-meter radius, the beach collapsed into a massive crater, the sand cascading under the relentless force.
Her voice erupted in a litany of complaints.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
"This cheating's way too obvious!"
"How long has it been since you last handled your personal issues, you jerk?!"
"Shut up!"
Makoto's roar cut her off.
His eyes gleamed with vivid pink heart-shaped glints.
"Do you have any idea how much effort I've poured into maintaining a respectable image for humanity?!"
"To avoid a socially fatal meltdown, I've struggled every day, every day, every day!"
"Striving to be Unohana-sensei's dutiful disciple!"
"The Genji School's shining talent!"
"Kirio-chan's gentle brother!"
"But you... you…"
With a roar of unbridled fury, Makoto twisted his blade. The two swords scraped across each other in midair, their edges sparking. Guided by his raw strength, he wrenched her weapon aside with a sharp bang.
A kick slammed into her shoulder, followed by a reverse-kesa slash.
His escalating power and rapidly honing technique intertwined, forcing her into a frantic retreat. Terror crept across her face.
In that moment, she felt the weight of Makoto's obsession and perhaps grasped how her constant, unrestrained chatter had sown chaos in his daily life.
The intensity of that emotion seemed to pool and erupt in her chest, burdening her with mounting pressure and a deep, gnawing guilt.
But then Makoto's voice spiked higher.
"And yet you dared to sneak off alone, living it up in every culture movie I've ever watched, wallowing in decadence day after day!"
"It's just..."
"I'm so jealous!!"
Her taut expression shattered.
Makoto swung relentlessly, driving the imp back with anguished cries, "Do you even get how hard it's been, holding it all in, in a Soul Society without a single doujin or hentai?!"
"Two years... two whole years!"
"I didn't even abstain this long when I followed the No Nut November!"
"And you... you've got balls to yap in my ear every damn day!"
"Tempting me to slip up with your nonstop chatter!"
By now, the hearts in his eyes had doubled, twin layers pulsing.
His strength and speed surged yet again.
The gremlin caught his gaze, faltering for a split second before her face screamed I'm screwed.
"Huh?!… Wait!"
In that brief lapse, Makoto's blade flicked upward with surgical precision.
The deflected edge grazed her slender wrist, a sting loosening her grip.
Her sword flew, spinning through the air before stabbing into the white sand with a soft puff.
Hands empty, she froze, collapsing onto her rear.
Makoto advanced, blade extended, a feral grin splitting his face.
The white-haired imp, twin sock charms dangling at her temples, forced a placating smile onto her cute features.
"Makoto-sama."
"I-I'm your beloved Zanpakutō, right?"
"And really, I'm the truest part of you, pent up for decades!"
"At our core, we're on the same side, yeah?"
"So, uh, uh…"
She bared her teeth in an awkward grimace, "Heh... can we call it even?!"
"I'll hand over my share of the power right now."
Makoto rested his blade against her neck, his voice soft and warm as he countered.
"Right here, right now?"
"You're not joking, right?"
His tone sharpened as he leaned down, locking eyes with her.
"Hey!"
"Look into my eyes."
The instant their gazes met...
The faint pink halo lingering in her pupils shattered.
It reformed into twin hearts, mirroring his own.
'Oh, crap.'
'I'm in for a serious reckoning.'
That ominous thought flickered through her mind in her final moment.
Meanwhile, the surrounding "girlfriends" broke into harmonious smiles, a picture of societal bliss.
In that instant, only one question lingered in Makoto's heart.
If he forcibly subdued the lustful demon in his heart, would that mean he'd triumphed over desire or succumbed to it?
…
When Makoto stepped off that white sand beach, a simple, archaic wooden plaque rested in his hand.
One character adorned it, Yuseiboushi.[1]
In that same breath, the scene before him shifted into a tranquil mountain valley.
A small lake glimmered at its base.
The lie-weaving girl he'd last seen in a theater sat by the water's edge, a fishing rod propped before her. She cradled a manga book, glancing at the lake only now and then.
Her red bucket sat empty.
A seasoned air force commander.
Noticing Makoto's approach, she closed her manga with a faint look of surprise, a soft chuckle escaping her lips.
"I thought you'd linger back there a bit longer."
"Didn't expect you to show up this soon."
"What's this?"
"No interest in that little pervert?"
"Didn't you used to love those raunchy scripts?"
Makoto didn't reply immediately to the voice drifting from across the lake. Instead, he regarded her with measured caution.
He might not be a Saint Seiya, but having been burned once before, he wasn't about to let it happen twice.
The rule here… was it that lies were forbidden?
Makoto spoke evenly, "Compared to that sex-obsessed idiot, I'd rather earn your approval right now."
The girl nodded calmly, her expression one of complete understanding.
Then, with a casual flick, she tossed him another wooden plaque.
Makoto blinked, catching it reflexively.
One simple character graced this one as well.
[Sokushinteigi][2]
She waved him off with an airy gesture, unconcerned, "There you go, my power's yours now."
"Don't just stand there, you'll scare off the fish."
"Huh?"
Makoto hadn't fully processed it yet.
This time, it was that easy?
As if reading his thoughts, the girl offered an offhand explanation, "If that little fool represents the 'id' of your 'total subconscious,' then I suppose I'm the 'ego' of your 'conscious reality.'"
"Since you've already embraced the stuff swirling in your head, and your Reiatsu's up to par, I've got no reason to give you a hard time."
A sly glint flashed in her eyes as she tilted her head, smirking, "Say… you're not planning to pull some weird rope tricks on me, are you?"
"Or maybe Makoto-kun's out for revenge from last time?"
Makoto exhaled sharply, his tone dry, "If nothing's wrong, all the better!"
"I'd love it if you just handed over my Shikai right now."
"Sure, sure~"
She giggled, brushing off his mild grumbling with ease.
As he turned to leave, she piped up with a casual reminder.
"Oh, right!"
"Though the last piece is something you can't claim with your current strength, I'll give you a heads-up anyway."
Sprawling back in her chair with her manga, she murmured as if it were an afterthought. "Don't forget your true heart, okay?"
"Makoto-kun."
---
[1] Yuseiboushi means Living Idly and Dying As If Dreaming.
[2] Sokushinteigi: Binding Truth, Fixing Falsehood.
[3] In Freudian psychology, the id, ego, and superego are the three core components of the personality. The id is the primitive, instinctual part, driven by pleasure and seeking immediate gratification. The ego mediates between the id and the outside world, operating on the reality principle. The superego represents the internalized moral standards and values, acting as a conscience.
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Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
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