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A week slipped by in the blink of an eye.
Late at night, the courtyard lay quiet.
Su Li sat on the worn wooden steps, letting the cool night breeze dry the sweat on his skin. His training had resumed, though not for the sake of strength—his current power was already enough to crush most foes. Instead, training had become his shield against the relentless nagging of Aunt Inoue. Whenever she began circling around the subject of marriage, Su Li would vanish into practice, pretending focus, pretending exhaustion. It was the only way to silence her endless talk.
"Quack..."
A round-bellied frog hopped to his side, rubbing against his thigh with lazy familiarity.
Su Li chuckled and scooped the creature into his palms.
"Frog cub, frog cub... look at you now. Practically an adult."
The frog croaked in reply, heavier in his hands than memory. When it first appeared decades ago, it had been a frail little thing, scrawny and ordinary, always hungry, always scampering. Now it was plump, glossy, and wide-eared, its skin slick with the sheen of indulgence. Greasy, even.
Forty years had left no mark on Su Li's body, but the frog bore the burden of every one of them. And the reasons were simple. First: its bottomless appetite. It devoured anything he placed before it. Its traveler's instincts might have been in its blood, but gluttony was its true inheritance. Second: in the later years of seclusion, the frog had barely traveled at all.
Su Li had discovered, purely by accident, that as long as he didn't press the "travel" option on his system, the frog would remain by his side indefinitely. No wandering through strange worlds. No returns with rare skills. Just quiet companionship. For the first ten years, Su Li had let it roam, collecting techniques and strange arts that broadened his arsenal. But eventually the weight of too many abilities to refine became suffocating. So he halted the frog's journeys altogether. There would be time for more later, once he mastered what he had.
Now, the once sprightly traveler was a sluggish gourmand, croaking with a voice thicker, lazier, almost like a spoiled shut-in.
Su Li smirked to himself. If you traveled now, fat one, would you even make it out the gate before needing a rest?
He set the frog down.
"Go on. Feed yourself. Have enough food and clothing through your own effort."
The frog sprang off happily toward the worm box, croaking its thanks.
Su Li's gaze softened. In this strange Shinigami world, where strength, hierarchy, and death defined every relationship, two bonds alone had been constant: Aunt Inoue's care, and this frog's presence. The frog was family, as vital in its way as ZanpakutĹŤ or blood.
Which was why Su Li spoiled it mercilessly. The worm box never ran empty; plump grubs were always waiting. He was both caretaker and culprit, fattening it into the lump it had become.
After a time, Su Li reached for the blade at his side. His hand slid along the clean edge, eyes reflecting its sheen.
"Eggy," he murmured softly, "how much longer are you going to sleep...?"
The ZanpakutĹŤ remained silent.
"You've been out for a week. Lazy sheep and sheep can't even sleep this long..."
No answer. Only the cool, patient weight of steel.
Su Li sighed.
Of all the powers he held, it was this sword he valued most. Techniques stolen from countless worlds filled his body, enough to make him a walking armory. But this was Soul Society. Here, Zanpakutō was everything—the heart of a Shinigami, their truest self. To possess everything else yet lack this bond felt like a hollow victory.
And his was no ordinary blade.
Even before its release, it had revealed qualities unheard of in the history of Seireitei. A Zanpakutō that absorbed energy on its own. Autonomous. Self-feeding. Yumichika Ayasegawa's sword of the Eleventh Division drained spirit energy, yes—but only after Shikai release. Eggy absorbed in its sealed state.
More shocking still had been Eggy's own voice. Not a plea for awakening. Not a hunger for combat. But the declaration of a choice—she wished to sleep, to evolve. A self-evolving Zanpakutō. Such a thing did not exist in any record Su Li had scoured. The thought of what she might become filled him with anticipation that even forty years of patience could not dull.
Yet staring now at her dormant form, he could do nothing.
He exhaled, slow and quiet, lifting his eyes to the night sky.
The moon hung pale and clean above the courtyard. Stars spilled like scattered grains. For a long while, Su Li sat unmoving, silent, his expression caught between longing and resignation.
---
Dawn broke with warm light spilling across the Seireitei.
At the massive square, the Senkaimon gates stood open, dozens of portals flashing as Shinigami passed between worlds. Lines of black uniforms flowed steadily back and forth, duty calling them across realms.
But before one gate, a small group stood apart. Outsiders. Living beings. Travelers.
Kurosaki Ichigo and his companions.
It was the day Soul Society had arranged for their departure.
"Rukia... you're really not coming with us?" Ichigo's voice was rough with disappointment.
Rukia shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Ichigo. The world of the living isn't where I belong."
Her answer fell like stone into still water. No one spoke. They all understood, but understanding did little to ease the heaviness in their chests. Rukia was a Shinigami. Her place was here.
"Kuchiki-san... we'll meet again, won't we?" Inoue Orihime's voice was soft, almost pleading.
Rukia's expression flickered with sadness.
"I don't know..." Rukia murmured, and the silence thickened until it felt like the world itself held its breath. Then, all at once, she broke into a grin, eyes glinting with mischief as she burst into bold laughter. "Wahaha! Look at your faces, pale and miserable! I had you fooled! I'll be sent to the living world on missions, of course we'll meet again! What a bunch of idiots, hahahaha!"
Ichigo twitched, his face darkening as his voice cracked with irritation. "You... you bastard... You had me tearing up over nothing..." Ishida Uryū sniffed as he adjusted his glasses, though the suspicious dampness in his eyes betrayed him.
A familiar laugh drifted behind them, smooth and unhurried. "Rukia, it seems your mood has improved." Everyone spun, only to see a figure standing in the light with calm composure. Rukia's breath caught as she whispered, "Captain... Su Li..."
The name struck them like lightning. Kurosaki Ichigo's jaw dropped, Orihime and Uryū swallowed hard, and even the stoic Sado blinked. Su Li raised a hand in casual greeting. "Relax. I only came to see you off."
Ichigo gaped, his hand unconsciously drifting to the Substitute Shinigami Combat Pass at his hip, the badge Ukitake had entrusted to him. His chest swelled with determination. They sent a captain just for me... He clenched his fists, the same fire that always burned in him flaring bright. "Don't worry. Back in the living world, I'll protect everyone. Leave it to me!"
Su Li looked at him, his expression flat, silently branding him with a single thought—second-year syndrome, this guy... With a faint shake of his head, he added, "Just don't forget to tell Urahara Kisuke what I said. Not about the Visored. About the goods."
Ichigo thumped his chest with fierce confidence. "Leave it to me!" But Su Li's brow twitched, the weight of instant regret pressing down on him for trusting this fool.
The Senkaimon flared to life, its light spilling across the courtyard as time reached its limit. Ichigo and the others waved, stepping forward into the radiance. "Goodbye, Rukia! Goodbye, Su Li-san!"
Rukia and Su Li raised their hands together, both smiling faintly as they watched the figures vanish. "Farewell," Su Li murmured, his voice softer than the glow around them. "Safe travels."
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