My Zanpakuto Has a Split Personality? (1)

Liu Ziyun was like an enraged bull—though with his twelve-year-old body, he looked more like a calf. Gripping his sword in both hands, eyes bloodshot and a bestial growl rumbling in his throat, he charged at Life-Taker with reckless abandon.

The way he charged, one would think that standing before him was not a breathtakingly beautiful sword spirit, but a crooked boss who had skipped town owing him five hundred years of wages.

Life-Taker stood where she was, watching the little brat charge at her with a savage, almost crazed expression. A trace of helplessness flashed in her eyes, but more than that was the gratification of thinking, "This child finally gets it."

She gently raised her hand—

Clang!

The Gold-hued Tang Dao firmly blocked Liu Ziyun's descending Asauchi. Sparks flew as the blades clashed.

Life-Taker could feel the force coming through the blade. It was no longer the probing, restrained force from before, but a genuine, all-out blow.

She felt a slight stir in her heart. This brat... has he finally decided to get serious?

But in that instant of distraction, something unexpected happened!

Liu Ziyun did not pull back his sword to attack again. Instead... he threw his own body straight at Life-Taker's blade!

Splurt!

The sound of the blade entering flesh rang out clearly.

Life-Taker's Tang Dao pierced straight through Liu Ziyun's left shoulder, entering from the front and coming out the back!

Blood instantly stained the blade red and soaked one side of Liu Ziyun's body.

But Liu Ziyun did not even frown.

Using the momentum of the collision, he took another step forward, and the Asauchi in his right hand came to rest steadily, gently... against Life-Taker's throat.

The edge pressed against her skin. A fraction farther, and it would slice open her fair neck.

The two held an extremely bizarre pose: Life-Taker's sword ran through Liu Ziyun's shoulder, while Liu Ziyun's sword rested against her throat.

Neither moved.

Time seemed to stand still.

Then Liu Ziyun slowly raised his head.

Tears mingled with sweat and streamed down his cheeks, cutting streaks through the blood on his face.

He looked at Life-Taker, his eyes frighteningly clear, with none of the madness from moments ago. "Life-Taker..."

His voice trembled slightly, but every word was perfectly clear. "I need your recognition. I want to hold you tight and have you fight by my side. Let us stand side by side through every hardship, between life and death..."

He paused, then suddenly broke into a grin as clear as the sky after rain. "And build a deep... bond as comrades in arms?"

He hesitated a little over those last words, as though unsure whether to call it "friendship," a "bond," or something else.

Life-Taker looked at him, at the little brat whose face had gone pale with pain, yet who was still trying to smile, at the almost devout earnestness in his eyes...

She suddenly burst out laughing.

It was not a mocking laugh or a cold laugh, but the kind... that escaped when something was simply too funny.

"You really are..."

She shook her head, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze. "Haven't you noticed yet?"

Liu Ziyun froze. "Noticed... what?"

"This sword..." Life-Taker gestured for him to look at the Tang Dao still lodged in his shoulder. "It pierced you, but you haven't felt the slightest pain, have you?"

Only then did it dawn on Liu Ziyun—

That's right!

The blade went through my shoulder. By all rights, the pain should be unbearable!

But I... really don't seem to feel any pain?

He looked down at the wound in his shoulder, which was still bleeding, then looked back at Life-Taker. His eyes suddenly lit up. "You... you've acknowledged me?!"

His voice was full of delighted surprise. "I can feel your gentleness! That heart of yours that... looks fierce but is actually very gentle!"

Life-Taker laughed, her eyes curving into crescents. "You really are a silver-tongued rascal."

She paused, then her tone suddenly turned teasing. "Every time I see you in front of Unohana, your heart is as hot as an erupting volcano, but on the surface you have to put on that awkward 'I'm perfectly proper' act. I get tired just watching you."

Liu Ziyun's face instantly turned red. "Y-you even know about that?!"

"Of course I do." Life-Taker raised a brow. "After all, I'm the 'ambition' in your heart."

She leaned a little closer. Though the sword was still lodged in Liu Ziyun's shoulder, the movement brought her face almost against his. "Besides, you're a womanizer too. You haven't even started pursuing Unohana, and you're already thinking about picking up other girls in the future—Orihime Inoue, Rangiku Matsumoto, Nemu Kurotsuchi... You even have ideas about that black cat Yoruichi Shihōin?"

Liu Ziyun's face grew even redder, and he stammered, "I-I was only... appreciating them! Yes, appreciating them!"

"Oh? Really?" Life-Taker gave him a half-smile. "Then how come I've also seen you occasionally think, 'If only Aizen were a girl'?"

Liu Ziyun: "...!!!"

Help! Is my inner world really this exposed?! She even saw thoughts like that?!

Seeing his "I wish the ground would open up and swallow me" expression, Life-Taker finally burst into laughter.

Once she had laughed enough, she grew serious. "All right, since you've tried so hard—"

She took a deep breath, preparing to say the words Liu Ziyun had waited five years to hear. "I acknowl—"

Before she could finish—

"Acknowledge him?" a cold, deep male voice, tinged with unmistakable displeasure, abruptly rang out.

Liu Ziyun and Life-Taker both froze, then turned in unison toward the source of the voice.

A figure slowly emerged from around a corner of the street not far away.

It was a man.

His fitted black outfit outlined a tall, slender frame. He had short black hair, sharply defined features, swordlike brows, starry eyes, and thin lips pressed tightly together—a textbook cold, handsome face.

But those eyes...

Liu Ziyun felt a chill run down his spine after just one glance.

They were not human eyes. His pupils were crimson, like burning flames and congealed blood. His gaze was as cold as ancient ice and as sharp as an unsheathed blade.

He merely stood there, doing nothing, yet a terrifying killing intent had already spread out, making even the air around him seem to freeze.

The man walked up to them and stopped.

He first glanced at Life-Taker. "Life-Taker, you're ready to acknowledge him already?"

His tone was full of disapproval, as if to say, "You're being too hasty."

Then he looked Liu Ziyun up and down, his lips curling into a sneer. "I'm Tulu."

His voice was cold, every word like a shard of ice. "As you can see, I'm also your Zanpakuto—or rather, the manifestation of the parts of your heart that are 'killing' and 'destruction.'"

He took a step forward, his presence overbearing. "Your resolve seems to have moved that softhearted Life-Taker. However..."

He sneered. "I'm not as easy to deal with as she is. You want my recognition? Fine."

He reached out and closed his hand around empty air—

A pitch-black Zanpakuto with a menacing design appeared in his hand. Its blade was longer and wider than an ordinary Zanpakuto's, its edge glimmered dark red, and its Tsuba took the shape of a ferocious beast's head. The entire sword radiated a vicious aura that made the heart tremble.

"Come on." Tulu raised his sword and pointed the blade straight at Liu Ziyun. "Let me see just how much that so-called 'resolve' of yours is worth."

Liu Ziyun: "..."

Damn! A Zanpakuto can have two personalities?!

What is this? A split personality?!

And this guy called Tulu... he looks so fierce! One look and you can tell he's the type to cut someone down over a disagreement!

He instinctively looked at Life-Taker, asking for help with his eyes. What's going on here?!