The Tsundere Tulu (1)

Just as Liu Ziyun was about to charge up to Tulu and launch another round of "mad dog" attacks—

"Enough."

Tulu suddenly spoke, a trace of impatience in her voice.

With one light backward leap, she drifted more than ten meters away like a butterfly, putting distance between herself and Liu Ziyun. Her movements were too graceful for a fight; she looked more like she was dancing.

Liu Ziyun came to an abrupt halt and nearly fell over. "Huh? Huh? Huh? Why'd you stop? I just found my rhythm! Do you know how hard it is to find a sparring partner who's willing to fight you for free?!"

"Rhythm?" Tulu tilted her head, and a cold laugh came from beneath her veil. "You call that rhythm? That was a self-destructive charge."

Before she finished speaking, she gave the Tang sword in her hand a light flick—

"Flying Blade."

A crescent-shaped blade of cyan light shot free of the sword, hurtling toward Liu Ziyun like an arrow from a bow.

Liu Ziyun was just about to say, "I've seen this move before," when he heard Tulu utter three more words: "Shattered Blade Slash."

"Holy shit, it has a second stage?!" Before Liu Ziyun could finish, the blade of light suddenly—

"Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish—!!!"

Exploded apart!

One blade of light split into ten, ten split into a hundred, and a hundred split into... well, too many to count! The entire street was filled with crescent-shaped blades of cyan light!

Worse still, the blades weren't coming from one direction—they were closing in from the front, left, and right!

There was no way up and no way down!

A thought flashed through Liu Ziyun's mind: If you used this move to slice fruit, it'd definitely be the most expensive Fruit Ninja game item in history!

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—!!!"

Explosions rang out one after another. The center of the street looked as though it had been bombarded by a barrage of missiles, with smoke and dust billowing skyward.

Atop a distant high-rise, Life-Taker rested her chin in her hands and swung her legs, watching with relish. "Oh my, that girl Tulu doesn't know how to hold back. But... it's quite a sight, isn't it?"

Three seconds later, the smoke and dust slowly cleared.

In the center of the street, Liu Ziyun knelt on one knee. The Asauchi in his hand was covered in cracks and could shatter into pieces at any moment.

As for Liu Ziyun himself...

"Hiss—" Liu Ziyun looked down at himself and sucked in a sharp breath. "Good lord, this look... is kind of stylish."

His Shihakusho—though it was a virtual version in his inner world—had been reduced to an outfit of rags. Scraps hung off him here and there, exposing the countless wounds underneath.

From his forehead to his ankles, not an inch of skin was unscathed. He looked as though a thousand Hollows had clawed him at once and then thrown him into a shredder for a few spins.

Blood dripped steadily down, quickly forming a small pool at his feet.

"Stopped now?" Tulu's voice came, cold and tinged with mockery. "You really know how to pick someone to vent on."

He walked over slowly and stopped in front of Liu Ziyun, looking down at him. "What do you take me for? A free punching bag? A human sandbag? Or a tool for relieving stress?"

He paused, his tone turning colder. "Too bad—even when you go crazy, you're still as weak as a newborn Hollow in front of me. No, even a baby Hollow is a little stronger than you. At least a baby Hollow can bite."

Liu Ziyun: "..."

He slowly raised his head and looked into Tulu's icy eyes. Suddenly—

"Pfft."

He burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Tulu frowned.

"Nothing." Liu Ziyun waved a hand—only to pull at his wounds and grimace in pain. "It's just... what you said just now sounded exactly like that lousy friend of mine from my previous life who always said I 'couldn't even beat a chicken.'"

Tulu: ...Who are you calling your lousy friend?! I'm your Zanpakuto! Zan! Pa! Kuto! This has nothing to do with chickens!

Liu Ziyun braced himself on his Asauchi and got shakily to his feet. He scratched his head—then touched a wound and yelped. "I-I just got a little too excited. You know how it is. During these five years in Soul Society, aside from the big shots I obviously couldn't beat, there were only those kids at the academy left."

He sighed, his voice full of grievance. "Those guys were obviously weak as hell, okay? When I fought them, I didn't even dare use half my strength—I was afraid I'd accidentally beat them into tears, then have to pay their medical bills. After paying the bills, I'd get chewed out by the instructor, and after that, I'd have to write a self-criticism..."

He counted the reasons off on his fingers, growing more aggrieved with each one. "So I've been bottling it up. Cut me some slack?" He blinked, trying to get away with acting cute. "When I was fighting you just now, I got more and more excited, more and more carried away. That feeling of being able to let loose and give it everything... It's been five years! I haven't had this much fun in five years!"

He looked at Tulu, his eyes sincere—or so he thought. "So... Tulu, I really didn't mean to. Don't be mad, okay?"

Tulu was silent for three seconds.

Then—

"Heh."

A cold laugh, colder than ice in an icehouse.

"You felt stifled because you couldn't find an opponent among your peers? How ridiculous." He stepped forward, coming almost face-to-face with Liu Ziyun—if their difference in height was ignored. "As far as I know, you've lost to quite a few people at the academy.

"In Hakuda class last week, that kid Kentarō threw you over his shoulder and sent you face-first into the dirt. In Zanjutsu class the week before that, Ryōta, the one with glasses, forced you back again and again until you 'accidentally' ran into a wooden post. And in Kidō class the week before that..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Liu Ziyun hurriedly cut him off. "Th-that was tactics! Tactics, you understand?! Show the enemy weakness, lull your opponent into complacency, then win with one decisive strike at the critical moment!"

"Oh?" Tulu raised an eyebrow. "And how many times did you win?"

Liu Ziyun: "...Zero."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?!" Tulu's voice rose sharply. "You're saying you didn't dare use your full strength against those students, but against me—against 'us'—you could do whatever you wanted?"

Anger blazed in his eyes. "Don't you always say that we are you, that we're a part of your inner self?! So does that mean you think you can slash, kill, and destroy yourself without restraint, but when it comes to the outside world, to other people, you're hesitant and timid as a mouse?!"

For the first time, genuine anger blazed in Tulu's eyes. "Tell me! Liu Ziyun! You, who only dares to slash at himself! What, ex-act-ly, are, you, a-fraid, of?!"

The last sentence was almost a roar.

His voice echoed through the empty city, setting the surrounding glass windows humming.

Liu Ziyun's ears went numb from the shout.

He opened his mouth to argue, only to find... he was at a loss for words.

Because what Tulu had said seemed to make... just a teensy bit of sense?

No! Not just a little! It made a whole lot of sense!

But he still tried to find the words. "It's not that I don't dare slash them... It's mainly because there's really no need to do that!"