Two Beggars in the Yard

The morning sun gradually lit up the sky over the Seireitei. Just as its first rays shone into Yamamoto Shigekuni's bedroom, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

Years of war had honed Yamamoto's vigilance. He opened his eyes at once, his left hand reaching for the Zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka, beside his bed.

"Lord Genryūsai! Lord Genryūsai! Something's happened!" Sasakibe's anxious voice came from outside, accompanied by a light knock.

"Chōjirō? What's got you so agitated?" Yamamoto threw on his outer robe and opened the door, puzzled.

Sasakibe looked deeply worried as he faced Yamamoto Shigekuni. "I just got word that something happened at your Gen Private School last night!"

"What? What happened?" Yamamoto was startled.

"We don't know yet. The night watchmen on patrol reported several explosions in the yard during the second half of last night, along with a huge blaze!" Sasakibe's worry was plain on his face. "Please hurry back and take a look!"

As Yamamoto's most capable aide of the past thousand years, Sasakibe considered the Gen Private School a home, too. How could he not be worried when something had happened there?

"Don't worry. Let's go see for ourselves." Yamamoto's expression turned solemn. He went back inside, got dressed, picked up his Zanpakuto, and left.

Since the incident had taken place outside the Seireitei, the two used Shunpo to head there directly. Their silhouettes vanished, racing toward South Rukongai.

Even the wind rushing past couldn't quell Yamamoto's thoughts. "Rukongai District 1 has always been the safest area. How could anything happen to the Gen Private School in South Rukon District 1?!"

Hearing Genryūsai's question, Sasakibe frowned. "Could the rebels have launched a nighttime raid?"

Yamamoto's brows lifted slightly. "I doubt it. I don't live there, so attacking the Gen Private School would be pointless. But if this really was one of their despicable tricks, I'll burn them all to ashes!"

They pushed Shunpo to its limits, the scenery on either side flying past Yamamoto's eyes. For the first time, a trace of worry showed in his gaze.

"That fellow Shunsui should be all right, shouldn't he..."

Gen Private School.

Sunlight streamed through the newly blasted hole in the wall, illuminating the dojo floor. Dust drifted visibly in the beam.

Amid the toppled and broken bamboo and wooden swords, a ray of sunlight fell like a spotlight across Kyoraku Shunsui's face as he slumped against the wall.

"You're the toughest person I've ever met... Neither bamboo nor wooden swords can hurt you..." Kyoraku Shunsui panted. His hair was a mess, his face bruised, and his clothes were in tatters. His body was covered in bruises.

"I believe you now when you say you can fight Unohana and live. You're just too damn tough."

Lin Nan stood before Kyoraku with an impassive expression. His face and body were blackened in patches by fire and explosions, and his clothes were in shreds, with wisps of smoke still rising from a few spots. But the skin visible through the tears in his clothes didn't seem to be injured.

He casually patted out a spark on his clothes and looked straight into Kyoraku's eyes. "Want to keep going?"

Kyoraku Shunsui waved a hand helplessly and shook his head. "No, I give up. We've been at it all night. My spiritual pressure's completely drained, and you don't have a scratch. What kind of monster are you?"

Lin Nan straightened his clothes, which were beyond saving, and didn't answer. "These clothes were brand-new. You owe me."

"Fine, fine. I'll pay you back." Kyoraku waved a hand. By now, he barely had the strength to speak.

Last night, he'd tried everything he could, from "Shadow Ambush" to hand-to-hand combat, and even the strongest Kido he could currently manage.

Under that onslaught, his Kido had even set the house on fire and brought it crashing down. Yet he still hadn't managed to do a thing to Lin Nan. In the end, he was the one who got beaten black and blue.

Lin Nan relaxed a little and smiled. "All that fussing around last night made me so hungry. If I'd known, I should've just fought seriously from the start and made you surrender." With that, he turned and walked toward the kitchen, half its roof blown away.

Kyoraku: ???

He had to be joking, right? He hadn't even been serious?

A little while later, Lin Nan came back carrying two bowls with most of their sides broken off, looking relieved. "Thank goodness, thank goodness. I used the panel to cover the bowls during the fight. They're broken, but the noodles stayed clean. We'll have to make do!"

He held a bowl out to Kyoraku, then grabbed his chopsticks and started eating.

Kyoraku Shunsui caught his breath and watched Lin Nan wolf down his food. Hunger swept over him, impossible to resist. He swallowed, picked up his chopsticks, and began eating slowly—his face was so swollen he didn't dare open his mouth wide.

"I'm a really easygoing guy, as long as nobody messes with me...

"See? Am I not being pretty reasonable right now? Also, how did my noodles turn out?... Uh, they've gone soggy overnight... But just tell me they taste amazing!

"Hey? Why aren't you saying anything? Do you not like talking?" Lin Nan rambled on to Kyoraku as he ate.

The noodles had gone soggy, but they still smelled great. Kyoraku Shunsui was hungry and wanted more, but his mouth hurt, so he could only eat carefully, in tiny bites. Frustrated tears kept trickling from the corners of his mouth.

Do I look like I have time to talk to you? Even eating noodles is a struggle right now.

He pointed at himself helplessly and spoke with difficulty through his swollen face. "Can we talk after we finish eating? It's too much trouble for me like this."

Lin Nan paused, then nodded. "Oh... I didn't think of that... You really aren't tough enough. I'll make you some porridge tonight..."

Two figures appeared in the outskirts of Danzhao. Yamamoto Shigekuni's expression was solemn as he looked ahead. In the distance, wisps of smoke drifted up from the Gen Private School yard.

"Lord Genryūsai, please wait here. I'll scout ahead and check what's going on inside, in case the enemy has set an ambush!" Sasakibe Chojiro drew his Zanpakuto and used Shunpo to leap onto the tallest nearby building, where he could survey the Gen Private School.

Yamamoto said nothing, simply staring at the Gen Private School, which had nearly been destroyed.

It had taken a thousand years of effort to move it from the depths of Rukongai to District 1, the closest district to the Seireitei.

The little school had taught many students, but nearly all of them had fallen in the great war two hundred years ago or in the years of fighting that followed.

And now it had nearly been reduced to rubble, too.

Yamamoto felt a fire raging in his chest. What had been destroyed wasn't merely a small yard, but a thousand years of memories, one scene after another, and the faces and voices of the students who had died.

He gripped the sheath of Ryujin Jakka tightly. The air around the Zanpakuto, which looked so unremarkable, began to visibly ripple from the intense heat it radiated.

Before long, Sasakibe Chojiro returned and knelt to report. "Sir, there are no flames inside now. We found no bloodstains, so the other party probably didn't kill anyone in the chaos. But we haven't found Young Master Kyoraku, either. However..."

Yamamoto's gaze sharpened. He asked in a low voice, "However what?"

Sasakibe hesitated, as if making sure he hadn't mistaken what he'd seen, then said, "However... I saw what looked like two beggars in the yard, squatting in a corner and eating noodles..."

Yamamoto: ???