Rewind the moment.
In the endless expanse of white, atop the jade-glazed platform, the voice of a girl drifted out, cold and indifferent.
"You… you are—"
Su Li froze, stunned by her tone. The voice held no recognition, no warmth.
"I do not have that name."
Her reply was like frost, detached and without feeling.
For a long second Su Li stared in disbelief, his heart sinking under the absurdity of it all. This was the egg he had raised for years, the one he longed for day and night? The egg he carried with patience and affection, only to be met with such indifference? His chest tightened, his mind reeling. Then, as if struck by lightning, the truth dawned on him—of course she was not Eggy. That had only been the nickname, the baby-name he had given her, while she had always carried her own.
The astonishment faded from his face, replaced by feverish curiosity. His throat went dry, breath catching as his eyes burned with nervous fire. "Then… what's your name?"
The figure behind the pale screen stirred slightly. A faint sound of strings trembled into being, cool and distant, before the icy voice followed. "Why should I tell you?"
The words, sharp as winter air, cut deeper than any blade. Su Li's temper flared, his composure snapping. "I'm the one who raised you! If you don't tell me, who else would you tell? I've suffered for you—" His protest was crushed mid-sentence as the strings of the unseen koto thundered, releasing a crushing wave of force.
In an instant his body was torn apart. Clothes shredded, skin split, bones carved, every fragment of his being sliced into countless paper-thin slivers, gleaming like crystal wings. His eyes widened in disbelief as he was scattered, shredded into sashimi, consciousness ripped apart.
Yet before his mind faded, the fragments dissolved into mist, and with the blink of an eye he stood whole once more upon the jade platform. No wound marked him, but the agony lingered, burned deep into memory. It had been real. He had died.
Fear flickered in his gaze as he stared at the petite silhouette behind the screen. Here, inside the space of his Zanpakutō's spirit, he could not rely on strength or skill. The black figure controlled everything, and he realized with a surge of absurdity that his "egg" had just slaughtered him without hesitation.
"Eggy, why? Don't you know me?" His voice softened, reaching for a bond he believed unbreakable.
The reply was merciless. "I do not."
Her girlish tone, stripped of all emotion, sent a spear of grief through his chest. Su Li's voice cracked as he shouted, "I am your father!"
The koto roared again. His body shattered, scattered into a thousand cuts. Moments later, he reformed, gasping, eyes wide in disbelief. The indifference, the rejection, pierced deeper than blades ever could. He had imagined she might awaken as a new consciousness after hatching, no longer as close as before—but this was no mere distance. This was outright denial, refusal, severing.
Not knowing? After years of feeding, of raising through hardship? Impossible. Unacceptable.
Despair swelled, but rage followed. "You—!" His furious cry echoed through the white void.
Once more the merciless notes cut him down, and once more he returned, only to repeat the cycle of death and rebirth, torn and mended, agony etched into every nerve.
"I am your father!" he howled, again and again, even as blood, pain, and despair consumed him. Again the strings split his body; again he reformed. His words became stubborn mantra, each repetition heavy with grief, numbness, and unyielding defiance.
Meanwhile, in the laboratory of Las Noches, battle raged. Nnoitra's massive frame dripped blood, wounds marring his hierro, yet his twisted grin never faltered. Nilu pressed him relentlessly, her lance cutting deep, her composure unbroken save for a few shallow injuries. Strength alone revealed the gulf between them.
"Damn it…" Nnoitra snarled, blood running down his chin. From the beginning he had been forced back, crushed beneath Nilu's power, something his pride could never endure.
Steel met flesh as her spear drove through him, but he only laughed bitterly, voice rough and manic. "Bitch… my hierro is the strongest among the Espada! You'll never kill me so easily!" He roared, swinging his scythe with wild, desperate force.
The air split as weapon met weapon, the shockwave blasting outward in a violent storm that hurled both combatants apart. Pesche and Dondochakka cowered low as the ground quaked. Nnoitra staggered back farther, boots screeching as he skidded to the very threshold of the lab. Nilu steadied herself midair, planting her lance downward—
But before the tip touched stone, her form convulsed. Smoke burst from her body, and her eyes glazed with blank confusion. At that critical instant, her mature form collapsed, shrinking, and with a dull thud she fell, unconscious, into Su Li's waiting arms.
Shock froze Pesche and Dondochakka's faces pale. Without Nilu's strength, who could stand against Nnoitra now?
The sight struck Nnoitra like lightning. His lips split into a wild grin, laughter bursting raw and triumphant. "Trash! In the end, you're nothing but trash!" His voice rang, cruel and ecstatic. He raised his scythe, eyes glinting with sadistic delight. "Bitch… this time, I'll skin you alive!"
On the white jade platform, the cycle continued.
Seven times seven, forty-nine deaths. Forty-nine resurrections. Each cut tore body and soul alike, each rebirth dragged him back into torment.
Yet Su Li's voice, though hollow and worn, never faltered. "I am your father." The words fell numbly from his lips, his eyes half-closed, bracing again for the blade's dissection.
But this time, the koto did not strike. The screen remained still.
The figure behind it finally seemed to realize that shredding him endlessly held no meaning. His stubbornness could not be broken with pain alone. A different method was required—her own method.
"I am a mud horse."
Her voice carried the same frost as before, yet somehow, it brushed his ears with familiarity.
Su Li blinked, startled, then roared, "What—who taught you that?!"
"Baga taught me." Her tone remained flat, but there was a subtle fluctuation beneath the surface, a faint ripple of pride.
His fury exploded. "Bullshit! I never taught you that!"
"How dare you deny it? Do you have proof? Without proof, you're only slandering me!"
"Slander? What of it?! What can you do?"
"You—you infuriating little brat! You're killing me with anger!" Su Li clutched his head, pacing like a man whose entire life's patience had been shredded. Sadness, rage, helplessness—everything swirled in him like the grief of a father betrayed by his rebellious child.
The petite figure behind the screen shifted slightly, almost smug.
Then Su Li froze. His eyes widened, voice dropping cold. "Didn't you claim you don't know me? Then how do you know those words?"
The world fell silent.
And this time, it was the girl's turn to falter.
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