Golden light poured across the battlefield, shimmering with quiet persistence. Beneath Inoue Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka, Kurosaki Ichigo's shattered body slowly began to mend, breath by breath, bone by bone. The silence was broken only by a faint sound, and then another figure was dragged forward and unceremoniously shoved into the sphere of light.
"Huh? Su Li-san..." Orihime's eyes widened as she recognized the one now forced beneath her shield. Ulquiorra Cifer, bloodied and broken, lay in the glow, his pale face betraying uncharacteristic astonishment.
"Give him a cure," Su Li said evenly, not bothering to explain.
Orihime froze, her chest tightening. The man lying there was the very instigator of her recent torment, the shadow that had hunted her every breath these last days. Everything inside her recoiled. But when she raised her eyes and saw Su Li standing above her—her savior, the one who had risked everything—she could not bring herself to refuse. With trembling lips pressed shut, she nodded, and the golden brilliance brightened once more as Ulquiorra's wounds began to knit.
"Why save me?" Ulquiorra asked quietly, his voice carrying no emotion, his gaze fixed on Su Li as if seeking some answer to his existence.
"It's pleasing to my eye," Su Li replied lightly, dismissing the matter as if it needed no reason.
Ulquiorra fell silent. Something flickered behind his still gaze, starlight hidden within the abyss.
"Captain Su Li truly is a curious man," Unohana observed softly, her smile gentle, her eyes turned in quiet reflection. "To decide life or death only by the weight of his own heart's preference... he reminds me somewhat of Captain Zaraki."
"Tch. Two lunatics cut from the same cloth," Kurotsuchi Mayuri muttered, his painted face twitching in annoyance.
"Su Li-sama, do you want me to heal you too?" Nilu tugged on his sleeve, tilting her head with hopeful eyes.
"No, no, no—absolutely not." Su Li recoiled, his face paling as he caught sight of the drool at the corner of her lips.
"Oh..." Nilu's expression collapsed, crestfallen.
"Captain Su Li!" Renji and Rukia ran forward, faces flushed with excitement.
"Renji, Rukia. Long time no see." Su Li's clean smile fell over them like the first warmth of spring.
"It's been too long..." Rukia whispered, brushing dust and blood from her cheek, her eyes downcast to hide the faint blush coloring her face. Renji, oblivious, looked only at Su Li with fiery eyes. "Captain Su Li, the techniques you taught me—I've already—"
Before he could finish, Unohana's voice cut through, her expression sharpening. "Captain Su Li, there is something important we must tell you."
Kurotsuchi's posture stiffened as well, his usual contempt shrouded by the gravity of the moment. They had not come to Hueco Mundo only to assist him—there was a message to deliver.
But Su Li inclined his head before she spoke. "I know."
Both Unohana and Kurotsuchi froze.
"It's about that time," Su Li murmured. For the first time in days, a rare flicker of fighting spirit lit his gaze. "Let's go. To Karakura Town."
The words dropped like iron, heavy and unyielding. Both captains' pupils contracted. Neither could understand how he knew—but the thought surfaced all the same. Could he truly see ahead, as if glimpsing the threads of fate?
The silence grew taut, war drums beating faintly in every heart.
"Eh—? You're going to fight again?!" Nilu's panic burst out, her small hands gripping his robes desperately.
"Yes," Su Li answered with simple certainty.
"But you've been fighting without rest! Aren't you going to stop, even for a moment?!" she cried, her voice breaking.
"Time is running out." His tone was calm, but within it burned an urgency no one could mistake.
"But—" Nilu's voice cracked, trembling with fear. "You'll die! Aizen... he isn't an ordinary enemy! To face him like this, you'll die!" She clung to him like a child drowning, her knuckles white.
"Sorry, Nilu." Su Li knelt, placing a warm hand gently on her head. His smile was clean, unshaken. "I must go."
Tears welled in her eyes. "Why...?"
"For a better tomorrow." His voice was clear, carried away on the breeze like a vow.
The world stilled around them.
"But there are others there... the Shinigami of the Soul Society..." Nilu whispered bitterly.
"That's why I must go." Su Li stood, his back straight. "My teachers, my friends, my comrades—they're there. How could I stand aside while they fight?"
The silence deepened. Nilu's tears blurred her sight, but she could no longer form words.
"Are you certain you can defeat Aizen?" Ulquiorra's detached voice cut into the moment, cool and steady. "If it were Aizen before merging with the Hōgyoku..."
"I win," Su Li replied without hesitation.
"And now?" Ulquiorra pressed, his emerald eyes unblinking. "The Hōgyoku has already fused into his body."
"I don't know." Su Li's answer came plain, his tone devoid of bravado. The words fell heavy, leaving the others stunned.
"But whether I win or not..." His gaze swept across them all. "You cannot know until the duel is fought. This is fate. A battle long written. I have waited too long to turn away now."
The phrase cut deep. Fated duel. Every soul present understood.
Nilu's hands trembled, then slowly slipped from his robes. She knew no words, no cries could change him. All that remained was a blessing forced through sobs. "Then... you must live. You have to win!" Her voice shook, then rose skyward like a scream.
Su Li smiled faintly, ruffling her hair one last time, then turned toward the glowing Senkaimon that opened before him.
"I'll go with you," Unohana declared, her eyes steady, her voice firm.
Su Li nodded, stepping through the light. Halfway, he glanced back at Kurotsuchi with a mischievous smile.
"?!" Kurotsuchi stiffened.
"Captain Kurotsuchi... lend me some clothes."
"What—?!" His eyes bulged, but before he could react, a gust swept by. In an instant, the robes stripped from his body had already been donned by Su Li.
"It's really time to go," Su Li said lightly, disappearing into the gate.
Unohana followed, calm and resolute.
The others stood motionless, their faces carrying different thoughts but the same solemn weight. The Senkaimon closed, its fading light swallowing the boy's figure.
Only silence remained amid the ruins. Silence—save for the string of curses exploding from Kurotsuchi Mayuri.
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