The battlefield was now a grotesque red sea. The blood created by Unohana's Bankai poured everywhere, covering every shattered stone and cracked surface of the ruined district. The metallic scent was suffocating, and with every step, both Unohana and Keiji sank slightly into that thick, viscous ocean.
Unohana moved first, her nodachi transforming into a living stream of blood, reshaping itself into flexible extensions that cracked through the air like whips. With a constant twist of her wrist, small blades detached from it, forming a sphere that closed around her.
It was her way of defending against Keiji's imperceptible movements.
On the other side, Sekai no Tengoku continued absorbing reishi from the air, from the stones, from the crumbling walls that still stood. Keiji raised his sword and, with a horizontal swing, unleashed a wave of pure cutting force, formed by the energy condensed from the endless flow that his shikai devoured without rest.
The attack sliced through the crimson sea and collided with Unohana's barrier, scattering scarlet sparks like blood-red stars across the air.
"It won't be that easy to defend against me, you know~?"
Unohana countered, dragging her sword along the blood pooling beneath her feet. The liquid rose up in slashing waves, crimson whips racing in sharp curves. Each crack sounded like flesh being torn apart.
Keiji moved lightly. His feet barely touched the surface as his body slid through a series of short shunpo bursts. The reishi Sora absorbed made each of his steps faster, as if the world itself was pushing him forward. He dodged the first whip, sliced through the second with a swift spin of his blade, and launched another diagonal blast of energy. The impact shattered part of Unohana's liquid blade sphere, sending droplets of blood flying through the air.
She felt the attack graze her shoulder, opening a fresh wound. But instead of flinching, she laughed. The blood that flowed from her body mixed with the sea of Minazuki, and within seconds, the injury began to close again.
"Yes, Keiji-kun! This is the kind of battle I've waited centuries for!"
Keiji was hurt too. One of the crimson whips had struck his leg, tearing through muscle and tendon. But before the blood could flow too much, he placed his free hand over the wound and let the green glow of Kaidō spread. Within seconds, the cut no longer slowed him down.
They stood there, healing, wounding, and healing again. As if the fight itself was an endless dance where death was just another part of the choreography.
They clashed once more. Their blades rang out in rapid rhythm, attacks and counters blending into a macabre dance. Every strike from Unohana made the blood reshape into more blades, whips, and waves that slashed through the air. Every response from Keiji came as condensed reishi cuts, bursts of energy that shattered the ground and opened fleeting clearings in that red sea.
The district around them had ceased to exist. Only the viscous red of Minazuki remained, clashing endlessly against the invisible pressure of Sekai no Tengoku, two opposing forces locked in perpetual collision.
Keiji's grin widened, his eyes glowing with the thrill of combat.
"You're holding up well, Captain… but that won't last forever~"
Unohana tilted her chin slightly, her face lit by a nearly insane gleam. The blood on her lips didn't dim the wild smile she wore.
"I don't need it to last forever~"
Her reply came sweetly, almost teasing, and before the final word could fade into the air, Keiji vanished from her awareness once again.
There was no reiatsu, no killing intent, only absolute naturalness that made him invisible even to the instincts of a warrior with a thousand years of experience. When Unohana's perception finally caught him again, he was already right in front of her.
His blade tore through the sphere of liquid blades, slicing through her defense as if it didn't exist, aiming straight for her face.
Her reflexes, however, were monstrous. Unohana raised Minazuki at the very last instant, deflecting just enough to avoid a fatal strike. Keiji's sword slashed deeply across her cheek, sending blood spraying through the air. The wound began to close almost immediately, regenerated by her Bankai, but the heat of the pain only made her eyes shine brighter.
She retreated with a swift shunpo, creating distance as laughter spilled out between her heavy breaths.
Every new exchange of blows made it clearer that even with the additional power granted by her Bankai, Unohana had no real answer for Keiji's movements that went beyond conscious awareness.
And yet, instead of despairing, Unohana laughed like a child in the middle of a forbidden game.
Their strikes grew faster, their cuts thundered, and every impact sent sparks scattering across the already-ruined district. With each exchange, Unohana accumulated new wounds, like slashes along her arm, punctures in her shoulder, a blow that nearly tore through her ribs. But instead of faltering, she laughed breathlessly, her body trembling with excitement.
"Keep going, Keiji-kun! Don't stop now!"
Each time blood spilled, each time the blood from her Bankai regenerated her flesh, she felt more alive. The cycle of killing and healing repeated endlessly, and with every repetition, her smile grew wider.
On the other side, Keiji wasn't much different. Blood streamed down his arms and legs, torn open by Minazuki's crimson whips. Every strike he delivered was met with a counter that only someone with Unohana's flawless technique could produce.
But the difference was that Keiji used Sekai no Tengoku to draw in even more reishi and redirect it into Kaidō, healing himself in rapid intervals, the green glow sealing his wounds almost as fast as they appeared.
It was as if their battle was eternal. A choreography of destruction and rebirth that only made them laugh harder.
But there was something that tipped the balance.
Sekai no Tengoku kept draining reishi from the air, expanding Keiji's reiatsu even as he held it back. Even when he restrained himself to avoid suffocating the entire district, it still grew an unbearable weight for anyone foolish enough to approach.
Unohana noticed it too. She licked the blood from her lips and murmured softly.
"Keiji-kun… you are the greatest gift fate could ever give me."
Keiji drew in a long breath, and then stopped holding back. His reiatsu exploded like a silent thunderclap, shattering what little balance remained. The weight that fell over the battlefield was crushing, a power so immense that only a handful in the entire history of the Soul Society had ever reached it.
Spiritual Class 1.
Unohana trembled with delight. Goosebumps covered her skin, her entire body reacting to that overwhelming power. For the first time in centuries, she felt she could truly die in battle. And that made her smile wider than ever, like she had found the greatest joy of her life.
Both Unohana and Keiji knew, in that moment, that the fight was over.
Keiji stopped for a moment, his sword steady in hand, looking directly at her.
"It was a pleasure fighting you, Captain… no, Retsu."
He called her by her first name as his way of showing recognition for her, before lowering his sword, the energy gathered inside it vibrating as if the heavens themselves were being drawn into the blade.
"As thanks… let me show you my strongest power."
Unohana lowered Minazuki and opened her arms, welcoming the strike to come, smiling through the blood and the ecstasy of battle.
"Then come, Keiji-kun…"
The sky trembled as his voice cut through the air.
"... Bankai."
His sword vanished as a white circle formed beneath his feet, and the spiritual form of a white-haired, blue-eyed loli girl briefly appeared beside him.
"Jiyū Tengoku no Seishin."
[——]
When Unohana opened her eyes again, the first thing she noticed was the silence. The entire district around them was in ruins, barely showing any sign that it had ever been a place where people could live.
When she turned her head, she found Keiji lying beside her with his arms behind his head, his zanpakutō sealed and resting on his chest as if it had never been used. He was staring up at the sky with a casual expression, as if the battle between them had left no weight behind at all.
"… You didn't kill me."
Keiji glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I?"
The casual tone of his answer almost irritated her. To Unohana, the logic was that the winner kills, the loser dies. That had been the cycle she believed in since the days when she still carried the name Yachiru.
"Keiji-kun defeated me, so of course you should have killed me. What else is there to think about?"
He let out a short laugh and shook his head.
"What an outdated way of thinking, Retsu."
The naturalness in his voice almost sounded like a reprimand.
"There are still plenty of strong opponents out there… what's the point of dying just because you lost one fight? Get stronger and fight again. Besides, I still can't beat you in zanjutsu, so we can have a lot more fun together next time."
Unohana repeated his words as if they were foreign to her.
"Fight again…"
That idea didn't fit the way she saw the world. Whenever she crossed swords with someone and felt the thrill of battle, the satisfaction was complete, and her interest vanished. There was no "next time". It was a flame that burned only once.
But now… when she thought about crossing blades with Keiji again, her blood began to boil once more. Her chest filled with that same insane excitement that had carried her through their entire fight.
"… Fight again…"
An unfamiliar, yet irresistible feeling began to grow inside her.
The desire to improve. The desire to surpass herself.
Standing before the man who had defeated her with his greatest power, she realized her only option was to reach beyond her current limits. To prepare so their next battle would be even greater.
She sat up slowly, her long black hair falling over her shoulders, and looked at Keiji. Her blood-stained lips curved into a smile that was anything but serene.
"Next time, I'll witness your Bankai properly."
Keiji turned his head toward her and smiled back, clearly pleased by her response.
"See? It's a lot more fun that way~"
Unohana returned the smile. The excitement still pulsed in her expression, as if the fight hadn't truly ended.
"Aren't you disappointed, Keiji-kun? Now that you've seen my true nature?"
He chuckled softly, adjusting the sealed sword resting on his chest.
"Disappointed? I always suspected you, Retsu. But that 'monster' of yours… I like it. Better than Aizen-san's, no question."
He smirked playfully.
"Actually, it's kind of sexy."
Unohana raised an eyebrow, surprised by the unexpected compliment. His tone was so natural it bordered on insolence, but she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips.
"Captain Aizen, then…?"
Keiji turned his gaze to the sky, his lazy tone sounding almost like a sigh.
"I didn't kill him, if that's what you're asking."
Unohana nodded slowly, her lips curling into a faint smile.
"I already figured that out during our little 'conversation'."
"So it wasn't just an excuse you came up with to fight me?"
He chuckled lightly, the irritation of having been tricked by Aizen already fading after such a good fight.
"Aizen-san set me up and used me as a scapegoat… something he seems particularly good at."
Unohana kept her eyes on him, quietly studying his expression, while a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"In that case, we'd better head back to the Seireitei soon."
Silence hung between them for a few seconds. The wind blew gently over the wreckage, carrying the metallic scent of blood still staining the ground. They stared at each other unhurriedly until Unohana let out a soft, amused huff and an almost mischievous smile spread across her face.
"Ara~ so this is the type of woman Keiji-kun likes?"
Keiji blinked, then laughed.
It wasn't exactly a secret in the Gotei 13 that, despite his short time as an officer, Keiji had already caught the attention of several women. Still, he never seemed interested in any of them.
It had even become a regular topic among the Ikebana Club, which besides flowers, cultivated gossip with the same dedication.
Unexpectedly, Unohana had figured out the mystery of the type of woman he liked all on her own.
"Can you blame me, Retsu?"
Even in the middle of the most brutal fight he'd ever had, the way Unohana could shift from her serene, almost motherly gaze to a bloodthirsty beast thrilled by battle... yeah, that got to him.
For Keiji, who had a thing for strong women, it was even harder to resist. Unohana was simply too sexy.
"I was actually thinking about pairing Keiji-kun with Isane-san, but I guess that's not happening."
Unohana's tone was playful, but there was a hint of sincerity beneath it.
"Kotetsu-san? She's fun to tease, but we're not really a match."
Unohana sighed softly, folding her arms beneath her chest.
"I thought so. But our lovely lieutenant does need a strong man by her side~"
Keiji turned to look at her again, the smile returning to his lips.
"Retsu is more than enough to protect Kotetsu-san."
Unohana let out a long sigh, like a mother scolding a stubborn child.
"Hah… such a difficult subordinate."
Deep down, she wasn't really disappointed. It was just another one of her teasing games.
Even after all this time, Keiji had proven impossible to sway. He only did what he wanted, guided purely by his own interests. Not even she, the one who should have been closest to him, had found a way to bend his will.
But Unohana wasn't truly interested in convincing anyone.
Locking eyes with him, she leaned closer and placed her hand on his chest. Her fingers traced slowly along the outline of his muscles, following the tension beneath his warm skin.
"Since it's my fault," she whispered, her voice low and sweet, "shouldn't I help my perverted subordinate?"
Keiji looked at her without moving, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth.
"Retsu's just as perverted~"
She let out a low laugh, laced with dangerous mischief.
"Well, we all need a way to calm our nerves after a beautiful fight~"
It was a shameless confession. Centuries ago, after battles that left her blood burning, Unohana used to deal with that thrill alone, seeking her own release from the excitement that fighting gave her. But for the last hundred years, nothing had stirred even the faintest interest in her chest.
Now there was Keiji, the man who had defeated her, made her smile, and made her bleed with pleasure in battle.
She couldn't imagine anyone better to have a little fun with.