Bleach: From the moment I was invited by Squad Zero.

She thought this with self-righteousness, and took another sip of wine.

"For the sake of long-term work... well, for the sake of the training program, strategic avoidance to save face is the best course of action!"

"Anyway, with Captain Shiba and Yanagawa around, they'll definitely be able to cover it up...probably?"

Without a trace of guilt, she picked up another piece of pickled vegetables and drank from a pot of wine.

She nodded in satisfaction and began to leisurely enjoy her meal, completely forgetting about the mess at the training ground and the possible rage of her captain.

Chapter 69 The Drunken Chrysanthemum

The embarrassing incident at the training ground caused by the vice-captain's desertion was eventually barely resolved thanks to the vice-dean's efforts to smooth things over.

The ceremony ended hastily, as everyone's attention was clearly elsewhere.

As soon as the ceremony ended, Shiba Isshin eagerly grabbed Yanagawa and Toshiro, and stormed off towards the academy's infirmary—

He wanted to see just how badly his deputy captain, whose "old illness had relapsed," was "sick"!

However, when they arrived at the medical room, which smelled faintly of disinfectant, they only saw the on-duty medical officer looking blank and saying, "Vice Captain Matsumoto? He's never been here."

Shiba's ominous premonition grew stronger.

With a dark expression, he followed the trail based on his deep understanding of his vice-captain's character, finally stopping at the entrance of the academy's spacious student cafeteria.

It wasn't mealtime, and the cafeteria was empty and quiet, except for the intermittent, off-key humming coming from a corner, and the slight clinking of porcelain.

Shiba Isshin pushed open the half-closed door with a livid face, followed by Yanagawa and Toshiro.

At the far end of the cafeteria, Matsumoto Rangiku was sitting sideways, one arm casually draped over the back of the chair.

His other hand was gripping an exquisitely carved silver wine jug that was clearly not part of the cafeteria's standard equipment.

Her long orange hair was draped messily over her shoulders, her eyes were unfocused, and her once charming blue eyes were now shimmering with water, but unfocused.

On the table in front of her, several empty plates lay scattered about, and the air was thick with the smell of alcohol, much stronger than before.

"Hehe... the academy's wine... hiccup... it's a bit weak... but it's free... hiccup... not bad..."

She mumbled incoherently, then raised the wine jug to pour it into her mouth, but tilted it slightly, spilling a little wine that soaked the front of her dress.

"Matsumoto Rankiku—!!!" Shiba Isshin's roar was like a thunderclap, exploding in the empty cafeteria.

He rushed forward and snatched the wine jug.

"Huh? Who is it? It's so noisy..." Rangiku raised her head with blurry eyes and saw Shiba Isshin's angry face.

Far from being afraid, he laughed, nimbly withdrawing his hand and hiding the wine jug behind his back.

"Captain~ you're here! Want to grab a drink? My treat... the academy's... hiccup..."

"Drink my ass! Look at the state you're in!" Zhibo was furious, reaching out to grab her arm.

"Get up! I'll deal with you when we get back to the barracks!"

"Hey! Don't pull me! That's rude!" Rangiku protested, twisting her body to avoid him, and with the help of alcohol, she was quite strong.

The two of them, one pulling and the other struggling, began to tug at each other between the tables and chairs, causing dishes to clang and creating a chaotic scene.

Toshiro stood at the door, looking at his boss and future colleague who had no regard for appearances whatsoever.

In his icy blue eyes, only a deep sense of powerlessness and the despair of "Is it too late for me to leave the team now?" remained.

During the struggle, Matsumoto Rangiku stumbled, broke free from Shiba Isshin's grasp, and staggered drunkenly toward Yanagawa Station.

Zhibo was startled and tried to stop him, but it was too late.

"Yanagawa-kun~~" Rangiku, reeking of alcohol, pounced on Yanagawa and grabbed his arm without a word, practically hanging on him.

She tilted her flushed face back, her hazy blue eyes gazing at Liu Chuan, her breath reeking of alcohol.

"Yanagawa-kun is so much better... unlike my captain... who's so rude and always makes me do chores... hiccup..."

Liu Chuan: "..." His body stiffened slightly, but he did not push her away immediately.

Shiba Isshin: "..." He froze on the spot, pointing at Rangiku, so angry that his hands trembled and he couldn't speak.

Toshiro: "..." He silently looked away, feeling that he had received too much shocking information today and needed to cool down his brain.

The cafeteria was deathly silent, save for Rangiku's heavy breathing and the sound of her hiccups.

However, this extremely awkward scene was not over yet.

Perhaps it was the full force of the alcohol, or perhaps it was because he found a foothold by grabbing Yanagawa's arm.

After Matsumoto Rangiku muttered those words, her eyes quickly glazed over, her grip on Yanagawa's arm loosened, and she slumped forward as if her bones had been removed.

Without veering too far, she fell right into Liu Chuan's arms, resting her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed, her breathing becoming long and even, and... she actually fell asleep standing up!

It even unconsciously rubbed against itself, finding a more comfortable position.

Yanagawa: "..."

Shiba Ichishin put his hand to his forehead and let out a long sigh filled with despair and shame.

He felt that the Tenth Division's reputation, accumulated over the past hundred years, had been completely shattered by Matsumoto Rangiku in this moment.

Yanagawa looked down at Matsumoto Rangiku, who was leaning on his shoulder, fast asleep and even snoring softly.

He glanced up at Isshin Shiba, who looked utterly dejected, and Toshiro, who was pretending to admire the scenery, and remained silent for a moment.

“…Never mind.” Liu Chuan finally spoke, his voice still steady, revealing no emotion.

He adjusted his posture, supporting Rangiku, who was leaning almost entirely on him, and said to Shiba Isshin,

"I'll take her to the academy's temporary dormitory to rest first. Captain Shiba, you and Toshiro handle things here, and... the follow-up matters."

Shiba waved his hand listlessly, too exhausted to even complain: "Um, thank you for your trouble, Yanagawa-kun... This shameful guy... Sigh!"

Liuchuan said no more, helped the unconscious Matsumoto Rangiku up, and turned to walk out of the cafeteria.

His movements were steady, and even with someone in his arms, his steps were not disordered at all. He quickly disappeared around the corner from the cafeteria to the dormitory area.

Leaving behind a scene of devastation, a distraught captain, and a gifted young man filled with anxieties about the future.

The college's temporary dormitory area was quiet and secluded, mostly consisting of single rooms, intended for visiting nobles or special circumstances like today.

Yanagawa found an empty dormitory room, helped Matsumoto Rangiku inside, and settled her on a clean single bed.

His movements weren't exactly gentle, but they were steady enough as he laid her flat on the bed. He was about to get up and leave to meet up with Shiba Isshin—

A scalding hot hand suddenly emerged from under the covers and grabbed his wrist as he tried to pull away! The force was immense.

Liu Chuan paused, then looked down.

Matsumoto Rangiku lay on the bed with her eyes still closed, a hint of pain and unease flashing across her face as she uttered a muffled whisper, filled with unprecedented vulnerability and pleading:

"……silver……"

"...Don't go..."

"...Silver...please..."

The sound was very soft, yet it reached Liuchuan's ears clearly.

Yanagawa recalled that the "Gin" Rangiku mentioned was the captain of the Third Division, Gin Ichimaru? The captain with the squinty eyes who looked like a fox.

Liu Chuan stopped all movement and stood quietly by the bed, letting that burning hot hand grasp his wrist.

He silently repeated the name to himself, noting down this unexpected piece of information along with the rare vulnerability that Matsumoto Rangiku was displaying at that moment.

A moment later, the grip on his wrist loosened as Matsumoto Rangiku fell deeper into a deep sleep.

Liu Chuan withdrew his hand, took one last look at the sleeping vice-captain on the bed, turned around, and silently left the room.

The graduation ceremony ended in this farce.

Chapter 70 All Things Pervade - X

Hueco Mundo is a desolate place that makes one's soul feel parched.

The sky seemed to be covered with a thick layer of ash, and the ground was an endless, pale sea of ​​sand stretching to the horizon.

This is the nest of the unseen.

Two figures, one in front of the other, were moving slowly and cautiously across the soft sand in a certain part of this pale desert.

They were all dressed in standard Shinigami uniforms, with gray-white cloaks over them that provided some spiritual isolation and corrosion protection to combat the harsh environment of Hueco Mundo.

With his Zanpakuto hanging at his waist, his spiritual pressure was restrained, but his senses were fully activated, and his sharp gaze swept over the surrounding situation.

They are members of the "Hueco Mundo Expeditionary Force," a special unit drawn from the elite of the Gotei 13 and stationed in Hueco Mundo for long-term missions, independent of the Seireitei's regular organization.

Its main responsibility is to eliminate Hollows that are overpopulated or too powerful in Hueco Mundo and control their numbers in order to maintain the balance of soul circulation among the Soul Society, the Human World, and Hueco Mundo.

And to gather intelligence deep within Hueco Mundo, and to monitor the movements and gathering places of the Menos Grande;

The two maintained a standard reconnaissance formation, with one slightly ahead, keeping an eye on the front and sides, and the other slightly behind, keeping an eye on the rear and the air.

They had just cleared out a nest of small Hollows and were on their way back to their hidden outpost somewhere in Hueco Mundo.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the faint sound of their boots sinking into the sand.

Suddenly, the Grim Reaper walking in front paused almost imperceptibly.

He raised his hand, signaling his companions behind him to stop. He tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something, or perhaps using his spiritual sense to perceive the extremely faint spiritual disturbances in the air.

"What's wrong, Fujita?" the Grim Reaper behind him asked in a low voice, his hand already on the hilt of his sword.

The Grim Reaper named Fujita frowned slightly, his gaze fixed on a relatively flat stretch of sand in the distance, where there was nothing but a few pale boulders eroded into strange shapes by the wind.

"Something feels off. The flow of spiritual particles seemed to have been briefly disrupted just now, very subtly, not like a ethereal fluctuation, nor like a naturally formed sand current..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

An anomaly occurred suddenly.

A white beam of light, moving faster than Death's dynamic vision could capture, shot out without warning from the shadow of a huge, pale rock, about several hundred meters to the side of the two people!

Its trajectory was perfectly straight, without the slightest curve, yet it moved so fast it seemed to disregard distance.

One moment, the source of the beam was still in the shadow of the rocks at the edge of the field of vision; the next moment, it easily pierced the heart of the Grim Reaper Fujita ahead.

It shot out from the right side, bringing with it a cloud of blood mist!