The midday sun beat down like a furnace.
Even the Executive Militia—a covert ops division notorious for its grueling, death-defying training regimens—had abandoned the training grounds to escape the sweltering heat.
Yet, one petite, slender girl remained.
With a sharp exhale, her small frame erupted with astonishing power.
Her fist tore through the air, whistling sharply before striking the sun-baked wooden dummy with dead-on precision.
A fierce intensity hardened her delicate features.
Every elbow strike, knee slam, and grappling hold was as swift and lethal as a hunting leopard, leaving behind a dizzying blur of afterimages.
Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead like fine pearls, catching the vibrant glare of the sunlight before rolling down her cheeks.
A short distance away, a boy a few years her senior lounged comfortably beneath the shade of a large tree.
He leaned against the trunk, casually nursing a cup of barley tea.
“Take a break!” he called out.
The girl completely ignored him, answering only with a flurry of even more vicious strikes.
“Seriously, take a break!”
Still nothing but the furious whistling of her fists.
Haru gave up and sat down on the picnic blanket he had laid out, which was neatly arranged with a teapot and an assortment of snacks.
A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes.
“If you keep ignoring me, I’m not going to like you anymore!”
Right on cue, the relentless thudding came to a sudden halt.
Sui-Feng stood in the blinding light, her brows knit together as she glared down at the boy resting in the shade, her chest heaving slightly.
“Come sit down and have some water,” Haru said, completely unfazed by her glare.
Sui-Feng hesitated.
Realizing she wasn’t going to win this battle of wills, she finally relented and sat down beside him.
Without a word, Haru picked up a damp towel and reached over, gently wiping the sweat off her face.
“Y-You!” she sputtered, her blunt bangs getting thoroughly mussed by the towel.
“Me what?
I’m doing just fine, thanks.”
She tilted her chin up, her voice dropping into a frosty, defensive tone.
“This is an Executive Militia training ground.
Unauthorized personnel are strictly forbidden from entering.”
Her tough exterior didn’t last long, however.
When Haru didn’t reply, her curiosity got the better of her, and she sneaked a cautious glance toward his shaded spot—only to find him already looking at her, his dark eyes warm and gentle.
A deep blush instantly flooded her cheeks.
She whipped her head away, pretending to ignore him, though her bright eyes still darted back to study him from her peripheral vision.
“Sui-Feng,” Haru began, his tone sobering up.
“The real reason I came today is to let you know that I’m heading off to the Shin’ō Academy tomorrow.
I probably won’t be able to come visit you for a while.”
A sudden, uncharacteristic panic washed over the young assassin’s face.
She snapped her head toward him, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“You…
you’ve been exiled?!”
“No, nothing like that, don’t worry.” Haru chuckled, waving his hands to calm her down.
“Lieutenant Omaeda arranged it.
He said I need to get a proper job to support myself.”
Sui-Feng fell silent for a long moment.
When she finally spoke, her voice was painfully stiff.
“Good.
Then don’t ever come back here.”
She stood up abruptly and broke into a sprint toward the barracks.
Halfway there, she skidded to a halt.
She didn’t look back, but a voice so quiet it was barely a whisper carried over the breeze.
“Tomorrow…
I’ll come see you off!”
Before he could reply, she darted away, vanishing into the dense woods like a fleeting gust of wind.
Haru smiled to himself, then spoke to the seemingly empty air.
“You know, Lieutenant Omaeda, eavesdropping is a terrible habit.”
A hulking man sporting a pompadour and thick gold chains abruptly materialized.
His sheer size was incredibly imposing, casting a massive shadow that completely blocked out the sun.
This was Marenoshin Omaeda—Lieutenant of the Second Division, Commander of the Patrol Corps within the Onmitsukidō, and a man whose political power was matched only by his formidable weight.
Known throughout the Gotei 13 for his mastery of Shunpo, Kidō, and unfathomable wealth, he was a genuinely ruthless figure when he needed to be.
“Haru Shimizu!” Marenoshin barked.
“You little brat, flirting with the girls again!
That was a kid from the Fong family, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.
She just joined the Executive Militia, and she’s the only one left in her family.
I’m hoping you’ll look out for her, sir.”
“The more I look at you, the more I think Lady Yoruichi made the right call canceling that engagement.” Marenoshin sighed heavily and plopped down onto the blanket, his massive frame nearly shoving Haru off into the dirt.
“Hey, you were the one who tried to marry me off into the Shihōin clan in the first place!” Haru protested.
“Your father entrusted you to me before he kicked the bucket!
As his old friend, isn’t it my job to find his son a good home?” Marenoshin suddenly bristled, reaching out a giant hand to vigorously scrub Haru’s hair.
“You’re a penniless minor noble who barely knows where his next meal is coming from!
Marrying into the Shihōin family would have been the blessing of eighteen lifetimes!”
‘As if a perfectly capable guy like me wants to marry into a family just to be a trophy husband…’ Haru grumbled under his breath, muttering something about the tides of fortune turning.
Then, his indignation boiled over.
“I wasted my prime!
Ten years!
I stayed in the Executive Militia for a whole decade, just waiting for that wo—”
Catching Marenoshin’s deadly glare, Haru quickly corrected himself.
“Just waiting for Lady Yoruichi to confirm the engagement so I could reject it!
But the second she heard she was getting an arranged marriage, she just bolted for the World of the Living!
Ten years!
Do you have any idea how I suffered, Lieutenant?”
“You’ve been living just fine,” Marenoshin countered, though he looked a bit guilty.
“Flirting with little girls, getting waited on hand and foot…”
“Oh, yeah, it was great!” Haru threw his hands up.
“Getting lectured on noble etiquette by a bunch of crusty old men every day, dealing with everyone looking at me with this weird mix of fake respect and pure disgust.
It’s rough!
I spent ten years as a fiancé, finally waited for that bitc—I mean, Lady Yoruichi to come back, ready to slap the cancellation papers in her face.
But instead of even meeting me, she sent me a cancellation letter first!
Who has it worse than me?!”
Haru forced out a few fake tears, fully embracing the role of the tragic, wronged hero.
Marenoshin, who had watched this kid grow up, was entirely immune to the theatrical performance.
He skillfully changed the subject.
“Alright, spit it out.
What do you actually want?
Aren’t you reporting to the Shin’ō Academy tomorrow?”
The fake tears vanished instantly.
Haru looked up, his expression completely earnest.
“I need some funding.”
“Didn’t the Shihōin clan give you a severance compensation?
Is that not enough?
You’re getting a bit greedy, kid.”
Haru puffed out his chest, the picture of righteous indignation.
“Who do you think I am?
As if I’d accept their pathetic little handouts!”
Marenoshin chuckled.
This sheer audacity was exactly what he liked about the boy.
‘Lady Yoruichi was far too hasty,’ the older man thought with a sigh.
‘If only she had actually met him.’
He honestly believed that if Yoruichi had just taken one look at Haru, she would have liked him.
He was handsome, fairly capable, and had a great personality.
Most importantly, he was an orphan with no messy family ties.
Aside from having a slick mouth, he was the absolute perfect candidate to marry into a major clan.
Marenoshin had originally pushed for the marriage for two reasons.
First, to honor his dying friend’s wish to give the boy a secure future.
Second, because Yoruichi was simply too wild; he had hoped that marriage might force her to take her clan responsibilities seriously.
The clan elders had been desperate to marry her off, and Marenoshin figured it was better to introduce a kid he trusted than let her end up with some scheming noble.
After vetting Haru, the elders realized he had a clean background and looked easy to control.
Since the different political factions couldn’t agree on a suitor, Haru—who belonged to nobody’s faction—became the perfect compromise.
No one could have predicted that Yoruichi would rather flee to the World of the Living than deal with a fiancé.
“Money makes the world go round, and without it, you can’t take a single step!” Haru pleaded, interrupting Marenoshin’s thoughts.
“You don’t know what it’s like to starve!
Besides, look at you!
With your status, your magnificent physique—you’re rolling in wealth!
If you just scraped off a tiny fraction of your pocket change, it’d keep me fed for a year!”
Marenoshin scowled, deeply offended.
He refused to let anyone question his financial supremacy.
“You think a fraction of my wealth would only last you a year?”
“A century!
At least a century!” Haru instantly backpedaled.
“That’s more like it.”
Satisfied, Marenoshin unhooked a bulging coin pouch from his belt and tossed it over.
“Spend it wisely.
That’s enough to last you ten lifetimes.”
Haru caught the pouch and immediately stood up to leave.
As the boy walked off into the sunlight, Marenoshin hollered after him.
“If you run out, come back for more!
But don’t you dare end up like your father!
If you go down a crooked path, I’ll never forgive you!”
Haru didn’t turn around.
He just lifted his right hand, giving a lazy wave in the air to show he had heard.