Sitting at a table in one of the First District’s popular taverns, I glanced briefly at the still-empty cup and the array of bottles lined up ready for action.
It seemed Kyoraku had taken our wager a bit too seriously.
Or perhaps he was simply looking for a drinking companion, and I happened to be the only suitable candidate.
The latter guess was likely closer to the truth.
“Getting nervous, Kaoru-kun?” he smirked, pouring the first round for us.
“Why would I be?
I have nothing to lose even if I lose the bet,” I shrugged, swirling the liquid in my cup.
“But since we’re having a contest, why not make it more interesting?”
“I knew I’d picked the right man,” he laughed, pulling a heavy pouch of kan from inside his robe and setting it on the table with a solid thud.
“Let’s say if you win, Kaoru-kun, it’s all yours.
And I’ll also pay for all your orders at this bar for today.”
“How generous of you, Kyoraku-san,” I said, glancing at the purse.
“But what if I am overestimating myself?”
“Then you’ll owe me a small favor…
sometime in the future,” he said, a grin never leaving his face.
“I don’t think I’ll lose on this bet.
From what I’ve seen in class, you’re a promising Shinigami.”
“You don’t sound the least bit sinister right now, honestly,” I said, switching to a more informal tone since we were off academy grounds.
Besides, there was hardly room for formality when our blood-alcohol levels would soon far exceed the 5% mark that would be fatal for an ordinary human.
Then again, for souls like us, that was a trifle.
“But I agree.
It’s a deal.”
We shook hands, and a new window immediately popped up before my eyes.
Quest: Kyoraku’s Challenge: The Way of Sake
Description: Defend your honor and prove to Shunsui Kyoraku that the title of the Soul Society’s greatest drunkard belongs to you.
Objective: Remain conscious while outdrinking Shunsui Kyoraku.
Reward: 50,000 Kan.
Fifty thousand kan?
That’s a Gotei foot soldier’s monthly salary.
Not a bad deal at all, provided I win.
And I’ll certainly find a way to multiply the money.
Games of chance were in full swing at the neighboring tables.
By the way, this is the first time I’ve seen a penalty for failure.
Presumably, it’s due to the clearly defined terms of the wager.
But since I raised the stakes myself, there’s no point in complaining.
“Well, shall we?” I said, raising my cup in a salute.
“Kampai,” he replied, which translated meant the universal toast “bottoms up.”
We downed it in one gulp.
It went easy, even too easy.
It seemed Old Man Lin’s swill had truly ruined my palate for alcohol.
“So, how is it?
Going to tell me it’s just plain water again?” Kyoraku pressed.
“Water,” I repeated calmly.
“But damn tasty water.
Pour me another.”
We silently drank another round, watching each other for signs of intoxication.
Then another, and another, until the first bottle was empty.
Maybe I should strike up a conversation?
“Kyoraku-san, how do you manage to sneak alcohol onto the Academy grounds?” I wouldn’t mind using a trick like that myself.
“You need to know the places.
And the right people,” he shook his head, without going into details.
“Fine, keep your secrets,” I said with a dismissive wave.
After a fair amount of drinking, Shunsui turned the latest cup over in his hands, lazily studying the pale liquid.
“To be honest, I’m impressed…” he began, before downing the vessel in one gulp.
“By what exactly?
My awesome power, my dazzling looks, or my unwavering tenacity?” I asked in a thoroughly unserious tone, mirroring his move and downing my own drink right after.
“Modesty,” he snorted, pouring another round.
“Or rather, your lack of a self-preservation instinct.
You do realize that trying to outdrink me is like trying to arm-wrestle Old Man Yamamoto?”
“That’s quite the comparison!
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black…” I said, caught off guard by his brazen confidence, while lightly tapping my cup as I waited for my serving.
“You’d best be careful with talk like that.
After a triumphant victory, I might get overconfident and, in a drunken stupor, go challenge the Head Captain himself.”
Shunsui burst into genuine laughter.
“Oh, I’d love to see that, if I didn’t feel sorry for you,” he said, shaking his head.
“The last time I saw him in action, he hurled some insolent fool, who thought Old Man Yama had ‘lost his touch, straight into the Seireitei wall with just one hand.”
“Was that guy lucky enough to die on the spot?” I asked cautiously, giving a slight shudder.
“Take a guess,” Kyoraku said, his eyes narrowing slyly.
I winced and silently downed another cup.
I wonder who had to scrape that fool up afterward?
Probably not the gate guards, most likely the poor devils from the 4th Division.
After all, they handle all of Seireitei’s maintenance work, sewers included…
“But let’s get back to you, Kaoru-kun.
You didn’t agree to come here for no reason.
Let me guess…
are you that bored?” Kyoraku grinned, eyeing me with lazy interest over the rim of his cup.
I shrugged.
“You called, and I came.
Let’s not pretend the initiative wasn’t entirely yours, Kyoraku-san.
Are you really so desperate that you’re willing to pay fifty thousand kan for company?” I shot back, missing the point of his question.
“Promising to pay if I win isn’t the same as actually paying,” he corrected me.
“Don’t think winning will be that easy.”
“We’ll see,” I snorted.
Kyoraku narrowed his eyes, twirled the cup between his fingers, and sighed lazily.
“There really aren’t that many people in Soul Society you can just relax with.
Some are deadly serious bores, others are just too dim…
But you fall somewhere right in the middle, a pretty good balance.”
“Is that a compliment or an insult?” My eyebrow twitched nervously.
“Come on, I’m not that stupid…
I just don’t know your writing system very well.”
“Take it however you like.
I’ll leave the interpretation to you.” Kyoraku smirked and turned the empty cup over in his hands.
“Though, I have to admit, you certainly know how to drink.”
“Well, then I’m glad I meet the high standards of a drinking buddy, Kyoraku-san,” I snorted in reply.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He poured us another round but didn’t rush to drink.
“A good drinking buddy isn’t the one who can outdrink everyone else.”
“Then who is it?”
“Someone with whom it’s easy to talk… or simply sit in silence.”
I studied him closely.
He looked relaxed, yet a strange wistfulness flickered deep in his eyes.
“So, did I make the cut?”
“Almost,” he nodded, smiling again.
We clinked glasses and drank.
“Kampai.”
After a few silent rounds, he struck up the conversation again.
“Kaoru-kun, why did you decide to become a Shinigami?”
“I didn’t have any other options,” I shrugged.
“Like many other souls with power, I need money to sustain my body.
It’s the burden of having immense Reiatsu.
I need to eat, and I want to live like a normal person, too.
You could say it was a choice with no real choice.”
“I didn’t really have a choice either,” he sighed, filling another cup.
“What do you mean?” I feigned ignorance.
“I was never interested in a career as a Shinigami,” Shunsui shrugged.
“My parents sent me to the Academy, and I didn’t put up much of a fight.
But then my older brother married the head of the Ise clan…
and all the responsibilities of the primary heir fell on me.”
“And you thought you could just enjoy a life free of obligations until the day you died?” I snorted.
“Tough luck.”
“That’s exactly what I thought,” he said, waving his hands in frustration.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy for my brother.
He’s mellowed out…
and he’s happier.
I’ve even got a little niece now, so it’s not all bad.”
“It happens.
Sometimes, for the sake of a loved one’s happiness, you have to sacrifice your own,” I said, shrugging.
“It’s unfair, but fairness is a myth.
It doesn’t exist in the natural world.”
“I think that last bowl is starting to catch up with you, Kaoru-kun.
You’re already getting philosophical,” he said, trying to catch me out.
“Fair point, but you were the one who started complaining about life first.
So, it’s one-all.”
I felt a bit lightheaded and wouldn’t have dared to stand up abruptly just then, but Kyoraku was in worse shape.
He was visibly swaying, and it looked like he was on the verge of passing out.
“Tell me, Kaoru.
Do you remember your past life?” he asked out of the blue.
“In bits and pieces, like many others,” I shrugged.
I had already discussed this with Jushiro, so I didn’t see it as anything forbidden.
The laws of the Central 46 didn’t state anywhere that remembering one’s life in the Human World was against the rules.
“I knew it,” he said, pointing a finger at me.
“Father used to say that souls like yours are different from the rest.
Forever lost, never finding a place to call home…”
“Well…
I wouldn’t say your father is wrong,” I nodded indifferently.
“What else did he say?”
“Troublemakers, always full of wild ideas,” Kyōraku began ticking points off on his fingers.
“They never follow the rules, only look for loopholes…”
It seemed the head of the Kyōraku clan didn’t think too highly of people like me.
Shunsui kept right on talking until I raised my cup for another toast.
It was time to wrap things up, the alcohol was really starting to go to my head.
But first, I’d pull off one little trick.
The rules only forbade eating, so I slipped out of my sandals and let my bare feet touch the stone floor.
The cold sent an unpleasant jolt through me, but it did shake off some of the drowsiness.
After a couple more bowls, Kyoraku tried to say something, but his slurred speech betrayed him.
He slammed his hands onto the table to steady himself and attempted to stand up.
No sooner had he risen than he sat right back down, his cheek smacking against the wooden surface.
Just then, I received a notification that the quest had been successfully completed.
With a sense of a job well done, I pocketed the money pouch.
Life, you know, is beautiful.
Rarely.
Sometimes.
In places.
What could I do to avoid feeling pain and shame tomorrow?
Besides, I’ll need to wake Shunsui up.
If I leave him here, he might get robbed and raped in broad daylight…
in the First District.
You never know.
Oh, whatever, let him lie there.
Nothing’s going to happen to his noble ass.
But a new quest distracted me from making any further plans.
Quest: Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Hot
Description: Teach Kaito Kobayashi, your Hakuda’s teacher, a lesson.
Beat him at dice game.
Objective: Win a large sum of money.
(Optional) Play until Kaito Kobayashi gives up first.
A malicious smirk spread across my face.
I scanned the bar, looking for a familiar face.
There he was.
Out of his Academy uniform, Kobayashi looked different, and I honestly didn’t recognize him at first.
Or maybe it was the sake in my body.
I watched him out of the corner of my eye for a while, letting my Regeneration fight to keep me sober.
He played aggressively, yet luck smiled on him little more often than on his opponents.
Just as a group of ruined, dejected players left his table, I stepped closer.
“Good afternoon, Kobayashi-sensei,” I greeted him, gracefully settling into the seat opposite and lazily tossing the money pouch in my hand.
“How about a game?
Since we’re both here, anyway.”
He shot me a cold look.
“Kaoru?” His voice held a note of near-contempt.
He ignored the honorifics, of course.
“I didn’t expect to see…
someone like you here.”
He swept his gaze over my simple clothes with disdain.
Well, it wasn’t exactly Shutara who had sewn them for me.
“Likewise, but life is a strange thing,” I said, barely suppressing a laugh at my own words.
“I didn’t know you enjoyed gambling, Sensei.”
“What a teacher does in his spare time is none of your business,” he snapped dryly.
“Oh, of course, of course,” I drawled, tossing the pouch up again and letting the coins clink melodiously against the table.
“So, shall we play?”
“Students and faculty are forbidden from gambling,” he said, waving his hand as if shooing away an annoying fly.
“So be so kind as to leave my table.”
“It’s forbidden on the grounds of the Shino Academy,” I clarified calmly.
“I’ve read the rules carefully, Sensei.”
He shot me a displeased look, though I noticed his eyes linger for a split second on the pouch containing my recent winnings from Kyoraku.
“Or are you afraid that my ‘rat-like habits’ might let me win?” I narrowed my eyes.
“I thought a seasoned Shinigami like you would see right through them…
and turn them against me.”
Kobayashi’s lips twitched into a smirk.
“Do you really want to be taught a lesson that badly?” He sharply pulled five snow-white dice from a small, carved wooden box and rapped them against the table.
“Very well…
I won’t deny you that.
It will be a lesson you remember for a long time.”
“Sensei, if you’re planning to just beat me up, I could apologize and leave.” I suddenly felt the alcohol-induced stupor recede, replaced by a faint surge of anxiety.
“Don’t talk nonsense.” There was a note of disdain in his voice.
“I wouldn’t stoop to that.”
He laid the dice out on the table.
“We play with mine.”
I picked one up and rolled it between my palms.
Wait, a strange sensation…
were they…?
“Made of Sekkiseki stone?” I let go, and the die rolled across the table with a soft clatter.
“That’s right.
You’re not as stupid as someone from District 80 usually is,” Kobayashi replied with a smirk.
I winced but let it slide.
“It’s impossible to manipulate these dice surreptitiously using Kido.
There’s no spiritual energy involve, meaning no way to sense the faces via Reiatsu.
It’s pure chance.
Any underhanded tricks will be nullified.”
“An interesting concept…” I conceded, gathering the dice.
“So, what does a marvel like this cost?”
“More than you could ever dream of,” he tossed out indifferently.
I clicked my tongue but accepted the challenge.
My luck against his. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Who would win?
I was confident.
And not just because of the alcohol.
Surely my own Fullbring wouldn’t drive me into destitution?
Besides, this wasn’t even the most reckless gamble it had ever proposed.
Not compared to devouring Hollows, that was for sure.
If I’d been given this quest, it meant winning was possible.
Why was I so sure of that?
…I don’t know.
But the Soul King and his son, Yhwach, possessed foresight.
They could calculate millions of possible realities and choose the one where everything went according to plan.
Perhaps… let’s assume my fragment of the Soul King held at least a shred of that power.
That meant I could win.
Hah, and if not?
To hell with luck.
I was absolutely confident in my own skills.
We were playing “Five Spirits.” It was a game like poker, but played with dice.
Each player rolled five dice and could choose to reroll some of them, trying to assemble a winning combination.
They went by different names, of course, but the hands were the same old pairs, three-of-a-kind, straights, full houses, or even five of a kind—the “Five Spirits.” It was the perfect hand, the kind that comes up once in a thousand games.
We played for a long time.
We were evenly matched, trading wins and losses, but neither of us had dropped out yet.
“Sensei, what was the craziest wager you ever made?” I wasn’t even trying to distract him.
I was just unnerved by the deathly silence hanging between us, broken only by the sound of the dice hitting the table.
“Ten months of a lieutenant’s salary,” he snorted haughtily.
“Forgive my ignorance, but how much is that?”
“A single salary is seven hundred thousand kan.
Figure it out yourself,” he said with a dismissive wave.
Seven million, not exactly hard to calculate.
It was mind-boggling.
I couldn’t even wrap my head around a figure like that.
You could buy a house in Seireitei for that kind of money.
“And yours?” he raised an eyebrow, waiting for my move.
“A bowl of clay-and-sawdust biscuits,” I smirked.
“What’s so crazy about that?” he grimaced.
“The contrast, Sensei.
You were playing for millions, while I was playing for survival.
Isn’t this world insane?”
It seemed luck was smiling on me today.
And I smiled back.
Just when Sensei was certain he was about to win it all and leave me penniless, my hand turned out to be the stronger one.
“Damn it,” he whispered.
“It seems I underestimated you.
You actually won.”
He practically spat out that last sentence, watching with pain in his eyes as I took his purse from the pot.
But.
The quest isn’t over yet.
Which means Kobayashi hasn’t given up.
Hah—funny.
“Want a rematch, Sensei?” I asked innocently.
“I don’t have any money left to play with,” he said, shrugging and leaning back in his chair.
“Do you really have nothing to wager?” I drummed my fingers impatiently on the table.
“How about this idea, let’s make me your personal student?”
“No!” he replied quietly, yet with sharp, clear decisiveness.
Any desire I had to press the issue vanished instantly, he was dead serious.
“My personal apprentice must possess special qualities.
Foremost among them, a unique, unrivaled talent.
Are you suggesting I sell out my principles over a game of dice?
If I ever lose my mind and sink to such a level, I’ll slit my stomach right there and then and let a rat like you chop my head off afterward.”
He practically hissed in my face.
Though, thankfully, without spraying spit.
But the quest was still ongoing.
Which meant I had to keep pushing.
Just in a different direction.
“I apologize, Sensei; it was disrespectful of me to propose such a wager.
Please take into account my ignorance regarding such matters.”
The intensity of his glare faded significantly after my apology.
He let out a breath and calmed down.
That had been part of the plan, and now…
“So, what about those special dice of yours, Sensei?
Will they do for a rematch?” I pointed at them; they had really caught my eye.
“They certainly will,” he nodded.
“But I have to ask, do you really want to make this final wager?”
“Of course,” I shrugged nonchalantly.
“Easy come, easy go.”
“I’ll make you regret this,” he said, shaking his head, almost with admiration for my foolishness.
The final round began.
He was the first to throw a combination, and he kept discarding and drawing new tiles until he landed a full house.
Three twos and two fives.
The sensei’s face instantly brightened.
He was once again absolutely convinced of his victory.
But…
Surely no one thought I had actually been relying solely on luck all this time?
That would have been foolish and shortsighted.
There is no way I would have so recklessly squandered the fifty thousand I’d lucked into, not after a decade of destitution, no matter how drunk I was.
I lived in Zaraki for ten years.
I played against all sorts of people there and beat them all.
But only one of them remained undefeated.
The most cunning cheater currently living in the Soul Society — Old Man Lin.
I don’t even know if that’s his real name or who he was before moving to the 80th District five hundred years ago.
Not that it matters.
What else was he to me?
My teacher in the game of dice.
Five sixes stared back at Kaito Kobayashi, the young Master of Hakuda.
No rerolls.
“Oh, looks like luck is really on my side today, doesn’t it?” I asked my sensei.
The light in his eyes instantly faded.
“You won.” Kaito started to wind up, intending to slam his hand onto the table with all his might, but in the end, he merely set the wooden box gently down upon it.
“Take good care of them.
They brought me luck.
Until today.”
“Better luck next time, Sensei,” I said, carefully fitting each bone into its slot and snapping the box shut.
“See you in class.”
He merely looked at me in silence, his expression unreadable, before leaving the bar.
̶W̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶a̶r̶g̶e̶ ̶s̶u̶m̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶e̶y̶.̶
̶P̶l̶a̶y̶ ̶u̶n̶t̶i̶l̶ ̶K̶a̶i̶t̶o̶ ̶K̶o̶b̶a̶y̶a̶s̶h̶i̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶s̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶.̶
Quest completed
All objectives met
I opened the box again to read the description my system had provided for the item.
Item: Lucky Dice (x5)
Rank: C
Properties: Thanks to the properties of Sekkiseki stone, they neutralize the effects of Reiatsu upon themselves, making it impossible for any external influence to affect the dice undetected.
Description: A set of dice custom-made from Sekkiseki stone for Kaito Kobayashi.
They brought him a long winning streak and substantial gains prior to his encounter with the Hero.
Nothing too extraordinary, just beautiful trinkets.
This is the third truly worthwhile trophy I’ve acquired, following my two Zanpakuto.