chapter 289: shades of love

    ulquiorra studied soi fon’s shikai transformation with a look of mild interest. “is that your shikai or bankai? either way, it looks... underwhelming.”

    soi fon’s response came not in words but in action. she vanished in a flash, her shunpo carrying her through space with such speed that the air itself seemed to shear apart. she materialized behind ulquiorra, striking swiftly at his shoulder — only to pierce empty space where he had stood a fraction of a second before.

    her opponent had read her killing intent like an open book.

    “too slow,” ulquiorra’s voice drifted from above, where he hovered with his hands tucked into his pockets. slowly, he withdrew his right hand and pointed at her, and emerald energy began to coalesce at his fingertip. “i’ll end you here.”

    he wasn’t fond of this battle but the next one with kazuya.

    warning bells clanged in soi fon’s mind. she knew the devastating power of cero, and that destruction would be on another level when used by someone as strong as ulquiorra. the volume of reishi and its density was much greater than any other cero she had seen in her life. no, it was strong enough to warp the existence of the space around ulquiorra’s finger.

    she made a split-second tactical decision that would leave everyone scratching their heads — she rushed directly at ulquiorra as he channeled reiryoku into his cero. ulquiorra snorted and darted away with soni?do, which concealed his reiatsu for a brief moment — just enough time for him to fully charge his cero.

    the warped beam roared toward soi fon, devouring the very light it came into contact with. she knew she couldn’t take it head-on. soi fon’s muscles responded before her mind could process the threat, flash-stepping to the right with all the speed her shunpo mastery could muster.

    but even the famed speed of the onmitsukido?''s commander proved insufficient against ulquiorra’s cero.

    the searing beam caught up to her.

    ‘ridiculous...’

    the encouragement tugged at the corners of her mouth. she found herself caught between amusement and embarrassment. though, she didn’t hate their method of motivating her. she took the fight to prove him wrong, yet here he was, cheering for her victory like a fool.

    ‘i’m the underdog here.’

    it was an unfamiliar position – one she’d found herself in more frequently since kazuya had entered her life. but perhaps being the underdog wasn’t so bad if she received encouragement from kazuya and yoruichi.

    soi fon drew a deep breath, channeling everything into her shunpo. ending the battle before the exhaustion of flash step consumed was necessary. she arrived above ulquiorra. with her legs in a shearing motion, she swung her right leg in a powerful arc, performing a wheel kick with tremendous force behind it.

    ulquiorra raised his sword almost casually, clearly underestimating her. it proved to be his first mistake. the impact of her kazaguruma technique sent him plummeting into a dune.

    ...

    “failing kazaguruma at that speed could’ve shattered the bones of her legs,” yoruichi commented, pride evident in her voice. “wasn’t that beautiful, kazuya?”

    kazaguruma was one of the hardest hakuda techniques as it required great agility and timing to pull it off amidst the combat.

    “indeed. she is beautiful...” kazuya gazed at soi fon with unbelievable affection. “right?”

    yoruichi slapped his face with her paw. “your act won’t fool me. i’m not going to feel jealous.”

    “tch.”