Chapter 13: First Mission (2)

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

*Sound Effects*

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Chapter 13: First Mission (2)

Tsuda had always been a resourceful individual with an astute business mind, through shrewd planning and a knack for befriending the right people, his diner had achieved a wondrous equilibrium between both the legitimate and illegitimate markets.

The "principles'' of which Soul Reapers claimed to abide by were all erroneous, and he knew that. He understood their true nature enough to the point where he could take advantage of it, to extract both economic and political privileges from it.

Those who donned the prestigious black haori all shared the mindset of criminals, mobs and felons. In fact, Tsuda thought them to be naught but glorified delinquents. Not that he minded, after all if it weren't for the fact, he wouldn't have had even half the power he did today.

Whether they wanted women, opioids or drinks, he'd be more than happy to offer his services. Once his affiliation with them became common knowledge, even the most hardened of criminals wouldn't dare lay so much as a finger on his establishment.

Save for one group of course, which he was smart enough not to offend, at least not directly.

He admired the lavish decor that graced his walls as he indolently tended to his silverware, a faint simper crept up his lips as sounds of debauchery radiated from the upper floor, or to his ears, the sound of profit.

"Oi Tsuda, we're running out of Sake!" His smile unmoved, he gestured to one of his guards to fetch the group more booze, uncaring of the Soul Reapers seemingly vulgar tone. Souring Tsuda's mood whilst his coffers were being filled was nothing short of a futile effort, money over morale, t'was his motto.

"Boss, we still have 10,000 Kan worth of disposable income that hasn't been accounted for" A lanky, meek looking spectacled man approached Tsuda — holding sheets of paper that served as an accounting book of sorts.

"Just invest it all into prostitution, I heard one of our rivals are going out of business soon, Araki Inn was it? See if we can buy out some of their remains" His accountant nodded obediently and walked off, leaving Tsuda to self-inflate his ego at peace.

His guards were quick to stiffen upon the sound of hinges creaking, an imposing figure wearing little but an azure haori stepped foot into his establishment.

"Ah, a new face, would you care for a drink to get you started?" Refusing to tarnish his image as an authentic businessman, he opted to speak politely and welcomed the newcomer, offering him a seat right in front of his counter.

The figure didn't utter a word, but casually inched forward, the sight of his cardinal pupils scanning the room managed to impose a sense of disquiet in Tsuda, he couldn't point his finger on it but something seemed — off.

The pressence of the figure's blade had not escaped the attention of Tsuda nor his guards, but it was hardly an usual sight in these parts. Himself and his guards were positive that should he try anything, they would be ready.

Right?

The man's vermillion gaze finally returned to Tsuda, observing him as if to get a read on his character. "Do you have any Umeshu in stock?" Tsuda's face promptly lit up, convinced that the outsider meant no harm.

"Of course! I'll be right with you" Tsuda got to work preparing the beverage, whilst his customer turned his attention to the two guardsmen protecting a staircase that led to the second floor. 'How weak, they barely pass as bandits…' Compared to the pressences upstairs they were about as threatening as a summer ant.

"Here you go, if you have any further requests don't hesitate to ask alright?" He feigned gratitude as he accepted the drink, his instincts cautioned him to believe that Tsuda's attitude was purely a facade.

"What's upstairs?" He knew precisely what, or rather who lingered above him. But he didn't see the harm in toying with the shopkeeper a little before doing away with him.

"I'm afraid it's off limits for now, it's already been reserved by some other guests" Koda gently nodded, acting as if he was listening to the man.

Gradually he started to grow weary of Tsuda's company, quickly gulping down the rest of his glass and pointing to the empty cup. "How much?" He asked, like he had any intention of paying.

"Ah, that'll be 200 Kan" Koda scoffed as he reached for his waist, making Tsuda believe he was about to retrieve his wallet. '200? That's blatant robbery' In actuality, he had reached for something far more cold, and far more deadly than a simple wallet.

*Spluuurt!*

Without even being given time to process, Tsuda's head had been swiftly detached from his shoulders, left to roll along the wooden floorboard until it reached the boot of one of his guards.

"You!" All four of the guards spared no time rushing the intruder, pointlessly attempting to avenge an employer that could no longer provide for them, greed really had blinded them.

They were all met with the same fate as their boss, leaving Koda to dust himself off and approach the staircase. '5 people huh? They don't seem like all that much'. Upon arriving at the second floor, he was met with a rather spacious room containing bustling individuals with women at each of their sides.

"Who the fuck are you?" They didn't interest him one bit, rather there was one alluring individual sitting all the way at the back of the room, enjoying a freshly brewed cup of tea that radiated a sweet aroma to themselves.

They appeared to be a young man, with slicked back platinum hair and bronze badge strapped to his arm with Kanji which he couldn't quite read from afar.

'I didn't notice him…' One of the five hauled themselves to their feet, withdrawing their Zanpakuto and aiming it at Koda with an aloof smirk on their face.

"Get lost, unless you want me to end you right this instant" He bellowed, causing Koda to roll his eyes as he took a step closer.

"Suit yourself" Failing to acknowledge the threat Koda imposed, he charged forwards and swung his blade until both their metal edges met.

'Is that all?' Disappointed in the Soul Reaper's lackluster strength, he took advantage of his brute force and effortlessly broke through his guard, leaving him exposed and allowing Koda to plunge the tip of his Asauchi deep into the man's neck.

"How about the rest of you? Surely you can outdo that poor excuse of an attack" To Koda's astonishment, the death of their comrade didn't seem to aggravate them in the slightest. An awkward apathy filled the room as the four lazily stood up, unsheathing their blades and looking at Koda with eyes brimming with tedium.

"Would it kill ya to show a little anger?" He taunted as he awaited their charge.

Instead the four nodded to each other, they each flash stepped around Koda seemingly trying to encircle him, pointing their index fingers at his torso and chanting a familiar incantation.

"Hadō #1: Shō!"

Four mighty gusts of wind blitzed their way towards Koda, the sheer speed at which they traveled left him with no window to dodge.

The blonde spectated with a dejected expression, he had sensed a considerable amount of Reiryoku in the attacker, falling to such a simple formation was nothing short of pathetic.

'Making up for a lack of quality with coordinated quantity — shit, I underestimated them!' A small burst of saliva shot forth from his mouth, each and every one of his limbs trembled from the impact as if an earthquake had set off in his body.

"He's still standing…" The light haired figure had finally decided to speak up, catching the attention of his subordinates as he nonchalantly continued to sip on his tea.

All four of the Shinigami were momentarily left in awe. But once it became evident that he was injured their worries faded into dust, they each rose their fingers once more and prepared to finish him off.

At least, that was the plan.

Whilst gritting his teeth and soldiering through the pain, Koda had managed to pull off a flash step and position himself just a few inches in front of one of the Soul Reapers, his blade already centimeters away from piercing the man's heart.

Two of the remaining Shinigami gestured to each other, it was clear their friend was moments away from death but they could at least prevent his death from being in vain.

As Koda's Asauchi tore through the robed figures' flesh, he felt a similar sensation near his abdomen.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

One of them had Shunpo'd behind Koda's target and plunged their blade all the way through their own comrades' torso, and into Koda. Without a hint of shame nor hesitation, and it had worked.

Koda's eyes grew bloodshot as a gleam of rage dwelled deep within his mind. His Reiryoku intensified, and the tightness of his grip heightened — he spared no effort in continuing to force his blade deeper into the corpse, aiming straight at the scoundrel's head.

"Wai—"

*Spluuuurt*

Just like that, there were now two corpses attached to his blade.

Perhaps brute strength was the answer every now and then.

With a radiant amber gleam in his sclera, he glared at the three remaining Soul Reapers — taking slow and labored steps towards them, daring them to make their next move.

Seeing him in his tattered state appeared to spur a false sense of relief within the black clad group, believing his speed to be lacking one of them haughtily dared to appear behind him — deluded into thinking he had any chance of taking Koda by surprise.

As fate would have it, a sharp segment of cold alloy had duly met the ignorant fool's neck. In fact, by the time he was behind Koda, the man himself had already turned around.

"That won't do, unleash your Shikai's already, unless you want to end up like those three" That rose a good question, why on earth hadn't they used their Shikai's already, especially after witnessing what he was capable of.

And then it clicked.

It wasn't that they didn't want to, it was that they couldn't.

No one had explicitly told him every Soul Reaper could use it, that was naught but a hasty assumption he had made.

A faint smile forced Koda's lips to curl upwards as he came to the realization. 'So even among the strongest, there are still weaklings…'

Koda's violent Reiryoku started to settle, switching from the state of a raging rapid to a serene lake.

Struggle as they did, the three were eventually put down just like their fallen brothers, their attacks weren't strong enough, their feet weren't quick enough, and their bodies weren't durable enough.

Weakness, plain and simple, that was the cause for their deaths.

"Well? How'd you like my performance?" He turned his attention to the seated blonde in the corner of the room, the figure in question took one last sip of his cup before groggily picking himself up.

He faced Koda and performed a slight bow before resting his hand on the hilt of his blade.

"I must say, that's quite the barrier you've set up, I wonder how you acquired that technique?" He inched closer to Koda with an eerie smile on his face, unbothered by the corpses of his subordinates that lied in the distance.

"Oh well, I am Maita Tomio, Lieutenant of the 6th Division, a pleasure to make your acquaintance"