Chapter 6: The Drunkard's Reckoning
"One punch to blow them apart? Rukia, that joke isn't funny…" Renji Abarai shot her a frantic look, trying to signal her to stop.
He knew full well that Byakuya Kuchiki—the very model of noble restraint—did not have a patient temper.
Rukia panicked too. She realized how absurd her words sounded, but she didn't dare lie in front of Byakuya. Any claim of credit could be easily disproven with a quick investigation.
"Captain Kuchiki… it's true… If you don't believe me, we can find Shiba Kuroha and confront him directly…"
As she spoke, Rukia gestured toward Kuroha.
But what she saw left her stunned.
The same person who had just been chugging sake and casually obliterating oni with single punches was now sprawled flat on the ground in a starfish position—snoring thunderously, completely passed out.
He even mumbled a couple of drunken demands for more booze in his sleep. He looked nothing like the man who had just dismantled Sōran and his gang.
"B-Brother… it really was him. I'm not lying. Some of the oni escaped earlier—I can catch one and bring it back. Then everything will be clear," Rukia pleaded, accidentally slipping into calling him "Big Brother" in her desperation.
Right now she wanted nothing more than to march over and kick Kuroha awake. But then she remembered—he'd been blackout drunk the entire time. If he didn't even remember what happened… that would be a real problem.
"Haha! Captain Kuchiki, did I just hear someone say a noble blew up a mutated oni with one punch? That's rare—let me get in on the fun!"
A hearty laugh rang out. Soon Kenpachi Zaraki appeared, his towering frame accompanied by Ikkaku Madarame and the rest of the Eleventh Division squad.
Seeing the Eleventh Division arrive, Rukia and the others tensed. It was obvious: the reiatsu fluctuations from the battle had been picked up by the Twelfth Division's Technology Development Bureau. They had notified the combat-focused Eleventh Division to investigate and provide support.
"Ken-chan, he looks dead…" A childish voice piped up suddenly. Yachiru Kusajishi, the tiny pink-haired lieutenant, was currently poking a blade of grass up Kuroha's nostril.
"Good booze… let's drink together…"
Kuroha swatted the grass away in his sleep, rolled over, and kept snoring.
The sight of this completely out-of-place, drunken figure clashed absurdly with the battlefield. The atmosphere turned deathly quiet.
But seeing him like this jolted Rukia awake.
As a Shinigami, drinking was already against regulations. Unless you were someone like Shunsui Kyōraku—a captain with special privileges—daytime drinking was strictly forbidden. And certainly not to the point of collapsing in a drunken stupor.
Worse still: Kuroha carried the status of a noble. Byakuya was the pinnacle of noble conduct. Passing out drunk and babbling incoherently in front of him was a major taboo. If this got his recommendation for the Shin'ō Academy revoked, it was the last thing Rukia wanted to see.
"Haha! A noble who drinks like a fish and has terrible tolerance—looks like an interesting guy. Especially if he really one-punched a mutated oni. That's news." Kenpachi laughed heartily.
"Drinking does violate decorum," he continued, "but if the kid took out this pack of hiding rats, he's done a big service. I doubt Captain Kuchiki would go back on his word so quickly and deny the brat's chance to enter the Shin'ō Academy, right?"
"Brother, Captain Zaraki is right. And he saved me earlier…" Rukia hurried to agree.
But she immediately felt Byakuya's cold gaze and swallowed the rest of her words.
"As a Shinigami, being saved by someone who hasn't even graduated from the Shin'ō Academy—I hope I never hear those words again," Byakuya said indifferently.
"His matter was already decided in the meeting earlier. Captain Ukitake personally vouched for him. It no longer concerns me. However, someone who cannot even uphold basic noble conduct has little chance of passing into the Shin'ō Academy. It's a pity for Captain Ukitake's guarantee."
Rukia froze. She hadn't realized so much had happened while she was away.
She glanced at Kuroha—still dead to the world, snoring away—and remembered the moment he had stepped in front of her. That slender back somehow overlapped with Kaien Shiba's final protective stance in her memory.
A sudden surge of courage rose inside her. She clenched her fists tightly.
"Brother… I trust Captain Ukitake's judgment. And I believe Shiba Kuroha can become a Shinigami."
Both Byakuya and Renji were stunned.
In their memories, Rukia had always been timid and deferential toward her noble "Big Brother." This was the first time she had openly contradicted him— —and over a complete stranger, no less.
"Is that so?" Byakuya's expression returned to calm. He gave Kuroha one last lingering look, then turned and left without another word.
Only after Byakuya vanished did Rukia snap out of it, realizing what she had just done. Her heart pounded with belated fear.
"Haha! You've got guts, kid," Kenpachi laughed loudly. "You better take good care of this guy. I've got plans for him later."
"Captain Zaraki… what plans?" Rukia asked nervously, a terrible suspicion forming.
"Didn't you say he can blow up oni with one punch?" Ikkaku cut in with a savage grin. "Captain Zaraki spoke up for him because he wants to keep him around—for a real, bone-crunching fight someday. That's what real men live for!"
"Exactly," Kenpachi rumbled with another laugh. "Renji, you and Rukia take this guy back. But the report says his drinking tolerance is terrible—lock him in the detention room first so he doesn't cause trouble. Let him out once he sobers up.
As for the oni that got away… leave them to us. It's been a while since I visited Zaraki District. Time to pay some old troublemakers a visit…"
Watching Kenpachi, Ikkaku, and the others walk off, Rukia stood frozen.
She seriously wondered if she should warn Kuroha: Before he even passed the Shin'ō Academy entrance exam and became a Shinigami, he had already been targeted by two captains.
For most people, that would be a nightmare.
But looking at Kuroha—still mumbling drunken nonsense in his sleep, completely devoid of noble dignity—Rukia deflated.
She suddenly regretted impulsively standing up to Byakuya. After all, as a Shin'ō Academy graduate, she knew becoming a Shinigami wasn't just about having a strong fist.
With Kuroha's young age and blatant alcoholism… Rukia had zero confidence he could pass the assessment.
In an instant, all her energy drained away like air from a punctured balloon.
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