Zaraki sat in a tavern, ready to have dinner. Unlike most of the operatives who broke their fast early in the afternoon, he was just about to break his now.
He took his religion seriously and could go extreme on basic practices because of his slight obsession with every historical significance related to it, be it the frequent Eucharist or an average Remission Ceremony.
The waitress had just brought him a cup of wine to drink while waiting for his meal, and after saying a brief prayer, he reached out to take the cup when a crashing sound came from the straw-layered roof.
The impact sent debris of straw falling on him and into his cup, essentially making his wine undrinkable.
"Damn it!" he swore.
Angrily, he called on the manager, an elderly man who was also serving customers close by,
"Better check on what's going on up there, old man." "It has ruined my drink, and I don't want my meal to get ruined either." he said.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sir Zaraki. I'll get you another one -- on the house." "Please hold on," replied the manager, bowing in apology before he quickly stepped outside to address the cause.
Despite the activities of operatives being covert, they were not required to keep their identities secret. It was entirely up to them, and that was how the manager knew he was an operative, as he was still wearing his uniform with the elite badge crested on it.
Some operatives chose to keep their identities secret, as they had loved ones to protect and could be harmed by an enemy trying to get to them.
But Zaraki wasn't like that. He had no family apart from his closest comrade, Hirai, and nobody would ever want to mess with him!
The only thing operatives were required to keep private was their mission, which they were not to disclose to anyone outside of the Sukunaku.
So he was quite known, especially at that place because he frequented it for dinner almost every day in his elite uniform.
Zaraki heard the manager's distant rant that seemed to be aimed at two people. Then he remembered that often times when he came for dinner at the tavern, he would spot Jin and Mia sitting on the rooftop talking.
But then he recalled that Mia did not go out with Jin tonight, as Jin was with his other close comrades at the dormitory. It was most likely she would be with the mysterious stranger he was suspicious of.
Then came a somewhat familiar scream,
"Call the authorities! "This man is a spy!"
Instinctively, he got up, readying his sword as he aimed for the roof, ready to lunge for it.
.....
Drey's attempt to kill Mia was thwarted by an unknown figure bursting forth from the roof with an unsheathed sword.
"Zaraki!" Mia yelled in shock.
He swung his blade horizontally, aiming to decapitate Drey, who barely dodged his attack by leaning backwards and then countered by throwing a kunai at him.
Zaraki blocked it brilliantly with his sword right before landing on the now damaged rooftop.
But right as he did that, Drey jumped off, supposedly trying to escape, but Zaraki jumped after him immediately.
They both landed on the street, which was filled with people trying to get out of the way as they could easily guess what was about to happen. It also caused a slight stir, bringing in unwanted attention.
Drey was impressed by Zaraki's prowess with the sword and was becoming eager to fight him.
"You seem to be a worthy opponent. "May I know your name?" asked Drey politely.
"Zaraki Mitsuki," he answered.
Drey nodded, memorizing it.
"I see. Very well, I will remember it. "It's been a while since any swordsman has gotten me this excited for a fight."
"You haven't told me your name," stated Zaraki.
"That won't be necessary, and you won't be alive to remember it anyway," he replied.
"I insist," said Zaraki.
"Very well then," he answered with a sigh, "I'm Drey Matsumoto—the man who will end you." But first of all, I have to get rid of these nasty distractions," he said, referring to everyone in the vicinity.
But Zaraki arched a brow, not understanding what he meant by that.
Drey raised his hand to the sky, and this single action changed the weather in a matter of seconds.
The onlookers, watching from a short distance, noticed this and watched in awe, excited for what they were about to witness. They thought it was a spar between two elite operatives and not a serious battle to the death.
It seemed that those who heard Mia's cry had gone out, and those who had no clue what was going on stayed at a close distance as spectators.
A spar between two elites was a rare sight and would be something fun to watch. They assumed Drey was also an elite operative because he was also wearing the elite crested uniform, coupled with the fact that no operative of a lesser rank would want to spar with an elite, let alone in public.
The sky became dark—too dark even for an average night—and then the skies began to roar with violent thunderclaps as the clouds gathered quickly in the palm of Drey's hand.
When Zaraki noticed what was about to happen, he couldn't believe it but had to act.
"Everyone, get out of here now!" He cried out, but it was too late.
Zaraki watched in horror as streams of lightning struck down from the heavens, destroying everything in its path, living and non-living, and killing all the onlookers in split seconds.
He looked around and saw numerous electrocuted dead bodies lying around, along with several houses and properties on fire, including the tavern, now covered in flames with the screams of burning people crying out in agony.
He looked at the opponent before him, trying to process what he had just witnessed.
Drey brought his hand down and craned his neck in all directions, obviously preparing for a fight,
"Now that that's out of the way, let's get started, shall we?" he said, now bringing forth his sword.
Zaraki stood still, frozen by what seemed to be fear, unable to move until a familiar voice called out from beside him.
"Hey, big boy!" called out Mia, struggling to stand up though in bad shape,
"Don't go hogging all the fun without me! "I have a score to settle with this cocky bastard!"
She had a severe burn on her shoulder that made Zaraki wonder if she was immune to pain, and her uniform was damaged by burns.
Despite that, she stood beside him like it was nothing, with all her determination now set upon killing Drey.
The sight of her in a painful condition but still hungry to fight somehow dissolved the fear in him.
Zaraki smiled—for once he was thankful Mia was by his side. Despite his hatred for her, she had somehow restored his courage.
"Thank you, Mia," he said.
"What did you say?" asked Mia, as she didn't get what he said.
"I said, Try not to get in my way, woman," he teased.
"Right back at you, Big Boy." "Now let's kill this bastard!" she responded.
"Aye!" he answered, now excited.