Rangiku Tachibana squatted on a branch of one of the tallest trees with her sister Yuzu, who was right beside her.
Then Yuzu got impatient and asked,
"What do you think, Rangiku?" "They have been hunting us."
But her sister remained silent, so she proposed,
"I think we should strike right now while they are still vulnerable."
Rangiku felt her belly and answered, knowing where that proposal was coming from.
"What do you take me for, sister?" "I'm not helpless—I'm just pregnant!" she said.
"Very well then..."This squad has probably the only elite operative capable of taking us both at our peaks," said Yuzu.
"Really? "Who could that be?" asked Rangiku.
"Don't you recognize him?" "That's Zaraki Mitsuki, the most skilled swordsman among the elites, second only to Hirai Masashi."
"You're joking, right?" asked Rangiku in disbelief.
"Do I look like I'm joking, sis?" That guy is a one-man army. "The two of us might stand a chance against him alone by a thread of luck, but he currently has other operatives with him."
"You're right, Yuzu," she admitted, terrified... then asked, with a tear shedding from her eye, "
"Did I do the right thing, Yuzu?" "Is it too selfish for me to want to live a normal life and have a family?"
Yuzu laid a hand on her shoulders, looking at her with concern.
"It's too late to think like that, sis." "For now, the safety of your unborn child takes priority over everything, and I will not let anything happen to either of you—I promise," she assured, giving her strength.
"Thank you, Yuzu," she said, wiping away her tears. "So what now?"
Meanwhile, Zaraki had opened his eyes upon sensing a foreign presence nearby, readying himself to attack without them noticing.
Quietly but swiftly, he looked up, and as a free prize on a platter of gold, he recognized his two targets squatting on a high tree branch nearby, conveniently distracted with themselves—an opportune time for him to attack.
At that moment, he quietly brought out an explosive parcel tied to a kunai and skillfully threw it at them.
Yuzu was about to answer her sister's question when she noticed an explosive parcel heading straight for them.
"Move!" she cried out right before jumping off the branch, but she got blown off by the detonation of the bomb.
The sharp sound from the explosion woke the rest of the team from sleep, jolting them out of their slumber upon sensing the impact.
Instinctively, they brought out their weapons, ready for anything, and their attention came to the sound of two bodies hitting the ground with a mighty thud.
Ken looked at the two seemingly dead bodies—the average person couldn't survive that fall, especially after being in the close range of an explosion just before it—but noticed one of them seemed to still be alive.
Yuzu opened her eyes to find another body lying motionless and covered in blood several feet from her.
For a second, she wondered how she (herself) could've possibly survived the fall until she noticed the several layers of fallen leaves that had cushioned her collision with the ground.
She was thankful for the moment that she had managed to survive, right before briefly struggling to recognize her sister, who wasn't so lucky.
"No, it can't be!" Rangiku! (She called out, coughing up blood.) Hey, answer me! "Tell me you're all right!" she cried out as she crawled as fast as she could to her sister's disfigured body. "Dead."
It was most likely that she didn't get off in time to avoid damage from the explosion and also fell from the high branch unconscious.
Her neck was twisted in such a way that it guaranteed instant death upon occurrence, and there was blood everywhere.
Yuzu placed a hand on her sister's belly, hoping to feel the faintest sign of life from her unborn child, but felt nothing. She moved her hand from her belly to her dead sister's head, gently shutting her eyes as if sending her to sleep briefly, and said to her,
"You stay right here, Rangiku. "I made a promise to you, and I'm not going to break it!" she assured the corpse, not willing to admit her sister's demise.
"Wait a minute, Zaraki, are they...?" asked Mia.
"Our targets? "Yes," answered Zaraki.
"This must be our lucky night!" Mia remarked as she hastened her steps from behind Zaraki to attack the one who was still alive.
Zaraki stepped forward, brought forth his sword, and pointed it in Yuzu's direction.
"Yuzu Tachibana! "You and your sister are guilty of violating the creedal laws of the League, breaking your lifetime oaths, and attempting to flee from the Sukunaku. So you shall pay with your life, just as your sister has."
"She only wanted to live a normal life!" she replied.
"At the expense of her obligations to the Sukunaku!" he responded.
"Her unborn child did not deserve this!"
"Not my responsibility," he flatly replied.
"You ended her life for no good reason!" yelled Yuzu, extremely upset.
"My obligations to the league are more than enough," he said.
"You piss me off, Zaraki! I thought of all the people; you'd understand. "She was your friend!" she cried.
"She was, but not anymore," he answered.
"I hate you, Zaraki Mitsuki!" she screamed at him.
"I was hoping you'd say that. It gives me more reasons to kill you right now instead of taking you back alive to Langford, where you would experience a slow and torturous death. "So I'm only going to say this once; surrender now, and I will grant you a quick and painless death," he answered.
"You're going to pay for this!" she said as she took out a dagger and slit her wrist, ready to initiate the deadly technique most of the operatives thought to be a myth.
The blood that came out of the wound vaporized before hitting the ground, forming a cloak of red clouds around her.
"Damn it, it's the Blood Mist!" swore Zaraki, as he took a few steps backwards to address the squad,
"Everyone brace yourselves! "Chances are we might not survive what's about to come next!"
Mia's eyes widened in disbelief, along with the others.
"What?" they all exclaimed.
"I said stand down!" "All of you!" He ordered, though it seemed largely unnecessary as not one of them was brave enough to attack—all except the impulsive Mia.
She defied his orders without thinking, lunging straight at Yuzu with her kunai and shurikens, ready to strike.
Yuzu had right now lost her sanity by initiating the blood mist. Now all that felt logical to her was destroying Zaraki with sheer brutality.
"Mia!" yelled out Jin and Ken in unison, the both of them thinking about going to aid her, but Zaraki motioned for them to stop.
"Are you joking, Zaraki? She is going to die!" Jin yelled at him.
"I will not allow that, but I think a few injuries should teach her to respect her limits and her superiors."
Mia was barely a few feet in front of Yuzu at this point, and in a split second, Yuzu's glowed red, spilling forth blood profusely as she quickly unsheathed her sword and blocked the hit successfully.
In the blink of an eye, she countered Mia's attack with a kick that sent Mia flying several feet backwards.
On seeing this, Jin and Ken, without thinking, lunged at Yuzu with full speed, not minding the strange things occurring around her, attacking simultaneously.
Zaraki, on the other hand, shook his head in disappointment.
"At this rate, she is going to kill every last one of you."