[60] Edge

[Bond Event: Teetering on the Edge]

[Your bond level with Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck has increased! ↑]

[Rewards: Reiatsu Potency +1, Talent Point +1]

[Acquired Bond Trait: Teetering on the Edge]

[Reiatsu Potency: Tier-4 Low → Tier-4 Mid]

[Talent Points: 2]

[Bond Trait: Teetering on the Edge:

After laying the groundwork with 'highly infectious words,' all your actions be it Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, or Kidō achieve 'perfect output,' rarely wasting effort. Most enemy offensive actions suffer a subtle disruption via passive verbal influence, driving them to greater recklessness.]

[Note: "Gotta teeter!" - From Don't Teeter]

…

Makoto awoke to a translucent panel hovering before his eyes.

Reading its contents, a wave of relief washed over him.

Good.

He was still alive.

Even with his gremlin's aid, he'd barely tapped a half-step into the pinnacle of Shikai's mastery. He knew its flaws all too well.

That's why, in the Script, he'd spared no thought for playing childish games like having sex with Nellie, this was life or death; he had to keep his head in the game.

Thankfully...

If memory served, his final strike had hit its mark.

As for what followed…

Perhaps some passing Shinigami had hauled him back?

Makoto lay in bed, only to find his body wouldn't budge.

A glance down revealed why, he was strapped tight to the mattress, bound head to toe in peculiar white restraints, purpose unknown.

Turning his head, he spotted Saitō Furofushi sprawled on a bamboo lounge chair beside him, a faint trail of drool glistening at her mouth.

"Saitō-chan?"

His voice rasped with hoarse and strained.

Snap!

Saitō's sweet dream shattered. Her bleary gaze wandered, scanning the room.

Then locked onto the awake Makoto.

Her face lit up. A small hand slapped his shoulder as she chirped, "You jerk, lying there so long, you're finally up!"

"I thought you were done for this time."

The smack jolted his shoulder, drawing a sharp hiss of pain.

Flat on the bed, he hadn't noticed, now, every muscle screamed, swollen and sore like an overinflated balloon.

"W-Water first, please…"

"And... how am I here?!"

Makoto's puzzled eyes darted around his dorm.

Normally, a wreck like him should be soaking in Tenjirō Kirinji's healing hot springs, right?

"Ugh, so annoying!"

Saitō caring for someone? That'd be the real shock.

Still, at his request, she rose and poured a cup.

Feeding him water, she explained, "Blame the Seireitei's mess-ups."

"The Genji School's crawling with maimed and broken aside from a few holdouts, everyone's rotated through the battlefield at least once."

"After basic treatment, Tenjirō sent you back to rest, called it minor injuries."

Makoto blinked, eyes bulging.

"Minor?!"

He hadn't forgotten, his arm and half his ribs were shattered, weren't they?

No amnesia here.

But testing his left arm with a wiggle, he froze.

It… felt fine?

Saitō caught his confusion, tossing out, "Tenjirō said the massive reiatsu lingering in you before you blacked out passively healed some damage."

"Only your Saketsu took a hit from the overload, cracked a bit."

"Still, it'll mend itself."

Clarity dawned. Makoto murmured, "I see… Tenjirō, huh? Guess that's why he's the best."

"But why'd he truss me up like this?"

He flopped on the bed like a fish on a slab, straining against the straps. Whatever they were made of, his strength couldn't budge them.

Glancing over, he caught Saitō bowing her head, a sinister smirk curling her delicate features.

"Because I had them seal you up!"

"…?"

Makoto stilled.

Then silently Saitō's Shunpo flickered. She crouched atop his stomach, her lone eye glinting with mischief.

"So, you…"

"Been holding back on me all this time, huh?"

"W-What holding back?"

Clueless, Makoto braced himself to ask.

"Still playing dumb?" Saitō shot him a scornful glance. "After dragging you back, I had it checked."

"Two reiatsu signatures at the clash site, both at least Captain!"

"The terrain's half-permanently scarred."

"Makoto…"

Perched on his stomach, she tilted his chin up, her smile dripping with bloodlust.

"You're not honest."

"Uh, this…"

His body was locked rigid.

How could he not know what Saito meant?

Yet he couldn't argue.

The battlefield scars proved it, his final clash with Nellie rivaled a Captain powerhouse's full strike.

Denying it would only stoke Saitō's competitive streak. She'd force his 'full strength' out, one way or another.

The thought prickled his scalp.

Never mind that his last Playlife leaned on borrowed power from his gremlin.

Even if he could wield that Shikai freely, he wouldn't dare use it on Saitō!

What if it spun into some bizarre script?!

Trapped in a Room Where You Can't Leave Without 24 Hours of Sex?

Or Hypnosis! All-Girl Genji School? Showdown with Discipline Officer Saitō Furofushi!?

He knew his system too well.

If a friend found out, he'd rather die on the spot!

Saitō watched his cheeks tighten, his 'dead' look stoking her grin's menace. She pinched his earlobe, tugging with a threatening edge.

"Speak!"

"Ma~ko~to-kun?"

Beneath her playful tone, her heart churned, far from the calm she feigned.

Unohana or Makoto master and student alike flaunted their prodigious gifts, looking down on a grunt like her who'd clawed up from nothing with blade and grit.

Especially this guy.

Not even stronger than her, yet he dared hold back in spars?!

Even beaten to a pulp, he never went all out.

Infuriating!

Damn it!

Saitō resolved inwardly.

If this idiot couldn't cough up a decent excuse, she'd thrash him senselessly, wringing every drop of potential from his bones!

Not a shred left!

But as she schemed, Makoto turned aside, mumbling sheepishly:

"Because…"

"Huh? Louder!"

Saitō leaned in, her head nearly brushing his lips.

Scalp tingling, Makoto blurted the excuse he'd cooked up to dodge the Shikai grilling, raising his voice.

"Because… if I used all my strength at once…"

"Wouldn't I miss out on inching further?"

"Huh?!"

Saitō blinked, the uncultured girl puzzling over 'inching further.'

Makoto sucked in a breath, tossing shame aside.

What did it matter? His scabbard's tabi obsession was already Genji School legend, adding 'foot-fetish creep' to his rap sheet wouldn't sink him much lower!

All for boosting his Shunpo ceiling!

Emboldened, he bellowed, "A-After all! Mere tabi don't cut it anymore!"

"If Saito-chan wants to face the real me, you've gotta show more 'sincerity'!"

"Exactly!"

"I held back because of you, Saitō-chan!"

"You want the horse to gallop but won't feed it night after, how's that fair?!"

"Sincerity! Sincerity!"

"Saito-chan, do you even get people?!"

His roared defiance flipped the script. Saitō, moments ago looming over his chest, all sharp-edged menace, jerked back to the bed's far end.

Her lone eye shimmered with disbelief.

"Eh?"

A faint, baffled sound escaped her.

What kind of weird excuse was this?!

Yet, as her gaze flicked to the pink-and-white tabi dangling from his scabbard, doubt crept in.

With Makoto… maybe it wasn't unthinkable?

His name was already mud across the school.

Foot-stink mud!

Saitō wasn't alone in her odd daze, his gremlin chimed in.

[Ooooh! Makoto-sama!]

[Three days apart, and you're a new man!]

[You're embracing your true self!]

[Your buddy's proud of you!]

The Zanpakutō's voice deepened Saitō's hunch, why would it lie?

Makoto lay there, face a mask of tearless despair.

Silence thickened the dorm, heavy enough to hear a pin drop.

Saitō huddled at the bed's edge, flicked her gaze aside. A blush crept over her pale cheeks as she muttered.

"So… that 'sincerity' you mentioned... what's it mean?"

"Hm?!"

Strapped down, Makoto swiveled to her, eyes wide.

She'd actually bite?!

Noticing his shock, Saito snapped, "You! D-Don't push it!"

Makoto reined in his stare, testing, "Well, untie me first."

"Then…"

"Start with a foot massage?"

***

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