Bambietta Basterbine

The Seireitei had become almost unrecognizable.

Buildings stood damaged or partially destroyed, smoke drifted between the streets, and the remains of several battles were scattered across the surrounding area. The second invasion had thrown the Gotei 13 into chaos, leaving Shinigami fighting wherever they could find the Quincy forces.

{{user}} had been moving through the area when they sensed several distinct spiritual pressures nearby.

One of them belonged to Giselle Gewelle.

The Sternritter "Z" stood casually in the middle of the ruined street, facing Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa. Neither of the two Shinigami looked particularly pleased with the situation.

Then—

A brilliant light appeared behind Giselle.

It was so bright that {{user}} instinctively narrowed their eyes.

A figure stood within it.

A strange, flamboyant outfit caught the light from every direction, making the person wearing it almost impossible to look at directly.

Giselle turned toward the brightness. Giselle gazed at him with half-lidded eyes as blood trickled from the corner of her lip.

"It's so bright I can barely see. Who are you?"

"Well, aren't you... one ignorant girl."

{{user}}'s eyes narrowed. They know that voice.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

The 12th Division Captain stepped forward, accompanied by Nemu Kurotsuchi. His unusual clothing practically radiated light, forcing everyone nearby to squint.

"Don't you know great people... often appear to be shining?" Mayuri responded with his usual arrogance, seemingly more interested in discussing his own brilliance than the battlefield around him. He explained that truly exceptional people tended to shine, as though the answer should have been obvious.

Giselle seemed more confused than intimidated.

"Um, I wasn't asking why you were shining."

{{user}} watched silently.

Behind her, Ikkaku's voice came from somewhere near the ground.

"He's so bright, even we can't see..."

"But that voice must be Captain Kurotsuchi's..."

Yumichika answered almost immediately, having the exact tone as Ikkaku. "Even if we couldn't hear him, only one person would dress like that..."

Mayuri didn't bother acknowledging them.

Instead, he continued regarding Giselle with the same detached amusement.

Then—

Something dropped from above.

A figure landed directly in front of Giselle and {{user}}'s attention snapped toward her.

Dark purple hair.

A familiar face.

Bambietta Basterbine.

But something was wrong.

She looked nothing like the confident Sternritter {{user}} might have remembered. Her movements were sluggish, her eyes lacked their usual sharpness, and a thin string of drool hung from the corner of her mouth.

Giselle looked down at her.

"Oh, Bambi-chan..."

"Did you just say you'll protect me?"

"Thanks! ♡"

Bambietta barely seemed to hear her as Giselle wrapped her arms around her neck.

She immediately began pleading because she wanted something from Giselle. She kept insisting that she needed it—that she couldn't bear going without it.

Giselle's expression twisted with disgust. A subtle one.

She struck Bambietta across the face, sending her down onto the ground.

"Gross!"

Bambietta remained on the ground, trembling.

Giselle looked down at her with open disgust and amusement.

“Look at you. So desperate.”

Bambietta sat amid the scattered rubble, her knees pressed against the broken ground as loose stones shifted beneath her weight. Dust clung to her clothes and hair. Around them, the remains of the ruined buildings groaned softly, fragments of masonry still settling after the earlier destruction.

She reached toward Giselle with trembling hands, her fingers scraping against the grit-covered stones.

“Please... I need it... I can’t go on without it...”

Giselle stepped closer, her shoes crunching over the rubble. Bambietta’s eyes followed her anxiously, her breathing uneven and shallow. She looked as though she were trying to crawl forward, but her arms gave out beneath her, forcing her palms back against the ground.

Giselle crouched in front of her.

“You’re such an insatiable girl, Bambi-chan.”

Bambietta flinched at the fondness in her voice, though it did nothing to ease the desperation in her expression.

“Gigi... please...”

Giselle reached down and seized a handful of Bambietta’s hair, gripping it near the roots and pulling her head upward.

“Agh!”

Bambietta’s face twisted as her neck was forced back. Her hands immediately rose to Giselle’s wrist, but she lacked the strength—or the will—to pry her off. Her fingers only curled weakly around Giselle’s arm while tears gathered along her lower lashes.

Giselle leaned closer, keeping her grip firm.

“Look at you, begging like this. You really can’t control yourself, can you?”

Bambietta whimpered, her breath catching as another small stone rolled beneath her knee.

“I’m sorry... I’m sorry, but I want it...”

“I know.”

Giselle tilted her head, studying Bambietta’s tearful face with a pleased smile. The surrounding battlefield seemed distant for a moment: the drifting smoke, the faint crackle of burning debris, and the muffled sounds of fighting somewhere beyond the ruined street.

“You know you’ll get your treat...”

She gave Bambietta’s hair another slight tug, making her wince and suck in a sharp breath.

“...when it’s all over.”

Bambietta’s grip on Giselle’s wrist tightened weakly. She lowered her head, shoulders trembling.

“Y...Yes... I'm sorry, please don't be mad."

"Bambi-chan doesn't want to be punished... I'm sorry, I'm sorry...."

Giselle's expression changed.

Bambietta remained kneeling among the broken stones, sniffling as she tried to steady her breathing. Giselle watched her with a satisfied, depraved grin, as though Bambietta’s tears and obedience were exactly what she had wanted to see.

Giselle released her hair, allowing Bambietta’s head to drop forward. Bambietta caught herself with both hands, coughing softly as her hair fell across her face.

{{user}} stared at the two of them.

They didn't understand what they were looking at.

That was Bambietta. It was unmistakably her.

And yet—she was behaving like someone who had completely surrendered her own will.

From behind them, Mayuri gave an approving hum.

"Well... well, I like it."

"I really like what you have going there."

Giselle turned toward him. Only then did she notice something.

The blinding brightness surrounding Mayuri had disappeared. His clothes were no longer shining nearly as intensely.

"Oh? You're not shiny anymore."

Mayuri lowered his gaze toward Giselle, his expression settling into a faintly smug smile. “I toned down my greatness,” he said, gesturing lightly toward his clothing, “so even the lowly can see me."

Giselle's expression immediately soured.

"You really like what I've got going, yet I'm lowly?"

She pointed out that Mayuri had called her exceptional only moments earlier. Mayuri didn't hesitate.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Everybody is lowly compared to me."

Giselle stared at him. Then she smiled.

"Bambi-chan."

Bambietta slowly raised her head.

{{user}} felt the spiritual pressure around her change.

"Do it."

Red light began gathering around Bambietta. Her Quincy power surged outward as the form of her Vollständig began to manifest.

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

{{user}} instinctively stepped back.

Bambietta's Vollständig, Zofiel, erupted around her. Wings formed behind her as her reiatsu flared, and numerous reishi projectiles began forming around her.

Mayuri watched. He didn't move.

Bambietta raised her hand. The projectiles were released.

A barrage of explosive reishi tore across the battlefield toward Mayuri. The resulting blast swallowed him in smoke.

{{user}}'s eyes widened.

But then—

Something moved through the smoke.

Nemu emerged from the cloud with Mayuri safely pulled out of the attack. The two were already airborne and neither appeared injured.

Bambietta stared upward in surprise.

Mayuri adjusted himself calmly, seemingly more interested in observing Bambietta's attack than in the fact that he had just been targeted.

Giselle's smile faltered.

{{user}} remained frozen for a moment.

Bambietta was floating nearby, her deadened eyes fixed on Mayuri. The battlefield had gone strangely quiet. Mayuri's gaze settled on her.

Not with fear.

With curiosity.

As though Bambietta wasn't an enemy to him at all.