Download App
63.94% A Nascent Kaleidoscope. / Chapter 376: Chapter 340

Chapter 376: Chapter 340

I hopped down, following Yoruichi as he ran around.

It certainly didn't take me long to find the source of my current anger and annoyance. And as he mentioned before, this Strawberry was sitting there as well.

One, Kurosaki Ichigo. And he was arguing with a kid with glasses and a shimmering blue bow made of Reiryoku in his hand.

There was also that Shinigami that did the illegal thing standing behind him.

My presence did not go unnoticed.

"YOU!!" Ichigo shouted, holding his massive sword up at me.

"Nice sword, I used to have one just like it." I greeted with a little wave.

"You bastard!"

"Calm down Strawberry, I'm not here for you." I ignored him for the moment. He was a little on guard, which was understandable. As was the silent Shinigami behind him that was eyeing me suspiciously. Though….hers was more…actual hesitance as opposed to Ichigo who just had his pride hurt the last time we met.

Don't know where Yoruichi went, but whatever.

"And you." I turned to glasses kid. "Are you the one whose mess I had to clean up?"

"Pardon?" He looked confused.

I let Lighting snap between my fingers to que him in on what happened.

"…that was you!?" Rukia finally spoke up, exclaiming in surprise. "What – how?"

"Little bit of Magic." I replied.

"That's not –" She seemed to have trouble finding the right words. "You changed the weather! You killed a Menos! That isn't something a Human should be able to do!"

Honestly, Yoruichi said the same thing about humans in general. "You lot really seem to look down on humans. I know many off the top of my head who could accomplish something similar."

"Wait, the lightning was him?" Ichigo blinked.

"Of course it was, you moron!" Rukia smacked him. "He just showed you it!"

"….but how'd he do it?" The orange haired kid barely budged after the hit. "Oi, can you do that too?" He looked at Rukia.

"That's the whole point!" She huffed. "I….I don't know any Kido that can manipulate the weather on such a large scale." She added softly. "…that's not normal."

As the two argued, I turned towards who I assumed was the Quincy. I didn't really know what that truly meant beyond some vague description that Tessai gave me and only that Yoruichi pointed it out in passing.

"You…" His eyes widened as it was pretty damn hard to miss the light show. "You stole my prey!"

….and that was not the response I was expecting.

"Care to repeat that?" I was a little surprised by his answer, I think I needed clarification.

"Hmph." He pushed up his glass, dismissing his bow. "I would have handled those Hollows fine. You interrupted my match with the Shinigami."

"….Strawberry, explain." I looked at Ichigo.

"Stop calling me that, asshole!" He growled. "And this idiot wanted to compete in killing Hollows because of some crap, I don't know."

"Let me get this straight…" I turned back to the Quincy. "You….used Hollow Bait to bring Hollows here to…..compete with this idiot?" I jerked my thumb at Ichigo.

"Who're you calling an idiot!?"

"The idiot who lost his sword." I responded.

"Come try that again, I dare you!"

"I don't want your size compensation anymore." I waved him off.

"What did you just say!?" He stomped on the ground with a huff, but I ignored him.

"That's correct." The Quincy replied, without a hint of shame.

I walked up to him, and he just seemed confused for a moment until I got in his face. And in one swift motion, I slapped him. Hard, and across his cheek. His glasses went flying off onto the ground and he stuttered backwards before falling over.

He's lucky I didn't have my brick at the moment.

"Stupid fucking kid." I muttered, looking at him recovering from the shock. "Just a stupid fucking kid probably around 15 years old." I was more so saying this to myself because I was close to wanting to just kill him and be done with it.

If he gave some answer like wanting the Hollows to rampage and cause harm, then I would have taken his head without a second thought. But no, this stupid fucking kid didn't see a problem with the situation because he thought he had it handled.

"What the hell?" Ichigo shouted as he walked towards me. "Did you just hit him?"

"He's lucky that's all I did." I glared at the other stupid kid. "If he was a few years older, I may have just decided to end the whole problem the fastest way."

Ichigo's face darkened and I saw his hand tighten around his sword. Was he going to intervene if I actually went to kill him? Well…..I can't say that makes me hate him at all, the kid has a good heart if anything.

"You, Shinigami." I snapped my head at Rukia who had been silent thus far. "Tell me, if you summoned a bunch of Hollows into a densely populated town. One that is probably the highest concentration of Reishi in the world. What would your punishment be if they ran rampant?"

"Most likely execution." She said simply, obviously getting what I was hinting at. "Intentionally causing the deaths of the living is a serious crime."

"This isn't a game." I turned back towards Ichigo. "The stakes here for whatever bullshit reason you guys 'competed' for, were the lives of innocent people."

God what is the world coming to when I have to be someone else's moral guidance? Fuck, I'm a damn criminal in another world, a wanted fugitive a fucking Devil. Why does it fall to me to tell these stupid kids that Soul eating monsters in a populated area are a bad idea?"

"I would have handled it fine!" The Quincy kid shouted, obviously having recovered from his initial shock. "I would have proven that I was better than this – Shinigami. Besides, the Hollow Bait wasn't supposed to be able to summon that many!"

"Right, the thing you used to summon Soul eating monsters did something you didn't expect and summoned more Soul Eating monsters than anticipated. That's what you're falling back on when someone calls out your stupidity?" I sighed, repeating to myself that he wasn't malicious, but a stupid fucking kid. "If this was your genius fucking plan, why didn't you use it, I don't know, maybe outside of populated areas!?"

I had to resist the urge to slap him again.

"I –"

"Tell me, do you know how many people died because of your little stunt?"

"No one –"

"I was on the other side of town, and I killed several before I had to do something bigger to handle the stragglers. Tell me, how did you have those 'handled'?" Finally, there was a growing look of horror appearing on his face as realization set in. "Yoruichi." I called out, knowing damn well he was nearby.

I actually don't know if anyone died or not. I would genuinely be surprised if there were no deaths because of his little stunt. And It's obvious he didn't do this shit maliciously, otherwise I wouldn't even bother with words, his head would have been rolling on the ground already.

No, he's just a stupid fucking kid who didn't think through his actions.

The cat appeared in a flash. "Need something?"

"What the hell, did that cat just talk?" Ichigo blurted out.

"Is a talking cat as strange as a talking strawberry?" Yoruichi retorted.

"D-did you just…!?" The kid started fuming and it was hard to keep a serious look at that jab.

"This Quincy kid –"

"It's Ishida Uryū!" The kid snapped back, but he was sorta taking the verbal scolding without running away.

"Presumably, his parents, one or both, are Quincy. Do you know his address?" I asked, ignoring his outburst. "And you said you had people helping, is it safe to assume the remnants are taken care of?"

"The kid is right, Hollow bait shouldn't have attracted that many – at least the tiny amount he used. Not saying it was smart." Yoruichi glanced at the glasses wearing kid still on his ass. The latter of whom had the decency to actually wince at the tone. "But yeah, you did most of the heavy lifting there and the smart ones ran when the Menos appeared. Bigger predator and all that. My friends can handle the rest. As for his house, I know the address."

"Good, me and this stupid kid's parents are going to have a chat." I decided, grabbing the Quincy by the collar despite his protests.

What a fucking day this is turning out to be. Responsible Wilhelm here to tell kids to stop being idiots.

[Kind of ironic, isn't it? You're usually the one causing the big problems.]

Please, I don't bring innocent people into shit like this.

[That's true, now that I think about it, you almost always take fights and such out of the way.]

I freely admit that I do things that are not quite so wise in hindsight. But when I cause problems, it's usually calculated. Or atleast I always take responsibility for the consequences of my own messes.

God, I really hope Kunou doesn't have a phase like this when she gets a few years older.

[***]

"This the place?" I asked.

"This is –"

"I was talking to the cat." I jerked the kid's collar. I was pissed off and didn't even want to hear him talk at the moment."

"Yeah, this is it. I know his dad." Yoruichi confirmed as he stood on my shoulder.

"Wait, you know my father?"

"Obviously." Yoruichi said dryly. "Do you think the spiritual stuff in this town is big enough that I wouldn't know one of the other Quincy's living here?"

Hmm, I think Yoruichi may be a little peeved at the idiot kid too. Well, he did confess his own pride in his previous occupation as a Shinigami. Which the mainstay focus of that was to deal with Hollows. I'm sure some stupid kid summoning them into the middle of a town full of people ticked him off a little.

Maybe I was a little too hard on him before and jumping to conclusions. His callousness was maybe misinterpreted by me. I know I might appear like that to other people when I have situations well in hand but it appears chaotic for them.

And it's not like he knew how strong and such I was. So he was probably being nice and keeping me out of any nasty business.

I'll apologize later.

The house itself leaned towards wealth and I tempered myself accordingly.

Ishida Uryū muttered under his breath. "He won't be home, he's at wo—"

A man with white hair opened the door. He wore a very tidy and fashionable suite and had an air of elegance about him.

"Yoruichi." He was the first to speak.

"Hey Ryūken it's been awhile." Yoruichi greeted.

"I was not aware we were familiar enough for you to use my given name." He said calmly.

"Maybe, but I'm gonna anyways."

"Of course." He responded dryly. "And this is?" He looked at me.

"Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg." I introduced myself and I pulled Uryū up as he sort of shrunk away when his father appeared. "I believe this belongs to you?"

"Uryū" He said evenly.

"….father." The kid didn't meet his eyes.

Oof, something tells me these two aren't really close.

"Very well, come in." He held the door open as he stepped to the side.

I did let go of the kid's collar once we crossed the threshold. Seemed impolite to keep manhandling him while his father was right there.

He gestured towards the couch with the accompanying coffee table as I took a seat and he sat down across from me. And seeing Uryū keep a certain distance from his father wasn't lost on me.

"Am I to assume that the mark on my son's face is from you?" He asked.

His cheek was still visibly red and I could vaguely see an outline from my hand.

"It is." I didn't deny it one bit. "I would say it's a better alternative than you finding his head rolling on the ground."

I was kind of annoyed that he didn't get upset at the insinuation of me killing his son.

"I assume there is a good reason for this meeting?" He asked.

"Why are you playing like you don't know, Ryūken." Yoruichi snorted, hopping off my shoulder onto the seat next to me. "You're not nearly out of practice enough to not notice what happened earlier. You still don't leak an iota of Reiatsu that you don't want to."

The man let out a long breath. "What did you do, Uryū?" He turned towards his son.

The kid scowled and didn't answer.

"He decided that it was a good idea to use Hollow Bait in the middle of the city." I filled in the blanks. "You could probably notice the consequences of that. He was spouting some nonsense about proving his superiority over the Shinigami by forcing him into a competition to kill Hollows."

Ryūken let out a sigh, rubbing his eyes. "Son." He said authoritatively.

"It wasn't supposed to…." The words died in his mouth. "It was supposed to just bring out a few Hollows, and I was going to teach that Shinigami a lesson. That's it."

"I was forced to leave work early because there were a substantial number of Hollows nearby. I even dealt with a good number of them myself." Uryu's Dad explained. "That is until I noticed the shopkeeper making a move." He glanced at Yoruichi.

"See, I told you we had it handled." Yoruichi looked at me smugly.

I suppose that refers to his people then. Tessai did mention something about a 'shopkeeper'.

"I…..I didn't mean to.." The kid stuttered out.

Yeah, he was way in over his head here. He clearly didn't mean for things to escalate like they did and he wasn't mentally prepared for the fallout.

"Uryū, go to your room. We'll talk after I'm done with our guests." His father said sternly.

The Kid looked like he wanted to argue, but hung his head dejectedly and followed his command, disappearing up some stairs.

"Thank you for bringing my son." He suddenly said, "I can understand how this may have looked from your perspective."

"It wasn't malicious." I replied. "Beyond stupid, but it didn't come from a place of wanting to hurt anyone."

"Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to let go of his Quincy heritage ever since his Grandfather passed away. He blames the Shinigami for his death."

"There's nothing wrong with acknowledging one's heritage and honoring it. But he seemed a little obsessed to the point where it overruled his common sense until I literally smacked him back to reality." I was starting to get a bad vibe from him.

I wasn't liking the feeling I was getting so far.

The look on his face said he didn't agree with me and I could guess he didn't care to argue.

"I won't tell you how to be a father – mainly because I've only been one for a few months at this point and still have no idea what I'm doing. But….clearly he's had wounds that have been festering for awhile. Might be a good idea to address them instead of just silently disregarding his clear interests until he does something worse in his misguided pursuits." I admit I was getting a tiny bit more annoyed with each passing moment.

Well, there was a silent reaction out of him, a small frown that appeared on his face.

"I will clarify his Grandfather's death so he will not act out against any Shinigami in the future." He replied.

"….right." And just ignore all his apparent trauma that's obvious to me, an outsider, that's known him for all of less than an hour. Kid clearly lashed out for some reason and expressed guilt afterwards. "Is his mom not in the picture?"

"His mother passed away when he was younger." He said simply.

….the way he just sounds so detached is pissing me off.

But I'm starting to heavily sympathize with this kid now.

"So, here's a crazy thought. I have a suggestion that may help. Have you tried acting like a father? Because so far you seem utterly unconcerned about this whole affair and your son's health and safety."

Hoh, that really got a reaction.

Almost a scowl.

"You have my thanks for returning my son." He stood up from his seat. "Allow me to see you out."

He was politely telling me to get the fuck out. Guess I really did piss him off.

Well, good.

Act like a goddamn parent.

Well, I didn't realize that sets me off as much as it does. Learn something new everyday.

I would leave it at this, the kid did something exceedingly stupid for stupid reasons, but not out of maliciousness. It's not as though he was acting like those Hero faction kids who attacked Kyoto and killed a good amount of Yasaka's people.

[***]

"I can't believe you said that to his face." Yoruichi chuckled as we walked down the street back towards my 'home'.

"I was thinking about skipping over the politeness and just calling him a cunt to his face."

"Pfft." Yoruichi nearly fell over in laughter. "Please, can we redo this. Can we go back and you do that instead? Actually, let's just knock on his door and you say that and then turn around and leave."

"As tempting as that sounds….he honestly pisses me off enough that I don't want to see him. Deadbeat parents are one of my sore spots." For rather obvious reasons. "Kind of sympathize with the kid now."

"He wasn't always so grumpy and boring. Before his wife died, he did have some life in him. Not much, but he could crack a smile before. But he kind of just checked out afterwards." Yoruichi revealed. "Were you serious back there?'

"About telling him to be a father? Of course I was."

"No, I mean, you said you were a father. Didn't think you'd have a brat running around. Seem kind of young."

"She adopted me not that long ago. She's ten years old now, almost eleven." I smiled wistfully.

"Cute." Yoruichi snorted. "Also, where'd you get a Zanpakutō?"

"You just couldn't wait to ask me that, could you?"

"It's been killing me."

"Would you believe me if I said I just found it?"

"Nope."

"That's unfortunate, because that's what happened."

"Bullshit, you can't just find one laying around."

"Really? Have you tried?"

"Why would I try!? That doesn't happen!"

"My new Zanpakutō proves otherwise." I taunted.

"Am I gonna hear about some poor Shinigami that got mugged?" Yoruichi narrowed his eyes.

"…..no."

"I was joking but now I'm sort of concerned."

"Listen…..don't worry about it."

"When someone tells you not to worry about something, usually you should worry about it." He looked at me suspiciously.

"Didn't you tell me not to worry about the Hollows?"

"…..touché."

"Also, do you know about something called 'Hohō?" I decided to ask.

"Yes, but how do you know about that? You didn't even know about Kidō until I told you about it. My suspicion meter is kind of swinging wildly here."

"Don't worry about it."

"I think it's broken now. I think I really should worry. I feel like I'm going to find some poor Shinigami laying face down in the gutter with all his belongings ransacked. Did you steal his Shihakushō too?"

Oh, is that what the uniform is called? Garment of Dead Souls?

Sounds edgy.

And that was…..fairly close to what actually happened.

"Also, do you know someone named Unohana Retsu?" I decided to change the subject.

"….There isn't a Shinigami alive that doesn't know that name. And again, how do you know it?"

"I just randomly heard it mentioned." I said casually.

"Right, cause that was some bullshit you were spewing." Yoruichi rolled his eyes. "Why do you want to know about her?"

"Just curious, I heard she's a beauty." I shrugged.

"Pfft, sure." Yoruichi snorted. "Don't know why you know that name, but listen. There are two Shinigami that I absolutely do not want to get into a fight with. Two that actually scare me. The first is the Old Man himself, The Captain Commander of the Gotei 13."

"Sounds impressive."

"He can keep all the other idiot captains in line, so yes, he is. He's been leading it for over two thousand years now. And he's supposedly the strongest Shinigami that's ever lived. Don't know how much of that is truth cause I've never actually seen him fight seriously."

Huh, is that who Shunsui meant when he mentioned an 'old man'.

Something to take note of.

"And the other is the Captain of the Fourth Division. Which, I should iterate, is the healing division. They focus almost entirely on healing. The woman you mentioned, Unohana Retsu."

"Ah, I got it. No one fucks with the healers, right?"

"Actually, a good chunk of the Shinigami there look down on the healers. But everyone is polite towards her. Believe me when I said that no one fucks with the captain of the fourth division."

Huh.

[Doesn't deter you in the slightest, does it?]

Ignoring the dragon.

"Well, not that it matters. She rarely ever leaves her division and the Old Man doesn't leave his post for anything short of the end of the world. And It's not like you'll ever meet them."

"…..right."

Suddenly, Yoruichi perked up, his ears straightened, and his tail followed suit before he ran over to someone walking down the street towards us.

He was….very out of place honestly.

He wore wooden clogs on his feet and supported himself with a cane. He had a sort of bucket hat on his head and wore a samue with a black Haori over it. His messy blonde hair peeked out underneath and he had a strange smile on his face as he approached.

Yoruichi jumped up to his shoulder then onto his head, laying himself ontop of his hat.

"Ara, you must be Schweinorg-kun." The man greeted me. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Urahara Kisuke." He bowed his head slightly with a strange glint in his eyes.

He gave me a weird feeling.

"….is this the friend you mentioned, Yoruichi?" I asked. "Cause he seems sketchy as fuck."

Yoruichi fell off his head, laughing.

[***]

If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone


next chapter

Chapter 377: Chapter 341

Jinn POV

Was I surprised?

Not really.

I could weigh the odds of the decision that Salem made when I made my introduction. However, there were variables I couldn't account for. I expected her to try and assert her authority so as to not lose credence in front of her minions, but….all the pressure that was built up sort of deflated once I introduced myself as Wilhelm's woman. Her hostility almost completely evaporated even if she kept putting up the front.

…I admit that it was strange to see her suddenly become so passive.

The actions of Wilhelm were basically a blind spot due to his nature of an outsider here. So I wasn't really aware what he'd been up to other than what he's mentioned. So to see her react like this was…. promising.

It slightly lessened some of my worst fears, however, I would still check to make sure.

"So you're the Relic of Knowledge." Salem stared at me from across the table.

She didn't even bother to free her minions after I 'trapped' them. Not that they were in any harm, but I suppose that's about par for Salem's personality. She'll probably free them later once I leave.

"That's right." Technically, I was the Spirit of the Relic, but that's really just semantics.

"I had heard that the relic had a spirit from Ozma. But I did not expect it to be…."

"Be what?" I leaned forward onto the table. "Beautiful? Enchanting?"

"Seductive." She snorted.

"That's right, I seduced Wilhelm" I said without shame. "I bent my little blue ass over and let him do whatever he wanted to me. Does that make you jealous~"

She was at a loss for words. She clearly didn't expect me to confirm it and be so blunt about it.

Hmph, it's not like I'm ashamed of landing myself a good man.

"Ridiculous." She scoffed. "Why are you here? Are you not afraid I will capture you? You obviously know what my goal is."

"Right, that stupid goal of yours." I rolled my eyes. "How's that been coming along? Collect the relics, summon the Brother Gods. Commit suicide by God. Great plan."

"Did you just come here to mock me?" She narrowed her eyes.

"You have an inflated sense of importance. Why would I bother coming all the way here just to mock you?" I slapped the table, in the blink of an eye, a Magical Circle appeared, utterly disintegrating it. "If you want to die so badly, I'd be more than willing to answer your wish myself."

"You think you can undo the curse by your creators?" She scoffed again, though there was a hint of wariness in her tone at seeing my little display. "Ozma has been trying to do such a thing for centuries."

"Don't even get me started on him. Do you know how many times I've been asked the question 'How do I kill Salem?'". Way too many times!

Dammit Ozpin, ask a better damn question. His biggest flaw was that he couldn't overlook his own self importance and maybe ask 'how could someone kill Salem?'.

Nope, he always had to single himself out.

'How do I be the hero of the story'.

Idiot.

It felt nice though, my restrictions have been…..loosened considerably. My time away from Remnant fried a lot of my internal programming.

I couldn't quite give away secrets, but if something was obvious or they could rationalize it themselves with some little effort, I could say it.

"Of course that fool would be wasteful with you." Salem snorted, a twitch of amusement on her face. It quickly disappeared though. "Why have you come here?"

"That's a good question." I crossed my legs. "I'm here because my man is a bit of an idiot. He's sweet and caring, but he can get blinded if he cares for someone. Unfortunately, and for reasons I'm still trying to understand, you've caught his attention and he's developed feelings for you."

How much easier would this be if it was just a case of him lusting after her? Oh, I have no doubt he wants to get up under that dress. I know exactly what kind of fat ass she's hiding under there and I'm sure he's inspected it thoroughly from the outside. But no, he wouldn't pursue this kind of extended relationship if that were the case. Not that he isn't a lustful little devil, but it doesn't make his decisions bar what happened with Venelana. There are plenty of very attractive women around him that he doesn't have feelings for. And in Venelana's case, well, I don't think Wilhelm stood a chance there.

I think most of us would have been seduced by her if she put in the effort. It was a good lesson for him, and I don't expect it to happen again, so I didn't really mind in the end.

"Are you here to warn me?" She snorted in disdain.

"Yes." I didn't deny it. "You're in a unique position that you can actually hurt the man I care about. And I will go to extensive lengths to protect him."

"If I wished to harm him, he has given me every opportunity to do so until now." She crossed her arms in response.

"Please, like you could physically harm him." I chuckled, making her raise an eyebrow. "No I'm talking about hurting him in other ways. I know who you are, Salem. I know everything you've done, I've known every sin you've committed and every dirty deed to your name. So, I'm here to make sure you're not scheming to use him for your own ends."

"And what if I am?" She challenged. "What if I'm using him to collect all of the relics for my personal goal? What If I'm using him, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to kill me?" She stated, not believing my earlier bravado.

"I will."

"Hmph. You said he had 'feelings' for me? And how will you explain that to him?"

"I'll tell him." I said with complete honesty. "He may hate me afterwards. He may even kick me out. But compared to seeing him hurt because you played with him, I think it'd be worth it."

The thought of him finding out that she just wants to die after he became so invested, it would break his heart. I heard about what happened after Scáthach, and then he recently had to kill another version of Artoria.

I refuse to allow him to be hurt like that again.

He's always trying to make sure we're all taken care of. He promised he would take care of me. Well, right now, it's my turn to take care of him.

If I have to cut off this problem at the root….I'll do it.

"I'm here to make sure you're not just playing with the man I care for." I straightened up in my seat.

"….you truly believe what you have just spoken. That you can and will strike me down if you suspect me." She looked at me strangely.

"That's right, I can grant you your wish. I can kill you right now if you want." I learned quite a few things from my time away. That includes the work arounds for Salem's little curse.

Killing Immortal creatures isn't something as impossible in other worlds. It's happened plenty of times even in Wilhelm's birth world and I've taken the time to study many things there.

Salem was pitiful in a way. She was cursed because she pleaded with the God of Darkness to resurrect Ozma – her love, after the God of Light refused her. And after a series of events, she and Ozma became enemies after the death of their children.

Since then, she's been nothing but a bundle of hatred and anger. However, she didn't always want to die. No, she originally just wanted to lash out at the world and make everyone suffer like she had.

And they did. For centuries the Grimm ran rampant under her commands after she had fallen into the Grimm Pools and became one with the corrupted influence. It would have normally killed someone on contact, but the curse that ran through her soul was enough to sustain her so she survived and gained her 'control' over Grimm.

The Gods in their infinite wisdom, forced Ozma into a weird state of reincarnation to combat Salem. Every time he died, he would pop up in another body and basically subsume what was originally there.

And they fought a shadow war over the centuries until it slowly started to die down. And over time, Salem slowly became more and more apathetic about the world until she finally just grew tired of it all and wanted it to end.

Of course, she never told anyone her true goals. Even Ozma thinks she desires the relics to destroy the world or some other nefarious purpose.

Granted, the Brother Gods will probably wipe out all living beings on the planet if Salem summons them…but that isn't really her intent.

Not that it makes it any better.

But surprisingly…. "You're hesitating." I pointed out. "It should have been a simple affirmation, but you're hesitating."

Oh my sweet man, did you really manage to move her heart?

I was skeptical, the whole reason I came here was because I didn't quite believe it. But looking at her now…..

"My matters are none of your business." She practically snarled.

"When they involve my man, they most certainly are." I didn't back down. "Salem, what are your intentions towards Wilhelm?"

Seeing her scowl and avoid my gaze was…telling.

"Okay." I clapped my hands. "I won't interfere."

"Excuse me?" Salem was taken off guard again.

"I won't interfere." I reiterated.

"You come here and…..threaten me in my domain. You claim to be able to kill me despite my immortality and now….you give up?"

"That was only if you were planning on using him. I would have ended you without a second thought. However, I won't interfere in your relationship with him." I replied to her.

"And If I decide that I want nothing to do with him hence forth?" She looked at me curiously.

"I will say nothing and I will do nothing. It's not my place to meddle with this part of his relationships. If that's what you choose, he'll be hurt for awhile, but he'll get over it. I can't force you to get together with him just because he likes you." I shook my head.

No, I was only coming here to make sure he wasn't blinded by his own emotions. Maybe to also reassure myself that he would be fine if he chose this. Her hesitance was enough for now, it showed that she was at least considering more than a simple relationship.

"...and if I chose the opposite?" She asked softly. "It's as you have said. I have done terrible things in my life. You claim to know all of it, will you not speak against any union?" She probed me a little which….was odd to see.

Was she worried how Wilhelm would see her?

Jeez Wilhelm, just what did you do to this woman? This is not how I remember the Grimm Queen acting.

"What makes you think he isn't aware of your past?" I responded. Well, he isn't aware of the finer details, but…..he can easily fill in the blanks.

Seeing her eyes widen slightly, I guess she didn't realize the extent that Wilhelm knew about her.

He did ask me about her with my third question. He did see her life – in part – through my abilities.

She really does have some sort of concern and interest there. It seems like I made this trip here for nothing after all. At Least I can relay the news to everyone else as well. I know Artoria was having mixed feelings due to Salem's past – from what I was able to tell her before. This should make her less concerned for now and willingly to wait until things get further along.

Salem….wasn't always the Grimm Queen. Maybe there's some of that woman still in there somewhere that's latching at the possibility of being something better? Looking for something other than just to end her depressing existence.

I trust Wilhelm.

I can't say for sure if things will work out, but I know that if it isn't working or any of us disagree with it, he won't force it.

So, I may as well let things settle here.

Still, seeing the confident and tyrannical Grimm Queen look a tiny bit flustered was….amusing.

"…what happens now?" She asked.

"Well, I suppose I should apologize for my entrance then leave. However...we could also…..talk for a while?" I offered.

Clearly some things happened that I was unaware about. Wilhelm was probably his usual self and somehow charmed her enough that she's now hesitating with regards to her former plans and considering something extended.

I may as well try to get to know my new 'sister' better even if I technically know her already.

"…I would not be against it." She said softly.

I'll give her a chance.

I just hope it isn't misplaced.

[***]

Wilhelm POV

"Hurtful words, Schweinorg-kun." Urahara Kisuke said cheerfully, not really looking insulted in the slightest. "I'm just a simple shop owner."

"Sex shop?"

"Pfft." Yorucihi erupted in laughter, literally rolling on the ground.

"Erm…not that kind of shop." He was a little caught off guard by my words. "It's a Candy shop." He smiled brightly.

"…I repeat what I said, sketchy as fuck." I looked at Yoruichi on the ground. "Does he also have a nondescript white van he drives around in?"

"Hahahahaha!" Yoruichi's laughter intensified. "He does, he does!!"

"Right….So, you looking for me? Should I point out that I'm not a child that can be tempted into your van with some candy?"

He twitched a little before taking a fan out of his large sleeves. He tapped it against his palm with a strange smile on his face. "You are an interesting person, Schweinorg-kun."

"I love when people praise me. Do it some more."

He paused again for a moment. "You really don't follow the scripts, do you?"

"Well, when suspicious people approach me, I tend not to stick to normal social conventions." I relaxed a little. "What can I help you with?"

He was giving me the same vibes as Azazel, just without the….sleaziness to accompany it. No, it felt like he wanted to probe me and delve into my secrets.

"I was curious about something, I wonder if you could help me."

"I already know what you're going to ask."

"You do?" He looked amused, unfolding his fan.

"I'm sorry to say, that I was simply born this handsome, there's no secret to achieve such flawlessness." I nodded sagely.

"Ara ara, Schweinorg-kun. That's nice to know, but it wasn't what I wished to asked."

The best way to deal with this type of person? Keep them completely on the back foot with random nonsense until you can figure out their goal.

"Well, then I have no idea what you could possibly want from me….unless….fashion advice?" I adjusted my tie. "I have a good eye for this sort of thing. My friend actually made this outfit, very durable while also being elegant and stylish."

He hummed, seemingly ignoring my remarks. "I was more concerned about the abrupt change in weather we experienced earlier."

"Yeah, what a freaky storm that popped out of nowhere." I acted clueless.

"One might say man made." He grinned.

"Question."

"Hmm?"

"Why not 'woman made'?" I asked. "Why couldn't a woman have made it?"

"I suppose –"

"Yeah, Kisuke." Yoruichi joined in. "What's wrong with women, huh?"

Alright, I was really starting to like Yoruichi, he's pretty fun.

"Person-made, then." He forced a smiled. I don't think he enjoyed being constantly on the back foot like this, but it made me amused.

"Yoruichi is a Cat. Does he count as a person? Or do we need another qualifier for him?"

"That's a good question. As a cat, do I count as a person, Kisuke?" Yoruichi looked up at Urahara.

"That also does beg the question on if Shinigami also count as 'persons'. They're spirits, do they get the same nomenclature that a 'human' would?"

"What, of course they do." Yoruichi countered. "They're people, they have the same feelings, they think, and all that."

"Well, so do you as a cat. Hell, aren't higher level Hollows smart as well? Are you going to count those giant monsters as 'people'? And Shinigami are souls, they're like…remnants of people or something." I replied.

Well, I was just playing devil's advocate in this random argument. I didn't actually think this way.

Though, Urahara Kisuke over there just looked confused and kind of unsure of how to respond.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "I believe we've gone off topic."

"You can't go off something you were never on in the first place." I said dryly. "You never did actually tell me what you wanted from me, just playing coy and trying to poke at me for some answers." I got a little serious.

"Very well, I'll get right to the point." He snapped his fan shut. "What are you." His eyes narrowed. "Your Reiatsu vaguely feels like a human, but there's other things I can't quite place. I was almost ready to call you a Hollow due to a dark nature hidden inside it as well, but that isn't quite right either. Then you do something I didn't think was possible for a human, and something that would take exceptional effort even from a Shinigami. You changed the weather in a several mile radius. That's ignoring what you did with the Lightning. So, Schweinorg-kun, What are you?" There was a special glint in his eyes as if he was trying to see through me.

"Kisuke." Yoruichi intoned. "We talked about this."

His demeanor changed back to something playful as his fan unfolded again. "Ah, Yoruichi, I'm not asking~" He chuckled. "I'm just a little curious. If Schweinorg-kun would be willing to talk to me about some things, I don't mind helping you learn Kidō." There was a phantom of a little smug smile on his face.

"Help me learn Kidō?" I questioned. "Tessai seemed pretty confident that a Human wasn't really capable of it, despite what effort we put into his teaching."

"Well, Tessai may be better at me when it comes to Kidō. However, when it comes to figuring things out, I think I have him beat there. I'm pretty confident I can help you learn it." Urahara stated.

"If you're confident, then that means it's possible for me regardless and I don't really need you, do I?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I can guarantee that without my help it will be nearly impossible –"

"Hadō #1, Shō." I extended my finger, pointing at the hat on his head. The invisible force shot off like a bullet, sending his hat flying off and landing onto the ground nearby.

There was a moment of silence as both Yoruichi and Urahara digested what I just did.

"You were saying?"

He didn't speak immediately, he walked over to pick up his hat and dusted it off before putting it back on his head. "You're an interesting young man, Schweinorg-kun. I look forward to talking with you in the future. I hope you stop by my shop at some point, I would be more than welcome to host you."

He didn't try to say anything else, instead he turned around with a light smile on his face and hummed as he walked away.

"That just happened." I grunted. "So…..your friend?" I looked at Yoruichi still at my side.

"Huh, it's weird seeing him not getting the advantage out of someone in a conversation."

"It's called bullshitting." I replied.

"Hahaha, well it worked. Kisuke is the type that can't not know something. So….he'll probably try to poke and prod you until he gets answer to his questions. He's...he means well. He's not a bad guy, so don't be too hard on him, please." Yoruichi hopped back up onto my shoulder. "By the way, when did you learn Kidō? Tessai's going to be so happy once he finds out!"

"Just picked it up recently."

"Right." Yoruichi snorted. "Just picked it up. Was the ability to cast Kidō laying on the side of the road next to the Zanpakutō you also happened to find?"

"Yup." I said shamelessly. "You got anything else going on today? I could use your help with something."

"Not really. You pretty much cleared my schedule today with the whole – storm thing on the hollows. I doubt there are any in the city right now."

"Alright, let's head back to my place."

[***]

"Home sweet home!" I pushed the door open.

"Just as many holes in it as you left it." Yoruichi jumped off my shoulder.

"It gives the place character." I clapped my hands, looking into my Ring for a few things.

"So, whatcha need?" Yoruichi asked.

"I was curious about this Hohō thing we talked about earlier. How difficult is it to learn this movement technique?" I produced the book of it and set it down infront of us.

"Where the hell did you get this?" Yoruichi was already inspecting the book intently.

"Internet."

"Just so you know, I seriously am thinking you mugged some Shinigami around here and stole all of their stuff. If we get some naked person running up to the shop trying to replace his stolen gear…."

"I thought you sold candy?"

"That's just a front for the living. We actually sell supplies for the spiritual side of things. Where do you think that kid got his Hollow Bait from?"

"…Yoruichi, what the fuck?"

"What? Don't look at me like that, it's a legitimate resource for hunting Hollows. I wasn't just covering our asses when I said that it shouldn't have summoned all those Hollows. Especially that Menos that popped up. That was a freak accident – a one in a billion chance of happening."

"Fine, I'll believe you."

"You can also come by like he said. Some stuff there might interest you."

"I may go over and check it out." I shrugged.

"I'll tell Kisuke to not be an ass. He's not that bad once you get to know him." Yoruichi tried to reassure me again. "But what'd you want help with specifically? You wanna learn this, right? I'd say that a human learning was unlikely, but…..just casted Kidō apparently."

"Hey, quick question."

"Hmm?"

"Does your shop ever actually sell candy?" I asked.

"Haha, no. Do you really think parents would let their kids come to a shop that Kisuke runs and buy candy? Nah, all the kids in the neighborhood know to stay away from the 'creepy old man'."

"That's hilarious and I'll remember it when I go visit." I may as well stop over at some point. It's not like that guy pissed me off or anything. I just don't like people trying to poke me for answers and it was obvious what he was doing.

"Anyways, what can you tell me about Hohō?" I got comfortable as I leaned against the nearby table. "It's basically what you've been doing, right?"

"Kinda." Yoruichi held up his paw in a so-so motion. "Hohō is the umbrella term and it has some…layers. But if you want to get to the base of it, the highest form and most important form is known as Shunpo."

Right, I had several Shinigami mention that term. It basically means 'flash step'.

"The idea is to travel a certain distance in the least amount of steps possible. Like, imagine trying to cover the distance of this room in a single step. That's the concept behind it."

"I think I understand the concept. It makes for intense bursts of speed, but it also sounds like pivoting and immediate change of directions are its flaws."

"Basically, yeah. A master of it can sorta overcome those, but it's just a matter of doing them really fast as opposed to the technique overcoming those limitations." Yoruichi explained. "Here I'll show you –" Yoruichi said, but paused a moment later. "Actually, it's probably better that I show you in my actual form."

Before I could even question what he meant by that, he was suddenly enveloped in a puff of smoke.

No longer was a cat sitting in the middle of the room.

That is to say, no longer was he, sitting in the middle of the room.

Now, there was long purple hair sitting atop a dark skinned head with yellow eyes staring back at me. The smoke began to clear up and there was something immediately noticeable about this person now sitting here.

Two, large and round mounds bounced slightly, a little giggle to accompany them.

A woman.

My eyes trailed downwards, she was completely naked and I soaked in that chocolate skin of hers and made sure to burn those legs into my memory. In fact, she even spread her legs slightly and let me get a complete look at her.

"See something you like~?" Even her voice was completely different as she teased me. "Didn't expect this did you?"

Admittedly, I did not, and I'm still taking a moment to process that a beautiful naked woman was sitting right in front of me.

"Haha, got nothing to say?" She was clearly enjoying getting a reaction out of me. "I knew it, you're just – "

"It's purple all the way down, huh."

"T-that's what you focus on!?"

"Well, did you expect me to focus on anything else?" I raised an eyebrow. I can play this game too. "I've seen better."

And she didn't quite know how to respond to that.

[***]

If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone


Load failed, please RETRY

Weekly Power Status

Batch unlock chapters

Table of Contents

Display Options

Background

Font

Size

Chapter comments

Write a review Reading Status: C376
Fail to post. Please try again
  • Writing Quality
  • Stability of Updates
  • Story Development
  • Character Design
  • World Background

The total score 0.0

Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
Vote with Power Stone
Rank 200+ Power Ranking
Stone 125 Power Stone
Report inappropriate content
error Tip

Report abuse

Paragraph comments

Login

tip Paragraph comment

Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

GOT IT