Calling for an emergency meeting, Loki, Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and lastly, Ais. Riveria wanted to bring Line in too but decided against it.
Inside Finn's office, Finn sat on his desk chair, Gareth and Riveria sat on the chairs in front of his desk, while Ais and Loki sat on the sofa.
"Finn, start by telling me everything."
Finn nodded at Loki and started narrating from the moment they reached the 50th floor and set a camp. Once he reached the part where they returned to the camp and saw it being besieged, Finn passed the baton to Riveria.
Riveria's narration started when the irregular monsters started appearing from the staircase to the 51st floor in large numbers. When she mentioned the part where the two mysterious people appeared to help them with unconventional techniques and magics, Loki furrowed her brows in contemplation.
And while listening to her narration of the battle against the Juggernaut and Balor, Loki's eyes widened in disbelief and interrupted her, "Someone like that could be from the Poseidon Familia who're clearing the seas... But it's useless to make guesses as they could be from anywhere... But it should be easy to find them with their techniques. It's impossible for someone like that to remain unknown. Finn, go commission someone to investigate it."
"Will do," Finn answered and continued their story. Loki became intrigued by the mysterious man's explanation regarding the Balor's magic but when he reached the part where he guessed that Ais came out from a Time Stasis, Loki became silent and wore a very serious expression.
Finn didn't continue and only waited for Loki to say something. She knew that she couldn't just brush this under the rag and sighed, "What he said is true... However, I don't know much more than that and I don't intend to force Ais to tell me more."
"It's fine, Loki. We just wanted to confirm it from you as this is truly unbelievable. Nothing will change the fact that Ais is a precious and irreplaceable comrade." Finn then faced Ais, "However, how do you intend to take his suggestion?"
"Suggestion? What suggestion?" Loki asked.
"The mysterious guy told her that there is some problem in her body that is keeping her from being stronger because of this Time Stasis and told us that someone in Orario right now could do something about it."
Everyone then looked towards Ais, "...I'd like to go." She answered.
Everyone in the room already knew that she would answer like that and no one could actually stop her, so Loki, as a concession, said, "Fine. But you're to never go alone... Besides, he didn't tell you exactly who's this person, right? How are you going to find him?"
"I'm going with her," Riveria stated.
"Oh? You already know where to find him?" Finn asked.
Riveria nodded and answered, "It's related to those girls that we brought to treatment."
While Finn and Gareth are confused, Loki muttered, "So that's it, huh... That brat couldn't possibly have this kind of connection so it should be her children which are strange..." She then smiled mischievously, "How wonderful~."
Finn sighed after seeing Loki's expression and turned to Riveria, "Could you explain?"
Riveria nodded and started, "Before you and those unknown people arrive, Line did something unbelievable. Without any incantation, she summoned a magic circle on her own and healed people in a large area. Line, despite being slow, is a genius, however, that kind of thing should have been impossible. I, for one, could only use a very weak version of my magic without incantation." Even if she didn't show it to others, they knew that Riveria is proud of that achievement. But now that someone did something beyond her skill, that pride was chipped away.
Hearing those, Finn connected the dots, "I see... She said that she has been partying with those girls who defeated two Minotaurs, who're related to another unknown individual who can turn others to stone."
"Wait... What!? Someone who could turn others into stone? What's up with that!?" Loki interrupted.
"We don't know much... We only know that her eyes seem to be the main source of her power and we couldn't stop its effects even after looking away. Aside from that, she could make her weapon and disappear at will. We can also assume that she's related to the man and woman we met on the deeper floors." Riveria explained, "And Finn, you're wrong about the two Minotaurs."
"Hmm?"
"The reason why we couldn't believe that they're level 1s is that it isn't just two Minotaurs that the unknown woman led to them, but six... And those three girls killed them all, by themselves."
"W-what?" Finn and Gareth's eyes widened in shock, "They can't be level 1 then..." But Finn already heard that Line already confirmed that they're level 1, "How is this possible...?"
Riveria shook her head, "I don't know... But what's sure is that they have something different than anyone else..."
"I see... That's why that chibi asked me to announce that her children defeated two Minotaurs... I thought that she's just looking for fame and reprimanded her, but it seems to be the opposite..." Loki rubbed her chin while contemplating before chuckling, "I don't know what kind of game they're playing... But I'll play along, Kisuke Urahara~!"
Loki recalled the words that Hestia told her earlier before she left, 'My children don't have any intention to harm your Familia.'
'It seems that the future will be interesting~. I need to prepare my children.'
They continued their meeting until late evening, figuring out what steps they should take in the future.
.
.
.
Soon after the Loki Familia left, Kisuke and Yoruichi arrived at the room where Sona, Aika, and Koneko are receiving their treatment. The only one in the room aside from the three of them is their advisor, Sophie, "Thank you for the hard work, Sophie-san."
Sophie faced the captain of Hestia Familia and gave him a reprimanding look, "You're late."
"I'm sorry." Kisuke apologized simply before saying, "I'd like them to be discharged."
Sophie glared at him first before asking, "Why? Is it because you don't want to go into debt because of the price of the treatment? If so, then go ahead... It'll be your fault if they stop being Adventurers." These kinds of situations are just too common. Small Familias who couldn't afford the treatment for their Adventurers mostly abandon those Adventurers. So when Kisuke asked them to be discharged, she became disappointed at him, 'Looks like I have a wrong impression of him...'
Kisuke only smiled at her questions. He didn't angry because he knew where she's coming from so instead of answering her, Kisuke just pulled out an Elixir from his shihakushou and showed it to Sophie.
Sophie's eyes widened in shock but a few seconds later, she gave him a sneer, "I'd like to see you actually use it."
Kisuke put back the Elixir he got from the Loki Familia and said, "I don't need to do that. However, I can promise you, they'll be coming to you again in a few days to get more information about the Dungeon and listen to some of your advice."
Sophie frowned, but a few seconds later, she sighed, "I'm looking forward to that day." She then arranged their discharge documents.
Sorry for being late.
Just one for today.
It took Kisuke half an hour to restore and cure everyone's injuries that they sustained fighting those Minotaurs. Once he got out of the clinic he built in their headquarters, Hestia is looking at him with a cold expression, almost grim, "Kisuke-kun... Mind explaining to me some things?"
Kisuke nodded and asked, "What would you like to know?"
"Are you the one who put them in this situation?" Hestia went straight to the point.
"Yes." Without hesitation, Kisuke confirmed her guess.
Hestia furrowed her brows and asked, "Why?"
This time, Kisuke didn't answer and just stared at Hestia.
For a few minutes, the two of them only stared at each other before Hestia sighed, "Haah... Let me change the question... Is it necessary?"
Kisuke smiled slightly and answered, "Yes."
"I see..." Hestia then turned around to go back to her fireplace, "I don't know if it's your madness or kindness... Or maybe both? But please don't do this again."
"...I'm sorry... I can't promise anything. This might happen again or it may not... I don't know what the future holds."
After Hestia left, Yoruichi came out from the corner of the room, also looking at the spot where Hestia disappeared, "She's naive and innocent... But when it comes to those in her 'family', she's very sharp."
"I guess that's what you could expect from someone who's Divinity is about home and family."
.
.
.
A whole day later, the first one to wake up is Aika. The moment she opened her eyes, the first thing she recalled are the Minotaurs that are about to kill them, "AHHH!!!" She immediately sitting up on her bed with cold sweat running on her back and forehead and tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
But soon after, she recalled how the three of them managed to kill those six Minotaurs and sighed in relief, "It seems that you have calmed down."
She looked towards the source of the familiar voice and saw Kisuke sitting beside her bed in his usual outfit but without his beloved hat. Seeing his face, all the memories from that time returned, including the giant scythe that went through the 'blockage' and mowed down the Goblins and Kobolds that appeared after the Minotaurs.
Aika took a deep breath and asked while looking down on her hands, "It's not right for me to get angry without confirming it, so I'll ask, are you the one who did it?... No... That's not the right question... Are you the one who planned it?"
"I did not plan everything. But that doesn't mean that I'm trying to shrink my responsibility. I just wanted to tell you the truth. The one who had this idea is me. It's also me who pushed through things despite the disagreement of others. So you could say that I'm solely accountable for what happened to you, Sona, and Koneko."
Aika gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. A few seconds later, she removed the blanket on top of her and went down of the bed, revealing her current appearance. Aika, the same with the rest, only has a white robe over their bear bodies. Different from her usual appearance, Aika's hair was let down that reaches below her shoulder and she doesn't have her glasses.
She stopped and stood up in front of Kisuke. Kisuke couldn't see her eyes because of her bangs, but he could see her gritting her teeth.
Aika then took a step back and went into a stance before using all of her strength to punch Kisuke's face. For Kisuke, the punch is slow... very slow, however, he did nothing to dodge it. If he could abate a bit of the hate she's feeling, then he could keep going all day.
Aika's punch landed on his face, but Kisuke didn't think that she would hold back and didn't feel much force from her punch that it didn't even move the position of his head. He then looked up to her face and felt something inside him stir. Aika's looking at him with glazed eyes and tears running through her cheeks.
Kisuke then told her what's on his mind, "I know that you hate me, and even if it's for your own good, it doesn't change that I need to apologize... I'm sorry."
Aika took back her fist, but instead of keeping, she straddled on him, sitting on his laps and wrapped her arms around her neck, hugging him and putting her chin on his shoulder, while sobbing, "You bastard... sniff sniff... You miserable idiot... sniff sniff... I'm very mad right now..."
Kisuke put his arms around her back in response, "I know... It's my fault..."
Aika stayed on her position until she stopped sobbing a few minutes later. She then whispered in his ear, "This is why I'm calling you a miserable idiot." Aika then straightened up her back, putting her face in front of Kisuke's face.
Kisuke noticed that the fear enveloping her already disappeared and despite her eyes red from crying, she's now giving him a smile, "?"
"I'm angry about what you did... Even though you did it's for our good... I couldn't help but be angry."
"That's normal."
"However, what makes me angry the most is the fact that you actually thought that I'd hate you... You miserable idiot."
Kisuke's eyes widened, "You don't?" If Kisuke is in their position, he would, for sure, hate the person who set him up. However, what he failed to consider are the feelings of the girls and their apparent understanding of his personality and antics. After all, he always categorizes 'emotions' as an uncalculable variable that could change anytime without rhyme or reason.
"Of course not... Even if you ask the other two, you would only get a slap each and a date, and you would get their forgiveness..."
Kisuke would be really happy if he could just get away with something like that, but he first chooses to focus on the girl straddling on him with her robe about to be undone and asked, "Aren't you afraid? Just now, you had a nightmare, and I know for sure that you would be suffering from that for a while."
"True... I'm afraid... But the fear that I'm feeling is from the possibility of not being able to play with Sona-kaichou and Koneko-chan anymore... The possibility of not being able to receive Yoruichi and Kuroka's teaching anymore... The possibility of not being able to eat Medusa-chan's cooking anymore... And finally... The possibility of not being able to stand beside you...
"Cheesy, right? But that's what I genuinely felt when I was able to disregard my fear of those Monsters. I never thought that I would be that desperate for your embrace while on the verge of death.
"I really sorry for being such a pervert~. However, I would also like to use this chance at least to remove some of that fear~." To the speechless Kisuke, Aika closed her eyes planted her lips on him and even used her tongue to explore his mouth. A few seconds later, Kisuke reacted and tightened his arms around her before responding in kind.
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