The pope stopped combing his beard with his hand and could only stare at Serafall with wide-open eyes.
On their flight towards Rome, Serafall contemplated how she should handle the situation and how she could have the pope direct the current Holy Power. She thought that she could pretend to be an Angel but immediately discarded it due to the high risk of the Holy Power rushing into her. As she's not someone like Claire who was already an irregular in the first place, only death awaits her the moment she takes the faith of billions of people no matter how strong she is.
She could technically do it if she stopped being a 'Devil', but it's just not realistic to be 'Ice' all the time and she'd hate to do that too.
Without much choice, she decided to reveal her true identity as that would also indirectly prove the existence of heavenly beings, 'If only Irina-chan or Akeno-chan were here with us, it would have been a lot easier...'
But after a moment of silence, the pope suddenly started chuckling, "Young lady, if you're going to joke around, pick a good one. But you shouldn't really joke around and just tell what you're here for instead of wasting both of our time."
"..." Serafall's smile grew wider, 'Alright. Let's freeze him until he understands.'
Serafall slowly stood up and released her massive Demonic Power while manifesting her Devil Wings.
The thick Holy Power was instantly triggered by the presence of Demonic Power, but without any direction, all it could do was push against it. In turn, that only gave a dreadful feeling that washed over the whole City State like a tsunami. If the explosion of Holy Power from days ago was like a flame of hope, the current one reminded everyone in the vicinity of the flames of war and destruction even if they hadn't experienced it at all.
At the origin of this wave, the pope didn't speak, or more specifically, he couldn't. The suffocating feeling and the horrifying smile of the young beautiful girl in front of him only reminded him of one word, 'Devil. He fell off from his chair and tried scrambling away but soon enough, he found himself unable to move and when he looked down, he was alarmed to see that his whole body, neck down, was enclosed in a thick sheet of ice. Although strangely enough, he didn't feel its coldness.
"W-what are you going to do?" The pope nervously asked the winged lady.
It was Serafall's turn to chuckle, "Nothing. But I'll return later."
After saying that, the lady started turning into dust and disappeared with the wind blowing, leaving behind the immobilized pope. A few seconds later, the pope could hear his security shouting in the background and multiple footsteps approaching his doorstep. However, he couldn't care less about them right now as his mind raced to understand what the 'Devil' was trying to say.
He had a lot of questions, but one thing that's for certain is that he can't disregard her claim of being a 'Devil' anymore.
.
.
.
"So you went and joined Claire's group after that?", asked Kisuke.
"There's nothing more I could do aside from waiting for them to get themselves together. Besides, Claire-chan's current state of mind is much more important."
"How is she, by the way?"
"She's looking good right now and has mostly returned to her previous self, but it's better if I can watch her closely in case something else is up."
"And the real reason why you took Claire with you?" Kisuke knew that it wasn't just because Claire was not in her right state of mind. He already guessed the reason but he wanted to hear it from her directly.
Serafall sighed and turned her head up to face Kisuke who was looking down on her, "The real reason is that Claire-chan could kill those from Hell. Although it's just the two of us now from this side, that guy she fought is still a source of information and soon that information would reach this side. We could defend against Soul Society who will seek to use her, but to what extent? Unless you can find a way to end them without relying on Claire-chan, I won't permit her to return to Japan."
"Roger that." Kisuke smiled and agreed with her, 'Soul Society was not really the problem but the all-knowing monk. I don't know what he'll do... I should do something to limit his range of movement.'
Seeing that smile, Serafall became concerned because it was the same smile he made when he was about to face Chaos, "Are you going to do something dangerous again?"
"It's something that must be done."
"Can't you let me help you?" Serafall asked, however, she already knew the answer. If she could help, he would have already asked for it without her offering.
"Please ensure the safety of the kids. More than anything, don't let Claire be scared of her own power."
"...Hmmm... That's true, isn't it? It might even be the source of her current problem, or at least, a part of it."
Serafall then sat up and waved at Soifon who just arrived and opened the door to the two of them, "I need to go. It's about time I show Claire-chan what it means to be a big sister." She then stood up before teleporting away.
As soon as she disappeared, a knife went flying towards Kisuke's face and he caught it between his two fingers.
"I was under the impression that you and Yoruichi-sama are together... But what is this? After bragging about your relationship with her to my face the other day, are you actually cheating on her?" Soifon, with a glare that could kill, asked him.
Kisuke laughed wryly before tossing the knife back and sighing, "It's complicated. Without the people involved, it's futile for me to explain so I'll spare you the ear rot."
In an attempt to escape from him awkwardly explaining that he actually developed a harem, Kisuke immediately changed the topic, "How did your practice go?"
Soifon glared at him for a few more seconds before walking and taking a seat on the couch in front of him, "All good. I've been practicing ever since Kurosutchi distributed the instruction books but your instructions and device are way better. Why not just give this to them?"
"For free? No way. It's one of the currencies we can exchange with Soul Society so I'm not willing to be this helpful with them this early."
Soifon immediately realized his intentions, "So you fed us just enough that we'll ask for more..."
"Well, that's the gist of it." Kisuke then stood up, "Going back on topic, you should have already noticed that there's no way for you to use this Magic Power."
Soifon stayed silent. She tried controlling this newfound energy like she would with her Reiatsu but only hurt herself in the process.
"In fact, it's almost impossible for someone like you who has a Spiritual Body. That brings me to offer two choices to you. Learn how to use Ki instead or join me in an experiment for you to use Magic."
"The first one." Soifon instantly answered.
Kisuke almost tripped on nothing, "Hold on! Listen to me first! That's not even everything yet!"
Editors:
28th00: Soifon has zero trust in his experiments. Smart cookie.
Soifon gave Kisuke a fed-up expression and said, "Why would I give you a chance to experiment on me? That's equivalent to throwing my life away. I know I owe you, but I'm not ready to leave this world yet."
Kisuke was about to refute her words but stopped himself just as he opened his mouth, 'I can't blame her for thinking like that , can I?' He thought back to what he did when he was still in this world, 'I'm only a bit better than Kurotsuchi-san because I actually ask for permission.'
In the middle of his thoughts, Soifon continued, "If you know why then give it up."
Kisuke stayed silent for a few moments to think how he should go about this. It's the research that he had been developing for almost a decade now so its importance to him couldn't be expressed with just a few words. And while he could ask and trick any Shinigami or Arrancar to join him, getting ahold of someone on Soifon's level just isn't really realistic.
"Soifon-san." Kisuke suddenly addressed Soifon which made her jump slightly.
"What?"
"It seems that your senses have still not adapted to this place, but take a closer look at me. Examine me closely like how you would do in your stealth missions."
Soifon wanted to smack his head but fought off the urge and just did as he said, 'What is he trying to say...? ...!?' As she noticed the strange anomaly, her thoughts started trailing off. Soifon hurriedly stood up and walked around Kisuke, trying to confirm what she was actually seeing, "You... Do you have a physical body? It's indeed very well made, but why are you trying to show off your Gigai?"
While muttering, her attention briefly landed on his clothing, 'Wait... Shihakushou?'
At that moment, realization dawned on her and she walked around Kisuke with wide-open eyes, "Did you have this Gigai on when we fought?"
Kisuke shook his head and Soifon sighed in relief. If she was correct, that would be extremely weird and would open various possibilities, good and bad in the Human World.
While Fullbringers and Quincies can use their Spiritual Power despite having a physical body, their organizations aren't large enough to cause a sizable ripple in the Human World, 'Except for that one Fullbringer with the support of the disgraced Tsunayashiro Clan.'
"I'm not wearing a Gigai. Not yesterday and not now." Kisuke continued.
Soifon looked at him strangely, "Did you give it a new name after changing a few bits of its features or production?"
Kisuke smirked at her and said, "Please don't look away from reality."
Soifon froze for a bit before returning to her seat, "...How?"
"It has something to do with the place both Yoruichi and I ended up with after the war. If you agree to become an experimental subject, along with an oath of secrecy, I will tell you everything about it."
Soifon became more hesitant before shaking her head, "No."
She already knew that she wouldn't be able to leave this place without restricting her ability to reveal the information about them, that's a given and she was trying to know more about them so that she could at least negotiate the terms, 'If he's willing to reveal their hidden story, it could lead me to more useful information and actually figure out the origin of their Magic Power.'
Nonetheless, that slight hesitation from Soifon is already enough for Kisuke.
"Now then, allow me to expand on what I just said earlier. In exchange for you not telling a soul anything about this place, its inhabitants and me being alive, I'll teach you what I can regarding 'Ki' including how to utilize it and how to combine it with your Reiatsu. And with just that, depending on how good you are, you could double if not triple your combat effectiveness. You can even take on Baraggan's miasma without much problem once you've achieved mastery."
"...You're not lying, are you?" Soifon replied.
"If you think I'm lying, we can stop here."
"...Please go on."
Kisuke nodded, "Your second choice is, including everything in your first choice, I'll also teach you about 'Magic' like how I would with 'Ki'. It could also increase your combat effectiveness, but I'm not sure how much due to its incredible versatility. In addition to that, I will give the Gotei 13 detailed information about Magic and Ki, increasing the Seireitei's overall strength. Of course, this also includes my promise of telling you what Yoruichi and I were doing this past decade and where exactly we went."
Soifon thought hard about it and asked, "What are you researching?"
"A Gigai... No, I can't call it a Gigai anymore. I want to see if someone from the Soul race could have a physical body without limiting their characteristics or abilities while also opening up various possibilities in their future.
Soifon glared at Kisuke, "What for?"
But Kisuke was unaffected by that and answered, "I'd like to keep that to myself for now. But if you really want an answer, all I can give you is that if things go the way I'm expecting, it'll be necessary in the future."
Soifon became silent once again for a few moments before sighing and standing up, "Give me a day or two. And I'd also like to borrow the training ground."
"You're free to use it however you want."
Without saying another word, Soifon left Kisuke and headed for the training ground.
After making sure that she wouldn't be able to detect anything he would do, Kisuke immediately put up a barrier around him and answered the phone that had been secretly ringing since earlier, "Kyouraku-san, I'm sorry for not answering immediately. I was talking with someone."
[It's fine, but I'd like to ask first, how is our precious 2nd Division Commander? It has been a few days and the guys concerned about her are getting restless.]
"She's fine and she has already made a full recovery. Though there's just a tiny problem."
[Problem? What is it?]
"Due to my carelessness, she saw me."
[...] Kyouraku on the other side went silent for a few seconds, [...I didn't think you'd make a mistake like that... Or is it really a mistake, Urahara-san?]
"Please, it's a real mistake on my part. If I really wanted her to stay here, I could do so without risking myself."
[...I see. What's her future like?]
"I'm still trying to figure that out but obviously, she can't leave without me making sure that she won't trash everything I'm working so hard for."
[But that can't be for too long.]
"I know. That's why I'm thinking of appearing in our house in Karakura Town sometime after this. Of course, as the 'white-suited man'. I'll leave it to you so that it won't turn into a siege situation."
[I'll do my best on that part, but I can't promise that it'll be totally peaceful after what you just displayed down in Hell. Lisa-chan and the people who went with her are still having nightmares, you know? Not from their enemies but from your Zanpakuto.]
"Well, I'll believe in what you can do for now."
.
.
.
Shunsui and Kisuke talked for a few more seconds before they both hung up.
And as soon as Shunsui put away his phone, soft footsteps rang out from behind him, "...Captain."
Shunsui turned around and saw Nanao with an extremely concerned expression, "Oops. It looks like you heard me."
Nanao knew that if he really didn't want her to hear the conversation just now, she would never be able to, "...What was that? And why did you allow me to hear all of this?"
Shunsui started walking and walked past Nanao while saying, "I don't know what you're talking about. But you know me, I'm really afraid of plans going smoothly."
And before Shunsui closed the door behind Nanao, he added, "That's why I'd like my own insurance. But setting that aside, it seems that the white-suited man will appear within a few days. I'll send you out with the envoys. Your mission is to keep things from going violent."
Editors:
28th00: Well, at the very least, Nanao is incredibly loyal, especially since Shunsui is her uncle and her Captain(commander too).
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