บท 58: Chapter 58 - New Roommate
Due to the unexpected revelation about his family's history within this world, Jin remained silent for a while. His mother patiently waited for him to process the information.
"Did this 'spirit severing' happen to me when I was born?" Jin hesitantly asked.
His mother slowly nodded in response before saying, "Your grandfather rushed into the process even when I tried to stop it since several major accidents occurred during the time of your birth…"
"...That's when dad's parents died?" Jin recalled, wrinkling his brow.
Again, his mother nodded, but she didn't speak further than that.
'The more I think about this, the more it doesn't make sense. If we came from a branch of the Shihouin clan, then why send us to the World of the Living? Why sever our Reiryoku? Something isn't adding up here. It reminds me of the underhanded tactics of my superiors in my previous life.'
Grimacing, he made a mental note to investigate the issue at some point in the future after increasing his strength. At the same time, he explained to his mother that he already knew about that side of the world and had obtained some strong allies there. She reacted in an anxious manner and asked about his safety, but he reassured her that he could take care of himself to ease her worries.
Inwardly, on the other hand, he thought, 'I won't be able to pursue any of this until I'm stronger than most of the Captains… Or maybe I'll just take this to my grave. Yoruichi wouldn't care, but the rest of the Shihouins… I have no idea if they would still care about this. Wait… am I related to Yoruichi? It'd be several generations removed, but that's crazy.'
He eventually received a welcome distraction when Hiratsuka called him.
"Sorry, Jin, I was super tired and fell asleep while packing."
"Thought that might've been the case… Ah, right, almost forgot…"
Pulling the phone away from his ear, he looked over at his mother and said, "Is it okay if Hiratsuka-sensei stays here for a little while? She's got some Reiryoku, which is that energy written about on that scroll. I offered to protect her until she is strong enough to protect herself."
"That'll be fine. Your father won't say no," Ai quietly replied.
"Good. Also, I'll cast an invisible barrier around the house later that will stay up persistently to guard against those hollow creatures the scroll talked about. Just call me if anything happens. Actually, can you even see them?"
His mother shook her head in response.
"Makes sense, considering what was written here… Hiratsuka will be able to see them, so either of you can call me in case of an emergency. I'll take care of it. If you can't reach me, call this number."
While Jin showed Rukia's number to his mom, she asked, "...Isn't that dangerous?"
"For me, the hollows that would roam the World of the Living are just target practice," Jin assured her in a confident tone. Once his mom saved Rukia's number, he put his phone back to his ear and said, "You're all clear to stay here."
"Okay. See you soon."
Handing the scroll back to his mother, Jin waited for her to seal it back up inside the hidden compartment again. Afterwards, they quietly left the shrine.
Outside, Ai quietly reminded him, "Again, don't speak of this to your father and brother. I know that scroll was from a long time ago, but since it seems real, who knows if they would follow through on the warnings of who not to tell about this."
"So dad really has nothing to do with this?"
Shaking her head, Ai answered, "No. He is a simple man. No need to burden him with this kind of thing. Haruki… I don't think he should know unless he has children one day."
'I'm not sure, but dad might also blame my existence for his parents' deaths if he knew.'
For another few minutes, Jin sat down on the living room couch and waited for Hiratsuka to arrive. Waiting in silence only served to exacerbate the furrowing of his brows. The fact that he was probably born with Reiryoku in this world but then lost it caught him off guard. At first, he didn't really know what to think, but eventually, he narrowed his eyes at a certain thought.
'This wasn't an accident, was it?'
'You're on the right track, Jin,' His Zanpakuto answered with a light giggle.
'What do you know that you aren't telling me?'
'I'll tell you if you can hear my name next time you need me.'
'Damn. That's not fair, lady. We need to have a talk later when I have some free time.'
'Anytime. I'm always here.'
Jin rolled his eyes, but the doorbell distracted him. Sighing, he got up and answered the door. The moment he opened it, he raised a brow. Hiratsuka stood there holding four massive suitcases on her shoulders while dragging another two behind her.
"I'm here."
"...I see that. You pack your whole house?"
A hand karate chopped the back of Jin's head, but his head didn't even budge.
"Ow… Your head got so hard."
"Nothing I can do about that, mom."
"Anyway, don't be rude to a guest," Ai chided him. Then, she smiled widely at Hiratsuka, grabbed all the young woman's bags easily, and said, "Come in. Come in. Make yourself at home, Hiratsuka-san."
"Uh…" Hiratsuka fell silent and watched the almost forty-year-old woman carry four of her massive suitcases with seemingly no effort. Glancing at Jin, she asked, "Is that normal?"
"No… Wait, maybe," Jin initially denied it but then changed his mind after recalling a few memories of his mother moving plenty of heavy furniture or luggage in the past when needed without much effort.
"If that's the case, then no wonder you're so famous in the kendo scene."
"Well, that's neither here nor there…" Jin grumbled, leading her into the house.
Unable to hear their conversation, Jin's mother carried the suitcases into one of the guest bedrooms down the hall. Afterward, she came back and gave Hiratsuka a grand tour of everything.
By the end of the tour, Hiratsuka said, "It's a nice house. Very comfy."
Briefly recalling the dingy houses he had lived in during his past life before and after the war he spent more than a decade fighting in, Jin nodded in agreement.
For the next hour or so, Jin and his mother helped Hiratsuka settle in. Unfortunately, he needed to leave for his next Chat Group mission soon. As such, he set up a long-term barrier using a good portion of his magic while in soul form after making sure his mother was unable to see his barriers in that state. He spent over thirty minutes making sure it covered just the house on an almost one-to-one scale so that it would be less noticeable even to people who could see it. Then, he reentered his body and said farewell until the next day at the latest.
Later, he returned to Urahara's shop since he planned to depart from the Study Chamber again. Since he still had a little time to spare, he stopped to talk with Urahara privately. In one of the back rooms, the two of them sat at adjacent sides of a square kotatsu even though it was still spring.
"Did you have questions about my foreknowledge or why I want to gather a few people?" Jin asked.
"Both," Urahara answered while casually licking a large orange-flavored sucker.
"I assume you noticed last time, but I'll occasionally be leaving to do things in other realms occasionally. I want a few people who can take care of things outside my direct reach for me, like a company owner would hire people to take care of menial tasks they don't want to bother with."
Urahara nodded, seemingly understanding his position. He gave the impression that he didn't care that much about that particular issue in the first place.
"And about my foreknowledge… Do you mind if I use my ability on you? You'll understand it more that way."
"Let me watch you use it on somebody else first. For now, I want to know a general outline of what you saw."
"Alright. I'll be brief," Jin replied. Then, he looked around and asked, "The room is secure, right?"
Urahara simply nodded.
"In that case… I saw a lot of the world from a distant perspective. Almost like from the eye of the Soul King, if you will."
"So you do know about him, then," Urahara mumbled. He narrowed his eyes, but then gestured for Jin to continue.
"I essentially saw a few precarious situations during which the current state of how all the Realms currently function almost fell apart. One, because of the glasses guy."
"...And what else?"
"A return of the Quincies, and a war that left a massive number of casualties."
"This… is possible. Are you able to show me those memories?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"Hmm… Too bad. How much time do we have?"
"At least a month or two before the first one. A couple years at most for the second."
"That is not much time, but it's better than nothing."
"There is also something with Hell, but I wasn't able to see that far. There could be even more things that I'm not yet aware of."
This time, Urahara fell silent. He grabbed his hat and sighed.
"Sorry to give you more things to worry about."
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
Ending things there for now, Jin promised to occasionally help Urahara with some countermeasures before heading downstairs. He checked the Chat Group and pinged 'Origami Master' directly. As usual, she only responded with an emote of acknowledgement.
"That doesn't really instill much confidence, Konan…"
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