It had been a long day for the teenagers so they went to bed first. Despite their seemingly unlimited energy, they still went through dimensions before arriving here. They were able to rest for a bit, but that still took a toll on their still-developing bodies. Kisuke found nothing out of place with them after he performed a quick checkup, but he urged them to rest now for good measure.
Serafall, on the other hand, didn't choose to sit with Kisuke and Tessai to listen to the latter's story. Even if she could listen, she wouldn't be able to understand anything without the necessary context. Instead, she went out again to explore the town. As an unknown world, she couldn't sit still without knowing anything, or at least making sure that there was no immediate danger in their vicinity.
Kisuke was sure that Serafall would trust his words if he told her that they were safe here but he knew that wouldn't be as effective if she checked it herself. Also this way, she'll be able to adapt faster since that's how she has always done things. She didn't get the position of the Devil King because she sat on her butt the whole time.
"Is it alright to leave her alone? She doesn't know much about this place, does she?" Tessai asked with concern. He's not worried about her safety but the things she could do to disrupt the delicate situation right now.
"It's fine. Even though she acts like a kid, she's a very shrewd one on par with Yoruichi. Let her do her own thing until she's satisfied. I assure you that she knows where to draw the line."
"I see. In that case, I'll trust her too."
Kisuke smiled at him because he knew that Tessai hardly trusts anyone after what happened more than a century ago. For him to trust someone he just met today is a huge respect to Kisuke himself, "Thank you."
Tessai nodded at him and took out some documents he recorded in the past, "After the Great War, I distanced ourselves from Seireitei for Ururu and Jinta's sake. Everything in here is some of the noteworthy events that occurred but since everything is just from what I heard and saw, it's not very reliable.
"And from all of it, there's really only one notable event that happened not long after the Great War. Since it was a highly sensitive topic and heavily suppressed by Central 46, I wasn't able to glean much from it. Even then, I could tell that it was a pretty serious event because the entirety of Karakura Town was locked in a strange barrier that day."
Kisuke browsed through the documents and listed the important points inside his head, 'The rise of a strange cult in the Human World called Xcution with knowledge of Soul Society. A very powerful Fullbringer in the middle of it. The appearance of a strange child with a similar Reiatsu as Ichigo Kurosaki and Kugo Ginjou. And a day later, the death of the controversial head of the Tsunayashiro of the Five Noble Clans.'
"It seems that it was resolved peacefully," Kisuke commented while flipping through the pages of other miscellaneous information like the current status of the surviving Quincies.
"You could say that Captain Commander Shunsui Kyouraku is doing a fine job. And I don't want to say it, but Mayuri Kurotsuchi also contributed a lot, and also probably thanks to him that Soul Society is making advances right now."
Kisuke kept the documents in his inventory while chuckling at the frowning Tessai, "You may not like how he does and sees things but that's the reason why I wanted him to succeed me. Though I also honestly didn't think that he would be that nihilistic."
"Haaahhh..." Tessai let out an exasperated sigh, "You have no idea. He started developing communication devices that could also connect to the Human World, including its internet."
"Huh? Isn't that a really great thing? Those traditional maniacs will finally be able to open to more ideas once they see the Human World culture closely... Though I hope that Mayuri added some filters to prevent anyone from diving in too deep..." Kisuke replied and a second later, thought, 'No... That's impossible, isn't it? I'd be glad if he doesn't lead others to the dubious part of the internet. Gotei 13 might just collapse.'
Tessai was able to guess what he was thinking and said, "That's also a problem, but thankfully, it's just a recent technological advancement so no one really knows how to use it aside from the messaging apps and video sharing sites. The biggest problem is his aesthetics!"
"Ahh..." Kisuke instantly understood and imagined the current Gotei 13 full of flying high-tech bugs.
"Thankfully, Akon is around and was able to push back against this with the help of Divisions and Captain Commander himself. Although extremely opposed to it, Mayuri was forced to adopt the Human World's design."
Kisuke also sighed in relief upon hearing that.
"So what's your plan now?"
"Ultimately, I want to check the one who replaced the Soul King and figure out what's going to happen now that the doors of Hell are wide open."
Tessai's brows narrowed. Although he heard Kisuke's story, he still doesn't understand why he returned when he could have stayed there in peace, 'Attachment?... or...' Tessai looked straight into his eyes and asked, "You still haven't let go of your morbid curiosity?"
Tessai knew the real reason why Kisuke created the Hougyoku and that's not because he wanted to save the Soul King from his eternal torture but wanted to see if he could make something that could replace him out of curiosity.
Kisuke leaned back, "I won't deny that, but that's not my only motivation now. Believe it or not, a lot of things have changed."
"So is it safe to assume that you won't be walking the same path as Aizen Sosuke?"
Kisuke shook his head, "Don't worry. I won't. I would never think of replacing the 'stake'. Too much spotlight for me."
Yes, Kisuke won't be replacing the 'Soul King'. He intended to do something worse and Kisuke was prepared to fight the Royal Guard.
"For now, aside from studying that 'Beast from Hell', I'd like to enroll Claire, Tanis, and Kunou in a high school."
"Hmmm... I could falsify some documents to help them enter Karakura High but that's risky."
"Please do that and leave everything else to Sera-chan."
Although Kisuke took them with him, he didn't want them to miss out on their youth.
Editors:
28th00: The (new)youth troupe is gonna freak out that even in another dimension, they have to go to school. Their poor little minds are gonna snap… The dragons might even shapeshift into their loli forms to get outta highschool! Truly, Kisuke is a monster. Tessai would probably not worry that hard if Kisuke just told him “Oh yeah, Serafall has a century or two on us by the way.” since she looks like a teenager.
The next day, Kisuke asked the girls except for Ophis, Lilith, and Flanna to explore the town again. But before they left, Kisuke talked to Serafall, "Sera-chan, I'll support whatever you want to do since I trust your discretion."
Serafall grinned at him and replied, "Aren't you asking me to make a mess?"
"Geez, you know what I meant." Kisuke scratched his head with a wry smile but he couldn't blame her and why she said that because there was indeed an advantage for them if she were to make a mess. However, he had an entirely different reason and that's that he wanted the girls to have no reservations as they did on the other side and he wanted to leave that to Serafall's discretion.
"You probably already noticed from your brief exploration and listening to my stories, but this side is a lot more lenient against 'outsiders'. With factions that you can count on one hand, it's a lot easier for another one to rise up without any interference as long as you don't openly antagonize them."
Indeed, Serafall had been wondering why Kisuke, from his stories, a known fugitive was able to keep a relatively peaceful life for a century just because he escaped to the Human World. Her exploration last night was to seek an answer to this question and although she's still figuring things out, Serafall was able to conclude that the people who could apprehend Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai couldn't easily leave their post despite them breaking some pretty serious laws and they were even able to open a shop that caters to their needs.
"True. It'll also be a lot easier for the girls to adapt since they won't have to hide like they did something wrong." Serafall replied. There's a reason why Serafall didn't hide her face when standing in front of the Shinigamis and that's because of her pride. They're prideful beings, especially her and Claire who're Devils. While they don't have anything against how Kisuke does things, they wouldn't want to do the same. At most, they would want to hide a portion of their abilities to save them as their ace.
But since they're in his world, Serafall was thinking if they should adapt to Kisuke's style, at least for the young girls. "But are you sure? They might figure out our association with you."
"I'd only ask that you avoid mentioning me to others. But if anyone finds out, that's also fine since I don't really intend to hide forever. Once I figure out what's going on and prepare enough, I'll move in earnest."
Serafall quietly stared at him for a few seconds before sighing in relief. She already has an idea of what he really wanted to do in this world but it was just a guess and she didn't have to ask him that now. Nevertheless, she was relieved that she didn't have to suppress herself and the young girls, "I see~. Then while we're at it, we'll find a good place to stay."
"Go to the Kitakawase area. It's a wealthy residential area and you should be able to find a suitable place there."
"Noted~ We'll get going then!"
As they left, Tessai approached him from behind, "They're not going to stay here?"
"This place is too small for them and no one would really want to live underground."
But just as Kisuke was about to return inside, his cane began shaking a second later, it released a strong light. The next moment, a very beautiful Japanese woman wearing a simple white V-neck t-shirt and blue tight jeans stood in front of Kisuke and Tessai while demanding with one of her hands on her hip, "I'm also going to find my own place."
Tessai was stunned while Kisuke thought about it for a moment before taking out his tanto blade and giving it to Benihime, "On one condition. You take her with you and become her guide."
The woman was incredibly apprehensive and was about to reject it with all her might. But when a certain aspect of the daily life of her independent action came to her mind, she took the tanto blade, albeit, still a bit hesitant, 'I don't like her... But I hate chores more.'
The woman didn't say another word and left with the blade using Flash Step.
"W-was that Benihime?" asked Tessai after the woman had disappeared, "When did Benihime acquire that kind of ability that's only unique to the Kuchiki Clan's Muramasa?"
"Well, it's something different but I won't be able to explain it properly to you. Just think of her body being made using Magic Particles as opposed to Spiritual Particles."
"Wait. She didn't take a Gigai. How is she going to interact with Humans?"
"No problem on that side either. Magic Power is something that manifests in the physical world once manipulated. Right now, she looks no different from a normal Human... Except for her temper."
Although Tessai doesn't personally know Benihime, he knows how she acts from Kisuke's mentioning of her in the past, "She won't create a big mess, will she?"
"It's fine. She knew the price of her freedom and I think she likes running around too much to do anything drastic."
Kisuke then gave Tessai a device that would allow him to practice sensing Magic Power before leaving with Ophis, Lilith, and Flanna.
After confirming everything he needs, Kisuke opened a Senkaimon within the training grounds. But because they don't have any Hell Butterflies to guide them, they were transported to a dark lifeless corridor with gooey moving walls the moment they stepped into the Senkaimon. They arrived at the Dangai and it was intentional on Kisuke's side.
"This is... The flow of time is incredibly distorted." Flanna commented as she looked around, "...2,000 times?" Flanna turned to Kisuke and asked, "Did you use this as a training ground, boss?"
Kisuke shook his head, "While it's indeed good for learning and mastering something when you're out of time, it's not a place to get stronger. Any wrong move and one will be dragged along the flow of time and be trapped forever. For most people, that would mean being trapped and aging 2,000 times faster."
Kisuke then turned to Ophis and Lilith, "Ophis-chan, Lilith-chan, please make a hole in the wall. I want to get out of this space."
Ophis and Lilith nodded and didn't hesitate to touch the gooey walls. But instead of being dragged and swallowed by it, the gooey wall moved out of its way and revealed a barren and deserted land beyond it.
Kisuke jumped in and was immediately followed by the three girls. After leaving the Dangai, they now arrived at one of many pocket spaces beside it called Valley of Screams, "Let's jump a few more times until we find a suitable place."
Ophis and Lilith nodded. After doing it the first time, they instantly understood the structure of this world's boundaries and were able to go through them like fishes in the water.
Editors:
28th00: The Infinite Lolis are basically the master key to reality when you think about it… Sera is gonna raise hell in her misadventures I bet!
Goyya: ‘Sadly’, there are no lolis here. All of them are in their teenager form. Imagine Rias and Akeno, but a lot more tamed.