"Ichigo... I think we should listen to Kon-chan." Inoue was the first one to cave in to Kon's pleas.
Ichigo sighed, having the same thoughts, however, "But it's too dangerous. We don't know what might happen the longer we're in the dark. Kazui, I know that your promises are important, but you're important to us too. Right now, you're involved in something very dangerous and we won't know how to protect you if we don't know anything."
But even after Ichigo's words, Kazui remained silent. As he is just a very young and innocent boy, he really couldn't understand his parents' words, especially since he doesn't see the danger they were talking about. In fact, he was in a very friendly relationship with 'Hell' so he couldn't acknowledge their words even at face value.
Everyone didn't realize it, but from Kazui's point of view, they are just badmouthing his very good friends. Even then, he refused to speak as he also didn't know how he'll keep his promises if he was to tell them anything, bringing him a dilemma that his young mind shouldn't be thinking about in the first place.
Seeing the complicated expression he's making, Chad also chimed in, "Ichigo, let's not force him. For now, let's be grateful that we found out about this, and would allow us to prepare for what might happen."
"I also trust Kon's judgment." Uryu added, "While he likes to play around, he knows what's dangerous or not."
Renji, who just intended to bring Ichigo's group the detector that came from the Research Institute, scratched his head, "You guys are too lenient... Oh well, I could understand where you're coming from. So what should we do now?"
Inoue wanted to bring Kazui back to his room to comfort and bring him to sleep since it was already quite late when the radio-like device on the table that was the source of this gathering suddenly started alarming with blaring sounds.
"What is it now?" Ichigo immediately asked and took out his Substitute Shinigami Badge in case they had to fight.
Renji immediately took hold of the device while saying, "It's the alarm that goes off whenever there's a very large door and probably an Arrancar that's about to come out."
At the same time, the doorbell of the Kurosaki household rang.
"..." All became quiet as they wondered who was ringing the door at this hour, "I'll take it." Ichigo stood up.
Ichigo stood up and Renji tried turning off the alarm while the rest prepared to fight in case Soul Society didn't send anybody in time to intercept the 'door'.
But when Ichigo opened the door and peered outside, he saw a very unexpected guest.
"Hi~ Good evening. I'm sorry for suddenly showing up at this hour but I had to before you misunderstand something about your child."
"...You're Sitri Serafall...san." Ichigo loudly muttered after seeing the twin-tailed beauty.
Those who were inside the house immediately reacted when they heard Ichigo speak and stood up to approach him.
"You're Kurosaki Ichigo-chan~ I heard about you from Claire-chan. Oh, and by the way, I might have set off your new toy but I can assure you that there are no doors manifesting right now. I'm much more sensitive than that thing."
Ichigo turned around and looked at Renji. Before coming to the Human world, he received a note from Mayuri himself that it might react to Serafall's group so he nodded to Ichigo.
Ichigo turned back to Serafall and asked, "You know Kazui?"
"Not personally, but I'm the one who told the strange uncle that he might be connected to Hell."
"Strange uncle?" Ichigo repeated while trying to understand what she just said, but before he or the others could think who possibly this 'strange uncle' is, Kon shouted from inside the house, "Strange uncle!?" Kon ran out and came face to face with Serafall, "Were you sent by him!?"
Serafall crouched down and patted the stuffed toy, "He did. He got worried that you guys might misunderstand the nature of his relationship with Hell and scold him too much without the kid understanding what he did wrong. That's bad for a kid's developing head, you know?"
"Kon, who is this strange uncle."
Kon turned to him with a resolute expression, "I'm sorry Ichigo but I can't tell you right now, but I can assure you that we can trust him."
Ichigo and Kon stared at each other for a few moments until the former let out a heavy sigh, "Haahhh... We can talk about this later." He then turned his attention back to their guest, "Sitri-san, is it? Please come inside."
"Excuse my intrusion~!"
.
.
.
After entering the house, Serafall didn't immediately greet everyone and instead stared at Kazui and began walking in circles around him. Ichigo and Inoue didn't mind this but this has been going on for at least three minutes so the latter voiced out her concern while serving her a cup of tea, "I-Is there something wrong?"
Serafall was immediately pulled out of her contemplation and reassured them, "Ah, there's nothing. The strange uncle already told me about the situation he's in and I trust his words. However, if I can see it with my own eyes, I would rather do the checks again."
She then sat down and accepted her drinks, "Thank you. And regarding your kid, please be reassured, as far as I could see, there's nothing dangerous attached to him."
But even if she said that, there's no way for them to trust her and Serafall also knew that so she first started explaining to them what she knows about Hell.
"First of all, the inhabitants of Hell are divided between the [Chained] and [Unchained]..."
Serafall explained to them the difference between the [Chained] and [Unchained] which Soul Society wasn't even aware of.
As she went through her explanation and Renji dutifully recorded everything, Serafall dropped them the bomb, "Everyone who enters Hell becomes [Chained] as punishment, however, there's an exception to this. Kazui, I don't really know how to properly describe it aside from saying that he became Hell's 'Envoy' by allowing him to send souls down there without any 'punishment', giving them a new lease on life."
Editors:
28th00: Interrogating a child never really works out well.
"...E-envoy of Hell?" Inoue muttered with nervousness.
But instead of replying to her, Serafall crouched down in front of Kazui, "Kazui-chan, my name is Serafall but you can call me Sera-neechan. Nice to meet you."
"...Sera-neechan."
Serafall nodded in satisfaction and continued, "If you don't mind Nee-chan asking, when were you able to send Souls to Hell, and how?"
Kazui thought about it for a moment before answering with a soft, unsure voice, "...I don't know... I don't remember. It's just that one day, a door appeared in front of me with Skeleton-san on it. We talked for a bit and after that, I'm able to send people..."
"Hmm~ That's great. What did you talk about?"
A longer silence came from Kazui before he answered with even more uncertainty in his voice, "...I... I don't know. I don't remember..."
Seeing his struggle, Serafall immediately patted his head, "That's alright. You don't have to remember it. At least you had fun talking to him, did you?"
Kazui finally smiled and nodded energetically, "Mmm!" Although he doesn't remember anything, the lingering feeling of their conversation stayed with him and he always wanted to talk to him again.
"That's wonderful~" Serafall also returned a smile, "It's getting late so you should go to bed. You don't have to think about this anymore since we adults are going to take care of it." She then gave Inoue a glance.
Inoue immediately understood what she was trying to say and also crouched down in front of Kazui, "That's right, Kazui. We're sorry for putting you on the spot like that. Your father and his friends will take care of the rest."
Kazui immediately ran to his mother's embrace as an expression of relief came to her face.
Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, and Renji saw it clearly and made them realize that they made a mistake.
After hugging her son tightly, Inoue brought Kazui back to his room with Kon, leaving behind the adults to talk among themselves.
"...I apologize that you had to see something like that... And thank you." Ichigo lowered his head, "I almost did something unsightly as a father."
Serafall stood up and said, "As long as you understand and never forget that he's still just a kid. No matter how strange his actions are, it's perfectly normal that he himself doesn't know anything about it."
She then turned to Renji who was tapping away on his smartphone. She also noticed that he's recording what she's saying when she's talking about the [Chained] and [Unchained] but didn't say anything about it, "Reporting?"
Renji didn't say anything for a few seconds and continued with what he was doing. After he was done, he smiled nervously, "I'm sorry, but this has to be done."
"I'm not blaming you. It's your duty so I won't say anything about it. I'm just making sure that's what you're doing."
With her work done here, Serafall intended to leave, "Well then, I won't extend my sudden visit any further. Let's talk more in detail on another occasion."
But just as she just finished speaking, a heavy atmosphere suddenly pressed on everyone. Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Renji, even though they don't know what's going on, they still felt an enormous threat. At the same time, the scanning device on Renji's hand started beeping in an even more alarming way than when Serafall arrived, signifying something big that was about to come.
"1...2...3... Hmmm... A total of 9 doors?" Serafall suddenly muttered while looking up with a serious, "So they aren't slowing down. They're saving their forces. You guys better gather all the forces that you can as fast as possible before your precious balance tips. You have at least half a day before those massive entryways open."
The wind picked up around her and a Magic Circle expanded below her feet.
"H-Half a day? 9 large doors are going to open!?" Renji asked in a panic.
But instead of answering his question, Serafall said something weird, "Aren't you lucky that you have the 'Envoy of Hell'? Just ask and you'll be exempted from Hell's punishment. Isn't that awfully convenient?" Before disappearing into motes of light.
"W-wait! What do you mean by that!?" Renji tried to reach out for her but Ichigo grabbed him by his shoulder, "Let's think about that later. The 12th Division will be able to confirm the number of doors. If it's indeed 9, then it's also probably true that it'll open in half a day. Go back for now and tell them everything that you know."
Renji thought that Ichigo was right and was about to leave when he suddenly realized something and stopped, "Wait... Everything? That means it includes Kazui!"
With a difficult expression, Ichigo replied, "I'll make sure that no harm comes to my family... But I feel like what she told us, in the end, is a hint to resolve this issue. Discuss it with Kurotsuchi-san, but please make sure that Akon, Byakuya-san, and if possible, Shunsui-san are present. I'm sorry, but I'm going to burden you."
Renji stared at him for a few moments before sighing, "Burden me all you want. You already saved my life a few times and this is the least I can do. However, even if we can make Captain Kurotsuchi promise not to do anything crazy, knowing him, and if it's for his perceived greater good, we don't know what he might actually do."
From his pocket, he took out a note and passed it to Ichigo, "In that case, you won't be able to depend on Soul Society... They know more than us so they might be able to help you more. Though we still don't know what exactly they are nor their objectives, it might be a better choice for you if you're cornered."
Ichigo confusedly took the note and saw that there was an address written on it, 'People who could help if Soul Society can't?...' Ichigo hurriedly looked back up to him, "You don't mean..."
"It'll be up to you."
Renji ran until he exited the Kurosaki household and hurriedly opened a Senkaimon to return to his post to report.
As soon as he left, Uryu also made his way to the door while saying, "I don't know if I'll be able to get their assistance, but I'll inform the Quincies of what's happening right now. I might go all the way to Hueco Mundo so I'll inform Harribel about this too. Chad, please stay here as additional protection for Inoue and Kazui."
Chad nodded at him and Ichigo also didn't have any objection to this. But more than that, Ichigo is carefully considering Renji's suggestion, 'Is it even safe to trust them like this?'
Editors:
28th00: Trust the scary youth troupe and their minders, it’s totally safe.
Goyya: Ye, they are totally not the crazies.