The moment she saw Kisuke walking out of the destroyed room, Soifon felt like she was hit by a hammer on her head and time momentarily froze for her. And even after Kisuke disappeared from her view, she continued to stare at a blank space until the door to the dining room from the hallway opened, "Soifon-chan, isn't it? It's our first time meeting in person. Nice to meet you, I'm Sitri Serafall, you can call me Sera-chan~!"
Soifon broke her magnetic gaze from the destroyed room and slowly turned her head to Serafall. Although she heard her speak, she didn't really understand what she just said and just asked, "W-was that Urahara Kisuke!?"
Serafall calmly walked towards the table and patted Ophis and Lilith's heads who were looking guilty and thinking that it was their fault that Kisuke was discovered, "Yes. And to make things clear, he didn't come from Hell and is very much alive. The same could be said with Yoru-chan... er... Yoruichi-chan, but she's not here right now."
Soifon immediately forgot the state of her body and almost tripped when she tried to run over. Only with her body's instinct that she was able to regain her balance, "P-please! Please tell me everything you know! And where's Urahara Kisuke!? I need to talk to him right now!" Her voice cracked but she certainly wasn't even able to notice it, much less, her current demeanor right now.
Serafall smiled wryly, "Slow down, girl. I obviously can't tell you everything and you probably heard our conversation earlier. Ki-tan is a bit busy right now so you'll have to settle with my company. For now, why don't we sit and calm down?"
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A few hours later, Soifon had finally managed to calm down, or more like, she lost the little bit of energy she recovered and had no choice but to lay back down.
Serafall changed the wet towel on Soifon's head, "Are you feeling alright now? You shouldn't push yourself but it's a good sign that you have a fever. It means that your body has enough energy to fight back. Remember, you were essentially brought back to life after being hit by that miasma."
"...Thank you..." Soifon muttered with a soft voice.
While Serafall was silently cleaning the room, Soifon asked, "...Who are you?"
But instead of answering, Serafall replied with a question of her own, "Can't contain your curiosity?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I will be able to rest properly like this."
Serafall chuckled, "Yoru-chan did tell me that you wouldn't be able to let go of it once you got curious about something."
Soifon's heart jumped but this time, she managed to keep her calm, "Yoru-chan... Do you mean Yoruichi-sama?"
"Indeed. I heard that you were her precious aide in her younger days.", Serafall finished disinfecting the room and sat on Soifon's bedside, 'Though I didn't really understand her stories when she told me about it. No wonder her tales don't match the number of years she's alive.'
While they were exploring the entirety of the [Dungeon World], Yoruichi would sometimes recite stories of her younger years when she got drunk. Although she couldn't understand it fully because both Kisuke and Yoruichi hadn't made it clear that they were from another world, they were fun stories to listen to, and a number of those stories were about the individual named Soifon, Yoruichi's close aide and has an antagonistic relationship with Kisuke.
While Soifon is very curious about what sort of stories she hears about her, she's more obsessed with another thing, "...Where is Yoruichi-sama?"
"I think you wanted to know more if she's doing okay, and yes, she's doing fine and living a good life. But if you really wanted to know where exactly she is, that's going to be tough since it's not a place where we can currently reach nor connect."
"...", Soifon stayed silent for a few moments before replying while closing her eyes, "I see... Thank you."
After that, Soifon went back to sleep and Serafall exited the room quietly while also secretly adding Alarm Magic through the entire room so that she could immediately react if she ever exited the room.
For the next two days, Serafall was surprised that Soifon didn't ask anything and just passively observed everyone. And when she recovered half of her strength, she even started helping out with the chores. While it's obvious for Serafall what she's trying to do, she didn't do anything to stop it and even allowed her to snoop around the mansion and outside of it unattended. Serafall thought that this would allow Soifon to trust them a bit easier.
And then it was the time she came to meet Kisuke face to face.
Soifon wanted to talk to him immediately, but she saw the teenage girl called Claire come running to Kisuke so she stayed seated and continued to observe what was happening. But by doing so, Soifon started looking at the familiar face with strangeness, '...For as long as I've remembered, he's never been this affectionate...'
Hence, her first question to him, who had a young girl clinging to his back is, "...Are you really the same Urahara Kisuke that I know?"
"Am I really that different?"
Soifon swallowed a mouthful of saliva and answered, "You feel like a completely different person to me."
Kisuke, on the other hand, just chuckled, "And since you haven't started attacking me, you also feel quite a bit different from my memories. Are you really that hot-headed Soifon-san?"
'At least he still has the same annoying face. What should I do? It's been a while so I have a really strong urge to punch that face.', Soifon thought to herself.
But before they could continue, Serafall interrupted them, "Before you start going deep into your conversation, Ki-tan, let me borrow a bit of your time."
Kisuke turned to her and his serious expression appeared, "An urgent matter?"
Serafall thought about it for a moment before saying, "Not really, but we also can't leave it alone."
She then started telling Kisuke what transpired in the Human World, more specifically, the Vatican City.
"It's still a mess out there and panic among the people is not subsiding. The number of people trying to convert is also increasing which is normally a happy occasion for the said faction but in this case, might be a bad occurrence if not properly controlled and guided. Worst case scenario, Holy Power will once again erupt and no matter how 'good' aligned that power is, it still could cause a massive destruction that could wipe countries off the map."
Kisuke stayed silent for a few seconds while rubbing his chin, "Did the amount of pseudo-Demonic Power in the Human World increase?"
Serafall nodded, "It's as you've guessed. I don't have any measuring instrument but it increased 10 fold and in some places, 50-100 times. Although it isn't much due to the initial amount, I surmised that every time the door to Hell opens, the quasi-system that the Holy Power created to maintain itself will keep pulling that pseudo-Demonic Power. Thankfully, all that power is being neutralized and being converted into the more common Magic Power. I'm not sure how that happened but that's the result of the clash."
'Neutralized? In that case, it might really be true that Holy Power could kill the [Chained]. But it's dangerous for that amount of power to circulate without proper goal or centralization so instead of leaving it alone, it's better to teach some people to harness this power to put it under control.'
After some more contemplation from Kisuke's side, he asked, "Sera-chan, you know more about this than me so you don't really need my permission to take action."
Serafall crossed her arms and grinned at him, "What are you talking about? You're obviously the leader of this expedition. Regardless of my knowledge, I still would like your final word."
Kisuke sighed, "Still, you're being too careful. So when needed, I'd like you to take action on your own discretion."
"I think I'm doing a good job in balancing that~!"
"Is that so?" Kisuke surrendered, "Then please make contact with the Pope and while you're at it, bring Flanna with you. If I recall correctly, Vatican City is under the Wing Bind's influence."
Serafall stood straight up and playfully saluted, "Understood~! I'll be on my way!"
With that, a Magic Circle appeared beneath Serafall's feet, but it wasn't just her. Under Claire, Kunou, and Tanis is a similar Magic Circle, "I'll also bring them with me. I think they need a breather."
Kisuke nodded and waved goodbye to the girls.
But before they completely disappeared, Kisuke and Serafall were shocked that Soifon suddenly spoke, "The current Pope answers to the current leader of the Gallows, Wolfgang Slashhaut."
The surprised Serafall immediately returned to her usual expression and said, "Thank you~!" Before disappearing, leaving behind just Kisuke and Soifon.
Editors:
28th00: It’s time to talk! Soifon has been waiting patiently for days. To be fair, she’s used to emergency situations like this where you have to put off everything to prevent the situation from collapsing entirely.
Now that Claire had been teleported away, Kisuke was now free to move. But instead of asking Soifon why she provided them with a piece of valuable information, he first stood up and went to the counter in the corner of the living room to prepare some drinks, "Were you able to get all of Baraggan's miasma out of you?"
At Kisuke's question, Soifon clenched her fists tight as she recalled the battle she had with Baraggan and remembered the strange man who saved her and her comrades, "Was that you?"
"It was my disguise, yes." Kisuke promptly answered while pouring the tea into the cups. He can also hear the frustration in her voice and continued, "Due to several reasons, I can't reveal myself right now. I made a mistake and allowed you to see me, though."
"Is that so?" Soifon muttered before becoming silent.
She then saw a cup of tea placed in front of her, "What's this? You're being awfully meek."
Soifon grabbed the cup and smelled the aroma whiffing out of it. After almost half a minute of staring at it, she took a small sip before saying, "I... I just hate myself."
Kisuke didn't say anything as he watched Soifon continue staring at her cup.
"The first time I faced Baraggan, I lost and needed help. Even if anyone didn't say anything, I know that it was you who sent former Vice-Kidou Chief Ushouda to my side. Twelve years ago, I lost my Bankai and it was you who helped me to regain it, saving my life."
Kisuke could see that her hands were slightly shaking.
"And now, You saved me from certain death."
Kisuke took a sip of his tea before saying with a sigh, "I didn't really think you hated me that much." He thought for sure that even though Soifon didn't like him, they still could get along.
"No!" Soifon shouted.
Kisuke was so startled that he almost let go of his cup, "Err... What?"
"No..." Soifon continued, "I mean, yes, you are annoying and I really don't like you and how close you are to Yoruichi-sama. But the one who I hate is not you… It's myself. I hate myself."
A wry smile emerged on Soifon's face, "I hate my weak self who can't seem to win important battles... And I obviously owe my life to you multiple times, yet here I am, unable to mutter even a simple 'thank you' thanks to my silly pride."
"...Really, I hate myself the most."
Without saying a word, Kisuke suddenly snatched the cup of tea from Soifon's hands without spilling it and tossed both hers and his cup away. The cups disappeared in mid-air with Magic Circle's catching them. Another Magic Circle appeared in front of Kisuke and stuck his arm into it, pulling a bottle of liquor and two glasses from it.
"It's a long-awaited reunion, so tea shouldn't be what we're drinking," Kisuke said while softly chuckling and pouring the cup glass he placed in front of Soifon before filling the one in front of him.
He then picked up his glass and raised it, "Cheers!"
Soifon was dumbfounded at the sudden change of mood but immediately thought, 'Ah... This is so him.' Her wry smile disappeared, replaced by a more light one.
Although Soifon is quite tempted to leave him hanging there, she knows that it wasn't the right time for that and picked up her glass and touched it with Kisuke's, "Cheers."
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The two of them spent more than an hour drinking while talking about random things while silently agreeing not to talk about the awkward and heavy atmosphere from earlier.
While Soifon was talking and complaining about her day-to-day life as the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukidou and Captain of the 2nd Division, Kisuke talks about what he and Yoruichi were up to while maintaining the vagueness of the stories. Nevertheless, it made the former quite jealous, and started complaining about it.
Soifon saw that Kisuke was already a bit flushed and laughed at his face, "What's this? I didn't know you were this weak to alcohol."
However, Kisuke only chuckled and poured another glass for himself, "It's the point of drinking, isn't it?"
Even though Soifon only rarely drank, she could hold her liquor pretty well thanks to her extensive mastery over Hakuda to the point that she could even out-drink the current Captain Commander. But thanks to this confidence that she wouldn't get drunk, she failed to notice that her mind was already clouded by Kisuke's special liquor that he made specifically for him and others on his level to enjoy and get actually drunk off of.
In Kisuke's eyes, Soifon's face wasn't just flushed, but her movements were also already languid.
"I really hate that confidence of yours." Soifon brought forward her glass and Kisuke poured another one for her. She looked down on it for a few seconds before downing it straight, 'This is the best I've ever had... I should ask where he bought this later.'
Soifon let out a long sigh before muttering with glazed eyes, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Kisuke replied while filling another glass for himself. Whether it's for pouring drinks for her or saving her life on multiple occasions, he didn't need any clarification as he only did what he felt like doing.
Soifon gestured for another glass and as her glass was being filled, she continued saying, "If there's anything I can do for you, tell me."
"I never thought I'd hear that from someone who used to say that good or evil holds no interest for her and that she only cared about her duty and the pride in being a Captain of Gotei 13."
Soifon flashed him a grin and continued for him, "All who prevent me from doing my duty are my enemies. Enemies to be slain. That is all."
"That's why I'm surprised and don't understand. From your perspective, we're the ones trying to undermine the Seireitei's authority. It's already a big deal that you don't see us as enemies, but you're even willing to assist me and make that offer?"
Soifon asked for another glass, "Just like how I don't know how much you've changed these past few years, you also don't know how much I did."
"...It looks like you've seen a few things."
Soifon didn't immediately reply and instead asked for another glass before saying, "Enough about that. Tell me more about Yoruichi-sama!"
An hour later, Kisuke found himself drinking alone while his drinking partner was already sleeping with her head on the table, still muttering some nonsense about Yoruichi and why she left her behind.
"She still can't let go of that, huh?" Kisuke muttered to himself.
Kisuke then stood up and stretched his body for a few moments before taking out a camera.
And with a nasty grin, Kisuke stared at Soifon's sloven face and drool coming out of her mouth, "Tsk, tsk. You really are just asking me to immortalize this moment."
There's a solid reason why Soifon hates Kisuke.
Editors:
28th00: Truly, Soifon got bullied for a solid century or so by Kisuke, but only in the most petty of ways! I mean, all 3 of them are technically childhood friends, even by Soul standards.