"The air here... Is very different." Were Soifon's first words while looking around the familiar yet strange world.
"It's actually quite similar to Hell... I mean Special Region." One of the female Shinigami with an eyepatch and dark pink hair walked up to Yoruichi, "That gait and skin tone... Are you Shihouin?"
Yoruichi was a bit taken aback when she suddenly approached with judging eyes but she still answered, "Yes... I'm Shihouin Yoruichi. And you are?"
"Oh~ So I was right!" The Shinigami started laughing and patting Yoruichi's shoulders, "I'm Saito Furoufushi. I am a good friend of your great great great... great... I don't really know how many greats, granduncle~!"
For a moment, Yoruichi thought that her name was a bit familiar but when she thought about it deeply, a certain person that she only knew from history books appeared in her head, "Could it be that you're 'Saito Furoufushi'? One of the founding members of the Gotei 13?"
"That's true, but that's not really important right now." Furoufushi then looked around and asked, "Where's Urahara?"
"He's a bit busy with something. For now, let's head somewhere comfortable. I'll introduce you guys to our organization." Yoruichi then turned to Medusa and said, "I'll leave them to you. I need to close the gate."
"Even in this world, he's busy? Must be tough being him." Furoufushi muttered loudly.
Medusa nodded at Yoruichi and turned towards the group, "This way, please. We've prepared your lodging."
Medusa's eyes, being sealed and not affecting any of them, unnerved everyone except for Tenjirou who already got used to it, "Follow the girl." Tenjirou told everyone, "I need to talk to Shihouin about something first."
Yoruichi waved her hand goodbye to the group as they left the place. As soon as they were gone, Yoruichi started resealing the gate and this needed to be done to control the movement of certain individuals.
"I received word that the lady you brought to the other side has started cooperating." Tenjirou softly muttered.
"No wonder Soifon was able to come to this side. What is she asking in return?"
"I'm not sure since I was not explicitly told, but I heard she demanded a few things from Aizen."
Yoruichi smiled wryly, "A fearless one, eh?"
"Ignorant is more accurate."
"Well, regardless of what it is, I just hope that her demands don't create conflict between us."
"Kyouraku is not saying anything so you guys don't really have to worry about it."
"That only means that her request doesn't have anything to do with us. It's going to be a pain in the ass if Aizen ends up helping our targets."
Tenjirou was stunned for a bit, "I was surprised that that's only a pain in the ass. If any other person said that, I'd laugh in their face."
Yoruichi finished closing the gate and began walking away from it, "Whether he likes it or not, he has already given Kisuke years of prep time to deal with him. I doubt he's willing to open the box of surprises prepared for him specifically."
Tenjirou called for his two assistants to delegate tasks regarding the ryokan, but due to the upcoming summit, there's hardly anyone using the hot springs.
Yoruichi went straight towards the assigned building for their guests from the Soul Society. But when she arrived, Medusa was nowhere to be found and their guests were left drinking tea in the lounge area, "Where's Medusa?"
"If you mean that lady with long purple hair and strangely distracting eyes, she went ahead saying that there's an emergency call for her." Shinji answered while completely making himself at home, "Did we come at a bad time?"
Yoruichi shook her head, "No, not really. It's just that a big event is coming up so the others are busy preparing shelters."
"...It sounded like we came at a bad time." Lisa commented while adding, "It's good to see you alive, Yoruichi. I heard that you came over the other side but when I tried looking for you, you already left."
Yoruichi poured herself some tea too and sat down to relax, "What can I say? Too many things need to be done and I asked for reinforcements because it might turn ugly. I won't be asking you guys to move out, but if it turns out to be too much for us to deal with, I'd like you guys to give me a helping hand. Of course, you will be properly compensated."
Ouetsu excitedly raised his hand, "I'd like to build a workshop on this side too!"
"I'd also like to ask for the same thing." Senjumara followed suit.
Yoruichi was surprised for a bit but soon turned her head towards the last member of the Zero Division, Kirio, "What about you, Hikifune?"
Hikifune was grateful that Yoruichi asked her but she could only shake her head, "I'm only here because everyone insisted that I come too. I've already lost all my abilities and am no different from a normal person. I'm already thankful that you're giving a roof over my head."
Yoruichi already heard from Kisuke what happened to Kirio, "I've never thought I'd see you incredibly pessimistic like this. Far cry from how you were in the past."
It wasn't just Kirio who had a solemn expression but also Ouetsu and Senjumaru.
"Don't lose hope now. You'll sooner or later return to how you were previously." Yoruichi continued.
Nonetheless, she only got a wry smile from her, "I know myself best. This is different from Kurosaki Ichigo exhausting his Spiritual Power. I still possess some form of Spiritual Pressure that's on the level of a normal Shinigami, yet I have no way to move it."
"That doesn't matter." Yoruichi immediately refuted, "You and I know him the best. Kisuke won't be discouraged by something 'impossible' and he has proven that time and time again."
The wry smile on Kirio's face didn't disappear but she didn't say anything else.
"In other words, we're only able to take action when something bad happens?" Furoufushi immediately changed the topic, not allowing the room to devolve into an awkward silence, "And here I was hoping to go around."
"Go around..." Yoruichi muttered and thought of something, "How about going to Serafall's side? I think she'll appreciate your company. You know Serafall, right?"
Furoufushi's eyes instantly shined, "That's it! Katori is coming with me!"
The other 'unknown' female Shinigami, Batsu'unsai Katori, sighed but didn't disagree. She'd rather meet Tanis and ask her a few things regarding Ki.
Editors:
28th00: Ah, the underworld may or may not be on fire soon. Don’t worry, that’s just it returning to it’s natural state of being!
The day before the summit, Kisuke returned to the Ouroboros Academy after getting an earful from Issei for overworking Rossweisse.
What he came into after long days of work was a small gathering between the core members of the Ouroboros Academy who also just came back from the summit preparation and the guests from the Soul Society.
Just as he walked in, he heard Kirio happily narrating his childhood stories, "Because he didn't have any friends, he would recklessly sneak into Shihouin manor to ask Yoruichi to play with him."
Kirio caught sight of Kisuke entering with an embarrassed expression and stopped momentarily, "Ara, you're finally back."
Everyone in the room also looked in his direction but he told them to settle down.
"I hope you aren't saying anything exaggerated."
"That wasn't exaggerated. That's the main reason why I asked you to come to the Onmitsukidou." Yoruichi immediately piped in while lazing on the sofa with chips in her hand, "I didn't tell you this but you seriously hurt the Shihouin House's pride that time. Think about it, a snotty brat was able to sneak into the house that cultivates spies and assassins. You have no idea how funny it was when they were trying to figure out how you did it, not just one time, but several."
Kisuke walked towards Shinji and gestured for him to move a bit before sitting down beside him, "At that time, I already had the first prototype for the Reiatsu-Hiding Cloak."
"And you didn't share that tech until you became the Captain of the 12th Division?" Shinji asked.
In response, Kisuke just chuckled, "If you were in my position, would you?"
Shinji thought about it for a moment before answering, "I certainly wouldn't. But it's impressive you were able to think that far as a child."
"Well, the outer layer of the Rukongai district isn't exactly safe and peaceful."
"Hikifune-san, please continue your stories." Koneko, not at all bothered by his seemingly grim past, urged Kirio to continue what she was doing.
Kirio smiled and restarted her narration while entirely ignoring Kisuke's presence.
In front of her were Kuroka, Koneko, Akeno, Irina, and Aika, carefully listening to every detail.
Meanwhile, off to the side on another table, Riveria, Medusa, Sona, Senjumaru, and Retsu are sharing a lively conversation.
On the other hand, Ouetsu and Tenjirou are catching up to each other while Yoruichi and Shinji occasionally chime in.
Kisuke took a long, deep breath before a soft smile cracked on his face. This peacefulness is what he has been trying to achieve, however, circumstances don't allow that.
During that time, another person sat beside him and offered him a drink, "It seems that your girls can't be interrupted, so here."
Kisuke to the side and saw Lisa staring at him, "Yadoumaru-san. I hope you're enjoying your time here. Last time I saw you, you were scared out of your wits." He replied jokingly while taking the drink.
A small blush appeared on her face and she immediately hid it by fixing her glasses, "It wasn't just me alright? And are there any appropriate reactions when you show something like that? What was her name again? Tiamat?"
Kisuke chuckled, "That was Tiamat's idea to catch those Chained off guard. Though I doubt something like that could work for the second time."
"By the way, what is she doing?" Kisuke changed the topic by pointing at a certain corner where Soifon is staring at everyone, "She looks like a cat in her new home so I didn't approach her. Did she eat something wrong?"
Lisa turned to the corner he pointed and paused for a moment before giving a reply, "Apparently, she can't believe what she's seeing right now."
"What exactly?"
Lisa pointed to everyone in the room, "This whole thing. And honestly, me too. I just got used to it. She probably can't imagine you having not just one or two lovers and now she was confronted by this reality."
"Is it really that hard to believe?"
Shinji turned around and answered with conviction, "Yes. It's unbelievable. How did you pull this off?"
"Even if you ask me that, all I can say is that it happened." Before Kisuke knew it, Kirio stopped her narration and was looking at him, "But seriously? How did all of this happen? I'm also really curious."
Yoruichi's attention was also attracted as well as Sona's group, "Ah, where do I start? It probably began when his childhood friend had a not-so-coincidental 'accident' and he decided to mess with the people behind it."
"That time, huh?" Sona started reminiscing about the past, "If I remember correctly, Akeno had the greatest reaction and became his prime target for harassment."
Akeno who was just quietly listening all this time instantly turned beet red and tried hiding her face with her hands as a certain incident that she didn't want to remember resurfaced with great force, "Please! Don't pivot the conversation towards me! That was my darkest history!"
"Please, that was not as dark as your childhood." Kisuke immediately retorted. While it was his fault that he played the video without checking its contents beforehand, it was Akeno's idea to settle her frustration in his room out of all places.
Of course, that retort only earned him a pillar of lightning descending on his head. Kisuke was able to block it but more and more Magic Circles started gathering above him, "That's right. I haven't been able to properly get back at you for that time thanks to your sweet words. I think it's time to settle this grudge." In addition to the red face, tears are also on the brink of spilling out from her eyes.
'Sweet words?' Kisuke drew a blank in that but he didn't have the time to think since he needed to defend himself.
All of a sudden, Medusa spoke up, "Akeno, mind turning this way?"
Confused and curious Akeno turned around but as soon as she met her eyes, she noticed that Medusa wasn't wearing her glasses, "W-what!?"
The next instant, although she didn't turn into stone, her body froze, "It's a story that I don't know. Sounds amusing. I'd like to hear it."
"N-nooooo!!!"
Akeno tried to resist the petrification but Medusa was also pouring in a massive amount of Divine Power into her eyes, rendering her actions useless.
That night, a lively party of storytelling consumed their time with each girl recounting their experience with Kisuke, giving a whole lot of perspective to how Kisuke was able to end up with this web of relationships.
As for Akeno's embarrassing story, it was set aside for later after this very cool and mature woman cried for real.
.
.
.
When the sun came up, the members of the Ouroboros Academy except for Kisuke and Yoruichi started leaving to prepare for the important event.
"That was a strangely fruitful night." Yoruichi commented while stretching her limbs, "Do you finally get it now?" She turned to Soifon who was looking at the rising sun.
"To summarize all of it, you guys have a strange taste in men." Was Soifon's takeaway for the entire night.
Yoruichi was speechless for a moment before chucking, "If you put it like that, I can't exactly deny it." She then turned to Kisuke with a big smile, "But enough about that. It's about time you confront them. I'm sure they already got word of your attendance and are seeing you as a very valuable player, they'll use any method to pull you to their side."
"Iya~ I'm really flattered, but they are misunderstanding something and I'll make sure to tell them that to their faces."
Yoruichi let out a short breath before patting his back, "Whatever. Leave everything on this side to us. I'll make sure that they won't be able to take hold of your weakness."
Kisuke grinned, but this time, full of malice, "Don't worry. They won't have the chance." All Kisuke told them was he'd do something big at the summit. He's afraid that his intentions would leak so he doesn't tell anyone what exactly he's trying to achieve, 'With all the weird techniques and spells floating around now that the Evie and Etoulde technology have flowed into those guys' tech basket, I can't risk diminishing the surprise I prepared.'
Editors:
28th00: Kisuke is immune to childhood story embarrassment. Akeno, on the other hand, is very much not. Especially since Kisuke filmed it and it was around 8-9 years ago, right? Irina joined her in the biggest event from what I remember, but my god did Akeno become a glutton for punishment during that time period from what I remember… Soifon has come to accept the reality that the harem are the weirdest ones, not Kisuke, which is disturbing. Time to see the “Summit” become a “Volcano”.
Goyya: Childhood memories are fun.