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With Aika good to go, the next one to express their interest was Line and without any surprise, she said, "I want to continue what I'm doing and maybe expand my medical knowledge and expertise to other branches such as the physical and soul aspects."

"Aren't you doing great right now? Wouldn't you just overwhelm yourself if you ask for more?" Artemis asked full of skepticism. She didn't want her to push herself too much, as compared to all the children she had met in the past, she was already a top-notch healer that everyone would scramble for.

Line immediately shook her head, "I can heal most injuries, yes. I can even treat the curse that hit me and everyone in the Loki Familia thanks to the extensive Magic knowledge that Kisuke-san passed on. However, I can only do that with the use of Magic. There would definitely be a time where I won't be able to use my magic and I'll be next to useless."

Yoruichi nodded in understanding, however, she had to warn her, "Are you sure about this? It's going to be extremely hard. What you're going to learn would be far beyond your notion of reality. If you're not careful, it may change who you are now. That's how big of a difference the knowledge you have compared to the knowledge we know of."

But without any hesitation, Line nodded, "I'm prepared! Kisuke-san already warned me of this even before he started teaching me."

"Great. However, that's not what concerns me the most. Let's say you've successfully learned all of this, what do you think would happen?"

Line was silent. She thought about it for a while but the only answer she came up with was she'll be a lot better at treating and saving other people.

Guessing what she's thinking, Yoruichi continued with a grin, "What I meant is, are you prepared to become the enemy of the world once this knowledge is passed on to you?"

"W-what...?" Different from before, Line was speechless this time. She would have never thought that such a question would pop up for her to answer. In confusion, she unconsciously looked towards the Deities in the room and found them making complicated expressions, making Yoruichi's question a lot more serious than she initially thought, "T-that... what does that mean?"

To her question, Hestia was the one who answered while looking straight into her, "Kisuke-kun's medical knowledge... Goes against the natural order of things. As you've already heard earlier, Irina-kun and Akeno-kun supposedly died, and yet, they are still somehow alive. As Artemis's children, she couldn't be mistaken nor could it be faked since she would be able to immediately tell if someone tampered with her Falna. And even before that, I doubt Kisuke-kun and Yoruichi-kun have any reason to tamper with it. If by any chance they needed to touch the Falna, I trust that they'll be telling me about it."

"Not just the Gods of Death, Reincarnation, or other Deities that oversee the cycle of life, but all Deities would frown upon reversing death outside of the Falna-granted skill's 'miracle'. With that in mind, you should be able to understand why you could become the enemy of the world. It's because you're about to acquire the power to ignore the laws of this world."

Before Line could even process everything, Yoruichi added, "If you're thinking that you should only be taught enough that it won't reach that point then forget it. Giving you a half-assed knowledge would not only endanger you, but also everyone around you."

Seeing this would be a good chance since Line wouldn't be able to provide an answer right now, Serafall also chipped in her own warnings, "And since you'll be studying medicine, be aware that you won't just be able to concoct medicine to restore health but make one to completely destroy it. In other words, you'll be able to make poisons. Depending on your stance, we may or may not allow you to go further than this."

With all the acting leaders staring daggers at her, the pressure on Line was immense and made her incredibly nervous and fearful. But before she could give a haphazard and panicked answer that they might want to hear, someone took her cold shaking hands.

The surprising warmth shocked and cleared her mind a little bit. Slowly, she lifted her face up and saw Sona smiling gently at her, "This is a lot to take in so you don't have to answer now. Go take some rest first and contemplate on them slowly." Sona then looked towards Medusa and said, "Medusa-san, We'll leave her to you."

Medusa saw her wink at her and nodded, "Understood. Line-san, I'll accompany you to your room."

As Medusa slowly escorted the disgruntled Line and went through the door, Sona suddenly called out to her once more, "Line-san! Whatever your decision is, please don't forget that nothing will change. You'll always be our precious comrade."

Line quietly looked at her with unsure eyes for a moment before leaving.

After the barrier went up again, Aika suddenly asked, "Is it fine to bombard her like that? I feel bad for her."

Hestia heaved a large sigh, "It's fine. All this time, despite being with everyone, she's always been unsure of what she should really do and the only thing she can do to escape from those thoughts are her studies and research making her feel disconnected from the rest of us. While this may be hard on her, it should force her to think about the future and the position she's in, and by extension, she should be able to at least have a clear goal other than 'tagging' along."

While looking at Yoruichi and Serafall, Artemis asked, "But are you really sure about this? You've already repeatedly expressed that you don't have much time and I don't think you'll be able to wait for her to decide. It's not something that one can give an answer to within a few days or even years in time."

Without any hesitation, Yoruichi gave an answer that surprised both Artemis and Hestia, "We'll leave her. We'll give her as much time as we can since Kisuke is really looking forward for her to take his mantle as a medical practitioner. However, when the time comes that we need to move on, bringing her, who can't look forward to her own future, would only cause her own demise. As good as Kisuke is at nurturing people, he's not that great at preparing them."

"Well, even if that turned out to be the case, she's already sure to succeed... By this world's standards, anyway."

Sona then sat back down while saying, "We don't really have to worry about that. Medusa-san is with her and I think she'll be able to help her splendidly. No matter what decision she comes up to, she first needs to have some trust in herself and get out of everyone's shadow."

Yoruichi eyed her before smiling, "It seems that it wasn't just your magic that improved. If you don't mind, I'd like to hear some details about it later."

"Sure~"

Editors:

When Line reached her room with Medusa, she was still very out of it. As much as she wanted answers to their and her own questions running nonstop through her mind, she couldn't even fathom where to start.

"We're here."

If not for Medusa reminding her she wouldn't have realized that she had been standing blankly in front of her door. Realizing her mistake, she immediately faced Medusa and started bowing repeatedly, "I'm sorry! I'm very sorry!"

Medusa's deep and soothing voice, however, instantly gave her a huge sigh of relief, "It's fine. It's not something to apologize for."

But as soon as she straightened her body, she noticed a tray containing a tea set for two people and a plate of sweet baked snacks on her hand, "T-that is? You didn't have anything in your hands when we left the conference room, did you?", asked Line with a start. She knew for sure that Medusa doesn't really like taking out food from her inventory if she could prepare it properly. She heard it as one of the passing subjects when they had downtime and talked among themselves.

"Oh, this? I made a quick detour to the kitchen while we're on our way. By the way, do you mind if I come in?"

"Ah... Oh, yes, please!" replied Line while opening the door and thinking, 'So this is how a professional maid works? She managed to separate from me without me even realizing it. Incredible...'

The fact that she was too out of it to notice didn't even occur to her.

As Line arranged the seats and Medusa placed down the tray and prepared the tea, the former thought that she's here to convince her. But to convince her whether to accept the forbidden fruit of knowledge or reject it, Line doesn't have any idea.

Both of them sat down quietly and Medusa offered her a cup of tea, "Please take this. It'll help you calm your nerves."

"T-thank you."

However, that's it. The two of them just silently sat there and drank tea and ate snacks. Line indeed was able to calm her nerves after the first cup of tea, but on the third one, she started getting nervous from the silence and could only stare at this beautiful maid that has a grace that doesn't fit her attire, '...Now that I had a good look at her, she's more like a princess than a maid. And I almost forgot that she's kind of a Goddess from everyone's hometown... Though I still can't wrap my head around that. As far as I know, I think she mentioned that she's not trying to hide her aura so I wonder how different she is from the Goddesses I know.'

Some time ago, it was revealed that Medusa was a Goddess. Although she couldn't understand what they were talking about nor the reason why she was allowed to listen in on such a conversation, the main takeaway she got from that was that Medusa was different from the usual Deities that she knew.

With a quick peek at her, on the other hand, Medusa was able to make sure that she was able to finally take her mind from the earlier conversation. Although she planned to bring it back up again, it was already a good start that she was able to clear her mind with some other things.

The sound of the cup hitting the coaster became the signal for Medusa to start, "I won't talk about other things so I'll go straight to the point. What do you think?"

Even without clarifying it, Line knew what she's asking about. Her curious expression immediately became sullen as she also put down her cup, "...What do I think? I honestly don't know... I don't even know what to think of the situation."

"That's understandable. They were just talking about Master at the start yet it suddenly became you 'betraying' the world with what you want to learn."

As Line gave her a stare full of suspicion, Medusa immediately guessed what's on her mind, "Don't get wrong. I'm not here to convince you. I'm just going to be here to answer your questions and help you clarify some things. If you want to hear my opinion, I could also share that."

Medusa doesn't know what Sona was expecting when she asked her to accompany her. However, she's sure that Sona knew that she'll follow Kisuke's example of not convincing anyone and just giving them their choices in various scenarios, 'I'm not sure why she wanted me to do this, but I'll do my best.'

Of course, Line also recognized this as Kisuke would often help her with her studies this way. If she was lost, he would give some options based on the current situation, would explain how it came to be, and would teach her how to watch out for such things, 'Although it has been a while since he gave me bits of advice because I already learned how to decide for myself. There have been some mistakes, yes, but as Kisuke has said, it's an important part of learning and growing.'

Now that she has an idea of what their private talk entailed, Line immediately asked the first thing that came to her mind, "Is fighting a God or Goddess possible?"

Medusa was taken aback and her purple eyes behind the Mystic-Eyes-Suppression glasses widened as she was not expecting that as the first thing that she would ask, "Why this question?"

"Because you talk like you're prepared to go to war with the Deities.", replied Line with resolute eyes.

Medusa became silent and contemplated how to answer her question.

After a minute or two of patiently waiting, Line finally got a reply, "Because Master is fully capable of taking down one or two of them in a frontal battle."

It was Line's turn to be surprised and exclaimed, "He can!? He's that powerful!?"

Medusa raised her hand to signal her to sit back down and said, "It seems that you're misunderstanding something."

Line obediently sat down and asked, "What is it?"

"You've already seen how Master and Serafall-san fought."

"B-but that's..." It's indeed a very impressive display of strength that they never thought possible, but...

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but the Deities that you thought are omnipotent are also only around that level. Loki-sama might not have admitted it, but if you were to ask her, I think she'll tell you the truth."

Medusa watched her trying to comprehend her words, however, she did understand where her suspicion was coming from. From the time when the first Deity came down to the Lower World, they've always presented themselves to be the overseer of the mortals and that they governed every aspect of their lives.

Even with the birth of Magic along with their arrival, no one could imagine what kind of power was needed to control life and death. As such, they became an omnipotent and unconquerable existence in every mortal's mind, so even when Line and the rest of the girls from the Loki Familia saw the unbelievable battle, they couldn't have thought that it was already at the level of the Deities.

Editors:

Line could only stare at Medusa and utter her confusion, "But..."

"Your uncertainty is understandable.", Medusa first took a sip of her tea before continuing, "Forgive me for what I'm about to say, but your current attitude was a result of ignorance."

Line instantly froze at her words.

"However, I'm not blaming you for that, because it's a kind of ignorance perpetuated by the Deities due to their pride as overseers of this world. Once you've reached a certain level, you may be able to understand how their abilities work, then you'll eventually be able to understand the full extent of what they could really do. And once that happens, it's actually feasible to form countermeasures against them despite not reaching their level. Finally, don't misunderstand that I'm underestimating the Deities as I know that there are some that far surpass the others. This is all the information we got after extensive observation and cross-analysis of what really makes a 'Deity'."

After that Medusa didn't speak any further and just quietly enjoyed her tea. If she wanted Line to understand the bigger picture, she first had to discard the notion that Deities are all-powerful and invincible. There's also one more thing that she didn't tell her but she decided to just leave it for her to arrive at that conclusion herself.

Only the sound of Medusa sipping her tea and snacking prevailed within the room as Line racked her brain and tried her best to destroy the remaining notions she had about this world, 'Should I believe her? But for what reason would she lie to me? And if all of that was true, then why? What's the real reason? Even if I ask Loki-sama right now, I don't know if she'd tell me the truth...'

With an unknown amount of time, Line's train of thought only revolved around those questions. While she was somewhat able to resolve some of those questions, even more would pop out. Heaving a long sigh, Line muttered, "It would really be great if I can talk to Loki-sama..."

Without saying anything, Medusa took out a smartphone-like console and started operating it. Before Line could ask what she's doing, Medusa made a space on the table and placed down the console before it suddenly lit, displaying a familiar loading screen that was present when they contacted the Underworld.

A few seconds later, a holographic version of someone very Familiar to Line appeared within the light while exclaiming, [What the heck is this!!!?]

The panicking Goddess with light red hair and red eyes saw Medusa and Line's figure and exclaimed for a second time, [Line!? Is that you!? What's this!?]

From the background, Medusa and Line could hear Riveria's alerted voice, "Loki!? What's wrong!?" Soon enough, more voices started slipping from the background and are slowly growing louder, implying that many people are coming closer.

Ignoring the scene she caused, Medusa smiled and casually greeted the Goddess, "Good day to you, Loki-sama. It has been a while and I'm very sorry for disturbing you like this. However, to avoid complications, we can't keep this communication line for long so we shall get straight to the point."

Placing the flustered Line in the middle, Medusa added, "The reason I've contacted you today is that Line-san here urgently needs your advice."

Loki didn't return her greeting and immediately looked straight into Line's eyes. With just a glance, she was able to figure out that she's going through a lot of inner conflicts right now and her expression immediately turned serious, 'Just what did these people tell her?' She thought while scratching her head.

Loki then turned her sights to the worried people that entered her room and said, [All of you, leave me alone for a few minutes. I have something important to tell Line-chan.]

The one in front, Riveria and Ais saw a miniature version of Line and Medusa made out of light facing their backs from them. Ais wanted to ask what's that 'important' thing but Riveria immediately stopped her, [Understood. Please give my regards to Line and Medusa.], she nodded in understanding before dragging Ais with her and stopping the rest from entering Loki's room.

After making sure that none of them were listening in, she turned her attention back to the people in front of her, "Go ahead. Whatever you want to know, I'll try to answer it to the extent that I'm allowed to."

Line was very much surprised at her reaction, but thinking about it again, she has always been like this. It's as if she couldn't hide anything from her. Taking a deep breath, Line finally asked to confirm, "Loki-sama, if you and Kisuke were to fight for real, who would win?"

Loki was dumbfounded but for a different reason. She was expecting that she's going to ask some worldly secrets and even thought that Medusa was using Line and her relationship with her to pry some information off him, 'But thinking about it further, this is also one strange question. Between me and Kisuke? Just what sort of mental overhaul are they letting her go through? Well, I already expected this kind of outcome and it isn't like I consider Kisuke a normal mortal anymore so answering this was fairly easy.'

In an instant, a multitude of questions emerged from Loki's mind regarding what Line question really entails. Including if she should prepare for a Divine War because as it is now, none of her children would survive the destruction on that scale of the world.

Of course, she didn't voice any of this out nor showed anything that would give Medusa a hint to whatever she's thinking and answered, "Depending on what Kisuke and Serafall showed us, I would win." She then faced Medusa, "However, that doesn't mean I know all their cards and they must be holding back back then, weren't they?"

Medusa nodded and confirmed her conjecture, "That's right."

But before Line could misunderstand her words, Loki added, "That is to say, I'm one of the strongest Deities out there and this isn't just some bragging but a fact. Just Serafall alone could probably take on a God or two with the ability she displayed alone."

Hearing it from her own Goddess had a different impact on her psyche, "...That's... Seriously...?"

"I'm serious.", after that very brief conversation, however, Medusa was shocked by Loki's next words, "It seems that you're in a crossroad that was presented by them."

Loki's squinted eyes then snapped open and she looked directly into Line's eyes full of fear and uncertainty, "The reason you asked if Kisuke could go against a Goddess like me is that you finally discovered that they could potentially become an enemy of one and joining them would put you in the same risk, right?"

"That..." Line hesitated but she nodded after giving Medusa's calm demeanor a quick peek.

"Then I only have a single piece of advice for you. Think about it carefully. Think about it many times. Spend days or weeks thinking about it if needed. However, don't decide on an option that you think is great but choose an option that you think you'll least regret. Whatever you come up with, I'll be there to support you."

Line could only bite her lips and couldn't say anything for a long while.

Editors:

After more than a day of sleep, Kisuke finally woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in a long while, 'Maybe I should do this more often...', he thought while stretching and scanning the whole building with his senses.

Kisuke was incredibly curious about what they talked about when he was sleeping but he wouldn't initiate a question for that. If they want to talk about it with him, that would be great. But if they want to keep it a secret, that's fine too. In any case, he already trusts them enough that they would know what to do regardless of whether he's in or out of the picture.

The next thing he checked and it already became a habit, was his cane with a hidden blade in it, 'Still no response, huh... She taking too long. Way longer than I expected. I wonder just what she's going through right now? I want to check, but I might only interrupt her and if she needed help, she would be sending a non-stop SOS signal directly to my head.'

After spending a few minutes of carefully probing his connection to Benihime, Kisuke moved on to the next thing on his agenda, 'Now that Irina and Akeno-san are safe, I should give Yoruichi the signal to start Aika's Zanpakuto subjugation.'

With Aika's current skill set, she shouldn't be qualified to call the name of her Bankai yet, just like Ichigo tried to call his for the first time. But unlike Ichigo, who needed the power up to go against his enemies, Aika needed her Bankai too for a very different reason. Due to the nature of her Zanpakuto, Aika needed an outlet of her power that kept increasing due to her baby Dragons growing. Since her Reiatsu control couldn't keep up with this growth rate, she could only release it periodically as a temporary measure.

A Bankai in this case would be a great boon for her as she won't just have a limited outlet for release, it'd also force her to exert and learn more to control her Reiatsu.

Her situation, however, made Kisuke appreciate Ichigo's genius more as he had little to no problems like these. Aika, on the other hand, was just a normal person that was trying her best to adapt to her 'genius' circumstances.

Up to this point, Kisuke was still wondering if pulling a normal girl like her into their world, even if her circumstances pushed her here, was a good idea.

'In any case, she doesn't seem to be aware how dangerous her situation is, so this has to be done as soon as possible.'

Departing from his room, he first went to the living room where everyone had gathered except for Line, "Good morning~!"

Everyone just finished their dinner and was relaxing, "It's already evening.", replied Yoruichi after placing her tea down.

Claire, meanwhile, excitedly ran towards him and gave him a big hug, "Kisuke-niichan!"

Kisuke carefully caught her and picked her up, "What's up?"

"Mom and aunt were asking if you're okay..." Earlier was one of the scheduled communications to the other side and Yoruichi didn't hide anything from them, telling them what had transpired. Of course, Sakura and Cleria were very pissed at how reckless they were, but more than that, they were very worried about those involved.

'Looks like I'm going to hear a few hours of a sermon when I get home.', thought Kisuke as he reassured Claire while patting her head.

The next one to approach him was Hestia, and she did so while fidgeting. While wondering what's wrong, Hestia said first, "I apologize for how we acted earlier. I realized that we might have made the situation worse, not just for Irina-kun and Akeno-kun, but also for you and Yoruichi..."

Immediately after, Artemis also came, "I also apologize. I wasn't thinking straight at that time."

After giving them a quick peek, Kisuke slowly shook his head, "Please don't apologize. You were worried and panicked with what happened to Irina and Akeno-san. There's nothing that you did that deserved an apology from you. In fact, I should apologize for not explaining things beforehand. If I had briefed the two of you, you could have prepared yourselves for what may come, yet I chose to stay silent. I'm sorry."

Seeing Kisuke bowing his head, Hestia and Artemis panicked as they knew he never had any ill intentions. Contrary to that, he may have chosen to stay silent because he didn't want them to worry and hoped that the worse wouldn't come.

But after a few moments, the awkward atmosphere was forcefully destroyed by Sona asking, "Shouldn't you return to Kuroka and Koneko-chan's side soon? Their training might not have been as dangerous as everyone else's but we're worried about them being just by themselves."

Gently placing Claire down, Kisuke nodded at her, "That's right. I have to go soon. Aika."

Suddenly hearing her name being called, Aika perked her head up, "Is it my turn now?"

"Yes. Yoruichi will walk you through it."

"Got it. I'm also already prepared for it."

Kisuke then turned to Medusa and said, "Medusa, you should prepare too."

Medusa nodded with a smile and replied, "'We' are prepared."

Kisuke and Yoruichi's eyes widened in a pleasant surprise, "I see... That's good to hear. I look forward to meeting them.", answered Kisuke before finalizing his goodbyes.

It didn't take long for him to leave the Dungeon and teleport back to where Kuroka and Koneko were. Kisuke looked around and saw them outside of the barrier but just as he was about to call them and ask how they were doing, he stopped his steps when he saw a drastic change to one of them.

Koneko, with six cat tails behind her, was already almost as big as Kuroka... Physically. And it doesn't seem to be a temporary change.

Editors:

Kuroka and Koneko noticed Kisuke popping into existence nearby, but instead of greeting him, they ramped up what they were doing and took back the focus they had on the surroundings to dedicate everything to circulating their Ki. Now that Kisuke was here, they knew that they were safe.

Without further disturbing them, Kisuke inspected Koneko from a distance. He was worried that her adult transformation was actually doing something bad to her overall health as during the last instance that she did this, her Ki pathways were severely strained to the point that she was almost crippled.

But contrary to his expectations, aside from the current white flames that were dancing on her skin, Koneko's adult form had actually reached such a stable level that it was as if this is her most natural state, 'Although this is just a skin-deep level initial observation, the fact that she could give off such a stable aura despite the raging Ki flowing around speaks volumes that achieved something monumental... But how? The training method that I gave them couldn't have this kind of effect within such a short period of time. This result could only be achieved if they did this for at least a year or two without stopping.'

It only when Kisuke turned hisattention to Kuroka, who remained relatively the same in the physical sense, aside from the same six tails behind her and black flames dancing on her skin, that he was able to understand a small bit of what was really happening, 'Their flames are resonating and creating a cycle? And here I thought the flow of their flames only went one way. I may have misunderstood the nature of their flames.'

Since they'd already reached beyond this training's goal, they should be able to go home now. However, since he also knew that this chance might not come for them again, he was willing to wait no matter how long they took. Even if it means missing his one-month deadline.

After contacting Yoruichi about the situation, Kisuke's ardent wait began. And just like that, a whole week went by.

It was only after their 7th tail fully manifested that the circulation of Ki between them ceased and they woke up.

Kuroka and Koneko simultaneously stood up and started stretching while facing away from each other. But despite the immense pressure of the ocean pressing down on them, they were moving and breathing as if the water didn't exist around them, "Yo~ Kisuke-nya~! We've made you wait, nya!" Kuroka greeted Kisuke with greater enthusiasm than before.

But the moment she turned her sights to Koneko, Kuroka didn't know how to react, "S-Shirone? W-why did you suddenly transform, nya? Isn't that too dangerous for you?"

Instead of answering immediately, Koneko started inspecting her own body, touching it all over while having a bewildered expression, "...I didn't transform, Nee-sama..."

"You didn't?", asked Kuroka to confirm again.

Shaking her head, Koneko tried dispelling any transformation or any ongoing technique right now. But as she has initially figured out, she's not doing anything, "I didn't."

"Come in the barrier first. Let me check both of your conditions.", urged Kisuke while making the middle of the barrier comfortable.

Although Kuroka was very worried about Koneko, the latter was just thinking all sorts of weird stuff as she walked past the boundary of the barrier, 'Can I finally do it?'

Oblivious to what she's thinking, Kisuke faithfully went through everything and found out that Koneko was as healthy as she could be, 'Everything was adjusted to be optimized... Is it because of their Ki or is it the Nekoshou's special traits?'

"How is it?" Kuroka couldn't take it anymore and asked after waiting for the silent Kisuke to say something for a few minutes.

"There's no problem. Maybe this is how she should've looked like from the start. Although you're sisters and not that far apart in age, Koneko's stature was very petite and her environment might have caused her to have a suppressed growth. Thanks to her achieving her 7th tail, that suppression was broken and even pushed her to a readjustment. Though I'm not sure if this is because of the abundant Ki or her being a Nekoshou."

Kuroka could finally sigh in relief before saying, "That's good to hear. But I also couldn't tell. The records about the Nekoshou are very sparse and I couldn't find anyone else aside from me and Shirone. There might be some hidden records from the Youkai side, but I haven't explored there yet."

Kisuke rubbed his chin and thought for a bit, "Hmmm... I see... Then maybe it'll be a good idea to make a trip to Kyoto later."

Koneko, who had been doing some stretching in the background and some shadow boxing to gauge her strength, asked, "By the way, Senpai. How long have we been training? I couldn't tell how long we've been sitting here."

"It's actually been more than a week since I returned."

"Is that alright? I didn't think we'd go beyond the schedule."

"It's fine. I doubt you could have another instance of what you did as easily as you just had.", answered Kisuke while preparing their teleportation trip home.

Kuroka and Koneko thought back to it and figured that he's right. They couldn't even remember how they started it, much less how they kept going with their Ki circulation.

"And once we go home, go comfort Aika."

The sisters looked at each other before Koneko asked, "What happened to her?"

"She failed her training and Yoruichi couldn't allow her to continue further cause it'd just put her at unnecessary risk."

Although Kuroka and Koneko's training was extended, Kisuke didn't stop communicating with Yoruichi and kept asking her about Aika's progress. It might have been her special Zanpakuto or that she just wasn't for it in the first place, but Aika failed to acquire the name of her Bankai.

Editors:

The moment they arrived within the tower, Kisuke immediately scanned the whole floor and saw everyone who felt their presence make their way towards them. But instead of them, he quickly went to find someone he wanted to check on, 'She's in the private training room, swinging her sword. How diligent... Or should I say she's just trying to take her mind off it?'

"Tell the others that I'm going to where Aika is.", he said to Kuroka and Koneko before walking off in the direction of the dome beside the tower.

As he entered the dome, he saw all sorts of people using the facilities inside and some of them were even acquaintances. However, it wasn't just people who were training who were in there but also some people who were pretending to train but their eyes kept darting all around the place. And when he entered the vicinity, Kisuke immediately felt several prying eyes landing on him, 'Hmm... I wonder who's informants these people are. There are too many of them for just a simple observation and it seems that most of them are working as one single group.'

This instance just gave Kisuke an idea of how volatile the situation was and is a telltale sign that something big was about to go down, 'I have some 'insurances' but I'm still worried. What if a God found a loophole and was able to freely use his or her Divine Power for his own goals? Serafall would be able to hold her ground if there was a God or two, but the consequences later down the line wouldn't be a joke. It could immediately cascade down to the 'Apocalypse', but none of us are ready for that yet. Not even the Dungeon.'

And while thinking about all of this stuff that he definitely didn't want to get involved in, Kisuke reached the private training room where Aika was staying. Using his authority, he opened the door without saying anything.

"Welcome back~ Took you a little while longer than expected, huh?" greeted Aika, but she didn't stop swinging her Nodachi.

While walking towards the corner of the training room where there's a table and a few seats, Kisuke replied while chuckling, "Well, as they say, plans are meant to be broken. And they had a once in a lifetime opportunity so it was stupid to stop that just for the sake of following some schedule that could easily be adjusted."

"I see... That's really good."

After placing some tea and snacks on the table, Kisuke turned to her and said, "The face you're making is very far from your sentiment."

Aika immediately stopped swinging her sword and touched her face. She found out that she's slightly pouting. Afraid that she would be misunderstood, Aika hurriedly followed up, "Don't get it wrong! I'm really glad for them. It's just that..." She then stood there with heavy shoulders and looked down, "I envy them... I feel jealous."

"While everyone was figuratively leaping through their Dragon Gates, here am I tripping and stumbling backward. The moment I looked up, it's as if I couldn't see their backs anymore... I can feel the distance... I found my limits."

Kisuke was about to pour tea in Aika's cup, but decided against it as it seems that she won't be in a mood for some anytime soon. Instead, he slowly walked towards her before sitting on the floor beside her, "How awfully honest of you."

Aika sheathed her sword and smiled wryly before sitting down beside him, hugging her own knees, "You're the one who taught me how to be honest, and is there a point in hiding this from you? You could probably already tell."

Kisuke shook his head, "You're wrong. I could have my guesses, but I could never truly know what you're thinking and feeling without you telling me about it. As convenient as mind reading is, I have no way of doing such a thing."

"But your guesses are never far off the mark."

"That might be true, however, I could let such remarks get into my head. The moment it did will be the moment my all-important head would become useless." Kisuke sighed as he recalled the days he started checking his own pride. He was aware of what he can do and also aware that it's not normal. Early on he had become aware of this, it was also the day that he started checking his own mindset and evaluating it the very next day.

This preemptive measure helped him not destroy himself and those around him, but this is what caused Aizen to call him a coward.

"Enough about myself. I'm sure you've also been keeping a lot of things to yourself, especially after the day you met your parents again."

"Can I be more honest?"

Kisuke took a quick peek at her and saw that she was burying her head within her knees, "Looks like there's a lot. Sure. Please go all the way."

Aika didn't immediately speak up, but Kisuke didn't force her and waited for her to begin.

A few minutes later, Aika's first words surprised him, "I... actually already know the name of my Bankai..."

If she could already call the name of her Bankai then the fact that she still failed her 'trial' comes down to two possible scenarios, "Then..."

"I could probably release it if I wanted to...", clarified Aika, "...But I didn't... I can't do it..." she buried her head further within her knees.

Kisuke was legitimately surprised at what she'd just said and started thinking of the reasons she couldn't release her Bankai. But after a while, among the options within his head, he found the most likely reason, "You're afraid, huh...", muttered Kisuke.

Aika didn't affirm it, however, she also didn't do nor say anything to deny it, so Kisuke could safely assume that his guess was correct, 'Just by attempting to subdue her own Zanpakuto and learning its true name, she should have also realized its true nature and what it'd bring her. I wasn't able to witness her attempt, but considering how her Zanpakuto was different in nature compared to mine and Yoruichi's, I can understand if there's something else that made her feel this way. It should also be about the emotions she has been bottling up until now tipping the balance.'

"I could say that everything's going to be fine and I'll always be here with you, but that's just another way of saying that what you do doesn't matter with me here and that'd only cause you to keep it to yourself even more. All this time, I've been irresponsible. I owe you and everyone else an apology. Please forgive me."

At this point, Kisuke started having serious doubts about how he does things and started questioning what he had been doing ever since he came to a new world.

Aika, who Kisuke thought wouldn't have much problems due to her adventurous and borderline crazy personality, would unironically become the catalyst that would cause him to become more 'human'. Whether this is a good thing or not, only the future holds the answer.

Unbeknownst to him, however, Benihime 'breathed' for the first time in a while and this partner of his hid the fact that she had woken up, 'Now then... I wonder when I should start? I must wait for the chance where I can corner him as much as possible.'

Editors