A Clue to The Path

Late at night of the third day that Kisuke arrived in the city, when everyone else is already going home, Kisuke also decided that he should head back.

Although there are still a lot of activities happening around this time, he still doesn't want to get involved in it just yet.

Quietly exiting the city and looked back to it, 'The only place I didn't get to explore is the vicinity of that tower. That seems to be the place where the strong people are gathering and I'm curious to the strange aura coming from it, but my goal, for now, is to learn their language and acquire some samples for my research.' Kisuke thought.

It only took him ten minutes using Flash Step to arrive back in the forest where everyone else is staying. However, instead of going in, Kisuke stopped at the edge of the barrier that he put up three days ago.

Everyone is already outside the temporary lodging and is waiting for his arrival when he came back, "Welcome home~." Yoruichi first greeted him.

Kisuke smiled brightly and replied, "I'm back~."

"Welcome back~. Where's my souvenir?" Aika asked in anticipation.

"Welcome back, Kisuke-senpai." Koneko has the same feeling as Aika.

"Welcome back, Master~." Medusa only sighed in relief after seeing her master coming back from an unknown place.

"W-welcome back... Kisuke..." Sona also tried to greet him, but the flashbacks from the night they did it prevented her from looking straight to his eyes and could only blush fiercely.

Kuroka has the same expression as Sona, but for a very different reason, "Uhmm... Kisuke... I know this isn't the right time, but could you lend me some of your time now-nya?"

As they greeted him, they're also trying to approach him but Yoruichi stopped them from their tracks, "Did you forget? You can't approach him for now. We don't know what he brought back with him so he'll be doing a self-quarantine for a few days."

"Ah..." All of them stopped walking.

Kisuke smiled at their reactions, "It's already late so rest up. I won't be coming up for the next few days, so Kuroka... Endure it." He then turned around, intending to set another underground space. Kisuke is becoming a fine mole.

"Ah!? Wait, Kisuke! I can't endure anymore-nya!"

Kisuke kept walking away and only waved at her without looking back, "Then ask Yoruichi for some relief." He disappeared among the dense foliage of the forest.

Kuroka could only stare at his departing back with a dumbfounded expression. A few seconds later, she suddenly felt an arm wrapping around her nape, "You heard the guy~. Although I'm not as good at him, I should be able to relieve some of that stress until you can endure for a few more days~." Yoruichi whispered to her.

"Eh?... Eh!?... But we're both girls!" Kuroka shouted.

Yoruichi then started dragging Kuroka with her despite her struggling, "I have the same number hands as Kisuke~. The same number of fingers too~. So no problem~!"

"That's not the problem!" This is Kuroka's last shout before Yoruichi closed the door for her 'treatment'.

Sona, Aika, Koneko, and Medusa could only look at the two of them with speechless expression. They were in for another sleepless night.

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Three days later, Kisuke finally emerged from his makeshift laboratory and workshop and stretched his arms, taking in the fresh morning air, "Finally done~!"

Kisuke took back all of his equipment and closed the entrance to the underground hideout before going back to the girls. When he arrived, he saw that everyone is busy with their own activities.

Aika is currently swinging her two-meter long nodachi to practice her Zanjutsu. She already learned how to only take out her Zanpakuto without going into her Shinigami form.

Koneko is currently working and studying under Kuroka on how to properly control her Ki and the latter is also teaching her little sister some Youkai magic that might prove useful in the future.

Sona and Medusa, on the other hand, are assisting each other. Sona is trying to figure out her current limitations as she hasn't recovered yet and Medusa is beside her to watch over her so that she wouldn't push herself too much that it might cause an accident.

Kisuke then turned his attention to Yoruichi, who got a large boulder from who knows where and sitting on top of it while basking in pleasant sunlight. Sitting cross-legged and eyes closed, she's trying to communicate with her Zanpakuto, Byakko. But with her brows furrowed and some sweat gathering around her forehead, Kisuke figured that it isn't going well.

The moment he stepped into the barrier, everyone stopped what they're doing and excitedly ran towards him. But the first one to arrive is Yoruichi with her Flash Step, "Me first~!"

With another Flash Step, Yoruichi carried Kisuke away. The rest only looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and chuckling. Aika, Koneko, and Kuroka returned to what they're doing while Sona and Medusa entered the lodging to prepare some breakfast.

When they heard Sona is going to help to prepare breakfast, everyone shuddered. Aika, Koneko, and Kuroka looked towards Medusa with pleading eyes and Medusa didn't betray their expectations, 'I won't let her touch the cooking process itself!' Her eyes seem to say and the three understood it.

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Midway of their on the spot excursion, Kisuke carried Yoruichi in his arms and continued using Flash Steps. About a minute later, they arrived at a small clearing with a small patch of beautiful and colorful flowers in the middle.

Kisuke put her down beside the patch of flowers and took out a blanket to lay it out. After taking out a basket of sandwiches and some various fruits, both of them sat down to enjoy the otherworldly view while enjoying the mellow sun.

"Having a hard time?" Kisuke first asked and Yoruichi nodded quietly as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

"Don't rush it..."

Yoruichi stopped eating and looked at the colorful flowers, "I know... But I can't help but do just that... Even though I know you're not going to leave me alone, it feels that you're running further and further away from me..."

Kisuke tapped her shoulder to get her attention and when Yoruichi looked at him, Kisuke is tapping his lap. Smiling, she took on his offer and laid down her head on his laps.

While gently brushing her hair, Kisuke spoke, "I know that you don't need any verbal confirmation about me not leaving you and I can understand your impatience since I can imagine it if our positions were switched. But I also can't help you with this one since I want you to have a breakthrough on your own."

Yoruichi closed her eyes to enjoy his gentle and warm hands, "Right... I don't know how far you'll travel on this path and I can't have you babysit me on just the first step... If I did that, I feel that I might just trip and fell behind further."

Yoruichi's insecurities were her blurry path as opposed to Kisuke's clear path. If she can't find her path soon enough, she's afraid that she won't be able to stand beside her beloved if there is danger, and she absolutely hates it.

To Kisuke, however, more than just tripping, he hates it more if she were to be in danger if she rushes things, but he also knows no comforting will pull her out from such frantic feeling, so instead, he let his mind run. He wanted to at least give her a clue on where she should look.

After a few minutes of silence between them, Kisuke finally thought of what he should say, "Hear me out. Why don't we explore this world first and set aside the thought of returning immediately? I, however, won't stop looking for the way to come back, but we should also see what this world has to offer us."

Yoruichi looked up to him and asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Remember when I said that Byakko might have come from a different dimension from our original world and already hopped through worlds? Although I don't have proof, with just its abilities to travel through worlds, I have a feeling that this is the case"

Yoruichi only quietly stared at him.

"What I mean to say is that we arrive in this world, and the previous one might not have been random. Byakko probably wanted to show us something by bringing us here."

After hearing Kisuke, Yoruichi's eyes widened and she stood up. That line of thinking didn't come to her at all, after all, "Then..."

"Although it's just a guess, maybe there is a way for you to a breakthrough in this world."

Yoruichi can feel her clouded mind clearing up. Although she can't still far ahead, something inside her lightened up and she couldn't help smiling. She then threw herself to Kisuke, whispering to his ears, "Thank you."