766-770
"Listen, the main reason why it's hard for you to get stronger is not that your bodies are already strong from the start, but because the compatibility between your own souls and bodies is only crudely synced. Even with the best of my research, this is the final result." explained Kisuke before giving them the documents that listed his findings when he regularly checked their condition.
Akeno, Irina, and Yoruichi went through it and although the former two couldn't understand most of it, the conclusion at the bottom of each finding helped them understand it.
"As you might have already noticed long ago, while you two did get stronger thanks to your new bodies, their durability and strength were far from the origin of the flesh, Great Red and their energy retention and capacity were far from Ophis who granted her own permanent power to further strengthen them. And not just far but very, very far. You could actually only use less than 1% of what they are supposed to grant."
Irina and Akeno were silent and looked down, nevertheless, Kisuke wasn't done yet, "This is the reason why those who could use another body couldn't get any stronger even if they acquired the strongest one out there. The real way is to further evolve your own body and your own soul would happily follow it."
From this, Akeno finally understood why they had to talk in private, "So we're in a different situation than everyone else? We aren't just stuck on the 'first boss' but we 'played' wrongly that our characters are essentially useless?" Just after saying that, Akeno couldn't help but smile wryly in frustration and helplessness and it was the same as Irina.
Kisuke's answer was silence, but that's already telling everything. Silence covered the room for a minute more before Kisuke suddenly asked, "Aren't you going to blame me? After all, I'm the one who half-forcefully put you in this situation, and even though I gave you an option before, I failed to warn you about all of these."
After he said that, Akeno and Irina immediately looked up to him with a scowl, "Please don't look down on us." Akeno softly replied, but with a grave tone, "We haven't forgotten that all of this started because you saved our lives and we attempted to return the favor. But far from returning said favor, we forced you to bring us with you and only became luggage that slowed you down."
"Not to mention, all of that was our own decision. You might have started it, but we willingly walked into it." Irina added, "So please don't ever think that this is your fault, as we've never thought of it that way ever. You're looking down on us if you do so."
Kisuke already knew how they thought about the whole situation from the start, but it would be honestly easier for him if they were to blame him. Sighing, he ended up asking, "Really... Just what's pushing you to go this far?..." It was already too late that it was a mistake to ask that.
"Are you asking that because you're expecting an answer? Or...", replied Irina while narrowing her eyes.
Akeno covered her mouth with her hand and smirked, "Fufufu, you don't strike me as a dense one, but I can give you an answer now if you want to be sure of it."
Kisuke immediately waved his hand in dismissal, "Save it... But I'm not going to deny it.", he then looked straight at them and said with a serious expression while pointing to the girl beside him, "However, if you're trying to be useful to be accepted, please stop it. The moment I accepted you for such a shallow reason, the first one who'd murder me is Yoruichi."
With a smile that didn't reach her eyes, Yoruichi replied, "Of course~ I'd be the first one to straighten him up if he thinks both of you are convenient women."
Irina and Akeno's mouths could only twitch as they knew that they weren't joking.
Inwardly, however, although they felt relief and respect at Kisuke's stance, they were also feeling lost as all this time, ironically, they were betting on being useful. Being shut down on the only path that they could see, they didn't know what to do next.
Yoruichi knew what they were thinking and raised her voice, "Listen up! Affection isn't that cheap. You might hate to hear it from someone in my position, but there's really nothing you can do to earn it."
As she had said, Irina and Akeno didn't really want to hear it from her, nevertheless, Yoruichi still continued, "I know you're feeling at a loss but just let go of your obsession and just act naturally without thinking everything is for him. Be it accidental, coincidental, or whatever, affection should come naturally and it would if it's meant to be."
Irina and Akeno understood what Yoruichi was saying, but were still confused about what they should do.
Raising her finger and waving it in front of them, Yoruichi added to clear up their minds, "However, that doesn't mean you can't grind for affection. As long as you're thinking about yourselves too when you make an effort, then that'll be fine. Forgetting to put importance to yourselves would be the worst thing you could do."
Kisuke witnessed the light returning to Irina and Akeno's eyes and thought, 'Bringin in Yoruichi was really a wonderful decision. Thanks to her, she was able to address and point out their skewed perspective.'
However, Kisuke didn't like Yoruichi's next words, "And there's really nothing you should be worried about. The moment he got together with Sona and Kuroka, he became a lot easier compared to his past self."
"...I don't think that's true...", despite denying it, the tone of his voice doesn't have its usual power as he himself wasn't very confident. Seeing that it'll only be awkward for himself if this went on, Kisuke immediately changed the subject, "Ehem... Anyway, although both of your situations aren't very good, that doesn't mean your past efforts didn't mean anything. In fact, thanks to that, an option has opened up for the both of you, albeit, it won't be easy."
Kisuke was successful at diverting their attention as Irina and Akeno's eyes shone with the former immediately asking, "There's something we could do!? Please tell us!"
Satisfied with how it turned out, Kisuke answered with a small smile, "There are actually two options for you. An easy one and a hard one."
Little did he know that Irina and Akeno were actually more excited with what Yoruichi said and just choose to not say anything about it, 'He can tell what his opponents were thinking most of the time, but too bad for him they aren't his enemies, but are young girls aiming for his attention. I can tell that he's misunderstanding their reaction again.', Yoruichi thought while having a mysterious smirk plastered on her face as she watched the three of them.
"The hard one please~", answered Akeno with her usual sultry voice that came back to life.
"I would really appreciate it if you were to listen to me first... But if you're thinking that there's more to gain the hard way, then you're correct."
Editors:
28th00
Irina nodded in understanding and said, "Well, that's pretty obviously our choice. But I noticed that you said that our efforts until now weren't wasted. Does that mean there's meaning to what we've been doing?"
"Of course. There is no such thing as meaningless effort, only experiences that can't be used. In this particular case, both of you are lucky since your souls have adapted quite nicely with your bodies. But as I've said from the start, that wasn't enough." Kisuke raised two of his fingers before continuing, "Hence the two choices you have. The first and easy one is to abandon these bodies and return to your previous bodies. Although they are not the original, they should be identical. If you're going to choose this, then you'll have an easier time and could train the conventional way. You'll be left behind for a bit, but it's a sure way to improve and maybe at some point, some sort of evolution on your part."
Akeno prepared herself and asked with a solemn voice, "And for the hard choice?" She knew it's not going to be easy if they go with Kisuke's standard of 'hard'.
"For the hard choice, there are two possibilities. The first one is for your soul to elevate to the same level as your body. However, that's essentially impossible and even if by some miracle you're able to do it, the 'identity' of your own soul may be lost in the process, hence, essentially killing yourselves."
Irina and Akeno shuddered. Far from killing themselves, it's essentially self-destructing in such a way that wouldn't even allow for reincarnation, "If it's like this, why even mention it?" asked Irina.
"Because you'll definitely ask about it after hearing the second one. And it's not like this doesn't have its own advantage. Regardless of whether you lose your rationality or not, when it comes to power, you'll only be second to both Great Red and Ophis."
"Even if we became the strongest existence out there, it's still a hard pass for me if I can't experience it as 'me'."
"Alright. The first one is out of the question. As for the second one, you could probably already guess."
"...Dragging down the level of our bodies to match that of our soul so that we could sync with it better?"
Kisuke nodded, "That's the idea but it's much more complicated than that. In this case, once you've succeeded, you'll certainly become weaker than you are right now, but it really won't take too long before you recover. However, I'll be honest with you. Even though I was able to pinpoint the reason why you can't get stronger and solve it, that doesn't mean the main problem was solved as I don't really know what's going to happen next, so it'll be up to you. Although this is much safer than the first one, the result is uncertain and could possibly have a negative effect, making the choice of you two returning to your former bodies much more appealing. In other words, you'll still be gambling and you'll have to make your choice again."
Akeno and Irina became silent once again.
After a few minutes, resolution first came to Irina and said, "I know that going back to our previous bodies is the safest bet and it isn't like we can't get stronger that way... However, I also knew that I have no talent. I can't control Magic as well as Sona-san, nor could contest with Kuroka-san, Koneko, and even Aika with Ki, be it on control or improvement. As for my speciality, Holy Magic, I can be on par with Akeno but even then, I still fell short due to the special properties of her 'Light'. I tried thinking, but I really have nothing else to offer."
Yoruichi wanted to refute her and say that her talent in swordsmanship is the real deal but she figured this isn't the time yet.
Irina looked straight into Kisuke's eyes as if she's scowling and continued, "If I want to be sure that I won't be left behind, then I'll gladly take the risk. Talent may be one thing, but when it comes to determination, I don't want to lose."
Among the girls, aside from Koneko who had been with her since childhood, Akeno was closest to Irina due to their situation and the timing they entered the group. And the same as her, Akeno was also feeling inferior to everyone, including to Irina herself whenever she saw her strange form of swordsmanship that differed from others.
So when she heard her real feelings, she immediately felt relief, and soon after, guilt, 'I shouldn't be feeling this way... But I can't...'
Shaking her head and clasping her cheeks with her hands, Akeno also decided to be honest with her inferiorities. The least she could do with her is to open up.
Kisuke looked at them carefully and his lips curled upwards. Truthfully speaking, he's still hesitant if he really should help and allow them to do this but seeing their resolve solid enough, he finally let go of the bit of hesitation he's feeling, "Fine. Then listen to me carefully."
The idea behind Kisuke's plan of synchronizing their souls is for their souls to shape their bodies. Depending on the strength of their souls, they would need to strengthen or discard parts of their bodies and in their situation, they would be discarding a lot of it. Once this was achieved, the dissociation of body and soul should largely disappear and the remaining deformations could be solved by living through their everyday lives.
However, what made this dangerous was the fact that their souls were a lot weaker than their current bodies. As they attempt this, their bodies would fight back against the change that they are being subjected to and they could get hurt in the process. And if they couldn't discard enough before their souls tire out, large gaps would appear in their body and soul balance, resulting in not just the death of their bodies, but also the dispersal of their souls due to strain.
After giving them the specific steps, order, and risks for half an hour, Kisuke finished it by asking them again, "This isn't going to be easy and even, by my standards, this is very dangerous as I'm not sure I would be able to save you if something were to go wrong. Are you sure you still want to continue?"
Akeno answered with a small smile, "If we expect you to always come save us, how could we go far? And you've already said it yourself that that is the wrong mindset. We could depend on you, but shouldn't always."
Irina then suddenly stood up, "That's right! And we don't really have time to talk like this. We'll go prepare to increase our chances!"
Yoruichi, on the other hand, out of curiosity asked, "Could you just prepare an artificial body that meets their needs? You should already have enough data on them to do that."
Kisuke shook his head, "I can't do that. If I were to create a body for them, I'd only limit what they could do. I can gather all the information I may need, but I'll never be able to predict someone's potential and growth. The mind, after all, is the greatest mystery of all as it possesses unlimited and infinite possibilities, and with a strong enough will, you can even bend reality."
Kisuke didn't know what Irina's and Akeno's inner world exactly look like, however, he can be sure that this isn't it, as it was currently overrun by Ophis' and Great Red's Dragonic Aura, 'Even if it's just their flesh and power, to think it'd have this much of an effect on the soul, I clearly underestimated existences like them.'
In any case, Kisuke had to look for both Irina and Akeno within this space. Although he was worried that he would need a different method to navigate, he felt relief and he immediately found the two of them in the opposite directions. Kisuke immediately brought the two curled up and unconscious souls together and checked their current conditions.
Since they didn't have clothes, Kisuke could see black spots on their skins which seemed to be caused by the erosion from their attempt to shape their bodies. The area of the black spots was expanding as he watched and they should have been ejected from their bodies when they started to appear. However, Yoruichi keeping them in here consumed their very soul, 'They are no longer in any state to continue... But I already agreed to let them continue.'
Taking a deep breath, Kisuke prepared a sphere that was just big enough to envelop the three of them and exert his soul's influence. As the intangible sphere made out from Kisuke's own soul expanded, the rate at which the black spots spread also slowed down significantly. However, doing so wasn't without any consequences as the eroding aura hit him heavily, which normally he could resist easily.
Kisuke thought that it's a good thing that Benihime was still busy with her adaptation and sighed in relief, 'She would have to made a mess to force me to stop this.'
Enduring the pain of forcefully taking over their 'punishment', Kisuke placed his hands on their foreheads to act as a bridge to connect their souls as Yoruichi had requested while recalling Ophis' words once again, 'I wonder if this will be enough of a push?'
The moment contact was established, Kisuke started purifying a part of his own soul to a normal Reishi since he didn't know what would happen if he were to supply it to the girls as it is. However, every time he would take a part of himself and purify it, cracks would appear all over his soul before it immediately recovered to its pristine condition, causing him immense pain on top of the erosion he was already taking care of. Nevertheless, he just gritted his teeth and gave the girls the much-needed energy to at the very least, wake up and do something about their own situation.
A few minutes later, Kisuke efforts finally bore fruit as Irina and Akeno slowly opened their eyes. But as he was about to greet and tease them for a bit, he noticed that there was no focus within their eyes. They were awake, but their consciousness was still not present, 'What's this..? They should at least react a bit, but a complete blank? What's going on?'
Normally, he would be happy with these many unknowns within a day, but with their safety at great risk, he couldn't relish the mystery behind their behavior.
While observing them, a sudden movement suddenly came from both of them as they both tried exiting Kisuke's sphere of influence, seemingly trying to return where they came from. But instead of stopping them, Kisuke hurriedly manipulated his soul to split the sphere and move with them.
Since they are moving in different directions, Kisuke didn't follow them. Even so, he still could monitor them through the sphere around them.
As his curiosity peaked, Irina and Akeno finally resumed their 'discarding'. Still, they still managed to break even more of Kisuke's expectations, 'The entire process became autonomous? How are they doing this?... But more importantly, what they're discarding isn't totally lost but being passed to the other one? How? Is this what Yoruichi instinctively felt when she made a suggestion of connecting their souls?'
Questions flowed through Kisuke's mind and his fascination with what's happening only strengthened. He wanted to only watch and study what was really going on, but he had to dedicate most of his attention to their safety. Nevertheless, this is still a great and rare opportunity to know more about the mysteries of the soul.
After a few more minutes of watching closely, Kisuke figured out a small, but important part of what's going on, 'The 'Angelic' aspect is being transferred and concentrated in Akeno-san and the 'Dragonic' side is going to Irina?'
After thinking about it, Kisuke came up with a guess, 'Is it because Akeno-san was naturally an 'Angel' while Irina was just an artificial one? As for why the 'Dragon' was being invested in Irina... Maybe because the tomboy Irina has always been fascinated by anything Dragon-related when we're kids and is manifesting now? In any case, I can see why this is happening.'
Since Akeno was a descendant of one of the oldest Angels, albeit, a Fallen one, she had more affinity with anything 'Angelic', far more than Irina. Irina, on the other hand, was quite a handful when she was a child, but the Church's education repressed most of those childish feelings and it happened at a very early age too. With her unconscious right now and fully autonomous, her desires and inner self was more open than any other time beforehand.
Although the process was going smoothly for the both of them, the burden on Kisuke's sides was only getting heavier as time went on with the 'discarded' aspects directly landing on him who's acting as the 'bridge' between them.
However, in the outside world, Yoruichi was panicking greatly. Although Kisuke looked peaceful, Irina and Akeno's bodies stayed dead, and now their flesh was falling off before turning into black soot with an unbearable stench.
She really wanted to dive into their inner worlds too, but her hands were already full with just sealing the souls within her body, and even now, she still didn't know if her decision was still the correct one, 'I'll never be able to forgive myself if they were to perish because of my selfish actions... Kisuke... Please... Please don't let them fail...'
Outside of the door, everyone except for Kuroka and Koneko had gathered with Artemis and Hestia pacing back and forth, while the latter kept asking how things were going on her Falna that she had given and the former kept giving the answer that they are 'dead'.
Serafall turned to Medusa and instructed, "Medu-chan, please take Claire and Tanis back to their rooms."
But before Medusa could answer, Claire came running over to Serafall and asked with an almost crying tone, "Irina-neechan and Akeno-neechan... Are they going to be alright?"
Hearing that made Artemis and Hestia finally aware of how much they are affecting the children and immediately felt immensely guilty, but they didn't really know what to do in this situation.
Thankfully, Serafall had their back as she knelt down in front of Claire and patted her head, reassuring her with a big smile, "Kisuke-niichan is already there to take care of them so it'll be alright~ You know how amazing Kisuke-niichan is, right? Just rest for now and surely, once you wake up, Irina-neechan and Akeno-neechan will be there to play with you~!"
Serafall's hand was very effective as Claire was able to immediately calm down and nodded, "...I'll be waiting."
Serafall playfully pinched her cheeks before gesturing to Medusa to take them.
As they watched them leave, Sona asked in a lowered voice, "Is it fine to promise them like that? What if they don't come out in time?"
Serafall slowly stood up and answered, "As I've said, Ki-tan is amazing. He can pull this off."
However, this also reminded Serafall of something very important. As she looked at her hands, she thought, 'He's amazing... Way more amazing than me who only knew how to fight and play some mind games. But... despite my few specialties, the burden on me is already immense. How much would it be for someone like him who could virtually do anything? For how long can he keep doing these insane stunts by himself? If there would be a day where he would buckle down, would I or any of us be able to have his back?'
Once again, Serafall realized how powerless she really is.
Editors:
28th00: Serafall experiencing that uselessness that is probably
After a few nerve-racking hours that felt like an eternity later, Yoruichi finally saw something good happening. The mangled organs of both Irina and Akeno started coming back together and the exposed bones had begun to be covered with flesh until their skin was also regenerated without a hint of blemish.
As soon as their bodies became complete, they also took their first breath as their hearts started to beat anew. Only then was Yoruichi finally able to sigh in relief. But as she looked up, it was only then that she noticed Kisuke's state, "Kisuke!?"
Kisuke removed his hands from Irina and Akeno's forehead and wiped away the blood that came from his orifices, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
But contrary to his words, when he stood up he ended up staggering instead.
Yoruichi also hurriedly stood up to catch him, "Stop acting tough. You're not fine." She knew full well how resilient he was after his metamorphosis, and the fact that he couldn't even find his balance now made her wonder what sort of torture he had to have gone through. Biting her lips, Yoruichi muttered with immense guilt, "I'm sorry for forcing you to do this..."
But that only earned her a flick and a chuckle from him, "I don't want to hear any apologies nor will I accept any from you. Just be glad that I'm happy to make the sacrifices for you. Besides, I'm not really injured outside of being dizzy and tired. On top of that, I learned a lot of things in there that made me realize something important."
"Something important?", asked Yoruichi while rubbing her forehead because she noticed a very profound smile on his face.
"That a Soul, by itself, isn't complete.", replied Kisuke with a smirk before separating from Yoruichi and refusing to explain further, he continued, "I'm going to my room first to catch some z's. It has been a while since I had any."
Not waiting for her to reply, Kisuke teleported out.
"...I guess he can only show his weak side to me right now. I'm happy, but I'm also worried that he doesn't depend on others as much. We're not alone anymore, after all." Yoruichi looked down at the peacefully sleeping duo and took note of the massive change in their auras, "But a Soul isn't complete by itself? It looks like he wanted to be alone too, to contemplate on some things."
The moment Kisuke left was also the moment that the barrier over the room went down, and as soon as that happened, people started barging in with Ophis in the lead.
Artemis and Hestia soon ran over to check on Irina and Akeno's situation and upon seeing them only sleeping, the two of them let out huge sighs of relief. The invisible burden on their shoulders had finally disappeared, along with the stacked-up fatigue taking over, made them slump over each other.
"...Are they alright now?" Artemis asked as she looked up to Yoruichi.
"They're already fine and they've managed to accomplish what they wanted to do. They just need some rest now, but they should wake up before the day ends."
And with a follow-up question, Hestia asked as she looked around for the missing person, "And Kisuke-kun? Where did he go?"
"He's tired so he went to get some rest."
But that answer only elicited a grim voice from Serafall, "Someone of his caliber got so tired that he didn't even have a few seconds to show his face?"
Serafall's words made the others except for Line realize how bad the situation is for Kisuke.
"I-is he alright!?" Sona knew Kisuke's habit of acting fine no matter what's happening, so the fact he can't even show himself now made her nervous.
As Goddesses who had enough power to understand Kisuke's abilities, they also knew how seriously wrong this was. Hestia immediately stood up and grabbed Yoruichi's hand with her own shaking hands, "H-he's not in a bad situation, is he?" Thinking about it now, Irina and Akeno actually died and Kisuke must have paid some price to reverse this. Even for Deities, reversing death is almost an impossibility, but it was certainly a taboo.
Yoruichi looked at everyone's worried expression before sighing in helplessness, "Fine... I'll be honest. Even for Kisuke, it wasn't easy to help Irina and Akeno. As a result, he received some backlash."
"What!? Where is he now!? I'll go see him!", yelled Hestia before her mouth was covered by Yoruichi, "Easy... You'll disturb the people resting. And you don't have to worry as all the damage he'd accumulated was already healed. However, he's extremely spent that even someone as stable as him staggered for a moment. He went back to his room to rest, so we shouldn't disturb him any further."
Hestia couldn't help but clutch the hand she's holding and look down, however, Yoruichi had nothing to say, or rather, didn't know what to say, so she just stayed silent.
"Even after his bloody fight with Ares, he didn't show that anything was wrong, yet he staggered now...", Serafall suddenly voiced out, "That might not be that much, but it's a big deal. Just what did he do to push him to his limits?"
"He isn't exactly invulnerable. I can't go into detail because that'd only be a useless talk but basically, to save these two, he had to expose and use his own 'underbelly' to shield them from harm. However, he reassured me that there were no lingering injuries and that he only needs some rest."
A strange and awkward silence covered the room for a minute or two before Serafall spoke up again, "This is a good time. Let's talk about the future."
Editors:
After making sure that Irina and Akeno would be alright, everyone left the room and moved to the conference room before activating the barrier that blocks most of the information from getting out.
The barrier's activation woke Kisuke up momentarily, but after figuring out that nothing was wrong, he closed his eyes once again. Since they'd activated it knowing that it was only him that could hear what they were going to talk about, Kisuke guessed that they didn't want him to hear any of it and he respected that, before immediately going back to his slumber.
"Is it necessary to activate the barrier?", Yoruichi asked as she sat down on her usual seat.
Serafall went to her own seat and answered, "It isn't. But I want to keep this between us for now. Having Kisuke hear what we're about to talk about won't do him any favors."
Judging from Serafall's tone, Yoruichi already had several guesses as to what she wanted to address, 'Should I say that 'As expected of her'? As someone who could see this group from the outside, it was only a matter of time before she noticed its biggest flaw. Since everyone already has enough ability to fend for themselves even without us, I guess this is truly a good time.'
Serafall was able to read Yoruichi's expression and sighed, 'Since she didn't say anything, I guess she's also aware how skewed this group is in depending on only one person who can do it all.'
All the while, the rest, except for Hestia, were still clueless about Serafall's intentions.
Once everyone got comfortable in their seats, except for Line since she thought that she didn't belong here, Sona asked Serafall, "What do you want to talk about Nee-sama? If it's important, shouldn't we wait for Irina and Akeno to wake up and Koneko and Kuroka to return?"
Serafall reclined to her seat and with an uncharacteristically serious voice, she answered, "It's very important, but I didn't gather all of you here to decide anything so relaying what will be said here to others would be enough."
She then looked around before continuing, "As it is now, the moment Ki-tan fails at something important, this group will follow with a collapse. I may not be an expert when it comes to romance, but even I can see that this isn't very healthy."
While Hestia and Yoruichi remained silent, the rest were having various degrees of reactions. However, none of them had any words of rebuttal.
At least, this kind of reaction gave Serafall a sigh of relief, because this signifies that they're aware of the problem, but chose to ignore it until now. Whether it's because of their unconditional trust in Kisuke or something else, this has caused them to only blindly see what lies in front of them.
But before Serafall could say anything further, discussions started popping up among everyone, talking about the real nature of the problem. While Serafall and Hestia were shocked seeing this, a small smile only blossomed on Yoruichi's face as she rested her head on her propped-up arm and thought, 'If you think they are just mindless followers, then you're seriously underestimating them. Insulting them even. The current state of affairs only came to be because they are too busy trying to catch up by following the easiest way for them. A path that had been laid in front of them.'
After a short while, they finally pinpointed the exact reason for Serafall's words. Aside from fighting, there's nothing else they can really do. With Kisuke doing anything from logistics to research and development. The moment he fails is the moment that everything will crash down on them.
"...I see... With our current set up, instead of lightening it up, we're only adding more to his burden even if all we want is to stand up by his side.", Sona muttered while pursing her lips.
"Without expanding our expertise, the burden that we're causing will only continue to increase.", added Aika while rubbing her chin.
Line hesitated for a moment before voice out her question while raising her hand, "...T-then what shall we do?" Although she didn't have any experiences with a conference like this where she could voice out her opinion even back in Loki Familia, she's not sure if she really needed to ask the obvious. Even then, she wanted to make a move forward and this was her first small step.
At her question, Artemis was the one who answered, "For starters, think of your own interests outside of fighting. Having an interest is very important if you want to go far with what you want to do. If you're only going to do it for the sake of lightening Kisuke's burden, then forget it since most likely, you'll only fail."
Yoruichi nodded at her statement and added, "Artemis-sama is right. Thinking about Kisuke's well-being is good, however, as that guy himself said, never center yourself around him."
Aika then suddenly raised her hand and stood up, "Here, here, here!"
"Go ahead."
"Since we're finally doing something different then I'd like to express my desire from long ago!", crossing her arms, Aika continued with a big smile, "Ever since I became a Shinigami and started learning various Kidou Arts, I've always been interested in the study of Souls!"
"Oh?" Yoruichi's brows raised and were aware that Aika was a fast learner when it comes to Kidou Arts even compared to the students of the Shinigami Academy, "How come I'm only hearing this for the first time today?"
Aika scratched her head in embarrassment, "Well... There's really no chance to tell you nor Kisuke. Besides, it's only my interest and I'm already swarmed with my swordsmanship and Kidou studies. Not to mention our regular dives into the Dungeon."
Serafall could finally see why their 'creativity' was being suppressed. It's simply because they don't have time for anything else with the threats always around them and they don't really want to be forever protected by the person they followed.
Yoruichi grinned and said, "I see... Then from now on, we'll stop your Kidou studies and replace it with basic Souls studies. And maybe in the near future, you'll be able to assist Kisuke with his own research." In the first place, the basic Souls studies should have come first before the Kidou Arts studies. But due to their circumstances, it would be better for Aika to be able to use spells that were unique to the Shinigamis.
No one really expected it, not even Kisuke nor Yoruichi, but in the future, where most of their problems were already resolved, Aika would become an advisor to the Shinigami Research and Development Institute of the Soul Society and even become an Honorary Vice-Captain of the 12th Division.
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