"You're the one who rescued us from the 59th floor, right?"
Instead of answering, Kisuke silently activated a preset barrier to isolate the sound from outside.
Ais was startled and about to stand up when she felt the movement of magic power but Kisuke immediately reassured her, "Don't worry. I'm just making sure that no one would be able to hear us speaking." And with a grin, Kisuke added, "You see, a naughty Elf is trying to listen in."
Lefiya was about 20 meters away from the tent and had been loitering around it from the moment Ais entered. She really wanted to rush in but she thought that it would be embarrassing if she just barged in for no reason. So as an alternative, she would creep in and listen to what they were talking about.
If Kisuke would make a move against Ais, Lefiya would lay down her life to stop him. Especially after she heard from Riveria that Ais was no match against Kisuke. Although she still couldn't believe such a claim, it didn't hurt to be careful.
However, everything has been normal. It seemed that Ais was helping out Kisuke in taking care of the three unconscious girls and right now she saw how Ais was eating some snacks which Kisuke prepared for her as thanks.
Nevertheless, she didn't let her guard down. Although she heard Ais asking some sort of question, she didn't hear it clearly. The moment after Ais asked her question, Kisuke immediately disrupted the sound waves and everything appeared unclear to any listener after that.
'Hmmm? It became quiet?' Lefiya came closer but still couldn't hear any sound aside from the sounds of the utensils, 'They're eating quietly? How weird... Either way, I'll do my duty of watching here to help Ais-san if something were to happen!'
However, she would regret it dearly later because her actual duty was to nurse the wounded members.
"A naughty Elf?" Ais tilted her head and asked.
"Don't worry about it." Kisuke only chuckled.
A few seconds of silence reigned between them before Ais spoke up again, "...You don't want anyone to hear what we're talking about... Does that mean you admit it?"
After sipping his tea, Kisuke answered, "Yep. There's no point in hiding it. I know everyone who knows about me already suspects this and it's only sooner or later before I show you some things which would link me to that."
Ais stood up and bowed towards Kisuke, "Thank you for saving us."
Kisuke stared at her and said, "We're technically in an alliance so a bit of help isn't much. Besides, I mainly did it to save my girls, not for your group."
Ais shook her head, "Either way, I'm very thankful for it."
Kisuke stayed silent for a few seconds before sighing, "It's fine. Sit down. You can finish the snacks."
But instead of sitting down and taking Kisuke's offer, Ais was fidgeting.
"Hmm? Is there something else?"
"About that... There is..."
"...Alright. I'm listening." Kisuke calmly sipped his tea, but Ais' next words surprised him.
"Are you the one who saved us on the 50th floor? The one who defeated the strengthened Balor and Juggernaut?"
"...I wonder what you're talking about?" Kisuke replied, 'What's this? I shouldn't have left any clues on the scene aside from the aura which I and Yoruichi released that day. But we have been careful to not show it to anyone. Where did she draw this conclusion from?'
Ais looked straight at him trying to see through his reactions, "I don't have any evidence. But lately, I'm having this one dream over and over again."
Kisuke didn't say anything and just waited for her.
Not getting any apparent response to her nonsensical reason, Ais continued, "In my dream, I'm floating around in complete darkness, but strangely enough, I think it's a pleasant dream instead of a nightmare due to how comfortable I was."
"In that dream, a strange voice would tell me various things which I mostly couldn't remember."
"Mostly, is it?" Kisuke muttered.
Ais nodded, "That voice would enumerate the memories of my childhood" After saying this, Ais had a sad smile on her face. But after a few seconds, she shook her head and looked back to Kisuke before continuing, "However, there's one thing that the voice told me that I couldn't forget... 'Kisuke Urahara saved you on the 50th floor.' "
While Kisuke's facial expression didn't change, his mind ran at full speed and immediately arrived at a conclusion, 'Aria-san... That's unnecessary. But how did she know about it?'
While thinking about how Aria came to know that, Kisuke replied with a smile, "Hooh? And you believe that mysterious voice in your dream?"
"...It's weird... I can't seem to deny it. So even if you deny it, it won't really change my mind... I'm sorry." Ais apologized again.
'Ah, I got it... Aria-san must have been watching from Ais' point of view all this time and when I entered Wallenstein-san's Soul space, I ended up using my aura which was already familiar to her... She got me... She didn't tell me about it because she knew that I would be making a countermeasure knowing this.' Kisuke thought while replying, "That seems too unreasonable."
"Indeed. That's why I apologized. And I have a feeling that no matter how you deny it, I would still want to believe in that voice. I may be wrong, but I can't seem to not listen to it... It's a strange feeling. I wonder what's wrong with me?"
"Have you told anyone else these dreams of yours?" Kisuke asked.
Ais didn't answer immediately but after a few seconds, she shook her head, "I have a feeling that I shouldn't really tell this to anyone."
'Now then... What should I do? There's no guarantee that she'll keep quiet about this. I can't ask her to not tell anyone else about this if I deny it. But if she did tell someone about this, even without evidence, there will be suspicion... That suspicion, it wouldn't be ideal for our current situation. They would be much too on guard and things might work against us. Especially these three who're just experiencing how to become an Adventurer.'
A few seconds later, Kisuke came to a decision and suddenly pulled his cane out of nowhere.
Ais was confused about why he took out his cane, but the atmosphere suddenly changed when Kisuke unsheathed his blade.
Ais wanted to stand up to get into a better position, but a split second later, a blade was already touching her neck. Ais wanted to ask what's going on, but she noticed that the blade which Kisuke was holding already changed and it transformed into something familiar, "T-this...!?"
A split second later, dense killing intent and bloodlust descended on Ais, almost choking her. Then, she heard a very cold voice coming from Kisuke, "And what, are you going to do about it?"
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Editors corner
Alexander: Ohh, come on. That's Ais, not Loki. Kisuke should be aware of her character.
28th00: We don't bulli Ais, we bulli Riveria!
Goyya: This is not bullying Ais… He's just reminding her... hehehe