"There's no way someone like you is a Human!", shouted Syr at his face.
"My~ Did you see something that says otherwise?", asked Kisuke with an intrigued tone.
"That..." Syr was about to answer but after thinking about it further, aside from those halo rings, his soul wasn't much different from the residents of the mortal world. It also didn't have any parts that were present in a Deity's soul, nor was it similar to a Monster's broken soul, "But how come your soul could exist within those two extremely opposing forces?"
"Two opposing forces?", asked Kisuke in curiosity, "Could you possibly tell me what you saw?"
From here on out, everything was already beyond the Goddess' control and it was already very far away from any of the predicted outcomes she could possibly think of. As such, after a short but serious contemplation, Syr decided to answer him, "Two halo rings surrounding your soul... Each of those rings was constituted of, without much better words for it, 'white' and 'black' powers."
"Hmmm... Those two opposing forces were clearly visible?", muttered Kisuke as he rubbed his chin, 'So it was visibly separated from her perspective. I have already confirmed that the core of my soul and Benihime were able to separate themselves from any influence of either my Shinigami and Hollow powers, but it is interesting to hear that it was visualized that way.'
Different from the route that Aizen took, instead of integrating the powers into his soul, Kisuke chose to be 'independent' from it and aimed for total control without losing the original form of his soul. Although it was not Aizen's 'Absolute Power', 'Absolute Control' suited Kisuke so much better, even more if Benihime was added to the equation.
"Could you answer my question now since I answered yours?", asked Syr after seeing Kisuke nodding repeatedly to himself.
"Fair enough. The answer to that question is because those two powers, while exuding opposing attributes, are not so different."
"...Not so different?" The Goddess became even more confused at his answer, but Kisuke was unwilling to say any more than this.
"Enough of that. Please forget this little incident." Regardless of what Syr wanted, Kisuke resumed cleaning up and was able to take away everything except for the table and a box with a handle on top of it.
"W-wait!" Syr tried to stop him but Kisuke didn't listen and continued walking away, intending to go back to the party.
But Syr hadn't given up, "Come to my Familia! I can offer you much more!"
Kisuke stopped walking and turned his head, "Are you seriously hoping for a positive answer?"
Hearing that, Syr could only bite her lips in frustration.
"Please don't overthink this incident. It's not like this is our last time meeting, right?" Kisuke then pointed towards the box he'd left on the table, "And please take that. It's a box of cupcakes. Share it with Mia-san and the rest after closing."
Syr looked towards the box and Kisuke resumed walking. But after a few steps, Kisuke turned towards her again and said, "Ah, I almost forgot. Someone will come from the Loki Familia and give you a little present. Please accept it and have your children follow their instructions."
"What?"
Waving goodbye, Kisuke replied, "It'll give Ottar-san a shot at Level 10."
Due to so many things happening at once, Syr couldn't keep up and it was only after Kisuke disappeared from her sight that she finally managed to get hold of herself and regret her inaction. While looking at the box, Syr heaved a large sigh, 'Haah... That was beyond unsatisfactory. I didn't expect that I would be frozen that much. But he sure has some weird considerations.'
Picking up the box and opening it, the smell of freshly baked cupcakes of different flavors whiffed through her nose, and Syr smiled before closing the box again before looking up to the moon, 'As he said, this isn't the last time we would be meeting. I want to know more about you, so I won't give up.'
"Now the future has become even more unpredictable. I wonder what sort of revolution he would bring in this stagnant world? Will he become the Hero or the Devil?", murmured Syr to herself before walking off in the direction of the main road.
.
.
.
Kisuke reentered the hall where the party was being held and came into a tense atmosphere. After hearing the muttering from his surroundings, Kisuke immediately figured out what was going on and it had indeed developed into the situation that he'd predicted.
But before he could reach where everyone was , Kisuke heard Hestia's irritated voice, "No! Why would you think that I'd even accept your challenge!?"
'So she rejected him. Well, I doubt he'll give up with just that, so I'll wait and see what he's going to do next.', thought Kisuke as he reached Hestia's side and saw two Apollo Familia members full of bandages. Of course, it was just a farce that the Apollo Familia concocted to corner the Hestia Familia into accepting 'their responsibilities'.
Seeing Kisuke, Hestia immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him away, "Let's go home!"
As they exited the building, Kisuke could feel the majority of Apollo Familia's sneer on their backs while Loki could barely hold herself from laughing out loud.
Once they managed to get away from the mansion, Kisuke asked Hestia, "Why didn't you just accept it? We wouldn't really have a problem with them."
Hestia didn't turn her back and continued walking, "Accepting his challenge would also mean accepting their allegations towards Aika-kun and Koneko-kun. You may be able to take them on, but that doesn't mean I'm fine with them smearing your reputation."
"You're just overthinking it. We wouldn't really mind appearing a bit violent to others."
"True, you may not mind.", Hestia then stopped walking and faced him, "But I won't tolerate false accusations! I know you're strong, but at least, let me stand up for you when needed. After all, you're already my family."
Kisuke's eyes widened a bit before he smiled cheekily and patted her head, "Alright~ I won't question your decisions anymore regarding this~ Thank you very much for protecting us, Hestia-sama."
Hestia pouted and slapped away his hand while complaining, "Stop treating me like a child!"
"Yes, yes." Kisuke ignored her and proceeded to walk back home while accompanying the angry small Goddess.
The next morning, however, Kisuke and Hestia were standing in front of their candy store with the former making a dark expression while the latter didn't know what to do.
If yesterday the store was so immaculate that it stood out from its surrounding, then right now, it was almost blending in with the surrounding ruins with it being almost destroyed and vandalized to the ground.
In the distance, members of the Apollo Familia were snickering at them and making loud comments, "Hey, I heard that there's a candy shop around this God-forsaken place, but it seems that I can't find---!?"
But before he could finish his words, something hit his face without knowing how, broke his nose, and detached his entire front row of teeth, before he lost consciousness. The two others who were with him also received a similar treatment, but since it was very early in the morning, no one else was there to witness this invisible assault.
Still standing in front of his broken store, Kisuke muttered in a dark tone, "Hey, Hestia-sama..."
Not waiting for him to finish, Hestia immediately answered with what he wanted to hear, "Let's accept his challenge! Mess with them any way you want! You have my full support!"
With an evil smile that gave Hestia chills, Kisuke replied, "Thank you very much~!"
"J-just please don't kill anyone."
"No worries~ I won't need to do something like that."
However, little did Hestia know, that death would've been the best mercy which he could give them.