After their peaceful and delicious dinner, Benihime offered another set of tea which aids digestion. Sitting in front of her, Benihime started, "Now then, since you've significantly calmed down, why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"
Aika remained silent, not meeting her eyes.
"I know I can't really force you to say anything, especially to a stranger like me. However, even though you've been able to bottle up everything till now, it doesn't mean your troubles have disappeared Sooner or later, it'll erupt like it almost did today. Besides, I'm curious since I seemed to have triggered a response thanks to my name. I'd think you'd have some sort of resentment against me if anything."
Aika looked up to her and saw her small smile, "It's unfair for you to say it like that, you know? Now I feel like I have to give you a suitable explanation."
Benihime's smile grew deeper and said, "Isn't that fine? And who knows? Because I'm a stranger to you, you might have a better time letting it all out instead of filling the space between you and those you know."
Aika became silent once again, but Benihime didn't press for a reply and just waited. In any case, she didn't really care if she could make Aika open up to her now. since she had already made a good connection to her and could always get close to her using various pretenses, 'With me around, her 'return' should be just around the corner.'
While she understands what Kisuke was trying to do with Aika, that doesn't mean she necessarily agrees with it. In fact, she doesn't really like how he's treating her so delicately at all.
If it was any other person except for Yoruichi who understood the situation, 'delicate' would be the last thing that'd enter their minds. However, as Kisuke's lifelong partner, she knew how much care he was giving to the girl, 'He still wants to treat her like a normal girl and take responsibility.'
'Since she possessed that Sacred Gear, her involvement on this side was already set in stone and him being there was just a big coincidence. Even then, he still felt responsible for dragging her along. This is a side of him that's helped him maintain his fighting spirit and pride, which is a good thing, but it's also tied himself down.'
Until now, Benihime still didn't know if this was a good or a bad thing, 'While she started as a normal girl, that isn't the case anymore and there's no need to hurry to make her realize it because of her lifespan and those around her was already a trivial matter to fix. At some point in time, her mindset would have completely adapted to her surroundings. Kisuke is really too kind to have given her this kind of chance, even knowing that she's someone useful.'
That's right. While Kisuke put more importance on his relationship with those who are important to him, Benihime could only see their usefulness to him and her.
A moment later, Aika looked up once again and said, "Even if I wanted to answer you, I don't have one. More than you, I also want to know about 'Urahara'."
Benihime immediately feigned surprise and confusion, "What do you mean?"
Aika then went on to tell her how she lost her memories and the inconsistencies she's feeling, "Even if I wanted to tell you why I reacted that way, I myself don't know why."
"Heh~ What an interesting story. On a side note, are you telling me this, fully aware that I might be the 'Urahara' that you reacted to and I could just be pretending to not know you?"
Aika, without any hesitation, nodded, "That's true. But I have my own reasons to believe that you're not the person."
"And those are?"
Aika didn't answer nor did she show any signs that could give Benihime a clue.
'Heh~ She suddenly became cautious. I wonder what gave it away? How amusing.'
In truth, Aika just didn't know how to explain it. Her own gut was telling her that she's not the one. Moreover, the longer she stayed here, the clearer it became that Benihime is not 'normal'. Even though her Zanpakuto was sealed and Benihime was carefully hiding her own aura, Aika was somehow able to get a glimpse that something was not right. The origin of her abilities were almost impossible to seal unless it was something like Aizen's chair.
Benihime then leaned back and continued, "In any case, as far as I know, I'm the only Urahara currently in Kuoh Town. With that said, I don't know this Genshirou Saji personally, so maybe there's indeed a wild Urahara out there that you might want to meet?"
"Then setting that aside for now, what do you think of these strange abilities of mine? Normally, you'd think I'm just going crazy, wouldn't you?"
"That's true. Normally you'd be called out as crazy if you're to tell this to most people."
"You won't?"
"I don't really have any opinion on it. If you want to hear a normal response, I'd say go get some help from a professional. But that isn't why you're here."
Aika looked down once again and muttered, "...Yeah. I may need help, but I don't want it now."
"So what does it feel like now that you were able to let it all out?"
"It gave way to a more concerning issue."
"Hmmm... Let me guess. Now that you're pretty sure that you aren't going crazy, you also realized that your parents probably aren't aware of any of this even though they vehemently try to hide things from you. If these abilities are true, then you're afraid that your own parents might look at you as a monster."
Aika clenched her teeth, since it was exactly as what Benihime had just described. Setting aside all the complications of the situation, she'd become afraid of what kind of look her parents might give her. She also started to think that this may be the very reason that they wanted to hide the truth behind her memory loss, 'If it's truly like that, then shouldn't I stop snooping around?' She thought as her inkling to just forget everything relating to this increased.