The next morning, Serafall, Hestia, and Artemis came down to the underground hideout and the first thing they noticed was Yoruichi's 'glow', "It really looks like you enjoyed yourself.", Serafall muttered with an awkward expression.
"Well, it really has been a while, so I got a little excited~!", Yoruichi answered back while rubbing her cheeks and with a slightly embarrassed expression.
Artemis blushed and the corner of Hestia's lips twitched. Choosing not to entertain her any further, the latter asked, "Where is he?"
Yoruichi pointed behind her with her thumb, "He's inside, working on something again, as usual."
Hestia was instantly appalled, "Again!? How much of a workaholic is he!?"
"Yes.", Yoruichi simply answered.
Hestia grabbed the blushing Artemis with a furious expression and said, "I'm going to drag him out on a date!"
Yoruichi nodded, "You're free to do whatever you want. No one remembers him anyway... Well, except for a few people. The most troublesome one is in the Tower of Babel right now so she shouldn't bother you for some time."
Yoruichi then ignored the Goddesses and proceeded to tell her night story to Serafall despite her protests.
.
.
.
Kisuke got dragged around the city by the Goddesses, but he didn't really mind it. This was also the first time he was able to get around when there was still daylight and it gave an entirely different vibe compared to the night city with young people happily going around instead of drunkards creating noise.
As they went around, Kisuke told them various stories of what had happened on the other side. Although they already knew most of these stories, it gave a different feeling and joy to hear it directly rather than just through screens.
"Heeeh~ I heard last time from Sona herself that she wanted to establish an educational facility that didn't take people's status into account," Hestia commented while munching on the street food she'd gotten.
"But it mustn't have been easy.", Artemis added, "I've seen how those at the top of the hierarchy do their best to destroy this kind of thing because it's a threat to their position."
"It wasn't. But if you gather enough influence and people who can support you and push back against those types of people, it becomes easy enough."
While Hestia took Kisuke's words at face value, Artemis knew that it wasn't that easy either, 'For a power like that to rise on a global scale, the power struggle has to be turbulent enough that they'd have a chance to pave through. Looks like their world isn't as peaceful as he let it on.'
At some point, Kisuke felt an intense stare. He followed it and turned his head towards the top floor of the Tower of Babel to see a breathtaking Goddess with a slightly fuming expression.
In response, Kisuke just smiled and waved his hand in greeting before ignoring her again.
Curious, Hestia and Artemis turned their attention to where he was waving. However, since they couldn't really see as well as Kisuke, they couldn't really see Freya, but they could guess who she was.
"You haven't met her?" Hestia guessed.
"She'll be a pain in the ass, but I'm sure that her children will be a lot more annoying than her, so I'm saving myself from trouble."
"You know you can't ignore her forever. That woman's obsession isn't something you can deal with by just ignoring her."
"At least she'll get the idea not to bring her children if she wants to meet me. I already learned my lesson in the Loki Familia and they are at least ten times worse in a certain sense."
"The Loki Familia?" Artemis asked, "What happened?"
"Well, it's just kids who became a bit drunk on power and were thinking that they are at the top of the world."
Artemis and Hestia understood what he meant and the latter asked, "Can you blame them? They are literally at the top of the world right now."
Kisuke went silent for a moment before answering, "...Maybe I just expected something better from them."
The three of them walked around for a few more minutes until they came across another group.
"K-Kisuke..." Riveria called out with a bit of an awkward tone.
Behind her were Loki, Tiona, Tione, Lefiya, Filvis, Ais, and a fair-skinned, white-haired, and golden-eyed little girl around seven years old holding Ais' hand.
Naturally, Kisuke was not the one to be bothered by their situation and casually greeted them, "Yo~ Riveria, Loki-sama, and everyone from Loki Familia. Good afternoon. Looking for a place to have lunch?"
"That's right~!" Loki stepped in front of everyone, "How about you join us?" Her eyes then went down and met the eyes of a growling Goddess, "It's also been a while since I talked to this shortie. I want to catch up~!"
"Who would want to catch up with you!? Get lost!"
Kisuke was thinking if he should accept her invitation or not and was leaning toward the former because he could see Loki's attempt at reconciliation. But before he could say anything, someone else called out to him and it surprised him, "Kisuke... Urahara?"
Kisuke hurriedly turned and saw a handsome young man with white hair and red eyes, "You're Kisuke Urahara, aren't you?"
"Bell Cranel, is it? What a surprise... It has been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yes. It really has been a while."
"But I don't think we've talked that much."
Bell approached him while nodding, "That's true. But there's something I'd like to ask you in case we meet again."
Bell then placed his right hand on his back and pulled out a familiar dagger. The moment Bell placed the dagger in front of him, Kisuke's eyes widened, 'Now this is really a surprise... I didn't think it'd reach this stage considering how poorly optimized it was.'
A smile emerged from Bell's face, "I wanted to ask if you're the one who gave it to me, but considering your reaction, is it safe to assume that is a yes?"
Kisuke stared at the dagger for a few more moments before saying, "Do you know a quiet place with good food?"
Bell nodded, "I know exactly a place just like that."
"Then let's go." Kisuke then turned to the other group and asked, "Do you mind it, Loki-sama?"
"I'm also curious why the heck he could recognize you, so let's go~!"