Tessai was stunned for a few seconds by what he was seeing and when he finally was able to move, he hurriedly took off his pair of rectangular-shaped glasses and wiped them clean with his blue apron. He put it back on but the only thing that changed within his sight was Kisuke's bigger grin, "...I-is that really you?"
"Is there anyone else as handsome as me?"
But even with his most 'convincing' words, Tessai didn't move from his spot and stared menacingly at him.
Since words couldn't reach him, Kisuke released a bit of his Reiatsu from the mix of Reiatsu-Ki that he pulled out with great difficulty. And while at it, he released Benihime's Shikai.
Kisuke was about to say, 'Still don't believe it?' But he couldn't as he suddenly disappeared from the girls' sight as Tessai, without any warning, tackled Kisuke.
Serafall hurriedly turned around and was about to help Kisuke who was taken outside but she suddenly heard Kisuke's voice inside her head, [It's fine.]
When she saw them again, she witness the burly man wrapping his arms around Kisuke while rolling on the ground and releasing strange noises, "OOHHHHHHHHH!!! IT'S REALLY YOU!!! WHY DID YOU COME HOME SO LATE!!! I THOUGHT YOU DIED FIGHTING A QUINCY!!!"
After telling the kids that it's fine, Serafall set up a barrier that hid what's really happening in the vicinity of the shop because sooner or later, the burly man was going to attract unwanted attention with his big crying voice.
Several minutes later, Tessai finally let go of Kisuke after rapping his worries to him, "Haaahhh... I almost cannot believe this. To think you really are still alive." Tessai wiped his tears and asked the final question that has been bothering him but didn't really want any answer, "...Where is Yoruichi?"
Since Kisuke came alone, he already assumed the worst.
"Oh. She's doing okay... In fact, she might be enjoying herself a lot more the years we are gone," answered Kisuke while dusting himself off.
Tessai's eyes widened and grabbed Kisuke's shoulder, "Why isn't she with you!? If both of you are alive, you should have both seen me!"
Kisuke shook his head, "It's actually a challenge for me to come here and Yoruichi has more important things she needs to manage. I'm sorry but your reunion with her will be postponed for a while."
Tessai immediately returned to his stoic atmosphere and said, "You have a lot of explaining to do."
"That's why I'm here. Let's go to the training ground for now. You're one of the few people I want to know that I'm still around."
Tessai nodded, turned to the girls, and finally acknowledged them, "They are your guests, I presume?"
Kisuke stepped forward and ushered the girls to get inside, "My family, actually."
Tessai was stunned yet again but he didn't lose himself this time. After Kisuke's group went in, Tessai closed the shop, "Do you want me to call Ururu and Jinta? They missed you just as much as me."
From the inside, he heard Kisuke's voice, "No. It'll be inconvenient for me. I'll meet them at a later date. You'll know why once you hear what I'm doing."
.
.
.
Tessai intended to prepare everything for them to make them feel comfortable as much as possible. However, he couldn't understand why Kisuke went inside the unused training ground, 'This isn't really a good place to talk.'
But as soon as he went down with them, the motion of common sense he cultivated his whole life was almost broken in the few minutes they were within it.
First, as he was climbing down the ladder, there was suddenly a strange air that enveloped the training ground but he couldn't tell what it was. He knew that Kisuke was much more careful than he is so when he saw that he was not really reacting in any special way, he just went on his way down.
But after the first one, his mind practically almost went blank as multiple strange geometric circles made out of light suddenly appeared around Kisuke and he started pulling various raw materials out of them.
Meanwhile, the girls that are with him were also surrounded by these strange circles, and the raw materials that Kisuke took out revolved around them a few times before suddenly transforming into various shapes. It only took them a quarter of an hour to build a magnificent western-type mansion.
Kisuke finally turned to the frozen Tessai and said, "Come on in."
Inside, Tessai and Kisuke are sitting on a small round table facing each other while the girls are on the couches in front of a fireplace.
Kisuke first introduced everyone but he didn't delve deep into their backgrounds because there was no way he'd believe anything about the Dragons that could potentially be on the Soul King's level.
After the initial introductions, Kisuke proceeded to tell him his story like it was the sequel to the story that he told the girls earlier.
.
.
.
A few hours later, Tessai is sipping on his tea to calm his nerves, "This is a lot to take in."
Serafall, Claire, Tanis, Kunou, Ophis, Lilith, and Flanna got bored of their talk and decided to return to the surface and tour the town for a bit so it's just Tessai and Kisuke who are in the room.
"What is? You've already hypothesized that there are countless other worlds out there that we can't reach after researching Byakko for a bit."
"I did... But hearing and seeing about it gives off an entirely different feeling." Aside from telling him stories of his adventure, Kisuke also showed Tessai several memory crystals and that's when he truly believed that Yoruichi was still alive and well.
"...So that really is Space-Time manipulation?" Tessai added.
"It is. Through the use of Magic instead of Spiritual ability."
"Magic... That's what they call it in the West, right?"
"Correct, but this is an entirely different thing. You couldn't properly feel it, can you?"
Tessai shook his head, "It only felt like a strange air to me. If I didn't see it in action and it happened outside, I would have dismissed it as nothing."
"I'll teach you how to detect and use it. It might prove useful to you... No. It's definitely going to be useful to you as one of the greatest Kidou Practitioners in history."
In terms of Kidou expertise, Tessai was better than Kisuke and Aizen. The latter two are only stronger Kidou Practitioners because of the massive amount of Reiatsu that's needed to power it. Kisuke guessed that if Space-Time manipulation was not forbidden, Tessai could have entered the Zero Division.
Tessai smiled because there was a surge of excitement that he hadn't felt for a long time. He doesn't like fighting but he sure does like tinkering with his spells.
Kisuke was about to discuss with him what they planned to do when his eyes suddenly went wide open because he felt something that shouldn't exist, '...Demonic Power?'
At the same time, a small Magic Circle appeared by his left ear with Serafall's voice coming from it, [There's this group of I assume Shinigamis. However, there are also these... should I say Hollows? But they are emitting something similar to Demonic Power. They are surrounding these Shinigamis that seem to be unaware of their existence.]
Due to the barrier placed over the training ground, Tessai and Kisuke couldn't feel the Reiatsu from the outside, "Any news from the Soul Society?" asked Kisuke.
Tessai doesn't know what happens but he immediately answered, "The Lieutenants are supposed to catch some Hollows to use for Ukitake's Soul Funeral Festival tonight."
"Something else besides Hollows came up."