"I'm sorry for this rude question, but what are you?"
'Hmmm... How should I answer this?' Kisuke thought to himself while calmly sipping on his tea, "Will you believe me if I told you that I'm a Human?"
"No." Shinji instantly answered.
"That's too bad because that's my real answer. But what made you ask that question?"
Shinji sighed and shrugged his shoulders a little bit, "It's nothing much. It's just that the Divine General of the West came down to specifically ask about your Zanpakuto."
"Why are you making it sound like it's not a big deal?" Kisuke chuckled under his mask, "Though now I understand why the Gotei 13 sent two of their Captains. It must be quite a shock to hear about the [God of the Sword] asking about an unknown Zanpakuto."
"It truly is. You have no idea how long everyone froze when he asked all the details surrounding you when we thought we'd be able to figure out your identity with just your Zanpakuto." Shinji then looked outside while secretly signaling to Rukia to make the others retreat, "Tiamat, was it? It doesn't even follow the conventional naming scheme. With each discovery, we have only opened up more questions. Hence, the simplest question to ask is 'What are you?'"
"Even if you ask me that, I don't really have anything for you. Wouldn't it be better if you asked what my intentions are or if I'm an enemy or not?"
"We could but those are better answered by actions instead of words. Who knows what you'll say to hurt us."
"You say that but what's Central 46's true view on things?"
Shinji's next words made Rukia, Nanao, and Omaeda freeze on their spot, "They want to capture you and if that's not possible, they want you eliminated and that extends to Sitri Serafall and the young girls around her."
"Hirako-san!" Rukia shouted but Shinji ignored him.
Immediately after, a dense amount of 'weird' Reiatsu that eclipsed most of the Captains descended upon the whole area which made Nanao and Omaeda momentarily stop breathing and those retreating Shinigami hurriedly returned and pulled out their weapons while surrounding the whole mansion, ready to attack at any moment.
"My~ I was already expecting it, but to say that to my face... Is that a declaration of war?"
Rukia became nervous and her hand automatically moved to the hilt of her Zanpakuto. She's wondering what Shinji was trying to achieve by provoking this unknown man but when she looked to her side, she saw Shinji still had this placid expression as if he didn't see the white-suited man in front of them as a threat.
And just like Rukia, Kisuke wondered why Shinji is still very calm, '...He's sure that I won't attack?'
Shinji ignored their reactions and casually answered while leaning his head on his hand, "Of course not. While the majority of Central 46 did have that opinion, some of them are still cautious enough to not do something stupid. And with Captain Commander Kyouraku weighing in, there was no way for them to pass a directive like that without a unanimous vote. Besides, it's undeniable that you and your group saved the members of the attack squad and in addition to Sitri Serafall's help, Central 46 would need to prepare to lose a chunk of their authority if they were to continue with that line of thinking."
Shinji then stood up and lowered his head slightly, "And before we forget, we thank you for saving our comrades."
Rukia, Nanao, and Omaeda panicked at Shinji's sudden actions but they couldn't let him do this alone so Rukia also stood up and lowered her head, "We thank you for saving our comrades." Naturally, Nanao and Omaeda did the same.
A few seconds later, the oppressive and strange Reiatsu ceased to weigh on them, making the nervous three sigh in relief.
"Rukia, return first with Omaeda and take care of the units outside. Ise-san and I will be following after you."
"...Understood." Rukia knows what she has to do before it becomes a bloodbath, "If you'll excuse us. We'll return first. Thank you for having us."
"You're welcome." Kisuke's previous jovial tone returned too, "It was a pleasure to have you here."
Shinji and Nanao watched Rukia and Omaeda leave. Soon after, the presence outside also disappeared one by one as each of them retreated.
Shinji then sat back down and asked, "Can you stop the sound from leaking?"
Not just Nanao, but Kisuke also didn't know what he's trying to achieve now, nevertheless, it was not hard to comply. Kisuke snapped his finger and the black cube in Shinji's hand started vibrating more vigorously than before, "Done. You can say what you want and no one will be able to hear it besides us."
Shinji's expression slightly changed and that immediately started sounding the alarms in Kisuke's head, 'Huh?'
Shinji leaned back and stared at the white-suited man's white mask for a moment before asking, "What game are you playing this time, Kisuke?"
There was no release of Reiatsu by anyone, however, the oppressive atmosphere returned.
Nanao's eyes left Shinji and turned to the man in front of them who was staying silent.
And although he's appearing calm, Kisuke's mind is racing, trying to trace where he could have slipped up and if that slip-up has further implications, 'I can pretend that I don't know what he's talking about and I'm sure that he's still just guessing at this point... However, he sounds so confident that he's not afraid to call me out. Even if I can deny it now, he'll leave with suspicion, and that much is already dangerous enough.' His eyes then turned to Nanao, 'Not to mention, Ise-san has been acting weird all this time. She was surprised by what Hirako-san said but immediately turned to me as if she wanted to ask the same. Just what's going on?'
Kisuke remained silent as he weighed his options.
After a few more moments, Kisuke sighed and his entire body became blurred. As soon as it returned to its normal clarity, Shinji and Nanao were able to meet their former friend and acquaintance respectively, "What gave it away?" Kisuke asked with a wry smile.
Shinji grinned and replied, "It appears that you don't know what's been happening this past decade, or at least, you didn't have a close look at the current Gotei 13 all these years. You miscalculated Soifon."
Kisuke's eyes widened and asked again, "The note?"