Unohana immediately jumped off before anyone could see her in such a compromised position. "Listen. If you try to harm anyone here, I'll not hesitate in slitting your throat."
Though she lied a little, she was confident Kazuya's senses weren't keen enough to detect the minuscule waver in her resolve.
"I'm just gonna heal," Kazuya muttered under his breath, once again reminding her of the absurd regeneration — a feat she would have dismissed as impossible had she not witnessed it first hand moments ago. "Now then, Captain, if you'd be so kind as to accompany me to meet with Captain—"
Suddenly feeling a familiar Reiatsu, both individuals turned to watch as the door to the barracks swung open. A bespectacled beauty stood on the other side, showing nary an ounce of surprise at the two unexpected guests at her doorstep.
Nanao's poker expression was on par if not better than Lisa — she had come here specifically to greet them. "Kazuya, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?"
"Come now, Nanao-chan. Can't a guy visit a friend without some ulterior motive?"
"No." Her rejection was swift and without a hint of hesitation. Shifting her attention to Unohana, she offered a polite smile. "It's a welcome surprise to have you here, Captain Unohana. Please come inside."
Kazuya put a hand between Nanao and Unohana. "I don't mean to brag, but I've earned a warm welcome after the sacrifices I made for your Captain."
"You should've known by now that I'm not a warm welcome type of girl," Nanao said with a small smile. "Your uniform is quite fancy. Which poor man did you bully for this?"
Kazuya brushed his sleeves with a smug grin. "Byakuya Kuchiki."
"Good grief. This punk is stealing from aristocats now. Us ladies were right in launching an operation to take you down for good."
The throwback to their first meeting made him chuckle. "There's not a woman in the Soul Society who can take me down… I'm just too damn charming for ladies."
Nanao rolled her eyes. "Let me test that with my fists."
"As long as you promise to nurse the wound afterwards."
"..."
Unohana observed their playful back-and-forth with her usual serene smile, though inwardly she found herself intrigued by the unlikely friendship between Kazuya and the usually reserved Nanao. In all her years, she had never known the bespectacled vice-captain joke around with anyone other than her uncle.
Unohana regarded Kazuya with a sharp gaze. "Why don't you enlighten Nanao about our business here?"
Nanao naturally noticed the undercurrent of tension in Unohana's words, however, she thought it prudent not to remark upon it. "Kazuya, you lied about coming here to see me…"
The faint note of disappointment in Nanao's voice did not escape Unohana's keen perception. At this point, she would have been more surprised if the young woman hadn't developed a bit of a crush on Kazuya.
Had Unohana followed through with her initial decision to execute Kazuya for his perceived betrayal, his legion of admirers would have hunted her to the ends of the earth.
Kazuya cleared his throat. "Nanao, is your Captain here?"
"Where else will his lazy ass be?" Nanao muttered under her breath and forced a bright smile. "Of course. My Captain is tending to… the garden. Follow me."
Nanao led the pair to a cozy little cottage nestled in the heart of the division's sprawling backyard. The rustic charm of the place reminded Kazuya of Kūkaku Shiba's humble abode in the middle of nowhere — both structures had a clear view of lush gardens from their rooms.
"I wouldn't mind living here forever."
Nanao cleared her throat, her cheeks reddening for some inscrutable reason. "Captain Unohana, please wait here while I fetch Shunsui-san. Do keep an eye on this ruffian. He'll steal something just to mess with me."
A look of realization crossed his face. "Ah, this is your place. That explains why your scent is everywhere."
Nanao's blush deepened to an even more vivid shade of scarlet. "K-Kazuya! Stop saying weird things, or I'll smack your face with this book!"
He flashed a cheeky thumbs up. "Relax, Nanao-chan. It's very pleasant for the senses. A solid nine out of ten."
Nanao clutched her book and tossed it in his face. "Die."
He snatched the book out of the air and lobbed it right back at her. "Nanao-chan tsundere… so cute."
{Shouldn't be that surprising with her isolated upbringing.}
Stomping her foot in a fit of frustration, Nanao spun on her heel and ran off, leaving Kazuya and Unohana alone in the cozy room.
Unohana gave him a blank stare. "How many girls have fallen for you?"
"Too many to count."
"..."
"God gave me a massive heart so I can love a lot of people," he said and plopped down in the center of the room. "You look concerned... Don't tell me you're afraid of my women hunting you down for your actions."
Unohana studied his face with a look of visible interest. "How are you so good at it?"
"Good at what? You mean reading thoughts?" Kazuya smiled. "Most people instinctively avoid eye contact during conversation. I like peering into eyes whenever I talk to someone… it gives me a near-accurate grasp on their innermost thoughts. Haven't you heard the saying about the eyes being windows to a person's soul?"
"Fascinating," Unohana whispered, a hint of amusement in her smile. "For the record, I have no fear of your women seeking vengeance against me... I'm worried they might harm others in my division."
She didn't mince her words since he already knew her love for her division.
"Only a couple of them can kill you if they go all out. And they live outside of Soul Society. So, you have nothing to worry about."
Unohana sighed softly and settled down into a formal seiza position. "Does the list include Yoruichi as well?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Kazuya inclined his head towards the garden outside. "Yoruichi, no need to hide anymore."
Unohana sharply followed his gaze to the outside, where a black cat emerged from between bushes. "Is that—"
"Yes, it's me, Yoruichi Shihōin, the Flash Goddess herself," Yoruichi confirmed in her distinctly feminine voice as she hopped inside the room and assumed a position of utmost respect before Unohana. "It's good to see you again, Unohana."
Unohana revealed a genuine smile. "I'm happy as well. I must confess I hadn't the slightest clue that his cat was you in disguise. Your transformation skills are nothing short of extraordinary."
"How can you be so certain of her identity?" Kazuya asked, a tad confused at Unohana's easy acceptability. "She can be someone else capable of mimicking voice."
Unohana reached out and gently stroked Yoruichi's ears. "One's voice can be imitated, true… but you can't mimic spiritual pressure. I tend to remember spiritual pressures better than most. While her Reiatsu has evolved over the years, I can still feel the essence of her aura here."
"A fair point," Yoruichi said with a nod before turning to Kazuya. "Are you going to tell her everything?"
"Yup. It's as good a time as any to get her on our side," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "That said, she'll need a bit of purr-suasion. Captain Shunsui should be enough for the job."
Yoruichi chuckled at his out-of-place cat pun. "It never won't be bad to have Unohana's support."
Unohana looked at the two with anticipation in her eyes. She found herself eager to know the facts that would convince her of Kazuya and Kisuke's innocence, the chances of which grew marginally with Yoruichi's unexpected appearance.
As they waited for Shunsui, silence flowed in the room, the type of calm anyone would appreciate every now and then.
Yoruichi slinked onto Kazuya's lap and rubbed her face against him. Seeing him keep his hands raised to avoid contact brought to mind her most recent prank. "About last night… I'm sorry, Kazuya. I don't know what got into my head."
Apologies were a rarity from the mischievous cat, but even she could acknowledge when she had gone too far in her teasing.
He relented and placed his hands on her back, caressing her the way she enjoyed. "You won't get off the hook that easily."
Even though he never took her teasing seriously, he wouldn't mind getting some compensation out of the whole thing.
"I'll make it up to you," she purred, her form melting into his lap. "We'll discuss the specifics later. For now, you have Shunsui-san to worry about."
As the words fell, the footsteps of the Captain and Vice-Captain could be heard.
Kazuya gently set Yoruichi aside and rose to his feet, adjusting his posture to one of proper decorum. He greeted the laid-back captain with an amiable smile. "You took your sweet time coming here."
Shunsui took off his straw hat with a sad smile. "It took everything to escape the gentle embrace of afternoon slumber. But it was worth it for the rare arrival of Dai Senpai."
Unohana didn't bat an eye at his flattery, which made his eyebrows twitch. "I was brought here by Kazuya."
"Oh? Do you need something?"
Kazuya put aside Yoruichi and rose to his feet. "Shunsui-san, Captain Unohana believes I'm some sort of villain, hell-bent on using her squad to destroy the Soul Society at Kisuke's orders. Can you kindly set the record straight?"
Shunsui's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in understanding. "I see. Dai Senpai, Kazuya is here to rid the Soul Society of a great evil… His name is Aizen Sosuke, the mastermind behind the Arrancars' incursion to the Living World."
Unohana cocked her head slightly, showing barely any surprise at the revelation. "I see."
"That's it? That's all you have to say?!" Shunsui almost yelled, clearly taken aback by her nonchalance. "I lost a day of sleep when I learned about it. How can you take it so easily?!"
Unohana shook her head. "You simply confirmed the suspicions I had about Captain Sosuke. I assume his treachery dates back to centuries. He also played a pivotal role in the first Hollowfication incident."
"As expected of Dai Senpai." Shunsui nodded his head in admiration. "All this while Kazuya has been working to earn your trust. Through you he wanted to relay this information to Captain Yama and have him deal with the traitor."
Unohana shifted her attention to Kazuya and lowered her head. "I owe you an apology…"
Kazuya waved off her apology with a dismissive gesture. "Just tell Captain Yama about Aizen. I don't want to fight that guy again."
Unohana's brow furrowed in confusion. "Again, you say? When did you fight him before?"
"Yoruichi, put up a force field." Kazuya requested, turning his back on the assembled group of Shinigami. "I'm about to do something crazy. Try not to look too surprised."
As soon as Yoruichi covered the house within her force fields, Kazuya let the flames flow through him, reshaping him into his original race. Horns erupted from the side of his head and black leathery wings sprouted on his back.
In a matter of seconds, he went from the friendly Shinigami to the nightmare of Shinigami — a terrifyingly powerful Arrancar.
Nanao swallowed hard, feeling utterly overwhelmed by the sheer pressure of his presence, despite having seen his transformation once before. "Those Arrancars were like a flickering candle before him."
Unohana, too, realized that he didn't lie about having the power to kill everyone in the Soul Society. Rather than feeling terrified like a normal Shinigami, she was gulping excitedly as if she was a hungry man staring at heavenly delicacies.
The scar on her chest pulsed, begging and pleading her to unsheath her katana and battle the Hollow right here and now.
Kazuya turned around and gave Unohana an odd look. "Captain, it's not the time to lose control of your bloodlust."
He wasn't the least surprised by Unohana's nonchalance about him being a Hollow or her thirst to battle him.
{Partner, she is gonna attack you one of these days.}
Unohana looked away and nodded. "Forgive me for the blunder."
"It's fine. Anyways, I'm an Arrancar who can transform into other races at a whim."
Unohana reached out and touched his horns. "It seems like you battled Captain Sosuke in this form… still, why didn't he recognize you when you met him—"
Her words died in her throat as Kazuya's features began to warp and shift before her very eyes. In a few seconds, his face took on the appearance of someone recognizable — the female Hollow woman who had sworn revenge on Aizen in Karakura Town.
Everyone was holding their breaths in the face of his stark transformation — he had gone from burly demonic being to an exotic beauty with glowing silver hair as if she was a divine being out of this world.
Kazuya let out a sigh at their predictable reactions. Without waiting for them to fawn over him, he assumed his Shinigami form.
Shunsui couldn't help but applaud Kazuya. "Lad, wanna go out sometime with me in that form? Every drink will be on me."
Unohana slapped the back of Shunsui's head. "He is already spoken for by my Isane."
"Ah, what a pity…"
...
You can read 20 chapters in advance on my Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/Lordheaven