"What about the other two forms? Hurry up and demonstrate them!" Inside their secret base, Yoruichi urged Kōe to show off his Zanpakutō, Kōki.
Kōe didn't mind. However, just as he was about to release the remaining two forms, Urahara, who had been watching from the sidelines, stopped him.
"That's enough demonstrating for now. Any more, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to go through with the plan."
"Plan?" Kōe stared at the smiling Urahara in utter bewilderment. Were these two plotting some massive scheme behind his back?
"Right, I still don't know why you guys brought your Zanpakutō!" Kōe finally recalled the crux of the matter and asked jokingly, "Your plan isn't to cut me down, is it? Haha..."
"You actually guessed it. As expected of Kōe Shihouin!"
"Uh... you're joking... right?"
"Of course it's a joke. With Urahara looking that ridiculous, did you actually take him seriously?" Yoruichi pointed at the beaming Urahara and gave Kōe a few heavy slaps on the back, perhaps as her own unique form of comfort.
Kōe, however, didn't feel comforted in the slightest. The corners of his mouth twitched incessantly, unable to form a single word. With Urahara wearing that eternal, unreadable smile, who the hell knew if he was joking or telling the truth?! He had genuinely been terrified just now!
"Yoruichi and I don't have many friends, except for you, of course." Though Urahara was still smiling, a touch of sincerity entered his eyes. "We consider you a true friend!"
"So now you know how out of line it was to deceive us!" Yoruichi chimed in. "Even cutting you down wouldn't be going too far!"
"I know I was wrong. I just care too much about my pride, I didn't mean you any harm." Kōe pacified Yoruichi before gesturing for Urahara to get back to the main topic.
"It's actually not as serious as Yoruichi makes it sound. Today's gathering is partly to discuss your Zanpakutō, but more importantly, it's to put your mind at ease," Urahara explained.
*Put my mind at ease?* Kōe was even more baffled now. Was this some method of punishing a wrongdoer to relieve them of their guilt? Were the children of Soul Society really this psychologically mature?
"So, how exactly are you going to punish me? Actually, there's no need, I feel completely at ease... No! A little guilt is good, at least it guarantees I won't make the same mistake again!"
This time, it was Urahara's turn to be dumbfounded. He simply couldn't fathom what was going through Kōe's head. What was all this nonsense about punishing him?
Yoruichi could clearly see that the two of them were on completely different wavelengths. If she let Urahara continue speaking in riddles, they wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.
"What Urahara means is that since you exposed your Shikai to us, we need to offer some compensation in return. Otherwise, you'd be at a disadvantage!" Yoruichi officially took over the conversation, explaining it plainly to Kōe.
Thanks to Yoruichi's straightforward explanation, Kōe finally grasped their intentions.
Simply put, Kōe had accidentally revealed his Shikai in the dojo. Since a Zanpakutō's Shikai was a matter of utmost importance, the two of them planned to show Kōe their own Shikai today to prevent him from harboring any resentment. By equalizing their intelligence, Kōe would be able to feel at ease.
However, because Kōe had misunderstood Urahara's earlier words, continuing with this plan meant they now had to explain and demonstrate their Zanpakutō in painstaking detail, just as Kōe had done. This was exactly why Urahara had said he was starting to regret it.
"If you guys don't want to, there's absolutely no need to show me your Zanpakutō. I really don't mind, you can rest assured!"
Kōe voiced his thoughts, making it clear he didn't care. And he truly didn't. As a glorious transmigrator, didn't he already know exactly what Zanpakutō everyone wielded?
Well, there were a few blind spots—for instance, Kōe had no idea what Yoruichi's Zanpakutō was. But in his past life, he had never been the type to force his friends into anything. It was an unspoken rule of friendship that everyone implicitly understood.
"You really are a good friend!" Urahara was thoroughly defeated by Kōe's thought process. As a high-ranking noble, he felt a mix of admiration and helplessness toward Kōe's sheer naivety. "But you need to be more careful in the future."
Following that, Urahara and Yoruichi gave Kōe a profound, ideological lecture. As everyone knew, a Zanpakutō was of paramount importance to a Shinigami. It was their most loyal partner and the ultimate trump card their very lives depended on.
Because of this, a Shinigami would never easily reveal their Zanpakutō to others—not even to their own comrades. After all, you could never truly know what was in someone's heart. No matter how much you trusted someone, you always had to hold something back.
The reason Urahara and Yoruichi wanted to compensate Kōe was precisely because they genuinely viewed him as a friend.
According to Urahara's logic: *We know your secret, so it's only fair that you know ours. That way, even if the two of us ever harbor malicious intentions toward you in the future, you'll be able to respond accordingly.* This was the true definition of "putting his mind at ease."
Hearing this, Kōe was utterly shell-shocked. First of all, in the manga from his past life, most Shinigami practically tripped over themselves to brag to their enemies about how incredible and overpowered their Zanpakutō were, terrified that someone might not know exactly how their trump cards worked.
He never expected the reality of this world to be so different. No wonder the old man had ordered him to keep his other Zanpakutō a secret. Without even realizing it, Kōe had been acting exactly like what Urahara considered a "normal Shinigami."
Secondly, the children of Soul Society were far more mature than he had ever imagined! With this level of calculated thinking, if Yamamoto hadn't been there to guide him, Kōe's naive, past-life mindset would have gotten him chewed up and spat out until not even his bones remained!
Seeing Kōe sitting there with his mouth hanging open in silence, Urahara assumed he was still reluctant. In Urahara's eyes, this kind of friendship—one built on a foundation of mutual exchange and collateral—was likely too much for Kōe to accept all at once.
"Don't overthink it. It's exactly because we cherish this friendship that we need to protect it so carefully!" Urahara gripped Kōe's shoulders, dropping his smile as he spoke with absolute gravity. "While our hearts are still pure, before any malicious intent can take root, we must completely sever the possibility of us ever turning on you. At the very least, we cannot allow that possibility to exist against you!"
Those words almost brought Kōe to tears. *Bro, I'm a transmigrator! I know for a fact that in the future, you guys are the most fiercely loyal and righteous people around!*
*Why are you making it sound like if I don't look at your Shikai, you two are destined to plot some massive, evil conspiracy?! Did this terrifying possibility only arise because of my arrival? I don't want to take the blame for this, and I definitely can't carry that weight!*
"It's just looking at your Shikai, right? Fine, I'll look!"
For the sake of preserving Urahara and Yoruichi's pristine reputations from his past life, and to ensure these two fine youths didn't stray down a dark path in the future, Kōe felt a heavy, solemn responsibility pressing down on him. He *had* to see their Shikai.
Besides, he wasn't actually opposed to the idea. On the contrary, he was incredibly curious about Yoruichi's Zanpakutō! Earlier, he just hadn't wanted to force his friends, but now *they* were the ones begging *him* to look.
Faced with such a bizarre request, Kōe could only reluctantly accept. He immediately sat cross-legged, raised a hand, and declared, "Now, you may begin your performance..."
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