The exquisite pastry plate had been empty for a long time, with only the faint, lingering aroma of green tea remaining in the courtyard. After Tamaki Chizuru and Urahara Kisuke left, the room fell into a deeper, almost solidified silence.
Yoruichi and her inseparable little follower, Suì-Fēng, sat in place as motionlessly as two statues in deep meditation. Yoruichi had her arms crossed, her golden cat-like eyes fixed intently on Hiroki. The emotions within them were complex and hard to decipher—sometimes irritated, sometimes anxious, but mostly a sense of desperate resolve from being backed into a corner.
Suì-Fēng was like Yoruichi's shadow, her back perfectly straight, her eyes focused intently on Yoruichi's profile as if trying to fathom every slight change in her master's mood, ready to execute any command at a moment's notice. Only occasionally would she glance at Hiroki and Izumi beside him with her peripheral vision, like the most vigilant of hounds.
Hiroki could clearly feel the heavy, volatile, and bizarre atmosphere in the air. Anyone else might have been fidgeting restlessly by now. However, he just shrugged nonchalantly and picked up a half-read leisure book from the low table—'Strange Tales of Rukongai'.
"Tsk, did the person who wrote this book ever actually go to Rukongai?" Hiroki clicked his tongue, pointing his fingertip at a passage describing the Westernmost Regions as being rich in fine jade and gold, and complained to Izumi beside him, "Who are they kidding? The Eightieth District of the West has nothing at all; even grass struggles to grow there, and yet gold can just pop up?"
Time passed quietly amidst this strange standoff and the rustling sound of Hiroki flipping pages. The light outside unknowingly took on the warm red of the sunset, then slowly was replaced by a deep twilight blue. Finally, an abrupt 'growl' broke the silence.
The source of the sound was Hiroki's stomach.
Without changing his expression, Hiroki closed the book and tossed it back onto the low table with a light 'clatter'. He picked up the now lukewarm teacup beside him and took a slow sip, feeling that his mouth was terribly bland.
"Let's eat."
"Yes, Lord Hiroki," Izumi immediately responded.
Just then, Hiroki looked up, his gaze landing right on Yoruichi, who was sitting almost directly across from him over the small table. Under the fluorescent light, her tight black Onmitsukidō uniform fully revealed her graceful figure, but her honey-colored skin only reminded Hiroki of a certain catchphrase at that moment.
"Hmm?" He let out a question of undisguised surprise, his brow furrowed exaggeratedly, his tone dripping with blunt distaste. "Why are you still here?"
Yoruichi's hands on her knees suddenly clenched, her knuckles turning white and making a faint creaking sound. Her already tense face instantly seemed covered in a layer of frost. Her golden pupils narrowed dangerously, and her voice squeezed through her teeth, carrying the anger of being deliberately ignored: "This... is... also... my... home!" Every word was as heavy as a thousand pounds.
"Oh—" Hiroki deliberately dragged out the tone, then nodded as if having a sudden realization. An ambiguous smile of 'I get it, I get it' appeared on his face, as if he had instantly seen through some incredible secret. His gaze circled Yoruichi's face, then glanced toward the door (where Urahara and Chizuru were still negotiating in the study), and then he lowered his voice, speaking in an extremely cooperative, even slightly 'considerate' tone:
"Understood, understood! Am I... getting in your way here? Don't worry!" As he spoke, he made a move to stand up, even solemnly straightening his loose collar, his movements so brisk they were a far cry from his usual laziness. "I'll head back to the Kuroki Residence right now! I definitely won't stay here as a third wheel and get in your way! You guys do what you need to do, don't mind me! Really!" His tone was entirely that of someone making way for Yoruichi and Urahara's 'private world'.
"Sit back down!!!" Yoruichi finally exploded completely. She slammed her palm onto the low table with such force that the empty teacup jumped and rolled over on the smooth ebony surface with a crisp clatter. Hiroki even felt the tatami beneath him vibrate slightly. The fire in Yoruichi's golden eyes seemed ready to erupt as she locked onto Hiroki, her chest heaving from rapid breathing.
"Why so fierce?" You scared the baby.
Hiroki shrank back slightly from the huge commotion, but that was all. His face held genuine confusion and a hint of impatience as he spread his hands innocently. "I've already sent Chizuru to talk about the money, and Urahara is talking too. I didn't stop anyone from meeting. What else do you want? Do you want me to stay and eat dog food?" His constant teasing of Yoruichi's 'ambiguous' relationship with Urahara was always his best weapon against her.
Looking at this guy who was completely impervious to reason and playing dumb, Yoruichi felt a surge of wicked fire rush to her head, nearly burning through her sanity. She took several deep breaths, forcing down the urge to immediately draw her Zanpakuto and hack him down. Then she snapped her head around to the others in the room, her voice cold and hard as a blade, carrying an unquestionable command:
"All of you, leave us!"
Suì-Fēng immediately responded and stood up, but her movement paused. She noticed that Uchiha Izumi, standing behind Hiroki, was as rooted as a tree, motionless. Those clear black eyes met Yoruichi's without fear, even carrying a hint of confrontational vigilance. She was waiting for Hiroki's command.
Suì-Fēng's gaze instantly became sharp.
Hiroki felt Izumi's tense state beside him and glanced at Suì-Fēng, who looked like a bristling little leopard. Only then did he wave his hand somewhat listlessly: "Izumi, go ahead."
Only after Hiroki spoke did Izumi bow slightly and say softly, "Yes, Lord." She gave Yoruichi one last look, the meaning in her eyes unspoken but clear, and then walked with unhurried steps behind Suì-Fēng. The two of them, one after the other, silently withdrew from the room. The moment the sliding door closed, Izumi's eyes briefly met Suì-Fēng's through the crack, and invisible sparks seemed to crackle in the air.
The door was pulled shut soundlessly.
"And—" Yoruichi's icy voice didn't stop. She tilted her head up, her golden pupils scanning sharply towards the shadows of the decorative crossbeams above. "The four of you on the roof! Don't think you're hiding that well!"
Hiroki clicked his tongue inwardly and cursed: As expected of a Captain-level, her spiritual sense is frighteningly sharp. Uchiha Shisui and the other three's ability to hide their presence is top-tier, yet they were still discovered. It seems that in front of top-tier experts, this level of hiding is still not enough.
"You guys leave too, and stay far away," Hiroki instructed lazily to the air.
"Yes, Lord Hiroki." A barely audible response seemed to come from the void, like a feather landing. Immediately after, four extremely faint disturbances in the airflow, almost impossible for non-human senses to capture, came from the roof, like the slightest night breeze sweeping over the tiles, before returning to silence.
Now, in the spacious and magnificent courtyard palace, only Hiroki and Yoruichi remained. Separated by a polished ebony low table, the two sat face to face. The smell of gunpowder that had permeated the air before had not dissipated; instead, it grew thicker because of the departure of the others, adding a sense of desperate oppression.
Hiroki leaned back, found a more comfortable cushion to place behind his waist, and changed to a more languid posture. He lifted his eyelids to look at the still-aggressive black cat opposite him and sighed: "Alright, the room is cleared. Now that everyone's gone," he pointed outside, "just say whatever big thing you have to say. You wouldn't go to all this trouble just to reminisce about the past and talk about life goals, would you?"
Looking at this guy who seemed to have no bones and was always composed, Yoruichi only felt the fire in her chest burn brighter. She took a deep breath, and then another, as if she needed to fill her entire chest with cold air to suppress the urge to press that punchable face of his into the tatami. With every breath, her gaze grew a bit deeper, the emotions churning in her golden pupils like the sea before a storm. Her gaze was fixed firmly on Hiroki's face, as if she wanted to see through his soul.
Time passed slowly in the suffocating silence, with only the extremely faint sound of their breathing audible.
Finally, Yoruichi's cherry lips parted slightly. Each word seemed to be carved out of solid ice—clear, heavy, and carrying an unquestionable resolve:
"I... went to see Father."
Hiroki nodded, not surprised. "Hmm, I know. The old man is still like that, barely hanging on with a single breath, waiting for his eldest grandson." His tone was flat, with a hint of indifferent detachment.
Yoruichi ignored his comment and continued in that heavy and oppressed tone:
"His current state... is very, very bad."
Her voice lowered slightly, as if she were remembering her father's withered and decaying appearance, and an imperceptible flicker of pain flashed in her eyes.
"The physicians of the Kuchiki Clan, and even Captain Unohana have gone to see him..." She paused, as if organizing her words to find the most accurate description, "...they've all concluded... that his situation could... run out of life at any time." The last few words were extremely difficult for her to say, almost squeezed from between her teeth.
"Yeah," Hiroki said, his expression still one of knowing everything, even carrying a hint of numbness. "I've known that for a long time. It's already a miracle that he's lasted this many years, right?" He didn't have deep feelings for Kiyone; on the contrary, he somewhat disliked him. If he had married into the Kuchiki Clan back then, there wouldn't be all this mess.
However, what Yoruichi said next caused the lazy, feigned ease on Hiroki's face to crack for the first time. Her gaze locked onto him like a hawk's as she spoke with absolute clarity:
"Father actually knew all along."
"Hmm?" Hiroki raised an eyebrow, finally showing some reaction. "Knew what?"
"About... the relationship between us." Yoruichi's voice was low and certain. "From the very first day of our fake engagement, he saw through everything. He knew everything!"
Hearing this, the surprise on Hiroki's face lasted only a fleeting moment before being replaced by a realization of "as expected," and even a hint of mockery:
"Tch! I guessed as much!" He sneered, leaning forward slightly with his elbows on his knees, giving Yoruichi a look that said 'you're just finding out?'. "With your meager acting skills and the flaws I didn't even bother to hide, you might fool outsiders, but you expected to fool your old man? Don't make me laugh! That old fellow Kiyone has been an old fox in noble circles for hundreds of years; his heart is blacker than ink and his eyes are sharper than needles! Our little tricks being seen through by him? Is that strange? Not strange at all!"
His tone was as if he were discussing something perfectly ordinary.
"Then why didn't you say so earlier?!" Yoruichi's voice suddenly rose, filled with the anger of being kept in the dark and the frustration of being played for a fool. She leaned forward in her agitation. "Why?! Why didn't you tell me! Was it fun watching me struggle so hard with the act?!"
"Say it earlier? Point it out?" Hiroki let out an exaggerated "Ha!" as if he'd heard the world's biggest joke. He leaned back abruptly, arms spread behind him to support his weight, looking at Yoruichi with disdain, like he was looking at an ignorant child. "What would be the point of exposing it? Huh? Tell me, what use would it be?!"
He held up a finger and began counting them off slowly: "First, if it's exposed, would your father immediately pass away and happily hand over that huge 'maintenance fee' to me? Wouldn't he just keep dangling it over me with the excuse of 'wanting to see a grandchild'? Second, if it's exposed, would you immediately go to Kiyone with me and make a scene to demand a divorce?" His tone shifted, his eyes sweeping over Yoruichi playfully. "Then why didn't you go during the past ten years? Third, if it's exposed, would you stop putting effort into that little lover of yours, Urahara Kisuke, and stop helping him get a Captain-level position? That's impossible, right?!"
Hiroki's tone was full of worldly cynicism and nakedly realistic considerations: "The only result of exposing it would be to tear to shreds that thin sheet of paper that fools people and allows everyone to maintain a facade of decency! Other than making everyone look bad, making the atmosphere more awkward, and making us both feel more restless in front of him, what benefit could there be?" He waved his hand forcefully, concluding: "Completely useless! Purely negative returns! I'm not stupid!"
Hiroki's cold analysis, based entirely on gains and losses, was like a bucket of ice water poured over Yoruichi's heart. She opened her mouth to argue but found her throat seemingly blocked. The reason her father knew the truth but didn't expose it? She seemed to vaguely understand now—her father wanted to maintain this last bit of a fake "family" appearance, and perhaps he hoped for a slim possibility... But Hiroki's blunt "uselessness theory" left her feeling a deep sense of frustration and a bone-chilling cold, leaving her momentarily speechless.
"..." She could only utter a meaningless syllable; all the words rushing to her lips were blocked, stifled in her chest, feeling uncomfortably suppressed.
"That's enough!" Hiroki seemed disinclined to dwell on the topic further. He glanced at the sky outside, which had turned completely dark, and waved his hand as if shooing a fly. "What needed to be said has been said. Are we done rehashing these useless old accounts? Is there anything else? If not, let's call it a day; I'm still hungry." He made a move to stand up, preparing to go press for dinner.
"Yes!"
Yoruichi snapped her head up, meeting Hiroki's gaze once more. But this time, her golden pupils were devoid of their previous anger or anxiety; instead, they burned with a desperate, scorched-earth flame! It was the resolve of someone pushed to a dead end, abandoning all hesitation and pretense, determined to bring something completely into the light—or even force it into existence!
She took a deep breath—a breath so deep it seemed to suck all the air out of the room—and then declared each word with iron-clad finality. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried the power of a thunderbolt and an indisputable determination:
"I—promised—my—father!"
Startled by this sudden declaration, Hiroki stopped his motion to rise. He narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at her with a hint of scrutiny: "Promised him what? To extend the time he's clinging to life? Or to pick an auspicious day for his funeral?"
"I!" Yoruichi stood up abruptly, looking down at the half-reclining Hiroki. Her hands pressed onto the low table, her body leaning forward with an overwhelming sense of pressure. Her golden eyes locked onto him, and she hurled the final, most crucial sentence like a burning meteorite:
"Promised! Father! That! I! Would! Have! A! Child!"
"Huh???"
Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Hiroki froze completely in place. The usual laziness, mockery, and indifference on his face all vanished, replaced only by a massive sense of bewilderment and vacancy, as if he had heard a fairy tale. He even subconsciously dug into his ear with his pinky, wondering if he was so hungry he was hallucinating.
"You... what did you just say?" He struggled to find his voice, his expression more comical than ever, his brows twisting into a knot. "You want a... child??" He pointed at Yoruichi, then at his own stomach, the confusion on his face practically overflowing. "Then... then go have one? That's your personal freedom, why tell me? I'm not Captain Unohana; I can't help with that!" His brain was clearly still trying to forcibly connect the words "Yoruichi" and "having a child" while trying to distance himself. He didn't even realize the ambiguity in his words.
Hiroki's stubborn refusal to understand and his attempt to draw a clear line completely ignited the decade of anger and the humiliation of being toyed with that Yoruichi had accumulated! The string called reason snapped completely at this moment!
"How! Can! I! Have! One! Without! You?!"
Yoruichi practically roared these words, her body trembling slightly from extreme rage. She had had enough! Enough of this bastard playing dumb! Enough of the shackles of a ten-year fake marriage! Enough of trying to make a substantial parting promise to comfort her dying father, only to be obstructed and mocked in every way by this guy!
Since words had become waste paper and negotiations had completely collapsed, then—
"You!!!"
Yoruichi only felt exhausted to the extreme; all words seemed pale and powerless. The image of her father coughing blood, his anxious and longing eyes, the subtle pressure from the Clan Elders, and the decade-long flippancy and contempt from this bastard before her... All these emotions finally melted into a single, simple, and crude thought: since words couldn't settle it, she would use actions! Use primitive force to suppress this slippery dead fish!
A predatory glint flashed in her golden pupils, like a feline before a hunt. She slammed her foot against the floor, and a powerful force erupted instantly as her body turned into a dizzying black shadow! It wasn't Shunpo, but a pounce of pure explosive power! Her speed was so fast that Hiroki didn't even have time to make any effective evasion!
"Holy shit?! What are you trying to do?!!" Hiroki only had time to let out a distorted scream. Just as he was about to roll backward, Yoruichi's figure had already descended upon him with a gust of fragrance mixed with fury! Her hands, carrying startling strength, pinned his shoulders firmly, slamming him hard onto the soft tatami!
"Help! Someone help me!!!" Pinned and unable to move, Hiroki truly panicked. He flopped around like a fish out of water, trying to struggle while shouting at the top of his lungs for the guards outside.
Yoruichi's long leg unceremoniously pressed its knee against his struggling legs, pinning him firmly. A satisfied yet fierce sneer sounded above his head:
"Go ahead and shout! Shout all you want!" Her voice carried the triumph of having the upper hand, her hot breath brushing against the stray hairs on Hiroki's forehead. "I already had Kisuke and Suì-Fēng stand guard outside! Tonight—"
She suddenly leaned down, her honey-colored face approaching Hiroki's eyes, which were filled with terror and a deeper, instinctive physiological resistance to contact with her dark skin. She declared each word slowly, each one striking Hiroki's heart:
"—it won't matter who you call for!!!"
"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!!!"