Chapter 469 (Patreon)

Yoruichi Pov

Well that was interesting.

Seems like every time he comes by, he finds a new way to shatter my world view. Can I even call out it as bullshit the time he took to learn his Zanpakutō’s name? I mean….Ichigo here pretty much learned it right away?

Sorta….he didn’t even know that Zanpakutō had names until far into he tenure as a Substitute, but almost as soon as he was told, he released his sword for the first time. But he’s also not a normal case in any sense of the imagination.

Wilhelm though he’s….well, not human. But….half human he said? Does the fact that he’s a Devil have any bearing on it?

Normally, I’d ask Kisuke, but he obviously didn’t know Devils existed until recently too! Hell, no one knew they existed until recently.

It was only for a few moments, but his Reiatsu spiked high. No idea what he even did, his sword looked kinda plain too, so it’s not like it’s a physical attribute. Somehow, he managed to dodge out of the way of Ichigo’s Getsuga Tenshou without moving?

And isn’t that something nice to learn about all of the sudden! This idiot over here was messing with his Hollow without telling anyone.

We were already talking with Shinji and the others about helping Ichigo, and he stressed many times that inner Hollows are very dangerous and they need to be defeated and ‘sealed’ to access their powers.

Gonna need to call him earlier than planned. Originally, I wanted Ichigo to refine himself a bit before getting a big powerup like access to his Hollow’s powers, but it doesn’t seem like that’s gonna work.

It’s nice that he got a bit of an eye opener.

Sure, neither of them were running at 100% in their friendly spar, but Ichigo should have more or less seen the distance between them. Which is fine, kid has a lot of room to grow so he’s not gonna throw a fit for getting ‘beaten’.

But even still….

I jumped onto his head and gave him an encouraging slap. “That was a good attack at the end.”

“….what are you doing?” He asked skeptically.

“I’m praising you, idiot.”

“…..why?”

“Am I not allowed to praise my student!?”

“No. That’s not something you do. Ever.”

“Just for that, I’m gonna tell Byakuya you and Rukia are dating the next time I’m in Soul Society.”

“Yoruichi!” Rukia let out an exhausted sigh. “Please don’t tell brother that, he’ll believe you.”

“I know.” I smiled.

“You’d do that anyways.” Ichgio just huffed.

Well, that wasn’t untrue.

“But serious, you’ve grown a lot, Ichigo. I’m proud of you.” I gave him another slap on the forehead.

“Okay you’re seriously weirding me out.” He shook me off making me land on the ground. “What do you want?”

“Why do you think I want anything?”

“Because you’re acting really out of character. So spill it, whad’ya want?” He scowled.

“Well, if you’re offering, I wouldn’t mind hearing the details from Orihime when she gets back.” I happily responded to his generous offer.

“I’m not pumping her for information.” He crossed his arms, scowling deeper. “As long as she’s fine, then it’s all good.”

“You’re not the just teeniest bit curious? Who knows what’s happening over there. I mean, Youkai, that’s probably not a good thing.” I tried to egg him on a bit.

“The bastard said she was fine.”

“Wow, you really just trust him at face value like that?” I blinked in surprise. I mean, I did in all honesty, I felt like he was a good guy and I was rarely wrong ‘bout that sort of thing. But Ichigo is still a kid so…I expected more concern?

Ichigo just shrugged. “He’s an ass but he’s not an asshole.”

Strangely, I knew exactly what I meant by that. Maybe that’s why we got along so well in just a few days?

“Nice brick.”

“Screw you!” He tried to throw it at me, but I easily dodged.

“I knew it, the dastardly Kurosaki Ichigo is at it again! Shinigami beware, he has a brick!” I immediately ran away, letting him stew in his own anger.

Still can’t believe Wilhelm bricked Mayuri in the face.

Just the continued thought of that gets me all riled up in a bad way.

Hopefully seeing Ichigo push himself like that would get the others to take their training seriously. Uryū has his own problems right now, but Chad has sort of been neglecting his Spiritual Training since he got back from Soul Society.

Orihime almost getting kidnapped should be a wake up call for them. The world isn’t going to ignore everything going on even if they want to.

“You’re being uncharacteristically quiet, Kisuke.” I trotted over to my long-time friend as he just quietly looked at the kids arguing off where I was a moment before.

“Am I?” He smiled lightly.

“Well, normally, you would be doing anything you could to get the answer you wanted. You know, like manipulating the kid, or some shady shit, or maybe pushing boundaries that you really shouldn’t.” I listed off things he’s done in the past.

Atleast he hasn’t outright threatened people to get what he wants. Well, not like physically or maliciously or anything like that. But blackmailing hasn’t been off the table. Kisuke isn’t the most morally resolute person in the world, but there are lines he won’t cross.

Sometimes I gotta remind him of them, or just point out how he’s acting like Mayuri to stop him in his tracks.

He tries to be decent, so he’s already leagues ahead of that psycho clown.

“You obviously had a lot of things you wanted to say, why didn’t you?” I jumped up onto his head.

He hummed, playing with the fan in his hand. “I guess the time didn’t feel right.” He glanced at me. “I’m trying to be….nice.”

“Well, miracles do happen.” I snorted. “The angry Goddess doesn’t have anything to do with it I presume?”

He nearly stumbled but quickly corrected himself. “Ara, I’m both enthused and horrified at the idea of this self-proclaimed Goddess.”

“Please don’t get yourself killed.”

“I know how to act when the situation calls for it.” He smiled good-naturedly. “I did survive as a Captain without everyone hating me.”

That is true….. Kisuke somehow was on the good side of nearly everyone during his tenure.

“What’d you think of his Zanpakutō?”

Kisuke frowned slightly. “I would need to see it a few more times, but I have some…theories.”

“Oh? And what kind of theories are those?”

“The kind that make me realize that Schweinorg-kun is not a normal person.”

Coulda told you that myself. A normal ‘person’ doesn’t learn Shunpo to that degree in a manner of weeks.

A ‘normal’ person doesn’t develop their Zanpakutō to that degree in equal time.

A ‘normal’ person doesn’t have such expert control of their Reiatsu after learning how to handle it in less than a couple months.

“Honestly, feels like you’re sulking.” I poked at him.

“Sulking? Me?” He chuckled.

“Well, you do like being the smartest person around. Now that there’s things going on that you’re completely in the dark about, it must be eating away at you. How’s your research been going?”

“Admittedly, not very well.” He sighed. “Yoruichi, I looked into everything I could. All the records I could get my hands on, and even started reading children’s books to see if there were any glaring ‘hints’ that I might have missed. No where does it imply that the Goddess Izanami should exist. Much less a plethora of other Gods that would also exist by extension.”

“Well, we know the Soul King exists, it isn’t that big a leap.” I pointed out.

“If I hadn’t seen him with my own eyes, I would be having a hard time believing any of this.” He sighed again.

“Still can’t believe you took a peek at him.”

He chuckled awkwardly. “I was young and foolish.”

“It wasn’t that long ago.”

“It wasn’t.” He agreed.

“Sorta thought you’d ask him about your Hogyoku too. But you didn’t even broach the subject with him while he was here.”

“I was tempted.” He fidget with his Fan some more. “I tried to find him, you know?”

“Kisuke.” I frowned.

“I wasn’t going to go looking, or anything like that.” He waived it off. “If Mayuri couldn’t find him through his own methods, I certainly wasn’t going to give him any help either.”

“Fine, I believe you.” I know Kisuke does things often just because he wants to know if he can.

“I couldn’t find him. Anywhere.”

“He’s good at hiding.”

“Yoruichi, I don’t think he was in the Human World.”

“…..when you point it out, it makes sense. I mean…he’s a Devil or something, right? Stands to reason that there was a place we didn’t know about he was hiding? I mean…” I paused for a second. “….did you check Hell?”

A slow grin crept up on his face. “Yoruichi, are you asking me if I broke one of the biggest Taboos and went around poking at Hell?” He sounded ‘aghast’.

“Stop being an idiot.” I smacked his head.

“I did a preliminary….poke. Even I don’t want to start playing around with Hell. But Schweinorg-kun has no resemblance to the Hell we know. His Reiatsu is all wrong in both feeling and effect. You know just as I do that Hell’s aura erodes living things.”

“Yeah, just figured I’d ask.” I nodded.

The two biggest Taboos that every member of the Great clans and even higher-up Shinigami learn very early on.

Treat the Soul King with absolute reverence.

And do not inquire about Hell.

Both of these can get you executed very quickly. If Kisuke started poking around Hell and Soul Society found out, they would disregard our ‘working relationship’ and any attempts to reconcile to execute him as quickly as possible even considering Aizen and the Quincies breathing down their necks.

“So you couldn’t find him, not that big of a deal? Are you getting upset that he escaped with your marble somewhere without you being able to keep an eye on him?” I teased him a little.

“After looking, I could pinpoint Aizen’s location due to the unique signature his Hogyoku gave off.” He stated. “It’s irrelevant because we know he’s in Hueco Mundo, but I just used that as a reference. And Schweinorg-kun was found nowhere.”

“Maybe he used some Magic or something?” I offered. “Seems like there’s a much wider world we didn’t know about until now. I guess it makes sense considering we didn’t really leave Japan much when dealing with Spiritual stuff.” I thought it over myself.

Japan was the Spiritual capital of the Human World. There were some spots elsewhere, but Japan as a whole was where 90%+ of all Hollow attacks occur.

In the rare occurrence that a Hollow has enough Reiatsu to form elsewhere in the Human World, they almost instinctively go to Hueco Mundo, then come to Japan to hunt due to the density of Reishi.

“I’m annoyed that there is the possibility of such a thing slipping under my nose. But I’m also glad that there’s so many new things I’m learning about. As a scientist, I welcome opportunities to learn new things.” He grinned.

“So your pride is stung.” I summarized, hopping off his head. “Anyways, you may want to check on Ichigo.”

“I heard.” He nodded. “I’ll give Shinji a call to get his opinion.”

“Alright, I’m gonna head out and check on our friends from Soul Society.”

“Are you worried about them?” He raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I’m worried about what may happen if they’re stupid enough to….interrupt the people the Goddess apparently said she would send to fix Orihime’s apartment.”

Kisuke blinked. “I believe it’s best that you keep an eye on things.”

“I thought so too.” Glad we were on the same page there. “Tell me when Tessai comes back, I wanna hear about what he got up to.”

Kisuke gave me a silent wave as I ran out of the underground basement of his.

While I was out and about I checked up on the Humans to make sure everything went well with Kisuke’s little ‘toy’.

Tessei did good work too. He made sure that no humans appeared within the destroyed buildings or under rubble when they reappeared in the city. Had to give Kisuke credit, the humans were confused, but that was better than being dead.

He did a good job from what I could see at a glance.

He added a light mental impulse to not treat the disappearance for several hours with much concern, which seemed to be helping. Left a bad taste in my mouth, but again, better than the alternative.

It only took a few minutes to get over to where Orihime lived, and thankfully the Shinigami weren’t around causing problems by sitting around inside.

Found them nearby, able to keep an eye on things, but not close enough to interfere.

“Nothing yet?” I asked, arriving with a gust of wind.

“No response as of yet.” Captain Hitsugaya replied. “But we will keep watch.”

Well, I guess I shouldn’t be too worried, Hitsugaya is a no-nonsense kind of kid.

“Hey….Yoruichi.” Renji sort of shuffled up in a hushed tone. “Can I ask you something?”

“What’s up?”

“Are Rukia and Ichigo really….together?” He whispered.

“…..yes.” I’m sorry Ichigo, I couldn’t help myself. But to be fair, they both need to get laid. “Make sure to tell Byakuya too.”

Well, the look on his face made me think he wasn’t asking because of the older Kuchiki.

The others just looked bored, even if they were still sort of doing their jobs properly. It wasn’t anything new for a Shinigami to stand around for hours at a time while they watched over a place or did patrols.

I remember my early training days where I was up for over two weeks straight in the human world hunting a particularly annoying hollow.

“Something’s happening.” Captain Hitsugaya pushed himself up from where he was standing.

At the same time everyone else immediately zoned in on what he was referring to. Similar to that magic or whatever is was that Wilhelm used, a portal opened up in the middle of Orihime’s apartment and tons of different…..people walked out.

And none of them were human.

They felt….strange, their Reiatsu was…..I don’t even know how to describe it. It was extremely faint, but ontop of it was this entirely different ‘feeling’.

Particularly, at the front, there was a man with two horns on his hand, a big guy, probably bigger than Tessei and wider too though.

There were others, some very much not humanoid shape. Some with elongated features, others with animal features.

“Alright, you know the job, barrier up to avoid the humans. Get the measurements ready, I want someone to check on gas and electricity!” The….was that an Oni? The Oni at the front started ordering people around with…actual precision it seemed.

I never thought I would see an Oni with construction knowledge. Or an Oni in general for that matter.

He was even wearing a hard hat, even if his horns peeked out from underneath.

…..today has been a strange day.

I think all of us were a bit taken back. Sure we heard that Youkai exist, and even one of the Captains is a big humanoid dog/wolf or something, but to see it like this was another matter entirely.

I used to think that Youkai were just stories from Spiritually perceptive humans who could see Hollows…

But the Kappa with his big shiny head seemed to destroy those previous thoughts, along with the others.

Was that a Tengu? He had a long nose and bird-like wings on his back too.

“Nyah?” As if taking everyone off guard, a little black cat with two tails stood right infront of us.

I…admit a small lapse in my awareness, which I think is understandable int his situation. But I was also surprised that this very much not a normal cat snuck up on us.

“Meow?”

“Nyah.”

“Meow.”

“Nyah~!”

“Meow!”

“…..did you make a friend, Yoruichi?” Rengiku asked.

“Hello.” The foreign black cat spoke perfectly.

“Hello.” I spoke back, never thinking I’d meet another talking cat before.

Am I allowed to be surprised by this? I feel like it’s a sort of irony.

We sort of just stared at each other. As a cat, it was easy to tell it was a ‘she’ as well. But her two tails were a bit confusing.

We began to circle around one another as if to size each other up.

I could take her, easy.

That’s what my gut told me.

Though she’d probably smack around a couple of the ones behind me.

“Name?” I asked.

She had a michevious grin on her face as that ‘strangeness’ around her sort of shifted and a puff of smoke appeared, barely obscuring the form of a young women, laying seductively on the ground with a black kimono adjusted to barely cover certain parts of her body.

“Kuroka~” She introduced with a grin.

“Captain, cover your eyes!”

“Rengiku, I’m not a kid!”

“Hoh, what a nice complexion.”

“Are those cat ears real?”

“Hoh, are you challenging me?” I raised a nonexistent eyebrow.

“Nyah~” The girl….cat….Youkai? She seemed amused by this whole thing.

I transformed as well, almost similar in every aspect of how it happened. Except, I wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing.

“You got a long ways to go little girl~” I matched her smile.

Her eyes widened. “Nyah!?”

I win.

“Dammit Yoruichi, put some clothes on!” I heard Captain Hitsugaya scold me and glancing back I could see his bright red face.

“Prudes.”

“It’s cute.” The newly named Kuroka giggled as she got up and sauntered over to the younger Captain.

He tried to keep his composure as the younger girl seductively walked towards him, clothing seeming like it was going to fall off her admittedly voluptuous body.

“I-I’m Shinigami Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, of the 10th Division of the Gotei 13, I – “

“Nyah.” She moved rather fast and put a finger to his lips, silencing him. “Wanna help me make some Shinigami kittens?”

Oh, I like her.

@***@

Wilhelm POV

“Oh hey, I think he’s back.”

“Thank you Qrow, I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.” The distinct voice of Headmaster Ozpin replied rather dryly.

“No problem, Oz.” I noticed Qrow from before sitting at his side, drinking from a certain flask of his.

“Sorry for taking so long we had…..an unexpected situation arise.” I expressed my apologies up front at my tardiness.

“Is that blood on you guys?” Qrow blinked.

Ozpin shot him a look then focused back on us. “Thank you, Mr. Schweinorg, but I understand that certain situations can delay someone. A mere two hours is a small matter to consider for Amber’s health.”

“I also came down to watch.” Qrow waved.

“I noticed.” I pursed my lips. “By the way, I got your message.”

“Yeah…” Qrow sheepishly cleared his throat. “Oz gave me the heads up. But hey, all’s well that ends well. Home Oz’s ex wife isn’t getting pissed at you. Less time you’re sleeping on the couch, less time she has to be Evil.” He raised up his flask.

“…thank you, Qrow, for your insight.” Ozpin sighed.

“Salem was….forthcoming.” I said vaguely. “She’s aware what I’m doing.”

“Color me surprised.” Ozpin stated, still nursing a mug of tea it seems but he didn’t react visibly at all. “But that is another matter, I believe introductions are in order?”

“Right.” I stepped slightly to the side to allow Tessai to be seen without my obstruction. I cast a look over the man and he seemed….out of it, surprised, confused an all manner of emotions.

Right, Spiritual Energy here is….well, there is a tiny bit from my presence, but it should feel utterly alien to him.

Not that I would rethink my decision, but this seemed like the best option bar literal Divine Intervention which was its own can of worms.

Tessai to his credit was immediately snapped back into focus on the immediate issue at hand.

“Tessai Tsukabishi.” He politely bowed with his introduction.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow and merely smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Headmaster Ozpin, of Beacon Academy.”

“Greetings, Ozpin-Dono.”

Ozpin nodded, seemingly unphased by his mannerisms.

“Hey, I’m Qrow.” Qrow just casually threw his hand up in greeting. “You’re a big guy, huh?”

“Qrow, stop being rude.” Ozpin lightly chided him. “And we have more pressing concerns. I believe you are the ‘specialist’ that Mr. Schweinorg here told me about?”

Tessai pushed up his glasses a hint of pride on his face. “In the matters of the spiritual, I dare say I am of a keen mind.”

“Wonderful, thank you for coming on short notice. I would normally be much more welcoming of a proper host, but this is a rather odd situation.”

“I understand, Ozpin-Dono, I accept your graciousness for the intent.” Tessai returned the niceties.

Qrow pushed himself up from his chair. “So how’s this work? You a specialist on souls or something? You a wizard like the kid or a hunter or something?”

Tessai blinked, looking at me and I gave him a shrug. “I believe there is a misunderstanding. I am a Spiritual Specialist, none of which you stated.”

“Huh, though that was just like a sort of specific title, didn’t know it was something else entirely.” Qrow hummed, taking a drink of his flask.

“It is rather….interesting.” Ozpin had a strange gleam in his eyes. “At the risk of sounding rude, I would like to verify your…credentials, in a manner of speaking.”

“I understand your skepticism.” Tessai didn’t take offense. “You wish to see my expertise?”

“I apologize for the assumption, but while I…..admit to not knowing Mr. Schweinorg too well, I do have some reassurances with him. I would not be doing my duty to leave Amber in the hands of someone I knew absolutely nothing about. Would it be remiss of me to ask for….proof, of your capabilities?”

“I would be more than willing to demonstrate if either of you would like to volunteer.” Tessai offered.

“Oh, me!” Qrow raised his hand.

“It seems Qrow wishes to see your abilities first hand.”

“But if you ask me to bend over and cough….I’ma need to be a bit more drunk.”

Tessai chuckled. “That can be arranged.”

“A doc with a sense of humor.” Qrow grinned. “What do I need to do, big guy? I hope this doesn’t have anything to do with you having blood on your….apron?”

“Apologies, my last patient was….uncooperative.”

“Uh….having second thoughts now.”

“Now now, Qrow, be a good patient, we wouldn’t want anything bad to happen.” Ozpin hummed.

“Simply sit on the ground please.” Tessai gestured.

Qrow plopped himself onto the ground easily. “Like this?”

“Yes.” Tessai nodded, sitting down right behind him and putting a hand on his back. “Please do not be aggressive to what I’m about to do.”

“Aggressiveeee.” Qrow’s voice jumped by a few levels as his Aura flared around Tessai’s glowing hand. “Ah!?”

“….did you forget to cough?” I asked.

“…funny.” He said dryly. “No that just….that was weird? My Aura went all funky for a moment.”

“Yes, your Aura.” Tessai paused. He knew about My Aura in the barest capacity from the time he was teaching me. But he hasn’t seen it on other people thus far. “IF you could keep it under control, please?”

“Yeah, no problem, now that I know what to expect…”

And I think Tessai would compensate for it as well.

Ozpin watched intently as Tessai’s hands lit up in a green spiritual hue as his Spiritual Power invaded Qrow’s body.

“You have severe Liver swelling and inflammation. I also see very old scarring and cirrhosis from years of heavy drinking. If you don’t correct your habits, you will find yourself in trouble in about a decade.” Tessai commented.

“Mmm, probably. But everyone know’s I’m a drunk Doc.” Qrow held up his flask and shook it.

“Quite.” Ozpin agreed.

“I merely wished to address the most portent find. Otherwise you are in very good health. You have some minor tearing in your right shoulder, did you perhaps strain yourself recently?”

“I did….fought a bad little Ursa a few days ago, got my shoulder sore.”

“You have experienced several broken bones in the last two decades. Your left leg seems to suffered the most, I see four different times it was broken and healed. Further, your left arm has been broken twice, the second time it didn’t heal all the way properly. Did you perhaps remove a cast early?”

Qrow winced. “I did….how’d you know?”

“This is far from my first time.” Tessai chuckled. “Unfortunately, it healed back with that slight deformity, it shouldn’t cause you any undo strain if you don’t’ feel any pain normally. But I forsee it breaking again in the future.”

“Noted.” Qrow groaned. “But Doc, I thought you were a Soul expert?”

“I am curious as well. I admit your insight into his physical aspects, but this problem stems far beyond the physical.” Ozpin stated.

“A understandable assumption, but that is incorrect. The Body is a reflection of the soul. To heal the Soul, the Body must be considered as well. I propose to you to ask yourself this woman’s body how has it responded to harm to her soul?”

“That is a valid train of thought.” Ozpin looked thoughtful. “It’s as you say, her body is undergoing complete shut down.”

Tessai just nodded as he expected it. “Without a proper ‘patient’ to utilize, I’m afraid my experience in healing Spiritual problems will be impossible to prove. But in the vein of evidence, I could offer up my own insights in yourself, Headmaster-Dono.”

“Myself?” Ozpin raised a questioning eyebrow.

“You have a very old soul. Layers upon layers all wrapped around one another.” Tessai stated. “I was able to perceive as much as I saw you for the first time.”

Ozpin paused then looked at me.

I held my hands up. “I didn’t tell him anything.”

“I am very old.” Ozpin said cryptically.

Tessai just nodded and didn’t delve deeper.

“Very well, you have proven your point. Thank you for assuaging my worries even though you were invited here on our own behalf.”

Tessai’s expression softened. “To care for someone else is no sin, Headmaster-dono.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

I think they liked each other.

“Amber is right over here.” Ozpin casually walked over to the pod that Amber was inside. He had the common sense to close it after he realized we were taking more than a few minutes, so that’s good.

“Explain to me how this machine works, please.” Tessai responded, walking up to it.

“Its purpose is to provide her physical needs as well as stimulate her Aura around the clock to keep her Soul from collapsing into itself.”

I put a hand on it because I didn’t get a good look before, much more concerned about the girl inside. “You’re doing the equivalent of shocking someone to keep them awake.”

“Crude, but not unture.” Ozpin didn’t deny it. “Her Aura is keeping her soul…..in shape, for lack of a better word. If her Aura stopped being forced into action…well, the obvious as I said before.”

“It’s only a time-buying measure. And this is….well, I don’t want to say barbaric, because you’re doing so to keep her alive. But this has its own problems if it continued for long. Which is to say, she doesn’t have long anyways.” I let out a small sigh.

“Options were limited. Unfortunately, I did not know anyone specialized in spiritual matters that I could call up.” Ozpin stated.

Eventually, it’s all going to just shut down at once. Like shocking someone to keep them awake, eventually their body will shut down by itself even with the ‘shocking’ going on after enough time passes.

“I will need a more thorough inspection.” Tessai stated.

Ozpin seemed to reluctantly agree. “I suppose this is our best hope regardless.” He went over and pressed the button to train the container before it opened up.

Tessai was quick to put a hand on the girl and his hand lit up as he began to use his Kaido once more.

Tessei’s expression shifted several times as he presumedly did his analyse.

“I have questions.”

“Please.” Ozpin gestured.

“Why does this young woman seem to have something…parasitized to her soul?” Tessei’s tone was…oddly stern. “And why does it have the faint traces of your own soul, Headmaster?”

Ozpin frowned. “So you could tell that. I guess that’s all the confirmation I need to your authenticity.”

“I require an answer before I proceed further.” Tessai’s tone held no room for negotiation.

Ozpin let out a tired sigh. “A long time ago, I wanted to gift a few young women a bit of magic from myself. Unfortunately, they inherited a particular curse of mine, and that magic was…passed down along with those ‘traces’ you’re probably noticing.”

“I’ll vouch for him, Tessai.” I spoke up. “Despite the idiocy of what he did, a long time ago, it wasn’t malicious nor anything like that.” I could imagine how it must look to Tessai who deals with Hollows and Shinigami on a daily basis.

“Very well.” Tessai accepted.

“How is she?” I stepped up to peer over Tessai’s shoulder.

“I can see the problem immediately. It is as you described, a piece of her soul is forever missing.”

“That’s bad.” Qrow added his own thoughts to the mix.

“Thank you, Qrow.” Ozpin deadpanned.

“Happy to help again.”

“Is this beyond you means, Mr. Tessai?” Ozpin asked.

“Fortunately, it is not a particularly unsolvable problem. Other than a missing piece of her Soul, there are no lingering effects. No further damage, no corruption.” Tessai listed out. “There will be some side effects, but the matter of healing is quite simple if time consuming.”

I suppose in similar situations, Tessai usually has to deal with Hollow corruption, or other soul-based damage from Spiritual Entities.

The difference between an infected wound and a straight cut that’s been bleeding for too long.

“Truly?” Ozpin had a tinge of hope in his voice.

Tessai nodded. “It will require a few sessions of healing. However, I can solve the most pressing concern of her soul collapsing. I will mend it ‘back into shape’ and you will see a sharp improvement in her health. Expect some memory loss and physical therapy to be required. I cannot promise there will not be other unforeseen side effects. The Soul is strong, it’s malleable, but it is not unbreakable.”

“How long is long, Doc?” Qrow asked the pertinent question.

“It will take more no longer than a few hours to mend her soul back to a similar shape as before. But that is only the first step, and there will need to be a period to let her settle down. She will wake up soon afterwards, but I will need to continue the treatment within the next month.” Tessai stated.

“Can’t do it all at once?” Qrow asked.

Tessai shook his head. “Her soul has suffered extensive damage. It will need time to recuperate after each Healing as her Soul is the basis for her own recovery.”

“You have my thanks.” Ozpin said with a genuine tone of grace.

“It is my duty.” Tessai accepted it regardless. “I will begin immediately.”

I didn’t bother him despite being curious about the treatment myself. Tessai was down playing it, I’m sure. That’s the kind of person he is.

Her soul was missing a chunk, and Tessai is all but guaranteeing that he can heal her mostly back to full health.

“Thank you as well, Mr.Schweinorg.” Ozpin addressed me. “I am aware that you did not have to go out of your way to put this all together. Despite the….reasons for you doing so, I am thankful.”

“You probably won’t believe me that Salem is….trying atleast.” I shook my head. “But I was just trying to right a wrong from her end. At the very least, we should be good between us, hmm? No lingering jealousy?” I may have had a teasing grin on my face.

“Jealousy?” Ozpin chuckled. “Not at all, Mr. Torchwick.”

“…pardon?”

“I apologize, do you prefer Watermelon?” He said, taking a sip of his tea.

…..god dammit Roman.

@***@

Tessai being a bro and helping out. Yoruichi runs into a wild Kuroka. And Watermelon is known to Ozpin.

On a side note, I’m going to try to get the izzy lewd and the next part of the Looking Glass omake up in the next couple days. Maybe some other stuff I’ve got on my back log.