38 CHAPTER 39: The Maid

Kazuya abandoned the car with servants, opting instead for the sleek, midnight-black vehicle that belonged to Izumi. He slid into the leather seat beside the driver's, waiting for Izumi to get over her reflection.

After a couple of minutes, Izumi opened the door and gave him an unamused look. "I told you to go with them."

"I have some questions, Onee-chan. Can you answer them while driving?"

A spark of delight flickered in her eyes. She would have ejected him from the car with merciless force had he dared to call her Oba-san. Instead, he called her Onee-chan, a far cry from the dreaded Oba-san title given upon her by the demonic children of her neighborhood. After all, she and Kazuya looked the same age, or so she liked to believe.

"I can." She sighed and assumed the driver seat. "I'm Izumi Ishida. What's your name?"

The name Ishida stirred a torrent of memories, leaving him momentarily stunned.

'Ah, of course. It's Uryu's relatives. She has to be his grandmother or someone close to that level.'

He never fathomed encountering Uryū Ishida's grandmother in her prime or that she would bear a striking resemblance to his past lover. The last he recalled of her from the flashbacks, she was a typical housewife, venting her frustrations upon Ichigo's mother, Masaki.

She appeared more composed and restrained than her future self. Well, she was also naive for accepting his words at face value, rather than probing his background. He lacked an identification card in his pocket to validate his name. There was no way for him to prove the rest of his story.

Yet, she didn't entertain the possibility that he could be a fraud. Perhaps his persuasion skill clouded her rational thinking.

"I'm Kazuya," he replied, motioning for her to pause. "Put on your seat belt, Onee-chan. For safety."

Izumi's hands on the steering froze as she turned to assess his innocent face. "It's unnecessary, for me at least."

Having slayed Hollows for years, she viewed a car accident as a trifling concern. Save for the injury inflicted by a formidable Hollow, she had gone unscathed in her five years of Hollow killing career.

The car roared to life, its powerful purr resonating throughout the cabin. A hush enveloped them as she maintained unwavering focus on the road, her intense expression an uncanny echo of his past lover. Yumi and Izumi—even their names rhymed.

'What a sick joke.'

He shrugged, his gaze drifting forward. Even if they looked similar, Izumi was not the person he had once loved. No good would come out of chasing Yumi's shadow in Izumi.

"Hey, Onee-chan. How did you receive that injury?"

"It's… a big story. I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Oh. I'll bother you another time then."

"Okay. You'll be staying at Ishida's house as a guest. We'll test something and teach you facts about the spiritual worlds… hang in tight."

Her words implied she would provide him a place to stay and food, and instruct him on the ways to harness the powers that qualify a human as a Quincy. Though he lacked Quincy blood in his veins, he possessed the cheat-like prowess of his System. The inclusion of Quincy in his evolution paths signified his potential to acquire their abilities. There wasn't any harm even if he failed her test.

"Quincy… so that's how you pronounce it."

She couldn't suppress a smile. "Becoming a Quincy — I believe your mother wanted it to happen. Otherwise, she wouldn't have sent you here."

"Me too. I'll try my best, Onee-chan!"

She turned to him for a brief moment. "Your hair makes you look like a ruffian."

"Uh… I like them big, Onee-chan," he spoke while glancing at her chest but she was too absorbed in the front view to notice his gaze. "Onee-san, what about you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Size is just a matter of perspective. I have taken down some giant ones with my hands."

"..."

He was talking about tits while she spoke of her Hollow slaying experience.

…

A mere thirty minutes later, Kazuya found himself sprawled on a bed within a plain room meant for a single person. This guest room was his domain until Izumi decided otherwise.

He noticed that, aside from the two Gemischt, the family seemed to comprise only Izumi. However, a photo of a middle-aged man in the living room and the ring adorning Izumi's finger hinted at the existence of a spouse. This revelation snuffed out any intentions of seducing Izumi into an affair, as he had no desire to wreak havoc on her marriage life for a few nights of pleasure.

"I hope I have some dreams today."

In Hueco Mundo, he had consistently awoken with a 'hollow' sensation, leading him to theorize that Hollows lacked the ability to dream.

'Onee-chan, get ready to be shocked out of your mind tomorrow!'

A playful grin appeared on his face as he eagerly awaited shattering some 'expectations' tomorrow and getting a good laugh out of it.

…

That night, for the first time in a month, Kazuya found himself enveloped in the embrace of a dream. The dream was shrouded in mist, echoes of past memories from his slumbering mind. The dream painted a picture of him navigating an ordinary day, traversing the hallowed halls of his university, only to later mess around with his alluring teacher-turned-lover.

He could recall every electrifying sensation of her body, the intimate connection they shared pulsing through his memory, until the dream world was abruptly torn away, yanking him back to the cold grasp of reality.

Blinking open his eyes, Kazuya found a maid standing attentively by his bedside. Black locks cascaded over her forehead, framing her face, while a neat braided ponytail rested on her shoulder. The bespectacled maid gazed at him, her eyes devoid of any discernible emotion. (Check para comment)

Izumi stood beside the maid, her expression filled with concern for him. As he sat up and rubbed his head, he felt a bit shaken by the dream, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

"It's creepy to watch me sleep, Onee-chan and Maid-chan."

Izumi folded her arms over her chest. "Your Reiatsu was hectic when you were dreaming. We came to check up on you."

He almost terrified her with his rampaging Reiatsu, a byproduct of his violent emotions from his dream. If he had continued to unleash his Reiatsu, she might have lost her house. The incident also revealed a glimpse of his true potential, making her realize that the random Quincy she found on the streets possessed a freak-level Reiatsu.

"He is no weakling, Izumi-sama," the maid commented. "Are you sure he is a Gemischt? He has a captain—a great capacity for Reiryoku."

Even if it was for a mere moment, she had felt his Reiatsu peaking at somewhere around Great Level, aka Reiatsu rivaling a Gotei 13 Captain.

Kazuya didn't miss the maid's small error in comparing his Reiatsu to a Captain-Class. "Did you just stutter?"

The maid shook her head. "You are still sleepy."

"Lisa, prepare a bath for Kazuya," Izumi instructed before turning to Kazuya with a small smile and a polite nod. "I'll be waiting in the dining room."

Her attitude shifted dramatically after witnessing his potential. She went from treating him like a kid to treating him like an honorable guest.

***

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