61 CHAPTER 63: Back and forth
Lisa's gaze was locked onto Kazuya, shock apparent in her wide eyes. Her expectations had painted a very different picture — one of Kazuya captured by Kisuke. Yet here he was, in the midst of a group of Hollows, a dominant leader rather than a captive. The atmosphere around him, the very essence of his Reiatsu, had transformed, so much so that if she closed her eyes, she would perceive him as an entirely different entity. His aura was undeniably similar to those she had always considered her enemies.
A Hollow/Arrancar.
A tremor of unease stirred within her, resonating from her Inner Hollow. "Impossible…"
…
Meanwhile, Harribel's group identified Lisa. Her frilly dress allowed Harribel and others to connect her to the maid in Kazuya's story.
"It's your maid friend," Mila Rose said and looked at Kazuya, who was still in his Hollow form. "Wait, should she be seeing you like this?"
Kazuya merely shook his head, a subtle flicker of sorrow in his eyes.
Apacci had a sinking feeling that the Kazuya she knew and cared for was slipping further away from her. "Send her away. This friendship is over…"
Kazuya had told her that the maid belonged to a Quincy faction — the avid haters of the Hollow race. Now that the maid had seen Kazuya in his Hollow form, they would never see eye to eye, becoming enemies.
Sung-Sun tugged gently at Apacci's tail. "Let him deal with this."
A soft grumble escaped Apacci. "I was just giving advice. He doesn't need to follow my words."
"Apacci, the world isn't as black and white as it's in Hueco Mundo." Kazuya's hand softly patted her head. He then turned to Harribel. "Can you take them away for a few minutes? I need to address some issues."
Harribel's gaze rested on Lisa for a moment before she nodded. "Come with me."
With a gentle tap on Apacci's back, she used Sonído to flash onto a distant hilltop. The rest followed her, albeit with evident reluctance.
Kazuya looked away from Apacci and gave a smile to Lisa. "Are you waiting for me to carry you down here like a princess?"
Gracefully, she leaped down, her braided ponytail fluttering in the air as she landed. Her eyes flicked to the retreating Hollows before settling back on Kazuya.
"Kazuya, who—what are you?"
"I am a Hollow."
"How?" Lisa stared at him. "You were a Quincy. How can—"
She cut herself off as she watched him transform into a more familiar form — one without the menacing black wings and Hollow aura.
"I can switch between both."
Her hand reached out, clutching his collar with a force born of confusion and anger. "My intuition about you was correct. You betrayed Izumi. No, you were using her from the start."
He held her wrist, his grip firm but gentle as he carefully pried her fingers from his collar. "Lisa Yadōmaru, the former Vice-Captain of 8th Squad, the curtains are lifted for both of us. Neither of us approached Izumi with kind intentions. We were using her for our own goals."
The biting cold of his words pierced her like shards of glass, freezing her in place. His accusations echoed the accusations she kept hidden deep within her heart. How could she point an accusing finger at him when she herself was guilty of the same crime?
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he saw his method working. "Look on the bright side, though. She found two people who genuinely care about her, like a family. Isn't that wonderful?"
Despite Lisa's ulterior motives in staying with Izumi, there was no denying the fact she cared about Izumi. Otherwise, she wouldn't be mad at him for betraying Izumi.
"Wonderful my foot," Lisa scoffed. "We're scum."
"Yes."
"We're villains."
"Yes."
"We don't deserve Izumi."
"Yeah, we don't."
With a bitter scowl, Lisa jabbed a finger towards Kisuke, who was lingering in the distance. "I blame this guy. He sent me on that spy mission. What's the relationship between you two?"
Kisuke casually fanned his face. "It's purely transactional. You can call Kazuya-san one of my precious customers."
Yoruichi shook her head. "Kazuya isn't a bad person, Lisa. He had his reasons for approaching the Quincy clan. He used to be—"
"Shihōin-san, please don't reveal other people's secrets without their consent. Besides, no point in bringing up my past. I'm a Hollow now. A Hollow and a Quincy. That chapter of my story is closed shut."
Yoruichi sighed, acknowledging his request. "Fine. Have it your way, stubborn little man."
"We're adults here. Some clashes here and there wouldn't break us apart."
With a curt nod of agreement, Yoruichi blinked out of the scene, her form dissolving into the thin air.
Kisuke looked left and right. "I guess I should also exit the scene."
And then they were alone, left to untangle the knot of their relationship on their own.
Lisa turned her back against him. "I don't know what to feel about this. Will we still be friends like before or will you—"
Reaching for her hand, he yanked her and made her face him. "Stop being a dramatic novel heroine."
"You saw through me… this is so embarrassing."
"You don't look embarrassed, though." He shrugged. "Nothing's gonna change. I'll continue being Izumi Onee-chan's Otouto. You'll be her maid until you're bored of it."
A slow nod was her response, her mind slowly wrapping itself around the situation. With Yoruichi's and Kisuke's stamps of approval, she could concede that Kazuya wasn't the villainous Hollow she had feared. "Why did you come to Karakura?"
"I'm just here to chill with my friends."
"Your friends?" Lisa's gaze went to the Hollows in the distance. "Those Hollows?"
"Yup. Pretty nice bunch."
"Pretty and nice they are," she said with a calm look. "What was Shihōin-san trying to tell me? What did you used to be?"
"Take a guess."
"Pervert."
"Stop projecting on others."
"..."
He laughed at her speechless face. "By the way, how did Onee-chan take to my disappearance?"
"She has been worrying nonstop about you. She'd have searched you on foot if I wasn't there."
He let out a long sigh. "Should I return?"
"Absolutely."
"Don't reveal anything about me being a Hollow."
A nod was Lisa's agreement, her eyes turning soft as she looked up at him. There was an unexpected relief in sharing her guilt with someone. "How long will we deceive her? Lies don't last forever, Kazuya."
"Sometimes a comforting lie is better than a harsh truth."
"A harsh truth may be painful, but it is the only way to true freedom and growth."
He rolled his eyes at her. "This isn't a competition for countering each other with quotes."
"Hmph."
***
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