Batsu'unsai and Unohana had originally planned to sit down and enjoy a quiet cup of tea together.
Somehow, as their conversation deepened, the mood became increasingly lively.
Before either of them quite realized it, the tea had been abandoned entirely and replaced with alcohol.
"Batsu'unsai, you really have no conscience."
After several cups, Unohana finally stopped holding back her complaints.
"You and Saitō ran off to the World of the Living and left me here all by myself while the two of you enjoyed yourselves. Then you suddenly come back without even warning me beforehand."
She gave her old friend a wounded look.
"Are we even best friends anymore?"
As far as Unohana was concerned, Batsu'unsai had been a terrible friend.
She'd barely checked in on her for years, and now that she'd finally returned to Soul Society, she'd even come empty-handed.
Not a single gift.
Where was the sincerity?
"My dear sister, this really was an accident."
Batsu'unsai felt a headache coming on, though she did her best not to let it show.
"I got dragged back here at the last minute and didn't have time to prepare anything. Don't worry. Next time! I'll definitely bring you something next time!"
So after all that complaining, Unohana was upset because she hadn't received a souvenir.
"Hmph. Don't try to brush me off with that."
Unohana clearly had no intention of letting her escape so easily.
"Tell me the truth. Where exactly did Kazuma go? Is he really carrying out some secret mission like the Captain-Commander claimed?"
Unohana knew perfectly well that Yamamoto and Kazuma had a habit of quietly scheming behind everyone's backs.
Kazuma's sudden disappearance naturally made her suspicious.
The Aizen incident had been a perfect example.
If she hadn't realized something was wrong halfway through and gone directly to interrogate Kazuma, who knew how long those two would have kept her in the dark?
"I genuinely don't know where he went."
Batsu'unsai looked completely innocent.
"Really?"
Unohana stared directly into her eyes as though trying to see through them and uncover whatever truth was hidden beneath.
Yet no matter how carefully she watched, she could find no obvious trace of a lie.
"Then he came to see you, didn't he?"
Unohana continued pressing her.
"No. Absolutely not."
Batsu'unsai answered immediately and without hesitation.
"You're lying."
Unohana slapped the table and stood.
From the moment Batsu'unsai first appeared at the First Division, Unohana had sensed something strange about her.
Her reiatsu in particular was impossible to read.
It felt exactly like the sensation she'd experienced several days earlier when facing the rejuvenated Yamamoto.
Yamamoto's sudden return to youth and dramatic increase in strength clearly carried traces of Kazuma's involvement.
Now Batsu'unsai had undergone a similar transformation.
There was no chance Kazuma had nothing to do with it.
For centuries, neither Yamamoto nor Batsu'unsai had shown any meaningful increase in strength.
Yet suddenly, at almost exactly the same time, both of them had improved at an absurd rate?
That was far too convenient.
It made no sense whatsoever.
"All right, fine."
Batsu'unsai finally surrendered beneath Unohana's relentless questioning.
"I did see Kazuma. He showed up in a hurry and repeatedly asked me to come back and cover for him for a while."
"But as for where he actually went afterward, I honestly don't know."
Her answer was half truth and half carefully crafted nonsense.
"If you don't want to tell me, then forget it."
Unohana gave a quiet snort.
"Neither you nor your husband has ever spoken an honest sentence in your lives anyway."
She picked up her cup and drained it in one long swallow.
A little alcohol spilled down her neck and soaked into the front of her robes, while her expression became so sorrowful and aggrieved that anyone watching might have thought she'd been deeply betrayed.
Batsu'unsai looked at her old friend and suddenly felt a little guilty.
Compared with them, Unohana really did have it rough.
She and Saitō had been enjoying themselves in the World of the Living, living however they pleased.
Unohana, meanwhile, had remained stuck in Soul Society with nowhere else to go.
"Actually…"
Batsu'unsai hesitated.
"I suppose there's no real harm in telling you. It's just…"
She let out a quiet sigh and gave Unohana a complicated look, visibly struggling with the decision.
"Tell me! Hurry up!"
Unohana truly deserved her reputation as a master of subtle manipulation.
Her ability to play the wounded friend had been polished to perfection, and with only a few words, she'd found exactly where Batsu'unsai was softest.
"Shihōin Chika and the others are back."
Batsu'unsai lowered her voice, leaned forward, and whispered directly into Unohana's ear.
Unohana's hand jerked.
The cup slipped from her fingers.
Crash!
It shattered against the floor.
"They've been dead for centuries!"
Unohana stared at her.
"What kind of joke is that?"
Shihōin Chika and the rest of that group had been dead for longer than most current captains had even been alive.
What did Batsu'unsai mean, they were back?
Had they simply climbed out of their graves?
It was a terrible joke.
Not even remotely funny!
"Kazuma went into Hell and brought them back."
Batsu'unsai's face remained completely serious.
There was no trace of amusement in her expression.
"What?"
Unohana's head buzzed as though someone had struck her with a club.
"Kazuma went into Hell… and brought them back?"
The way Batsu'unsai said it sounded ridiculously casual, as though Kazuma had merely gone to the market and picked up a few people on his way home.
But this was Hell.
What kind of place allowed Shinigami who'd already died once to simply return to the living world?
Had Kazuma somehow walked up to Hell, announced himself, and asked nicely for his friends back?
"You can believe me or not."
Batsu'unsai shrugged.
"But that's what happened. Chika and the others are alive again, and they're currently staying in Karakura Town."
For once, Batsu'unsai had told the absolute truth.
Naturally, Unohana found that harder to believe than all the lies.
"Should I just leave, then?"
Batsu'unsai started to rise.
Where was the trust between friends?
"I believe you!"
Unohana reacted instantly and grabbed her before she could escape.
Batsu'unsai stumbled and nearly fell, but Unohana firmly pulled her back into her seat.
"Kazuma is currently staying with them."
Batsu'unsai gave her an irritated look.
"But no matter what happens, you absolutely cannot let the Captain-Commander learn about this."
This was far too serious a matter for word to spread carelessly.
"Don't worry. I understand when something needs to stay secret."
Unohana paused for a moment before confidently patting her chest.
Only then did she suddenly realize her previous theory had been completely wrong.
She'd assumed Yamamoto and Kazuma were secretly working together on yet another major scheme.
Instead, even Yamamoto himself had apparently been kept in the dark.
And just like that, Batsu'unsai had completely thrown Unohana off the trail.
Unohana believed she'd carefully manipulated Batsu'unsai into revealing everything.
But they were both thousand-year-old foxes.
When two veterans played mind games with each other, it was never quite clear who had actually fooled whom.
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