"Vahn Mason...it's nice to put a face to the name..." remarked Urahara, a lean, pasty-skinned man with messy, muted-blonde hair and sharp grey eyes that drooped slightly at the edges. His attire was simple, consisting of a dark green samue beneath a black haori with white diamonds circling the hem, two-toothed wooden geta with red bands, and, most iconically, a green-and-white-striped bucket hat—worn low so that the brim almost perpetually cast a shadow over his eyes.
"Tea...?" asked Tessai, a tall, notably muscular, mustachioed man with thick, square-rimmed glasses, black hair fixed into dreadlocks, and an even simpler outfit than Kisuke's, consisting of a white t-shirt and dark green trousers beneath a blue apron bearing the logo of the shop they were presently gathered in, Urahara Shoten.
"No, but thank you..." answered Vahn, holding up his left hand in a halting gesture as he sat cross-legged with Yoruichi curled atop his lap in her cat form, allowing him to pet her at his leisure.
"So? What did you want to discuss?" asked Vahn, directing his gaze and the question at Kisuke, causing the man's smile to broaden as he asked, "Straight to the point, eh? That's fine with me..."
As if a switch had been flipped in his mind, Kisuke's demeanor went from nonchalant to serious in a split-second as he leaned forward slightly and asked, "For what reason did you breathe life into our reality? What do you hope to gain?"
"Life would surely be much easier if there were a well-thought-out reason or explanation behind everything..." responded Vahn, shifting his focus to Yoruichi, scratching the underside of her chin as he added, "But the truth of the matter is that I didn't put much consideration into my actions when I brought your world and innumerable others into being. Many I will likely never interact with. However, because a certain kitten happened to sneak attack and subsequently approach me, I've become increasingly invested in your world..."
"Who could that have been, I wonder~?" asked Yoruichi, rolling onto her back, allowing Vahn to caress her stomach and gently dig his fingers into the fur coating her chest.
Looking between Yoruichi and Vahn, Urahara appeared to deliberate for several seconds before asking, "Then, more to the point, what were your intentions when you revealed the truth? You must have something in mind for us to broaden our horizons to such an extent..."
Shaking his head, Vahn countered, "Unlike you, I'm not good at deception or schemes. I didn't like feeling like I was deceiving someone I claimed to care about, so I revealed the truth. How you use it is up to you, but I hope you will use it to try to do good rather than deliberately cause harm."
"So it's a test of our characters..." muttered Urahara, his eyes narrowing before he lowered his head, veiling a calculating gaze beneath the rim of his hat.
"That's life..." appended Vahn, causing Urahara to raise his brows and look up at him with a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. His representative intellect and natural skepticism made it impossible for him to accept Vahn's words at face value, but when he looked at him, all he saw was a boy doting on a cat...
'He's dangerous...' concluded Urahara, not because he thought Vahn held any ill will toward his world but because he possessed tremendous power and ostensibly didn't care what happened to the countless worlds he had carelessly brought into being. Absent or tyrannical Gods were terrible, but the most insidious sentiments a Creator could hold toward their creations were apathy and conditional regard...
"Yoruichi mentioned you were interested in assisting with Rukia's rescue operation. Something about wanting to test your skills against powerful opponents..." started Urahara, a faint smile adorning his face as he asked, "How about it? Want to have a quick match against yours truly...?"
"Mmn...tempting. But that isn't why I revised my plans to facilitate this meeting," stated Vahn. "If we're not going to discuss countermeasures against Aizen and other threats, there are other places I could be right now."
"Some other time, perhaps..." exhaled Urahara, turning his attention to a matcha preparation set, carefully whisking its contents as he added, "As for Aizen...I'm afraid that even if we know his plans, there's not much we can do with the information. Even a hundred years ago, his Reiatsu(Spirit Pressure) and Reiryoku(Spirit Energy) were in a league that defied reason. Unless you have a way to neutralize the ability of his Zanpakuto, nurturing Ichigo as our world's Protagonist is still our best option..."
"It's certainly an option," confirmed Vahn. "But one thing I've noticed over the years is that, even without the influence of external factors, events in the worlds I've given to form don't strictly adhere to the anime, manga, or novels they're based on. It varies from setting to setting, but if the original author or mangaka included a bunch of plot holes or retconned things as their stories grew and evolved, they wouldn't reflect in a setting bound by linear cause and effect."
"Makes sense..." conceded Urahara, crossing his arms and cupping his chin with his right index finger and thumb. "But you've mentioned things like fate, karma, and the consequences of external or divine intervention. If we can accept that at face value, it suggests a certain level of narrative predetermination is at play. In other words, we might be able to influence or change the outcome of certain events, but things will eventually course correct if permitted..."
"That's what we've observed as well," confirmed Vahn. "But the existence of Ascendees changes things. Those who receive invitations to enter the Tower share the characteristic of being narratively significant, borrowing from the expression you just used. And like a rock growing into a boulder within a stream, their ability to influence fate becomes more prominent as their power and exposure to external factors increase."
"Sounds pretty destructive..." noted Urahara.
"That depends on the characters and actions of those entrusted with the opportunity..." countered Vahn, his gaze meeting Yoruichi's, leading to the two of them staring at one another before she abruptly grabbed, bit, and kicked his hand with her hind legs like an actual cat.
"Fair enough..." conceded Urahara, taking a moment to sample the tea he had just finished preparing before returning to the previous topic, noting, "You said that nurturing Ichigo was an option..." before asking, "What are our alternatives?"
"That depends on Yourichi and Orihime," stated Vahn, prompting the soot-black cat to cease biting him long enough to question, "Hmm? Why did my name suddenly come up...?"
Continuing where he left off, Vahn explained, "Ascendees, particularly those who received invites from the Administrator, are regarded as the representatives of their worlds. Were it not for the immense karmic deficit that would accrue due to her current lack of power and influence, I would have accepted Orihime's request to rescue Rukia. If someone as powerful as Yoruichi made the exact same request, the deficit and, accordingly, the repayment would be considerably more manageable."
"In other words, the only limit to our options is our ability to shoulder the consequences of our requests..." concluded Urahara, beginning to get a clearer picture of the kind of being Vahn was and the restrictions imposed upon or decided by him.
"After all, if you have the power to destroy a world with a snap of your fingers, it doesn't much change things if we destroy it for you," affirmed Vahn. "Not that we accept those types of requests. It's just an example."
"Of course~" hummed Urahara, producing and unfurling a paper folding fan from his sleeve, feigning a smile while actually concealing a narrow-eyed, serious expression behind the fan and beneath the brim of his hat. After all, Vahn had said he didn't accept requests to destroy a world, not that he couldn't...
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After parting ways with Urahara and Yoruichi, who had to return to help Orihime and Chad with their training, Vahn returned to his palace and hid away in his deprivation chamber. Aileen had quite literally been riding him ragged, and while it felt amazing, his spirit and mental energies weren't as inexhaustible as his stamina.
"Haaaaa..."
Sinking into the warm and cozy crystal solution, Vahn briefly closed his eyes and allowed a weary sigh to escape his throat before opening them to take in the various displays Sis had proactively materialized. Due to the change in plans, Erza and the other girls from Fairy Tail were assembled within the lounge of Fairy Hills, chatting in their pajamas. Unfortunately, Wendy and a few girls he wasn't particularly close with were also present, precluding him from dropping in to join the fun.
Shifting his gaze to a separate display, Vahn saw Yamato patrolling one of Wano's villages in her fox form. Without the backing of the Beast Pirates, Orochi's assassination had largely gone off without a hitch. In his place, the former Daimyo of Hakumai, Shimotsuki Yasuie, had revealed himself to become Wano's interim ruler, vowing to act as its steward until the rightful heir of the Kouzuki Clan appeared. As for Yamato, she dutifully wandered from region to region, distributing food and medicine provided by him and the Dragon's Pavilion and helping to maintain order, reinforcing her status as Wano's self-imposed Guardian Deity.
Since they promised they would reunite once the next Tower cycle began, Vahn left Yamato to her triumphant trotting and turned his attention to the display depicting Riko, Reg, and the ever-fluffy Nanachi, Mitty, Prushka, and Faputa interacting with the members of Hail Hex and their enigmatic and alluring leader, the White Whistle, Srajo, also known as the Sovereign of Mysteries. The time compression of the Seventh Layer made it so that everything on the screen was in slow motion, but as that made it easier to keep tabs on the group's progress, Vahn had come to regard it as a boon.
'It won't be much longer before she meets her mother...' Vahn noted, a melancholic glimmer flashing across his eyes. The Riko reflected on the display was significantly happier, more powerful, and more confident than her canon counterpart, but he couldn't help feeling anxious on her behalf. Her mother wasn't a bad person, but a respectable mother wouldn't leave their recently born child in the care of her apprentice and an orphanage to continue living as they pleased. Lyza, the Sovereign of Annihilation, was a courageous, determined, and strikingly beautiful woman, but she was also famously selfish...
'She'll be fine...' Vahn told himself, unhurriedly cycling through several more displays before pausing on the one showing Rukia leaning listlessly against the wall of her cell. He was tempted to apprise her of the situation and reassure her it wouldn't be long before she was rescued, but since he didn't want to see her stressing out as she had in canon upon learning her friends were coming to her aid, he enigmatically left her a plate of slightly pickled cucumber slices, lightly salted boiled eggs in halves, and several skewers of sweet rice dumplings.
Seeing a plate of her favorite foods appear out of thin air, Rukia stared blankly at the items for several seconds before silently picking up one of the skewers. The first time Vahn had presented her food, she tentatively called out, believing he was her brother discreetly dropping off food and leaving faster than she could perceive. That delusion had quickly waned, but that only made her more curious regarding the identity of the person violating the prohibition against feeding criminals awaiting execution.
'It's a shame she ends up with Renji...' thought Vahn, exhaling faintly from his nose. He still recalled feeling betrayed when he learned that Rukia had ended up with Renji when it felt like she and Ichigo had been teased since the beginning of the series. Orihime definitely had the advantage in terms of looks, but before her abduction, it felt like Rukia and Ichigo becoming a couple was a shoo-in. If that had not been the case, he might have done Ichigo a favor by providing the diminutive Shinigami some food to help with her lack of verticality and conventional sex appeal...
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