Kaito popped another piece of dragonfruit in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, tracing the influx of pure power through his system and considering the ramifications of it; already he could sense himself becoming a bit more attuned to this world’s native power, despite how settled his soul had become over the years.

(Settled or not, adaptation was how he’d survived everything he’d survived.)

(It was no surprise it continued even now.)

(*We’ll need to keep an eye on Ishida,*) Ichigo said. (*I… remember how badly off we were so soon after facing Aizen. Too much of this world’s power and who knows what will happen.*)

(*Is’at such a bad thing?*) Shiro asked, then huffed at the puzzlement-question-concern his question provoked. (*Kid’s just lost everything, y’know? An’ he seems t’be gettin’ attached t’these jokers already. I’m jes sayin’, when we’re finally ready t’go, lets not assume jack shit ‘bout his choice.*)

Kaito hummed a bit and accepted a clean plate from Cleo, idly arranging the rest of the dragonfruit on it and then beginning to slice it up with his reiatsu claws. (*He’ll consider Aizen his responsibility,*) Kaito said as he offered another small piece to Notte. (*Which means he won’t want to stay.*)

Ichigo thought for a moment, then said, (*If his fight went the same way ours did, then he wounded Aizen enough for Urahara to capture him. If we tell him that…*)

(*Won’t do a thing,*) Kaito answered immediately, shoving aside the awkward-uncomfortable-painful memories of finding his own original universe during his hops; he’d kept a tight lid on the truth the entire time he was there, but seeing them, seeing their pain-loss-grief, had been… hard.

(If he’d known that he’d left his own world behind instead of just traveling back in time…)

(And this Ishida didn’t even have another version of Aizen to conspire against!)

(*Eh, we can promise t’visit his world an’ make sure Aizen’s dealt with,*) Shiro suggested. (*We’re… kinda gettin’ th’hang’a travelin’. Kinda.*)

(*Only kind of,*) Kaito repeated with amusement, then shrugged and took another bite of the fruit. (*Worth a try, I suppose.*)

Around him, Cleo, Elisanne, and Zethia were clearing the table off, and Ranzal had ducked out of the room, leaving Notte sitting on the table by the plate of dragonfruit and Euden standing awkwardly nearby, as if uncertain how to approach him. It was… familiar in a way, especially after the way Euden had protested ‘using’ him earlier.

“You’re not going to convince me to stay here,” Kaito told the man dryly, turning sideways along the bench and bringing his legs up to cross them beneath him. “So if you’re debating how to offer me an out, don’t.”

Euden laughed softly and shook his head. “No, no, your friend was very pointed about that. I won’t ask again, I promise.”

“Good, because you’d just make me annoyed, and then I’d be annoyed and helping you,” Kaito said with a smirk, ignoring the way the tip of his tail was swishing lazily through the air like Yoruichi’s tended to whenever she was being playful; hopefully Euden didn’t know enough to read much into it, but… somehow he doubted he was that lucky.

“After seeing you fight earlier, I’m certain I don’t want that,” Euden replied with a touch of amusement. “Ranzal’s fetching some paper for us to draw on. As soon as he gets back, we’re going to try and create a map that will help you.”

Kaito nodded and popped another piece of dragonfruit in his mouth; he really wasn’t expecting much out of these people — he honestly couldn’t draw much of a map to save his own life — but anything was better than nothing, especially if they wrote a few key landmarks along the side.

“I… hope it wasn’t too forward of me to offer the two of you dragonfruit,” Euden said as he drifted closer and took a seat. “I know Ishida is your… is someone that you’re taking care of, but—”

“I don’t mind,” Kaito cut Euden off before the young man could try to explain himself any more. “This—” he lifted a piece of dragonfruit in indication— “will help, just as… Midgardsormr…?” At Euden’s nod Kaito relaxed a bit, pleased that he hadn’t gotten the name wrong. “Just as Midgardsormr suggested.”

“Have you really never had one before? Either of you?” Notte asked as she wiped her face and hands clean and darted into the air to hover a few feet from his face. When Kaito shook his head, she scowled and planted her hands on her hips. “Dragonfruit is everywhere though, and I thought all dragons knew how delicious it is!”

“Not quite everywhere, I’d say,” Kaito replied with amusement, unable to resist the small joke that no one but him would understand. “And if we’ve never seen it before, how are we supposed to know it’s edible?”

Notte and Euden shared a look at that, and Kaito had the suspicion that his words had only fueled their worry; on the other hand, there really wasn’t a good way to explain Ishida’s injuries without explaining dimension travel, and he wasn’t certain how well that would be believed here.

(It was also why he wasn’t trying to contest them calling him a ‘dragon’.)

(Frankly, given the… changes his Hollow mask had wrought, being called a dragon was better than he’d expected them to react.)

(At least they weren’t calling him monster…)

Zangetsu edged closer, sadness-apology-grief radiating from him at the memory of monster.

(*Their decision was not your decision,*) Kaito reminded the manifestation of his Quincy heritage, trying to tuck away the lingering sting of finally discovering more Quincy, only to be declared a monster for being himself. (*You never named me monster, and neither did any Quincy worth knowing,*) he said firmly, pulling at their memories of the various incarnations of the Rerugen family that they’d met while world-hopping.

Zangetsu huffed in exasperation but didn’t argue it, seemingly content to let Kaito ‘win’.

(Someday maybe Zangetsu would even believe him.)

(He was prepared to be patient on that front.)

“What the hell’s with this awkward silence?” Ranzal asked as he reappeared, a roll of rough paper in one hand and a quill and inkwell in the other. “Did you try to argue with him again, Euden?”

“No, nothing like that!” Euden protested with a huff as he stood up and gestured for Ranzal to put the things down. “We were just talking, it’s nothing important.”

Ranzal fixed Euden with a thoughtful look, clearly sensing the lie and just as clearly deciding to ignore it; instead, he set the inkwell and quill down, then unrolled the rough paper and pinned the corners down with practiced ease. “Well, if you’re done havin’ awkward silences, let’s get Urahara some directions sketched out.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Kaito agreed as he rose to his feet and leaned over the table a bit to take in the expanse of blank paper. It was a bit more than he’d expected Ranzal to return with if he was being honest; he hadn’t seen them carrying anything like this when they came into the castle, which implied that it was part of the castle supplies… and that Ranzal was familiar with common castle layouts, since Kaito hadn’t noticed him speaking with Cleo before he left.

(Interesting.)

(What else was Ranzal hiding?)

(Well… he’d find out in time.)

(For now, he needed to focus on learning as much as possible about the place he was about to infiltrate.)

(It would be a good test of his skills.)

(He was looking forward to it.)