"Batsu'unsai, I have something I need to tell you."
Kazuma sat at the table, picking at his dinner while secretly observing his wife across from him.
He was trying to figure out exactly how to broach the delicate subject of introducing her to Neliel.
No matter how emotionally dense he usually was, even he knew that suddenly revealing he had made a female friend centuries ago—and that their relationship was so close they shared foundational combat secrets—could end poorly.
If he phrased it wrong and triggered a domestic storm, it would be an absolute disaster. Just imagining the scene sent a shiver down his spine.
"If you have something to say, just say it. Stop mumbling into your rice," Batsu'unsai said, pausing her meal.
"Didn't you used to always quote me that old human proverb: 'Confession brings leniency, resistance brings severity'?"
She noticed his unusually shifty behavior and couldn't help but frown.
She stared at his hesitant, almost constipated expression, guessing that whatever he was about to say couldn't be good.
"Well... I made a friend in Hueco Mundo, you see," Kazuma began cautiously.
"I know. You incorporated his techniques into your Flash Blink. You already told me that. Go on, I'm listening," Batsu'unsai replied with a perfectly blank expression.
"She's a Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande." Kazuma hesitated for a split second, but forced the words out anyway.
"Hmm? A Vasto Lorde? Continue." Batsu'unsai raised a delicate eyebrow, seemingly unsurprised by the Hollow's rank.
"And... she's a woman," Kazuma's voice shrank, growing smaller and smaller as if he had just confessed to a crime.
"Hm?!" Batsu'unsai's voice suddenly spiked an entire octave, laced with sharp, unmistakable danger.
"When exactly did you two meet?" she pressed, her eyes narrowing.
"It was the very first time I went to Hueco Mundo," Kazuma admitted, his head lowered.
He didn't dare look her in the eye.
"Is she pretty?" Batsu'unsai's tone dropped to sub-zero temperatures.
"Um... I think she's quite pretty, and her figure is pretty good too—"
The moment the words left his mouth, Kazuma instantly regretted them, wishing he could just slap himself across the face!
"Satou Kazuma! You've gotten incredibly bold lately huh?" Batsu'unsai slammed her palm onto the dining table, making the bowls and chopsticks jump violently into the air.
Kazuma immediately threw his bowl aside and dropped to his knees on the tatami mat with a heavy thud.
"My dear, beautiful wife, please listen to me! We're just ordinary friends!" he begged, his face filled with genuine terror.
Ah, women.
They're truly masters of changing faces!
In an instant, the murderous aura vanished, and Batsu'unsai was smiling sweetly again.
"Kazuma, darling, what's her name?"
Kazuma cautiously studied her expression.
She didn't look angry anymore, and he breathed a tiny sigh of relief. "Her name is Neliel."
"Oh, Neliel..." Batsu'unsai murmured the name, the sweet smile still plastered on her face. "And why did you suddenly think to bring this up today?"
Looking at that perfectly composed smile, Kazuma felt a deep twinge of guilt, but he steeled himself and said.
"You're not angry anymore, right? I want to take you to Hueco Mundo with me on a vacation. I heard the self-proclaimed King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan, is very strong, and I want to go test his strength before someone else gets to him."
"It's a great chance for you and Neliel to finally meet, and we can also try to track down Kuruyashiki and his missing friend Ashido while we're there."
The smile on Batsu'unsai's face didn't falter in the slightest.
She asked with the exact same sweet grin, "Oh? Is that so? Then why exactly do you want to take me to see her?"
Kazuma scratched his head nervously. "Um... I didn't really think that deeply about it. I just thought since we're all friends, we could get together. Besides, Neliel mentioned she really wants to meet you too."
Batsu'unsai nodded slowly. "Alright then. In that case, let's go together. But don't cause any unnecessary trouble when we get there."
Kazuma nodded hastily. "Don't worry, I promise I won't cause any trouble."
After speaking, he secretly rejoiced.
It was a very good thing Batsu'unsai wasn't actually angry, otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Unfortunately, Kazuma did not fully grasp the meaning of the phrase "the calm before the storm."
If he had, he wouldn't have brought this up even if someone held a Zanpakutō to his throat!
...
After the meal, the two set off for Hueco Mundo, each nursing their own private thoughts.
Stepping out of the Garganta onto the endless white dunes, Batsu'unsai looked around.
"Kazuma, Hueco Mundo is so vast and completely deserted. How are we ever going to find Neliel in all this sand?"
"You don't have to worry about that. She and I exchanged exact Reiatsu signatures so we have a way to contact each other." Kazuma puffed his chest out, feeling incredibly smug about his cleverness, completely unaware that he'd be crying his eyes out soon enough.
Batsu'unsai was still smiling sweetly.
"My husband is so smart, you even have a special way to contact her. Let's go find her, then."
Kazuma flared his Reishi, pinged Neliel's signature, and confidently led Batsu'unsai across the dunes in her direction.
Before long, they spotted Neliel's figure resting near a quartz forest.
She was wearing her usual, form-fitting Hollow combat attire, the ragged clothes doing absolutely nothing to hide her practically perfect figure.
"Neliel!" Kazuma called out excitedly, waving an arm.
Neliel turned around.
A delighted, genuine smile instantly broke across her face when she saw Kazuma.
But a second later, her gaze shifted to the unfamiliar woman walking beside him, her eyes filling with sharp curiosity.
"Kazuma, this is...?" Neliel asked softly, sizing up the newcomer.
However, before Kazuma could even open his mouth to answer, Batsu'unsai suddenly did something completely out of character.
She grabbed Kazuma's arm, pressing herself against him, and eagerly cut in, "You must be Neliel! I'm Kazuma's wife~ My name is Katori Batsu'unsai, It's a pleasure to meet you!"
As she spoke, her face beamed with an aggressively blissful smile, as if she were announcing her dominant claim over Kazuma to the entire realm.
Hearing this, Neliel's expression flickered with surprise, but she quickly masked it with a polite smile.
"Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you as well, i am Neliel Tu Odelschwanck."
Batsu'unsai nodded slightly and began to blatantly look Neliel up and down.
A flash of genuine amazement at the Hollow's beauty crossed her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure, a faint, dangerous smile playing on her lips.
"Kazuma was right. You really are a very beautiful girl."
At this point, even someone as impossibly dense as Kazuma knew something was horribly wrong.
'Please, please don't let them start fighting...'
"This is the first time we've met, i've never heard Kazuma mention you before today. When exactly did you two get married?" Neliel asked, a strangely competitive joking edge bleeding into her tone.
The hand Batsu'unsai had wrapped around Kazuma's arm suddenly pinched his bicep with bone-crushing force.
"We haven't had the official wedding ceremony yet, but we've already done everything a married couple is supposed to do. Isn't that right, Kazuma darling?"
Kazuma grimaced in agony, forcing a smile. "Yes, yes, we've already done everything we're supposed to do."
"To be a friend of Kazuma's, you must be incredibly strong. Shall we have a little spar to get to know each other?"
Without waiting for an answer, Batsu'unsai let go of Kazuma's arm and drew her Zanpakutō.
Neliel's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she drew her own massive blade.
"Bring it on! I've been wanting to see exactly how strong his 'wife' is, and if you're truly worthy to stand beside him."
'They're... they're really going to fight. I should have kept my mouth shut!' Kazuma felt like he had been cursed by the Soul King himself.
Kazuma watched in panic as the two women leveled their blades at each other.
He rushed forward, throwing his hands up to try and stop them, but was instantly met with a simultaneous, murderous glare from both Batsu'unsai and Neliel.
The sheer bloodlust scared him into immediately retreating to the sidelines!
"Kazuma, don't worry. We're just having a friendly spar, we won't seriously hurt each other," Batsu'unsai said, her voice dripping with terrifying gentleness.
"That's right, Kazuma. I just want to see what she's made of!" Neliel agreed, looking provocatively at Batsu'unsai.
Kazuma sighed helplessly, burying his face in his hands.
'This is just great, two women just met and it's already a disaster! I'd better find a sand dune to hide behind.'
Without another word of warning, Batsu'unsai and Neliel simultaneously flared their Reiatsu and launched themselves at each other.
Their movements were impossibly swift, the cold glint of their clashing blades sending violent shockwaves rippling across the desert.