"What... did you say!"
"You're saying Kisuke will be executed?"
Yoruichi looked incredulous. She stood on her tiptoes, stretched out her hand, and grabbed Kenma's collar tightly.
How could such a small matter escalate to the point of executing a seated officer?
And to be publicly executed on Sōkyoku Hill at that.
Was it really that serious?
Kenma grabbed Yoruichi's hand, prying it off his collar with a gentle force.
'His fiancée is so young, how did she awaken "The Diamond"?'
"There's nothing to be done. The law is the law."
"Yoruichi, as the captain of Squad 2, don't tell me you don't even know the rules and regulations of your own squad?"
Yoruichi winced from the strength of Kenma's grip. She tried to pull her hand away but couldn't break free. Then, she felt the pressure on her hand lighten as he relaxed his hold.
But right now, she was in no mood to care about the sarcasm in Kenma's words.
Because she truly didn't know the squad's regulations.
Just looking at them gave her a headache.
She even pushed off all squad duties to her vice-captain and seated officers below her.
Learning of such severe consequences from her fiancé, Yoruichi patted her chest, a lingering fear in her heart.
"Good thing I didn't agree yet."
"Thank goodness you stopped it in time, otherwise Kisuke would have been a goner."
"Thank you, Kenma. I didn't think you were such a good person after all."
'Did my wife just give me the 'good person' card?'
Kenma's expression was strange for a moment before it reverted to his usual emotionless state, that stern, old-fashioned poker face back in place.
Seeing Yoruichi so easily swayed, the weak-looking blondie at the door took a step forward and warned her loudly.
"Yoruichi-san, don't be fooled by his slick words!"
"He was the one who told me to submit the application in the first place."
At this moment, Urahara Kisuke's face was free of its usual weakness and gloom. His gaze was sharp as he looked at Kenma.
"I ran around multiple times back then, but never got your approval, Fourth Seat Kenma. You said it didn't follow the proper procedures, which is why I wrote the application."
"Isn't this all just you deliberately trying to frame me?"
Alerted by Urahara Kisuke's reminder, Yoruichi immediately reacted, her gaze falling on the face of the man holding her hand.
'Ah, his eyebrows really are thick.'
'His face is like that of a stubborn old man, the type who doesn't know how to be flexible.'
'I will definitely not get along with him in the future...'
'So why did Father choose someone with a personality completely opposite to mine to be his son-in-law?'
'What bad luck, what bad luck...'
'Wait, now is not the time to be thinking about such random things!'
'Right, Kisuke's matter!'
Yoruichi's thoughts wandered for a moment before she quickly snapped back to reality. She nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Urahara Kisuke's words.
A trace of doubt appeared in her eyes as she looked at Kenma.
"Frame you?"
A hint of contempt dripped from Kenma's words.
"Third Seat Urahara, it was your previous funding request that was non-compliant with procedures. I only asked you to submit the application materials. So, let me ask you, is there any problem with me following the procedures?"
"That... no."
Urahara Kisuke's tone softened.
Kenma continued to question him, "Third Seat Urahara, you wrote those application materials yourself. I didn't force you to write them, did I?"
"...I wrote them myself."
The momentum Urahara Kisuke had just built up instantly deflated.
"You see? When did I ever frame you?"
"I rejected your application to protect you. But you, what did you do?"
Kenma's voice suddenly became severe.
"My intentions were good, but you refused to appreciate it. You even brought Yoruichi here to make a scene in front of me. What exactly are your intentions?"
"This, this... I... but..."
Urahara Kisuke stammered, as if he had developed a stutter. His eyes darted around in panic, unable to form a complete sentence.
Kenma sneered inwardly.
'So what if he was certified as intelligent by both Aizen and Yhwach? Right now, he's just a young man who hasn't seen much of the world and whose mind is still unsettled.'
'He's completely absorbed in his own world of technology and research, deaf to the world outside. His experience is pitifully scarce, far from the shrewd and calculating mind he would later develop.'
'So shallow. Even after becoming a captain, he was constrained by his own lieutenant and only saw the light after a reminder from Hirako Shinji.'
'How could such an incompetent and ignorant person be a match for someone like Kenma, who had fought his way up from the bottom?'
Seeing Urahara Kisuke momentarily at a loss for words, Kenma pressed his advantage.
"Third Seat Urahara, then I must ask you, were you aware that the items you requested to purchase in your application violated the various laws and regulations of the Seireitei and the Gotei 13?"
"This..."
Urahara Kisuke didn't know how to answer.
If he said he didn't know, it would mean he was ignorant of the squad's rules and regulations, and a heavy charge would be brought down on him.
But if he said he knew, then he would be guilty of knowingly breaking the law, a crime that carried a heavier sentence.
He was trapped either way.
Looking at Kenma's attitude now, it was clear he wouldn't let him off easily.
He could only look to Yoruichi for help.
Feeling her childhood friend's gaze, Yoruichi immediately looked at her fiancé, a hint of pleading in her expression.
"Kenma, Kisuke just didn't think it through this one time. Please forgive him, okay?"
Her voice was unprecedentedly soft and gentle.
It was the first time Kenma had ever heard such a tone from Yoruichi.
The anger and killing intent in his heart surged.
His face, however, remained calm.
"Yoruichi, if it were any other time, since you've asked, I would naturally have no reason not to agree."
"But now, Third Seat Urahara's actions are out of line. If I don't pursue this, others will think our Shihoin clan has lost its authority, and I'm afraid everyone will try to step on us in the future."
Hearing Kenma once again bring up the Shihoin family name, Yoruichi was at a loss for words.
She put on a moved expression, looking pitifully at Kenma.
But in her mind, she was searching for loopholes in Kenma's words and a way to save Kisuke.
She couldn't be defeated by Kenma just like this!
Otherwise, after they got married, would she, the head of the family, still have any status?
Kenma ignored the piteous expression Yoruichi was deliberately making. His eyes were filled with an endless authority that pressed down entirely on Urahara Kisuke.
"Third Seat Urahara, let's not discuss whether you knowingly broke the law or were truly ignorant of the squad's regulations. But to falsely accuse me in front of Yoruichi, the captain, and Officer Hachi, saying that I was deliberately framing you—what were your intentions?"
"Relying on your good relationship with Yoruichi, you disregard the laws of the Seireitei and the Gotei 13, showing no respect for the squad's regulations!"
"Such reckless behavior."
"You are simply lawless!"
Under Kenma's barrage of questions, Urahara Kisuke's face instantly turned deathly pale.
At this moment, he finally understood. The other party truly wanted him dead!
His mind was sharp, with a photographic memory. He naturally remembered those regulations clearly.
False accusation carries the same punishment. Adding that to the previous crime of knowingly breaking the law, with both crimes punished together, although he wouldn't be executed, his Saketsu and Hakusui would be destroyed, and he would lose his Shinigami powers.
And if his funding application were to be submitted to Squad 1...
The result would naturally be a VIP spot on Sōkyoku Hill.
Yoruichi now also realized the gravity of the crime Urahara Kisuke had shouldered. The desire to compete with her fiancé instantly melted away.
She quickly tightened her grip on Kenma's large, rough hand.
Looking at Kenma, the feigned expression on her face was gone, replaced by an unprecedented solemnity.
"Kenma, I am also asking you, for my sake, please let Kisuke go this one time!"
"He knows he was wrong now! He won't do it again!"
She could feel that Kenma was truly moved to kill.
If she continued to treat this matter with a playful attitude, the next time she saw Urahara Kisuke, it might really be on Sōkyoku Hill.
But hearing Yoruichi speak this way only made Kenma more determined not to let Urahara Kisuke go.
"No!"
As his voice fell, a barely perceptible killing intent instantly erupted and raged through the room.
Although this killing intent was faint, it was incredibly solid.
The source of the killing intent was not from Kenma or Urahara Kisuke, but from someone else entirely.
Yoruichi turned her head to look at the doorway. The killing intent was coming from the small figure in front of the door.
Her face instantly changed.
"Suì-Fēng, withdraw your killing intent!"
"Now is not the time for you to be angry!"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]