Asano Keigo was a bigger bundle of contradictions than Kisuke had initially imagined.
The boy went from annoying to somber in seconds, from timid to fierce within a moment's notice; from running away due to self-preservation, to immediately grabbing the nearest sword and refusing to kneel in front of a tyrannical god who should have been able to crush him with just his presence, all in the same breath.
From telling him he was done with SHIELD to escaping a mall chase from more unknown shadow organizations.
Kisuke read the letter three more times before rubbing his temples - a habit he picked up exactly 72 hours ago; when not only did he unearth something that used to be Kurosaki Isshin's business and not his to take up with the Soul Society, but right after the kid had the audacity to spit poisonous truths of Kisuke's past at his face - and headed to his quarters to rest his eyes.
Not to mention, Keigo wasn't the only teenager constantly dropping by the shop asking for help anymore. Just a fortnight ago, Kurosaki Karin visited him - nerves and reiatsu wafting off her in waves - wondering if there was a way for her to stop being hollow bait all the time. He decided to help her in a heartbeat (owing the Seireitei's pardons to her brother after all) by giving her supplies to repress her reiatsu when required. Since then, she frequently came back citing school ending early. Kisuke knew the need for a safe-space when he saw one, so he let her be.
Asano though, was a whole other ballgame of recklessness and sharp intuition wrapped in a spirit-sensitive, jittery human body. He was hands-down the most frustrating, indecisive, volatile teenager Kisuke had encountered, Ichigo included.
Because Ichigo had the excuse of being the most powerful 16 year old in the living world and the dead, complications were a part of the package. Kisuke had predicted Ichigo's self-sacrificing streak from a mile away, which is why Yoruichi's involvement during the teenager's infiltration into the Soul Society was a blessing more than anything else. She had kept him mostly in check for as long as she could, and continued to be someone Ichigo respected and listened to on occasion. It wasn't the best solution to fight the recklessness that coursed through Kurosaki's veins, but it helped contain the damage to an extent. Not to mention, Ichigo was a textbook martyr, a trait Urahara had seen compromise too many shinigami before him, so he planned accordingly. It worked well enough too. So Kisuke understood Ichigo: all that energy and god-like abilities limited to a compact body and fragile mind were bound to lead to some mistakes.
Keigo though, was human. No human boy should be this terrifyingly unpredictable.
Don't get him wrong, Kisuke has never once underestimated their race. After all, he is a product of their lifetimes and he knew they were not to be trifled with. SHIELD was a prime example of that. So was the man in a flying metal suit currently taking down terrorists in the Middle East, who as far as Kisuke knew, wasn't powered either.
That said, Asano was a wild card that possibly needed to be reigned in, taken down a notch or two. Not because he was cocky - by Yamamoto's beard that would have been so much easier to deal with - but because he was entirely oblivious to his potential of becoming dangerous.
SHIELD figured it out - before Kisuke himself could have - and grabbed Keigo up before anyone else could have. Or perhaps it was SHIELD's involvement itself that triggered Asano's bizarrely sharp instincts.
At least that's what the kid implied when he confessed his months' long affiliation with them, acting as if he had no idea why SHIELD would give him the time of the day because of what he 'put them through'. And Kisuke agreed, initially (3 days ago, that was three days ago) - equally confused by SHIELD's interest in the teenager when they could have easily targeted an entire squadron of meta-humans in the same classroom as their apparent white whale.
Except Keigo mentioned that he 'didn't tell them, obviously. I mean Soul Society, Hollows, yeah. But I'd never tell them about my friend. I suggested they focus on the hollows instead, since they cause more damage - for whatever that was worth,' with a tired shrug as if that isn't exactly what SHIELD did.
There was a lot for Kisuke to unpack within those few hours they patched up a plan together, so he left it on the back burner, focusing instead on maintaining peace between himself and the Seireitei and threatening SHIELD bodily harm should they step a toe out of line. Had it not worked, he had contingencies ready. Asano's socio-political consent rant aside, Kisuke would not have hesitated to wipe an entire organization's memory if they threatened the Soul World in any shape or form, irrespective of the long-term ramifications. But SHIELD were smart; they backed off from rubbing too many elbows and instead, used the one day of reprieve Kisuke gave himself from averting crisis to enrolling Keigo into their supposed academy. With brochures.
It took Kisuke a total of 2 hours since this morning to realise that Asano wasn't the only one in over his head, that Kisuke was equally dumbfounded for entirely different reasons. While Keigo was confused about his worth and usefulness to SHIELD, and now other government agencies, Kisuke spent every waking minute mentally berating himself for not realising sooner that of-fucking-course they would choose Asano.
The kid screamed field operative material.
Personality aside, Keigo had the agility, stamina and speed that matched the job description to the T. He was quick to think and had a temper that flared when he's cornered; he unknowingly soaked up information like a sponge and adapted to situations seamlessly. He apparently knew how to hack into secure facilities and had a tankful of knowledge on sensitive, otherworldly species and phenomena and had high memory retention and an above-average healing factor.
These were all facts displayed bare in front of them since the teenager was roped into being one of Karakura's only novice defense group. Keigo had time and time again proven all of those qualities to be true, from holding his own - for however long or little - against Aizen, to barging into his shop with a crowbar ready to be swung, bodily protecting his civilian best-friend.
Keigo has always been these things and more - retrospect reminded Kisuke whilst snickering behind is back - but he was selective in his bravery. Keigo never showed his capabilities all at once, but put forward a combination of them at a time. He was an easy target to underestimate, refraining people like Urahara from seeing the bigger picture. Neither he, nor does he suspect Keigo himself, could predict when the teenager would do a 180 and say - jump from a building and walk it off with nothing more than a dislocated shoulder.
Kisuke is very old, and very experienced - he should not have been surprised by this turn of events. But here he was, staving off a headache and a bitter conscience at being completely blindsided by something right under his nose. It had not been the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last. However, not only he, but SHIELD and someone else who may or may not be SHIELD were bested by an unsuspecting teenager with a bag full of party tricks and awkward metaphors.
So either he and every other surveillance group were fools, or Asano Keigo was worth investigating.
"You look like something the cat coughed up," Kisuke huffed at the deep voice accompanied by sleek, black fur entering the room. Yoruichi looked rather pleased with her pun as she leaped onto his shoulders and began kneading his pressure points.
"That joke will never be funny," he replied, pushing aside the brochure (no, really. Brochures? Another thing Kisuke could not wrap his head around. Then again, if he was the head of a secret service, he would take unholy glee in messing around with people with something as mundane as brochures).
"You told me that joke,"
"My statement stands."
"What's gotten you so maudlin, then?" she hopped down and pawed at the papers on the table.
Kisuke contemplated dragging her into his business again. His decisions were tactical and the one time he was led astray by a little emotion got him banished to the Human World. Still, Kisuke could admit to himself feeling slightly off-kilter with Yoruichi in the picture. He trusted her with his life, and knew her to be the best on-field fighter there was, but any harm directed at her would weight too heavily on his conscience to continue. He could handle Keigo and SHIELD and the third organization himself - despite it draining his time and energy far more than he was used to. It was nonetheless doable, even without the memory altering. Kisuke understood the cause and effect of such a drastic measure, despite his earlier desperation for it.
He could however, gather all that existed on every secret agency since what the humans claim as their World War 2 and start from there. it was far too much work, but perhaps Kisuke should have foreseen the consequences of supernatural influence on the human world before today. He needed to have multiple cards up his sleeve for the inevitable showdown that would eventually lead to their worlds colliding, be it a year from now or fifty.
And he would need all the help he can get. Which mean Asano Keigo.
And Yoruichi.
"I'm not as good at probabilities as I had originally thought," he said and pulled up the files he recently got printed on SHIELD and Keigo.
The cat's snout twitched in what Kisuke knew was amusement, "I could have told you that."
Kisuke gave her a short summary of the past few days' events, during which he noticed Yoruichi's expression grow more and more intrigued. A bit shocked too, but she was always good at hiding that.
"And you're confident that this boy can help?" she asked, at some point turning completely human. Kisuke had long since given up on offering her clothing.
"He is a start, no other plan of his has worked, according to him. But everything seems to be falling in his favour either way," he mused, "My plan for him also blew up rather spectacularly after the chase from yesterday. If I'm not watching him, he will make a decision that, for the life of me, I cannot predict. So I do not know how it will end for us."
His partner raised an impressive brow, "He's quite something then. We must discuss this with the Soul Society as soon as possible. I know you're trying to keep them appeased for now, but they won't be happy when everything goes tits up. Remember how they reacted to those blue aliens forcing us to take their collateral?"
"Ah yes, Unohana-taichou worked overtime with how many shinigami were almost wiped out in that war. Glad to have had that captain show up when she did and drag it away from us. Is she still around by the way?" Kisuke was ever-so-slightly busy dealing with the Visords' problems back then to keep track of the whole fiasco. He would probably have to dig that up as well.
Yoruichi scratched her head, "Probably still trapped there," she shrugged, "Not our problem yet. What do you want from me?"
Well, since she asked.
"Keep an eye on the kid? Tell him I sent you, make sure he doesn't screw anything up."
Yoruichi grinned like she always did - shark-like and all knowing. She stood, stretching unabashedly before shrinking back into her feline form and jumping on the window sill.
"Like that has worked out before."
With a final snort, Kisuke watched her leap out of sight, in the general direction of the kid's apartment.
There was too much to do, Kisuke thought, and Asano Keigo was just the beginning.
A/N: Hey! Hope you enjoyed this update. Check this story out on ao3 since I upload there more frequently!
Until next time