Chapter 247: Presentation
Though he had acquiesced to Venelana's strategy of having him make a grand entrance to get ahead of any attempts at concealing or obfuscating his existence by the Seireitei's nobility, Vahn felt it would be a bit much to address Yamamoto and the members of the Gotei in his Dragon form. The size disparity alone made things awkward, so after descending to within a hundred meters of the parade grounds, Vahn's figure rapidly compressed into his partially scale-covered hybrid Zoan form before he touched down next to Grayfia—his thick, golden-flame-cloud-ridged tail snaking behind him as Laev-tan came to settle behind his back.
"Get a load of this guy..." hummed Kenpachi, sporting a broad, toothy grin as he pondered how durable Vahn's iridescent white and gold scales were and whether he could cut through them.
"That was quite the entrance, Vahn-sama," expressed Ukitake, adopting his most welcoming smile even as his palms felt clammy due to the auras of Aileen, her parents, and Grandfather—looming overhead as if prepared to erase the Seireitei from existence.
"I'm glad you think so," responded Vahn, cupping his hands and smiling as he casually remarked, "I feel it was a bit much, but I trust the judgment of my wives and retainers. This can be considered a reasonably monumental occasion, so it was determined we should put on a bit of a show."
Surprising even Vahn, though it wasn't reflected in his expression, Grayfia and virtually everyone within the procession bowed their heads in concert when he cupped his hands. They were presently in a formal setting, so his casual deference toward Yamamoto and the Gotei evidently mandated an expression of respect from the entire procession.
'Just how much did they prepare for this...?' Vahn wondered to himself, his smile curling slightly at the edges due to the stunned expressions of most of the Captains. Only Yamamoto didn't react—the elderly Shinigami's gaze focused exclusively on him before he cast a sharp gaze at his own line-up and barked, "You brats! Show our guests the respect they deserve!"
"Come on, old man...you can't be serious..." remarked Kenpachi, his raspy voice and grimace dripping with displeasure. Fortunately for him and the other Captains, it was Vahn who answered, slipping his right hand behind his back and raising his left haltingly as he stated, "We're the ones visiting your home today, so it's only natural we exhibit a bit of deference. Rather than making this a competition to see who can out-manner the other, let's proceed with the gifting ceremony and introductions."
"Hmmm...very well..." conceded Yamamoto, but not before casting a glare in Kenpachi's direction, causing the much taller, wild-looking man to click his tongue and avert his eye with an annoyed look.
"Uh-oh, Ken-chan got in trouble~" hummed an inordinately petite, child-like girl with short pink hair, dark pink eyes, perpetual blush marks on her cheeks, and a cross-boned hairpin, laughing impishly and standing among the Lieutenants with a placard armband denoting her as Lieutenant of the 11th Division.
"Hey, quiet down, would ya? I'm already going to receive an earful once this is over and done with..." groaned Kenpachi, causing the girl, Kusajishi Yachiru, to hold her right hand over her mouth, her tiny fingers spread as she snickered unrepentantly.
Though his expression, as usual, didn't change, the vein of Yamamoto's left temple protruded faintly as he closed his eyes and tightened his grip on his club-like cane, forcibly suppressing his urge to lambast the duo for making a scene. Fortunately, after Vahn's previous words, eight ornate black and gold chests were manually brought up to the elevated parade grounds, drawing most of the spectators' attention as they were placed around him in a semi-circle.