Chapter 056: If You Want Something, You Have to Go Get It Yourself
The entry process wasn't complicated. What actually caught Matsushita Yusuke's attention was the venue itself.
Absurdly large. Whatever this space had originally been, something like a training ground from the look of it, it had been temporarily converted. Reconfigured. Opened up into a banquet hall with enough room to get genuinely lost in.
He stood at the entrance and took a long look around.
There was something familiar about it. He turned the image over a few times before it clicked.
Right.
A village feast. The kind where food just kept arriving and nobody asked too many questions about where you were sitting.
"Stop spacing out. Get in."
Soifon pushed his shoulder. Matsushita Yusuke nodded and the two of them went in side by side.
After they found spots to sit, more unfamiliar faces kept filing in. None of them knew who Matsushita Yusuke was. All of them were noticeably polite to Soifon.
He took the opportunity and asked.
What came back was an explanation of the noble hierarchy, and it took longer than expected.
"I'm technically a lower-ranking noble. But that's relative. Soul Society has been running for a long time. The organizational layers are dense and the numbers are large..."
The upper, middle, and lower noble classifications were only the surface-level picture.
"What people mean when they say lower-ranking is mostly families that can deal with houses like the Shihoin at all. There are plenty of nobles below even that level. The ones who can't get a seat at any table are actually the majority."
In other words.
Even to be someone's errand runner, you had to compete for the position.
Matsushita Yusuke shook his head.
This world was genuinely strange. Feudalism as a life philosophy: not recommended.
"Also," Soifon added, "nobody at today's gathering is a true noble in the strict sense. Yoruichi-sama likes to socialize. She makes a point of getting to know people from the lower tiers. So this isn't really a formal New Year's banquet."
Oh.
That made sense.
Yoruichi was probably running a talent scouting operation.
Having worked out the logic, Matsushita Yusuke straightened his expression and looked out across the room. In the distance, Kishinoshin had just taken his seat.
He'd been planning to walk over and say hello.
Not happening. The man had already been surrounded by a small crowd of other nobles, completely closed off from any casual approach.
"Don't bother going over there. Kishinoshin is a prize catch as far as these minor nobles are concerned. Half the people in this room want to get close to him."
Noble hierarchy was explicit and everyone in it had clear objectives. Whatever small resources became available got divided up fast. The system flowed from the top down, always.
The great families took the largest share first. Then the affiliated nobles. Then on down the line.
"So if you have no backing and no leverage, and all you're trying to do is maintain appearances... for some people, that's genuinely difficult."
Some things you couldn't work out without someone spelling them out. With Soifon's explanation now filling in the gaps, Matsushita Yusuke had a considerably better picture of how this all functioned.
"So if these people manage to get connected to Kishinoshin, they can access more resources. That's the idea?"
Soifon picked up two ceramic cups, poured hot water into both, and handed one across.
"That's right. We're nominally lower-ranking nobles too. But because of how close we are to Yoruichi-sama, the resources available to us are considerably more than what other nobles at our level can access."
She had just finished saying it when the far doors opened again.
Yoruichi Shihoin walked in wearing simple dark clothes, nothing elaborate. She was smiling and waving acknowledgment to the guests around her.
Less a formal banquet host, more someone who had decided to invite a crowd of people over.
She hadn't even dressed up for it.
Must be nice. For someone like her, life was probably always running in creative mode. With Urahara Kisuke nearby and both of them genuinely curious about how everything worked, the three worlds were basically already cleared. A completed run. Just extra content from here.
Speaking of Urahara.
He wasn't here today.
Probably had captain duties eating up the time. His background hadn't been particularly distinguished originally, but after becoming head of the Research and Development Bureau and captain of Squad 12, his status was functionally equivalent to upper-tier nobility. The system underneath all of that was apparently complicated. Worth understanding properly at some point.
Back to the point.
Yoruichi took her seat. She raised her cup and said something to the assembled guests. In the same moment, the familiar notification appeared.
[Yoruichi Shihoin's Personal Gathering]
[Profile: Some people are born with everything. Others start with nothing... The world was never fair, so if you want something, you have to go get it yourself. This is a rare opportunity. Try to build your connections and lay the groundwork for what comes next.]
[Rewards: Social Skills +5]
The quest didn't have much going for it in terms of raw value. The reward was firmly in life-skill territory.
But Matsushita Yusuke's attention had caught on the profile description.
If you want something, you have to go get it yourself.
Why was his brain suddenly playing a dramatic musical sting? No. Wrong. Moving on.
The more important part was the second half. Build connections. Lay groundwork.
He looked toward the front of the room, where Yoruichi was moving between guests with a relaxed and easy smile.
His background was genuinely ordinary. Unlike everyone else in this room, he didn't have an inherited network to lean on. If he was going to develop, he'd need to put in the work.
Even someone operating at Aizen's level had arranged his pieces carefully before making any real moves. Tosen and Gin, placed in advance. Strength accumulated quietly. Everything built before anything showed.
If Matsushita Yusuke was serious about getting somewhere, he was going to have to think about this too.
He took a thoughtful sip from his cup.
Then something moved beside him.
He turned. Soifon had raised her cup and was looking at him with a half-smile.
"Rare occasion. Want a drink?"
"Sure. But what's your tolerance actually like? Don't have two cups and start causing problems. I can't deal with that."
"Ha! Better than you'd think. Training included actual alcohol tolerance assessments. My results were excellent."
Matsushita Yusuke's expression said what it needed to without words.
Third-rate test.
Could it really compare to surviving Aizen Sosuke's home-brewed sweet little nightmare?
"Hope your actual tolerance holds up as well as your confidence does."
"Let's find out."
They clinked cups. Both of them smiled.
And somewhere in there, without any particular decision being made about it, Matsushita Yusuke and Soifon stopped thinking about anything else and just became part of the gathering.
...
The next day.
Matsushita Yusuke hauled himself out of his dormitory bed with two fingers pressed against one throbbing temple.
Last night hadn't been bad enough to black out completely. But there was definitely a hangover.
Ugh.
He was still brushing his teeth when the first dry heave hit.
Felt like throwing up.
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