Chapter 117: Thanks
"The Kenpachi succession was originally designed to select the most ferocious, the most savage killers Soul Society could produce."
The succession ran deep and long. Generation after generation. That was how it had always been.
But.
Things never went entirely to plan.
"Someone like Kijishi getting the position through sheer luck was always an anomaly. Even if Matsushita-kun hadn't come along, he wouldn't have lasted in that seat much longer."
Aizen's right hand tapped lightly against the side of his cheek, a look of quiet calculation in his eyes.
"Even with someone of that half-baked skill level, Captain Unohana still let him keep the seat for as long as she did. That alone suggests she no longer holds any real expectations of the succession itself."
After all, if she'd been too particular about it, she probably would have cleaned house herself long before anyone else got a chance to.
"So following that logic, Captain Unohana might have already stopped caring about it altogether?"
Aizen's reasoning was grounded. Convincing.
That would be true, anyway, if you didn't know the full story.
Matsushita Yusuke knew it. The mad old woman was waiting for her matching lunatic. Those two were biding their time until the day they could settle it in a proper slaughter.
As for whoever currently held the Kenpachi title?
Probably didn't factor into Unohana's thinking at all.
She already had the one she wanted in mind.
Because Aizen's actual contact with Unohana was limited, and there was no written record of any of this, this was a genuine blind spot for him.
Of all the ways to discover a crack in the boss's knowledge. The world really never stopped surprising you.
"In any case, that's roughly what I can offer you."
Aizen smiled and rose to his feet. Matsushita Yusuke thanked him quickly.
"No need for that. Verbal thanks aren't what I'm after." A brief pause. "Matsushita-kun, seize this hard-won chance and get me something useful. Gather whatever you can on Unohana's real capabilities from this fight. It'll help our plans down the line."
So now he's framing it as a mission. Giving me a sense of purpose and duty to carry into it.
Matsushita Yusuke managed a wry smile and couldn't find much to argue with.
"All I can say is... I'll do my best."
"Good. I'll be looking forward to it."
And with that, Matsushita Yusuke walked Aizen out and watched him until he disappeared entirely.
After all that asking around, you're still on your own at the end of it.
He went back inside, paced the room for a bit, then sat down and let himself drift into something close to meditation. That, too, was something Aizen had taught him. Clear out the noise, settle the mind, get into the right state faster. An essential technique for anyone serious about their craft.
Watching the crescent moon rise, Yusuke thought it over and decided he was better off going outside.
He didn't know when Unohana would find him, but if someone else happened to witness what was about to happen, the fallout for both of them wouldn't be pleasant. Besides, even Kijishi had had enough sense to find a quiet corner when his inspection came around. Was Yusuke really going to do worse than that?
Soifon was still in the room working through paperwork. He slipped out over the wall.
He walked without any particular direction, stopping here and there, treating it as a late-night walk to clear his head. About half an hour in...
He stopped.
An inexplicable cold wrapped itself around him, and whatever had been relaxed in Matsushita Yusuke's expression was gone.
He stepped back half a pace, turned his body slightly, and let his face go serious.
Somewhere ahead.
No figure yet. Nothing visible. But the air itself was warping, pressing inward, as if something had gathered inside it and bent the space out of shape. That alone was enough to put him on full alert.
Was killing intent something you could actually see? Something you could feel against your skin?
Before, Matsushita Yusuke would have laughed that off without a second thought.
Not now.
He could feel the air in front of him moving. Coiling. Shifting without sound.
The pressure gathered into something that had no business being there, flowed silently forward, and passed across the ground at his feet.
"..."
Just air.
And yet cold as a river in the dead of winter.
He could feel his skin pulling tight, inch by inch, his senses sharpening in response to that wrongness.
Matsushita Yusuke drew a slow breath. And there, not far ahead, he saw the silhouette beginning to take shape. Emerging from somewhere. Growing clearer as it came.
Like something forming out of nothing, gradually taking on edges and weight, until it arrived in full.
Unohana Retsu. Her outline materialized against the dim night air.
"..."
She looked at him.
Her clothes were unchanged. Her hair, her face, her expression: all exactly as they always were.
But.
Her presence.
That was it. That was the thing.
What was coming off her now was entirely different from anything he had encountered from her before.
The act of looking was exactly the same. But the way she was looking at him now carried none of the warmth from their ordinary interactions.
She'd only narrowed her eyes slightly. Shifted her posture a fraction. Small changes, on paper.
But on Unohana Retsu, that tiny shift produced something like a chemical reaction in the air around her.
The quality that moved through her and outward was cold. The word hostile had a literal meaning, and he was feeling it.
One glance was all it took to understand. She was here to break him.
"Matsushita Yusuke. You don't seem surprised to see me like this."
The man in question swallowed, somewhat stiffly.
"Because... someone warned me in advance. So I was at least somewhat prepared."
"Is that so. That saves a great deal of unnecessary explanation. Good."
Honestly a little embarrassing to admit.
Two sentences in and Matsushita Yusuke was already sweating.
He'd known this was coming. He'd had time to prepare. And standing in front of this particular opponent, the tension arrived anyway, working through him whether he wanted it there or not.
But then.
Against expectation, Unohana Retsu did not attack.
Instead she looked away, gaze drifting out toward the distance. And as she did, she said, quietly:
"Matsushita-kun."
She spoke his name. Then, low:
"I want to thank you."
"...Huh?"