Chapter 219: Why Is the Weekly Report Still Chasing Me
It was nearly ten in the evening by the time he left the tavern.
Even by overtime standards, the hour was pushing well past anything that could be called reasonable. But Matsushita Yusuke had no choice in the matter.
He still needed to make his way over to Aizen's side.
It had to be said — the Club's workload had been considerably heavier lately. Probably because things were approaching an active phase. There hadn't been a quiet day in weeks.
'Is this going to be an all-nighter?'
Well. Not impossible.
The pain of working two jobs. Those who know, know.
After some sustained internal grumbling, Matsushita Yusuke arrived at his destination.
Because Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu was in continuous long-term operation, and the current Squad 5 was a thoroughly compromised area in the most literal sense, he could walk straight in without the slightest concern about his identity.
Even if someone ran into him, they would simply look dazed for a moment — then their expression would clear with a look of recognition.
"Oh, working hard. Night patrol again tonight?"
Matsushita Yusuke smiled and nodded, then walked away without looking back.
Within Squad 5, he could present as a different person to everyone in the building. Night patrol. A returning operative with something to report. Someone who had just finished a meeting with someone. The possibilities were endless.
He arrived at the captain's office door without incident.
He hadn't even raised his hand to knock when the door swung open from inside.
"Understood, then I'll proceed with the planned course of action. Thank you for the guidance, Captain!"
The voice had a cheerful, expressive lilt.
Matsushita Yusuke glanced down, and found a petite squad member — hair pulled up, delicate features, carrying the kind of energy that filled a room. She walked straight into his chest, bounced back, and landed with a short cry.
"Ow..."
Matsushita Yusuke crouched down quickly.
"Are you alright?"
She looked up with a bright smile, recovering instantly.
"Fine, fine! I wasn't paying attention and bumped into you — sorry about that!"
In fairness, Yusuke was also standing in the way. But upon seeing her face clearly, he found himself breaking into a smile that he couldn't entirely account for.
"Hinamori Momo. What are you doing in Captain Aizen's office at this hour?"
Hinamori Momo.
Now here was a heavyweight.
Allow me to formally introduce: Aizen's vice-captain from the original story. The one who fired the first shot of the Arrancar arc. The three worlds' designated human shield.
The great, undeniable, eternally youthful — her hairstyle and appearance in the Thousand-Year Blood War arc only got more childlike with time — iconic representative.
Matsushita Yusuke's internal commentary was running at full speed, while his expression held at something carefully controlled.
Honestly, I really do want to laugh the moment I lay eyes on you.
It was like running into the real version of someone you'd been a devoted fan of. Except the celebrity I follow is Charlie Chaplin.
From Hinamori Momo's own personal standpoint, she was a perfect victim — framed, manipulated, and utterly used.
But from a reader's standpoint, looking at the full picture, her experiences had this quality that made it genuinely impossible not to find darkly funny. And based on the original story, there was good reason to believe Aizen was a loyal, card-carrying member of the Hitsugaya fan club. Every time he had an encounter with Hitsugaya Toshiro, he made a point of landing a kick while delivering some iconic line that would boost his aura points.
So could you frame the Aizen-Hinamori relationship as a specific flavor of NTR?
After all, as is widely understood, the essence of NTR is one man humiliating another man. In theory, the woman caught in the middle is simply the vehicle through which that humiliation is delivered.
'I have no interest in you. What I want is to watch that man come apart.'
Was this not, in its own deeply calculating way, NTR at its most refined?
Cough cough. Thoughts running too far ahead.
Back to the point.
Hinamori had quickly gotten back to her feet, smile still in place, tone carrying a trace of awkwardness.
"I had something I needed help verifying, needed Captain Aizen's judgment on a few things... um. Next time. Next time I won't come at this hour."
She seemed to have realized the issue only after the fact, flushed considerably, and squeezed past him to get out.
Matsushita Yusuke made a couple of light remarks and stepped aside to let her through.
Hinamori Momo beat a hasty retreat.
Aizen Sosuke's voice came from inside the room.
"Is that Matsushita-kun? Come in."
Because of Kyoka Suigetsu, any direct reference or description that someone nearby might overhear would be quietly corrected in their minds to something harmless.
In a certain sense, this was the ability fully developed to its theoretical limit. If Aizen had no ambition whatsoever, it would serve perfectly as a personal reality editor — rewriting how he appeared to anyone, any time.
With that reflection, Matsushita Yusuke stepped inside and looked toward the desk.
Aizen was polishing the lens of his glasses. The captain's haori, the composure, the whole image — achingly familiar.
After all these years of settling and refinement, the control he exercised over his bearing and presence had been brought to an almost absurd level.
"I've been waiting a while. Sit down, Matsushita-kun."
Matsushita Yusuke sat without ceremony, rubbed his hands together, thought for a moment, and opened:
"Regarding recent work — I can report that..."
Work reporting.
Anyone who had held a job would recognize it.
The Club wasn't a large operation, but the supervisor Aizen had a strict and meticulous management style.
When conditions allowed, he regularly grilled his subordinates — not only to track progress, but also to exchange pieces of information. Because everyone was in different squads, what each person was handling was completely different, and this kind of regular exchange let everyone fill in each other's gaps, minimizing the information differential between them.
Taking frequency and intervals into account, Matsushita Yusuke could roughly describe the format as a weekly report.
Compared to other supervisors and the nature of the work involved, his assessment of Aizen's management approach could only be called: pretty solid, actually.
After all, at least Aizen didn't grab you by the throat demanding daily reports.