Chapter 202: Interrogation
Watching the notification members leave at a quick pace, Matsushita Yusuke gave Zaraki a brief rundown.
"Hey! What exactly is going on?!"
Zaraki enjoyed PVP, but he was no fool. The oppressive, heavy atmosphere from just now had given him a clear sense that something was genuinely wrong, and on instinct he wanted to understand what he was dealing with.
Zaraki's head was sufficient for most things. In the more nuanced areas, though, it sometimes fell a little short.
Yachiru stood beside him with an expression of theatrical worry, reaching out to tug at his sleeve.
"I don't think the captain is going to explain the whole story to you."
"..."
That was... actually completely accurate.
Watching the slow expression of sudden understanding settle across Zaraki's face, Matsushita Yusuke smiled helplessly.
You two actually got me.
"Nothing too serious, uh... probably. Either way, hold things down here. I'll be back."
He ducked back to his room to collect himself quickly, then headed out at a brisk pace.
When a captain left the compound, the vice-captain was normally supposed to accompany them. But Soifon had gone home for a while, so...
"Come along, Gin."
The person named looked like he'd bitten into something sour. It was basically written on his face: don't call on me.
"Why me..."
He complained without pause but his feet followed obediently behind Matsushita Yusuke regardless.
This was how Gin had been from the day he joined. He could pick up on things quickly most of the time, but more often than not he preferred to simply choose not to notice.
From an ordinary perspective that looked like staying out of things. From Matsushita Yusuke's perspective, it was the most literal possible version of playing completely dumb.
You think you're actually fooling me, bro?
They hadn't been away from the compound long before Gin quietly drew up beside him.
'Captain... did you get into some kind of trouble out there?'
What was with that tone? He sounded like someone trying to cover for a crime he hadn't committed yet.
And another thing.
"What makes you assume I was up to something?"
Gin smiled and leaned back slightly, then said with a quiet laugh:
"Simple enough reasoning, but it breaks into roughly three parts.
First.
Coming back injured in the middle of the night.
Second.
An emergency summons from Squad 1.
Third.
The method of notification they chose to use."
These appeared to be three completely unrelated pieces of information. In reality, combining them made it easy to build toward a more specific conclusion.
"Based on what you've done up to now, you and the Captain-Commander definitely aren't on the same side. So you should understand where I'm going with this."
Middle of the night, coming back hurt, the Captain-Commander calling a sudden meeting, but using individual one-on-one notification rather than a broadcast.
The purpose of that...
"Must be to prevent the captains from making contact with each other beforehand. So what exactly did you do?"
Gin's ability to make that analysis wasn't remarkable in itself. He had direct first-hand access to information from Matsushita Yusuke, which made connecting the remaining pieces straightforward. For anyone else, it would be considerably less simple.
After all, Kyoka Suigetsu could easily provide cover as long as they maintained proximity. And Yusuke himself was now appropriately alert. The same mistake wouldn't be made twice.
As for right now, Matsushita Yusuke was primarily experiencing a feeling of being genuinely impressed.
This kid's mind ran at a different speed.
As if he could feel his captain's unspoken commentary, Gin drew back slightly and explained quietly:
"Of course, whatever you're planning or working toward, none of that concerns me. All I care about is whether I can get what I want. And until that day... please believe me when I say I'm always on your side."
What he meant, of course, was Rangiku's soul fragment.
Standing from the original story's perspective, whether Gin was good or bad was genuinely hard to determine. Following Aizen around, he might have done fewer dirty deeds than some, but his hands weren't clean either.
But at the same time: for the sake of the girl he grew up with, decades of patient endurance without complaint, waiting for the exact moment when Aizen's guard was down and his nerves finally relaxed...
What more could you say? Bleach's own pure love champion. Quietly sitting back with considerable satisfaction at that assessment.
It was precisely this consideration that had led Matsushita Yusuke to show Gin such particular patience.
Because he understood that Gin was the person least likely to, and with the least reason to, stab him in the back right now. Gin still needed Matsushita Yusuke's help to recover what had been taken.
Considering all of that, he could only shake his head helplessly.
"If you're not actually planning anything, you didn't need to share all that. Silence wouldn't make anyone think you were mute."
"Yeah, yeah, got it."
The two of them moved quickly through the streets, and about half an hour later they were approaching Squad 1's gate.
But unlike usual. This time Matsushita Yusuke was stopped outside. Two masked squad members stepped forward respectfully and led him in a completely different direction.
What, no front door? Is this some kind of slight?
Of course, that didn't make it out of his mouth.
Matsushita Yusuke noticed Gin being led to a separate room, separated from him entirely.
Isolated...
And one more thing.
Not one familiar face the whole way in. No other captains. No one he recognized.
Considering this was supposed to be a meeting, in theory everyone would be heading to the same place, and he should have encountered at least some colleagues along the way.
He had run into no one.
This only meant one thing.
The timing didn't add up.
Were each squad's summons staggered at different intervals?
He hadn't expected this move.
With these thoughts turning over, he was brought into a small room.
Inside sat Sasakibe Chojiro, taking small sips of tea. He looked up, saw Matsushita Yusuke, rose immediately, and gestured for him to sit.
"Apologies for this. There are some urgent matters to discuss tonight... I hope I haven't inconvenienced you, Matsushita-kun. Please, sit."
Yusuke shook his head, offered a brief pleasantry, and sat down, directing his gaze forward.
Sasakibe rubbed his nose.
It was clear the Squad 1 vice-captain had been at work for some time.
His normally immaculate appearance had acquired a subtle degree of dishevelment around the edges.
"Ahem. I'll get to the point then... Matsushita-kun."
He rested his right hand on the table, index finger joint slightly bent, and tapped it against the surface several times with quiet deliberate precision, then spoke in a measured, weighted tone:
"The Captain-Commander was attacked. We suspect an inside element. So, what exactly were you doing tonight, and who can verify it?"
There's a traitor on the inside, and it's me, and I know it.
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