Chapter 095: The Capable Rise. Nothing More.
The first person to say anything directly was Hirako Shinji.
The man looked like he had never taken anything seriously in his life, and he delivered his opinion in exactly the tone that impression would suggest.
"Personally, if I lost that badly and then couldn't even settle the score, and on top of that turned around and ran... I wouldn't just lose my captaincy. I'd go live in the Rukongai and save everyone the trouble."
There was more than one way to make a point. Choosing mockery over formal argument was a style, and Hirako had made it entirely his own.
Sasakibe, who had served long enough to have detailed notes on every personality in the room, extracted the relevant content without effort.
"Your position is that Kijishi Kenpachi should not continue as Squad 11 captain. Correct?"
Hirako nodded and was about to follow up when the person beside him spoke first.
"If he had any self-respect at all, he'd have submitted his own resignation by now."
Captain of Squad 9, Muguruma Kensei raised one hand with his palm up, a gesture that communicated the situation was more trouble than it was worth.
"Whatever else you want to say about Squad 11, the particular nature of that squad is not something I need to explain to anyone in this room."
Squad 11 held operational authority over direct combat, along with a range of institutional privileges inside the Seireitei that few other squads could claim.
And if he was being honest about it, the number of people in this room who had accumulated grievances about those privileges over the years was not small.
"I think that reasoning is sound."
Captain of Squad 3, Otoribashi Rojuro tilted his head slightly and turned a strand of his own hair between his fingers as he thought it through.
"Responsibility and privilege should be proportional. Squad 11 has always operated with more latitude than the others, and we haven't pressed on it because the position demanded it. But by that same logic: if he can't maintain the level that position requires, then why are we still extending him that courtesy?"
He seemed to feel his own argument was not quite complete. He turned toward the person nearby with a look that was asking for confirmation.
"What do you think, Love?"
Captain of Squad 7, Aikawa Love did not answer immediately. He rubbed the back of his head and let out a long, somewhat pained breath.
"The man has made my job noticeably more difficult on a regular basis..."
Squad 7, also known as the Palace Guards. Their operational purpose was internal security within the Seireitei, identifying and responding to threats before they became incidents.
In that context, Love had a professional disposition toward people who didn't follow the rules that was stronger than most.
"It might come across as hitting someone while they're down. But honestly? I've had doubts about whether he was ever really qualified for the captaincy."
He looked like he was going to continue, then stopped himself. Nobody in this room needed to have things spelled out. The people here were all experienced enough to read the rest on their own.
Someone like that: this is a good opportunity to remove him.
It was a professional opinion, not a personal one. And it was not the only one.
But if it had only been opinions in this direction, the argument before Sasakibe arrived would not have been as heated as it was.
"If he goes, who takes the Squad 11 captaincy?"
The voice came from someone seated closer to the front. She carried herself with an ease that made the room feel smaller around her, and as the collective attention shifted toward her, she didn't adjust her manner in the slightest. If anything she leaned into it.
"Personally, I have no particular feeling about the man himself. My concern is stability. If the Squad 11 captain is removed, do any of you have a replacement ready?"
Captain of Squad 2, Yoruichi Shihoin.
Arms folded, tone entirely matter-of-fact.
"I'm not arguing against this. I'm pointing out that removing him without an identified successor will create problems that we'll have to deal with afterward."
Something that ran against what most people in the room might have expected: Yoruichi in an official setting was a completely different presence from the version of her that existed outside of one. The composure was real and it was not performed.
The room sat with that for a moment.
Then another voice entered.
"Given the risks involved, holding our position for now is the approach I would support."
Captain of Squad 6, Kuchiki Ginrei.
Silver-white hair, dense beard, and the kind of presence that made the word "authority" feel redundant. His expression suggested that everything he was about to say had been weighed before he said it.
"Disrupting the existing structure without preparation is not a sound strategy. In particular under current circumstances. If something goes wrong as a result of unsanctioned action, is anyone in this room prepared to accept responsibility for it?"
"But doing nothing isn't a solution either. There were witnesses everywhere that day. The story is already moving through the streets. A Gotei 13 captain fled from a fight."
"We still have some capacity to manage information flow within the Seireitei. We can limit the spread for now. But that's not sustainable. The situation will distort itself before long, and by then our options will have narrowed."
"Then suggest something practical instead of telling us what we already know."
"That's why we're in this room!"
The temperature in the conversation was rising.
A voice came in from one side, lighter in register than everything around it, and took some of the heat out of the moment without doing anything obvious about it.
"Let's all take a breath, everyone."
Captain of Squad 8, Kyoraku Shunsui.
Unlike every other person in the room, Kyoraku had never managed to wear his haori in any arrangement that looked intentional. He had also, somehow, brought his sedge hat into the meeting and was holding it in his lap. His smile was the kind that belonged to a reliable middleman, and his manner had a specific quality of being comfortable on all sides of a disagreement simultaneously.
"We came here to figure out how to handle the Squad 11 situation correctly. If we work ourselves into an argument before we reach any conclusions, that does seem to be somewhat missing the point, doesn't it?"
The room cooled slightly. Kyoraku used the opening.
"Since everyone is here, we might as well hear from the rest. It's a rare enough occasion."
He looked to the person beside him.
"What do you think, Ukitake?"
Captain Ukitake Jushiro, pale-faced, with a trace of apology in his expression, gave a small nod and opened his mouth, then immediately started coughing.
"Cough... I think a measured approach is probably best here."
A conservative position, but one that had its constituency.
"Captain Urahara?"
Urahara Kisuke, seated somewhere near the back of the room, scratched the back of his head with the expression of a man who had been hoping to avoid being called on directly.
"I'm... still not sure which way I fall on this. I'll go with what the room decides."
Splitting the difference was also a position.
Kyoraku gave a small nod and let his gaze move to the last person he hadn't yet asked.
"Captain Unohana?"
Captain of Squad 4, Unohana Retsu raised her head slightly and looked toward Kyoraku with a calm, level expression.
"The student who defeated Kijishi..."
"He's called Matsushita Yusuke."
"That young man. Could we not simply have him fight Kijishi again?"
Unohana stated it with complete composure.
"The capable rise. Nothing more than that."