Chapter 171: Make Your Move
Without saying much more to Soifon, Matsushita Yusuke set out for the appointment.
He walked at an unhurried pace, using the remaining time to settle his breathing and get his head where it needed to be.
Approaching the western gate, just as he was about to use his captain's authority to pass through, a familiar reiatsu flickered into existence somewhere behind him, held there for a moment, then faded.
The sensation made him pause. He turned his head partway, expression unreadable, and found no one there.
"Captain Matsushita? Is something wrong?"
The gate guard was watching him.
Matsushita Yusuke hesitated briefly, then gave a quiet laugh and shook his head.
Nothing.
"Not a thing. Open the gate."
The signature had been unmistakable. Tosen Kaname's.
At captain level, if Tosen actually wanted to track someone without being noticed, a slip that obvious would never happen. Not from him.
So it was deliberate. Intentionally letting himself be felt, just enough to be read.
As for why Tosen was following him at all, nine times out of ten that was coming from Aizen's direction. Yusuke hadn't told anyone about the fight with Zaraki. And when the boss wanted to check on a subordinate's situation without making it obvious, sending someone to take a quiet look was standard procedure.
Understandable enough.
What he hadn't expected was that Tosen would find this particular way to do it. No interference, no questions. Just a brief signal: I know where you're going. Take care of yourself. It was understated to the point of being almost invisible, but in its own way, that was a small act of consideration.
Genuinely touched.
All those drinks were not wasted.
Matsushita Yusuke passed through the gate and left Seireitei behind, stepping into Rukongai.
The agreed location with Unohana was District 67. The number alone told you most of what you needed to know about the state of the place.
He moved at a steady pace, continuing to work through his thoughts as he went.
Then he stopped.
Here we go.
The thought had barely formed when a figure appeared at a distance, lean and towering, moving toward him at a measured pace.
That was...
A man with a face built for intimidation. That was the most specific description Matsushita Yusuke could put together on short notice. He took in the scar running along the left side of the face, the wild and unkempt hair, the flat expression that carried an unusual and settled coldness.
"..."
Their eyes met.
Matsushita Yusuke scratched his cheek, his expression going slightly odd.
Something about him was not quite what Yusuke had pictured.
No eye patch. Which made sense, the eye patch was a Research and Development Department product. No reason to be wearing one before joining the Gotei 13.
And the expression was less menacing than he had imagined. Compared to the grinning villain's face plastered across Zaraki's first appearance in the source material, this version read less as dangerous and more as a very tall, lean person who couldn't find anything worth getting worked up about. A face that communicated, clearly and without effort: nothing going on here, can't be bothered.
Not far behind him, a small girl in tattered clothes stood with her right index finger in her mouth, staring directly in Yusuke's direction.
Kusajishi Yachiru, presumably.
She and Zaraki were normally inseparable. The fact that she had been separated from him even briefly suggested Zaraki wasn't entirely confident about the situation and had made the call to keep her back.
A humanoid Zanpakuto...
Looking at the small figure in the distance, Matsushita Yusuke found his expression going thoughtful.
A Zanpakuto spirit that had taken human form and could release a Zanpakuto of her own on top of that. The layers involved were genuinely hard to wrap your head around. You could search the entire Soul Society and probably not find another pairing like these two.
And while Yusuke was taking stock of Zaraki, Zaraki was doing the same in return.
Their gazes crossed the space between them like two animals that had stumbled unexpectedly into each other's territory, each quietly measuring the other.
"You..."
Zaraki spoke first.
His voice was rough to the point of grating, which suited the rest of him perfectly. Underneath the raw texture of it, Yusuke caught something assessing in the tone.
"You're the opponent that woman set up for me?"
He hadn't heard how Unohana had framed the arrangement. He didn't need to. That one line told him everything.
You. Here. Strong opponent. Already arranged. Go.
Yusuke had been about to say something in response, but before he got the chance:
"Right on time."
A familiar voice came from off to the side.
He didn't need to turn. That was unmistakably Unohana's particular brand of crazy.
And there was something in her voice he rarely heard in ordinary conversation, a barely-contained eagerness wrapped in thin layers of anticipation that were doing almost nothing to conceal themselves.
"Every era has its Kenpachi. A symbol that does not change. And that title has always been carried by exactly one person."
She stood at a slight distance, hands resting at her sides, looking perfectly at ease with her role as the day's officiator.
"Then let me serve as the witness to this era's Kenpachi. Gentlemen..."
Unohana raised both hands slightly in an unhurried gesture.
"You may begin whenever you are ready."
Both of them had their own complicated history with Unohana. At this particular moment, neither of them paid her any further attention. They looked at each other.
Nothing left to say.
Matsushita Yusuke took the first step forward.
He smiled, looked at Zaraki, and extended his right hand in a completely easy gesture.
"First time meeting properly. I figure the basic formalities are still worth going through. For the record, I'm Matsushita Yusuke, current captain of Squad 11."
Zaraki raised his right hand. He did not close the distance. Instead, he pressed his palm against the back of his neck and looked Yusuke over from top to bottom with unhurried appraisal.
"That Squad 11 of yours... if I win, that becomes my territory, right?"
Matsushita Yusuke smiled.
"Technically, yes."
Zaraki Kenpachi grinned. A grin that was immediately recognizable, classic in its particular way.
"Then I won't hold back."
He reached out and clasped Yusuke's hand in one solid, simple grip.
Greeting exchanged. That was enough.
But Matsushita Yusuke blinked once, then gave a short laugh.
"You know what?"
Right.
"Talking to you just now, I realized I'm not worried about this at all."
This wasn't an exchange between equals looking to learn from each other. It was a contest. A hunt. Just as Unohana had said: this era had room for exactly one Kenpachi.
Two?
There wasn't space on this stage for that.
A brief snap of light, there and gone.
A flare of reiatsu igniting in a single breath.
"A welcoming gift, then. Here you go."
Matsushita Yusuke's smile stayed easy.
"Itto Kaso."
The whispered name was swallowed immediately by the fire blazing to life at his right hand, surging outward as his reiatsu crested over.