Chapter 244: Just You and Me
Anyone specific in mind?
Oh, you asked the right person.
Matsushita Yusuke produced an expression of labored contemplation, brow furrowed, jaw set, the performance of someone genuinely wrestling with a difficult problem.
"What about the ones who escaped to the living world?"
"..."
Two simultaneous silences.
The living world escapees. Both of the others picked up the thread immediately from just those words alone.
The Visored, led by Hirako Shinji. Urahara Kisuke. That group.
The suggestion itself was unexpected. But after a beat, understanding caught up.
Tosen got there first, and his reaction was noticeably more animated than usual.
"That suggestion is excellent."
The logic held up. Anyone identified as a viable target by this group was not weak. And the bull-head's research objective involved testing how Hollows fused with different categories of spiritual beings, not just Hollow-on-Hollow feeding.
If the goal were simple bulk, you could just park the bull-head somewhere in Hueco Mundo with an adequate supply of lower-tier Hollows and let it eat its way to a larger size. No thought required.
But different categories of spiritual body were a different matter entirely, and deserved more careful sourcing.
"Going after people still inside the Seireitei runs the risk of drawing Squad 13's attention, which might eventually pull the Captain-Commander in. That would be difficult to manage."
The living world escapees, by contrast, were a cleaner target. They had been off the grid for years, operating in a space that the Gotei 13 monitored only loosely. People who had gone quiet and stayed quiet. You might see them one day and then never again, without knowing which outcome was deliberate.
Aizen had not yet responded directly, but his expression had shifted into a considering state. Subtle, but readable.
He was genuinely interested.
So what was holding him back?
"Their movements are difficult to pin down."
What constrained Aizen's thinking had never been ethics or sentiment. The things that made him pause, calculate, and weigh were always the same: his own interest, and the practical returns on any given investment.
"We haven't made meaningful contact with the living world side. Moving there without proper groundwork could easily generate complications we don't need."
Tosen stepped in smoothly.
"Then leave that to me. I can start monitoring the living world's activity in the near term and track down their locations."
"Yes, do that. And keep it quiet while you're at it. Low profile, no unnecessary exposure."
Aizen's tone became more deliberate, as though he was still thinking through the details as he spoke.
"Those individuals are still on the Gotei 13's most-wanted list. Ukitake is a reasonable man by nature, but in a situation like this he wouldn't extend any deliberate leniency."
Which meant.
"The fact that they've stayed hidden this long means they've been living in the world for a while and know what they're doing. Don't underestimate that."
Tosen went to one knee, head slightly bowed.
"Understood. I'll proceed with full caution."
"Good. Caution first in everything."
Throughout this exchange, Matsushita Yusuke had not said a word.
Not because he had nothing to offer. He simply didn't feel any particular need to.
The direction of events was where it needed to go. In the original story, the bull-head's encounter with Isshin had been the result of coincidence building on coincidence: the bull-head hunting stronger prey, Isshin noticing something unusual in his patrol area and going to investigate on his own, the two of them colliding by convergence rather than design.
What Matsushita Yusuke needed to manage was the conditions for that convergence. Not the outcome directly.
Pointing the bull-head's attention toward the Visored, increasing its activity in the living world, naturally expanding the operational footprint over there. That created the groundwork without forcing a specific result.
No obvious holes in the plan. He had put enough time into it that the viability was solid.
Watching Aizen and Tosen take the thread and run with it, Matsushita Yusuke felt a quiet satisfaction settle in.
If this went smoothly, there was a reasonable case that Ichigo Kurosaki would owe something in spirit to the person who had quietly laid all this groundwork.
The idle hour passed quickly, threading between casual conversation and some detailed operational discussion.
When everything had been resolved and Matsushita Yusuke was about to leave, Aizen stopped him.
"Matsushita-kun. Wait a moment."
Tosen instinctively paused as well.
Then, once he registered that his own name had not been called, he turned this into a quiet nod in Matsushita Yusuke's direction, said nothing, and made a swift exit.
Tosen's raw capabilities weren't the most exceptional across every dimension. But in reading a room, he was consistently excellent.
The two of them were alone.
A brief, slightly charged silence.
Then Aizen smiled, looked at Matsushita Yusuke with an assessing quality, and asked:
"Matsushita-kun, have you been making a lot of progress recently?"
The tone of a teacher who has just decided to check whether their student has been keeping up.
Every instinct in Matsushita Yusuke's body told him this was not a moment for jokes.
"Well... ha, honestly just a little bit."
He raised his right hand and held his thumb and forefinger about a centimeter apart.
"Really. Just this much."
Aizen laughed despite himself, then let the smile settle into something quieter.
"At the level we've both reached, even small improvements represent significant development overall. Being able to make that kind of progress says something real about your ability, Matsushita-kun."
"Not at all, I'm nowhere near your level. You're giving me too much credit."
Pleasantries exchanged.
Aizen's expression became more still. His gaze moved to the window nearby.
His voice was flat. Calm. Describing something that had nothing to do with him personally.
"This is a rare opportunity. Would you like to try something?"
He looked back at Matsushita Yusuke with a smile. His right hand lifted slightly, and one finger extended, pointing in Matsushita Yusuke's direction.
"Just you and me. One fight."