Chapter 264: The Organization Has Decided You're Doing It
Once it became clear that Matsushita Yusuke had no useful leads either, Yamamoto's expression settled into something considerably heavier.
Not just the captains who had worked directly with Isshin. Even his squad members, even his family, had no idea where he was or what had happened to him.
A vanishing that complete, that total, with nothing left behind, made Yamamoto close his eyes without a word.
Captains disappearing one after another. Captains turning traitor.
Yamamoto was exhausted by it in every sense of the word. A thousand-year-old man who had managed to outlast everything, now sitting through this.
And the opponent was something he couldn't see, couldn't locate, couldn't touch. All that power and nowhere to direct it.
The most dangerous man in Soul Society, outplayed again by Kyoka Suigetsu.
Matsushita Yusuke looked at that tired, frustrated expression, old and worn down by things that had no solution, and felt something unexpected.
It eased a little.
You nearly killed me more than once, old man. But watching you make that face, I think we're probably square.
"Captain-Commander, are we really just supposed to sit here and wait?"
Kyoraku Shunsui said it calmly, but the undercurrent in his voice was audible. There was something in it.
The reason was simple.
Kyoraku had stopped smiling.
That in itself was something. He was normally the kind of person who managed to seem perpetually amused by everything, like nothing in the world was worth taking seriously. Right now, his expression was genuine and serious in a way it rarely was.
"We've had situations like this before. But with Captain Isshin gone too, I think we need to be doing something."
Ukitake Jushiro glanced sideways at him, didn't respond immediately, and then said quietly:
"What exactly do we do? There are no leads. Are you suggesting we run an internal purge of the Gotei 13?"
"That would at least be something. I can't just accept this keeps happening."
"You need to be clear about your position. We're the Gotei 13. Our primary function is maintaining stability."
"Sacrificing our own captains like some kind of ritual offering, giving up our colleagues for a moment of quiet? Doesn't that strike you as genuinely disturbing?"
"Watch your language in front of the Captain-Commander."
They were arguing now.
Matsushita Yusuke wasn't particularly surprised. This was a very normal thing to happen. Discussion was supposed to produce friction before it produced answers. The collision was part of the process.
In other words.
Nothing better than a good argument to watch from the side. Deeply enjoyable.
"And for the record, the most immediate problem is the vacancy itself."
Even the argument was ultimately working its way toward something practical. The posturing had a floor, and everyone in the room found it eventually.
"The defection of Hirako and the others already put Central 46 in a difficult mood toward us. If Isshin's disappearance gets framed by them and used as additional leverage against the Gotei 13, that creates problems we don't need."
"But the situation has happened and we can't undo it. The most useful thing we can do is work with what we have. First priority: find someone who can fill his role."
There it was.
The next captain of Squad 10 after Isshin Shiba.
The image surfaced in Matsushita Yusuke's mind immediately: the classic white hair and eternally unimpressed expression.
Hitsugaya Toshiro.
The most frequently targeted individual in Aizen's personal repertoire, in the original story. The man had a practically dedicated corner in Aizen's collection of favorite things to say at the expense of small, irritable people. And then there was Hinamori Momo, Hitsugaya's childhood friend, who kept getting caught in the crossfire.
The Fake Karakura Town sequence: the full captain roster hypnotized and converging on Aizen, and then the moment they realized the person they had run through was the world's most devoted human shield, Hinamori, rather than the intended target. Hitsugaya's face in that moment was one of the finest things the original story had produced.
Aizen was really a connoisseur in that particular area. A level of craft Matsushita Yusuke could only appreciate from a distance.
So: had things moved far enough along that Hitsugaya was ready to take a captain's seat?
Time was moving, bit by bit. But Matsushita Yusuke only felt it in a concrete way when the faces in the captain meeting started turning into familiar ones from the story. The gradual replacement of the current generation with people he recognized felt like the clearest evidence that the plot was actually progressing.
Mildly reflective about all of this, Matsushita Yusuke brought his cup up and took a quiet sip, settling in to enjoy the argument in the room with the particular contentment of someone who had no stake in the outcome.
Then Yamamoto turned and looked directly at him.
"Captain Matsushita. How has your workload been recently?"
...??
How is this suddenly about me.
He was genuinely startled. But Yamamoto had addressed him by name, and pretending not to hear was not really an option at this point. He set the cup down, gave a small nod, and answered.
"Uh, I'd say it's... manageable. Not too heavy. The intensity has been reasonable."
The moment he started speaking, Kyoraku and Ukitake both turned to look at him, pulling out of their argument mid-exchange.
Eyes converging on him from all directions. Matsushita Yusuke didn't flinch. He settled into a thoughtful expression and started reasoning through what was happening.
He didn't entirely understand what Yamamoto was building toward. But given the current mood in the room, this was probably an attempt to shift the atmosphere, redirect the conversation toward something a little more productive, using a familiar voice as a circuit-breaker between the two sides.
In that case, the right move was simple: follow the thread and keep it going.
"The joint training exercises have been going well. Most of the regular work can run through my subordinates at this point without needing my direct involvement. And besides the vice-captain, there are several newer members showing real promise..."
He paused briefly, then smiled and added in a tone that was half-offhand, half-deliberate:
"A few of them are performing well enough that I've thought about putting my name behind personal recommendations for captain positions, if the opportunity ever came up."
Half joke, half truth. The kind of phrasing that was exactly difficult enough to read that nobody could find an obvious angle to push back on.
He took one more sip of tea and wrapped up.
"That's basically where things stand for me right now. Honestly, the intensity has dropped, but the administrative complexity has gone up rather than down. So if there's any consideration of adding to my workload, I'd respectfully request some mercy."
The delivery was steady throughout. Neither pushing too hard nor folding.
As a work report, it was essentially impeccable.
And yet Yamamoto didn't seem satisfied. His brow pulled together slightly, and then he looked at Matsushita Yusuke with an expression that was working through something.
A moment of silence.
Then Yamamoto opened his mouth.
"Taking temporary command of Squad 10. Could you handle that?"
"...???"
"...???"