Chapter 20: Soi Fon: I Understand
Meanwhile, Omaeda, who had been chased away, was on his way to the Fourth Division to get his wounds treated.
Just as he left the barracks gate and reached the foot of the hill, he ran into three Captains.
White haori. Overwhelming reiatsu. Their figures walked leisurely out of the night, yet the pressure they exuded was far more oppressive than any Adjuchas.
Omaeda froze where he stood, spine snapping straight. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.
"Captain Aizen, Captain Kyōraku, and Captain Kurotsuchi?"
"Oh, Vice Captain Omaeda. Good evening."
Shunsui Kyōraku lazily raised a hand in greeting.
"Good evening… No, wait! Why are the three Captains here?"
"Does a mere Vice Captain wish to question the private plans of Captains?"
Mayuri Kurotsuchi's disdainful voice slithered out from behind his mask.
"If your curiosity is so strong, why not come back to my laboratory with me?"
Although his tone dripped with contempt, Omaeda did not dare raise a single objection.
"Captain Kurotsuchi, do not be so harsh with a colleague who has just returned from the battlefield and still has official duties to handle. Vice Captain Omaeda had no intention of showing disrespect."
This time, Aizen stepped forward to play the good guy. He had done this sort of thing far too many times, and even Mayuri had learned to tacitly accept it. With a light snort, he let the matter drop.
But before Omaeda could feel grateful, Aizen's next sentence backed him into a corner.
"Although our purposes differ, we are all here for the individuals who were just detained by the Onmitsukido."
"?!"
Omaeda's expression froze. He almost burst into tears on the spot.
They had only just brought those people back. Immediately after, three Captains arrived to claim them.
He had expected trouble, but not this much trouble.
They are just students, right? Takeru, Kurosaki, the others…
Or is this really all because of the Shiba family?
Aizen's eyes were deep, as if he could see straight through Omaeda's thoughts. He smiled gently.
"Please do not misunderstand. I have no intention of interfering with another Division's internal affairs."
"However, Takeru and Kurosaki are both my students at the Spirit Arts Academy, and I have been personally overseeing their training recently. Naturally, I am a little concerned."
The implication was clear: he had a good relationship with those two, beyond a normal teacher student connection, so he wanted to understand the situation.
Just understand the situation. No other intentions. Please handle things as you see fit. Do not go out of your way to give me special treatment.
Even if Soi Fon herself were here, faced with such flawless words, she would not flare up. Instead, she would unconsciously start thinking about whether there was room for discretion.
Faced with this sincere, perfectly aimed "good guy" strike, Omaeda felt ashamed.
He had only managed to say a few clumsy good words for someone who had saved his life, while this was how another Captain stood up for promising juniors.
His own Captain, by comparison…
Compared to the other Captains, she was far too cold!
That thought sparked a strong wave of resentment in Omaeda's heart.
"Captain Aizen, with all due respect, I also feel Captain Soi Fon is going a bit too far this time."
"Those people are completely fine, and they even saved my life. Even if we need first hand information, you cannot just drag them back for interrogation in such a rough and cold way!"
"Allow me to ask one more thing," Kyōraku cut in. "Among those taken in, is there also a woman from the Shiba family?"
"Yes. Is that someone Captain Kyōraku knows?"
With Kyōraku, who always seemed easygoing and never acted like a lofty Captain, Omaeda dared to ask a little more.
The moment he opened his mouth, however, another cold sweat broke out.
After all, his relationship with Shiba Kukaku was not exactly friendly. He had even badmouthed her a bit to Captain Soi Fon earlier…
"That young lady's older brother used to be Ukitake's Vice Captain," Kyōraku said.
"So when I heard she was involved, I wanted to personally step in. But he collapsed while hurrying to change clothes, so I had no choice but to come on his behalf."
"Oh dear, I should have returned to my barracks earlier. It would have been nice to sleep while still a little tipsy. Lately, Nanao has been working me to the bone… ah, sorry, sorry, I let too much slip."
"Not at all, not at all. You have worked hard."
Omaeda forced a laugh, wanting nothing more than to slap himself.
He had only remembered that the Shiba were a fallen noble family, and forgotten that the former Thirteenth Division Vice Captain who died in the line of duty had also been a Shiba.
If that was the case, then Shiba Kukaku had at least two Captains, Ukitake and Kyōraku, behind her. The bonds might not be as deep as those of a master and disciple, but the combined influence was nothing to scoff at.
"Captain Aizen is Takeru and Kurosaki's teacher, and Captain Kyōraku is an old acquaintance of Shiba Kukaku. Then is Captain Kurotsuchi perhaps… an elder of Hachihara or Rindo?"
Omaeda blurted the question out before he could stop himself.
He realized his mistake too late, but Mayuri did not mock him. Instead, he gave a low, eerie chuckle and glanced sidelong at Aizen.
"I am not here to play the good man."
"I heard there was an issue with the assessment equipment the Spirit Arts Academy purchased from the Research and Development Institute."
"Out of curiosity, I retrieved that equipment and extracted the recorded data. I discovered something very interesting."
"Coincidentally, the two people who produced that data were arrested as criminals."
"Rather than letting the Second Division execute them, it would be better to hand them over to me as experimental subjects."
"That was my thought."
The moment these words fell, the atmosphere changed.
Omaeda hated himself for asking, but he also understood that even if he had kept silent, Mayuri would have said it sooner or later.
Being caught in the air between two Captains like this was more terrifying than facing an Adjuchas.
Under his trembling gaze, Aizen's smile thinned.
"Captain Kurotsuchi, I respect your scientific spirit," Aizen said quietly, "but I must ask you to abandon that idea here and now. Otherwise…"
"Otherwise what?"
Mayuri did not back down in the slightest. On the contrary, he seemed almost eager.
"I will use my methods to obstruct all of your research projects."
"This is the limit of what I can do. As a Captain, I must set an example for my subordinates. Large scale confrontations or more intense verbal disputes are not permitted."
Aizen sighed, sounding truly helpless.
It looked as though he was admitting he had no good way to handle Mayuri, using that helplessness to beg the other Captain's "mercy."
But Mayuri's expression grew even uglier beneath his mask.
Even with most of his face covered, the displeasure was obvious.
"Sosuke Aizen…"
"One day, I will make you sit in that chair in your disciple's place for my research."
With that, he turned and stalked away.
"Eh?"
Omaeda stared blankly.
He just left?
"Well, those kids have not committed any great sin. On the contrary, they have rendered meritorious service."
"So, no matter how unreasonable Captain Soi Fon's attitude might be, her idea cannot be carried out. Not with Sosuke-kun here as well."
Kyōraku chuckled, his smile full of amusement.
"If anyone else had said such a thing, Captain Kurotsuchi might not have cared in the slightest. But with Sosuke-kun's connections and influence, that kind of threat becomes… fatal."
"Speaking of which, I also heard a little about the Spirit Arts Academy freshman assessment."
"Captain Kurotsuchi's device was apparently developed based on his own parameters. So if any problem arises with it, such as a failed reading, that means the subject being measured has surpassed Captain Kurotsuchi's limits in some particular regard. That is what caught his eye."
As he spoke, Kyōraku exhaled softly in front of Omaeda and Aizen, his gaze drifting toward the western side of Seireitei.
"This is the sensitivity of a scientist," he said.
"No wonder the Research and Development Institute can always produce such odd and frightening things while we ordinary folk, who have heard about them for so long, still treat those children as if they need to be protected."
"In reality, to be able to sense reiatsu coming from Rukongai, so far away, as if a hole has been punched through the sky and you can see it just by looking up… that is not something children can do."
"Without us noticing, they have already protected Seireitei once in our stead."
"So I can understand Captain Kurotsuchi's curiosity, and I can also understand Sosuke-kun's concern."
"The future of Seireitei and the Gotei 13 is surely tied to their actions… I have that premonition."
Aizen pushed his glasses up and replied with apparent sincerity,
"Thank you for your auspicious words."
"I hope they truly can shoulder the future of Seireitei and the Gotei 13. If that comes to pass, then I will have fulfilled my wish."
"Fulfilled? Does Sosuke-kun have some other intentions I don't know about? I did not expect you to harbor ulterior motives as well."
"It is nothing worth mentioning, Captain Kyōraku. Please do not tease me."
Kyōraku stopped joking and turned to remind the still dazed Omaeda,
"Let us go, Vice Captain Omaeda. It is time to take us to Captain Soi Fon."
"Oh, right, right!"
Omaeda jolted back to himself.
"Please come with me, quickly. The Captain is in a bad mood, and she just went to interrogate Takeru. If he fails to read the room and says something wrong like that orange haired brat, he will be locked in the black room and offend the Captain. That would be terrible."
He hurriedly led the way.
"Are they not injured?" Aizen asked with concern.
"They are injured, but they are all superficial wounds. Nothing serious."
"It is a miracle, really. Handling enemies like that without needing a few days in the Fourth Division's treatment center… they are truly fortunate."
"Precisely because of that, if they were to be tormented by the Captain now, that would be far too unreasonable."
"Vice Captain Omaeda seems to harbor a deep prejudice against Captain Soi Fon."
"No prejudice. Only opinions!"
"Oh? Is that so? Let me hear them."
Omaeda's entire body froze.
His lifted foot remained suspended in mid air, as if time itself had stopped. He desperately wished it had.
Unfortunately, a torrent of icy killing intent mixed with reiatsu came stabbing from ahead, like a storm of blades.
"C… Captain?"
Omaeda had no time to think about Kyōraku and Aizen's reactions. He mechanically twisted his neck to look forward.
There, at the entrance of the Second Division barracks prison, stood the very person he had been complaining about, Soi Fon, with Takeru at her side.
Judging by the scene, the interrogation had already ended.
There seemed to be no conflict. In fact, based on the distance between them, their relationship even looked… quite good.
"Heh."
Soi Fon's lips curled. Her smile was icy.
But she did not say anything.
She only moved her gaze off Omaeda and turned it toward Kyōraku and Aizen.
"I know why you have come," she said coolly. "Do not worry. Everything has been cleared up. You can go back at ease."
"Can we really leave it at that?"
They were all sharp people. None of them intended to waste time on polite phrases.
Kyōraku tugged down the brim of his hat and spoke bluntly.
Soi Fon raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased.
"Do you want them, in their current injured and exhausted state, to drag themselves all the way back to their own quarters?"
"The Second Division barracks are not just a prison. Letting them stay in a few rooms for the night, what of it?"
"Besides, they assisted us. If I could not even do this much, people would say I was unfeeling."
Aizen and Kyōraku both glanced, in unison, at Omaeda.
"?!"
Omaeda's jaw went slack, his face collapsing in despair.
No, not now, do not look at me now.
What is that supposed to mean?
She forgets all about my work as a guide, but remembers one slip of the tongue?
"Heh."
Soi Fon let out another soft laugh, still saying nothing.
Even Shimiya Takeru found that silence a little eerie.
He could only give a sympathetic look to the pleading Omaeda, as if saying,
If you are still alive after tonight, then from tomorrow on, you and I will be comrades.
Tomorrow. Not today.
So there was no need for him to intervene.
"Then, Captain Soi Fon, we will take our leave."
"Mm."
Facing Takeru, Soi Fon's attitude softened noticeably.
Though it was just a small sound through her nose, an undercurrent of goodwill could be felt.
She personally arranged for personnel to receive the group.
The treatment could only be described as VIP class.
The rooms prepared for them might not have had big soft beds, but they did have soft pillows. They could bathe in the barracks bathhouse and even enjoy late night snacks.
As for Omaeda, he was kicked back out of the Second Division to patrol the night.
There would be no sleep for him. If he dared to slack off, someone would be watching. Truly tragic.
The brutal contrast left Aizen and Ichigo, who had just been "released from prison," completely baffled.
Just what had Takeru done?
"Nothing much," Takeru said. "I just gave a detailed report of all the information I knew, then offered a few conjectures."
"That is it?"
Ichigo clearly did not buy it.
"Of course, I did not just say it casually. That would be far too disrespectful to Teacher Aizen."
As Aizen's public disciple, he could not be crude when it came to "verbal communication."
"My conjectures were based on concrete case studies from Human World folklore investigations. Works like At the Mountains of Madness, The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Haunting of Hill House, and so on."
"I approached things from anthropological, psychological, micro expression, trace, and detective perspectives to propose several investigative directions, set the tone for the follow up inquiry, and provide Captain Soi Fon with some professional inspiration."
"Maybe I am not particularly professional myself," he added lightly, "but I could tell she was very satisfied."
"It even felt like… she finally heard someone articulate the investigative methods she has always used when dealing with unknown intruders."
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