After War: 12. Degrees of Guilt
12. Degrees of Guilt
"Absolutely not."
Rukia and Renji looked to each other as they stood on the porch of the Ishida household late that morning. The house was in a modest, but well-kept section of Karakura town, close enough to the hospital where Ishida Ryuuken worked.
Uryuu shook his head, adjusting his glasses as he stared back at the two shinigami in what Rukia had decided they were going to wear to Karakura Town. They weren't passing for school students; this time she'd opted for clothes that looked like they were right off an Osaka discount rack, looking every bit stylish, she'd told Renji. He hadn't agreed.
"At least take a look," Rukia said, summoning up her most compassionate expression. "They have no one to vouch for them, and -"
"You think I'm crazy? I'm not going back to that place. It was bad enough the first time." But Uryuu didn't shut the door.
"We could just bring you back forcefully," Renji said, looking to where the neighbor from the house next door over were looking over the wooden wall.
Uryuu gave the larger Soul Reaper a sour look. "I'm not going anywhere with you two by force."
Renji sent a glare to the neighbor before he remembered the human man could see him. Then he grinned and waved.
Rukia sighed. "I guess we'll just have to let Twelfth Division decide, Renji."
He looked back to Uryuu, who seemed to be mulling something over in his mind. "There're girls."
Rukia elbowed him in the ribs. "Renji! He's not that easily swayed."
"Quincy girls?" Uryuu asked in disbelief.
Rukia smiled, nodding quickly. "And babies."
Uryuu's expression turned skeptical. "Girls? With babies?"
Rukia groaned at the subtractive value of her last statement. "There are ten in all. Four female, four male, and two baby-age."
Renji cleared his throat. "Inoue Orihime is there, too. She's answering questions for Captain Soi Fon."
He glanced to where the neighbor man was peeking over the fence. After a moment, the man disappeared into his own backyard. Uryuu frowned at Renji for a long moment, and then looked to Rukia's doleful, pouting face. He opened the door wider. "Come on in for a minute."
Rukia flashed Renji an accomplished smile as they went inside.
Hitsugaya was already at the office the next morning when Matsumoto got there. He didn't look excited to see her, but he wasn't as serious as usual, and she wondered what had tempered his mood. Considering the time he'd been spending with a certain vice-captain, she assumed he'd gotten promising news of some sort.
"Good-morning, Captain," she said cheerily as he looked around the corner of the divider between their offices.
He glanced at the smallish pile of paperwork on her desk. "Matsumoto. I see you've found time for your duties."
"Well, not exactly," she said, her tone not quite teasing, but definitely not grim. "I can take it to my quarters tonight."
"Never mind. It's just a token amount. Just to remind you that you still work here." His eyes shifted to the ledger she carried, and then to the front of the office. "Where's Junana?"
"Oh, I'm sure she's on her way to Second Division. I told her to meet me there later."
"Another interview with Ichimaru?"
She nodded, sifting through the papers. Her eyes rested on one of them, and she pulled it out of the pile to see it better. She studied it, finally realizing what it was.
"You're going to be asked to submit a report on the findings from Aizen's office immediately following his faked death, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya said quietly.
It took a moment for her to tear her eyes away from the paper in her hands. She blinked at him. "The findings...?" Then she nodded in recollection. "The letter from Aizen to Hina - to Vice-Captain Hinamori?"
He nodded, his typical no-nonsense glower easing slightly. "She's submitting it for consideration at the next captains' meeting."
"Oh." She nodded with more relief she thought she'd feel over the simple letter, a letter that had spurred so many crossed swords. "That might be best."
He sighed, watching her peruse the paper in her hands. "You know what that is?"
She did. She knew very well what it was. Gin had drawn the same map for her only a few days ago when she'd asked him to mark the layout of the unlocked passageways of Las Noches.
"The route we took into the Las Noches compound."
"The paths of least resistance, it turns out," he said, watching her eyes move over the page. "It matches the maps brought back by the Second Division scout party Captain Soi Fon dispatched to Las Noches before she left."
"They found them ... The ones Ichimaru described?"
"They got back last night." He nodded as she looked through the other papers in the pile. "The rest is more paperwork, Matsumoto, but I thought you should know. That much of his story checks out."
She sighed, lowering the paper, looking to him. "Thank you for showing me, Captain."
He nodded. "Word is, Captain Soi Fon is adamant about bringing in Urahara and Shihouin, but she might be back sooner than thought, before she finds them. For the execution."
Matsumoto braced herself against the jolt the word sent through her. She frowned at him. "Execution? Already? But we're not finished -"
"The first execution is being scheduled. It's already been voted on, Matsumoto."
"Oh." She studied him for a long moment.
He scowled, looking to the doorway as his voice dropped slightly. "Captain Soi Fon won't let this go without finding Urahara and Shihouin. We all know that. But no one wants to wait for however long Second Division takes to bring in Urahara. We need to conclude this business with Aizen before it drags out into dissention."
This was news to her. "He has supporters?"
"No." He rose to his full height. "But no one wants anyone to have second thoughts about statements that have been given."
"You don't expect anyone to rescind their reports, do you?" She didn't expect him to answer, not really, but she had to ask.
"No. Not unless there have been unauthorized visits to the detention center." He watched her sharply, waiting for an indication of something, but her expression told him nothing. "Has Momo's name been brought up in your interviews?"
She shook her head, watching the concern lease his usual frown. "Not much. But it is on the outline Captain Soi Fon left for me," she added gently.
He nodded. "Let me know when it does."
"I'll do that, Captain."
Matsumoto wasn't ready to confront Gin that afternoon. She'd spent most of the preceding night separating her thoughts into segments in her mind, dividing them further into smaller piles, and then trying to prioritize them. Emotions aside - well, there wasn't much left after that - but after she'd scraped off the thick sentiments surrounding what he'd told her the day before, she'd been left with the bare facts and she didn't want to look at them.
Practically told me he was guilty, she thought, meandering through the hot, dusty Seireitei streets that she knew wouldn't take her any closer to Second Division. She didn't want to go there. Not yet. Not quite yet.
Guilty of just what, she wasn't sure, but she was quite certain she didn't want to know everything. Not yet. Whatever it was, he had his reasons for not telling her, and while there had been a time it was safer for her not to know, now she wasn't sure. That was, after all, what Captain Soi Fon had asked her to do.
Wasn't it?
She frowned as she found herself outside the perimeter of Ninth Division. It was one of the more unassuming Divisions, without a real wall dividing it from the rest of the streets, only tightly planted barberry hedges chest high, and the wide gate that crossed the entrance never shut, not that she could ever recall.
She saw the small form of a scribe - this one a male youth - make his way around a corner of the first building. She sighed, and then startled as a hand rested on her shoulder from behind.
"Haunting my Division in person now instead of through paperwork?" Hisagi said, chuckling at her flinch.
Matsumoto eased a hand from her sword hilt. "That's a good way to add to your scar collection, Shuuhei," she said as he looked into the Division streets.
They watched the scribe disappear out of sight. He sighed, attention on her. "What's all this about covert operation, Rangiku? Does he really think anyone is going to believe it?"
The defensiveness slipped into her tone despite his half-grin. "What have you heard?"
"I can't tell you what goes on at Gotei Thirteen meetings, Vice-Captain."
She put her hands on her hips, looking to him sideways. "You want me to make you talk, Shuuhei?"
He grinned, clearing his throat. "That's not necessary. It doesn't add up."
"We're not finished with the interviews yet."
"What can he possibly say?" He saw a look of warning in her eyes. He shrugged, looking into the Ninth Division streets as the scribe reappeared, spotting him. "What's he said about Tousen?"
"Nothing yet. Tousen has already confessed. I'm sure you know that." She watched the scribe approach them. "There was nothing in Tousen's actions that made you suspect him?"
Hisagi frowned at her. "I'm taking another look at it."
Her voice dropped as she stepped closer. "Did he ever say anything to make you follow him?"
He shook his head. "I had no idea what he was up to." His eyes sharpened on her. "Is that what Ichimaru said?"
She sighed. "No. He said Aizen didn't want you anywhere near a mutiny. Gin said you were incorruptible."
"Oh, yeah?"
She looked to the scribe as he stood near the entrance to Ninth Division. "It's probably in the latest report. I'm sure you'll get a copy soon."
He nodded, eyes narrowing on the waiting scribe. "You know they voted to execute him, don't you?"
Matsumoto's fingers automatically tightened on her katana hilt. Hisagi saw the movement, saw the horror snap to her eyes.
"I was talking about Tousen, Rangiku."
She sent him a wary look. "You should have clarified yourself."
"Yeah. Sorry."
She decided he did look a little apologetic. Not much. "I'll talk with you later, Shuuhei."
Junana was already waiting outside the interrogation room at Second Division when Matsumoto got there half an hour later. It was the typical set-up, with the Kidou Corp and guardsmen in attendance, Juusan and standing at the door, waiting.
Matsumoto was pleased that Kazuko had taken the initiative, and Ichimaru sat at the table already, waiting for the proceedings to begin, his hands bound before him in the sealed cuffs and block bolted to the table.
Matsumoto held back part of the smile as Gin turned to see her when she was halfway down the aisle way. The Kidou Master behind him pushed his bo against Gin's shoulder blade, but didn't strike him this time.
She rounded the table, looking to Gin as he watched her. Junana and Juusan each took their usual chairs after Matsumoto sat down in hers across from Gin.
"How are you doing, Ran?" he asked casually.
She gave him a small smile. "I'm okay, Gin." She stopped herself from saying anything more of a personal nature, content just to be close to him again, wondering if memories of time with him were going to be enough in the future. "We'll be verifying your use to Soul Society directly before the events at Soukyoku Hill."
He frowned. "Before?"
"I need to establish what your role was in bringing about Rukia Kuchiki's execution."
"I never wanted her execution. Tried to have it stepped around several times, despite what Aizen put up for it."
"Wait a minute. Everything Aizen did up until his departure was to extract the Hougyoku from Rukia on Soukyoku Hill." She heard the scribes' pens busily copying his words onto their pads of paper. "You were there every step of the way, Gin."
"Yep, but I didn't want her dead. I never thought it would get to that." He shook his head. "Captain Kuchiki was willing to let Captain Zaraki execute her even before Aizen got to it, but I stepped in there."
She opened the ledger and looked through it for a moment. "There's nothing here about that. What are you talking about?"
"Well, I have no witnesses, Ran, and I don't for certain know how serious Captain Zaraki was, but he did tell Captain Kuchiki he'd do it. Nothing worse than the actions of a criminal - even a sister - dishonoring a distinguished family name," he said, half-quoting the Eleventh Captain. "Captain Zaraki was more than willing to behead her without any further consideration, and Captain Kuchiki seemed to be of the same mind."
"When was all this? I never heard of it."
"No, you wouldn't," he said, shaking his head. "I'm sure Captain Kuchiki has pushed it way out of his mind, especially after he let her be put up on the Hill."
She leaned closer, watching his hands settle over each other across from her. "You stopped this? How?"
"I distracted Captain Zaraki. Got him to rethink his rash offer. He didn't like it, anxious as he was to convince Captain Kuchiki he had the merit to execute the girl, but he decided to postpone the offer, I guess."
She looked to Junana and Juusan as they sat hunched over their tablets. Her attention turned back to Gin. "Do you have any witnesses to this?"
"Nope. Captain Zaraki and I were both without our vice-captains. Just the captains of Sixth and Eleventh were there. And me."
She looked down at the ledger and opened it to another page she had marked the night before. "Captain Soi Fon will have to look into that account in detail. And it will have to be verified by at least one of the other captains."
He shrugged, one finger tapping the table. "I don't really see that happening, but Captain Soi Fon should check into it."
Matsumoto held his faint grin with a warning of a smile. "Don't play at games, Ichimaru."
"Too much on the line for that, Ran."
"But this really happened? With Captain Kuchiki?"
"Yep."
She nodded, looking back down to the ledger, preparing herself for the next questions, and his answers to them. "Did you ever try to recruit me to help you aid Aizen?"
The humor dropped from his grin. "Never."
"Ever try to get me to -"
"No. Nothing, Rangiku. Nothing ever."
She gripped the paper tighter. Not all of the questions she wanted to ask were listed on the ledger. "Did you ever try to mislead me into giving false information to Captain Hitsugaya?"
"No."
"Never?"
"I never attempted to get you to deceive your captain." There was no mocking or humor in his tone or expression now.
She nodded, waiting for the scribes to record his answer. She found the next question on the paper, but her mind was still the previous set of questions. "Shortly before the Ryoka entered Soul Society, you were answering to Captain Yamamoto before the assembly for allowing a breach of the western White Road Gate. If you were loyal to Soul Society, why didn't you stop Ichigo Kurosaki then?"
"I did stop him."
She looked at him carefully as he parsed her words. "You didn't kill him, Gin. Why not?"
"He can't very well help stop the execution if he's dead already." He leaned his arms on the table, holding her stare. "Rukia-chan didn't have much of a chance. Word had come down from the Council of Forty-Six to execute her, and that date kept getting moved up. Captain Kuchiki wanted the noble execution of his sister to restore his family name. Aizen wanted her dead for his own reasons, and by his own method, and he didn't want Abarai or Captain Ukitake anywhere near her. Most of Soul Society wanted her dead. Didn't look very good for her."
She shook her head. "Aizen wanted the Ryoka inside the gates to -"
"Create a disturbance?" He shook his head. "No. Just a bunch of bluster at the end on Soukyoku Hill when he knew it was close to falling apart, Ran. Surprised me when he said it." He shrugged. "He had control over all the other gates. Only Jidanbou was in question."
"Why did you go to the White Road Gate?"
"Because that's where the Ryoka went. I'd have gone to whichever gate Kurosaki and his little friends did."
"Why?"
"Make sure they didn't get killed by the gatekeepers, the ones Aizen had convinced to join him. If I knew Jidanbou was going to let them in, I wouldn't have bothered. After he actually let them in, well," he said, shrugging, "as captain of Third, I couldn't very well just welcome them in. I could have easily killed them. In hindsight, I should've let them on in."
She nodded slowly, pushing her hair from her face as she looked down at the ledger. "You told the Gotei Thirteen you had no excuse for not killing the Ryoka."
He sighed, smiling slightly, watching her hair fold softly beneath her fingers. "I hadn't thought of an excuse yet. I had Captains Kurotsuchi and Zaraki nagging about why I hadn't killed the intruders, and I hadn't thought of a good reason yet."
She studied him for a moment, watching him as he spoke, measuring his words against what she knew - really knew - of his mannerisms. It was all there. It was all true, and she knew it. She couldn't prove it, and she was afraid neither could he, but she knew it was true. Her fingers pressed onto the table as she asked the next question.
"Did you slaughter the Council of Forty-Six?"
The query seemed to set him aback. "No."
"Did you do anything to them? Distract them? Lead them into a trap, Gin, or -"
"I had no hand in their murders, Vice-Captain Matsumoto," he said with all seriousness. "Aizen said he'd taken care of the Forty-Six, and that he'd be giving their orders now. I don't know if Tousen helped him out in their slaughter or not, but he didn't seem too surprised when Aizen told us of it."
She nodded, watching the scribes working in their pads of paper. She looked back to him, debating her next words as she watched his eyes move over her face. "What have you done, Gin?" she asked quietly.
For a moment he returned her attention, moving over the table as far as the cuffs allowed. "Not here, Rangiku," he said just loud enough for her to hear. "Don't ask here."
She nodded slowly, hearing the scribes record his hushed words. She asked more softly, "Did you ever try to turn me?"
"No. Never."
She looked to his hands, watching his fingers cross to hers closest to him. She could see the red marks from her fingernails still in his flesh on one. "I'll visit you tomorrow."
"Not today?"
She shook her head. "I have to write up my report."
He sighed, looking to Junana. "Then what good are your little mice if they don't do your paperwork for you, Ran?"
"Don't tease them, Gin."
He watched while Junana wrote down his words. "Ah, well. At least they're quiet things."
She looked to where Kazuko was watching out of the corner of his eye. She slipped her hand beneath Gin's for a moment, smiling as his fingers closed over hers tightly. "I'll see you tomorrow."
He nodded, relinquishing her hand reluctantly when she pulled it from him.
"I'm finished for today, First Officer Kazuko," she said louder, sitting back from the table.
Junana and Juusan flipped their pads closed and stood up when Matsumoto did.
"Horyo Two, on your feet!" Kazuko called, stepping to Ichimaru's side of the table.
"No hood, First Officer. Please," Matsumoto asked as the guardsman prepared to cover the prisoner's head with the black cloth.
Kazuko looked to her for a moment, and then set the hood on the table. "This time, Vice-Captain Matsumoto."
"Thank you, Fist officer."
Gin had grinned at her request, but didn't comment.