Restricted Death

Chapter 201 Forgiveness
The morning air was damp and cool. Matsumoto Rangiku dragged her tired body into the barracks. The coolness seemed to seep into her bones, but it couldn't dispel the heavy, sticky feeling in her heart. Every step felt like walking on wet cotton, unsteady and heavy.

"morning."

The person I ran into was Toshiro Hitsugaya. He was wearing a Shinigami uniform that was so neat and without a single wrinkle. He was carrying a Zanpakuto that was half his height. He was short but looked exceptionally handsome and neat. His eyes were full of youthful energy that matched his appearance.

Matsumoto Rangiku casually remarked, "You're here really early."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at her and said, "When have I ever arrived late? Otherwise, would you go patrol the streets for me?"

This kid has become so rude with his words.

Matsumoto Rangiku inwardly grumbled, a nameless irritation rising within her, but she forced it down and simply replied perfunctorily, "Yes, yes, you've worked hard."

She couldn't even be bothered to distinguish whether her frustration was directed at Hitsugaya or at her own predicament.

Hitsugaya added, "If you're free, you can also help lead the patrol."

Matsumoto Rangiku was unwilling, so she said "I'm so busy" and simply walked past him.

Upon entering the courtyard inside the barracks, the cool stone path reflected the morning light, and she immediately noticed that the captain's office door was wide open.

This guy arrived early too...

Matsumoto Rangiku didn't stop walking, but just glanced over there and thought to herself.

Looking back at what Tachikawa Shin has done since becoming the captain of the 10th Division, he doesn't seem to have made any mistakes, and he can be considered to be quite conscientious and responsible in his daily duties.

If I had to pinpoint what made Matsumoto Rangiku uncomfortable, it would be that this guy wouldn't tolerate her slacking off. He'd always find excuses to criticize her or refuse to approve her leave requests.

Logically speaking, he did nothing wrong, and his demands would have been reasonable for any captain.

Even so, he was quite forgiving of his past actions.

At least in public, he never openly said anything about himself to save face... On the contrary, I would talk bad about him whenever I had free time.

Matsumoto Rangiku had always thought this was a normal way of getting along. She believed that she understood Shin well enough to maintain this unique, slightly prickly, tacit understanding with him.

Until that thing happened.

She couldn't help but start to think that her previous actions had gone too far, which had made the other party unable to bear it any longer and "punish" her.
Such thoughts disgusted even Matsumoto Rangiku herself, but for now, this was the only way she could convince herself to face the future and accept the possible, even more unbearable "normalcy".

Otherwise, do we really have to maintain our current mindset and fight against the other side to the end?
What chance of success can there be by doing this? Like a moth trapped in a spider web, each struggle only makes the sticky threads entangle it tighter.

The fact that she has been able to live peacefully until now is only due to Tachikawa Shin's "tolerance" towards her. If Tachikawa Shin really wanted to harm her, with his current power, status, and skills, wouldn't it be a very simple matter?

The 10th Division isn't indispensable; Hitsugaya's current third seat is far more competent and important than she, the vice-captain, in terms of both strength and responsibility. This realization stung her pride like a cold needle.

Ultimately, Matsumoto Rangiku herself couldn't accept the outcome of a truly deadly confrontation. It might cause the other party some trouble, but what she would have to pay was her reputation.

If Yin finds out...

Matsumoto Rangiku spent the entire morning in her office, with the curtains half-drawn, the room dimly lit.

The bed remained there quietly, untouched, like a huge, silent irony.

Hitsugaya once mocked her for this, saying that she had moved her home to the barracks, but she didn't even have the strength to talk back.

As usual, she sank into the large armchair, her gaze fixed quietly on the ceiling, as if time itself had solidified into amber, enveloping her.

Around noon, Hitsugaya knocked on the door and came in, carrying a document.

"This is the street patrol log from this morning."

He placed the documents on his desk, while Matsumoto Rangiku lay back in her chair, showing no intention of getting up, like a weary sculpture.

"I've already sorted it out. You just need to stamp it and remember to send it to the team leader."

"..."

Hitsugaya continued, "The captain wants to increase the number of patrol members and expand the patrol area of ​​Rukongai. To do this, we need to draw patrol members from Seireitei. This matter requires the approval of the First Division. You need to mention this to Vice-Captain Sasakibe at the vice-captain's performance review meeting and see what the higher-ups think."

He sighed: "It seems the captain is considering turning the 10th Division into a police force."

Matsumoto Rangiku remained unresponsive, as if those words were merely passing wind.

Hitsugaya said helplessly, raising his voice slightly, "Didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you," she replied slowly, her voice weak and listless, as if it had drifted from a great distance.

Hitsugaya walked to the side, poured himself a glass of water, glanced at her lifeless face, took a sip, and couldn't help but say, "You sitting in the office is more tiring than me patrolling the streets."

"Yes, I'm exhausted."

Hitsugaya: "...If you don't want to be the vice-captain, you might as well give up your position to me."

Matsumoto Rangiku glanced at her and asked, "You really want to be one?"

Now it was Hitsugaya's turn to be stunned. To be honest, he didn't really care much about the position of a vice-captain. He had a clear understanding of his own talent and knew that in a few years, he would be able to reach the level of a captain.

"Vice Captain Matsumoto, you've been acting really strange lately."

"..."

Matsumoto Rangiku then sat up, picked up the document, glanced at it briefly, and found that the contents were basically true as Hitsugaya had said. She then took the seal and began to stamp it.

"Really? Apart from being overwhelmed by work, I'm fine. If you don't want to be the deputy captain, then take on more of my workload."

Hitsugaya pursed his lips, no longer delving into the awkwardness: "Haven't I shared enough of your burden?"

After Hitsugaya left, Matsumoto Rangiku collapsed back into her chair, completely deflated.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The only sound was the ticking of the wall clock. Occasionally, the sound of footsteps passing by could be heard outside the window, and the conversations were muffled, as if they were being heard through a thick pane of glass.

Rangiku Matsumoto glanced at the stamped document on the table out of the corner of her eye, staring at it for a long time, the edges of the paper reflecting a cold light.

Suddenly, she stood up abruptly, as if pulled by an invisible thread, grabbed the document in her hand, took a deep breath, and with a determination akin to going to her execution, walked out of the office and headed towards the place she had deliberately avoided for so long.

Arriving at the door of the captain's office, she hesitated, wondering whether to knock or simply push the door open and go in.

The door suddenly opened from the inside.

"Vice-Captain Matsumoto?" Hinamori Momo looked at her with surprise, holding an empty tea tray.

"Hinamori." Matsumoto Rangiku's expression was slightly unnatural.

Hinamori stepped aside, bowed slightly, and said in a gentle and polite voice, "Please come in, I have to go now."

"..."

The door was left wide open, and Matsumoto Rangiku stood there frozen, while Hinamori walked away down the corridor.

She was hesitant to look inside. Xin must have overheard their conversation. The brief silence felt like an invisible pressure descending upon her. She wondered what kind of mocking look Xin was giving her.

"Come in."

Until a calm voice came from inside, Matsumoto Rangiku didn't know how she managed to walk in with her leaden legs. She stood in front of the desk and mechanically placed the documents on the table.

During this period, she had encountered Xin in the team barracks before, but she always treated him coldly and expressionlessly, and never took the initiative to say a word to him.

At that time, she still had her own principles, like the last shaky dam, which gave her that pitiful amount of confidence to do so, building a defensive wall with cold silence.

But now, she has come here of her own volition, harboring thoughts that she herself finds unbearable to contemplate—the desire for reconciliation, a show of weakness, and even a plea for "forgiveness"—that have breached her psychological bottom line, leaving Matsumoto Rangiku with a sense of shame and humiliation, as if she had been stripped naked and exposed to the light of day.

She felt that everything in the room was mocking her; the filing cabinets, the chairs, even the air itself carried an invisible sarcasm. Despite her head being lowered, she imagined Xinxin looking at her with an all-knowing, smug expression.

From Matsumoto Rangiku's perspective, she saw the person sitting there pick up the document, flip through it, then take out a stamp to affix it, before turning and placing it on top of a neatly stacked pile of documents.

"These are some of my ideas for changing the patrol duties within the team. Take them back and take a good look at them. Then, submit them to the vice captain of the Sparrow Division at the next vice captain's performance review meeting and see his reaction. If there are no problems, I will bring it up at the captain's meeting."

"..."

Rangiku Matsumoto blankly accepted the documents he handed her.

"Also, if you're free this afternoon, go help patrol the streets. Hitsugaya has complained to me about it many times."

"..."

Matsumoto Rangiku lowered her head and clutched the newly received, cold draft document tightly. Her knuckles turned slightly white from the force. The person in front of her remained silent, as if to tell her that she could leave.

This utter, self-evident, and indifferent calm was like a bucket of ice water poured over one's head.

She had gone through a mental struggle and mustered a great deal of courage to come here, only to be met with an extremely normal reaction from the other party, who seemed completely unconcerned about the previous disagreements and the "punishments" that were enough to destroy her dignity!

This made her feel doubly humiliated, being treated so casually, as if to strip her of her last shred of dignity.

She didn't leave; her feet seemed rooted to the spot. Finally, she couldn't help but ask, "Don't you... have anything else to say?"

After a moment of silence, the person in front of him spoke: "What do you want to hear me say?"

She suddenly looked up at him, her eyes uncontrollably reddening. The redness wasn't from grievance, but from a surge of anger that almost burst forth.

Xin sat there calmly, slowly turning the pen in his hand.

He could guess what Matsumoto Rangiku was thinking at this moment. He had ignored her for so long, and now she had taken the initiative to come to him.

If this were an 18+ adult game, then there should be two options presented at this moment.

First, continue to treat her in this way. Matsumoto Rangiku has no chance of "turning the tables" or resisting under my control. I can continue to humiliate and despise her until I completely erase her personality.

Secondly, by taking a step back and leaving her some room to maneuver, she might retain a sliver of hope for him after being suppressed for so long. In the long future, there is a possibility that their relationship can be salvaged.

Choosing the former allows one to satisfy their increasingly distorted desires.

If you choose the latter, you may still have the opportunity to receive rewards from Matsumoto Rangiku through the system.

To be honest, losing Matsumoto Rangiku is not a big loss for Shin in terms of strength.

……

In the silence, Matsumoto Rangiku did not answer. She had nothing left to ask. Questions and curses were now meaningless.

Looking at that indifferent, expressionless face, Matsumoto Rangiku's heart began to grow colder and colder.

Her grip on the documents suddenly loosened, and she turned to leave.

But just then, Shin suddenly called out again, "Miss Rangiku."

"...Let's make peace."

Matsumoto Rangiku paused, then looked at him again: "What...did you say?"

Xin threw his pen on the table and said, "Continuing like this is not good for either of us, so I say, let's make peace."

Matsumoto Rangiku instinctively wanted to sneer, but remembering her purpose for coming, she remained silent.

Wasn't my own visit to him also for the purpose of "seeking peace"?
The fact that he can say such things now is precisely the "way out of the world" he is seeking.

The letter continued, "I was also wrong about what happened before; I may have gone too far. I can apologize to you."

"..."

Matsumoto Rangiku remained silent. Normally, she would have simply said something like, "I also made mistakes."

It seemed like everything could be resolved.

But in the silence, she couldn't bring herself to speak.

Ironically, she had already thought this before she came. She herself had done something wrong, and wasn't coming into this office a sign of weakness?
But when it came down to it, she refused to bow her head.

The letter then asked, "What do you mean?"

Matsumoto Rangiku opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again, without uttering a cold laugh, a mocking laugh, or any other sound. She felt that she should accept it.

She lowered her head again and gently smoothed out the crumpled document in her hand. This inexplicable action also caught Xin's attention.

Although he didn't hear her words, Xin accepted her silent concession.

(End of this chapter)