Two Blades, Two Reasons [Asami, Murasaki]

Tracking down the missing records in the 1st Division archives had been the easiest part of Asami's investigation, on paper, and it had produced the vaguest of clues to what was actually going on behind closed doors in the Gotei. A plot involving operatives from three divisions, and little to connect them beyond the vague understanding that they all seemed to be working towards some hidden goal. She had considered her next move rather carefully, and there seemed to be one angle that offered the smallest margin for exploding in her face whilst still potentially providing results.

She knew Captain Murasaki on pretty much reputation alone, a good Captain if ever there was one and well respected both inside her Division and out of it. Of all the divisions embroiled in this mess, she seemed like the most likely to actually understand should Asami be outed and have to explain what she was actually doing. Admittedly, that was not a high bar compared to Captain Kurotsuchi and the Captain-Commander, but the point still stood.

There was also her own personal reason for going to see the half-Zanpakuto, inspired by her conversations with Takehiko and Hono. Which might prove a welcome distraction should she need another bailout stratagem.

Finding herself hunting for the 7th Division, Asami had made sure to inquire ahead about when might be a good time to catch the Captain for a meeting and so she headed out to hunt from the travelling circus that was their travelling barracks.

It wasn't all that unusual for people to request meetings with Murasaki, so that in itself had hardly even gotten her attention. What had gotten her attention, though, was the fact that it was someone from in the 5th Division who'd requested it. Not even the Captain or the Vice Captain, either. A seated officer asking for a meeting with her was kinda weird, but then again, maybe it was just about zanpakuto issues? Oh well. She'd figure it out.

She may or may not've asked around about this officer coming to visit, too. Not to know anything weird, she just wanted to know what she should be expecting. Seemed like she was pretty serious, kind of a busybody. Definitely not the sort Murasaki expected she'd always get along with, but she wasn't exactly here to make friends.

Oh well. Might as well get a pot of tea ready, huh?

Asami had considered the option of just laying what she had on the table for Murasaki, there was a certain merit to that, but there was still the possibility that she was directly involved and it would quickly spiral out of control. She was stepping into the lion's den in that regard. One Vice-Captain was already involved, why not a Captain too?

Arriving at the Captain's tent after a little while of searching, she straightened her fascinator before calling out a greeting.

"Officer Furukawa to see Captain Murasaki, if you are ready for me?"

She shouldn't be tense, that was a giveaway that something was up, but there was a frightening element to this whole investigation that put her on edge. The difference in power between the Captain and her was certainly only a small factor that was bubbling beneath the surface.

Oh, that was her. Right on time, too, the tea was just about ready. Perfect, perfect. Pouring out one cup for herself, since it would be weird to just preemptively pour a second one in case Asami didn't even want any, Murasaki called back from her desk with her usual cheery tone.

"Come on in!"

Hm. You know, she was pretty upbeat, but that had sounded a little too childish, even for her. Maybe she'd have to work on that if she wanted to sound more professional. Especially if...well, no. Better not to think about all that right about now, there were definitely more immediate things to be worried about here, and despite this being Asami's meeting, Murasaki couldn't really help but speak first when the officer entered.

"Whatcha need from me?"

Entering the tent, Asami's first gave Murasaki a courteous bow before nodding politely at the offer of tea. She approached closer and offered a second, slighter, bow.

"My apologies for being so succinct in my request for a meeting, Captain Murasaki. There were a few matters I wanted to discuss but I thought it better to just meet face to face."

She was still surprised that Murasaki had been as accommodating as she had been, to agree to meet with her on the basis of little more than her asking of it. Perhaps it was a part of the greater deception, but the more she learned about her the less likely it seemed that she was even capable of such underhanded behaviour. Still, there was always the chance that it could have passed through one of her more unscrupulous insubordinate's hands before it reached her. Better to be safe than sorry.

"Cutting straight down to business. I have been working on a summary report for a cleanup operation on Earth concerning junior members of both our respective divisions, and I was wondering if you could enlighten me to something that my cadet mentioned during debriefing. Did you have much oversight on 7th Division interests in the Florida Keys base?"

"Hmmm?"

Murasaki put a finger to her chin and glanced upward as she thought about that, a girlish gesture that implied far less mental acuity than she actually possessed. Not that it was any sort of intentional choice to fool others into underestimating her, of course. Murasaki was simply the sort of girl who made those sorts of gestures.

"I haven't assigned anyone down there. We don't really have any interests other than helping out with the 5th Division's work and the general demolition stuff. Only person who might've gone down there would be one of my officers, she's been on an assignment from the Captain Commander. Why, something come up?"

Now, however, was when Murasaki's misdirection came into play. Not because she was lying about anything, of course. Rather, she was simply keeping any indication of her disdain for the Captain Commander from showing in the slightest, quite thankful she had such a mastery over her emotions. She didn't trust whatever this assignment was, and it didn't sit right with her that even she heard none of it. All she knew was it was some secret assignment above even her clearance.

So then it was by the Captain-Commander's own order, perhaps that was enough to warrant a withdrawal of her investigation. It was likely in the best interests of the Gotei in that case, and something that was so dangerous that multiple Captains and their understudies had been kept in the dark whilst a select team handled it. Were she a mite more trusting, that would have been enough for Asami, but curiosity still lingered and perhaps Murasaki could do a little more for her given her position on the outside of this. If the mission was so critical and secretive, why not entrust it to the Stealth Force? If it was so dangerous then why keep Captains in the dark and send only seated officers?

"Oh, my apologies. My junior informed me that a member of the 7th Division had come to oversee the demolition effort at the Florida Keys. A run-of-the-mill operation, carried out by the book, until the 7th operative requested several documents be pulled from the base's archives and handed into her care. An unorthodox turn of events, as the information would certainly have been released in time anyway."

Murasaki's deception went unchallenged as Asami focused upon weaving a little web of her own. She paused her explanation to pull a folder from her bag, a mission report that had been copied and annotated heavily by the officer, though she kept it close to her chest for now.

"So I just had a few names to cross-reference, but if you did not order your operative into the field then perhaps it is better we just left it be?"

A little gambit, if the other woman did not bite then she would move on to other matters. But, for now, there was a chance to gain a valuable confidant.

Well, there was only one member of the 7th Division that Murasaki couldn't account for right now. If she was requesting records that weren't normally under her jurisdiction, it didn't exactly fill Murasaki with a ton of confidence about what this whole assignment was about.

"Listen, Officer Furukawa. I'm not really the kind of girl who likes playing all these political games. Never been my thing. If you think something's going on that I should know about, then let me see what you've got."

That was probably more direct than most would have been in Murasaki's situation, but she wasn't particularly afraid of whatever retaliation even the Captain Commander would send her way for something this minor. What, was she gonna send that blonde gorilla after her? She might have been strong, but that didn't mean Murasaki was afraid of her.

And thus the bait did catch, though perhaps the fish would take her whole arm if she gave it a good reason. Still, she permitted her cheeks to flush with colour at the admonishment from the Captain, a mix of shock and bluff.

Pulling one document from the folder, she turned it over and offered it out to Murasaki. A good half of it was irrelevant documentation concerning other resources recovered from the base, but several records were marked out and highlighted. A list of names. The annotation mostly added nothing, but a couple had been detailed with whatever information Asami had been able to recover from the 1st Divison archives after Julian had left her alone.

"A- I just wondered if you would have any knowledge of those apparently Earth-based mercenaries or the other names highlighted on that there file?"

Straightening herself out, she made a show of gathering her composure and taking a sip of tea. For better or worse, she was committed now beyond the point of return.

"Whatever the Captain-Commander is trying to do, there's a little team of operatives spanning several divisions already attached to it. Someone from the 7th, as you might well know, another from the 1st itself, and the Vice-Captain of the 3rd. Maybe I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill, but laying all the cards out on the table felt like the best idea to me."

If it had been good before that Murasaki was adept at hiding her emotions, it was tremendously more helpful now, as a less focused woman would almost certainly have made some indication of the apprehension she felt realizing that the Captain Commander's secret executioner was involved in this. Ostensibly, he wasn't supposed to be executing anyone without the rest of the captains weighing in on that. But who knew what he'd be doing when he was out in the field?

"Not really, no. None of 'em are something I've looked much into."

Of course, Murasaki's eyes were nearly dissecting every word of the report as she read it, running the names through her mind just in case they rang any bells. But no, nothing. Far as she knew, these were all just freelancers. Why would she even be looking into something like this?

"I follow. There's definitely something going on here, but I can't say there's enough here to make any serious accusations. It's just the sort of thing I'm used to from the Captain Commander by now, a lot of stuff under wraps that I can't say much about."