CH 115: WORK WITH ME
The tension was high, and the silence heavy in the air. In a small room with a fan lazily blowing air, three men, two blonde and one silver-haired, looked at each other with impassive faces.
Looking at their cards, each of them raised the bet as if they had the greatest hand. It was then, “I fold.”
Shaking his head with a wry smile, Kisuke placed down his cards. He had been trying to bluff, but his hand was really bad and he didn’t want to take any risk.
Facing Gojo, Shinji showed his usual harmless smile and showed his hand.
“4; 5; 6; 7; 8 — A straight flush. It seems like I won.”
It was indeed a very big hand, basically impossible to surpass. Shinji was about to take away the coins, when he was interrupted.
“Tututu! Who said it was the end?”
Shinji and the others were surprised, the only hand that could deal with a straight was…
Grinning, Gojo revealed his card one after another,
“10; J; Q; K; A — Royal Flush!”
Kisuke whistled in admiration, “You beat an odd of 1 / 649,739. Bravo.”
“What can I say? I have always been very lucky.”
Shrugging, Gojo took all the coins on the table with a smile on his face, leaving a distraught Shinji who covered his face with his hands and groaned.
“Hyori is going to kill me...”
It was the fourth time they were playing and he had basically lost all the money they had. Just thinking about how he will be welcomed brought him cramps to his stomach.
Kisuke on the side was laughing out loud, finding this sight funny. He never bet too much and would always pull back when the situation seemed bad.
On the other hand, Gojo simply grinned continuously. Playing cards against him was asking to be humiliated. His acuity aside, it wasn’t that hard for him to see what card everyone was dealt with, no matter how fast Yoruichi acted.
When he was alive, no jujutsu sorcerer who knew him would dare to play against him because they knew that they would lose everything if he did.
“Shall we continue?”
“Ugh! Forget it. I only have the clothes on my back now.”
Shinji shook his head and looked at Gojo up and down, “Now then, shall we talk about the more serious business?”
The atmosphere immediately changed.
At the end of the day, money was just that. Money. As shinigami, it was the least important thing for them. What was more important though was the reason this man named Gojo wanted to meet them.
Gojo, feeling the spiritual pressure of Shinji, showed no change in expression. Shinji was without a doubt a powerful captain. But it was mainly because of what his Bankai could do.
If Shinji had to be classified according to pure power, he would be near the bottom or at least a little toward the middle line.
But if one was asked who was the most dangerous, he would definitely be at the top. After all, his Bankai could cause chaos throughout the whole Soul Society.
Sadly, this Bankai was useless against single enemies, and as such, Gojo did not fear it.
“There, there, there. Calm down Shinji. We were just enjoying ourselves so much. Don’t break the mood.”
Shinji sighed, “Kisuke, I am sorry, but this time I can’t comply. This matter isn’t just about me. Any decision I take here might completely change the lives of my companions. They chose me as their leader because they believed in me. I don’t plan to break that trust.”
Shinji was completely serious. Gojo was simply too suspicious. So suspicious that it wouldn’t be wrong to think that he was working with Aizen. Of course, perhaps he was being a little paranoid. But he could not afford to joke around with the lives of those who trusted him so much.
Gojo who had stayed silent all this while shook his head, “I think there is a misunderstanding. You see…When did I say I needed you?”
The scene fell in a strange silence, but Gojo did not stop.
“You guys seem to be under the impression that I need your help to deal with Aizen but…the truth is—I don’t.”
He twirled a card between his fingers and continued, “Of course, you guys are strong, and having you with me would be helpful in the future. But that’s it. I am sorry to say this but you are not particularly needed. In the first place, when did I ever say I wanted to form an alliance?”
The words flying out of his mouth were shocking but the more Shinji and Kisuke thought about it, the more they realized that Gojo indeed never talked about anything pertaining to an alliance or anything of the like.
‘So we jumped to the conclusion by ourselves?’
Thinking about it, he suddenly felt so ashamed he wished he could find a hole and hide. It didn’t help that Yoruichi could be seen rolling on the floor while laughing and that Kisuke was coughing on the side to hide his laughs.
“Still, I wouldn’t refuse if we could work together.”
Thankfully, Gojo did not make things difficult for them and took a step back.
‘Heh…’
Kisuke grinned. How could he not see that Gojo acted like this initially to disrupt Shinji’s rhythm and then take control of the discussion?
This was a pretty basic way of negotiating, but no one could deny how useful it was. Still, his smile slipped the moment Gojo decided to drop a bomb.
“What I wish for isn’t some alliance to deal with one man but something totally different. Tell me…Do you wish to create our own version of the Gotei 13?”
(AN: Will Gojo create his own organization? Who will be the members? We will see…)