Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of the characters in it.

Red Moon Rising

Chapter 1: Minutes to Midnight

"You know what your problem is? You don't know how to have a bit of fun."

''Interesting. It seems that you've acquired it quite a long time ago, but have rejected it until now."

"Beautiful, isn't it? The way blood looks on snow. It makes my heart leap with joy!"

"What's yer name, little Shinigami?"

"...I don't know."

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He sat, perched on top of the Tokyo Tower, overlooking the many buildings and skyscrapers. The lights from the windows and neon signs around him blinked in and out of focus, red and white and blue and green against the black night sky. The moon shone faintly in the background, framed by the many stars. He could hear the sound of the train rumbling on its underground tracks, feel the earth shake lightly as it past through underneath him. The cars on the highways going home after a long days work honked madly at each other as they were all caught in a massive traffic jam. They moved bumper to bumper, crawling slowly down the packed streets. The pedestrians below him were clustered into huge moving crowds, their black haired heads undistinguishable from one another as they too moved slowly, shoulder to shoulder, just like the cars. From time to time, there was an occasional strange hair color, like red, or blonde, or even an unusual dyed pink. They talked, mingled, ignored, hurried on- doing what they normally did.

The night air blew crisp and coolly, the scent of smoke and early autumn apparent in it. Being at the tip of the highest point of the tower was impossible for almost anyone, for there were no stairs or elevators leading to the place where he was sitting at. But for him that problem didn't apply; he could easily reach this spot. Even if they glanced up to look in his direction, they would see nothing unusual. Not many people could see him when he was in this form. He closed his eyes and stretched his senses again. He could sense a few light pulses of plus souls coming from different directions around Tokyo that would need tending to at a later time, and one or two familiar strong, concentrated spiritual energy waves at places he knew. But there was not yet a single spot of dark energy in the air. Overall, it seemed like an unfruitful night of hunting. He could call the quits for the night if there was nothing else in fifteen minutes, though it was tempting to quit now. There were better things he could do with the extra time.

He stayed at the spot for another five minutes.

He was about to leave when he felt it. It was hard to notice at first, but after a while the scent grew stronger, and the feeling of dark energy increased. His suspicions were confirmed when a loud howl broke through the noise of cars and people. Stretching his senses briefly, he pinpointed the dark energy. The pulse wasn't horribly strong, and didn't feel like something that could pose a threat -a middle-class Hollow at most. There was no red pulse anywhere near the area. Standing up quickly, he patted of any imaginary dust that could have accumulated on his pants and picked up the sword by his side, its hilt guard glinting faintly in the moonlight like a fallen star. He took a moment to gain his bearings before deciding which direction was south - the direction in which the Hollow was in. Then he leaped from his perch, sword in hand, into the night sky, plunging towards the ground below drastically before his feet caught air, and he propelled himself towards the nearest building in the direction he was heading in. He landed lightly without a sound, and broke into a quick shunpo. There was a pulse of a plus soul near the Hollow, most likely its target.

As he weaved his way through the buildings, towards the Hollow, a voice suddenly spoke in his head, light and playful yet strangely sarcastic. "Let the games begin."

He ignored it, and carried on running.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou, do you have anything to say in your defense?"

"No." Was his stoic reply.

"Do you accept the charges of high treason against you?"

"No." The reply was the same as before.

Commander-general Yamamoto didn't even bat an eyelid. Ukitake could feel the cold perspiration slide down his back, not from the heat, but from the tension in the room. The session had been going on for more than five hours, and they had still gotten no closer to what they wanted. Or what the old general wanted. Hitsugaya Toushirou appeared to be equally unfazed, his aqua blue eyes steady with the same determination Ukitake had seen time and time again. Neither man nor boy stared away or let their eyes stray, even though this had been going on for so long.

Ukitake looked out of the corner of his eye, looking straight at Unohana. Though her expression was as serene as ever, from the way she was wringing her hands tightly in front of her, he could tell that she was nervous as well. Then he looked across the room at Kyouraku. The man's eyes were shadowed by the ridiculous wide-brimmed straw hat that he was pulling over his face, making it hard to discern what he felt about this entire meeting. Ukitake knew what he felt - anger.

It coiled in his chest like a tight snake, ready to bite at its nearest prey. It felt strange to feel angry, but in his opinion Ukitake thought that it was rightly justified. There was no possible way that Hitsugaya had defected from Gotei 13 to join Aizen, not now not ever. But even though Ukitake wanted to protest against all of this, he couldn't let rational thought slip either. There was evidence given by two seated officers from unstated divisions, claiming that they had seen Hitsugaya corresponding with Ichimaru Gin late one night. There had also been traces of ice with his spiritual signature at the scene of a murder of a third seat in the fifth division. Discriminating evidence, yet Ukitake couldn't help but feel that something was horribly amiss.

Yamamoto sighed, drawing Ukitake's attention back onto the trial. Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed as well. The boy was clad in a plain white robe, his sword no where in sight. His hands were bound behind his back with spiritual rope, and the red collar stood out starkly around his small pale neck. The sight wrenched at Ukitake's heart, but the man couldn't help but feel proud at the boy, misplaced as it was. Even though the circumstances seemed dire, he still hadn't lost his cool. "But was that a good thing?" Kyouraku had said to him the other night when they had been discussing this particular case over a cup of sake.

Kyouraku had also pointed out that they may be ignoring the truth, relying solely on unprejudiced feelings and instinct to judge the proceedings.

Ukitake knew there was some truth in what Shunsui had said, but even so he couldn't even imagine Hitsugaya betraying them, let alone actually doing so. But he hadn't thought that it was possible for Aizen to defect as well, and that had been a fact in itself. There may be a chance -no matter how slim- that what Hitsugaya was being accused for doing was true -yet Ukitake couldn't bring himself to accept that fact. The boy was as much as a son to him as he would be a comrade-in-arms. He may be getting all of this mixed up with his emotions, but he didn't care. Not yet at least.

Yamamoto had continued speaking. "As much as this pains me," he said. "I will have to deliver judgment. This has been going on for far too long, and a verdict must be done." Yamamoto paused for effect before continuing. "The evidence is clear. Hitsugaya Toushirou, former captain of the tenth division, I hereby find you guilty of high treason towards Soul Society, and sentence you to execution by Sougyoku. Do you have anything to say in your defense, Hitsugaya Toushirou?"

"No," Hitsugaya's expression didn't seem to change at all.

"Guards," Yamamoto called to the men in white standing by the door. "Take the prisoner to the Tower of Repentance to await execution."

The guards moved to form a square around Hitsugaya. More spirit rope came out of the collar, and the guards took hold of it. As they led the boy out of the room, Yamamoto stood up and made his way back into the rooms behind the captain's meeting hall, followed swiftly by Vice Captain Sasakibe. Hitsugaya looked at no one as he was led out. As soon as he had left the room, the captains moved out of rank. Kyouraku made his way to stand beside Ukitake. "What do you think, Jyuu-chan?"

"I think this is all a well fabricated lie made up by some idiot that has no idea how to differentiate between his head and his feet," Ukitake didn't hold back the venom in his voice. He was always honest to Kyouraku, no matter what it was.

"I agree with you on that fact," Unohana said as she came up to stand beside him. "It all seems horribly absurd."

Kyouraku nodded, but added gravely. "But are you sure that what you think is true?"

Neither Unohana nor Ukitake himself could answer that question.

Suddenly a huge explosion shook the captains' meeting hall, making Unohana lose her usual balance and composure and Kyouraku's hat to fall off his head. It subsided soon after, leaving behind the dumbfounded captains. Soi Fong was the first to recover from the shock; whether she had actually been shaken was a doubtful matter. "It came from the direction of the Hall of Repentance!" she cried. The captains immediately dashed out of the room. Ukitake ran as fast as he could, all the while holding back the dread he was feeling; Something bad was going to happen, he could tell. When they had reached the scene, it was a horrid sight. The bodies of the guards they had seen just a few minutes ago were strewn on the floor, bleeding from heavy wounds. Unohana moved quickly to each of them, but shook her head at every one of them. They had passed on already; there was no way to save them now. But even though she had finished checking all the guards she still hadn't moved, looking left and right for that one tuft of white hair.

But it was not present amidst the blood and guts spilled across the floor.

He ran.

Behind him the men screamed in a wild frenzy as an invisible force tore through their flesh and blood.

He crashed through the bushes and weaved his way through the trees.

The screaming stopped. The glade was still and silent, the scent of blood heavy in the air.

The figure in white standing amidst the blood-ridden glade watched the black butterflies leave the place one by one. Then, the figure vanished.

He carried on running. He had to tell the Commander-General what the monster- that man with the helmet of white bone, green eyes and tear -like markings had said.

'When the next moon is full, it will run red with the blood of the Shinigami, as Aizen-sama holds the blossom of glory. Use these last few days to prepare for your funerals, Shinigami, for your death is certain as long as we Arrancar live to serve Aizen-sama.'

Yamamoto Genryusai looked at the report placed in front of him. His sharp eyes scanned through the lines and lines of words again and again, looking for any trace of falsehood or hallucination. But no matter how many times his trained eyes looked through the parchment there was not a single thing that could say that the incident had been an illusion or a planned trick. All the bodies and the remaining man had been checked by Unohana and all the footages from the Hell Butterflies that had been sent out by the dying Shinigami examined and dissected at again and again by Kurotsuchi. There was no room for carelessness in this matter and every aspect had been inspected. The evidence was unanimous; this was real, and not a hoax created by rouge Rukongai bandits as was a few of the reports a couple of years ago. This was a real message from Aizen that the long-standing war between them was going to come to end, with the winner being the man himself. He rubbed his wrinkled temples with his gnarled old hands for a while, before turning to Sasakibe, speaking to him with such solemnity that the man didn't dare to even twitch.

"The results have been conclusive," he said in his old, cracked voice. "Aizen plans to attack on the day when the full moon will rise in the night, a week from now. It was no lie that Ulquiorra had killed off all but one of an entire squad of men on patrol and made the dying men depart this message to us using the Hell Butterflies, not to mention kill this squad within the very walls of Seireitei itself." The old man sighed. He had made his choice, and even though he didn't really like it much, he had to ask for their help. Their forces alone were not enough to overcome Aizen. With that in mind, he looked at Sasakibe again. "Send this message to the Vizard: Soul Society wishes to co-operate with them to defeat the treacherous Aizen that plans to destroy our worlds."

The buildings were all zooming and passing by him in a mad rush of blurred images as he moved using shunpo. He had been on a dingy old row of abandoned lots, where the smell of smoke and booze had been apparent, before the scene changed and he was on a line of newly built shop lots, with people that had just finished work milling out of them, laughing and talking. He had paid no heed to all of these little details, only the geography of where he was had been registered slightly, and had concentrated solely on the pulse of the spiritual energies that he sensed. The dark pulse -the Hollow- was closing in on the light blue pulse. Fast. He remembered the roads of this district well. There was a road up ahead that ran perpendicular to the line of buildings he was currently moving on. The hollow and plus soul were moving on that road, towards the direction of the buildings where he was.

Perfect.

He had reached the last building; an old shop house that had many rental notices plastered all over its front mirror and the paint was also chipping off the walls. He moved quickly on the roof -a flat plane of concrete that smelled faintly of rotten flesh- and as soon as he reached the edge of the building facing the road, he pushed off and jumped into the open air. He slowed down his descend by pushing out bits of his reiatsu in fine threads, but made sure that he did not leak out too much to alert the Hollow. He was right above the road now, and just by looking out of the corner of his eyes to the left he could see the hollow and plus soul, tiny specks in the distance, moving towards his position. Turning around to face them, he angled his sword downwards, pushing the sword out of the sheath slightly using his thumb and using in a battojutsu stance. He waited until the hollow and plus soul were no longer mere specks, when he could see the twisted, gnarled mask of the six-legged Hollow.

In one swift motion, he pulled the sword free from the scabbard and swung it downwards, aiming for the mask. It met its target without the slightest resistance. The mask cracked and shattered into a million pieces as the sword sliced through it cleanly. The Hollow howled as its body disintegrated, vanishing into the afterlife. He landed in a fetal crouch at the spot the Hollow had once stood, his feet touching the ground so lightly that no sound could be heard. He rose to full height, flicking the sword to clean it. He was about to sheath the sword when he saw the plus soul. The soul was a fat, pasty-looking man that seemed to be around his fifties. He wore a suit that was already tattered at its edges. His hair was only a tiny tuft at the front of his forehead; the rest of it had already fallen off in the man's balding process. The man had fallen down when he had just passed him and would have been eaten if he hadn't killed the Hollow. His eyes were staring at him with awe, and fear. Fear that now that the monster was gone the person standing before him, sword in hand, would slay him as well.

He checked the spiritual pressures around Tokyo. Still no red pulse. He couldn't help but find this odd. Every place had at least one stationed shinigami; for there to be none in the vicinity at all it would mean that something important was going to happen. There was only one thing that could have caused this: Either Aizen or the Commander-General had proclaimed all-out war. He pushed the old feelings back; he was no longer needed to worry over such things, it was not his part to meddle. Let them fight over it. This no longer had anything to do with him. He turned to look at the soul again. His soul chain was already up to his chest. A few more days and the man would become a full blown Hollow. He sighed. Looks like he would just have to do it. He walked towards the soul, angling to sword so that its pommel would hit the man's forehead. The man's eye's widened in fear as he moved closer, and the man scooted back.

He looked at the man with a neutral expression. "Don't worry. I'm sending you on," he said blandly. There wasn't much conviction or comfort in his voice; he wasn't used to doing this job. But the man did stop moving away from him.

A movement could be heard from behind him. "You know, you don't have to send them on. That's not our job, and it's no longer your job." A man with short, grey spiky hair appeared from the shadows. He wore basketball jersey and cargo pants; his earring glinted faintly in the moonlight.

He ignored the man, and instead stamped his pommel on the forehead of the plus soul. The plus soul was surrounded in a pool of blue light for a blinding few seconds, and then the soul was gone. He sheathed his sword in one swift movement. "It's not your issue what I do and don't do," he said, turning to look at the man. "Talk, Muguruma. You wouldn't be here unless it's something important."

Kensei looked offended. "I told you to call me by my first name. The family name makes me feel old."

"Just tell me what you need to tell me, Muguruma, and stop wasting my time." He stared at Kensei with a frown, not bothering to change how he was calling him.

Kensei sighed. "Cold as ever aren't ya, squirt." If glaring daggers could kill, Kensei would have been in his grave. "You're not going to like this one bit. You need to go back to Karakura. All of us -and I mean all of us- are to go to Soul Society to help in the upcoming battle against Hueco Mundo."

"What!" There was enough venom in his voice to make Kensei flinch. Shinji had been right; the squirt wouldn't take well to the news. Not surprising after what he had been through.

"Shinji received a message from Soul Society just yesterday," Kensei started, scratching the back of his neck. "Yamamoto had sent a request for co-operation between the Shinigami and Vizard to defeat Aizen in the upcoming battle. According to resources, the battle will take place during the full moon night in five days. Where is unspecified. The issuer of the battle was Aizen, through one of his Arrancar going by the name of Ulquiorra." He flinched slightly at that name, and it didn't go unnoticed by Kensei. But his facial expression was neutral, and it wouldn't be right for Kensei to prod too much; that was Lisa's or Love's job, not his.

"And Hirako actually accepted?" He quirked a brow skeptically. "I didn't take him as a man that would co-operate with anyone he didn't like."

"Yeah, well. It is to defeat a greater evil, and Shinji made it sound more like a chance to prove that Vizards are better than Shinigami," Kensei replied gruffly.

"That sounds more like something Sarugaki would say."

Kensei couldn't help but smile at that. "You're right on that part." Hiyori had thrown her slipper at Shinji's face for suggesting that they go there on their good will, and insisted that they were only going to show who is boss amongst the two, in her words. "So, shouldn't we get going?"

He sighed. "Is this necessary?"

"Shinji did say all of us," Kensei shrugged. "And anyway, isn't it about time you faced them? It's been what? Two, three years since you last saw them? Some of them do miss you after all."

"As if I'd know," He snorted. Kensei bristled at that, wanting to retort badly. Then he remembered. Tch, messed up there. Kensei was about to apologize when the squirt spoke again. "By 'all of us', did you manage to convince her into coming along with you? Amongst us all she has the most hatred towards Shinigami."

Kensei winced at that. "Now that was quite the task."

Matsumoto sighed, and adjusted her shihakusho. Her captain's robe had slipped a bit during her nap. The kanji ten was quite stark against the white cloth as she cleaned her hakama of grass stains. The sun shone brightly in the tenth division garden Matsumoto was in. The branches of the sakura trees in the background rustled slightly in the breeze. The chrysanthemums were blooming, and the narcissi by the small stream that past through the garden seemed to glow a bit more than usual. When her eyes set on the watermelon patch, she felt a pang of grief. The watermelons had been left untended for two years, its tendrils crawling along the ground wildly.

Hitsugaya had been the one who took care of them.

"Taichou, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like, idiot?" Hitsugaya frowned at her, a big watermelon in his hands. His white haori was folded neatly under the sakura tree by the watermelon patch, his hands and hakama ends already soiled with dirt as he tended to his beloved patch. He tapped the watermelon he was holding lightly, listening for the sound it made. He nodded his head lightly. "It's ready."

"What's ready, Taichou?" Matsumoto asked playfully. She had woken up from her nap a few minutes earlier and had been surprised to find that her captain wasn't in his office. She had been wandering around looking for him when she spotted him at the patch, and had come over to see what he was doing. She remembered vaguely now that Hitsugaya had actually planned to have a watermelon patch during his tenth year as captain of the tenth division. She hadn't known that he had actually carried out that plan until today.

"Ready for picking," he replied gruffly, standing up with the melon in his hand. "Oh yes, Matsumoto. Have you finished the reports I asked you to do?"

"Um...oh, look at the time," Matsumoto quickly said, backing away quickly. Hitsugaya was beginning to use the 'I'm-going-to-give-you-more-paperwork-if-you-haven't-finished' glare. "I got to go for my...err...facial! Yup, facial! See you later, Taichou! Have fun eating your watermelon. Save some for me!"

"MATSUMOTO! GET BACK HERE!"

Matsumoto couldn't help but smile at that. It had been funny to see her captain try and get her to come back with a watermelon in his hands. She pushed the memory back; it was bringing tears to her eyes. Hitsugaya was gone now, and there was no way to bring him back. She believed him to be dead, unlike some heartless people that didn't know him who assumed that he had joined Aizen's ranks. An absurd notion. But he had been convicted for doing so before he had disappeared, that was what people said. She still didn't believe them, even when she had heard it from a captain's mouth. There was no way Hitsugaya had joined Aizen. He would never join that traitor.

Matsumoto moved away from the garden and headed in the direction of the captain's meeting room. She had gotten up from her lovely nap because a Hell Butterfly had informed her of a meeting for all captains, saying that it was urgent. She guessed that it had something to do with the upcoming war. There were four days left before they all clashed in the battlefield. She was going to lose some good men out there, she noted dully. She looked at the blue sky, watched as a cloud moved slowly, wishing that the peace would last for just a while longer. But lingering wouldn't do any good; what was important was to win the upcoming fight, and prove Aizen wrong once and for all.

She moved quickly, and soon she stood in front of the room's huge wooden doors. She entered swiftly, and took her place standing between Kyouraku and Kurotsuchi. Kyouraku gave her a cheery smile. "Yo, Ran-chan. How are you these days?" His eyes shone glinted slightly at that. She knew what, or who, he was referring to.

"I'm fine," she replied as politely as she could. "I've gotten over most of my problems."

Kyouraku smiled, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes. "Ah. You have indeed."

Matsumoto looked around the room. Ukitake was well enough to make an appearance today, and the man smiled at her as well. She returned it with a quick wave. Almost everyone except Ichigo had entered the room. At that moment Ichigo rushed in, and quickly took his place to stand beside Renji and Komamura. He exchanged a quick glare with Renji and mouthed out a 'hello' to her before Yamamoto entered the room.

"My fellow captains," Yamamoto's voice resonated throughout the room. "As you all know Aizen has proclaimed all-out war, and as the defenders of Soul Society we must, at all costs, defeat this traitor. And for that reason, I had sent a request appealing for the help of the people who call themselves Vizard. They have accepted humbly, and I will know introduce you to their leader, as well as their members. We will also discuss our strategies for the war and our arrangements and duties. But first, Vizard, you may enter."

The doors swung open to reveal a group of people, dressed in clothes from the human world. There was a man with cropped blonde hair, wearing a fur jacket and a shirt and tie. There was a short girl, wearing sweat pants; her sword was strapped to her back. There was another girl. This one wore glasses and a sailor-style school uniform, her sword was held in her hand like the blond-haired man. Then there was a rough looking man wearing basketball jersey and cargo pants with spiky grey hair. Then there was a man with long, wavy blonde hair and a man with hair jutting out to become shaped like a star. There was a middle-aged man, stout and big with short pink hair that had a cross pattern on it. But that wasn't what caught her eye.

In this farewell, there's no blood, there's no alibi.

Right behind that stout man, there was a smaller boy. He was too short to be a full-grown man. He looked ahead, making sure not to have any eye contact with any of them. Not looking around like his other comrades. Even from here she could see their color -aqua blue with green highlights. His hair was pure ebony black, and was messier than it was during his captaincy days, more similar to the style he had sported in the Academy. He wore a black, collared shirt and trousers, not standing out as his other comrades did. From beside her she could hear Kyouraku gasp. She could see Ukitake gaping at the boy as well. Unohana had a look of pure shock on her face. Ichigo looked horribly surprised to see that boy. His sword was covered with a cloth, preventing her from seeing the shape of his hilt guard, strapped to his back with a cord. But even so the resemblance was horribly striking.

So I've drawn regret from the truth of a thousand lies.

It couldn't be. He was supposed to be dead. That would only mean...

"Taichou!"

Well let mercy come, and wash away what I've done.

AN:

Yes, I'm back. Reincarnation of Ice may still hold for a while, but if I find the inspiration I'll write it down and have it posted as fast as you can say upload. But anyway, this is a new project I've been planning on doing for some time. It's suppose to be better than my previous works, since I'm trying out some things for it, though I'm not sure whether there will be any notable changes in my writing style. I'm still not overly comfortable with the dialogues, and I'm counting it as my weakest point. I'm working on extending vocabulary and learning how to elaborate more on certain points; writing cutting-edge action scenes that will keep you holding your breath in suspense; and touching your hearts with nice heart-warming scenes. High expectations aren't they? Well anyway, back to the topic.

This story isn't planned to be horribly long. It's scripted to be around six chapters, maybe lesser or more depending on inspiration flares. I'm guessing you readers manage to figure who that 'he' is quite fast. I did drop a lot of hints. For this chapter a lot of editing and changing did take place. Some original scenes were cut to fit the mood a bit better.

If this story comes out well, then a continuation will be scripted for your viewing sooner or later. Its length will be the same with this one if the planning comes out as expected, and what will be in it, you just wait and see. I'm letting on too much information as it seems. Not that many people read my little scribbles anyway (ha ha). Exams have passed recently, and I hope to be able to write more now that most of what we have to study is done, now all that's left is some minor details here and there and I'll be officially duty-free until next year. It's currently Raya Holidays, so I may have time to come out with more of Chapter 2. The chapters are all going to be as super-long as I can get them, since it is only six chapters. And since they are super-long, it may also take some time for the next chapter to come out, but I'll be doing my best.

Oh yes. Before I end this long AN, please review. It only takes a minute of your time. Just click that purple button on the bottom-left-hand corner of the screen that is right beside the selective scroll that says 'submit review'. Your critics are highly appreciated (this author wishes to improve and in time become an outstanding author, though this one will have to wait a while before this dreams come true, if ever). And now, I'm done. Until the next chapter, I bid you a happy...whatever holiday that you're about to have!