Title: Orderly Madness, the Melody of Chaos
Series: Sequel to Empathy
Author: Kanon
Genre: Romance/Suspense (Add Fluff/Smut/Mystery/Angst)
Rating: NC-17 (and for a good reason)
Pairing: Kurosaki Ichigo x Hitsugaya Toshiro
Disclaimer: Bleach sovereigns over me, not the other way round.
Distribution: Fanfiction and LJ

Spoilers: Soul Society/Arrancar/Hueco Mundo Arc
Warnings: Read the Prologue A/N

Summary: The fragile peace in Soul Society is broken by disturbing murders. In the far distance, a forgotten face returns with vengeance. And for one substitue shinigami, sheer desperation waits to greet him.

Chapter rating: PG-15 for violence
Chapter summary: The War is over. And now, a new shadow is overcast over Seireitei.

Dedication: To my friend K, who I managed to corrupt and introduce the yaoi world, for bearing with my crazy moments and helping me out with the story in many ways.

Author's Note: Hello, everyone, this is Kanon/HeukYa.

So here I return again, with a sequel to Empathy. The prologue vaguely sums up what happened in the prequel but it would help to have read Empathy before reading this one since there are few references back to the first story.

This story will contain criminal businesses (e.g. murders, etc) and fairly detailed descriptions of mutilated bodies. I will say this now; it is rated M for a reason. If there are any extra warnings needed, it will be added at the beginning of the relevant chapters.

Also, unlike Empathy, Orderly Madness takes place in Soul Society so we will be coming across many shinigamis and most importantly, new pairings are introduced in this story, the major one being GinxKira. ByaxRen may make their appearances too and hints of ShuuxYumi if the story permits; but the story will be IchixHitsu centric -duh- and very much plot-centred.

On this one, I cannot promise quick updates due to perosnal reasons but I'll do my best. Please R&R because that's what my muses live off and they have been having REALLY tough time; those who read Empathy, you guys have been great with your support, I hope this story is good enough to warrant your effort to feed my muses again.

:::::Orderly Madness, the Melody of Chaos by Kanon Prologue:::::

Sometimes unexpected things can happen from a series of unexpected events; that certainly applies to one special relationship between an unusual substitute shinigami and a prodigy captain of Gotei 13.

One simple yet faithful encounter between a female shinigami and a remarkable human boy led to a series of unpredictable events, only to be fuelled by Aizen's unexpected treachery, and it was in amidst of all these chaotic events that Kurosaki Ichigo and Hitsugaya Toshiro first met each other. Back then, their relationship was nothing more than acquaintances.

When Soul Society started to get attacked by Arrancars sometime after the traitors' departure, Gotei 13 hadn't been too surprised; after all, they had more or less foreseen it once they found out about Hougyouku's power. However the power of the Arrancars was certainly more than just a small surprise. They were unexpectedly powerful, one of them strong enough to force the prodigy captain of 10th division to unleash his ultimate zanpaktou technique, risking unknown rebounds.

No one, not even Hitsugaya himself, would have thought one particular after-effect of Kuroi (AN: black) Hyourinmaru possible; empathy. Seeing that his empathic abilities worked on only those with reiatsu and overwhelmed the power-drained captain in shinigami-filled Seireitei, Unohana proposed one treatment option which was definitely more than what Hitsugaya had bargained for; long recovery in the human world at none other than Kusoraki Ichigo's place.

A lot of unpredicted events had taken place over the months but some -or rather, many- would say the most unexpected one is how the relationship between the brash, loud substitute shinigami and the prickly prodigy captain transformed over the course of time.

They certainly would, only if they were aware of the change.

It was the orange-haired teen who first developed unexpected feeling for his charge during the captain's sudden stay at his place. Through the thick of unpredictable hollow and Espada attacks, the feeling grew on the frosty prodigy too, and after much internal debate, Hitsugaya Toshiro finally came to allow himself small comfort and affection in Kurosaki Ichigo's warm embrace. Matsumoto managed to add her own surprise in the mix by walking in on the two during one of their compassionate times, making her the first one to find out about this latest change in their relationship.

There was one event out of all these unexpected incidents that the boy genius had managed to predict: Aizen's discovery of his unusual condition and the interest that would follow, resulting in kidnap of the two shinigamis. And if predicted, the situation can be prepared in advance, at least as much as possible, and this time, it was Aizen who was faced with what he had deemed as impossible consequences as the whole of Gotei 13 arrived in Hueco Mundo in timely manner, the two lovers finally revealing their secret plan. It was not how anyone had expected for the War to begin; nevertheless it was a declaration of war and the two forces clashed in a brutal battle. It was the ultimate war that would decide the fate of both the human world and Soul Society.

When it comes to a war, there is nothing you can take for granted. A war carries too much randomness, too much chaos for anyone to predict anything and one of them is how resolute one can be, be it a shinigami or a human. After an unexpected encounter with Hinamori Momo and a painful farewell, Hitsugaya and Kurosaki were determined more than ever to win against Aizen.

The long and difficult fight against Aizen was over when Hitsugaya resorted to their last move, Kuroi Hyourinmaru, which led to unexpected degeneration of Arrancars and Espads back to their hollow state due to Aizen's death. It was a significant turning point for the rest of Gotei 13 and the war was over, shinigamis standing victorious, with much thanks to a secretive 'stunt' two shinigamis had pulled off.

Drained, tired, sad but happy, the two lovers made their initial recovery at Soul Society before returning to the real world as the icy captain's empathy came back. It wasn't long before Hitsugaya returned to Soul Society, having made relatively speedy recovery, and on the day of the departure, Ichigo got another big surprise (and perhaps, a glimpse of ice sculpture that looked oddly like him) when he found out Urahara, Ishida, Sado, and Inoue had watched their supposed-to-be-private good-byes.

The War was over. Aizen was dead, so was Tousen. Ichimaru had given up his status as a spy and was reinstated as the 3rd division captain. Soul Society started to settle back down again once all empty posts for captains and vice-captains were filled. With Hitsugaya finally back from his nearly a year long vacancy, Gotei 13 was now complete and Soul Society was getting the chance to return to normality at last, something that it had lost since Kurosaki Ichigo's first intrusion.

Or so they thought.

It should have been. After all, the defectors were dead and the Hougouku was destroyed. With all the possible threats gone, all that waited for the shinigamis was the usual hollow attacks and the usual paperwork and in some cases, the usual alcohol-soaked parties.

However it was going to be some time before the life gets peaceful again.

And this time, one substitute shinigami was going to learn the true meaning of 'sheer desperation'.

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"See you soon."

Hitsugaya smirked although his emerald eyes betrayed the genuine happiness at Ichigo's words.

"See you soon."

Then he was gone, along with his frosty reiatsu and fresh scent. But Ichigo wasn't sad or depressed. He knew he would see his lover again. They had even longer than what they had so far ahead of them. Hell, they had forever ahead of them.

Ichigo smirked. Forever, huh? That definitely had a nice ring to it, he decided, as he turned around and walked off to find Urahara. One thing was sure.

He was now going to be spending a lot of time at Soul Society.

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It was a pitch-black night, no more unusual than any other nights at Seireitei, the dark wings of deep night soaking the buildings in its eerie shadows where even the moon did not dare shed any light.

It was a pitch-black night, no more unusual than any other nights at Seireitei, where some, or rather many shinigamis were enjoying good late night-outs with copious amount of sake in various pubs and bars scattered around Soul Society. However it had now reached the time where even the most hard-drinking shinigamis had either returned to their quarters or most likely, just trashed somewhere in one of the many streets making up the labyrinth that protects the core of Seireitei, where all the Gotei 13 division offices were placed.

In one of the said street was one of the aforementioned shinigamis, drunken up to his neck, humming an out-of-tune melody as he zigzagged across the road that seemed to have suddenly turned very wobbly, blindingly reaching out for the wall before he could walk into it and quite possibly, knock himself out.

He had just been out for another brilliant night with his mates at a new bar that was rumoured to have great girls. Well, the rumour hadn't been all wrong but he didn't like it when girls rushed into his arms eagerly, asking for his touch, flattering their long -and of course, fake- eyelashes at him with well-practiced giggles. He got much better kick out of it when his female subordinates were yelping in nasty surprise and sending him daggers as he tried to sling his arm around those narrow waists or pinch their curved buttocks. He smirked as he remembered one particular rookie who he almost got his hands on the round firm breasts.

Nevertheless, the bar had good sake for sure, that he would give, and now he was a one happy man with one last sake bottle dangerously swinging in his hand. Only thing he worried about at the moment was whether he would wake up in time for his work tomorrow but it really wasn't the end of the world even if he was a bit late. Swigging another gulp of sake, he was trying to reclaim his balance when his swirling vision finally acknowledged that someone was standing on the street, hidden in shadow of the walls. He blinked a few times to make sure there really was someone there before he cheerily waved, thinking maybe the night was not over yet.

"Hah? Yo, another drunken mate, is it?? Hahahahaha!!! Where did you go fo………"

He didn't get chance to finish his phrase. He didn't even get chance to see who his 'drunken mate' was that had just stabbed him through his neck.

Thick, viscous red streams trickled down the glistening metal blade that had pierced the neck clean. There was no coughing fit of blood, gurgle, or even a yelp. The shinigami was alive one second, now he was dead. No one saw anything, no one heard anything, only the grim goddess of black night witnessing the silent murder taking place under her ragged wings.

With a sickening 'pop' sound, the blade left the neck in one swish motion even before the blood had reached the guard and the body fell limp to the ground with a soft 'thud'. Dark red liquid dripped down in small droplets that joined the slowly growing pool on the ground then all of a sudden, a quiet, soft humming that was much out of place with what had just happened broke the still night's silence, accompanied by the horrendous sounds of bones breaking. After a short time, the humming stopped just as abruptly as it had started and in span of mere few seconds, the veiled figure was gone, the street falling back into the serene silence as if nothing out of ordinary had taken place.

Only the blank eyes of the maimed body, soaking in its own dark blood, stared into the direction that the mysterious murderer had disappeared to, as if they were imprinting the image into the lifeless brain; as if they knew they would be the only witness of the event, of the killer.

Of course, that didn't matter to the unknown killer.

After all, the dead cannot talk.