Chapter 1: An Unexpected Event
Aizen looked at his lieutenant's sleeping form as she peacefully drifted on the clouds of the dreamland in his office. He couldn't help but smirk to himself as he was completely and utterly aware of the girl's deepest, darkest, desire that drove her to him. Momo was a very innocent, and in his mind, stupid, fragile, little thing that fell for her dearest captain oh so easily. He knew exactly what effect his plan would have on her, which made it all the more amusing to go through with it.
The mere thought of it sent chills of excitement down his spine, additionally he let a little chuckle escape his lips as the date has been set for tomorrow. He couldn't wait to fool all those idiots that called themselves "captains" and "lieutenants" with a simple magic trick. He was finally going to go through with his longing desire to head for the big chair way above the clouds, literally.
Everything was in place, the only thing left now was to wait. Surely enough having waited for hundreds of years taught him a thing or two of the statement "patience is a virtue", but these last few hours he had left were the most dreadful he had ever experienced. He wondered for a second whether he should check on Gin and Tousen, quickly dismissing it knowing full well they wouldn't fail him.
Once again, his thoughts wondered back to Momo thinking whether he should perhaps bring her with him as his play thing. That would definitely piss off the white haired brat. The little genius was oblivious to the fact that everyone in the Soul society besides Momo were aware of his feelings towards her and Aizen was definitely going to mess with that, but for now there were far more important things to deal with. Whit that in mind he continued with his act of a busy captain occupied with paperwork.
Gin was sitting in his office, boredly looking at the pile of papers which soon enough will no longer be any of his business. The desturbence that was accuring in the Seritei with the Ryokas didn't mean anything to the fox faced captain. He slowly only barely opened his usually shut eyes to reveal icy blue orbs that were glued to a certain framed picture. A picture of him and Rangiku when they were only kids next to the big pile that awaited his signature. If there was anything he'll miss the most after all of this is over, it was her. He was aware of her feelings towards him, in fact they were mutual. But he could never bring himself to tell her, especially when he wasn't going to stick around.
Had Aizen never gotten interested in him and had things been different he wouldn't have hesitated in making her his wife. Unfortunately, he had chose ideals over feelings leaving him with no choice but to simply watch her from distance. Not wanting to give his decision any second thoughts he put the framed picture face down and proceeded to finish the paperwork. He still had to maintain his image as not to give any reason for his subordinates to feel suspicious even before anything started. Once he was through half of the papers he decided to call it a night and go to sleep, after all he will be needing all of his strainght for tomorrow's event.
A bloody scream echoed thorough the entire Seretei stirring everyone from whatever they were doing. A tall blonde male turned in to direction the scream originated from shouting "Over there, search for the source of the scream." "Yes, sir!" Followed soldiers' reply, wasting no time to go through with the given order. Upon nearing the supposed crime scene, the blonde male noticed a familiar figure shaking yet not moving an inch from the place she was planted on. "Momo, what's wrong?!" He tried, but to no avail. All of her attention has been fixed on one thing which paralysed him and everyone in an instant as soon as they saw it.
"No.. h-how?" "It can't be.." came whispers from the men standing right behind him. "Captain Aizen!" Came yet another bloody scream from the poor girl. As soon as he felt his limbs again the blonde ran to the said girl grabbing her and trying to turn her away from the gruesome picture before them. "Momo, I'm sorry.." the man tried to calm her down but she kept screaming and kicking. "How could someone do this?! He was a good man!" Were her hopeless cries but no one dared answer, it was simply too brutal. A corpse of the once well respected captain hanged from where it was pinned to a building with a sword right through its heart.
"Call the forth squad and inform captain Ichimaru right away!" Yelled the blonde while struggling to keep the girl in his arms still. "Let me go, Izuru!" She cried. "Momo, you need to calm down." "No, let me go! He might still be alive and in need of help!" He knew fully well that there was absolutely zero percent chance of that being a possibility but as he was enable to crush her hopes, he added in a soft tone "That's why I called for the forth squad, they will be able to help him better than you or I could." Seemingly this answer somewhat satisfied her as she stopped struggling. "You promise..?" Momo asked letting her head down. Izuru knew that he shouldn't promise such a thing but seeing her helpless like that took the best of him as he slowly but surely turned her around hugging her, "I promise."
"Thank you." Came Momo's reply softly after a short pause. "We'll take it from here, you two should go to the forth devision." Said one of the soldiers that just arrived. Nodding, Izuru took momo by her hand taking her along with him.
"This is absurd! Could this be the doing of those Ryokas?" A slight worry could be heard in the man's deep voice. "They certainly are the cause of most of the disturbance in the Seretei but I highly doubt that they can take on a captain." Answered a short figure nonchalantly. "And what if it is their doing?" A woman asked. "Ooo powerful opponents? I've been itching for a fight." A big man said excitedly. "Captain Zaraki, this is a serious matter and we'd all appreciate it if you would either shut your mouth or say something smart for once." Said a weird looking man. "What was that face-paint? Wanna say it to my face?" "Silance." A powerful shout put a stop to all that was occurring in the room, turning everyone's heads towards the man it came from.
"Now that I have everyone's attention. Whether it be their doing or not the Ryokas can no longer be tolerated. We have intruders that are capable of killing a Captain with ease as such we need to take a different approach to the matter." Said the old wrinkled man with battle scars all over his face. The length of his snow-white beard and eyebrows showed off his age and wisdom. He was seated in a wooden throne before which 11 important looking people were lined up in two rows facing each other. "With all due respect, what do you presume we do?" A deep voice could be heard, comming from a big man with what seems to be a bucket on his head. "I intend to entrust you to deal with the ryokas personally, we cannot sit around untill they have taken out all of our soldiers. The forth squad is too crowded with wounded men already and the recent event shows us that they might be more dangerous then we take them for." Everyone silently agreed with the head captain. "But sir, shouldn't we search the crime scene more thoroughly? I can't put my finger on it but something feels out of place here. There was no sign of struggle and we all know that Captain Aizen wouldn't just roll over and die." Came voice from the woman who was standing close to the throne. "I agree with you, Captain Soifon. But it would be wiser to put an end to the disturbance first as the Head Captain ordered." Answered a man with long silver hair who stood last in the first row. "If you bozos are done bickering, I'm off to kill some pests." Said the scary looking man not bothering to hide his annoyance. "Captain Zaraki you should show some respect when in presence of the Head Captain." Replyed Soifon clearly pissed off by his rudeness. "Yeah yeah, whatever girly. This pointless talk took too much time which I could've used to stomp on the little insects." Said Zaraki turning around and walking towards the door. "You stop right there!"
"Let him be." Came the voice of the old man, cutting short Soifon's sentence. "With all due respect sir, I think it's about time we did something about Captain Zakari's insolence. You have been letting him do as he pleased since he first joined." Answered the youngest one in the group. "I agree with the shorty, sir." Said the weird looking man with a face paint, making the young boy glare at him because of the unwelcomed nickname. "That's Captain Hitsugaya to you. I think that you should as well as Captain Zaraki learn how to behave towards your equals, Captain Kurocuchi."
"Watch your mouth brat or are you so eager to become my next research subject. I could help you grow a few inches." Replyed Captain Kurocuchi mockingly. "Silance! That's no way for someone of your ranking to speak towards each other. You have your orders, I want Ryokas dealt with by the sunrise. Now dismissed." Not daring to say anything else everyone cleared out the room leaving one behind. "Is there something you wish to add, Captain Kuchiki?" Asked the Head Captain. "Yes, I wish to move Rukia's execution for tomorrow." Said a black haired captain with an elegant turquoise scarf warped around his neck. "Is there any particular reason for this change?" Asked once again the old man. "I believe that the Ryokas are here to rescue her, as such it would be wise to deal with it as soon as possible." Said the cold captain calmly. "As you wish, death by Sokyoku will occur tomorrow noon. And I trust that you will be able to stop the Ryokas before that." Answered the old man. "I will not fail you, Sir." Having said this, Captain Kuchiki turned around and exited the room.
Captain Hitsugaya was peecedly walking through the hallway of the forth devision. As soon as he reached the room he was in such hurry to get to, he stopped and then slowly opened the door entering it. "Momo.." He tried reaching her softly but there was no reply nor did it seem she noticed him at all. "Captain Hitsugaya." The said Captain turned around to be greeted by the tall blande man. "Lieutenant Kira, have you been by her side this entire time?" Asked the short white haired Captain. "Yes, sir. I thought it would be wise to not leave her alone." Answered Izuru. "I see, well done. You may go now, I wish to have some alone time with her." Said the captain. "Yes, sir." Came a short reply from the blondie before turning towards the door and leaving, closing it after him.
"Momo, how are you feeling?" Asked the short boy hoping for a reply which never came. He cast a glance at her paled face and then her eyes which seem to be looking at something beyond the plain wall she was facing. "Momo.. I'm sorry that you had to witness that awful scene. But you need to come back to me.. I need you." But yet again no reply came, instead he heard a soft knocking on the door. "Come in.." Toshiro didn't bother covering up the displeasure in his voice because of the interruption as the door opened. Through it came a worried woman with her long black braid hanging from her neck like a necklace. "Pardon my tone, Captain Unohana." Said the boy apologetically. "You needn't worry about that, Captain Hitsugaya. It is understandable." Said the woman softly. "Will she be alright..?" Said the white haired boy after some pause. "It's hard to say. It depends on how willing she is to recover. There isn't much else anyone of us can do for her but let her take her time." "I see." Barely a whisper but loud enough for the woman to make out the words. With that Captain Unohana exited the room leaving the boy once again all alone with the shocked girl.
"I have to go for now but don't worry I'll be back." Said Toshiro softly before turning around and proceeding towards the door. Momo once again stayed silent not even moving her eyes or blinking even once as if she were frozen. Toshiro casted one last glance at her before leaving. Once the girl was left alone a note fell before Momo on her lap which brought her back to reality. Blinking a few times she took the note and was immediately interested in it once she noticed the all too familiar stamp on it.
As the voices of the previous meeting echoed in Toshiros head he was determined to get to the bottom of Aizens mysterious death. Soifon was right, something seemed off and his own hunch about Ryokas not being strong enough to kill a captain with such a ease was right on the money once he interrogated the wounded soldiers. According to the third seat of the eleventh squad, Ikkaku Madarame, he and the 5th seat Yumichika Ayasegawa faced two of them which proved to be pawerful opponents. Even though the Ryokas won the fight they got just as badly wounded as did Ikkaku and Yumichika, if not worse. He also found out that there are five of them in total, one of them being a woman. The strongest one of them was, with out a doubt the orange haired guy, that Ikkaku faced since he was able to even take on the west gatekeeper.
Then there was a quincy, probably the last one of its kind but powerful enough to singlehandedly take down the 4th seat of the 7th squad. Or wait, the woman was with him but she didn't appear to be a threat. As for the two other man they proved themselves strong but neither one of them are causing some major threat for the captains. Meaning that there was no way for group of five people with such limited power to kill someone as strong as Captain Aizen without breaking a sweat.
'Something else is going on here.' He thought. Then a sudden realisation came upon the white haired Captain. 'Gin.' He remembered the short conversation Aizen shared with Gin before both of them continued their way. "It has to be him." Toshiro thought aloud squeezing his fists tight with anger. Turning on his heel, Toshiro flash stepped away to find the suspicious fox. The said captain just happened to be passing by with his lieutenant close at his side. Noticing the movement in the distance he stopped to await for the short genius to appear. "So it was you and lieutenant Kira would be your partner in crime, yes?" Came a confident voice from the glaring boy. "And what of it? Did you come here to stop me? Bring justice upon me?" Mocked Gin. "I came to get you, before Hinamori realises what's going on. You will be dead by the time she arrives." Said Toshiro clearly pissed. "Is that so?" Smirked Gin seemingly unfazed by the situation.
Just in that moment as Toshiro was about to draw his sword and attack Gin, Momo came leaping in between the two men. "Momo leave this to me. You are no match for him." "Shut up." She said just barely whimpering. "What?" Toshiro was taken aback by the anger in her tone. "I said shut up!" She yelled this time. "But why..?" Asked a very confused Toshiro. "Don't play dumb. You did this... you killed captain Aizen." Answered Momo now turning around and pointing her sword towards the short boy. From her eyes two very noticable tiny rivers flowed down her face. "Momo what are you saying? You know me, I couldn't have done something like that." "Stop lying, I read Captain Aizen's note. He wrote it the night before his death." The sound of his name made her whimper even more. The arm she held her sword with was shaking uncontrollably while she was struggling to keep her vision clear.
"What note? Was this your doing as well Ichimaru?" The boy moved slightly to face the fox faced captain sending him death glares while the other kept on smirking. "Don't ignore me, Shiro! I will avange his death!" Screamed once again Momo as she started swinging her sword in a pointless attempt to cut Toshiro. He dodged each of her swings with ease and as soon as he saw an opening he knocked Momo out with a simple chop to the back, catching her in her fall and placing her slowly on the ground. "Ah did you have to go on and knock the poor girl out, Shiro?" A mocking vocie could be heard from Gin who was enjoying the show before him. "You will not address me in such a manner, traitor." Replyed Toshiro sharply. "Oh but I think we've long since passed the formalities, don't you agree Shiro?" Once again Gin mocked the white haired boy to which the other responded by swiftly drawing the sword and leaping into Gin's direction. "Lieutenant Kira, I suggest you step aside or I cannot guarantee your safety." Said Toshiro as he was now crosssworded with Gin. Izuru not wasting any time, he moved as far away from the two as he could and continued on watching the match from there.
Gin and Toshiro battled for a good while, both of them showing how skilled they are, dodging or blocking the other's attack with no real effort. Until Hitsugaya made a miscalculation and dodged Gin's extending sword, which was now heading straight for the unconscious girl. "Momo, no!" Yelled Toshiro as he picked up the pace in order to get to her in time. Gin's sword was stopped with not Toshiro's but the sword which belonged to a young woman with gorgeous orange locks. "I sensed your spiritual pressure, Captain Hitsugaya, so I came as soon as I could. Captain Ichimaru, I ask of you to retreat your sword or I will be forced to battle you." Said the woman her eyes locked with the icy orbs of the fox captain. "Very well." Gin replied shortly before retreating his sword. "I will be on my way now. Nice to see you again Rangiku." Having said that Gin disappeared without a trace.
"Motsumoto take lieutenant Kira with you and bandaged up your arms. You've taken quite of an impact from stopping Ichimaru's sword like that." Hitsugaya said as he went to pick up the still unconscious Momo. "Yes, captain. But what do you want me to do with Izuru?" Asked Rangiku who was massaging her arms. "Take him to the headquarters. I have some questions for him." He answered. "And what about you, sir?" She asked once more. "I'll take lieutenant Hinamori back to the forth squad. Then I'll come meet you. Now go." Hitsugaya answered before disappearing with Momo in his hands.
Meanwhile
"You do know he's comming for you, right?" Echoed a bandaged up man's deep voice in the room startling the person behind the bars.
"I can tell by your wounds. Shouldn't you be lying in the bed in the forth devision?" Answered a short figure. "It's overflowed with wounded soldiers so they are kicking out everyone that can stand on their own." Came the voice from the man. "I see, well you should go lay down somewhere either way and recover." Said the girl calmly.
"How can you be so calm?! Did you even grasp the reality of what's going to happen?!" He yelled making the echo louder. "I'm fully aware of the occurrence and I've come to terms with it." Replied the girl again. "How can you come to terms with it!? You're going to die Rukia! And your own brother is responsible for it! Are you at least mad at him?!" Again yelled man clearly pissed off. "No, he was simply doing his job. I broke the law and I'm going to be punished accordingly. This is my own fault." Rukia barked back on him. "Well no shit it is! What were you thinking?! Giving that runt soul reaper's power? Maybe I should just let you die since you seem so prepared." Rukia bowed her head down no longer being able to look at him and said. "I did what was necessary at the time, you would have done the same." "I wouldn't be so sure of that." Answered Renji, "tsk, I'm out of here." Having said this he turned around and moved towards the door. "By the way, they moved your execution for tomorrow noon. I doubt your boyfriend will make it by then." "I never asked of him to attempt rescuing me. He's just going to get himself killed, that idiot. He should just turn around while he still can." After hearing her finish, he turned around and went out.
Rukia followed him with her eyes as he shut the door a little too harshly behind himself. As soon as the door was closed she let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. 'This is it huh, this is the end?' The poor girl kept on repeating the word "end" over and over in hear head as if it helped her understand it better. Maybe she really shouldn't have given him her powers, but then an innocent girl would've died. She did not regret that decision even if it now costs her her life. Again she sighed and let herself get lost in her thoughts as she kept staring off into the empty space.
"I got some intel regarding the event." A muscular man said. "Let's hear it." Replied a wounded man. "They moved the execution for tomorrow." The first man said. "What?! No! I have to go- argh!" The other man replied as he attempted to get up. "You aren't going anywhere with those wounds. You need to lie down and rest for now." A small frighten figure said while gently pushing the stubborn man down. "Did you not hear him? The execution is tomorrow! I need to save her." The stubborn man winced from the pain. "You won't be saving anyone in your condition, Ichingo. In fact, one more hit will do you in. You need to rest for now and we'll move again tomorrow." The muscular man said. "We don't have time for that Ganju! She will be dead by then!" Ichigo yelled furiously. "She won't, the execution is set for the noon. We'll move first thing in the morning, but for now you need rest". Ganju said finally satisfying the stubborn ginger who now relaxed and immediately fell in a deep sleep.
"Woah, he sure was tired... So will her execution really happen in the noon or did you just say that to make him relax?" Asked Hanataro. "That's what the rumors say, and that's not the only thing they are saying.." answered Ganju. "What else did you hear?" Asked Hanataro as the curiosity took over. "Rumor is that some Captain got killed, didn't catch his name." Ganju answered once more. "Really? So what does it mean for us?" Hanataro asked. "What else? They are suspecting we did it, so now we're considered a threat... meaning that the captains will come after us as well." Ganju said while clutching his teeth, he sure got himself into one hell of a mess this time around.
"Hey, speak for yourself! I'm just a hostage and I can't wait to be rescued and away from you goons!" Hanataro exclaimed while point his finger at Ganju, pissing him off. "You deliberately included yourself when asking for the rumors and now you exclude yourself when it's convenient?!" He yelled. "Maybe so but you can't deny that you two cornered a poor helpless fourth squad soldier, kidnapping him and threatening to kill him if he didn't heal you. The captains will look past my traitorous behavior once they hear that story." Hanataro said defending himself. "Oh really now, will they? Yet they put a little girl on a death road after her traitorous act which saved an innocent life." Ganju snapped. "Yes, but she broke the law!" Hanataro answered. "And you aren't breaking one now by helping the terrorists?" This shut Hanataro up, Ganju had a point. They won't care for his reasons, he betrayed them and that's all they will care for.
"Will you two shut the hell up! I'm trying to sleep." Ichigo yelled not bothering to open his eyes right before he turned to the side and once again fell in a deep sleep. "We should get some rest too, tomorrow's gonna be a tough day." Ganju whispered. Not wanting to say anything more, Hanataro nodded and lied himself a few feet away from the sleeping ginger and drifted off to sleep. Ganju did the same and soon enough he himself was in a deep sleep.
Author's note
This was the first chapter of my very first ever writen fanfiction. Hope you enjoyed it and I'd appreciate it if you gave me a heads up on any misspelled words or grammar errors. Criticism is welcomed as well as requests of what you expect to see in the future chapters. For now I've only finished and uploaded this one but if it turns out to be to your liking let me know and I'll make sure to start working on more. You may have noticed that this story is rated M, it should actually be rated MA because of the plans I have for it in the future chapters but I was unable to choose that rating. If you know how can I fix this please let me know. Feel free to ask any questions regarding this story you migh have and hope I will be seeing you in the future chapters.