Bleach Fan fiction:

Those who Harbor Ill Fate

-Chapter One-

A New Mission in the Human World!

Momo sighed heavily as she stared blankly out of the open window. The Fourth Division's hospital rooms were cozy, but after being confide in one for so long, it became dull. A slight breeze carried with it the scent of fresh blooming flowers. They always bloomed around this time of the year.

This year.

It had been 4 months since Seireitei was pitted into that fated battle against the Arrancar and Captain Aizen. She winced slightly at his memory.

Everyone called him a traitor. Yet to her he would always be her captain. No matter what. It no longer mattered that he was a traitor; he was dead, and she would rather remember the sincere and kind captain he had been when she joined. That was the Aizen she chose to hold on to.

Today was the day that the hospital was going to give her the results on her mental state. To see if she could fully return to her division. She hoped.

There was a faint rapping sound at the door across the room. Momo's head swiveled and she focused on the door. Apparently the soft knock was a warning -- the only warning she had. Before she could utter her guests in, it burst open omitting Shiro-chan with Rangiku-san towering behind.

Rangiku planted her fists on her hip and took up a lecturers tone, "Captain," Rangiku exclaimed. Her tone lost its lecturing façade and revealed a more concerned tone, "you shouldn't just barge into a room like that!" she shook her head, and Momo watched in partial jealousy as the other woman's fiery red hair swayed back and forth. Momo's jealousy was partially due to the beautifully long hair the Lieutenant had. It was long enough that it fell well past her shoulder blades. Another part of her jealousy lay in the woman's overly large bosom, which -Momo noted often- she showed more than decent. But Rangiku-san was Rangiku-san.

"Just open the door quicker next time." Shiro-chan stated curtly as he stepped in. His arms were folded across his chest, and he had that ever sour expression on his face. The very one Momo remembered from when they were younger. His bleach white hair stood on its own and barely swayed as he entered. Per usual, he was wearing the standard shinigami uniform. Over which he wore his captain's jacket. No matter the amount of times she saw him in it, Momo was still awed. The very same Shiro-chan she had eaten watermelons with was a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Souls.

"I just wanted to make sure she wasn't busy. For all you know, Captain, she could have been in the middle of an examination!" Rangiku-san chastised, and then added as an after thought, "Or changing!" Shiro-chan just sniffed audibly and turned his head to examine one of the hospital room's walls.

"'Could' being the operative word Rangiku," he sniffed, "and besides, what's there to see anyways?" Momo's face heated. His tone was too lackadaisical, as if he was talking about the weather. On top of that he acted like she wasn't in the room to hear!

Anger rising, Momo shouted, "What do you mean by that?!" It wasn't really a question to be answered, yet he struggled as if to find the right word to say.

"All I'm saying is that even if you were in the middle of something, your underdeveloped body wouldn't be of any interest to me." Toshiro said calmly still studying the walls. He stopped just a foot away from a now steaming mad Momo. Without hesitation she climbed out from under her bed and clonked him squarely on the head.

"Well," Momo began in a heated tone, "of all the inconsiderate things to say to a hospital patient; you had to bring up the matter of my body. If all you're going to do is poke fun at me then maybe you should just leave." This time she sniffed audibly and turned her head away from them.

Rangiku was holding back a burst of laughter at her Captain's futile struggle.

"Oh come on now, I'm just making a joke at the only thing worth talking about right now." Momo, from the cracks of her eyes, thought she saw him scratch the part of his head where she had smacked, but when she opened her eyes to check, his hands were still at chest level, and his captain's jacket didn't look as if he had made any sudden movements to jerk his hands away from his head.

"So my body is interesting, hmmm?" she asked jokingly. Now he really did flinch and his voice shifted to the defensive as he snapped,

"That's not what I meant!" he readjusted his coat and was now starting to study the blue and white floor tiles at his feet.

"Now, now. I think that is just about enough of that!" Momo hadn't noticed that Captain Unohana had stepped into the room. Hands folded at her waist, and her long black braided hair that framed her face hung down between her breasts Unohana Retsu dominated the room with her motherly face and gentle voice. "Patients need their rest after all,"

Captain Unohana always reminded Momo of a mother who knew that children would get in trouble and did her best to guide them so they didn't hurt themselves too horribly. It was a comforting presence, and always welcome in Momo's books.

"No it's all right," Momo started, "I'm actually feeling a lot better –" Captain Unohana warm laughter cut Momo off.

"Not you Hinamori-chan. Hitsugaya-bozu is the one who should be in bed." Momo exchanged a puzzled look with Captain Unohana and Shiro-chan, but he refused to meet her gaze.

Instead, he chose to glare at Captain Unohana over his shoulder. "Hey," Shiro-chan's voice was layered with contempt, "who said you could call me 'kid' anyways?" Captain Unohana just kept a serene face and smiled to him. Momo saw his anger rising. Weather at being acknowledged as a kid or for acting like one, Momo wasn't sure. It did however seem cute. Toshiro had worked so hard to get through the Spirit Academy and then ascended to the rank of Captain. Everyone called him a prodigy. Weather he like that or not was something he never expressed, but Momo didn't think he did.

Back in Rukongai, Toshiro was always distant from other people. It wasn't as if Momo hadn't tried to include him in things, but … he always approached things with that sour look. Always frowning.

"Shiro-chan," Momo sounded worried, more worried than she wanted him to hear. "What happened?" she spoke slowly, trying to cover her worry with intrigue.

"What?" Toshiro turned his bluish-green eyes to her. His brow was drawn down more than usual and instead of appearing angry he looked more annoyed that she had asked. "Listen if you've got time to worry about me, worry over yourself." she flinched at his words. Not because they were harsh, but because he had heard the worry in her voice. "All I got were a few scratches from a few low-level rogues Arrancar." He finished, and almost right on top of him, Rangiku busted.

"A few scratches!" Although she was concerned for her captain, she didn't appear to be worrying about his hearing, as she shouted right into Shiro-chan's ear. Captain Unohana chided her about yelling in a hospital, and she lowered her voice to a tone that had just as much worry as Momo's had, "Captain, you were stabbed through the chest with one of their blades. That's not something to brush aside or joke around about."

"Who's joking?" he asked curtly, "Besides, I'm fine now."

"Well yes, but-" "But nothing. They're dead, I'm alive, everyone's happy." While he was arguing with Rangiku-san, Momo studied him. She now realized why he kept his hands folded at his chest. There were probably bandages around his arms and his chest. However there was no way to be sure unless he removed his shirt. The thought made her face turn a bright red. Pushing down the though, she turned her attention to what must be a façade. He did pretty well at hiding them, and he was probably holding in the pain in front of everyone as well. Always trying to act tough. That was Shiro-chan. Momo smiled in spite of herself.

"Well anyway," Shiro-chan's voice snapped her back out of her thoughts. "I should get going. After all I still have a mountain of paper work to do. Paper work that someone was supposed to do while I was out." annoyed, he was shot Rangiku-san a glare that Momo was sure could start a fire. She ignored it and pretended to study the walls, whistling a comical tune.

When her head came back around she continued to play innocent and ask, "What?" She must have had some acting talent because her eyes were wide and doe like and she pouted slightly, "You think I was going to do all that paper work by myself when some of the stores were having a discount sale. Do you realize how long it's been since they held one of those?"

"Well," Captain Unohana said, breaking the two from their argument in that motherly tone Momo was accustomed to hearing from her, "do be sure to take it easy on your way back, Captain Hitsugaya" She smiled and stepped aside to let the other two pass her by. Shiro-chan stopped in front of her and shot her one of his casually heated glares.

"Captain Unohana," He paused a moment before continuing, "you and I need to have a talk about my honor-fix sometime." Raising his left hand away from his chest, Shiro-chan gave a curt wave to Momo without turning and proceeded to walk out. A pang of remorse filtered through Momo as she watched him leave. His sleeve slid down enough for her to see just a small portion of a bandage.

"Have a good day Hinamori-chan!" Rangiku-san shouted back to Momo with a smile and a wave good-bye, nearly running over a squad four member as he crossed the hall. Momo didn't hesitate to reply by telling her the same. After another minute Rangiku-san stopped and shouted to Captain Unohana, telling her the same as she had said to Momo. Captain Unohana just smiled and waved good-bye. After they left Captain Unohana shut the door and turned her attention to Momo. She moved towards a chair and sat down gently.

"Well, now that all the commotion is gone, why don't we get to your results?" Momo nodded in agreement. She was egger to be out as soon as possible. Lying in bed was becoming a waste of time.

*********

Momo opened the door to her room. Nothing had been changed in the time she had been in the hospital, but the air was stale. Obviously no one had been in here for quite some time.

She walked over to her window to look out at the view of the Seireitei. It wasn't exactly magnificent, but it had its own grand beauty. And after all those months in the hospital, Momo was glad for a change in scenery. Pushing the window open let in a fresh breeze. As light as the wind was it was enough to kick up the layer of dust that had collected around her room. Coughing and hacking, Momo swung her arms aimlessly to fight away the dust and to no avail. A brisk knock at the door dragged her away from the window -and some of the dust. As she made her way across the room she asked, "What is it?" in between coughs.

"Delivery for Vice-Captain Hinamori." a soldiery voice stated. There was no movement at the door to push the door open; no one would enter he room without invetation. That was just courteous.

In a low voice Momo spoke to her self absently, "Already? Man that didn't take long." She opened the door and took the parcel from the Shinigami who stood at the door in his shihakusho. She murmured a polite, thank you, and shut the door as he left.

Making her way back into the room she walked to the table and folded her legs. She then proceeded to open the package and read its contents. She read over the message with a quick glance and pulled out her Vice-Captain badge from the drawer at her bed.

"So I'm to report to the meeting room for a quick examination by the General-Commander as well as to reacquire my zanpakuto by noon." Momo thought to herself. Standing up she looked at the clock next to her bed, and ran out of her room. It was already 11:55 a.m.

*********
11:57 a.m.
*********

"Welcome Squad Five Vice-Captain Hinamori, Momo." The General-Commander's voice, Yamamoto-Genryusai, Shigekuni's voice, boomed across the room as the double doors to his office opened. This man, who led all Shinigami who belonged to the Gotei juu-san, always held an air of command that was obviously earned, and he expected to be obeyed.

He sat on a large high-backed chair. His cane, which was also his zanpakuto, was in front of him and both hands rested atop of another at the cane's head. "It would seem that you have made a full recovery this time, I would hope." he reminded Momo of an elderly grandfather making sure that none of his grandchildren disobeyed. And always had a switch at the ready to put them back in line.

"Yes, thank you General-Commander, sir." Momo replied in a monotone voice. The respect for anyone higher than her in position or skill was engraved into her bones, and if she ever forgot them ... She shivered at the thought of what happened to some Shinigami when they forgot to show respect. "And with your permission I would like to return to my position and squad."

"I have no objection. However I would like to inform you that due to no captain for your squad; that until a suitable candidate is found you will have to take on roll as leader and even take on assignments that rival those of captains."

"I have no problem with that, sir." Momo replied. She didn't have much of a choice really. It was either take on the roll of leader or go against orders. And she knew what being Vice-Captain entailed when she took the position. She would not back down. Not now.

"That is good to hear." Making a curt gesture to a table he continued, "here is your zanpakuto." With out delay, Momo moved over to the table and picked up her zanpakuto and slid it in between her white sash. "Again thank you very much." She turned on her heels and started for the door when the General-Commander's voice rang through the room.

"One more thing Vice-Captain Hinamori." Momo froze and spun around, making her way back to stand before him. "I have one mission for you at the moment that requires your attention." She listened closely as he instructed her on what she was to do for her next mission.

*********
3:11 p.m.
*********

Momo stood in front of the Senkaimon with her Hell Butterfly waiting for the gates to open when a familiar sounding voice rang through the air, "Hey! Bed wetter!"

Turning around on her heels she shrieked, "What have I told you about calling me that!" Her face was beet red and her temper needed to be collected for this mission. "Now what do you want?" she asked harshly and added, "can't you tell that I'm getting ready to leave on a mission or are you that blind?" Her voice was as heated as her face.

"Calm down, calm down," his hands waved in the air as if they could push her voice down. His head turned quickly in each direction and his eyes kept darting as if he were trying to look in every direction at once. "I only came here to say good-bye, and…" he paused and turned his eyes to her. There were all full of concern, but why? "I wanted to give you a fair warning just in case no one gave you the heads up." Some of his bandages had come off. Momo didn't know why she took special note of that, but she did. After giving him an impatient glare, he continued further. "Well you see, since most of the Arrancar are still scattered, well let's just say that they've doubled their hate for us and won't give us the chance to fight back if they see it."

"W-Well thank you for the information Shiro-chan, but I'm just going to scout the area for anymore developments on the Hollow's. Not Arrancar." The matter-of-fact voice she used seemed to settle his uneasiness. He shrugged and started to look towards the group who was to escort her through the senkaimon.

"I'm glad that you're worried about m-, I mean that is I'm glad you want to make sure I'm safe- Oh!" she exclaimed. Things just wouldn't come out of her mouth the way she wanted them to. "You know what, just never mind!" Would he take her words the wrong way? Or would he take them the way she meant to say them, either way it didn't TOTALLY matter, right?

Shaking her head irritably, she tried to focus on the mission. She didn't have time to worry about other things that would derail her. That would just make it that much harder to get back on task. Still, she couldn't help but be worried that he would take her words to heart and NOT worry, or what ever ... She didn't want that.

"Vice-Captain Hinamori, we are ready to leave." One of the shinigami's voice stated and she turned away from Toshiro, hoping he wouldn't notice how red her face had gotten. Saying a final farewell to Toshiro she walked over to her escort.

"Thank you, I'm ready to go." The senkaimon opened and Momo bolted through falling in with her escort.

Rue: Hey guys Sabaku here. Just wanted you all to know that I am currently going through all my chapters and revising them-again-! I couldn't stand seeing my early editing because it was a pretty poor job. Now as far as story goes I will edit things so it fits better, but also, -and most importantly- what will happen!! Hohohoho~! Keep looking for the updates and maybe you'll find out! Peace.

Momo: But wait! My mission

Rue: Sorry that's all the time we have for today!