Theoress's section. :)
Chapter Four- Worries
"How did you get here!" Ichigo shouted at Kon. The mod soul dwelling in the stuffed animal with his particular penchant for women's chests annoyed Ichigo. Although Kon was useful at times, animating Ichigo's body when his soul was busy with Shinagami work, Kon got on Ichigo's nerves more than he thought a stuffed animal could. Yet still, he kinda liked the guy. He had to admit that watching his sisters dress up Kon in girly dresses was pretty amusing.
"Where is Nee-san?" Kon demanded, casting looks wildly about Ichigo's dorm room.
"She's not here, Kon, you idiot," Ichigo said flatly. "She's in Soul Society, remember?" Ichigo's thoughts once against drifted to Rukia's face. She who had made him a shinigami. She for whom he risked everything to save. She who constantly bickered with him, yet who was the first person to make him feel like he fit in the world. Ichigo sighed.
Kon blinked at him, then continued to look around the room, confused. "Your room changed a lot."
"Dumbass." said Ichigo. "This is my dorm room at AGU." He held Kon up by the back of this head and pushed him in different directions to take in the whole room.
"It's ugly." Kon said non-chalantly.
Ichigo threw him onto the bed, yelling, "Too ugly to stay here? Or would you rather go live with Yuzu again?"
Kon scowled and turned away from Ichigo. "It's ok, I guess, but I still miss Nee-san." Ichigo rolled his eyes. That little stuffed animal could be so presumptuous. Ichigo thought of Rukia in Soul Society. He hoped she was doing well. He wondered what was going on there. What preparations were being made for Aizen's attack. It had been over a year since the time Soul Society predicted he would come. What was Aizen doing? What was his plan? Was he lolling them into a false sense of security, biding his time, honing something more deadly than ever imagined? What was his goal anyway? He had left Soul Society with Captains Gin and Tousen and had been building his base in Hueco Mundo, making the terrifyingly powerful Arrancar out of the most powerful hollows. Maybe he was waiting for the highest class of hollows. But what was he going to do with them. Ichigo knew he was trying to make the King's Key, but what would he get out of getting to the king? Sereitei wasn't about power; it was about keeping the balance of the universe intact so that it didn't collapse. What would Aizen get out of destroying that? If collapsing the universe wasn't his plan, which Ichigo didn't find a very logical plan in the first place, what was Aizen's goal?
o o o o o
"Where is Vice-Captain Hinamori?" asked the scowling Captain Hitsugaya. Though he looked like a 10 year old child, which threw off people who didn't know him, he was the very skilled and discerning Captain of the 10th Squad.
"I haven't seen her since yesterday when she was released." replied Isane, Captain Unohana's Vice-Captian. Her 4th Squad was comprised of mostly healers who cared for ailing Shinigami. Hitsugaya was not pleased by the news.
"Hmm," his brows furrowed, "I haven't seen her since then either." He was worried about her. Hinamori had never fully recovered from the emotional and physical wounds she suffered from former Captain Aizen. She had been his loving Vice-Captain for many years and had looked up to him with worship-like admiration. His betrayal of Soul Society had affected her worse than anyone else. Since then, she had been in and out of the infirmary with different stress and exhaustion related ailments. She hadn't really taken charge of her squad, though she was a well-trained officer, because she felt somehow empty and lacked confidence when she was not by Aizen's side. She still believed deep down, though she no longer admitted it, that Aizen couldn't have truly betrayed them, that there was a bigger plan or that he was being manipulated. Her Aizen was not a traitor.
Hitsugaya knew that Hinamori's version of Aizen didn't exist, and he was particularly troubled by Aizen's betrayal of Hinamori specifically because she was his sister in their Soul Society family. Hitsugaya and Hinamori remembered almost nothing of their families in the real world, which made their bond in Soul Society that much stronger. Her trauma effected him deeply. Even shinigami souls could be profoundly damaged by excessive loneliness and alienation.
"Thank you, Vice-Captain Isane," he said, his thoughts returning to the situation now at hand, "Please keep an eye out for her and let me know if you see her. I want to make sure she remains healthy" and can finally accept what Aizen really did, he thought to himself. With that, he turned and strode out the door to look for her. He knew she was in fragile condition.
