Chapter 4

"Girls, can you do me a favor?"

The two girls smiled. "No problem Princess," Touketsu said, but Kaben glared at her. "What?"

"We are not leaving her alone," she informed.

"No, no. You can leave me alone. It's not like I can't take care of myself," Yuki said, waving her hands back and forth.

"Yeah, we can leave her alone here. None of them bastards are gonna stand a chance against the little monster," Touketsu said. She caught a rock that was hurling towards her and chuckled. "Almost Yuki, almost."

Kaben frowned. "Fine, but one of us has to stay here." She smirked, "And you're the unlucky person who gets to babysit her."

Touketsu's mouth fell. "Haha. Nice one… Alright, I'll get going. See ya guys in a few days." Touketsu started to walk away from them but Kaben caught her by the collar with an amused smirk. Terror filled the red eyed twin. "Oh no…. Kaben don't do this to me! You're not planning on leaving the brat with me, right? You aren't serious, right?" she said frantically.

Kaben sighed and patted her head. "There, there, I'll only be gone for a few days or so…" She then felt something at her feet. Both Yuki and Touketsu were kneeling, hands clasped together.

"Kaben, don't go!" Yuki pleaded.

"Don't leave us!" Touketsu begged.

"Don't leave me with her!" they said in unison while pointing at each other.

Kaben couldn't help but laugh. "I'll have to go. You might just go around and pick up some fights." Kaben turned away from them and turned into mist. The mist traveled through the bars and turned into Kaben again. "I'll be back soon. Please don't try to kill each other." She then turned into mist again and finally left. The two were left there, kneeling, almost breaking into tears.

"She will be back soon, right?" Yuki whispered.

"I hope so," Touketsu answered. She stood up. "I'm gonna go take a nap. Call me when you need me." Touketsu faded away, leaving Yuki alone on the cold rocky floor.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Hitsugaya roamed the streets of Sereitei. He was still deeply troubled by the mysterious shinigamis. He was heading towards the First Division for a captain's meeting. Hopefully, the meeting would provide the answers to his questions.

He pushed the doors opened and fell in line. The Head Captain soon entered with a very noticeable frown on his face.

"The meeting will now commence." Yamamoto announced. "Yesterday, there were three unknown shinigamis that managed to enter Sereitei. Two shinigamis from the Gotei 13 were offered a place in the rebellion's group. According to them, two were females and one was a male.

They said that one of the women offered them to join the group. They agreed and followed the woman to Soukyoku Hill where the woman's comrades were. An argument ensued between the woman and her comrades when they mentioned Captain Himemiya. Apparently, one of her comrades looked identical to her. The man and the woman who brought them there fought against the girl who they claim to be named 'Rin'.

The fight was broken by Captain Hitsugaya. Am I correct?"

"Ah… Yes, sir. I was there when the battle started." Hitsugaya informed, frowning. Now, he was even more deeply troubled than before. He didn't tell a single soul about the encounter, so hod did he find out?

"Do you have any information to add?"

"No, but this 'Rin,' gravely denies she had any connection to Y-… Captain Himemiya."

Yamamoto nodded. "I see…"

"Are these shinigami from the rogue group that was causing trouble back at Karakura?" Soifon asked.

"Yes." The captains turned to the door. There was a white mist that was slowly taking the form of a woman. "Good afternoon captains." The people in the room stared at the suspicious woman. "It seems that I may have come at the wrong time. I'll be waiting outside Captain Yamamoto." The woman turned around and reached for the door handle, but a sword on her neck prevented her from doing so. "I say, what may the problem be now?"

"Who are you?" Soifon asked. She tightened her grip on the woman, her sword drawing it nearer to her neck.

"It may sound rude, but I am not allowed to speak," the woman calmly said.

"What do I do with her Captain?"

Yamamoto looked at the intruder and immediately recognized her. "Let her go."

Soifon looked at him at disbelief. "But Captain, she's an intruder. Aside from that, she's also a zanpakuto without her wielder. Surely, she must be a toju*."

"No, she's not a toju Captain Soifon," Mayuri stated as he pulled out a small gadget from his robes. "Her reiatsu is stable and it seems as though her wielder is still alive and is in control."

"I repeat, who are you?" Soifon asked again.

The woman sighed. "I repeat, I am not allowed to speak."

Sofon gritted her teeth. "Captain Yamamoto, this woman refuses to answer."

Yamamoto closed his eyes. "Then take her away for insubordination. I will look into this matter myself."

Soifon nodded in approval. The woman's mouth fell open in disbelief.

'This is gonna take a while,' the woman thought.

Fast forward a few weeks…

"Here's your meal lil' brat," a harsh voice said. Yuki opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep on the hard floor. She looked up and saw a smug Fumino with a tray of unappetizing-looking food. "How's the floor workin' for ya?"

Yuki smiled. "It's way better than having to see you every day," she said sweetly. Fumino tightened her grip on the tray, her knuckles turning white. "How come prisoners get food?"

"It's because you get hungry." Fumino plainly said. She opened a small door near the floor and slid in the tray of food. She smirked, "Bon appétit." She turned and started walking away.

"Oh, wait a sec!"

Fumino looked over her shoulder and glared at the small shinigami. "What?"

"What month is it?"

"It's already mid-May" Fumino turned away and quickly left.

Yuki looked at the food. 'Stale bread, a piece of burnt meat and a small cup of water, how filling,' she thought. She pushed it away, but later grabbed the bread with her cuffed hands when she heard her stomach growl. She glared at the bread, then at her stomach. "If I die, I'll blame you." She had told herself that line every time they fed her.

She took a small bite and chewed. "Mmm? Tastes better than the usual." She threw away the meat since it was hard as a rock, but, thank god, the water was fresh.

"Ugh…" she shuddered at the unpleasant food. She looked up at the ceiling and frowned. " May… What the hell's Kaben doing?!?"

Unbeknownst to her, Kaben's in a holding cell, cuffed and isolated, just like her.

"Can't you let me go good sir?" the zanpakuto spirit asked nicely with a sweet smile on her face. But her sweet mask was ruined by a twitching eyebrow.

Sweat dropped from the shinigami's forehead. "I-I'm not allowed t-to let y-you go zanpakuto," he said nervously.

"But why not?" she asked, now opening her blue eyes. Chills went down the young man's spine.

"B-Because you haven't answered any o-of t-their questions."

Kaben nodded. She saw some movement from the corner of her eye. "Hello Captain Yamamoto," she politely greeted.

The old man nodded in acknowledgement. "You may let her go now," he said to the guard.

The man stared at him for a second, but he immediately took out his keys with shaking hands and unlocked and uncuffed the imprisoned Kaben. The guard then bowed to Yamamoto and left them with haste.

"Thanks Captain," she said as she rubbed her wrists. She looked at him with a tired-but-also-annoyed expression, "But you could've rushed it y'know… Yuki's gonna be pissed."

"I know," he replied. "So, she's in jail?" Kaben nodded. "She could have just escaped, but why didn't she?"

The two started walking towards the First Division's Senkaimon. "She felt that it was her job to distract them while you and your men figured out a plan."

"She's just a lazy child isn't she?"

She gave him a tired smile. "You could say that…" Kaben looked ahead, staring into nowhere, "Is there any plan to rescue her?"

"Not at the moment…" he sighed.

"Well, she won't be too happy about that…" she said. They stopped in front of a huge ornate door. Kaben faced the captain and bowed. "Well Captain, this is where I get off. See you guys soon."

The doors opened and Kaben slowly walked into them, with only one thought in her mind.

"She is sooo gonna kill me."

"huff.. huff…" Yuki panted, sweat slowly dripping down her face. Was it her, or was it getting hotter inside the cell? "It's friggin'hot! Why is it so hot?!?" Yuki heard a small chuckle coming from the corner of the cell. "What're you laughin' 'bout Touketsu?"

"Well, somebody woke up at the wrong side of the bed," the zanpakuto said as she covered her smile with her shawl.

"Tch!" Yuki turned away. Why? Oh why did Kaben have to leave? Why did she have to go? Hell, why did the two even separate. "Kaben…"

"Oh please…. You're still depressed about me stayin'? Y'know Kaben told me to protect you while she did your little favor." Touketsu smirked inwardly, "How're you holdin' up there?"

"Ugh… Where's Kaben? She's been away for who knows how long…" Yuki heard faint footsteps approaching. She ushered Touketsu to shut up and hide. "What do you want now?" she said as she rolled her ruby eyes.

"Nothin' really… Just needed to feed ya," Hideki said. He sat down on one of the chairs as he watched her eat her meal. He laughed when he saw the girl's disgusted face after she took a bite of the bread. "Nasty ain't it? Sorry, but that's all that's allowed."

"Yeah, I understand." Yuki pinched her nose and drank the soup that almost looked like Inoue's cooking. Almost. Orihime's cooking can never be replaced. After she gulped down all the contents, she started hitting her chest and coughing. "Ack!... Sometimes I have a feelin' you guys are already trying to kill me…" she said, narrowing her eyes. "Oh well, can't help it. I get hungry."

Hideki stared at the woman, eyes wide. "Well, you sure have quite a tough stomach."

Yuki laughed. "I sure do," she said, patting her stomach. "Well, if that's all… Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"How's Sachiko?"

"She's still upset." Yuki lowered her head. Hideki patted her head. "Well, you can't blame the girl."

"Yeah, thanks anyway."

Hideki frowned. "Anything else?"

"I've been here for… quite a long time now, haven't I?" she whispered. Hideki nodded. "Well, that's all. Say hello to summer for me!" she cheered as she waved her hand. He smiled at her and waved back.

"What a strong girl," he whispered.

Yuki poked her head through the bars and nodded to herself as soon as she made sure no one was around. "All clear." Cold hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" a soft voice said.

"Kaben?" The hands were removed and Yuki turned around to see who it was. "Kaben!" Yuki jumped onto her sword and wrapped her around her. "I missed you so much!!!" The little girl glared at Touketsu, "Touketsu was mean!" she complained childishly.

Touketsu rolled her eyes. Kaben sighed and started to pat Yuki's head. "I missed you too… I'm sorry I took so long."

Yuki pulled away and frowned at her. "Why DID you friggin' take so long?"

"Ahm… uh…" Kaben gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of her neck.

"The old man thought she was an enemy and she was arrested. She got out just this morning," Touketsu explained from the corner of the cell.

Yuki crossed her arms and blew away a stray lock of hair from her face. "Typical old man… So, did you still send them the message?" Kaben nodded and Yuki let out a sigh of relief. "What did they say?"

"It's… underway."

"Ah! My sweet bed! My sweet blanket! My sweet, sweet, sweet flowers! Momma's coming home!" Yuki chanted as she spun around and around the cell, happy.

"Uh…"

"Hm? Anything wrong Kaben?"

Kaben forced a small nervous laugh. "Ahm… uh…"

"She wants to ask what you plan on doing with the Hitsugaya kid." Kaben glared at her twin but Touketsu just brushed it off. "She asked." Meanwhile, Yuki was lost in deep thought. What was she gonna do with him? He should have moved on, right? "Um, earth to Yuki. Come in Yuki."

Yuki shook her head and gave them a warm smile. "I think he should have moved on and found someone else." The twins just stared at her, then at each other. Both were kinda worried. "What's with you two today?"

"Nothing Princess," Touketsu reassured her.

"But we're not quite sure about your opinion of the captain," Kaben continued. They then disappeared.

"Huh?"

Hitsugaya gritted his teeth. There she goes again. It's driving him insane. The heat's making it even worse. "Matsumoto would you stop tapping your brush and continue your paperwork?!?"

Matsumoto accidentally dropped her brush and sighed. "Captain~, it's soooo hot!" she complained.

He tightened his grip on his brush, trying not to break it. "I know Matsumoto… But please, do your job," he muttered. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. "Come in."

Hinamori opened the door slightly and peeked in. "Is Lieutenant Matsumoto there?" Hitsugaya pointed at the figure that was lying on the couch. "Ah! Rangiku-san, President Kusajishi wanted to let you know that we're going to have another trip to the beach."

Rangiku sat up with a huge grin. "The beach?!" she repeated happily.

"Hai," Hinamori turned to Hitsugaya, "You can come too Captain Hitsugaya…" Hitsugaya merely nodded. "Well, that's all Rangiku-san. Be ready by the next week, okay?"

"I'll be ready even before then, sweetie!" she waved as Hinamori closed the door. "Did you hear that Captain? The beach!" Matsumoto turned to him, but sweat started to drop when she saw his piercing glare.

"Matsumoto-"

"You'd come right?" Matsumoto interjected. "You told Hinamori you would. You wouldn't want to let her down now would you?" she said with a sly smile on her face.

"Matsumoto I-" Dust was left in his lieutenant's wake.

Another crappy chap I presume… I'm running out of ideas… AGAIN.

So, please don't hurt me if you think this is very bad….