Author's Note: … I still have nothing to say.

Argh! What is wrong with me?!

Disclaimer: Read previous chapters.

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Chapter 4 – Aftermath in Seireitei! The Next Target, Hinamori!

Hinamori glanced up at the cloudless sky of Seireitei.

Her mind trailed back to when Ichimaru showed himself before Hitsugaya and her, trying to find the reason why Ichimaru would want to capture Hitsugaya for Aizen. She couldn't think of a reason why. And she was in no condition to.

Her wounds had not healed; both physical and mental wounds. The physical wounds were no problem to Unohana, for she had superb medical skills and her medical zanpakutou, but Hinamori had also suffered mental wounds. She was shaken to see Hitsugaya so… helpless. So… easily captured by the enemy. She didn't want to believe that Hitsugaya could be so easily taken away by Ichimaru like that. She would never admit that Hitsugaya was weak, for he was not.

However, she still couldn't find the reason why Hitsugaya was so easily taken. Surely there must've been something Ichimaru said to Hitsugaya to threaten him! Or perhaps it was Aizen in disguise. Hinamori blinked in anger.

"Aizen…" she hissed quietly in her room. She clenched her fists. "Aizen Sousuke, I will never forgive you. Never."

How long had she been in Aizen's grasp and control? How long had she been his puppet in his devilish scheme? How long did it take for her to realize it, the mistake of believing him so easily. She was so gullible! So naïve, so easily manipulated. And it was because of that that caused Hitsugaya so much pain and hurt.

He had been trying to wake her up from her dream, but she didn't wake up. He had been trying to show her the truth, but she daren't look. He had been trying so hard to tell her, but she didn't listen. He tried all means and ways, but she simply ignored them, until she finally came to a realization that Aizen, her so-called perfect captain, was truly a traitor.

Hinamori closed her eyes and sighed, remembering the day she finally woke up for real.

＜ブリーチ＞

"Hinamori, listen to me. Aizen is really…"

"Stop it, Hitsugaya-kun! I've already told you! Aizen-taichou is being controlled by Ichimaru-taichou! He isn't a traitor! I know he isn't!" Hinamori shouted, stomping off in the opposite direction. The conversation was getting nowhere except telling her 'lies' about Aizen.

Hitsugaya cursed under his breath, and tried to catch up to her. "Hinamori, I won't stop. I will continue telling you and showing you the truth!"

"The truth? I'll tell you the truth, Hitsugaya-kun! The truth is that Aizen-taichou is being manipulated by the real enemy! And I'm going to find out who is so daring to control Aizen-taichou like that!" Hinamori declared, pumping her fist in the air both enthusiastically and angrily.

"You're not listening to me, Hinamori."

"Of course I'm not. For all I know, you might be under the enemy's control too, Hitsugaya-kun."

Hitsugaya nearly lost his temper, but he tried to regain his cool composure. How long until she will finally learn of the truth, he wondered to himself. "That's absurd, Hinamori."

"What is?"

Hitsugaya sighed, "The fact that you think that everyone except you is under the 'real' enemy's control."

"Huh?! That's not absurd! I know it's true! It's got to be!"

Hitsugaya grabbed her by the wrist, unwilling to let go. "Do you have proof, Hinamori?"

"Proof…? There's no need for proof!" Hinamori tried pushing Hitsugaya's hands off hers. "Let go of me, Shirou-chan!"

"I won't!" Hitsugaya shouted back. His grip tightened till she stopped struggling. "You don't have proof, but I do, Hinamori." And he carried her bridal-style before he shunpo-ed off back to the 5th Division office that used to belong to Aizen. He let her down and opened the door for her politely. She 'hmphed' and walked in, ready for whatever proof there was. After all, she had been in Aizen's office for very often. What kind of proof was there?

She was wrong.

"H-huh…? Wha… what is this…?" Hinamori gasped, blinking. She looked around the empty office, not believing what she was seeing. The floor was coated with blood, and the desk was completely trashed. The office reeked of the smell of blood, and she felt nauseous. She covered her mouth, trying to hold back her tears. "N-no… B-but it's always clean a-and tidy…"

Hitsugaya grabbed her shoulders to calm her down. "Hinamori… When you fell into a coma, Yamamoto-soutaichou ordered all Captains to inspect every place Aizen had gone to. We were all assigned different places, and I was assigned to his office. This was what I found, and what I have decided to leave as."

"N-no, I won't believe it…"

"After I reported back to Yamamoto-soutaichou, he decided to lock this room and forbid any access to anyone except me. I have no idea why only I am allowed here, but I suppose it is because I discovered it. You were unconscious throughout everything, Hinamori. There was no way you learnt about it. So now is a good time to tell you and to show you that Aizen Sousuke is all a fake!"

Hinamori felt tears streaming down her face. She rushed out of the room with Hitsugaya running after her and calling her name. She didn't want to listen to anyone right now. All she wanted was to get away from everything. She didn't want to live in reality; it was too frightening for her. She didn't want to go back to living in her dream; she would be woken up by reality in the end. She had nowhere to go, and she didn't know what to do, except run away from everything. Memories of Aizen flashed in her mind, and she struggled to forget all of them. She continued running.

"Hinamori!" Hitsugaya called after her. "Hinamori!"

"Go away, Shirou-chan!"

"You know I won't! Hinamori!!! Stop running!"

"And you know I won't too, Shirou-chan!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to wake up?! How long until you wake up from your dream, Momo?!"

Hinamori immediately stopped dead in her tracks and Hitsugaya crashed into her accidentally. Hitsugaya lied down on Hinamori's back, and Hinamori was lying on her chest, groaning in pain. Hitsugaya sweat dropped. Hinamori glared. She screamed for Hitsugaya to get off her immediately, and of course he got off her with a blush. She stood up, blushing. She looked at Hitsugaya shyly. "Ne, Shirou-chan… Did you just say my name?"

"Huh? Yeah… So?"

Hinamori smiled. "Nothing, Toushirou." Hitsugaya blinked before Hinamori continued, "It's just that… it's been a long time since we called each other by our real names instead of name-calling everyday… right?"

Hitsugaya stared at her for a while before he blinked and smiled. The Bed-Wetter Momo of the past was returning. "Ah. It's been a long time."

＜ブリーチ＞

Matsumoto sighed sadly. It had been days since Hitsugaya's disappearance. The 10th Division was coping pretty well, but not as well as when their Captain was present. Matsumoto couldn't help but agree: Hitsugaya was indispensable in the 10th Division. Ever since he was captured, many of the seated officers and random shinigami began to lose their morale since their taichou was no longer with them, and many of them took leave every day. The others remained neutral, still willing to take orders from Matsumoto, the second-in-command since she was the fukutaichou, but they didn't carry out orders as quickly as they did when Hitsugaya gave out orders to them.

Matsumoto sighed again, gulping down her sake. She picked a few bottles and walked out of her division. She decided to visit Hinamori.

＜ブリーチ＞

"… Therefore, I hereby conclude that Hitsugaya Toushirou, former Captain of the 10th Division, is labeled as one of the Missing Shinigami cases," Yamamoto concluded with a stoic expression on his face. The other Captains bowed their heads as a form of agreement, even though most of them didn't want to think of Hitsugaya as a 'former Captain'. Yamamoto spoke once more, "Kurotsuchi-taichou."

"Hai," Mayuri replied.

"You are in charge of the Investigation Division, so please make a record of Hitsugaya Toushirou's missing case."

"Hai."

"Dismissed."

＜ブリーチ＞

"Nani?! Missing?!"

"Hinamori-fukutaichou, please lower down your volume…" Unohana kindly requested.

Hinamori lowered her voice, but she was still shouting. "Hitsugaya-kun isn't missing! He can't be! He must've been taken to Hueco Mondo! That's the only place Aizen is in! If Aizen captured Hitsugaya-kun, Hitsugaya-kun must've been taken there!"

"Hinamori-fukutaichou…"

"Onegai, Unohana-taichou. You have to talk Yamamoto-soutaichou around."

"Hinamori-fukutaichou, Hueco Mondo is a dangerous place. We have no idea where Aizen is situated at in Hueco Mondo, but we cannot take any risks. If we were to talk Yamamoto-soutaichou around and send our troops there, we might lose all of them. We can't afford to lose any more men on our side, Hinamori-fukutaichou."

"Demo…!"

"Please, rest. We'll continue when you get better." Unohana walked out of the room and closed the door. Even though she could no longer hear what Hinamori was saying, Hinamori still said it.

"Hai."

＜ブリーチ＞

"Ya called fer me, Aizen-sama?" Ichimaru asked, bowing to the sadist sitting comfortably on his throne.

"Yes, indeed I have, Gin. I want you to go back to Seireitei."

"Huh? What fer? Thought ya got what ya wanted already, Aizen-sama."

"I have, Gin, and I want to ensure that I have Hitsugaya-kun stay in my army for good. Knowing him by now, he won't remain loyal. In fact, he won't ever pledge loyalty to me. So I need to ensure that that doesn't happen."

"I understand, Aizen-sama."

"So go to Seireitei at once, Gin, and take back Hinamori-kun with you."

＜ブリーチ＞

The alarms blared, alerting all of Seireitei that an intruder had infiltrated Seireitei successfully. Shinigami on standby got ready to take on the intruder while the Captains got themselves ready for battle too. A rip in the dimensions appeared and the foxy ex-taichou of the 3rd Division stepped out casually. The shinigami pointed their zanpakutou towards him. Ichimaru scratched his head. "Ah, I shoulda've hidden my reiatsu. How careless o' me."

"Ichimaru…" Hinamori hissed quietly, watching everything from the room in the 4th Division. She got off her bed and jumped out of the window. She rushed towards the spot where Ichimaru appeared which wasn't far, and held onto Tobiume's hilt. "Ichimaru, I won't forgive you…"

While the foxy Ichimaru was getting distracted by all the other shinigami, Hinamori unsheathed Tobiume, getting ready for battle. She took the chance and charged towards Ichimaru at blinding speed. "Hinamori-fukutaichou!" the standby shinigami all chorused. "Please, don't do anything rash!"

Hinamori obviously didn't listen to them and brought down Tobiume's blade at Ichimaru who protected himself by using Shinsou's blade. Hinamori jumped away, still holding onto Tobiume. Ichimaru smiled. "Why, if it ain't the chibi taichou's girlfriend. How sweet, ya came to ask me where yer boyfriend is, right?" Ichimaru stated sarcastically.

"Cut the crap, Ichimaru, and tell me! Where is Hitsugaya-kun?!" Hinamori demanded.

"Cool down, will ya? I'll tell ya where he is."

"Really?" Hinamori asked in surprise. That seemed easy. Too easy.

"Uh-huh. In fact…" Ichimaru shunpo-ed over to her and placed Shinsou against her neck. She felt the blood trickling down her neck. She gasped. "I'll take ya to 'im."

"Get away from her!" Ichimaru turned around to see whose voice that belonged to, and smiled even more when he saw the long white-haired captain running towards him, zanpakutou unsheathed, and with his flamboyantly dressed friend as well. Ukitake jumped towards Ichimaru, bringing down his zanpakutou's blade.

Ichimaru shunpo-ed away from the attack, and Ukitake gasped. "Is that all ya got, Ukitake-taichou? That ain't enough ta' beat me, 'specially in yer condition." Without warning, two zanpakutou blades charged towards him and stabbed him on his back. Ichimaru's eyes widened and he coughed out blood. He felt the zanpakutous getting pulled out and he coughed even more blood out, giving Ukitake the chance to rescue Hinamori from Ichimaru's grasp. Ukitake pulled Hinamori away while Kyouraku jumped off Ichimaru's back with his blood-stained twin zanpakutou. Ichimaru stood up, smiled and wiped the blood of his mouth. "Ara, ara, ya gangin' up on me. That ain't very nice of ya, Ukitake-taichou, Kyouraku-taichou."

"Ichimaru Gin, I have no idea what Sousuke-kun wants with Toushirou-kun, but it would do us all a favour if you tell us where Toushirou-kun is now," Kyouraku calmly responded, completely ignoring Ichimaru's sentence.

"No can do, Kyouraku-taichou. Sorry," Ichimaru replied casually, scratching his head.

"Then we shall take you to see Yamamoto-soutaichou," Ukitake continued. "A traitor like you truly deserves the punishment you ever get."

The dimensional rip suddenly appeared behind Ichimaru, and it felt like a big vacuum sucking up everything in its path. Ichimaru stood there calmly with a huge grin on his face. Ukitake and Kyouraku jumped away while all the standby shinigami went out of the way. "Kuso…" Ukitake cursed. "Getting away with it and we can't do anything…"

"There really is nothing we can do now, Juushirou," his comrade replied. "If we go down there, we'll only get sucked in and be in the same state as Toushirou-kun. There's nothing we can do except watch the traitor go scot-free."

Ichimaru smiled and shouted to Hinamori, "Eh, Hinamori-kun, got somethin' ta' tell ya before I go off!" Hinamori 'hmphed' and Ichimaru continued with a very evil grin, "Chibi taichou… says hi."

"Ah?!" Hinamori gasped. "S-Shirou-chan…"

"Too bad ya can't come with me, Hinamori-kun. Aizen-sama misses ya, and so does the chibi taichou," Ichimaru said before he got sucked into the dimensional rip and disappeared for good.

Hinamori broke down and cried.

＜ブリーチ＞

"I see…" Yamamoto mumbled, looking at his students. Ukitake and Kyouraku had given their accounts about Ichimaru's invasion and the fact that Hitsugaya was very much alive and not missing. Yamamoto thought about it for a while before he spoke, "Very well. I will call for a captains' meeting for this matter. Pass it on to the other captains immediately, Ukitake-taichou, Kyouraku-taichou. I'm calling for a captains' meeting right now."

"Hai," both students replied, bowing their heads. They shunpo-ed off to all of the Divisions to inform the Captains of the meeting that was to take place at once. Before even much time was lost, all of the Captains turned up for the meeting, even Zaraki, surprisingly. It turned out that he was having trouble getting back to his Division and ended up in the meeting hall anyway. What perfect timing.

"I will commence the meeting," Yamamoto began. "First, I have been informed that Hitsugaya-taichou is currently being held captive in Hueco Mondo by defected Captain Aizen Sousuke. We haven't any clue as to why Aizen is holding Hitsugaya-taichou captive, but we must get Hitsugaya-taichou back immediately before he ends up betraying us as well."

"Demo, Yamamoto-soutaichou, I believe that the boy will not betray us," Byakuya spoke up. "The boy has always been faithful to Soul Society. He has no reason to betray us."

"I agree with you, Kuchiki-taichou, but," Yamamoto paused before continuing, "We can't afford to lose any more of our captains to the enemy." Ukitake and Kyouraku had noticed Yamoto's hesitation in his answer, but said nothing. Yamamoto continued, "Second, I will hereby give everyone permission to break into Aizen's hideout and rescue Hitsugaya-taichou. You are thereby allowed to go there anytime you want, and with anyone you want. It's all up to you, Captains, but make a wise decision. Remember, we can't afford to lose any more of our Captains, especially Hitsugaya-taichou."

The other captains got slightly baffled. Ukitake spoke, "Sir, I know we can't lose any more of the Gotei 13 Captains, but why 'especially' Hitsugaya-taichou? Is there something special about him that the enemy is targeting?"

This time, Zaraki spoke, "Nah, it doesn't make sense. Shouldn't the enemy target the more elite Captains rather than pick on the less experienced one? After all, the midget hasn't been Captain for a very long time, and even though I don't even know my zanpakutou's name, I still have higher reiatsu than he does."

"Are you implying that Hitsugaya-taichou is a weakling?"

"Of course, Ukitake! I bet if you put him and Yachiru in a battle, Yachiru will win without a doubt!"

"Why you… You shouldn't criticize your fellow taichou like that!"

"And why not?"

The reiatsu level in the room fluctuated greatly. Yamamoto ordered, "Both of you, keep quiet!" Ukitake and Zaraki spoke no more. "I will not tolerate any arguments about this matter during further meetings! Is that clear, Captains?"

"Hai."

"With that cleared, Captains, please return to your respective Divisions and think up of a suitable plan to rescue Hitsugaya-taichou from Hueco Mondo." Yamamoto banged his staff. "Dismissed!"

＜ブリーチ＞

Warning! Warning! An intruder has been spotted in the experiment room! An intruder –

PIANG!

The foot that crushed the alarm system stepped back cautiously. The glass shards had sunken into the foot, but the owner of the foot didn't seem to care. He smiled sadistically, walking over the remaining glass shards. Luckily for him, the alarm didn't stir any of the Arrancar or the leaders of the army awake, so he was perfectly safe – and it was a perfect time for him to escape.

The figure teleported out of the building and ran. The full moon of Hueco Mondo shone down upon his slender figure running in the endless desert-like Hueco Mondo. He was wearing the standard shinigami shihakushou with a captain haori. A sword band was strapped to him and a zanpakutou lay attached to the sword band. The figure jumped across the land, happy to free at last. He smiled and looked back at Aizen's hideout.

"See?" the figure spoke, his voice sounding like as if he were talking behind a mask in a deep cave, albeit, echoing. "That's how you use my power, as well as your own. Now aren't you glad you let me out…" The figure smiled. "… Toushirou?"

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A/N: Yay, a cliffhanger.

In case you're wondering, that was sarcasm.

I hate cliffies! I wish I could write more, but I'm currently on medication so I'm feeling damn drowsy… Ugh… Sleepy…

I liked how this chapter turned out. Heck, I loved how all the other chapters turned out. I know you've got tons of questions, especially the last bit, but it'll all be explained in the next chapter which should be coming, like, tomorrow? Latest, Friday, I swear.