Oh come on guys! :( You're really upsetting us, please take the time to leave a review we don't mean to whine, but it's discouraging to see you guys not leaving your thoughts on the story. -Cat
The night went by quickly. Suiren and Kuromi spent most of it talking about what she had dreamed. Just who that 'Papa' person was. "I...I don't know who he is. But I remember he did this...He did all of this." Kuromi rolled up her sleeve, revealing a trail of track marks on her arms. Suiren blinked in surprise. It wasn't like the marks were sloppy or made by the Division 4 people. They had been there for a while and they seemed to look like they hit a vein each time. It was someone who obviously knew what they were doing. The silver haired girl reached over and touched the scars. They were smooth. It was just the discolored skin that made them apparent. "Well...have you shown anyone else these?" Kuromi shook her head as she rolled her sleeve back down. How could she tell anyone about these? They'd just be as dumbfounded as they were. Her friend started to seem more and more troubled the more they lingered on this subject. She just wanted to know who she was. That's all she wanted, but no. Nothing good was happening and nothing was making any sense. The young woman smiled slightly and tried to calm her down. "Just get some rest. We'll try figuring everything out in the morning, okay?" She patted her head, but noticed there were tears in her eyes. She sighed before getting up, holding her stomach again. "It'll be okay, I promise." She smiled before leaving the room to give her a moment.
As morning came, Kuromi was free to exit the infirmary while Suiren stayed to get her stomach wound healed up. The fox girl was still troubled about last night, but today, she wanted to push it aside until she reported back to Toshiro. However, before she could even get to her barracks, she heard a loud scream. She looked off to the distance before quickly running and flash stepping her way there. As she arrived, she saw a lot of the fukutaichous gathered. She blinked in confusion before looking up. Her eyes widened a bit as she saw the taichou of Division 5 pinned to the wall of a building with his own zanpakutou. She gulped and took a step back, not feeling anything right about this. She heard Momo, Division 5's fukutaichou, crying as she stared at the body. But she didn't care about that. As she took the step back, she bumped into someone. "Watch your step." She looked up to see Gin. Her heart was racing by now but not because she saw him. "G-Gin-taichou...t-there's something not right about this." He rose a brow before smirking. "Well, of course not-" "I don't mean that! It's just..." Before she could even get her worry out, she heard a loud yell. "You did this!" Momo ran towards them, mostly keeping Gin in her sights as she drew her zanpakutou. Kuromi glared before drawing her own to defend the taichou. But before she could, his fukutaichou, Izuru Kira, stepped in front of them and blocked the girl's swipe.
Gin took hold of Kuromi's shoulder and took a step back from the fighting. He didn't say a word, he just watched. "I won't let you hurt Gin-taichou, not for any reason." Kira stated as he stared down at Momo. "Izuru, step aside." "No." The fox girl's ears folded as she watched the conflict unfold. "Momo-fukutaichou, just step down!" She tried to get each of them to calm down, but neither did. Momo was the first to unleash her zanpakutou's shikai. Then they just went onto fighting. Why was this happening? What was going on and why was Momo so sure that Gin had done this? She knew for a fact that he couldn't have done this, he was there visiting her last night.
~Last Night~
After Suiren had left, Kuromi tried her best to get some rest. She was just so panicked and scared at the moment. There was no way she could possibly rest herself. But she did try. She tried closing her eyes and laying in a comfortable position, but her mind continued to race. She soon heard footsteps, though, expecting Suiren to be coming back. But upon looking at the doorway, she saw Gin standing there. The white haired man shook his head as he looked at the poor girl. "It looks like ya got drenched. Did ya have another nightmare?" He asked as he walked inside. She wondered how he knew exactly. But for now, she was just glad to see him. She sat up in her bed and tried to smile, but she was too scared. "No...I...Something weird happened today...and for some reason, I got a little of my memories back." She admitted to him and stared at her hands. He grinned as he heard that and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Really? Like what? Were you a princess?" He teased with a chuckle, but noticed she wasn't in the mood. "No...I just...I know who made me like this." Now he was interested. "Like what?" He questioned, patting her head gently. She glanced up at him and wiggled her ears to show what she meant. "Papa...made me like this. I know know who papa is but...I just know he did this to me." For the first time in a while, she saw him truly puzzled. Not even he knew who this 'papa' person was. He sighed but smiled either way, continuing on with the pats. "Well, we can agree that he made you a cutie. Not everyone can pull off the ears and tail like you can." He tried to make her feel better by flattering her. It seemed to work so many times before. Maybe it would be no different now. "My ears? Cute? No way. It's weird...I don't like them very much." She sighed as her ears drooped. Now he pouted. He tugged her ears a bit, making her whine and yelp. "Don't try to conflict with me, you know I'm right and that's that!" He smirked at her as she rubbed her ears. "You're such a meanie! You know I hate tugging them." She pouted before smiling a little at him. He tried to cheer her up a lot...she couldn't help but be thankful for that. And once he was sure she was okay, he left her for the rest of the night.
~Present~
The white haired taichou continued to keep Kuromi away from the conflict, just to keep her from getting hurt or arrested. As demonstrated now. Toshiro swooped in before Momo's or Kira's zanpakutou could connect with the other's. "Toshiro..." Momo muttered as she stared in disbelief. Why was he protecting the murderer's fukutaichou? He must know, too, right? "Arrest them. Both of them." The young taichou ordered, letting the other fukutaichous restrain them. "I'm reporting this to the Head Captain! Take them away!" He ordered and the fukutaichou did as he ordered. Kuromi stayed by Gin, though, not really wanting to leave his side in case someone else tried to attack him. Her ears folded, though, as she looked at the ground when her taichou was there alone. "I'm sorry my subordinate made trouble for you, taichou." Gin apologized, still having a grin on his face. But Toshiro just stayed silent for a while. "Ichimaru..." Both of them looked up and a little surprised by his cold voice. "Just now...you tried to kill Momo, didn't you?" Kuromi flinched before glaring. "Toshiro-" "What? I don't have a clue of what you're talkin' about." Gin patted her head so she didn't lose her cool. "I'm telling you right now. If you make Momo bleed, I'll kill you." Toshiro glared daggers at him not even caring that he was upsetting Kuromi. "You're scaring me. But you best keep an eye on her. You already had someone special to you have something bad happen to them, right? You wouldn't want that with Momo, now would you?" Her taichou continued to glare at him before looking directly at her. "Kuromi, come on. We're going back." He took a step forward, expecting her to follow suit. But she refused and kept her ground.
"Kuromi!" Her ears folded but she glared back at him. He huffed before flash-stepping towards a different area. Gin let out a sigh and scratched his head. "What a scene that was. So what was that hunch you had?" He asked her once things calmed down. She looked up at him before pulling him along by his hand towards a more quiet area. Once she was sure no one could hear her, she looked at him concerned. "That wasn't Aizen-taichou." He was a little surprised to hear that assumption. How could she tell? That was a perfect looking Aizen! Well, aside from the sword sticking through his chest. "Now what gives you that idea? That looks like Aizen-taichou to me." He asked, still grinning as if nothing was wrong. "Gin...I'm not scared of that one. Even if he was dead...I'd be cowering and trying to get away. With that...I feel like I can just slap it and get away with it. That is not Aizen!" She whispered most of it but sounded very panicked. Just what was going on? None of this made sense!
Though, Gin had to admit...she was catching on quite quickly. She really was smarter than either of them suspected. But he had to keep this plan a secret until the very last second. She couldn't be finding out now. Not too soon. "Kuromi-chan, I think you may just be tired. After all, you got knocked on the head a little hard last night, right? Why don't we go and get some dango and tea? You're stressed from all this so early in the morning." He nodded and led her along down the path. She was a little unsure if he really didn't believe her or not, but maybe he was right. Maybe she was a little too stressed at the moment. A free snack sounded good, too. "Alright...maybe you're right." She smiled a little bit as she followed after him.
By the time afternoon had come, Suiren had heard about Aizen's murder. She hadn't a clue who could have done that, but she wondered if it really mattered. She hadn't know the man for that long. He seemed cool and okay, but she didn't have a real bond with him. From the details she heard, it was a pretty gruesome death. Not only that but his fukutaichou was arrested because she fought the 3rd division's fukutaichou on the spot. She could only hope he got out of it alright...and knowing Kuromi, she probably got in the middle of it to keep things calm. But that wasn't the case at all. She had no way of knowing. She was still confined to the bed for the most part. But her wound was healing better than expected and she hoped to be out by tonight. If not tonight, then she just might have to flip her shit. She hated to be confined to a bed because of a cheap wound like this! As she huffed and stared out the window, she heard a new set of footsteps. She looked over, seeing her taichou in the doorway again. She sat up carefully and sighed a bit. "What is it?" "Just checking if you were okay." He told her as he walked inside.
She rolled her eyes but gave a small smile. "I'm okay, stop babying me." She then got serious. "What happened today?" She was quick to get to the point. Toshiro sighed and shook his head. "Aizen was murdered...Momo lashed out at Ichimaru...and your friend decided to stay by his side. Both of them." He was talking about Kira and Kuromi. Why Kuromi stuck by his side, he'd never know. But he understood why Kira did. Either way, he didn't trust that snake in the grass for anything. "Both? You mean Izuru and Kuromi? Were they both arrested?" She wondered. "Only Kira. Kuromi didn't fight at all...I'm surprised about that one." He sighed a bit as he leaned on the wall. He had to figure out a way to control that girl. She was going to get herself killed if she hung out with the wrong people. But for now...with little peace left, maybe it was good she hung around such a snake like that. She could relax and not have any problems. But that may not be the case at all. He was analyzing all of this quite a bit. He couldn't help it. Suiren happened to noticed before shaking her head. "Knock off your thinking. Kuromi can handle herself very well. Even if she were to be attacked by that guy, she could handle herself. Just give her a chance." He looked at her before huffing. "You haven't known her for as long as I have. She's a clutz. If anything, she'd trip all over herself if she was in a fight with a taichou." He nodded as he glanced out the window. Suiren shook her head. He really needed to stop babying her. She knew the girl's potential and it wasn't weak. But she decided to get off the subject before an argument came along.
"So why did you come by?" "To check up on you. How's your stomach?" He asked as he walked over. She shook her head again and held the wound. "It's fine...it's closing up. But seriously, worry about yourself before you worry over me. I can handle myself, too." Toshiro rolled his eyes. "Says the one who deflected a Quincy arrow right into their abdomen." Suiren blushed in embarrassment before she yelled at him. "Shut up! At least I have confidence in my comrades!" He glared back at her. For those watching, it could be considered a lover's quarrel. Except they weren't really lovers. They just seemed to hate losing to one another or being out embarrassed by one another. "Old hag." "Shorty!" The two continued to glare at each other, trying to find more and more insults for one another.
The two calmed down after a little bit more of their bickering. They only stopped once they noticed 11th Division's taichou spike his reiatsu higher than he had before. No doubt he had found the ryoka he was itching to fight the most. The two looked at each other before Suiren sighed and waved for him to be dismiss. "Get back to the barracks. I'm not going anywhere any time soon. You're still 'Toshi-taichou' so you have paperwork to do." She smirked at him as she called him 'Toshi' again. "That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you!" He yelled, but she was right. He had work to do. He couldn't be watching over her all the time. She was safe here. "Don't wander out, though. Got it?" He ruffled her hair before walking out of the room. She huffed and fixed her hair as she watched him leave. Now the room was empty again. Man, she could wait to get out of here. She wanted to get back and find those ryoka again. Instead of fighting them, she wanted to talk with them. They were good fighters and their determination was just amazing. She wanted to see what else they were good at. Toshiro took a glance back at the room before shaking his head. Maybe he was too concerned. Suiren could handle herself fine. But...he really just wanted to protect her, too. Such strange feelings, he didn't think they were anything at all. Probably just protective over his subordinates, like a good taichou.
