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Chapter 7, douzo!


Chapter 7- Locked, Order & Crisis

"Let's go, Hinamori and be careful."

"Hai!"

They both went out of the warehouse and used Shunpo to go to Kusaka's hideout in the Gensei. They reached an abandoned building. Momo looked at Toushirou behind her mask and saw that there was pain in his eyes.

'It's not easy to fight the man you considered a friend after all.'

Toushirou lifted his hand and they both entered the building. Momo readied her stance and pulled out Tobiume. She was on guard beside Toushirou who was looking around.

"Kusaka, stop hiding. Your reiatsu already leaked out."

There were a few moments of silence before a fireball and a ball of lightning were launched at them. Momo deflected the balls with Tobiume's flame. Toushirou covered the entire place with a layer of ice and saw Kusaka emerge from the pillar on his right.

"It's nice of you to arrive with a guest, Toushirou." Kusaka said as he broke the ice trapping the two Arrancars who were bickering for getting themselves trapped while at the ceiling. He smirked a little while looking at Momo.

"I wonder who that girl is. She isn't a part of the plan but who cares? The more people following you, the more despair I'll give you when you see them die."

'Control yourself, Hitsugaya Toushirou. The moment you become overprotective of Hinamori, Kusaka will find out who she is behind her mask. You'd risk her life.' Toushirou told himself while trying not to shout at Kusaka for planning to drag Momo to their fight.

"Why are you angry at Hitsugaya-kun? Weren't you friends when you were at the academy?" Momo asked.

"Yeah, we were friends but Toushirou betrayed me. The Soul Society too. I thought Toushirou was my friend but he chose Soul Society. He fought me to be the one chosen to stay in the place I was supposed to protect! He didn't let me kill him to stay!"

"Are you an idiot? You were the one who first attacked Hitsugaya-kun the moment the order was passed by the Central Room 46. And Hitsugaya-kun isn't the type of person who will break someone's trust."

"What do you know about that day? I was the one who swore to protect Soul Society! I vowed to give my life for it!"

"Didn't you give your life for Soul Society? Or were you just after the fame you were dreaming to get before you died?"

"Shut your crap!" Kusaka snapped at Momo. Kusaka went into his Hyourinmaru's Shikai and released an ice dragon directed at Momo. Toushirou deflected it with his own dragon.

"Just what is it that you want, Kusaka?" He asked.

"Revenge. Pure revenge on you and Soul Society! I want you to die the same way you killed me with your hands! Then I'll destroy Soul Society with the use of the King's Seal." Kusaka said as he took the seal from his shihakushou. Toushirou and Momo felt the energy it was releasing.

"Stop it, Kusaka. That's not how you used to be when we were at the Academy." Toushirou said. Even though Kusaka stole the King's Seal, Toushirou still didn't want to cross blades with the man he considered a friend a long time ago.

"Help me get the sweet revenge I want, Toushirou and I won't kill you. The girl isn't included though." Kusaka said as he looked at Momo.

"Count me in. I want to be a part of this. Hitsugaya-kun's in, so I want to do something too."

"Shut up, you bitch. You're just an excess baggage." The red head said.

"Am I talking to you? I'm talking to Kusaka-kun." Momo snapped at the Arrancar with a glare on her face.

"You-"

"Stop it. Alright, you're in the plan." Kusaka used Shunpo and appeared beside Momo, taking her away from Toushirou while his sword's blade was pointed on her neck.

Toushirou wasn't surprised though. He already knew Kusaka might do that and alerted Momo about it before they went there. It was a part of his plan. Although, he can't stop worrying about her. Surely, Kusaka had a screw loose and might hurt Momo when his tantrum attacks him. Still, he has to gamble.

Momo, on the other hand, was alright with it. She's not afraid. She knows that Toushirou won't let her get hurt. She trusts him on her life. Besides, she wasn't afraid to die if it was for Toushirou. That's how important he was for her.

'I'm glad that you finally figured it out, Hinamori-san.' Tobiume said while she was in her domain.

'I'm such an idiot. I wasted a hundred years before I found out the answer as to why I didn't want to lose Shirou-chan.' Momo thought while Kusaka had a death grip on her.

"I need this girl to be sure of your cooperation. I know she's special to you."

"What do you mean?" Toushirou asked.

"You let her call you Hitsugaya-kun. During our days in the Academy, you never let anyone call you like that, especially a girl."

"Time changes things."

"We'll see about that. You two, guard Toushirou and this girl." Kusaka pushed Momo inside a barrier made from the powers of the King's Seal. Momo got to admit that the moment she stepped inside, she knew Kidou wasn't going to work to break it. She stood inside while Kusaka looked at Toushirou.

"I'm gonna have some fun and you'll stay here."

"Where?"

"In the Gensei."

Kusaka headed off alone while Toushirou looked at Momo inside the barrier. The Arrancars had suspiscous looks on their faces while looking at the two.

"You better not do anything out of the line. We can kill you here." The blue head said.

"You won't be able to stop us, anyway." Momo murmured while inside the barrier.

"What did you say?" The red head said as she looked at Momo.

"She didn't say anything." Toushirou covered for Momo.

"We heard her mumble something!"

"I'm the one standing closer to her so if she said anything, I'll know it first. If I said she didn't say anything, she didn't." Toushirou said as ice covered half of the Arrancars' bodies. He was also pissed at Kusaka for dragging Momo into their problem and the two Arrancars did nothing but anger him more.

"Who are you to order us like that, you shorty!" The blue haired girl said.

"Shut the hell up!"

The ice covering the Arrancars' bodies crawled up to their mouths, shutting them up. Toushirou sighed and looked at Momo who was touching the walls of the barrier. He knew she was looking for a way to break it somehow and if not, weaken it to get out.


"What did you say?" Unohana said with wide eyes.

"K-Kyouraku-taichou was attacked by Kusaka Soujirou-san?" Isane blurted out when she returned after performing the needed treatments on Shunsui.

"Hai. I'm sure it was him." Nanao said while wiping her tears.

"But... how can you be sure of that? It could be... Hitsugaya-taichou's Hyourinmaru that attacked Kyouraku-taichou." Isane said. Because of this, she a look from Unohana.

"I'm sure because Kyouraku-taichou made me know that. Back at the alley, he wrote down Kusaka Soujirou's name when I reached him. It was even writted using his own blood. I'm sure it's Kusaka's fault. I also think that Hitsugaya-taichou went after him when he stole the King's Seal and that Hinamori-fuku-taichou only wanted to help Hitsugaya-taichou that's why she's missing. Hitsugaya-taichou and Hinamori-fuku-taichou are innocent." Nanao stated while Isane was a bit doubting her.

"Kusaka Soujirou is a man who died long ago even before Hitsugaya-taichou became the 10th Squad Captain." Unohana said after sighing.

"You know... Kusaka Soujirou?" Nanao asked.

"Yes. I was the one handling the treatments of the Shinigami students during their earlier days. Hitsugaya-taichou and Kusaka Soujirou are the most often visitors of the 4th Squad. They were the only ones who always earn wounds during their missions but still, it looked like they were having much fun. They had a very strong friendship until..."

-"Until?"- Nanao and Isane chorused.

"Kusaka Soujirou died."

-"What?"-

"Kusaka Soujirou and Hitsugaya-taichou coincidentally had the same zanpakutou. They both owned Hyourinmaru. Although, Hitsugaya-taichou's Hyourinmaru is as clear as ice and as tough as diamond. Kusaka's Hyourinmaru was a bit foggy white and fragile. It often breaks faster than Hitsugaya-taichou's."

"Taichou, isn't it forbidden for any Shinigami to have the same type of zanpakutou, more so, have the same identity of the zanpakutou?" Isane questioned.

"It is. It's still a mystery on how those two owned the same zanpakutou. Regarding Kusaka, he died because of the order from the Central Room 46. They wanted to eliminate one of them because of the twin zanpakutou violation."

"Does that mean that... Kusaka Soujirou was killed by Hitsugaya-taichou? Then, if it is, Hitsugaya-taichou is the thief." Isane said.

"Isane, it's not right to blame the person who grieved so much over the death of his friend. That day, Kusaka launched the first attack at Hitsugaya-taichou. Hitsugaya-taichou used Hyourinmaru to protect himself while Kusaka was attacking him. I was there when everything happened. I know how hard it was for Hitsugaya-taichou to see his friend get killed by the S. M. C. Shinigami."

"Kusaka Soujirou was killed by the S. M. C.?" Nanao asked.

"He was. The order was directly from the Central Room 46. Hitsugaya-taichou was chosen to be the one who's going to stay in Soul Society because he's a genius and at the same time, he's a master in swordsmanship, a master of Kidou, an excellent strategist and tactician with enhanced duarability and he's a great Hakuda combatant. The Central Room 46 chose him because of those qualities."

A few moments of silence passed after Unohana finished her explanation.

"So... Hitsugaya-taichou is... innocent." Isane said.


"What the heck is this?" Mayuri said when he saw the monitor of his humungous computer at the Research Bureau. He saw the data about Hyourinmaru when he scrolled down.

"It seems to be about Hyourinmaru, Mayuri-sama." Nemu said while standing beside Mayuri.

"I know that, you imbecile! This is interesting."


"Kuchiki-taichou, we dfound nothing at the scene except for the trace of Hyourinmaru's reiatsu as well as Kyouraku-taichou's." Renji reported while Byakuya was touching the fragments of ice.

"It's different." He mumbled.

"Different? How?"

"Look carefully. Does this seem to be Hitsugaya-taichou's Hyourinmaru to you?"

Renji touched a small piece of ice and inspected it. He was surprised at the slight difference.

"It's foggy."

"Hitsugaya-taichou's Hyourinmaru was never foggy but as clear as water and ice." Byakuya said as he picked up a frozen shred of Kyouraku's coat that cracked and disappeared with the wind.

"The ice is also more fragile. Hitsugaya-taichou's Hyourinmaru creates ice that can almost never be melted and never be shattered unless a powerful force attacked it." Renji said.

"Taichou! We found a writing on the floor!" one of Byakuya's subordinate said.

Byakuya and Renji approahed the place and saw the bloody hand writing of Shunsui. It read:

"Kusaka Soujirou."