In Spite of Appearances
CHAPTER SEVEN
Maybe it was just an effect of his lack of sleep, but Hitsugaya still couldn't figure out what in the hell was going on. One moment, he and Matsumoto had been taking down some rogue Hollow, and the next, he was in charge of a ragtag bunch of shinigami that couldn't seem to figure out how to get back to Seireitei. What was worse was that he had to include himself among those who were lacking knowledge. It wasn't a place that he liked to be; he was used to knowing more than the people around him. And as a captain, he should have had a better handle on the situation.
Still, the others had accepted his leadership well enough. A few light snickers here and there, but a narrow-eyed scowl took care of those. Most knew how to respect the chain of command, though, and he supposed that counted for something. Far too many people had looked at him dubiously over his shinigami career when he gave orders. That he was accepted as well as he was here was a miracle.
In spite of his efforts not to, he itched at his back. Nakahara had taken another look at the wounds there and had done a little more work on him, but the injury was not completely healed yet. Oh, how he hated the itchiness of knitting flesh; it was one of several banes of his existence. He'd lost track of how many of those there were.
"So, what are we up to now, Captain?"
Ah, there was one of the banes, now. He closed his eyes and counted to ten before turning to face Okada, hating the fact that he had to crane his neck to look the junior officer in the eye. And hell if there wasn't a satisfied gleam in those eyes over that little fact. But one day – one day soon – Hitsugaya would have the proper excuse to send him off to some other division. To give him to some other captain to torment. Or to be tormented by that captain. Either way worked, so long as Okada was nowhere near him.
But as the man hadn't done anything overtly disrespectful just now, Hitsugaya crossed his arms. "And exactly how is it any of your business what I'm up to, Okada? If I have orders to give, then I'll give them. Surely even you have enough of a brain to grasp such a concept?"
Okada frowned playfully. "You know, Captain, people tend to listen better when you don't insult them all the time. I think you could have phrased that more politely; it would get a much better response."
Oh, Okada was going to lecture him on his people skills, too? Who the hell did the idiot think he was? And he wasn't one to talk about politeness, the way he made uncalled for jabs at all of his superior officers. They weren't delivered in a mean-spirited fashion, but they were grossly disrespectful all the same. If he didn't learn to shut up, somebody less forgiving was going to kill him one day. And as much as he disliked Okada, Hitsugaya would rather prefer his officers not get killed.
"Because laughing at your captain is so polite?" he returned pointedly. The day he had taken over the division, he had heard Okada burst out laughing from across the courtyard. In a fit of blind rage, Hitsugaya had frozen the idiot's jaw shut. If only that could have been the end of it. "You've no right to lecture me, for multiple reasons. So if you've got nothing of value to say, you can shut that mouth of yours, because I really don't want to hear it."
Okada raised his hands in a gesture for calm. "Hey, relax. I was just –"
"Are you bothering him again?"
Hitsugaya took some satisfaction in the fact that Okada paled at the sound of Matsumoto's voice. Normally, he would have resented her interference, but he would much rather have her deal with Okada. At least she could make it through a talk with him without wanting to run him through with her zanpakutou. Or so he assumed. He didn't understand how anyone could manage that.
Matsumoto fixed Okada with a stern look, every inch the vice-captain that she should be. Every now and then, she would show why she got where she was; Hitsugaya was not one of the crass morons who thought she got her rank because of her womanly curves, but he did wonder sometimes just how someone so lazy achieved high standing in a military organization. But when she chose to, she could be serious and command respect. He could get used to a vice-captain like that, but he didn't dare set his hopes so high. Hell, he'd settle for her doing half of her own paperwork at this point.
"No . . . no, of course not!" Okada waved his hands frantically, as if that would help him make his point. Never mind that his point was a damned lie. "I was just . . . well, I . . ."
Matsumoto looked down her nose at him. "Go get everyone together; Hitsugaya-taichou will want to hold a strategy meeting." She waved a hand dismissively. "Now move along!"
Hitsugaya stood silently after Okada scuttled off to obey orders. In truth, he was rather grateful that she had stepped in before he'd lost enough of his temper to actually hit the man. Striking subordinates outside of a spar or training session was not proper behaviour for anyone who wished to call himself a good captain. And enough people questioned his right to be one as it was.
"So." Matsumoto's voice was unusually quiet, and he quirked an eyebrow at the oddity. "Not going to get on my case for helping you out, this time?"
Was that what she was on about? Most people enjoyed not being reprimanded; trust Matsumoto to be the exception. "If you would rather that I did, I'm sure I can come up with something to say."
At that, Matsumoto actually burst out laughing, a shocking contrast to her soft words a moment ago. She waved a hand at him as she got herself back under control. "Oh, no, that's really okay, Toushirou-kun! It's actually nice not getting snapped at all the time! But thanks for the consideration."
If this weren't consistent behaviour for Matsumoto, Hitsugaya would have questioned whether there had been something odd in the food or water. Which meant, of course, that he would have had to keep a watch for such idiocy in his own behaviour, and that was an extremely unpleasant prospect. He didn't want to turn into some giggling lunatic, or even consider the possibility.
So he let the laughter – and the name – go with nothing more than an eye roll. He didn't have time to lecture her, or anyone right now. He needed to figure out what was going on and how to get back to Seireitei. And by the time they got there, it would be petty of him to still be annoyed at this instance. So Matsumoto would get off easy this time.
He knelt down at the river's edge, cupping his hands together for another drink of water. The liquid was delightfully cold as it flowed down his throat, and that chill eased his mood somewhat. At his back, Hyourinmaru rumbled his approval of their current location. Rather easy to please, as far as dragons went. Just get him near cold water.
That he could still hear the dragon in his mind was a relief. When he had proved the truth of Okada's claim that Hell Butterflies could not be summoned, some part of him had worried that his connection with his zanpakutou might have been broken as well. That part had been mostly overshadowed by irritation and he had not thought to ask Okada if he could still hear his. It was something to bring up when everyone was together; he had to know the capabilities of the people he was leading.
Come to think of it, he hadn't asked Matsumoto, either. Might as well do that since she was here already. One less tally to take when they were all assembled.
"Matsumoto," he said, drying his hands on the grass for lack of anywhere better to do so. "I've been meaning to ask since last night. But is Haineko still with you?"
"Hm? You mean the sword, or her spirit?"
Hitsugaya stood, and turned to face her, his expression thoroughly unamused. She was not that stupid. Seriously, she could not have been that stupid. What the hell did she think he was asking about? He wasn't blind. But he said nothing, waiting for her to work it out on her own. Obvious as the answer was, it should not take very long.
"Well, considering that you can see, I guess you were referring to her spirit," she said at last. What a brilliant deduction. "And yeah, she's still around. I've heard her complaining about the lack of pillows around here. You know how spoiled and lazy she is." She shook her head in disgust as though she shared neither of these qualities. "Why? Are you having a problem with Hyourinmaru?"
Good. If Haineko were still around, then it boded well for the other officers among them to still have their shikai available should they have need to fight. While he sensed nothing dangerous at the moment, he'd heard hints from the others that there were dangers to be faced here, and he would not be caught unaware.
He shook his head. "No. He's here, and he's fine. But the air is strange here, and with being unable to summon Hell Butterflies, I need to know if there's anything else normal that we can't do while we're here. We could have accommodated for lack of shikai by knowing in advance, though it seems we're still okay there. And Okada has informed me that kidou is still a reliable option."
Matsumoto regarded him with a soft smile at his explanation, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. There was nothing cheeky or mischievous about the expression, and she actually didn't seem inclined to say anything. Hell, she didn't – quite – look like she wanted to scoop him up and hug him, either. He hadn't seen that look on her face in quite some time, and in all reality could not pinpoint what it was supposed to mean. He was just explaining strategy; it didn't warrant such an odd reaction.
And he might have questioned her on it too, if Okada hadn't chosen that exact moment to return, the full contingent of shinigami behind him. Perhaps he would ask her about it later, if he could find the time. It sure as hell wasn't curiosity; it was just the proper thing for a captain to know what was on his vice-captain's mind. Really. The idea wasn't going to nag at him at all.
"All assembled as requested, sir," Okada said in that same official tone that he had used the previous night. After a nervous glance at Matsumoto, he followed up his words with a quick bow. Well. Maybe he'd stay in line for a while if he were that unsettled.
The gathering hadn't taken long either, perhaps no more than ten or fifteen minutes had passed since Matsumoto had sent the man scrambling off on this order. Either the others had all been grouped together, or Okada actually knew how to do something efficiently. Hitsugaya was hoping for the former. If he kept doing things right, that transfer was never going to happen. Hell, Okada was probably being efficient on purpose just to be smug.
He didn't even acknowledge Okada – had to show how far above him he was – and instead addressed the group as a whole. "First of all, there are a few things that I want to know of your current capabilities. Those of you who have achieved shikai, you can all still hear your zanpakutou spirits? If any of you can't, speak up now. Lives could depend on this."
There were general nods and affirmations from each of the seated officers – there were four – and two of the unseated that their zanpakutou's abilities were still at their disposal. Good. The stronger members of the group still had all of their offensive power. Perhaps healing power too, in Nakahara's case, though he wasn't sure that all of the Fourth's officers had healing zanpakutou.
"Good. I expect honesty on this; who is better with kidou than with a sword?" If he were going to give effective combat formations, he needed to know who needed to be in the front and back lines. From his records, he knew that Okada was decent at both, with a slight strength in favour of kidou. He didn't know about anyone else.
Decisively, he swept his eyes over his assembled troops, taking in who raised their hands and mentally keeping a tally. Of the twenty-two there, fifteen were more kidou inclined. Damn. He was going to have to front-line Okada, which meant that he was going to have the extreme displeasure of fighting side-by-side with his Tenth Seat.
He nodded to himself. It wasn't ideal, but he had to work with whatever he had. Some part of him wished that Hinamori was here, so that he could have someone he already knew and trusted be in charge of the kidou wielders, but he quickly rejected that thought. She would only have been here if something had happened to her, and hell if he would have tolerated that.
"Ito," he called out sharply, and the young woman – thirteenth seat of the Eighth Division – snapped to attention at his address. As she was the highest seated officer among the kidou users, he had to trust her to be in charge of them. "You're in charge of the back line should we engage in combat."
She nodded resolutely, eyes hard. "Yes, sir."
The woman's austerity was encouraging. If she were as stern and sensible as she appeared to be, then Hitsugaya could be comfortable in the knowledge that the back line was in capable hands. He hated to rely on someone he had just met to command a battle formation, but this situation was showing him already that he had to put a little more trust in others. Whether he liked it or not.
Hitsugaya finally acknowledged Okada directly; he had to speak to him to give him his assignment, after all. "Okada, you're front line; we need a better balance up there."
Okada's eyes widened at this statement, as though that wasn't the assignment he had been hoping for. Perhaps it wasn't. He could very well be afraid of getting up close and personal with Hollows, for all that such a fear was unbecoming an officer. Well, too bad. Orders were orders, and if he said a single thing against him, he would be in for a public reprimand.
But after a moment, he swallowed, and gave a simple nod. "Understood, sir."
Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes at him, searching for any sign of cheekiness or rebelliousness in his eyes. To his surprise, he found none. The man had actually accepted an order from him without questioning. It was a welcome change, but Hitsugaya knew better than to get his hopes up. All of this compliance was not going to last.
"Get yourselves grouped off according to your formation positions. I'll be checking on you in a few minutes, so don't even think of slacking off while I'm not watching."
A few faces paled at his last statement, but he didn't care. As a captain, he was going to scare people every now and again. At least the frightened people respected his authority, after all. Granted, he didn't want to have to be intimidating as the only way to get people to listen, but right now he didn't have much more than that.
He jerked his head at Matsumoto to follow him as he allowed everyone some space to get organized. It occurred to him suddenly that she had not said a word during the meeting, even when he had given space to do so. No scolding. No countermanding. No speaking over him. It was another nice change, if an unexpected one.
"That was very nicely laid out, Toushirou-kun," Matsumoto said once they were alone, a big grin stretching her lips. And it looked as though she was trying to resist the urge to reach over and pat him on the head in congratulations. The resistance counted for something, at least. On another day, she probably would have gone ahead and done it without bothering to think first.
He snorted, crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course it was. Though if you're going to compliment me on my orders, perhaps you should call me 'Captain' instead of 'Toushirou-kun.' Makes more sense that way."
The words might have been lacking their usual bite. Matsumoto was hardly shy about questioning him, so if she had a problem with what he'd said, she would have told him by now, even if she refrained from doing so in public. He was the superior officer, he was the genius . . . but she'd been an officer longer than he had. And she was his friend. It meant something to have that tacit approval. Hell if he'd ever let on about it, though. No need to swell her head.
"Never happy, even when you're being complimented." Matsumoto's voice was wry, but not the least bit angry. She must have caught the gentler tone of his. "Then again, you've been like that from day one. As for calling you 'Captain' . . ." She paused here, and made a show of putting her finger to her chin and rolling her eyes skyward. "Well that's not something that just comes, you know. But one of these days, it will."
He wanted to call her on that. He wanted to so badly, but he knew very well how counterproductive that would have been. Honestly, though. He had been given the promotion, and placed in charge of the Tenth. Why was that not enough for her to refer to him by his rank? It just baffled him that she could honour his orders one second while treating him like a little boy the next. And then start honouring orders again as though nothing was even different.
Hitsugaya massaged his forehead. Trying to figure out Matsumoto's thought processes always gave him a headache. He really needed to quit doing that.
"One of these days," he repeated, not really having much hope anymore. He was always going to be 'Toushirou-kun' to her, wasn't he? Didn't mean he'd stop trying to get her to address him properly, though. He had to assert himself, even if it was in futility.
Matsumoto giggled, then fell silent for a moment. When she spoke again, she did so gravely. "Toushirou-kun? Can I ask you something?"
He raised an inquiring eyebrow at this. Since when did she ask for permission for something like that? Hell, since when did she ask permission for anything? She was acting weird again, and he was about ready to start questioning reality at this point. All this seriousness, mild tentiveness . . . It wasn't like her, and he was not in favour of that – especially the latter quality. That was almost unsettling. The Matsumoto that he knew and tolerated was a confident woman.
"You've noticed something weird about the air here, right?" she continued after a moment. "I don't just mean that heaviness when we've tried to summon Hell Butterflies. Sometimes, I feel something prickling across my skin . . . but there's nothing there. It's a weak feeling, but it's still there. And I figure it's something about the air itself since there doesn't seem to be anything else that could cause it."
He blinked at this. He'd noticed the feeling himself, vaguely, but dismissed it as being of no consequence. Perhaps he might have waved it off as Matsumoto being whiny – which she was, sometimes – or making things up for the hell of it. But given how serious she had been when she outlined this, Hitsugaya had a feeling that she was telling nothing less than the absolute truth. And he'd never thought to find a cause himself, being busy with other things and just figuring that the sensation was from a mundane source. It had seemed a small issue at the time.
Perhaps he should have paid more attention.
He nodded. "I noticed. Do you think it could be something that will cause a problem? Have you addressed it with any of the others?"
She looked surprised at his questions, though for what reason he couldn't say. He certainly didn't think that there was anything strange about what he'd asked. It was a simple request for information on a potentially important issue. No need to be so stupid about it.
Matsumoto shrugged, trying and failing to give off an air of nonchalance. "Well, I didn't want to bother everyone with something that probably was no big deal. But if you think I should bring it up to them, then I'll go ahead and do that."
"So instead of bothering everyone with something you thought was unimportant, you decided to just bother me." There was no barb in this statement, as Matsumoto had just been trying to cover her discomfort. But the familiar banter might put her a little more at ease. He pondered her last statement for a moment before answering her. "It's not of immediate concern. Find out about it, but you don't have to be in a rush."
Matsumoto smiled, and there was strength in her features this time. That was much better. To see her frowning, despondent, doubtful . . . Well that was unnatural and he wanted none of that. Just because he wanted her to recognize and respect his abilities and authority didn't mean that he wanted her to change that drastically. Just a little more self-motivation to do her work, and referring to him by his title. That was it. He could live with the rest.
"Think everyone's mobilized, yet?" she asked, shading her eyes with one hand as she looked back to the mismatched squad. "Looking pretty good from here. Too bad you had to put Okada up front with us, though. Then again, if he'd stayed back, he'd have been in charge of the kidou wielders, wouldn't he? I don't think you wanted that, did you?"
In spite of himself, Hitsugaya smirked. "No, I think I still would have taken my chances on Ito." And he truly might have, at that. Who the hell had made Okada an officer, anyway? "But yeah. Everyone seems to have gotten organized. I think it's about time to head out."
"Still no word?"
Hinamori sighed sadly at the shaking head of her squad member. But then she pasted a smile onto her face gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. It wasn't his fault, after all, that the news wasn't good. And she had just sent him on that errand as a quick check before they headed out on their next sweep of West District Forty-Eight. Their past two times out still had not yielded everything that they were looking for, and the partnership with the Twelfth had yet to be dissolved.
It had been three days now, and Hinamori could not help but worry. What would she tell Jidanbou if this didn't work out? Worse, what would she tell Granny? She couldn't bear the thought of informing either of them that something dreadful had happened to Hitsugaya-kun. But she would do it, if she had to. They would deserve to hear it from someone who cared.
She ordered her squad to move out, running side-by-side with Nemu again. Hinamori was still not quite comfortable around her, and she felt a little bit guilty about that. Nemu hadn't done anything wrong, or creepy, or unsettling during their times out. It wasn't fair to her, but Hinamori just kept thinking of Kurotsuchi-taichou behind the scenes, pulling his poor vice-captain's strings.
The trip out to West Forty-Eight was a silent one. Having been out together twice in as many days, the occasional direction was no longer needed. Hinamori was focused on her goal, and Nemu was someone who was just disinclined to speak. But they worked well together, even if their goals were not entirely the same.
And Hinamori's goal was not quite the same as Aizen-taichou's orders, even.
Guilt gnawed at the back of her mind over that, since she wanted nothing more than to please her captain. Though he hadn't actually forbade her plan of action, either. Well, she hadn't told him what it was – she didn't want him to get into trouble for going against orders – but he had not said that she was not permitted to destroy these mysterious Hollows. It was a loophole in his orders, and he did not wish for the Twelfth to have these creatures for study any more than she did. Hopefully, he would be glad of her taking the initiative and stopping whatever Kurotsuchi-taichou had in mind.
When they reached their destination, she and Nemu ordered their squads off into what had become their usual pairs, each one consisting of a member of the Fifth and a member of the Twelfth. The partners always stayed the same – to promote teamwork and to become accustomed to one another – but each was sent out to a different area every day. Fresh eyes might pick out something that someone else had missed.
"Are you ready, Hinamori-fukutaichou?" Nemu asked after they saw the pairs off to their assigned sectors. Her voice, as always, was perfectly emotionless.
Hinamori nodded firmly. "Any time that you are. Let's be on our way, then."
They were off in a blur of shunpo. Today, she and Nemu would be investigating the prominent lake in the district, and in all truth she was glad of that. Hitsugaya-kun had always loved the water. Some part of her was certain that if they were to find any clues, that they would be found here. No matter that no one else had. She was Hitsugaya-kun's friend, and she would find out what had happened. That was that.
Mentally, she called up the incantations of several kidou that might be useful in this situation. The contents of the list were not always the same; the terrain dictated what might be effective and what might be more dangerous to allies than to enemies. She didn't really need to speak the incantations unless she was going to cast something really high level, but it never hurt to go over them in her mind before combat if she could afford to do so.
Being near water, she focused on both that element, and that of lightning. As far as elemental spells went, those would pack the most punch. And the open landscape didn't put any restrictions on the radius of any bakudou, so that was helpful at least. Failing any of her kidou, she still had Tobiume at her side; she was better with a spell than with a sword, but she could more than defend herself with her zanpakutou.
Hinamori glanced in Nemu's direction, pondering. How did Nemu fight, actually? She had never thought to ask. A quick once-over revealed no zanpakutou, although she supposed that it could be concealed somewhere. Perhaps tucked within a sleeve? Down her front? Under that skirt that she wore in place of proper hakama? Then again, she was a creation of Kurotsuchi-taichou's. It was entirely possible that she was incapable of summoning a sword at all.
So was she a kidou user as well? It had to be either that or hakuda. And there had been Nemu's talk on the first day of their search . . . Something about upgrades having been performed on her. Hinamori shuddered. Perhaps it was better that she didn't know about her fellow vice-captain's combat capabilities, after all. Whatever Kurotsuchi-taichou had 'augmented' was something that she did not care to be informed of.
Hinamori landed in a crouch at the water's edge, fingers lightly dipping in. She smiled, a little sadly. The liquid was pleasantly cold to the touch, and the surrounding air a little cooler than elsewhere in the district. Hitsugaya-kun would have liked it here. Not that he would have stopped to appreciate the relative cool while he was out on a mission – he was nothing if not focused – but he would have found it a nice break from the summer heat, nonetheless. It really had been a dreadfully hot summer so far.
"Is there something there, Hinamori-fukutaichou? I can neither see nor sense anything at your current post."
Hinamori blinked up at Nemu. What? Then her cheeks coloured as she realized how far off into space she had drifted. She wasn't going to be able to help anyone that way, and she had still let her thoughts wander. It wasn't right at all. So she climbed back to her feet and shook her head.
"No. I just lost myself in thought. That's all," she admitted. She gazed across the water's surface; it really was quite a beautiful lake, though in the current situation she found herself unable to properly appreciate that beauty. Hinamori tried to peer into the lake's depths, but the sun reflected too brightly off the water. "I wonder if it could be something within the lake itself, though. Might not be any way to tell short of going under there."
Nemu titled her head to one side. "That is possible. It could explain why such Hollows would be able to hide in a wide-open area with little else to use as cover. I am equipped to handle such an expedition, Hinamori-fukutaichou. Is there a kidou that would allow you to breathe underwater? If not, I can simply report my findings to you when I resurface."
Hinamori had just been pondering similar logistics, and simply stared at Nemu for a moment after the suggestion. Equipped to handle . . . She forced herself not to wonder if that was one of the upgrades; no good could come from such thoughts. The other vice-captain's question almost startled her. It was something that she hadn't thought about, and even though that was perfectly reasonable, she still felt a bit stupid. And it presented a problem to her plans.
There was no kidou specifically for such a purpose. She would need to do some experimenting later to see if she could come up with a combination of spells that would provide such an effect. But if those Hollows really were down there, she needed to be there in order to take care of them as she saw fit. Nemu would only capture them for study, and Hinamori would not have a reasonable excuse to destroy them after they were already subdued.
Still, holding together an untested blend of spells to breathe while still needing to fight underwater . . . It was too dangerous. She needed an alternate plan.
So she shook her head again. "No. There's no kidou for that. If you do find any of the Hollows under there, try to draw them up to the surface. They've taken down officers of our rank and even . . . higher . . ." she trailed off for a few seconds before steeling herself and speaking more firmly. "It wouldn't be a good idea for either of us to try and subdue one alone."
Nemu gave her a quick, utilitarian nod. "The strategy is sound. I shall conduct the survey on my own. Please await my return, Hinamori-fukutaichou."
Hinamori said nothing as Nemu walked past her, without hesitation stepping into the water. It wasn't the ideal situation, but it could work. It had to. And so she watched silently as Nemu's head disappeared beneath the waves.
