Shinigami ½

-Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or Bleach, all credit shall go to their respected creators.)

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Chapter 7: Grief Stricken! Ranma vs. Momo

… … …

"Captain Aizen!"

Her shout could be heard for miles, and within minutes, the ones who heard it clearly, came rushing toward the Senzaikyu. Among them were Toshiro Hitsugaya, Izuru Kira, Rangiku Matsumoto, Renji Abarai, and Gin Ichimaru.

When they arrive, they find Momo in sobs on her knees with her hands in her face. Toshiro runs up to her first to assess the situation, but before he does, he sees the blood on the wall, evidently leading up to the hanged figure of Sosuke Aizen. He was killed!

"Grrr! Someone get the 14th Advanced Relief Team here and take down Aizen's body!" he ordered. "And, clean up this mess!"

As quickly as he said it, Hanataro and a couple of other squad 4 members on the 14th advanced relief team came in with a stretcher long enough for the captain. Hanataro and the members with him scaled the ladder prepared there, and took Aizen's body down effortlessly.

Now, Aizen was a big man, and he obviously would be hard to take down from a wall hanging by the sword in his chest, which seemed highly unusual because it would have fallen long ago. Hanataro did what no one there seemed capable of doing; he heaved Aizen onto his small shoulders, and climbed down the ladder in no time at all.

While they were hauling the body away, Toshiro and the few lieutenants that had been her friends consoled her. Toshiro held her shaking body, and was cautious for a moment about what to say, but he decided that words would only hurt her even more. Being a child prodigy and a genius, he could easily sense when a person wanted to cry alone and be left alone, and Momo was that person right now.

"…To…Toshiro…" she said through broken sobs. "…Ev…Everyone…"

"Yes, we're all here, Momo." Izuru said.

"My…my captain is…" she began, but she could not get anymore then that because her sobs would not let her.

"We all know, Momo." Toshiro said. "We'll do everything in our power to see that the perpetrator is severely punished.

"My…What have we here?" Gin interrupted, a smug tone in his voice, eyes narrowed to mere slits again. "Is Captain Aizen really dead?"

"Shut up, Ichimaru!" Toshiro snapped. Then, for a moment, the world seemed to pause for a moment. The two captains seemed locked in an eternal stare down. Toshiro's icy blue eyes seemed to be searching for something in Ichimaru, then, he noticed something…Ichimaru's hand was covered in a bandage, which meant that he had been in a fight. Was he the murderer? "Ichimaru, show me your hand!"

"Oh, whatever is the matter, Captain Hitsugaya?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Don't play dumb!" he snapped, and stood up. "Show me your bandaged hand this instant!"

"Why?"

"I want to see it, Ichimaru!" he said finally, before his icy reiatsu broke the atmosphere.

"I don't want to."

"Don't tempt me, Ichimaru!" he shouted, icy reiatsu filling the atmosphere around him. Then he shunpo'ed over to Ichimaru to unwrap his bandaged hand, and show it to everyone present. The hand was bruised at the knuckles and there were bloodstains on his palm, signaling that he had indeed been in a fight earlier.

"You killed Aizen, didn't you?" he asked forcefully. "By this injury, I'd say that it came from a battle that was fought not too long ago, and you return to the scene of the crime and feign ignorance to everyone, but you can't outsmart me, Ichimaru!"

"I have nothing to show for it." Ichimaru said coolly. "I was never here. In fact, I was cooking my self a delicious lunch when I happen to get fish blood all over my hand and as to why it's bruised, that story will have to come later."

"Do you take me for a fool!"

"That's enough!" Momo shouted, and got to her feet, obviously still in shock.

Without warning, Momo flash stepped toward Aizen, drawing her zanpakuto in the process, and aiming for his heart. She didn't need any proof to see who killed her captain. She already knew Ichimaru did it. His voice and attitude displayed something of a satisfactory one. This guy was once Aizen's lieutenant, and he was actually smiling about it!

"I'll kill you, Ichimaru!" she shouted, emotion clouding her judgment.

Then, Izuru intercepted her attack, and parried her away effortlessly. He held himself in a stance that did not want to let her continue on with the attack.

"Stand aside, Izuru!" Momo demanded, eyes blinded by her stinging tears. "I must kill him! He murdered my captain!"

"And, I'm saying that I cannot let you do that, no matter what the reason!" Izuru was not dissuaded. "Despite your accusations, you have no proof that my captain was the murderer! And, I, lieutenant of squad 3, Izuru Kira, will deal with any and all hands raised against Captain Ichimaru swiftly! Stand down, Momo! I do not wish to fight you!"

"I will not!" she shouted. "I cannot! As lieutenant of squad 5, my honor as Captain Aizen's right hand will not let him go unpunished! Now, move or I will force you, Izuru!"

"I see there is no point in continuing." Izuru sighed, and raised his zanpakuto over his head. "Stand back, Captain! I will handle this!"

"I'll leave it to you, then." He said, coolly. Then, he disappeared from sight.

"You let him get away, Izuru!" Momo shouted, and raised her zanpakuto over her head as well. "Snap: Tobiume!"

Her zanpakuto suddenly grew two prongs on both sides, and flames engulfing it. Momo tossed a fireball at Izuru. Izuru flash stepped out of the way and reappeared in front of Momo, sword raised at an angle.

"Raise your head: Wabisuke!" He shouted, and his sword warped and hooked up at the end. He struck Momo in the hips and shoulders, therefore causing her to collapse on the ground. "I never revealed to you what Wabisuke is capable of before, haven't I? Well, it's simple. Whomever I cut with my blade will gain twice its original weight, therefore, causing the abnormal gain in weight to cancel out with your own, making it seem like you're being held down by iron balls weighing a hundred kilograms."

"You talk too much, Izuru!" Momo said through clenched teeth.

"Enough you two!" Toshiro intervened, and Izuru deactivated his zanpakuto. "Lock them up tightly where they can repent for what they have done!"

"Toshiro…"

"For raising your sword against a fellow Soul Reaper, for that you will be arrested." Toshiro said, and members from Squad 10 took them both to his barracks. "Everyone clear out of the Senzaikyu immediately! Lieutenant!"

"Yes, Captain!" Rangiku responded.

"Report what has happened to Head-Captain Yamamoto!" he ordered. "I have other things to attend to right now."

… … …

Rangiku flash stepped as fast as she could to Squad 1's barracks. She had her own suspicions as to how Aizen was killed. A man of his caliber could never be killed so easily, and even if he wasn't, the entire vicinity in the Seireitei would have felt his immense Spiritual Pressure, but Momo was the only one capable of sensing it, so why didn't she sense it? Unless, that Aizen was a fake! She needed to hurry!

"Head-Captain!" she shouted, and barged into his office.

"What is it, Lieutenant Matsumoto?" he asked.

"It's about Captain Aizen!"

"What has happened to him?"

"He was killed, sir!"

"What?"

"He died."

"That is strange." He said, going into a mental conflict with himself.

"What is, sir?"

"Aizen was killed, then?"

"Yes."

"Who is the murderer?"

"We don't know yet, sir. Lieutenant Hinamori of Squad 5 was there before any of us arrived there. Though we suspect she doesn't know either."

"I see."

"What should we do, Head-Captain?"

"Call all the remaining captains for an emergency meeting!"

… … …

Later that afternoon-

After the meeting with the other captains had been finished, Toshiro preceded back to his barracks to have his own meeting with Momo. He'd been meaning to give Momo the letter that was left folded on Aizen's desk. He was rummaging through his things at Squad 5's barracks when he found it inside one of his drawers. The front was addressed perfectly to Lieutenant Hinamori.

He was a very respectable young man, so he put it away as quickly as he could. As tempting as it was to read it, he knew he had no right going through Aizen and Hinamori's business like a lowly thief. Right when he left, Rangiku told him about the captain's meeting, which he attended.

The only ones that could make it fast enough were the blind captain Kaname Tousen of Squad 9, the towering captain Sajin Komamura of Squad 7, the temperamental Sui Feng of Squad 2, the bloodthirsty Kenpachi Zaraki of Squad 11, captain Shunsui Kyoraku of Squad 8, and himself.

Jushiro Ukitake of Squad 13 was feeling under the weather again today and could not make it, which Head-Captain Yamamoto disregarded. Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi of Squad 12 was busy with experiments, and sent his unfortunate apologies. Captain Retsu Unohana of Squad 4 was busy analyzing and cleaning up Aizen's body as they speak. Finally, Gin Ichimaru of Squad 3 had not shown up for any reason whatsoever.

The meeting, as expected, was about Aizen's murder and who they suspect might have killed him.

When he arrived at Squad 10's barracks, he went to where Momo was being held prisoner in a room locked from the outside. He unlocked it and went inside. The room was nice enough, but it was still meant for putting men under punishment if they had done something wrong, and were kept there until they repented. The windows were barred, so she couldn't get out. Not that she would try since she gave up a long time ago.

Momo sat on the chair next to the bed instead of lying on it. Her head was bowed low, bangs covering her eyes in shadows. Tear tracks were evident on her face. Her hands were curled into fists, and her whole body had tensed up and she looked like she would break down literally in front of him.

Her eyes had dried themselves out long ago because of the excessive crying and sobbing. Her eyes were red and puffed when they could be seen. And the hope and innocence on her face had been erased since the moment she saw Aizen's body. In the course of six hours, her attitude changed, and her overall mood toward everything became one of despair.

She had lost all of it, and she never thought of how bad it might affect her and her status as the lieutenant of Squad 5. When duty calls, you could not show your emotions in the open, and if you're a 5th seated officer or higher, you absolutely could not show your emotions because your juniors might lose hope in you also.

"Aizen." She muttered, not noticing Toshiro had entered the room and has been there for over five minutes.

"Momo."

She looked up, and saw her childhood friend turned captain. He always knew how to deal with situations, and she wanted advice from him. She wanted him to help her, but she couldn't gather the courage to try, so instead, she just responded by calling him by his first name. "Toshiro."

"I have something for you." He said, and took the letter out from inside his white haori. "It's from Aizen, addressed to you in his final testament. Don't worry, I haven't read a single word of it."

Toshiro left it with her, and left her alone to read what final words her captain had to say to her. She guessed he had been writing it when she went to his room last night. Which probably meant that he knew all along that he would die the very next day. She cherished the letter, and carefully opened it, wanting to treasure what little he had for her.

Dear Momo,

I am deeply sorry to go on like this and leave you all alone in that room. But, as captain of squad 5, I had to deal with an immediate threat that needed my attention. When you wake up, you'll probably be wondering where I have gone. Well, I'll tell you...

I have met with the perpetrator that was responsible for murdering Central 46. I have come to know this fellow by the name of Saotome. He was very cunning when we first met a few days ago. And, when I confronted him, he challenged me to a duel at the break of dawn tomorrow. So, if you have found this and have read this up to this point, then it means I probably have died.

If I have died, please do me a favor. Kill Saotome.

-Aizen

After she read it, her eyes narrowed, and they filled with a brilliant light that signaled a plot for revenge. Saotome? That was the name of the new Soul Reaper that had been recruited into Squad 13. Ichimaru also accused him of murdering Central 46, and with nothing else to go by, she had no choice but to follow her captain's final wish and kill Ranma Saotome. She planned to wait for nightfall, when everyone went to bed, and break out of Toshiro's prison. I'm coming for you, Ranma!

… … …

11:45 PM-

Momo had been concentrating her reiatsu for a while, and finally decided that now would be a good time to take Ranma down right there and then. She gathered a red ball of reiatsu into her hand, and fired at the barred window. "Hadou 31: Shakkaho!"

The bars easily broke at her blast, and she slipped out to find her zanpakuto. She called for her Tobiume, and located it! It was located outside of the door to her prison. She snuck back in and took her zanpakuto.

With that done, she flash stepped toward Squad 13's barracks.

… … …

Ranma snored loudly in his bedroom room. He had been careless at locking all windows and doors, as a result, Momo snuck in through his window. She hid her spiritual presence, and walked up to Ranma. She had never seen what his face looked like. But, seeing it now, she probably would regret it later. He had a very handsome face indeed. But, his face reminded him of a girl's because it was smooth and round like one. If he had not killed her captain, she probably would have nabbed him for herself.

"You should not have crossed me, Ranma." She said in a low tone. Her eyes narrowed and she slid her sword near his neck. "Die, Ranma."

She pulled her sword back for a swift slice to decapitate his head. But, before she did, his eyes flickered open as his danger sense kicked in. She was a little too late in delivering the final blow, and Ranma kicked her away from him. The force sent her toward the wall, but she planted her sword on the floorboard before she could hit the wall.

He rushed over to the sink and poured water over his head, triggering his transformation into a Shinigami. His eyes narrowed as he analyzed his would-be murderer. It was a girl! And, she was a lieutenant by the looks of it! Along with standard Shihakusho, she was wearing the arm badge of a lieutenant with the kanji for '5' written on it.

"Who are you? Why are you sneaking in my room in the middle of the night?" Ranma asked. "That's a pretty stupid way of snatching a boyfriend if you ask me; holding a sword to his throat while he was sleeping!"

"You killed my captain!" she shouted.

"Huh? What? I did no such thing!"

"You killed my Captain! You murdered Captain Aizen, and left his body pinned to the wall on the Senzaikyu! You will pay for that!"

"What? I don't remember killing anyone today!" he argued, trying to seem innocent, but talking his way out of it was futile.

"I don't want to hear your excuse!" she snapped. "My captain left his last testament to me, his lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, and he never tells a lie! You challenged him yourself, and now you will pay!"

"I don't wanna fight you, okay? Can't you just give up! Revenge won't do you any good! Besides, what makes you think I killed him? Rukia will vouch for me, and she'll say I've been here all day!"

"No one will vouch for you when you're dead and lying in a pool of your own blood!"

Momo's reiatsu filled the atmosphere in his room and shook the very floorboards. Momo charged at him, and slashed at him, but he dodged it swiftly. Ranma jumped out the window, and Momo followed after him. They exited squad 13's barracks and hopped from roof to roof.

"Stop following me, crazy girl!" Ranma called back to her. "I don't wanna fight you!"

"Me neither, but what my captain wrote in his letter to me is absolute!" she called. "I must follow his last orders and kill you regardless!"

"The guy's dead!" he shouted. "His orders don't matter anymore!"

"How dare you say that!" she shouted. "Enough running away!" she flash stepped in front of him and shot a point-blank Shakkaho in his face. The force sent him into the wall behind him, creating a human-sized hole. He got down from the wall, and drew his zanpakuto, feeling the bruise.

"Don't do this!"

"I have to! Now fight me! Or I will end it right now!" she challenged. "Snap: Tobiume!" Her zanpakuto transformed, and she fired a fireball at him.

"You leave me no choice!" Ranma responded. "Rain: Mizuryuu!"

Ranma's sword transformed into the twelve-foot-long whip and lashed at the fireball extinguished as soon as his water whip came into contact with it. Then Momo fired one ball after another, but they were all extinguished as soon as his whip made contact with them.

"Give up!" he challenged, extinguishing another fireball. "You know fire can't defeat water!"

"Water may be superior to fire, but my fire is not normal!"

Momo's blade with prongs was engulfed in flames. Then, Momo fired a huge fireball at Ranma. Ranma cut with his whip and sliced through the fire as soon as it came close and destroyed the wall behind him.

"Neither is my water!"

Ranma decided to go into offense and strike at Momo and hope to incapacitate her before she hurts herself. He jumped up and brought the whip down and wrapped the whip around her before she could react.

"Give up!" Ranma repeated again. "My water whip is impenetrable! No matter how much you struggle, you can't break free unless I say so!"

She struggled with the effort of breaking free, but the water pressed up against her was as dense as steel. Her own zanpakuto was clenched up against her side, totally incapable of forming fireballs in that state, but her left hand was still free.

"If you even think about firing a kidou at me, I'll crush your zanpakuto arm!" Ranma threatened. "I don't care if you are a lieutenant, but enough is enough!"

Momo gathered reiatsu into her exposed hand and formed an electrical charge. Water was an excellent conductor of electricity, and it would certainly shock him long enough to deliver the final blow.

"Hadou 4: Byakurai!" she shouted the command, and lightning struck Ranma, forcing him to unwrap his hold on her.

He was still stunned from the electrical attack, and his limbs felt numb. Momo seized the opportunity to strike him while he was down, and flash stepped behind him. She thrust her sword at his neck, and held him tight with her other hand.

"Before I continue, answer me this," Momo said, throat tightening. "Why did you challenge my captain to kill him in the end! Why did you take him away from me?"

Tears flowed back into her eyes again, and they threatened to fall. Ranma could sense that she was in a mental state of conflict. He knew what it meant to have someone important to you killed. He had seen it while he was still training with his father. Here was a girl, obviously in a wreck, who was probably going to end up killing him.

"I…I did not murder your captain." He said truthfully.

"Lies!" she shouted, not willing to believe him. "My captain said you were going to him, and you did!"

Without warning, Ranma slipped his arm under her zanpakuto arm, and flipped her up and over him. She landed on her back, and held against her will, Ranma used the whip to trap her again. This time she bound her hands so she couldn't form another kidou spell.

"How am I supposed to be able to kill Aizen?" Ranma asked. "I mean, if I really did kill him, then that would mean that I couldn't have left unscathed. If the rumors are true; that captains are super strong, then I probably wouldn't stand as much of a chance as I would have against you!

"If I did kill him, then that would mean that I would leave my own trail of blood leading up to the barracks. But, no one saw me going out earlier today, and that means that I haven't even killed him. Besides, I don't even know what the guy looks like, or what his status is to even want to kill him."

Momo came to a realization! That was true! Captain Aizen was one of the most powerful Soul Reapers in the Seireitei, and he would not have allowed himself to be caught so easily. He had bankai with him too. So, even if he was killed, his opponent would not have left him hanging on a wall, and go off without leaving a trail of blood behind.

Instead of trying to find the murder directly afterward, she relied on Aizen's letter. Was it true, or is Ranma lying?

"I'm telling the truth, Momo." He said sincerely, then Momo could clearly see his eyes. They left nothing that needed hiding. He was not the conniving type, like Gin Ichimaru, nor was he like anyone else. In fact, his eyes reminded her of her former captain. "Captain Aizen…I'm sorry…"

"The only thing you can do for your captain now is to bury him in the past, and stand on your own." Ranma said philosophically. "In my time, I have seen many people mourn over the deaths of loved ones, and even seen some killed. Often times, they go after the first person they could think of. Who knows, maybe I unconsciously killed him, but where's the logic in that? I don't see it. So, what will you do now? Fight?"

"I…" she began, but some voices in the other direction stopped them.

"Stop the fight!" one shouted, and it sounded like Toshiro.

Just then, Toshiro of Squad 10, Rangiku, Rukia, and some other members of squad 10 followed close behind him. Ranma let Momo go and deactivated his zanpakuto.

"Who are you?" he asked. "And, Rukia? What are you doing with them?"

"I-" she began, but Toshiro interrupted her.

"I am captain Hitsugaya of Squad 10, and this is my lieutenant." Toshiro said. "As to why she's here, she's here to take you back. Your fates will be decided tomorrow morning."

"Why, Toshiro?" Momo asked.

Then, his icy gaze fell upon her. The moment they did, Toshiro reached in his pocket and threw a piece of paper at her.

"I read the letter as soon as I got word that you had escaped our prison." He said. "You know that quests for revenge are strictly forbidden to us! Even though Aizen said it in his letter that 'supposedly' Ranma Saotome killed him, he wanted you to kill his murderer! an honorable captain would not have sent his lieutenant to her death if that was the case. He would want you to be safe and away from all fighting. So, I narrowed all the possibilities down, and then I informed Ukitake and Rukia about this. They concluded that Mr. Saotome has been at the barracks all this time, and could not have slipped under watch at dawn to duel with Aizen."

"What do you mean, then?" Momo asked, expression changing from sadness to confusion.

"He was lying."

… … …

A/N: Well, another chapter down, and on time too! This one was an even longer one than the others. I hope that I didn't just waste your time with this one. But, that's what I had to come up with in place of the original storyline. Well, please rate and review, and I'll update next time!

Next time: Imprisoned! Ranma is convicted of murder?