"There's got to be something you can do." Frustration was paramount in Hitsugaya's voice as he scrubbed a hand through his spikey, white coiffure. "Isn't there some...woman thing you have, that will snap her out it?"

Unohana Retsu had spent centuries training her expression of benevolent serenity to near-perfection, but when hard-pressed she would admit that there were instances that had tried even her great calm. For example, there was the unforgettable time when she found two not-to-be-named captains passed out on top of each other in a compromising state of undress. She had lost count of the bizarre situations that had fallen into her lap with regards to varying inebriated members of different squads (the Eleventh easily being the most inventive and frequent). Her greatest challenge so far had involved a rare visit from Yamamoto-sutaicho, the details of which she would take to her grave; that one had resulted in a total loss of composure the instant he left the room, tears streaming down her face as she mirthfully gasped for breath behind closed shoji screens.

But this particular moment was rapidly climbing the ranks. The corners of her mouth actually twitched upwards a hair before she got herself under control. She suddenly understood Matsumoto's frequent desire to torment and subsequently hug her young captain; gods if a frustrated, grumpy Hitsugaya Toushirou wasn't just about the cutest thing ever. He gave fluffy kittens and bunny slippers a run for their money. She firmly put the aborted grin in its place, but she could tell that her eyes were still radiating amusement. Ah well, she figured, one can't win every battle...

"All she needs is time, Hitsugaya-taicho. I have examined her myself, and you can rest assured that she is in no danger."

"Bah," Hitsugaya sighed in disgust, abandoning the half-hearted attempt to get his hair to lie flat. Crossing his arms angrily and deepening his scowl, he turned his head to frown out the large window dominating one entire wall of Unohana's office. She had carefully designed it to overlook her personal serenity garden, the slowly falling apple-blossoms particularly soothing in the warm afternoon sun, but the effect was clearly lost on him.

"She's in there. I know she is." A small muscle in his jaw twitched. "She just won't come out." His eyes tightened, something painful to look at stealing into his expression. "And damn all the gods, I don't know what to do..."

He looked so forlorn that Unohana had to supress the urge to hug him herself. "It's my understanding that she has made some progress..."

"Tch," Exhaling sharply, Hitsugaya nodded grimly. "She changes positions, she moves her stuff around when no one's looking. Once, when I was out in the hallway, she guzzled half her sake! I only know because I smelled it on her breath when I came back and the bottle seemes lighter now..." Now the corners of his mouth twitched, almost as if he was begrudgingly impressed with the woman's endless ability to confound him. "But she never opens her eyes, and she won't talk to anyone."

"She has been through a great ordeal..."

"She won't talk to me!" He whipped his head around to glare at her, hurt and confusion glimmering in his blue-green eyes. Ferocity vibrated his frame and the temperature suddenly took a noticable dip. "ME. And I'm her...I'm..." A strangely mottled expression spread across his face, followed by a faint blush. With a painful gulp, he swallowed whatever he'd been about to say, finishing firmly if somewhat abashedly.

"I'm her captain." His flush deepened a hair but the challenge in his eyes held as steady as his gaze.

Unohana said nothing, quietly giving him time to pull himself back together and watching him slowly gather his roiling feelings back under control, force the slight tremble in his body to stillness. When he spoke a moment later, it was with his usual icy demeanor restored and his tone brooked no more nonsense.

"Unohana - what's wrong with her?"

Unohana never discussed the details of her patients' conditions; it was one thing she was very firm on, a courtesy she granted to all those who fell under her care regardless of status or rank. But in this case it was the patients' superior officer asking, and Hitsugaya Toushirou besides. Nothing less than the truth would do. With a sigh at the inevitable, she spoke softly.

"She is in mourning."

"Mourning?" Bafflement stole into his eyes as her words sank in. "For what? A traitor?"

"Ichimaru Gin was more to her than that." Her tone was gentle, but she let a steely edge communicate that she would reveal no more; truth was one thing, but Matsumoto was entitled to her secrets.

"Ichimaru...?" He looked completely dumbfounded; staring at her in disbelief. His gaze turned inward, an intense look crossing his face as he wracked his brain. "But he never...I never saw either of them acknowledge any kind of association..."


Hitsugaya fell silent as a memory slammed into him...

Shinsou hovered mere inches from his face as he struggled to keep the razor-sharp blade away from him. Gin's snake-like voice echoed in his ears, its mocking tone freezing the air in his lungs:

"If you dodge it...she will die..."

"Hina- !!" No time to react, but he didn't have to; there was a sudden shunpo behind him, a blazing light, an intense flash of reiatsu. And a subliminal growl that stood his hair on end.

"I'm really sorry, Hitsugaya-taicho; I was going to go back as you instructed, but I felt the reiatsu of Hyourinmarou, so I turned around."

His eyes tracked Shinsou down its incredibly long reach to where it had been stopped in its tracks, blade-tip causing spider-web cracks to appear and spread in Heineko's sealed blade. Matsumoto was struggling with the effort of holding her stance, eyes blazing, the only thing standing between Gin's murderous treachery and a prone Hinamori.

"Please withdraw your sword, Ichimaru-taicho," Matsumoto grunted, sweat starting to appear on her brow. Steely though her resolve was, an edge of fear flickered across her expressive face. "If you do not withdraw, I will be your opponent from here on."

Gin regarded her somblerly, lost for a moment in a rare frown. Slowly he regained his fox-like grin and with an enigmatic chuckle...withdrew his sword.

Hitsugaya had never given that moment another thought, certainly had not taken away the idea that there was any kind of regard between them. But now, thinking back on Ichimaru's strange expression, the look in Matsumoto's eyes as she stared him down...

His breath caught in his throat, and for once Histugaya felt cold.

She...and him...that monster...?

He felt sick to his stomach. And angry. And stupid and hurt and a dozen other things he couldn't name. Hyourinmarou stirred deep within him, reacting to his distress, garnet eyes radiating hotly. Why didn't she ever tell me...why didn't I see...? He stood there clenching and unclenching his hands, completely unaware of how low the temperature was dropping. Completely forgetting that Unohana was standing only a few feet away, watching him calmly. Which was all for the better; if he'd seen the compassion in her eyes he probably would have snapped completely and frozen half of Fourth squad.

"Un-n-ohana...t-t-t-taicho?" A tinny little voice squeaked in from the open doorway. Shivering from more than cold, Hanatoro timidly peeked his head into the room, his eyes saucer-wide. "I'm s-s-sorry f-for inter-r-rupting, b-b-b-but it's started..."

"Thank you, Hanatoro," Unohana cut him off, uncharacteristically sharp. "Please go about attending to your duties at once. There is no need to disturb Hitsugaya-taicho any further." With one last look at Hitsugaya, she seemed almost about to say something but thought the better of it, sweeping silently towards the door and leaving him alone with his ruminations.

He barely registered the exchange, or how long he stood there before he got himself under control. Razing himself for losing his composure like that, Hitsugaya peered around Unohana's empty office and turned abruptly to leave, trudging back towards Matsumoto's room lost in thought. He couldn't get that look on her face out of his mind as another memory started jostling for attention...

"I must have been asleep a long time..."

"Never mind that." He'd had to turn away, not really knowing why. He'd generally found his fukutaicho to be a burden on his nerves and his patience, when she wasn't outright exasperating. But the look in her eyes had proved hard to meet, and he'd felt an oddly disconcerting sweep of emotions run through him, mingling with his own confliction over what had happened earlier that day. In any case, he'd found himself being unusually empathetic.

"Seeing your colleague and a junior fight like that...it puts you in a tough spot, doesn't it?" He'd meant to be understanding, and at the time hadn't understood the flush of mortification that had spread across her cheeks.

"My col-league...?" Her eyes had been pinned to the floor; come to think of it, he'd never seen her so vulnerable. She was radiating some kind of intense emotion, and he'd just assumed she was upset about Kira. After all, that's who he'd been referring to. But now, looking back, her next words made so much more sense.

"Captain..." Her normally lilting voice was pitched low, worry and something else shimmering in its raw tone as she faltered to put words together. "Do you really...think that...Captain Ichimaru Gin...?"

Stupid. So stupid. He could have, should have seen it before now. If possible, his guilt at not being there to help her during her fight with Gin deepened, and his fury and loathing for Ichimaru jumped up another order of magnitude; gods, was there anyone he cared about that hadn't been hurt by that maniac?

A sudden motion around a distant corner caught his eye and brought him back to himself. Recognizing wide, fearful eyes, Hitsugaya sighed in frustration; he figured he'd better catch up to Hanatoro and apologize for scaring him half to death in Unohana's office earlier. The shape quickly disappeared and Histugaya ground his teeth; not in the mood for a foot-chase, he gathered reiatsu.

The diminunative healer must have been out of sorts, because he didn't notice Hitsugaya flash-stepping in right behind him until he spoke.

"Hanatoro, I..."

"Gyaaahh!" Hanatoro let out an unearthly wail and hit the ground with impressive speed, cowering on his knees and throwing his arms protectively over his head.

What a bother, thought Hitsugaya, a little frightened himself by the unexpected screech and rapidly descending into a worse mood than ever. He was quickly starting to regret this, but before he could reassure Hanatoro and start over, the kid began babbling nonsense.

"I'm s-s-sorry, Hitsugaya-taicho! I'm-m-m so sorry! I know, I should never have int-t-truded like that, and th-th-they told me not t-t-to let you find out...b-b-but..."

"Find out what?" Hitsugaya growled, no longer in the mood to apologize and his curiosity peaked. Hanatoro's only response was to tremble even more violently and continue to whimper like a fool. A vein started throbbing in the young captain's temple as he crossed his arms, his face a thundercloud. "Hanatoro, what was to be kept from me?" Pieces started falling together. "Where was Unohana called away to, and what in the name of the gods does, 'it's started' mean? What's started?"

It was several more minutes before he finally issued a direct command and got Hanatoro to put a sentence together. When he did, the world dropped out from under Hitsugaya for the second time in the same afternoon.


Unohana loved being a healer. Nothing made her more happy, more fulfilled than piecing back together the shattered remains of a living being, soul or otherwise; feeling the strength and life surge back into them despite whatever life-threatening condition had been assailing them. Even though, technically, she and everyone around her were 'dead' in a sense, she never ceased to marvel at the will to live that emanated from every spirit being she had ever laid hands on. It was, in her mind, the most demanding and most rewarding job in all of Sereitei.

And yet...this was the one part of being a healer, indeed the greatest healer in Sereitei, that she absolutely hated.

It was an understandable necessity that she be present at all executions. After all, someone had to officially confirm a court-mandated death, and not only did her position make it her duty but she was never able to ask it of anyone else. And in truth, executions were extremely rare; the powers that be generally preferred exile over the ending of a life, even for the most dire of crimes. In this case, however, there was a great deal of evidence to show that exhibiting leniency would prove futile. After all, the accused had already undergone the best healing services the Fourth squad could offer, and much patience and care had been given in the attempt to rehabilitate her shattered mind. Yet, despite all that, at the first opportunity she had chosen to follow her beloved leader regardless of the evidence of his treachery, and all efforts ultimately had gone to waste. Indeed, mercy shown had only lead to the deaths of several shinigami at the hands of the accused, and despite the compassionate streak in her even Unohana could understand the sentence that had been laid down.

"Ahh, what a pain." Kenpachi grumbled next to her. "I still say they should be allowed to fight back - at least that would be entertaining."

"Ken-chan, this is boooring. Let's go play with Shiny-Head!" Yachiru chattered, tugging on Kenpachi's sleeve and bouncing up and down, landing unceremoniously on Kuchiki Byakuya's foot.

With a soft grunt, Byakuya planted a hand on her pink little head, effectively halting her exuberant hopping about. "It is required that a majority of captains be present at the execution of a Seat." Without changing his expression in the slightest, he somehow managed to convey disdain. "Kenpachi-taicho must remain in order to meet the requirements set by law." He seemed to regret what he was saying, and Unohana suspected that regret was mingled with the wish that he'd brought a tasty treat to subdue the hyperactive Eleventh squad fukitaicho.

Unohana sighed in sadness over the truth of the statement. Including the traitors, and taking into account the one captain too sick to leave Fourth Squad and the taicho who refused to leave his side, as well as the understandable exlusion to these proceedings, too many officers were unavailable. It was almost inconceivable that five captains made a majority, but that was the inumaginable consequence of betrayal and wartime.

Kenpachi let out a long-suffering sigh as Yachiru drooped herself despondently over his shoulder. "This IS boring. They should just get on with it..."

"Are preparations complete, Mayuri-taicho?" Yamamoto-sutaicho's iron voice cut through the room and demanded silence.

"Yes, captain-commander," replied Mayuri, fiddling a few gadgets on the sprawling machine laid out ominously before him. "Despite the fact that this was not part of my device's original design, I can assure you that this machine will effectively sever the soul chain of the specimin." His leery expression turned downright sinister. "Of course, I cannot be positive, as this particular invention was created with other purposes in mind, but at the very least it will completely disintigrate the soul form and conclusively end the life." His head tilted, almost in amusement. "Also leaving no body for burial. An adventageous side-benefit."

Unohana suppressed a shiver of revulsion; the man actually looked pleased with himself. Only Mayuri Kurotsuchi would see such a thing as an advantage.

"What was it designed to do in the first place? Make people disappear?" Yachiru piped in; she seemed decidedly eager to watch a person disintegrate. Unohana wished she could have shushed her; she, for one, really didn't want to know.

Mayuri just grinned at the little pixie and said nothing. Unohana's skin prickled.

"Very well, bring out the condemned."

Sui Fon nodded at Yamamoto-dono's command, and her special ops team disappearing in the blink of an eye. After a long, uncomfortable moment of silence, they returned with a wide-eyed and confused-looking Hinamori. They hooked her up, trembling, to the sprawling machine, binding her with thick bands of glowing kido. Her frantic panting rang loud in the silent chamber; after an eternal moment, Yamamoto's voice sliced through the building tension.

"Hinamori Momo. You have been convicted of aiding the traitor, Aizen Souske, in his nefarous plans to destroy Sereitei and invade Heaven itself. Furthermore, you have been seen attacking, injuring and killing shinigami. Such acts, as verified by more than one captain's testimony, are unforgivable. You have once already received reprise, healing and understanding, and have thrown it right back in the face of the highest ruling minds of Sereitei. Due to this, you have been convicted to execution, not subject to trial or appeal. This decision is utterly irrevocable." A long moment passed, ancient eyes boring into her. "Does the condemned have any final words?"

"I...I don't...understand...?" Wide, watery eyes looked pleadingly into every captain present, and despite herself Unohana's stomach clenched. "Why are you all so mad at me? I was just...doing as my taicho wished... I was following my taicho..." Tears streamed down her face as Hinamori gazed imploringly around the room. "Please, why...?" A rough sob escaped her, and she thrashed in her bonds.

"Very well," Yamamoto spoke imperiously. "Proceed."

Unohana tried to hide the halting of her breath; every spirit particle in her body revolting against what she was seeing. Her instincts screamed at her, and Minatzuki trembled at her side, begging to be released. No, dear thing, she thought towards her zanpaktou. I know it's hard, but it is also Just...

A sharp tingle in the back of her head was the only warning she got before the door to the chambers froze solid and shattered, flying into the room in a hail-storm of broken pieces.

"SHIROU-CHAN!" Hinamori's face broke into a delighted smile as the dust settled and she could finally make out the shape of the figure striding into the room. "I knew you would come! Please, help me out of here, we have to get free! Aizen-taicho needs help..."

"Aizen Souske is dead." Hitsugaya's flat voice cut through her shrill cries, freezing the room by tone alone. "I saw him fall, Hinamori."

A quick flash of anger shot across her face, madness close on its heels, but in an instant it was gone and Hinamori laughed, a high-pitched, nervous sound. "NO, he isn't, it's a LIE! He was thought dead once before, and it's just a lie!!! He's alive, and they're hiding him...we HAVE to help him, Shirou-chan...!!"

"My name," Toushirou's voice cut through her cry and stopped her cold. "Is Hitsugaya-Taicho. Captain of the Tenth squad of the Gotei 13."

Trembling under his icy gaze; she seemed confused, as if she couldn't understand why she was not finding the help she thought she'd see there. "Please, you have to help me get free, we have to..."

"I didn't come here to free you." Despite herself, the tone in his voice made Unohana shudder. Looking at the girl with agonized resolve, Hitsugaya spoke to freeze air solid.

"I came to watch you die."

Ignoring her sputterings of protest, Hitsugaya close his eyes, his chin dropping slightly as he addressed his captain-commander.

"Yamamoto-sutaicho...I greatly appreciate your consideration in excluding me from these proceedings. At the risk of questioning your authority, I humbly request to be present for the execution."

His courage and fortitude took Unohana's breath away.

After a long moment, Yamamoto grunted, and nodded in acquiescence.

"You FOOLS!" Hinamori screamed. "Aizen-taicho is going to come back, you'll see, and he's going to crush you ALL for your stupidity! He has a VISION, and he's going to take me with him and set me above all of you..."

The rant went on and on as the machine slowly started to come to life. Under her hysterical shouting, barely perceptible, Unohana heard a tiny tinkling sound. It took her a moment to figure out, until she looked at the tormented figure standing alone in the center of the room.

Hitsugaya Toushirou was standing stolidy, his back straight, his eyes locked on the dying girl. And tiny, frozen tears were sliding down his cheeks, falling and shattering on the ground. Each one emitted a sad, musical sound of agony as they shimmered to pieces against the marble.


Standing alone in the middle of the room, as the humming of the maching slowly raised in pitch, as Hinamori's frantic rantings rose above them, was pure hell. He tried to close his eyes, but all he could see was open sky, a thousand remembered sunsets with Momo at his side, and he could taste watermelon on his lips. Halcyon days that he had known were lost forever long before this moment. Hyourinmarou howled silently, and Hitsugaya spoke to the dragon as snow gently began to fall in the chamber.

She died to us a long time ago, my friend. When the machine finally spluttered into action, started to tear her apart particle by particle, his body shuddered, and he thought he would pass out from the agony...

Until warm arms reached around him, snaking across his chest and holding him tightly. He didn't need to glimpse pink silk fluttering at the corner of his vision, or feel firm breasts pressing into the back of his head, to know who it was. Before he could react, the strong limbs pulled inward, firming into a relentless embrace by the tall body behind him. He couldn't remember her being so strong, or so warm...her heat radiated out from her, tingling his skin as he found himself trapped in a heart-breakingly sympathetic hug. As he had done thousands of times before, his hands flew up, grasping firmly to remove the forearms from around his shoulders...

Only this time was different. Instead of peeling her away from him, Hitsugaya Toushirou found his fingers digging into her flesh, found himself leaning into her supportive stance. As much as he'd always hated hugs, this time he was burrowing deeper, accepting the strength she offered him.

Something told him that he wouldn't survive this without Matsumoto Rangiku at his back.

They stood there together as if alone in the center of the vast chamber, tiny snowflakes gently drifting around them. He realized that he was holding onto her for dear life, and that as usual she was more than up to the task of keeping him from collapsing under the weight of his duty.

Together, they silently watched Hinamori Momo slowly disappear.