Author's note: Here's another update from me, and again, I'm really sorry for this tardiness. Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters.

Chapter 9: Unresolved Issues

"Let's finish this, shall we?" the mysterious man said with a sinister smile. He continuously fired different spells at Nanao, who managed to keep up with him. Momo stirred a bit before finally opening her eyes.

"…Where am I?" she mumbled as she looked around the battlefield. "Kira-kun?" she was about to get closer to the unconscious boy when she remembered what he had tried to do. Momo quickly searched around for Hitsugaya.

"The young girl has awakened. Looks like I'll have to finish this up quickly." Nanao gave him a deadly glare and quickly regained her composure. The battle went downhill for Nanao from that point on. She could barely land any hits and she received quite a lot of injuries herself.

"I didn't want to resort to this, but…" she pointed a single finger at the man. Without another moment passing, Nanao murmured the word "Snipe". A single black line of energy shot from her fingertip to the man's head and he collapsed to the ground.

The barrier dissipated and Hitsugaya arrived at Momo's side. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine Hitsugaya-kun, but… Kira… he-"

"What did he do to you?" His voice was seething with anger. "Hitsugaya before you do hasty, please take into consideration that he was being controlled." Nanao interrupted. "Whatever. Just take him to Unohana."

"Yes sir." She responded politely.

"Also, about that spell you used, you'll have to deal with Kyoraku about it."

"Yes sir."

Hitsugaya then carried Momo off back to their quarters. After all that happened, he couldn't really expect her to go back to sleep. "Come on, Momo, just get some sleep."

"I'm trying, but I can't Shiro-chan. What if-"

"No 'What if's. I'll be right here."

"I…I… fine." She sighed in defeat before lying back down and closing her eyes. As much as Hitsugaya himself wanted sleep, he couldn't bring himself to do it. His whole mind was worried about the recent occurrences.

Questions such as 'Will they attack again?' and 'How many more would they send?' haunted his mind. Momo could've very well been taken tonight, and all because he was sidetracked.

At the infirmary, Matsumoto was busy watching over Kira. "He'll be fine. Luckily, Ise-san took it easy on him during their fight. He should be able to participate in tomorrows festival, but…"

"But what?" Matsumoto interjected worriedly for her friend.

"I strongly recommend confronting him about whatever it is that caused him to be controlled so easily. If that problem is not quickly resolved, I'm afraid he'll be controlled just as easily as he was this time."

"Understood. Thank you, Unohana." She looked back at Kira, already knowing the issue that needs to be resolved.

As the sun rose, Hitsugaya grabbed what little sleep he could get before finally getting up. He had some unfortunate news to deliver to Momo, and he wasn't quite looking forward to it. "Momo." He gently shook her.

"Shiro?"

"I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to go with you to the festival today. It seems I've been called to a meeting." The girl's expression changed from sleepy to gloomy. "Oh ok."

She suddenly got an idea on how to brighten up her day. "Would it be ok if I went to the meeting with you?"

"No, and besides, it's really boring. Trust me, you wouldn't want to go."

"Oh come on, Shiro-chan! Please, for your little Momo-chan?" she spoke and acted as adorably as she could, hoping it would could change Toshiro's mind.

"I-I said no, and cut out that accent." He said looking away, obviously flushed. When he heard her crying he had no choice but to look back. "Oh come on, Momo. Don't cry. Please don't cry. I told you already, meetings are boring." Taking in consideration that she still didn't stop, he caved. "Fine, fine, fine! You can go, just hurry up or I'll leave you behind."

"Thanks Shiro-chan!" she jumped off the bed with a smile.

"Hey! You were just faking!"

"Oh well, you already said I could go. Just wait here."

"Fine." He made sure to wait a few moments after Momo was in the bathroom before leaving. When Momo came back out, Hitsugaya was nowhere in sight.

"He didn't." she mumbled to herself. "He wouldn't… He ditched me! Hitsugaya-kun ditched me!"

"Hey Momo-chan, what's with all the screaming in the morning?"

"Oh, Matsumoto-san, it's you. Shiro-chan ditched me and went off to the meeting."

"Umm, why would you want to go to a meeting? It's really boring you know?"

"It's better than staying in here doing nothing."

"Oh ok then, if you really want to go that badly, I'll take you there. I'm actually on my way there myself."

"Thanks, thanks, thanks, Matsumoto-san!" Matsumoto proceeded to guide Momo to the meeting, which was to begin in approximately 10 minutes.

They arrived to the meeting and were greeted with a not-so-happy Hitsugaya. "What's wrong with you?! I left her there because I didn't want Momo coming here!"

"Well, what else could I have done? And besides, no one would be there to watch over her."

"Fine, Momo, don't blame me when you get bored."

Their conversion came to an end at the sound of Yamamoto clearing his throat. "I'm sure all of you know why I have called for this meeting. The recent attacks have become quite numerous, and just last night, they almost achieved their goal. If not for Nanao Ise, they would have captured Hinamori. Which is why I no longer deem it safe for Hinamori to wandering around with untrained. Ah, I see you are attending today's meeting, Hinamori."

The young girl gave the general a nod. "I'm glad you're here to hear this in person. I will hereby assign you to Hitsugaya for him to personally train you. You will also be tested in two weeks time. Now then, I will also be assigning Karin to Komamura for training. She will also be tested along with Hinamori. Now then, onto our next issue…"

It felt like the old man droned on for hours and hours; Momo drifted out of the rest of the meeting. "That is all. Meeting adjourned."

She felt relieved that she was finally going to be able to leave. However, that feeling was instantly gone when Yamamoto called her to him.

"Come with me, Hinamori."

"Yes sir." He took her to a different room. This one was empty, not even a rug or table; it was simply empty.

"What did you need, sir?"

"I will now endow you with the ability to summon, Hinamori."

"To summon?"

Author's note: YES! Finally done! This chapter had to have taken FOREVER! I had no idea whatsoever on what to write. Anyway, I hope you readers enjoyed this chapter and review. I will update when I reach 137 reviews.