"Matsumoto Rangiku." Boomed the low voice of the Captain-commander, echoing through the large hall.
The shinigami in question lifted her head to look at the captains standing before her. She flinched especially at her own captains cold, hard, and disappointed gaze. "Yes. Sou-tachiou."
"You stand accused of helping the Ryokya escape, sheltering them and for defending them without basis." The Commander began. "This is treason and until a good reason is presented, you know what the punishment is." Deafening silence filled the room, the last words bouncing off the walls. It was a while before anyone spoke again.
"I see you had no purpose." Soi Fong stated, stepping forward to glare down at the accused, another long silence following.
"I have a reason!" Matsumoto suddenly said, standing up, her glare matching the second division captain's with equal force. "I do have a reason." She repeated, softer, breaking the staring match she seemed to be having, looking down at the floor.
"Oh, and what's that?" Zaraki suddenly spoke, or more, growled.
The strawberry blonde mumbled something incoherent, looking anywhere but the expectant faces of the captains.
"Sorry, didn't quite catch that." Yamamoto said.
"I can't tell you!" She exploded. "I promised him I wouldn't tell a soul. And I'm not going to, I keep my promises, especially to old friends."
"Ah, so he was a friend." the commander repeated thoughtfully. "And yet you would not help another comrade, one who has lost someone dear to him, keep a memory of his friend, is that right?" Another wave of guilt rushed through the vice-captain, at what she had probably done to Ikkaku. A heavy silence filled the room. "That aside," he continued, "let us deal with the issue at hand. Matsumoto, do you plead innocent or guilty?"
Matsumoto looked round the room with a worried expression. What to do?
She came to a decision, her features hardening. "Guilty." She said, "I stand by my decision to help them." She straightened, watching the expressions change on many of the captains. Smiling softly, she looked directly at the Commander, who had opened one eye to look at her, amazed.
"Right, what would be a suitable punishment for this one?" He asked the stunned room.
Silence met his question. That is, until Soi Fong stepped forward.
"I think tha-"
"Wait." She was cut off by a low voice. Hitsugaya Toshirou stepped forward, his scowl in its usual place as he glared at the martial artist. Matsumoto took a sharp intake of breath in shock. "She is still my Vice-captain. And as her captain, I ask if I can deal with her myself." He finished, moving slightly to look at the commander.
The old man stayed silent for a moment, contemplating this proposal.
"Alright, do with her what you will, but ensure that she is punished in some way, to make sure this does not happen again."
"Yes, Sou-Tachiou." Hitsugaya affirmed, bowing slightly.
Matsumoto released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She wouldn't be kicked out of Soul Society, and she wouldn't be going to the detention centre... hopefully.
"You are dismissed."
Matsumoto stood shock still as the other captains strode past her out the room. She was shocked...to say the least, she had managed to get away with it. She had, almost, gotten away scot free from helping the Ryokya get out of Serietei. She would still get punished, her captain would not let her get away completely, but it was better than exile, or detention.
"Matsumoto." A deep voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She looked down at her captain, eyes wide. "Come on. We'll discuss this in my office."
The walk to said office felt longer than usual, Matsumoto stayed in a sombre silence, a rarity, as she thought over what she had done to Ikkaku.
It was true, in the long run, it was better for the now ten year old Yumichika, once he achieved Bankai, he could tell everyone, if they didn't work it out first, and without his Zanpaktou this would be impossible. But she knew what she had done would have hurt the bald shinigami greatly, he had lost his only true memory of his dearest friend, she had practically taken it from him herself.
The next few years would be hell, that much she knew. Not only would Ikkaku want to kill her at every possible opening, chances are, most of the eleventh division would, and everyone who took Ikkaku's side in this. Which would most likely be everyone, she was, after all, the one who did wrong here. Even if she knew what she did was right, at least right in the long term.
Suddenly she was walking through the door to the office, and she started, having completely zoned out the entire way there and not remembering any of the walk.
"Right." Hitsugaya said, sitting down on one of the sofas, gesturing for her to sit on the one opposite. She did as instructed, nervously twiddling her thumbs, looking anywhere but her captain. "What to do with you?" the white-haired boy murmured to himself. "What you have done is very serious...but you said you had a reason. Can you tell me?"
"I can't tell you everything." The vice-captain muttered.
"But you can tell me some things?"
"I'll tell you what I can." Matsumoto looked up, surprised at the expression he was wearing. It wasn't mad, or disappointed. It was questioning and curious, with what looked like a hint of understanding. "Both were good friends of mine, one quite some time ago, before I became a shinigami, the other not so long ago. Mizaki, the older one, I used to talk with a lot when we were younger, we were really good friends, she was really understanding, and often offered shelter in her home on nights when the weather was bad. But then she got pulled back by her parents, and I saw her less and less, I found out her and her brother were being forced into an arranged marriage and were rarely allowed out the house. Her twin brother ran away not long after, and that was when she disappeared completely. I never saw her again. The younger boy I can't tell you much about, but-"
"It's Ayasegawa isn't it?" Hitsugaya cut her off. Matsumoto spluttered somewhat, tripping over her own words, until she finally managed to get one word out.
"How?"
"It's fairly obvious. I saw him two nights ago when they escaped, only a child. And the sword he stole. The math wasn't that hard to do. Ayasegawa would be about ten now right?" Matsumoto nodded, wondering how many more people had worked it out. "I don't think many people have worked it out, don't worry, and if they have I doubt they would say anything, he had a mask on for a reason."
"Okay, but if anyone mentions it to you, tell them not to tell another soul. It may get around to Ikkaku, and he hurt the kid a fair bit a few days ago, he'd feel really bad if he knew." She begged, hoping it wouldn't get out. "Though he's gone back to locking himself away."
"Hmmmm...." Hitsugaya looked out the window thoughtfully. "Pretty soon he'll be on a rampage for anyone involved in the whole incident."
Matsumoto gulped. That meant her.
"I can understand what you did and why you did it. But the Sou-Tachiou is still expecting a punishment, so I suppose I'll have to think of something." He leaned back against the couch. "And taking into consideration there are probably a lot of people around that will most likely want to kill you, I'm thinking an extended mission in the living world."
"What?!" Matsumoto, not knowing whether to be happy or horrified.
"There is still a strangely high number of hollows turning up in Kyoto. The shinigami on duty there are being replace once every few days, sometimes more than once in a day. They need a stronger someone to lead them." He continued. "And another healer for that matter." He added as an afterthought.
"Wait, Kyoto?" She confirmed.
"Yes."
Matsumoto thought this over for a while. "I could do that." She said slowly. And while she was there she could get caught up with the twins, and help with the Bankai training, if she could. And then there was the shopping, and the alcohol, and the-
"Of course, I'll be sending you paperwork over for you to do while you're there."
The smile that was forming on the Vice-captains face suddenly dropped, and she begun to protest.
"While I understand what you did, you still went against the rules of Soul Society and I need to find a suitable punishment for you, and I think that would be suitable enough. I'll make sure you do it. It's that or I let you get killed by the angry mob that's bound to be after your head. Your choice."
"I'll do it. But if the amount of hollow is as much as you say, I'm going to be pretty busy."
"I know, and I'm going to let you off a little, by doing a fraction of your work, and sending the rest over. But only a small fraction."
"Okay. Fair enough I suppose." Matsumoto said, shrugging her shoulders.
"I'll contact the fourth, see if they have a healer to spare. You'll be leaving as soon as possible, so I suggest you go get ready and sort your Gigai out. Meet me here at sundown."
"Yes, sir." Matsumoto grinned.
"Okaaay, now what do we do?" Matsumoto asked, standing on a small bridge that led over to a city shrine, high up on a hill. It was midnight, or just past, and the cold winter's moon shone down brightly on the pair, who had just arrived in Kyoto.
The smaller girl, the healer, who had been sent along with her, looked up at the sky.
"Well, um, I suppose the first thing to do would be find somewhere to stay." The small girl said.
"I know who we could stay with, but I don't exactly know where that is."
"Who's that?" the healer asked, looking up at the moon.
"Just an old friend of mine. I think I may know how to find them though." She closed her eyes, concentrating hard on the surrounding reiatsu's, looking for two in particular. "There!" She took off into the night, the healer, Aimi, hot on her heals. It was only a flicker, only a small feeling, but she knew the direction it was coming from, and as she moved she could feel it get stronger and stronger.
Eventually they pair landed on the roof of a large traditional house, looking around them.
The reiatsu was definitely coming from within.
Matsumoto deftly dropped to the ground, right in front of the front door.
"Useful." She murmured as Aimi dropped down next to her, looking around in amazement.
Matsumoto raised a hand, before hesitating, what were they going to say when they found her standing on their doorstep? Shaking it off, she confidently knocked on the door....loudly.
It was a big house.
A lot of yelling followed, after some banging, which sounded a lot like someone falling down the stairs.
"What have I told you about getting up? With that injury?" They heard Mizaki yell, before the door was thrown open, revealing said girl, in a oversized fluffy dressing gown, fuzzy bunny slippers and a pair of long socks.
"Cold?" Matsumoto asked when she took in what her old friend was wearing.
"The heater broke, and it's the middle of winter." The dark-haired woman said darkly, obviously not liking that fact. "What are you doing here? Please don't say exile."
"Mission." Matsumoto said, letting herself into the cold house and looking up the stairs, where a ten year old Yumichika was sitting, chin resting on his hands looking down on the trio, his gaze questioning. The blonde grinned up at him. "There have been a strange amount of hollows appearing round here. The shinigami are being replaced too often for their liking, so they sent me to try and sort the problem out."
"We've heard of the problem." Yumichika said from the top of the stairs. "And tried to do something, but often the shinigami on duty gets in the way, or we defeat them, and more come. It's like someone's feeding them in from outside."
"Yeah, but it's too late to be talking about that. I suppose you two need somewhere to stay?" Mizaki asked.
"If that's alright." Matsumoto said, looking round at Aimi, who was staring around in amazement at the size of the foyer alone. Wait till she saw the rest of the house.
"Sure, sure. This place is certainly big enough." Mizaki grinned, before turning to the healer. "Hi, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Tanaka Mizaki." She said, holding out a hand.
Aimi jumped, turning to look at the smiling hostess. "Oh...Hayashi Aimi. Thank you for letting us stay." She said, bowing.
Mizaki raised an eyebrow, smiling even wider. "No need to be so formal. I don't care for any of that stuff. My brother got all that. I'll show you to you rooms."
"Thanks." Matsumoto said, following her out the room.
"Hayashi-san." A quiet voice stopped the healer from following, and she turned to see the small boy standing a few steps up from the bottom, staring at her.
"Yes?"
"I know you don't know what for, but thanks." He said, smiling softly.
Aimi tilted her head in confusion. "Umm...You're welcome?" she said, raising her eyebrows.
Yumichika turned to go back upstairs, limping slightly.
"Wait." Aimi said, and he turned back round. "What for?"
"You'll see." He said simply, smiling. "In time...you'll see."
A/N: I don't like it personally, but maybe you will. Please review and tell me what you think, and maybe improvments. I love constuctive critisism. It really helps for future chapters. Thanks. And big hugs to those who have already reviewed, keep them coming....I love knowing what you all think of my writing.
Also the poll is still up, and will be up until I get round to writing that particular bit. So go vote, if you haven't already.