Spread Your Wings
Chapter Ten- Murderer
Previously…
Hinamori was left alone with letter.
Her eyes widened with each and every line until her hands were shaking from the shock of it all; she couldn't take it all in. But the line that had stunned her most was written clearly in Aizen's writing and the words looked like they were jumping out at her.
The one who will kill me is…
"Excuse me, is Hitsugaya-Taichou in?"
"Hai, Sorano-Taichou. Right this way."
After Ichimaru's eerie warning and the attack on her life soon after, Sorano hated to be alone. Even with paperwork before her, she had failed to distract herself. The words kept replaying in her head, Ichimaru's ghostly voice haunting her from within.
"Ya' know, being the Taichou of the Fifth Division seems kinda dangerous recently. You should watch your back, if ya' know what I mean."
With Hinamori locked up because of her brawl with Kira, the Fifth Division had seemed too quiet and empty. Kinhana strapped securely on her back, Sorano decided on paying her short friend and his strawberry-blonde Fuku-Taichou a visit.
A voice from within the room called out after Sorano had knocked.
"Who is it?"
"Captain of the Fifth Division, Sorano Akina."
The door was suddenly flung open and Matsumoto practically tackled the girl as she hugged her. Sorano winced in pain as she fell to the ground as Matsumoto yelled in her ear.
"'Captain of the Fifth Division, Sorano Akina.' Don't give us that! I think we're good enough friends for you to just barge in and say hi!"
"R- Right Matsumoto-san… It's getting hard… to breathe."
"Oops, sorry!"
As the dark-haired girl was catching her breath again, she looked around the room. Considering that Matsumoto was one of the main users of this room, Sorano had assumed to be greeted by one heck of a mess. As it turned out though, Hitsugaya seemed to have managed to keep the division in impeccable condition, though there were a few sake bottles here and there. Said Taichou was sitting at his desk, working dutifully on his paperwork.
"Sorano, why are you here?"
"What, is it so wrong for me to pay little Hitsugaya-kun a visit?"
The tensai let the pen he was writing with fall out of his grip as he stood up and glared at Sorano. What he was about to say had been said so many times to her already that Sorano could say the line along with him.
"It's Hitsugaya-Tai-"
"Please excuse the intrusion!"
The door Sorano had entered through only moments ago was slid open roughly as a middle-aged man knelt at the ground. He studied each of the occupants of the room for a few seconds, showing mild surprise at Sorano's presence.
"Hitsugaya-Taichou, Sorano-Taichou, Matsumoto Fuku-Taichou. This is an urgent report to inform you that Hinamori Momo and Kira Izuru are no longer in their allocated cells."
The following word was shouted in unison.
"What?!"
All three highly ranked shinigami started moving at an alarming speed.
"Taichou!"
"You stay here, Matsumoto. I'll go." 'I think I can guess where Hinamori is headed.'
The tall woman simply nodded, but she still put a hand to her sword; whatever happens, she'd always be alert about the situation with her captain. Hitsugaya rushed to a neighboring room and grabbed Hyourinmaru. Sorano followed him.
"I'm coming with you."
"I'd prefer it if you didn't."
"Since when did you have authority over me? I'm coming!"
And that was that.
The two Taichous raced across rooftops, shunpoing silently in the night. The only source of light was the full moon that was at their backs. Hitsugaya was carefully maneuvering his way between buildings; he already knew what he was looking for. Although Sorano desperately wanted to know where exactly they were going, she stayed quiet to allow Hitsugaya concentrate; chances were he was trying to find a specific someone's reiatsu.
The final location was a large area of land before the Third Division. Hitsugaya spoke into the darkness, Sorano by his side with her hand never leaving Kinhana.
"I figured you two would be together."
From the shadows, Ichimaru and Kira emerged together. At the sight of the silver-haired Taichou, Sorano felt her throat being caught. Breathing suddenly became difficult for her and the few meters that separated them didn't seem enough. With a few fast movements, Sorano put another five meters or so between her and Ichimaru. The fox-like captain seemed amused by her actions. Hitsugaya's reiatsu began to flow freely as a blue, fire-like atmosphere surrounded him, hand on Hyourinmaru's hilt.
"Before she gets here, I'll finish you off."
It took only a second for Sorano to understand who this 'she' was.
'Hinamori…'
In an almost cruel twist of fate, a dark figure leapt out from the shadows and in between the two parties. The figure had its hair tied up in a bun, it moved smoothly, gracefully. They should've expected her to have showed up here sooner or later, but this was too soon. Sorano shunpo'd to the centre and stood behind Hinamori, putting her hands on the Fuku-Taichou's shoulders.
"Hinamori, you have to get away from here."
Just as the Taichou was about to shunpo away with her academy friend, Hinamori shrugged Sorano's hands off. Completely unprepared for what happened next, Hinamori drew Tobiume. With a flash of fear in her eyes, Sorano's first instinct was to move away. She stood beside the Tenth Division captain again. Hinamori's soft voice cut through the night.
"I thought that I'd find you here."
"Hinamori! Stay out of this! You're not his opponent, I can handle him!"
Hitsugaya's voice was laced with anxiety. His childhood friend traced an arc in the sky with her zanpakutou, but where the arc ended was a shock for both Sorano and Hitsugaya. The point of Tobiume's blade rested on Hitsugaya's shoulder, trembling slightly because of the lone tear the rolled down Hinamori's cheek.
"Aizen-Taichou's… murderer!"
The silence seemed to stretch on into eternity. Emerald clashed with darkness as the two stared into each others eyes, trying to find reason in this suddenly unreasonable world. Hinamori fought the tears the threatened to pour down as Hitsugaya tried to process the words that he had just heard. A loud 'clang' ended the silence; Kinhana's blade had whacked Tobiume out of Hinamori's shaking hands. Hitsugaya exhaled slowly, now that his neck wasn't a millimeter away from a sword.
"Bakayarou! Bakayarou, Hinamori!"
The Fuku-Taichou turned to look at Sorano.
"What madness are you talking about?! You just pointed a blade at Hitsugaya. What is wrong with you? Murderer? What are you on about?! Hinamori! Explain!"
From within her shihakushou, Hinamori pulled out a familiar sheet of paper, the name of the addressee clearly visiable: Hinamori-kun. Her voice weak, shaking, Hinamori explained the contents of the letter; someone within Seireitei was conspiring against Soul Society. Everything that once had a system had been thrown into pandemonium. Rukia's execution date was one thing; how many times had it been changed now? Hinamori's voice grew even quieter as she recounted the part where Aizen wrote about researching who this perpetrator was. And how when he had discovered who, he would confront him. Another tear followed the previous one.
"'Even though it may cost my life, Hinamori-kun, I tell you this because I know you are the only hope for justice left. The one behind everything, the one who will kill me, is H- Hitsugaya To- Toshiro.'"
The sound of ripping paper was heard.
Kinhana had whipped silently through the air, slicing the Aizen letter in half as Hinamori's eyes widened in shock. Sorano inwardly berated herself for destroying important evidence, but she had always been one to act on impulse. This letter was nothing but rubbish. Complete and utter rubbish.
"Forgery."
The first word Hitsugaya had spoken in a long while echoed in the darkness. It seemed the only logical possibility. Hinamori let the word repeat a few times in her head, wanting to believe it too, but she couldn't. The letter was in Aizen's own unique handwriting. His language was even the same as what he would use if he were alive. With the letter in two pieces in her hands, Hinamori cast them to the wind and screamed.
A/N: Yes, I know; hardly an exciting chapter and almost definitely not worth the wait... but next chapter should be interesting! Hitsugaya vs Hinamori... or is it? Until next time, bye!
&. strawberrii