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Chapter Ten - Intruder Alert

Things in Squad Four were quiet and Captain Unohana was using this time to catch up on some of the paperwork that she was behind on. She was seated at her desk, working on said paperwork, when she heard the sound of someone entering Squad Four. Then, a couple of minutes later, she heard someone gasp, "Captain Aizen, are you alright?" This question was quickly followed by the sound of something hitting the floor.

Jumping to her feet, paperwork immediately forgotten, Unohana quickly left her office and ran down the hallway to the spot where one of her subordinates, Hanatarou Yamada, was kneeling on the floor with his hand on the shoulder of an injured and bloody Captain Aizen. A frantic looking Hinamori was standing over her superior and the Squad Four member, wringing her hands as she gazed at Captain Aizen.

"What happened Sousuke?" the Squad Four Captain asked as she too knelt at his side.

"The enemy that Captain Hitsugaya was sent to stop was stronger than we first suspected," Captain Aizen replied, his left hand clutching an injury to his right shoulder which seemed to be the most serious of his wounds. "She got the drop on me and before I could recover she had gotten past me and entered the Senkaimon. I tried to track her down but I couldn't find her and I'm not sure if she managed to make it through the Senkaimon into Soul Society. She has an incredible ability to conceal her reiatsu from detection."

"I'll send word to Head Captain Yamamoto at once," Captain Unohana said, getting to her feet. "Hanatarou make sure that Captain Aizen is taken care of."

"Yes ma'am," Hanatarou said.

"That isn't necessary Retsu," Aizen said as he made an attempt to stand under his own power. "I only came here because Momo insister. I should go out and help the others search for the woman. After all it was my fault that she got into Soul Society so I really should help them look for her."

Aizen made a move toward the exit however Unohana turned on him with a threatening gleam in her usually kind eyes. "You will stay here until your wounds have been taken care of," Unohana said in a voice that declared there would be no argument. They may be even in rank but in Squad Four she called all the shots and her words were law.

"Right," Aizen said.

Convinced that Aizen would follow her orders Captain Unohana turned away from the group and walked away. She had to inform the Head Captain that there was the possibility that someone had breeched the barrier and broken into Soul Society. Measures would have to be taken to protect the Seireitei from the intruder who was now more than likely lurking somewhere in the Rukongai.

More guards would also have to be dispatched to protect the Seal, in case that was indeed the target that the intruder had in mind.

Matsumoto had left her captain briefly so that she could do a little more research but now she was on her way back to his room. It wasn't safe to leave the young prodigy alone for long periods of time since he was a high escape risk. After all, he was still annoyed over the fact that Captain Unohana had ordered him not to leave his bed and knowing his personality Matsumoto wouldn't put it past her captain to make a run for it. Luckily everyone in Squad Four knew that he wasn't allowed to leave so he was effectively trapped.

And he would be trapped for some time because there was just no way that Captain Unohana would let him leave until she was absolutely sure that he was okay.

Sliding the door open quietly, in an effort not to disturb Captain Hitsugaya should he be sleeping, the Squad Ten Vice-captain entered the room and as her eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness she saw that Hitsugaya was indeed awake and was sitting up in bed. The white-haired prodigy had his arms crossed over his small chest and did not look happy with his current situation.

Matsumoto smiled despite herself. In this situation he looked like any normal little kid, not that she would ever tell him that.

"Captain!" Matsumoto exclaimed as she entered his room in the Squad Four barracks. Relief was shining in her blue eyes as she gazed down at her small captain, who appeared even smaller in the large bed in which he was currently lying. "You're looking better." A strange expression appeared on the Squad Ten vice-captain's face as she gazed at her captain. "I'm glad. I was worried about you."

"I'm fine," Hitsugaya told her in his customary, gruff tone of voice. He knew that he should be nicer to her, that she had only been concerned about his well being, but he couldn't help the fact that he was annoyed with her for bringing him back to Soul Society. He had been given a mission, not just by the Head Captain but it seemed by fate its self, and he couldn't accomplish that mission lying in a bed in Squad Four. And he couldn't leave Squad Four until Captain Unohana gave him permission. That fact had been made abundantly clear to him.

"We'll you sound like you're back to normal," Matsumoto muttered.

"Just wonderf. . ." Hitsugaya's words were cut short by the sound of an alarm. Both captain and vice-captain were immedietely on high alert. This particular alarm never sounded unless there was an intruder in Soul Society. "You have got to be kidding me," the young captain muttered as he pulled the IV line from his arm and quickly got to his feet.

"Captain. . ."

Hitsugaya turned to his vice-captain, a determined expression in his teal colored eyes. "I don't have time to be here right now. Don't you get it Matsumoto? That alarm means that someone, more than likely the enemy I was supposed to stop, has entered Soul Society illegally. I have to go and see what's happening." The young captain didn't express his fears out loud however in his mind he added, "And if it really is Midori then this is all my fault."

"Right," Matsumoto said, knowing that her captain would feel guilty if it turned out that Midori really was the intruder to Soul Society. Even though it wasn't his fault that he had collapsed due to exhaustion she knew that Hitsugaya wouldn't see it that way.

Pulling his captain's haori on over the shihakush that he already wore Hitsugaya quickly made his way toward the door and Matsumoto immediately fell into step behind her captain. She knew that there would be no way to talk him out of going after the intruder but she also knew that there was no way that she was going to allow him to go alone.

Together Captain and vice-captain left the safety of the Squad Four infirmary and stepped out into the bright light of the Seireitei. And as they excited the two officers heard a disembodied voice begin to speak over the loud speaker, "Attention all Captains, vice-captains, and seated officers. An unknown entity has breeched the barrier between Soul Society and the world of the living and is now somewhere in the Rukongai. Exact position unknown. All officers are to remain on guard and prevent this intruder from entering the Seireitei. That is all."

"That doesn't sound like a very proactive way to do things," Matsumoto muttered, however she was forced to refocus her attention as her captain began walking away from her. "Captain. . . where are you going?"

"To the Rukongai," Hitsugaya replied, a distant look in his teal eyes. He knew that Midori was far from the Seireitei and he wanted to make sure that she never reached the home of the Shinigami. The woman held secrets that Hitsugaya didn't want anyone else to learn about and he was determined to stop her before she had the chance to tell anyone exactly who she was.

"Why?" Matsumoto wanted to know. They had just received orders to remain in the Seireitei and remain on guard and now, not ten seconds later, her captain had decided to disregard those orders and travel out into the Rukongai. This was way out of character for Hitsugaya, who normally followed the rules and obeyed orders. Something was definitely off about this situation.

"Because that's where we're going to find Midori," Hitsugaya replied in a quiet voice, now certain that his mother was indeed the person who had infiltrated Soul Society. His mind was going a hundred miles a second; he knew that she would insist on accompanying him and yet he did not want her to know Midori's secret either. How could he bring this situation under control without his subordinates and peers finding out some very unpleasant facts about him?

"You really think it's her captain?" Matsumoto asked, not failing to notice the expression in his teal eyes. This particular mission was eating at him but Matsumoto couldn't figure out why. What was it about the former Shinigami turned Arrancar that had him so on edge?

Without answering the question posed to him by his vice-captain Hitsugaya continued walking. He knew that she was going to follow him and, sure enough, Matsumoto quickly ran to catch up. His vice-captain silently fell into step behind him, seemingly deciding that she would have the answer to her question when they arrived at their destination and would have to be content to wait until then.

Hitsugaya hadn't had time to grab his communicator when he'd left Squad Four however he found that he didn't really need it. It was as though he could feel Midori's reiatsu signal pulsing from within his own body. Somehow he had become atuned to her unique signal and he used this internal homing beacon to trace her location.

"She's in one of the outer districts," Hitsugaya murmured, more to himself than to his vice-captain. What was her purpose for invading Soul Society and why, once she had achieved this goal, would she remain in one of the outer districts of the Rukongai? It didn't make any sense to the young captain. Intruders didn't enter Soul Society often but when they did they always attempted to break into the Seireitei.

Always.

Matsumoto didn't ask how it was that her captain knew this. She merely accepted the fact that he did and followed him toward the gate that surrounded the Seireiteie and separated it from the Rukongai. Two Shinigami were guarding the gate however they stood at attention and allowed the two Squad Ten officers to pass unchallenged. Despite the announcement that all officers were to guard the Seireitei none of the lower ranked Shinigami would dare attempt to stop a captain and vice-captain.

Stepping out into District One Hitsugaya began walking briskly through the Rukongai, with his loyal vice-captain following along behind him. He had to hurry and locate Midori before she succeeded at whatever it was she was trying to do. He had to protect Soul Society from this woman and make sure that she was stopped.

And he had to proctect himself in the process.

A/N - So Midori has managed to break into Soul Society. What is it that she wants? Will she succeed? Will Toushirou manage to keep his relationship with her a secret? Read more to find out the answers. Hitsu-taichou