A.N: Thank you Andrey258 for your constant support! It means a lot. I forgot to mention that there was a big time skip. I realized I probably should have mentioned it before uploading the previous chapter. Don't worry, Rukia is still in the story and she did give Ichigo her powers like in the show. We are around the time of the betrayal and Rukia's execution. Thank you to everyone who had been reading my story!

Xxx

Naomi woke up the next day. She had a sick feeling to her stomach. She knew today was going to happen but now that it's here, she couldn't believe how fast it went. She got dressed and went to wash her face. She wasn't up for a big meal, so just decided to have a cup of tea with some sweet bread to eat. Not much of a breakfast, but she felt like she needed something in her stomach. She didn't know what was going to happen today and she didn't want to pass out or anything like that.

After making her cup of tea and grabbing some sweet bread, she sat down at the table. She couldn't sense Aizen's or Momo's spiritual pressure. So she was unsure of where they were. She finished her breakfast and grabbed her sword, making her way to the 12th division barracks. This brought back so many memories. She really missed Hiyori and Kisuke. Maybe when this whole betrayal thing was over, she could go and see head Captain Yamamoto to ask if he knew where they were and if she could see them. Even if it was for a little bit.

Naomi got to the department of research and development. She was about to knock on the door but stopped abruptly when she heard voices.

"Why did you give me that?! That's not what I need!"

That was Mayuri's voice.

"Captain, I'm sorry about that! We don't have the thing you asked for!"

Oh jeez, what was happening?

"Then tell me and I'll MAKE SOME MORE!" Mayuri's voice rose at the end. What was happening? She never heard him raise his voice like that!

"S-Sorry Captain! I didn't know!"

Naomi hesitated but knocked on the door. She was surprised when she heard no noise coming from the other side. It all went silent.

"Was I the only one who heard the door? SOMEBODY OPEN IT!"

Naomi heard footsteps and the door opened.

Akon's face went from distressed to happy when he came face to face with her. "Naomi! What a surprise!" He took her arm and practically pulled her in. She could fix this! He shut the door behind her. "Thank goodness you're here!"

Everyone was staring at Naomi. It was making her a little uncomfortable.

"M-Mayuri?" Naomi called out.

"What is it?" Mayuri turned to who had called his name. Naomi. His facial features softened. "Hey."

Everyone noticed Mayuri's change in tone of voice and body language. What was it about this girl that made him do that?

"Um, I wanted to know if I can use the lab for something." Naomi told him. The memories from this place, they were all coming back to her. She noticed that what was once Urahara's office was now Mayuri's office.

"Of course." Mayuri replied. "Remember what I told you before?"

"Yes." That she can use the lab at any time.

"Well then. That answers your question." Mayuri told her. "Do you need privacy?"

That would be good, but Naomi wasn't sure how she would be able to ask for it.

Her lack of response told Mayuri that she did. He figured she was too nice to ask for that.

"Alright, everyone out." Mayuri ordered. "Naomi needs privacy on what she has to work on."

"What? What are we supposed to do in the barracks?" Akon asked.

"Find something."

"Ya but, what? We work here."

"Not my problem. You figure it out."

Naomi blinked. "Mayuri, no it's fine! They can stay. Maybe I can use your office or something?" She suggested. "I mean, they have to continue their work here in the lab and making them leave isn't going to help me."

Mayuri let out a sigh. "Fine."

Akon sighed of relief. "Thank goodness." He went over to Naomi. "Somethings have changed, let me show you around." He led her around the department.

Xxx

After the tour, Naomi went to work on the cloak in Mayuri's office. The door was closed and she made sure no one would disturb her. This had to be done carefully and quickly. She started working on the cloak. She was there when Kisuke made his cloak so she knew the steps. She was having trouble focusing on making this cloak. She tried concentrating but all that was on her mind was what was going to happen today. She buried her face in her hands. She had to tell someone.

A crash was heard on the other side of the door.

"SHIT!"

"What happened?"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"It's fine, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"What is the matter with you?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Captain!"

"She didn't mean to drop it!"

"That's all we have left of it!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Just make more!"

"IT'S NOT THAT EASY!"

"She said she was sorry, sir."

"SHUT UP, NEMU."

Naomi had enough. She couldn't take his yelling anymore. She walked to the door and fling it open with such force that those in the opposite room were startled. "STOP IT!" She rose her voice.

"You guys are too loud. I told you not to disturb her!"

"It's you that's disturbing me, Mayuri!" Naomi retorted. "Stop yelling at your fellow members! Please just treat them with respect! You treat me with respect, why can't you do the same to them?!"

The room fell silent. They didn't know what to do. It was the first time anyone has ever heard her shout. Mayuri was especially shocked.

Naomi just stared at them. She had just realized what she done. She had just wanted all this to stop. She sighed, closed her eyes and entered the office, shutting the door behind her.

Xxx

Naomi was sitting on the floor in front of the desk, hugging her legs. Her face was buried in her knees. The cloak she was working on stayed on the desk, untouched. She had been about halfway done when the whole fiasco happened. She couldn't believe she did that! Mayuri was one of her closest friends. She was going through a lot of stress.

There was a knock on the door. "Can I come in?"

Mayuri's voice.

"Yes."

Mayuri entered the room and saw her sitting on the floor. He didn't even see her facial expression. He sighed and went to sit next to her. It was unsettling to see her like this. "Are you okay?" He asked, knowing well what her answer would be.

"Yes." Naomi lied with a muffled voice. She didn't want to worry him.

Mayuri sighed. "I know you're not. You don't have to lie to me. What is going on?"

"I'm sorry." Naomi told him. "For yelling at you."

"It's okay. You're right." Mayuri nodded. "I should…treat them better."

Naomi was silent.

"So…what had been on your mind?" Mayuri knew something was up.

"A lot." Naomi was pretty stressed about all this and she really couldn't take it anymore. This wasn't good for her.

"You know you can talk to me about it."

She knew.

Naomi took a deep breath. "T-There is something I know about today and no one else knows what's going to happen." She could trust Mayuri. "I-I can't handle it, Mayuri."

"What is going to happen?" Mayuri asked her. He was genuinely concerned for her. He never saw her in this state and he was willing to do anything to help her.

"I-I can't…say." Of course she could. But she was terrified.

"Does this have to do with what happened on that night?" Mayuri asked. Everything has been weird with her ever since.

"W-What?" Naomi looked up at him with a tear stained face.

She must have been crying. "Are you kidding me? Kisuke Urahara doing experiments on his fellow Captains at the time?" He snorted. "Highly unlikely. Even though the central 46 found information on hollowfication in the department of research and development, he doesn't seem like the type of man to do something like that. When I heard the news, I didn't believe it. I'm sure he was set up."

Naomi didn't technically tell Mayuri. He figured it out for himself. He was pretty smart, wasn't he? She felt so relieved. She smiled at him, tears flowing down her face. It was like a big weight had fallen off her shoulders. "That's what I wanted to tell someone but I couldn't. And here you are, figuring it out the whole thing! You are so smart!"

Mayuri blushed a little, the compliment taking him off guard. "Oh yes, well…it's not that hard to figure out." He cleared his throat. "If only we had gotten evidence to help them, and they wouldn't be banished."

"It's too late for that." Naomi sighed, wiping her tears away.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

Naomi nodded. "Yeah. I was there that night…when everything…happened." She took a deep breath. "And…I couldn't do anything."

"But you're working really hard." Mayuri told her. "You'll get there. I know it."

"Yeah!" Naomi smiled.

There. That smile. Mayuri preferred seeing that instead of a frown.

"I'll continue what I was working on!" Naomi stood up and dusted herself off.

Mayuri stood as well. "Glad we had this talk."

Naomi hugged him. "Thank you for listening!"

Mayuri put one arm around her and pat her back. "Yes yes." He still didn't like hugs.

Naomi pulled away. "Mayuri, I know it's asking a lot of you, but please don't tell anyone what I told you."

There was a knock on the door. "You are needed on the battlefield Captain!"

Naomi blinked. "What is happening?"

Mayuri sighed and stood. "Probably the Ryoka." He started walking towards the door. "Finish what you have to do." He left his office.

Naomi will. She continued working on the cloak.

Xxx

Naomi was finally done the cloak. She was unsure of what she was going to use it for. She grabbed the cloak and hid it. She left the 12 division barracks and made her way to the 5th division. How was the betrayal going to happen in a day? Unless Gin was lying to her. She certainly hoped not!

She made her way through the 5th division entrance but she didn't see Momo or Aizen. Was this part of the plan? She was stopped by her fellow division members.

"Miss Hitsugaya! Captain Aizen is dead and lieutenant Momo was arrested but she has escaped!"

Usually Naomi would correct them and say to just call her by her first name, but that was far from what was on her mind. That was a lot for Naomi to take in. "What? What?! Was it the Ryoka? I have no idea who they are, but Mayuri mentioned them and…"

"We don't know who killed Captain Aizen but Momo apparently attacked lieutenant Izuru!"

What in the hell is going on? "I'll go check this out." Naomi turned and started running out of the 5th division barracks.

"Miss Hitsugaya! You're to stay in your barracks! Your brother's orders!"

"Tell him I'm sorry!"

Xxx

Nighttime was approaching and Naomi wanted to find Momo or Gin or Toshiro. Whoever! She needed to know what was happening!

A figure suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Come with me." Gin threw her over his shoulders so she was facing the same direction that Gin was. He began running.

Naomi didn't know where, but she recognized a familiar spiritual pressure. "Ah! What?! Gin! What are you doing?!"

"Throwing you over my shoulders and running."

"Running where?!" Naomi asked. "What has happened? What is going on?"

"I'm paying someone a visit." Gin replied.

"Is it Toshiro? Because I sense his spiritual pressure." Naomi stated. She was getting good at that.

"Yes." Gin replied, still running.

"Gin, please tell me what happened! Aizen is dead? Momo was arrested? What is going on?!" Naomi asked. "Please tell me! If the betrayal is happening today, I don't…"

Gin cut her off. "It's not happening today."

"You lied to me?!" Naomi exclaimed. What else has he been lying about?

"It's going to be tomorrow when Rukia gets executed. I had to tell you now so you'd have it on your mind, expect it, and be ready for it." Gin simply told her.

Naomi started moving. "Put me down! I've had enough!" She started wiggling out of his arms.

"Stop! I'm going to drop you!"

"That's what I wa-" Naomi fell out of his arms and hit her forehead on the top of the roof. She got up and rubbed where she got hit. "Ow…" She felt something on her hand. Blood. Blood was trickling down the front of her face. She let out a sigh.

Gin appeared in front of her. "Are you going to co-operate?" He titled his head. There was one answer he wanted to hear.

Naomi ignored his question, and wiped the blood from her hand on her robes. "Tell me what's going on! Please, Gin! I need to know what to do."

"Nothing." Gin picked her up again and continued running.

Izuru had appeared next to them. "Captain Ichimaru, I broke out."

"Excellent."

Naomi blinked. Was Gin going to actually tell her? Or did he know that his lieutenant would appear?

They suddenly stopped and came face to face with Toshiro.

"Toshiro!" Naomi gasped. She sensed his spiritual pressure and he looked really angry.

"I suspected I'd find you together." Toshiro was glaring at them, arms crossed.

"C-Captain Hitsugaya, I…" Izuru started.

"I figured you were behind this. Because out of the three, Izuru's was the only cell open from the outside." Toshiro stated. "If you didn't want to get caught, you should have been more careful. That was being careless, even for you, Gin."

"It's funny that you would accuse me of being careless. When the fact of the matter is, I left it that way on purpose so that you'd know." Gin smirked.

"It's a good thing I arrived before Momo. I'll kill you before she gets here, your blood will be on my hands." Toshiro told him. "But before that, put my sister down." He ordered.

Gin kept smirking. "Awh, I just caught her and now you want me to put her down?" He teased. "How is that fair?"

Toshiro wasn't in the mood for teasing. "PUT HER DOWN!" He roared, after noticing the blood trickling down her forehead. Did he do that to her? He was going to pay.

Gin put her down.

Naomi stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Naomi, run to the 4th division's barracks. They will take care of your forehead." Toshiro told her. "I'll take care of them."

Naomi nodded and began running.

"If you two even think of running after her, I'll kill you." Toshiro stated.

As Naomi ran, panic was on her mind. What was Gin going to tell her?

"Izuru, after her." Gin ordered.

"But sir!" Izuru didn't want to fight her.

"Don't even think about it!" Toshiro yelled.

Naomi heard what he had said. What is he doing? She stopped in her tracks and turned around. Let him come! She wasn't going to run away anymore. She heard Izuru's footsteps and grabbed her sword. She stood her ground and remembered all her training.

Izuru came face to face with her. "Naomi, I don't want to do this." He truly didn't. His sword was ready, he was following orders.

Naomi glanced ahead of her, seeing Gin and Toshiro looking back at her. "Don't worry, Toshiro! I'll be fine!"

Izuru swung his sword and Naomi blocked it with hers. "I'm not holding back."

"Wouldn't want you to!"

Xxx

Naomi could tell that Izuru was going easy on her. He didn't even call his sword's name. It wasn't in its shikai state. They were sword fighting for a couple of minutes now. Same as Toshiro and Gin. She could tell that he didn't truly want to do this. He was just following orders. She didn't want to either, but she had to defend herself. She couldn't run away anymore! She has had a lot of training so she found she was doing well, except the cut on her shoulder, which also cut off her sleeve. But that didn't stop her. She didn't do all this training for nothing, she didn't work so hard for nothing. She was able to push him backwards and graze his lower hip but their fight stopped for a moment when both Shinigami lifted their heads to look at Toshiro's bankai.

"Hyorinmaru…" Naomi stared at it in awe.

Izuru took this chance to have a surprise attack on her. Naomi noticed him at the last second but without realizing, she flash stepped away from him. She just stared at Izuru, shocked of what she did.

Izuru ran for her, charging.

Naomi snapped out of it. I'll have to ask Soi Fon for help on this. She blocked his sword with her own using both hands but quickly lifted a hand to prepare a kido spell. "Hadō #31: Shakkahō!" She generated a small crimson red orb out of her palm. They were pretty close so she didn't want to cause him much harm. There was a small explosion and he was shot backwards.

Izuru did not expect that! He had a small burn above his right hip. It stung.

They both sensed a familiar spiritual pressure.

Naomi stared at Izuru. She couldn't fight him anymore. He was brought to his knees.

Izuru struggled to get up but stopped trying when he saw Naomi start running where the Captains were. I lost…

Naomi came to the scene and saw Rangiku was holding her sword to protect Momo. She looked up at whose sword it was and noticed it was Gin. He merely smiled at Rangiku and flash stepped away. She noticed that Gin went to pick up Izuru and flash step away. She noticed that Gin left as soon as Rangiku got here. She remembered that he told her that he loved Rangiku so he probably wouldn't want to fight her.

"Naomi! Are you okay?!" Toshiro flash stepped in front of her. "Oh jeez, now your shoulder too!"

"I'm fine, Toshiro, really." Naomi assured. "I'll go to see the 4th division now."

Toshiro frowned. "I'm sorry you had to be a part of this." He told her. "But you handled yourself pretty well there. Sword fighting with Izuru. And won." He commented.

"I wouldn't say I won. He wasn't able to fight anymore." Naomi told Toshiro.

Rangiku pat her shoulder. "That's good." She gave Naomi a smile and linked arms with her. "Now let's get you and Momo healed."

Toshiro picked up Momo and headed there.

Xxx

Naomi and Momo got settled into rooms and had their wounds cleaned and bandaged. Momo was sound asleep and Naomi wasn't. She was given clean fresh white robes to wear while in bed. Toshiro and Rangiku had come to visit and when it was time for them to leave, Toshiro and Rangiku offered to stay with Naomi but she kindly declined. She wouldn't want him to worry about her. He laughed, letting her know he was always worried about her. When they left, Naomi relaxed in her bed. A lot of things were on her mind. What was Gin up to? Why did he bring her to where Toshiro was? She wouldn't want Toshiro to go through stress because of her. He's a Captain, he must be really busy. Even if she was his sister, she didn't want to burden him. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.