Chapter 25

"Hinamori!"

Momo jumped at Rangiku's scolding tone. "H-huh?"

"Eat something! Your breakfast is getting cold!"

Momo stared at the food in front of her, smiling a little. "Sorry… I'm, not really hungry…"

"Eh? Not hungry?" Rangiku paused for a moment, noting Momo's countenance. She placed her hands on her hips and bent over. "What is it?" she demanded. "Why are you so depressed all of a sudden?"

Momo didn't look up. "Rangiku-san… have you ever seen Hitsugaya-kun… when he's… really scared?"

Her question caught Rangiku completely off-guard. "Scared? The Captain?" She thought for a moment. "Yeah, a couple of times, I guess. Why?"

Momo lifted her gaze. "When was it?"

Now Rangiku was really confused. "When? Hinamori, what's going on?"

Momo bowed her head again and sighed. "I… called him, last night. It was really late, and I couldn't sleep… I was afraid I'd wake him up, but he was already awake…

"He said… that he'd had a really bad dream, and he… sounded so scared…"

Rangiku's eyes snapped wide open as flashbacks of her Captain's words started running through her mind. "This place… is really weird, Matsumoto. I've… had visions, of the future, without even meaning to."

Visions of the future…

Rangiku dropped to her knees and planted her hands on Momo's shoulders, startling her. "What did he see?" she asked urgently. "Did he tell you what his, dream, was about?"

Momo nodded. "Yes. He said that… he dreamed that Aizen used his zanpakuto… to make me look like him. Hitsugaya-kun attacked me, because I looked like Aizen. And… he ended up killing me…"

Rangiku's eyes were as big around as dinner plates by now. Then, her eyelids fell, her hands gripping Momo's shoulders a little tighter before she finally let go and sat down.

"What's wrong, Rangiku-san? It… was just a dream…"

"No. It probably wasn't just a dream; that's why the Captain was so scared."

Momo's eyes took their turn as dinner plates. "Wh- what? What do you mean…?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you this," Rangiku continued, "but the Captain's told me some strange things about that place. Apparently, he's… had visions, of the future."

Momo's heart plunged into an ocean of numbing fear. "Visions… of the future…?" Was that why he'd been so desperate to know that she trusted him? Was that horrid dream really going to happen…?

l***l

Toshiro could've sworn that half of the water he drank during the flight there had completely left his body roughly five seconds after leaving the ship. It felt like every speck of exposed skin was being seared by hot metal. How the heck do people live here? he thought.

"Welcome to Tatooine."

Toshiro whipped around to find Dooku standing a few meters away, poised, collected, and sweating buckets.

Toshiro didn't have any time to waste. "Who do you work for?" he asked, resisting the urge to reach for his zanpakuto.

It was painfully obvious that Dooku knew just how big of an advantage he had. "That is none of your concern," he said coolly as he activated a red lightsaber. "All you need to know is that I have been ordered to… dispose of you."

Toshiro was way passed ready to arm himself. Hyorinmaru was out and by his side before Dooku even had time to blink.

Which was good, because Dooku attacked that exact same instant.

As the sword-fight ensued, it quickly became very apparent to Toshiro that Dooku was particularly skilled in the art of swordplay. Had they not been in the heat of two flippin' suns, Toshiro would've been able to at least hold his ground. But with this insane heat, he was having a considerable amount of trouble, and Dooku was pushing him past his limit.

All of a sudden, Toshiro saw huge, swirling torrents of sand coming towards them from behind Dooku. He blinked, and the sand was gone.

Sandstorm. Get inside.

The wind picked up ever so slightly. It was all motivation Toshiro needed.

He delivered a single, powerful blow, then masked his reiatsu and fled, using Shunpo in desperation. He was able to reach a small crevasse in a canyon wall before he had to stop and rest. He closed his eyes, his clothes soaked in sweat. Even in the shade, this place was just way too hot…

His mind was swept away, lead through the desert to a decent-sized colony, through the city streets, and to a specific house, in which only one woman lived. The shortest route to this house was programmed into his internal navigation system.

Toshiro opened his eyes and instantly followed the route his mind had mapped out for him, using Shunpo the whole way. He didn't bother knocking when he got to the door; whoever was inside likely wouldn't be able to see him anyways.

He opened and closed the door as quietly as possible. This small home was a little cooler than what it was outside, but it wasn't nearly enough. Plus, he was already dehydrated. Oh man, what I wouldn't give for a Gigai right now, he thought. A Gigai was a synthetic "body" that Shinigamis used when they had to interact with living humans in the Real World with average or low spirit-power. If he had a Gigai, all he would have to do was ask the woman who apparently lived here for some water.

"Oh my!"

Toshiro jumped at the sound of an electronic, barely-male-sounding voice. Standing not too far away was what appeared to be an unfinished droid; there wasn't any plating on it to cover up all of the wires.

"Greetings, young sir." The droid bowed to him. "I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations."