Chapter 27: Impasse of Friends

The silence in the First Division Assembly Hall was a deafening roar. All of the captains stared unblinking at Hitsugaya as he took a slow inward breath, reiatsu chilling the air around him and making Kurotsuchi twitch slightly. To have him say something like that, to swear on something like that . . . those words he'd spoken weren't ones they could take lightly at all.

'You wanted to know if I had a connection with Kuroiyami,' saying her surname made Tōshirō feel slightly uncomfortable, as it was something he rarely did, but he wasn't going to reveal in such an obvious way just how close they'd been when they were younger. Sure he would tell the truth, not that he had a choice about the whole matter anyway, without getting both of them in even more trouble, but they didn't have to know every single detail of his past, or Likara's, for that matter, 'And although I could say she could have been trying to protect Kira, not only me, when she did what she did . . . there is still the fact that she ca-,'

'She screamed your name, not that of Kira Izuru. I'm sure we've all noted that already,' Soifon sounded slightly impatient, but despite her coarse exterior, she hadn't escaped the fight unscathed either, having taken it upon herself to first remove the feline-lupine beasts which had fur the colour of blood, and then she'd attempted to eliminate Raku himself, not that that had been at all successful, 'Right?'

The young captain nodded slowly, eyes not losing their brighter than usual glow, but the rest of his demeanour darkening slightly, 'Right. And although that fact might possibly have been discarded had the attack been far less serious than it had been, there is an almost understandable reason for why Kuroiyami jumped before the attack,'

There was another long silence before Tōshirō shook himself slightly and resumed speaking, his tone grave and level, 'As a soul in the Rukongai, I lived in Junrinan,' no one spoke because that was almost common knowledge anyway, if one bothered to listen and then subsequently remember such a fact, and he continued evenly, 'Kuroiyami did also,'

Feeling slightly sorry for the other white haired shinigami, Ukitake spoke up, providing some facts that could be gleaned from what Hitsugaya had just said, 'You knew each other as children? Before even coming to the Shino Academy to learn how to become a shinigami?' when Tōshirō nodded, the man continued, 'I assume you were very close, for Captain Kuroiyami to make the decision to throw herself deliberately before such an attack,'

'We were good friends,' Tōshirō's gaze suddenly lost focus, as if his mind was sliding back to another setting, another time, 'Actually . . . we were each other's only friends, really. I knew Hinamori as well, but after she left for the Academy, we hardly saw each other,'

Because she was too busy trying to catch a glimpse of Aizen to risk leaving the Academy, just in case he came by again, the thought was impassive, rather than the usual anger that rose when it entered his head. And for some reason, Tōshirō didn't know what to make of it.

'And that's all?' Soifon wasn't sure what she'd expected to hear. Perhaps something that suggested a stronger connection that just a childhood friendship. Then again, apart from being someone she admired and treated as a superior entity, she truly wished to call Yoruichi her 'friend' . . . although that would be far too presumptuous of her, as well as being much too wonderful to be true. And, as she'd found out again after fighting the purple haired cat-woman during the 'ryōka invasion', she was more than willing to do absolutely anything for Shihoin Yoruichi.

Registering the other captain's slightly disbelieving tone, Tōshirō's mind briefly flashed to what had happened in the Realm of Truth, but that wasn't real, even if it had happened, because neither of them had been acting with coherent thoughts in their heads. Then again, the moment they'd shared in the gardens outside of the Assembly Hall was another matter altogether, but as he had yet to understand it, he didn't count it either. It was . . . something akin to denial.

Expression completely unchanging, not a single twitch or blink belying anything in his mind, turquoise eyes shifting to the Captain of the Second Division, Tōshirō inclined his head again, 'That's right . . . we were very close friends, that's all,' his voice faded away unintentionally.

'You said were close friends,' Kyoraku, like Ukitake, didn't want to push the young shinigami for answers which might be hard to give, but the odd wording caught his attention.

Tōshirō paused, thinking over that, and realised that since he didn't know if they were still considered friends of one another or not, he couldn't answer properly, 'True, I did. But really, I don't know if we're still friend or not. After I left for the Shino Academy, I didn't see Kuroiyami at all. It was a surprise for me to hear that she was becoming the new captain,'

Hearing the honesty in Hitsugaya's voice, as well as the slight amount of confusion, the other captains – except Kurotsuchi and Zaraki who were too busy thinking about things they found more interesting to even notice what was going on around them – all noted the information.

'Even if this is a friendship based relationship, neither one of you mentioned it, even after Kuroiyami became the Captain of the Third Division,' Yamamoto sounded as if he had made some kind of decision regarding the matter, 'You, Hitsugaya Tōshirō, had no real reason to bring it up, if you believed the pair of you to no longer be friends. However, Kuroiyami Likara should have at least mentioned having known you at some point when I spoke to her about becoming a captain. Therefore, I believe that she cannot be accepted as a captain any longer,' he knew how harsh the sentence seemed, but fostering disobedience was dangerous.

'Head Captain, sir,' Ukitake spoke up suddenly, breaking the tension filled quiet that had immediately sprung up following Yamamoto's words, 'I cannot agree with you in this matter! That punishment is too severe for someone who simply did not say that at some time in their life, they'd known the Captain of the Tenth Divison, Hitsugaya Tōshirō,' he coughed weakly, blood seeping through his fingers, but his eyes did not lose any of their intensity, 'It was reckless of her to attempt to save both Hitsugaya and her Lieutenant, Kira Izuru, by sacrificing her own body, but words could be said to her as a warning against committing such an action again. There is no need to remove her from her captain's position,'

It seemed as if Yamamoto was about to show his anger, but then Kyoraku pushed up the brim of his hat and interrupted, quite unperturbed by the look he received from the old man, 'Hey, hey, I think we all need to calm down a bit. I agree with Ukitake about this, no questions asked. Occasionally we do things without really thinking through all of the consequences, it's only natural . . . makes us human,' he thought back to when he and Jūshirō had stopped the Sogyoku bird from killing Kuchiki Rukia. Certainly that, and the subsequent fight against Yamamoto himself, had been a bit of an erratic decision on their part, but it had served its purpose.

Once again, before the old shinigami had an opportunity to reprimand those who had spoken, Unohana took a graceful step forwards and she smiled softly, 'I do apologise, Head Captain . . . but after suffering the physical and mental consequences of her actions, I do not believe Kuroiyami will make such rash decisions again. The pain and trauma is retribution enough. Even if she does, there are more fitting punishments than a removal of her position here in the Gotei 13. This is a very delicate matter and I do not believe this is the correct wa-,'

'Enough!' Yamamoto's booming voice silenced everyone present, most certainly cutting Retsu off midsentence, 'This is ridiculous! Do you understand the possible consequences of what Kuroiyami Likara did this afternoon without a second's thought?' he was furious.

'Actually,' the unexpected interruption came from Kuchiki Byakuya, much to everyone's intense surprise – hence the description 'unexpected' – and the nobleman deigned to open his eyes as he spoke, 'I do not believe she did not think at all about the consequences of her actions. Kuroiyami Likara seems to have a considerable talent as a shinigami and I do not think she is without well based honour or pride,' the unspoken part of his speech was that Likara had also saved Rukia from certain injury or, in a worst case scenario, a painful death.

That alone, in Kuchiki Byakuya's books, meant that there had to be something good in the rescuer's heart, mind, or soul. As such, he was willing to say some decent words on her behalf.

Tōshirō could feel more and more of his mind slowly re-entering his head where, incidentally, it was supposed to be, and he blinked a couple of times to properly focus his eyes. Looking at him now, no one would see anything unusual, but all of the captains had witnessed the extraordinary sight that had, some minutes before now, astonished and amazed them all.

I should be surprised that all of these people are willing to speak up on Likara's behalf, his expression was anything but surprised, and he didn't even raise an eyebrow, as he might have under any other circumstances, or in any other frame of mind, Then again, I don't think anything will be able to surprise me anymore. It would really have to be extraordinary.

What Tōshirō didn't seem to realise was that quite a few of the other captains in the room had also thought along similar lines before entering the meeting. Take Kyoraku, for example.

His laid back demeanour and easily adaptable personality usually meant that it took a lot to make him bat an eyelid. Sado Yasutora bursting into the courtyard and facing him with such determination and unusual abilities had been a surprise, Aizen Sosuke's sudden shift to 'dangerous enemy' status had also surprised him, the fight today had taken him by surprise . . . well, in reality, there were still quite a few things that happened which he didn't expect.

One of them, as he'd very recently found out, was seeing the boy-captain of the Tenth Division glowing like a human lantern and sensing the abrupt shift in the way his reiatsu flowed around his body. Cold yes, but that was usual. There'd been something else he couldn't name.

Anyhow, that, truly, had been something he had no predicted before walking into the Hall.

The point of that whole section being that although some of the haori-wearing shinigami had thought they were above being surprised, Tōshirō had proved them very, very wrong.

Somehow, however, he didn't seem to realise what he'd done, hence his mild but uninterested confusion when he caught some of the astounded looks the others were none too subtly sending him across the room, or from further up or down the line.

'The meeting is dismissed,' pre-empting the questions which were burning on the tips of quite a few tongues, Yamamoto raised a wizened hand and clearly gestured for them to be silent, 'I shall consider everything that has happened today, and everything that has been discussed in this meeting. Once I have done that, I will decide the fate of Kuroiyami Likara,'

'Will Central 46 get involved?' Soifon ignored the obvious signal for quiet, and asked the question abruptly, her voice stern and sharp, 'Does the matter warrant their attention?'

Yamamoto apparently thought over that for a moment, although almost everyone knew he'd already considered this and formed an answer, before he spoke, 'I do not believe that necessary. Once the decision has been made . . . whether it is to exile Kuroiyami Likara from the Seireitei . . . the Soul Society even . . . or if she must simply step down from her captain's position . . . once that has been decided, then it will be a matter of allowing her to recover and wake before relaying the sentence to her. That is all, the meeting is dismissed,'

As the echo of the staff banging down on the floorboards resonated through the Assembly Hall, accenting the old man's words, all of the shinigami captains inclined their heads slightly before turning to walk away silently, leaving the Head Captain a large empty room.


'Hey! Captain!' Rangiku made an effort to lower her voice slightly, considering the incredibly late- no, early hour, but she was still far too loud, 'You're back, you're back! I'm so glad, you know? When you were in the Relief Station, I didn't get to talk to you, and then it was midnight and you went to the First Division and I was so, so worried! Captain!'

'Quiet down will you!' tone unintentionally cutting, the white haired shinigami walked passed his near-crying Lieutenant and towards his office, opening the door briskly and stalking inside.

There was a sudden complete silence, and the young captain sensed Matsumoto freeze behind him. Even her breathing stopped, and it was no wonder why, really, if you'd seen what he had.

'Explanation . . . now!' turquoise eyes flashing dangerously, Tōshirō cursed the fact he hadn't locked the door on his office before leaving that morning for the meeting Likara had called.

'Um . . .' Rangiku flinched at the intensity of her superior's direct glare, and she cast around from some half-reasonable explanation for why his office looked like a bomb had gone off inside it. Paperwork was scattered everywhere, ink sticks lay broken on the ground, brushes were teetering on the edge of the desk, the beautiful ink stone lay upside-down on the floor, books were lying open everywhere having been pulled from their shelves. The furniture was misplaced and one lounge had even toppled over. And, to top it all off, sake bottles littered the room and, as if that wasn't a clear enough indication of what had happened, the air was filled with the smell of the alcohol. Somewhere, no doubt, it was spilt on something too . . . because that would just complete this picture to the absolute opposite of perfection.

'MATSUMOTO!' Tōshirō probably woke up every single member of his Division, but at that very moment he really, really couldn't have cared less, 'Why!' it was like he could see the fine threads that connected him to his sanity fraying and snapping, the noise causing him to come even closer to a complete breakdown, 'Couldn't you have gone somewhere else?'

'. . .' Rangiku felt the guilt clawing up from inside her, causing tears to well up in her pale blue eyes, 'Sorry . . . everything that happened today, the fight, the thing with you and Kira, what Captain Kuroiyami did . . . how everything is now, waiting for you to be released from the Fourth Division, seeing the chaos there as they try to help everyone . . . watching you go off in a daze as you walked to the captains meeting,' she wrung her hand helplessly, completely oblivious to the fact that having her own mental or emotional snap wasn't going to help her captain, 'Argh! I just came into your office so I wouldn't be so worried about you, although I think it made me stress more having that reminder that you weren't there!' she grabbed Tōshirō's shoulders and shook him roughly, 'I really . . . I needed to get wasted!'

Tōshirō listened to the whole outburst and then he twitched slightly, noting the ironic fact that both of them were on the brink of falling into insanity, 'I can see you succeeded in that,'

Turning away without trying to pursue the matter further, something which, on its own, said more than anything that he was really not in his usual frame of mind at all, even if his expression was the same as it always was, that familiar faint scowl and the slightly furrowed brow, Tōshirō simply began picking up books, papers, and bottles without another word.

Rangiku watched, mouth open in her shock, frozen temporarily to the spot, and then she began to help with the tidy-up, doing it properly with no slacking off or lazy short-cuts.

If anyone who knew the pair had peeked in the window at that very moment, and in the full hour which followed, they truly would have though the world was about the end.

Matsumoto Rangiku doing work, and without complaint at that! And Hitsugaya Tōshirō working alongside his Lieutenant without so much as a sigh, and doing her cleaning with her.

At long last, or that was how Matsumoto viewed it, the room was tidy and everything was back where it should be, including the broken ink sticks which, really, should be replaced.

Slumping down on the couch with an exaggerated grown, the strawberry blonde turned her head to stare silently at her captain for a moment before opening her mouth and saying, 'So captain, if you don't mind my asking . . . what happened in the meeting? You left the Fourth without a word, still looking kind of beat up, and then you disappeared to the meeting,' she paused uncomfortably, before adding, 'And I felt your reiatsu do something really, super peculiar. It was a good think I was still in the Relief Station, because Hisagi and Kira had to hold me down and get me a sedative,' she winced at the memory, 'I was gonna break down a wall to make sure you were alright, you know. Just be glad I was apprehended, I would've made the whole situation worse. Oh, I can just imagine it now,' she giggled, 'I'm still drunk,'

'It does seem like you are still slightly intoxicated,' Tōshirō turned her words over in his mind and, like he had a thousand times before, he noted that despite everything she did- didn't do, Matsumoto really was a supportive Lieutenant. You just had to look at her the right way.

'That doesn't answer my questions,' apparently she wasn't that drunk if she could sense his very half-hearted attempt to change the topic of conversation, 'Don't be mean, captain,'

'The meeting wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, actually,' Tōshirō felt a faint, sad smile touch his lips and he was glad Matsumoto had turned away, 'It could have been a lot worse,' deciding to start from the beginning, he rested his hands on his desk lightly, 'Once some people from the Relief Station got my wounds tended to, not that I got too badly injured at all, I went to the meeting which had been called. And my reiatsu?' he was honestly confused at that question, because as aforementioned, he didn't realise what all of the other captains had seen during that meeting, 'I'm not sure what you mean exactly,' shaking his head, he discarded the matter, at least for a while, 'Anyway, I am glad you didn't come bursting in, because I think you would've been crushed either by the weight of the reiatsu . . . or the tension in that hall,' a slight smirk tugged at his mouth when she turned around and glared at him, having taken a few minutes to figure out the half-insult half-joke, 'Yes,' he sobered immediately, 'A sudden appearance by you, especially a battle-ready you, wouldn't have helped anything,' knowing she wanted just a bit more, he sighed and added, 'Kuroiyami will either lose her captain's position, be exiled from the Seireitei, or be exiled from the Soul Society,' her shocked and disbelieving expression was intense, 'Or she might remain in the position she's in now and get a lecture from one of the other captains about recklessness,'

'I vouch for that last option!' Rangiku practically screamed the words, although whether it was because she felt that strongly about the matter, or because she was still a bit drunk, her captain didn't know, 'It would be absolutely terrible for Captain Kuroiyami to be kicked out of the Gotei 13 just because she tried to save her Lieutenant and you-,' she fell dead silent, before getting up very slowly and approaching him like he was a while animal about to bolt.

Tōshirō felt his eye twitch in annoyance, 'I'm not answering any more question! That's final,' seeing that she was about to object, he glared ferociously and continued with a snap, 'Go back to the barracks and get some sleep! If you're tired tomorrow, how are you going to get any work done?' he exhaled sharply, 'Do as you're told and don't get drunk again. Go, go!'

Seeing that it was absolutely pointless to continue trying to force information from the white haired shinigami, Matsumoto just nodded hastily and turned to skip from the room. She was hardly cheerful, and the development with Kuroiyami wasn't something she was pleased about at all, especially since it was going to cause her own captain considerable trouble, but she had to at least try to hide that negativity from her already stressed out superior officer.

Matsumoto Rangiku vowed to be a proper subordinate until Captain Kuroiyami was back in the land of consciousness. That very same vow lasted roughly five minutes before she fell fast asleep, sprawled out on her bed, upon which she completely forgot about ever making it.


Izuru had a headache. It was a really bad one which made him feel like an impressively large drum had been stuffed inside his head and a relatively small person was beating the hell out of it. Boom, boom, boom, thud, thud, thud, throb, throb, throb . . . it hurt acutely, a real 'ouch'.

The blonde Lieutenant was still sitting outside of one of the private rooms in the Fourth Division's General Emergency Relief Station. In his personal opinion, they could drop the 'general' part, and simply say it was a relief station mainly used during emergencies.

Such as the current one, for instance, which was stressing all of the shinigami who were part of the Fourth Division to the ends of both their mental capacities, as well as their abilities.

'Are you needing anything, Lieutenant Kira?' a dull looking young fellow, Hanatarō something-er-rather, approached nervously and gave him a . . . vacant but somehow concerned look, 'Is that seat comfortable enough? You've been sitting there for a long time,'

'I have a headache,' speaking matter-of-factly as if that explained everything, Izuru gazed back at the Seventh Seat with a calm but blank look on his face, his usual awkwardness having vanished due to a large number of things. Some of which were stress, tiredness, worry, and the fact that he and Hanatarō had similar nervous aspects to their personalities.

'Here, I can give you something for that,' knowing that kidō was one option, but one of Unohana's specially devised remedies were also effective, the young shinigami shuffled around in his pack until he pulled out a little vial of . . . something, 'This should do it,'

Kira took the vial without question, and he unstoppered it, again without hesitation or contemplation of any kind. As he raised the tiny, slim bottle to his lips, tipping his head back slightly in an attempt to pour the clear liquid out, Unohana herself appeared beside them and put a hand over his, stopping its movement and preventing him from taking the medicine.

'Now, if we wanted to put Lieutenant Kira to sleep for a week or so, then this amount of medication would do the trick perfectly,' seeing Hanatarō's mortified expression, she smiled kindly, not that the change in expression did anything to ease the Seventh Seat's worry, 'A headache, on the other hand, should be treated with something different. With this here,'

As Izuru took the proffered vial and swallowed its contents in a single swallow, he saw Unohana's smile become a bit less strained, her shoulders relaxing slightly. Watching her and her still embarrassed subordinate, he suddenly felt the pain from his headache drain away, accompanied by the turmoil of negative emotions that were warring away inside of his head. The worry for his captain's health, the guilt over what had happened, the nervous concern for Hitsugaya, the anxiety filled wonderings about what the near future could bring.

'A-ah!' vision going blurry, the blonde Lieutenant slid to one side, hardly noticing it when two more people arrived to support him properly so as to prevent him from falling off of his chair and onto the ground. He didn't have a clue as to what was happening.

'I'm sorry, Lieutenant Kira,' Unohana bent down slightly to meet his glassy eyes better, 'You've been sitting here for so long and I can tell you'll make yourself sick if you keep worrying the way you have been. For now, please rest and when you wake up tomorrow, try to stay positive,' she straightened again and gave her Division members instructions to take the man back to the Third Division barracks, 'Come back here if you like, won't you?'

Kira didn't reply, because his body was already going to sleep, but he realised that he felt thankful for this reason to take a break from his seemingly endless worrying. Even if it was only to give him time to recover overnight, being able to sleep peacefully without suffering from the nightmares he had no doubt would have been waiting for him when he would've closed his eyes . . . it was something he was very thankful for.

Captain . . . you're listening to me, aren't you? Please don't go away forever, thinking back to what had briefly consumed his mind just minutes before Hanatarō's arrival, he continued his internal monologue, Even if they want to send you away from the Seireitei, or even the Soul Society . . . at least if you're alive I could still come and see you. Don't even think about leaving everyone forever. When you wake up, I'm sure we'll all show you just why you couldn't possibly have died. Everyone in the Division is worried, so when you wake, they'll be so glad to see you.

We'll show you some of what it means to be alive.

I'll be back, alright? So don't go anywhere, promise?


Author's Note:

So Toshiro did tell them that he knew Likara before becoming a shinigami . . . hmm . . . and, what's this? A human lantern? Why is it so easy to picture a glowing Hitsugaya? Maybe it's just me . . . ah well.
It seems like Likara has the support of quite a few of the captains, which is interesting. She should be glad if she wants to keep her position as the Captain of the Third Division, because Yamamoto doesn't seem to be feeling in a benevolent mood right at the moment. On the contrary, he seemed to have no hesitation in saying Likara should get kicked out. Maybe from her position, maybe from the Seireitei, maybe from the Soul Society!

Toshiro better do something before things get to that extreme, either that or the Head Captain better change his mind for the better. Because even if she wakes up and he supports her, what are two shinigami supposed to do against the rest of the captains and possibly even Central 46?

Oh, and Izuru too, I must say I feel glad that Unohana gave him that medication, because if he got sick too, then things really would get depressing. I wonder what Hinamori would think . . .

Thanks as always!