Phew back with another Chapter already, I got so excited writing this chapter it practically wrote itself. Many Thanks to the people who take the time to leave a review, and also thankyou to the people who favourited/alerted etc. I hope you enjoy this Chapter and as always any comments and feedback are appriciated. Happy Reading ^_^
Someone To Lean On Chapter 28
The anxiety Hitsugaya felt knotted tightly in his throat and stomach as he marched down the corridor towards Ukitake's room. In his left hand he clutched Rangiku's pink scarf, the only proof he had of her disappearance.
Rangiku was very fond of this scarf, she had it years never once going anywhere without it. It had survived many battles and late night drinking sessions, always returning safely with its owner.
He neared Ukitake's room and could hear raised voices coming from within, it sounded like Ukitake was having some sort of disagreement with Unohana. Hitsugaya shuddered Ukitake was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid, even the eleventh division knew better then to irritate Captain Unohana.
He paused before reaching out a hand to knock, he knew eavesdropping was wrong but he caught his and Rangiku's name being mentioned. He shook his head and dismissed the thought of listening in, time was not an ally and they needed to start searching for Rangiku as soon as possible. Plus it was most likely they knew of his presence already.
He knocked loudly and waited for the voices to quieten before opening the door and stepping through. Scanning the room Ukitake was panting slightly with a slight flush dusting his face, while Unohana seemed calm and collected, only the slight glare in her eyes hinted at their recent argument.
Hitsugaya was momentarily surprised to see Nanao Ise perched on the edge of Ukitake's bed looking somewhat relieved at his interruption. He could only imagine how uncomfortable she must feel being in the same room with two elite Captains arguing shamelessly.
"Toushiro" Ukitake greeted him with a serious expression on his face, Hitsugaya's eyes briefly looked away from his and fell on the items in his hands. Following his gaze Ukitake saw Rangiku's scarf clutched tightly in his left hand, and in his right hand was the broken mask bearing Ichimaru's message.
"Rangiku's been taken" he said getting straight to the point, he didn't have time to waste. He walked over to Ukitake and gave him the mask.
"Figured it out yet? I'm taking back what is mine." Ukitake read the message out aloud "Toushiro do you know..."
"Yes..." he cut Ukitake off "Its Ichimaru... and he has Rangiku..." Just saying the words out aloud caused a wave of anger to rise up from deep within him. He heard crackling and looked down to find a thin sheet of ice forming at his feet. He clamped down on his anger and reigned in his leaking reiatsu "But I expect you already knew that" he turned to face Nanao "Nanao, It was Ichimaru who caused your injuries, correct?"
"Yes Captain Hitsugaya" Nanao replied.
"We need to find Rangiku fast" he began pacing agitated "We just need to figure out where he could be holding her."
"Toushiro what if he's made his escape already? He may not even be in the Seireitei, if he's got what he came for I don't see him sticking around" Ukitake said also pacing.
Hitsugaya shook his head "I know what Ichimaru is like. He likes to see other people suffer, its more likely that he's sticking around waiting for the right moment."
"The right moment for what Toushiro?" Unohana asked quietly.
"Revenge" Hitsugaya stopped his pacing and faced the three of them "I think his original plan was to retrieve Rangiku...but now. I think he just wants revenge on both of us" he took in a deep breath "Knowing Ichimaru he probably wants to make a show of it too."
"It is a plausible motive, what do you suggest we do Toushiro? Sit and wait for Ichimaru to make his move or try and find his hiding place before that happens?" Ukitake asked.
Hitsugaya frowned "Both. We have no idea where Rangiku is and Ichimaru knows that, so we'll make it seem as if we are waiting for him to make the first move."
"While we discreetly search for Rangiku under Ichimaru's radar" Ukitake concluded.
"Exactly, and knowing Rangiku she wont be sitting idle either. I just wish we knew where to start" he walked over to the window glancing out at the darkening sky outside, he said that more to himself to reassure his anxious mind.
"Captain Hitsugaya, can I see Rangiku's scarf" Nanao asked holding her hand out.
Hitsugaya quirked an eyebrow at the request "Here" he handed it over.
Nanao ran the smooth silk between her fingers apparently searching for something, when she ran her hand near to the end of the scarf her fingers snagged on something, and she began picking at the fabric.
A few seconds later Nanao was holding up a tiny pin no bigger then her finger nail "I shouldn't worry about not knowing where to look for Rangiku."
Hitsugaya stared at her wide eyed "What are you saying?"
"See this pin" Nanao held it closer so Hitsugaya could see, it was shaped like a tiny daffodil "I gave it to Rangiku as a gift years ago when she was promoted to Lieutenant. She joked asking if I had put a kido tracker on it."
"And did you?" Hitsugaya could feel his spirits lifting slightly.
"It was for her own safety, back then she would drink until she passed out, making it hard to find her. It eased my mind knowing I would be able to find her."
"How does it work? And will it still work?" He felt intrigued now.
"The actual kido tracker is fixed to the stud that this pin clips into. I'm sure Rangiku has the stud hidden with her, and she probably discarded her scarf to give us a clue."
"That's a very inventive use of kido Nanao-san" Ukitake praised.
"How can we track her whereabouts?" Hitsugaya asked craving action, his need to find Rangiku had increased tenfold.
"You just need to summon a hell butterfly and tune it to track the kido on the stud, once it knows what to look for it will pick up the signal and flutter to it."
Ukitake turned towards Unohana "Retsu please, do you see now why I need you to discharge me. Toushiro needs all the help he can get."
"Juushiro we've been over this already, you could barely breath an hour ago" Unohana retorted. Hitsugaya wondered if this was why they were arguing earlier.
"Finding Rangiku is much more important then my health" Ukitake shot back.
If Hitsugaya had blinked just then, he was certain he would have missed the brief flash of hurt that crossed Unohana's features, it made him realise that perhaps there was more to their friendship then they let on.
He looked away from the two Captains and turned his attention to Nanao who suddenly seemed rather interested with Rangiku's daffodil pin.
A hell butterfly fluttered into the room chiming merrily announcing its presence, all four pairs of eyes watched its progress as it floated to the centre of the room.
"Red Alert! To all squad members of the Tenth Division. Emergency evacuation procedures are currently in effect. All squad ten members are ordered to evacuate the division. Repeat: All squad ten members are ordered to evacuate the division."
"What the hell?" He needed to get over to his division fast, but what about finding Rangiku? He looked at Ukitake who gave him a nod "Get going Toushiro, Nanao and myself will begin searching for Rangiku."
He nodded half sprinting and half flashing out of the room.
Leaving the fourth division Hitsugaya jumped up on the nearest roof to quicken the journey back to his division. It was late in the evening and darkness blanketed the Seireitei, turning to face the direction of the tenth he faltered in his running nearly causing him to fall off the roof.
The scene before him filled him with horror, far in the distance an orange smoky glow sat directly over his divisions grounds. The Tenth division was lit up like a bonfire against the night sky.
He was far away and for it to show up like that meant it must be an immense fire, even from this distance he could smell the smokiness in the night air.
He felt utter despair well up inside of him, it was his duty as a Captain to ensure the safety of his division members, just like it was his duty as a man to find Rangiku. But right now, the need of the many out weighed the need of the few, so he set off at a fast pace towards his division alternating between sprinting and flash step. He placed his trust in Ukitake and Nanao to find the whereabouts of Rangiku.
Ten minutes later he dropped out of his flash step and landed in front of the main gates of his division. Acrid smoke filled his nostrils first, then the intense heat engulfed him as smoke and ash billowed around him, causing him to choke as all the moisture in his mouth evaporated.
He raised an arm to shield his face and peered into the angry inferno, the heat rolled off the ignited structures forcing him back several metres. The worry he felt for the welfare of his members ran deep inside him.
When he'd backed away enough he hacked with the effort to expel the smoke from his lungs, a shout of "Captain Hitsugaya!" reached his ears over the deafening roar of the blazing fire. He spun on his heel and saw with relief the majority of his division all gathered together, a safe distance away.
One flash step placed him in front of his assembled division, who greeted him enthusiastically, the worried expressions on their faces easing somewhat. He crouched down coughing and spluttering, drawing in deep breaths of clean air. He stood back up and raised his voice to gain his squad members attention "Did everybody get out? Is everybody accounted for?" he yelled despite his raw throat.
His third seat Hosokawa stepped forward "Captain, everyone is present and accounted for apart from two members."
Hitsugaya's stomach knotted painfully, if they were trapped inside of that blaze their chances of survival were zero "Who?" he demanded.
"Yourself and Lieutenant Matsumoto, Sir!" he replied.
"I see" he turned back to observe the carnage before his eyes, not a single building had escaped the blazing inferno. He knew it was highly likely Ichimaru was responsible for this attack on his division, which meant he was probably using this as a diversion to draw everyone's attention away from his real goal.
He clenched his teeth tightly together, that bastard had no morals. He didn't care about all the innocent people getting hurt just because they got in his way while he carried out his revenge.
He could understand why Ichimaru would want revenge on him, what he didn't understand was why he wanted to hurt Rangiku too. As for everyone else; Ukitake, Kyouraku, Ise and now his division members, that was just plain callousness on Ichimaru's part.
"Captain..?" His third seat interrupted his silent ranting, he turned to face the man, inviting him to continue "Do you know where Lieutenant Matsumoto is?" he asked trying to keep his eyes away from the roaring bonfire.
Hitsugaya suddenly realised why Hosokawa was asking that. Although he knew it was unlikely Rangiku would be amongst all those flames...(he shuddered at the thought)... he could see why the man was worried.
"I don't know where she is at present. But rest assured I know she isn't anywhere inside our division" he replied calmly and was satisfied when he saw the worry ease out of his third seats face.
The roof of the main sleeping barracks began cracking and creaking under the strain of the raging fire, all eyes were watching when mere moments later, the roof buckled and collapsed with a shower of sparks and an explosion of sound. He knew there was hardly anything he could do to preserve the buildings of his division, so his main focus was protecting his squad members and seeing to their safety.
He turned to face his division members gathered behind him "Now listen up" he ordered in his Captains voice, silence immediately fell upon the gathered crowd.
"Seated Officers ten through to twenty, I want you to gather up anyone who is injured and see that they are taken to the fourth."
"Yes Sir!" His offices chorused before splitting up and moving amongst the crowd and finding the injured. About a third of his men stood huddle together several minutes later, all of them had various cuts, bruises and burns. Once they'd all gone on their way to the Fourth he began organizing everyone else.
Next he sent his ninth seat off to the Seventh division, and his eighth seat off to the Ninth division to notify each division that he would be sending his squad members over to them.
Then he ordered his men to split into two groups, he sent his sixth and seventh seat with group one over to the Ninth Division, while his fourth and fifth seat was sent over to the Seventh Division with group two.
Now it was just him and his third seat remaining "Captain, how can I help sir?"
"I want you to go to the First Division and report everything that happened to the Head-Captain" he replied, while summoning a hell butterfly and sending it off to Ukitake "Also...while you are there, inform the Head-Captain that Lieutenant Matsumoto has been kidnapped and her whereabouts are currently unknown, and that I have evidence the perpetrator is Gin Ichimaru."
"Yes Sir... and what are you going to do?"
In answer Hitsugaya began walking forwards towards the glowing inferno, "Clear the area Hosokawa."
His third seat just nodded and with a little bow he disappeared in a flash of shunpo to carry out his orders which left Hitsugaya on his own.
Hitsugaya pulled Hyourimaru over his head and placed him down on the ground. Next he pulled his Captains haori off and folded it neatly and placed it to one side, before stripping the top of his uniform off down to his waist and discarding it to one side.
He picked up Hyourimaru again and removed it from its sheath and started walking closer to the fire 'Ready for this Hyourimaru?' He heard the ice dragon roaring with approval in the back of his mind 'Lets do this Master.'
Ukitake pulled on his Captains haori and placed his Zanpakuto securely in his obi, with one last glance he swept out of his infirmary room and headed in the direction of Nanao's presence.
When he caught up with Nanao he found her standing in the doorway of Shunsui's room. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to alert her to his presence so as not to startle her "Nanao-san."
Nanao jumped and spun to face him "Captain Ukitake!"
"Forgive me, I was trying to avoid startling you" he replied with a gentle smile.
He peered over her shoulder into the room and saw the shadowy outline of his best friend, strapped down securely on the only bed. The room was in darkness but there was no mistaking Shunsui's hulking bear like figure. He appeared to be sleeping but every now and then the air was punctuated with a quiet mumbling of 'Nanao-chan.'
Ukitake glanced at Nanao and noticed her eyes shining with unshed tears "Try not to worry Nanao-san, I expect once the substance fully leaves his system he should be back to his usual self again."
Nanao looked up to him and nodded "Do you think he knows we are here?"
"Juu...Nanao-chan..." Shunsui mumbled quietly.
They both looked into the room and Ukitake gave Nanao's shoulder a little squeeze "I'm sure on some subconscious level he knows. Now come along Nanao we need to depart and be on our way."
"Has Captain Unohana finally given us her permission?" Nanao asked breaking her gaze away from Shunsui.
"Not exactly, but Retsu is an understanding woman. She knows how important this is" Ukitake replied while guiding her away from Shunsui's room and down the corridor. He would apologise to Retsu later for sneaking out, but either way he wanted to be on his way before she noticed he was gone.
Once they were outside and a good distance away from the Fourth, Ukitake paused his steady walking and turned to face Nanao. He was about to ask her about tracking Rangiku when a hell butterfly fluttered down towards him and landed on his hand.
The butterfly relayed its message and fluttered away again "Nanao-san we need to hurry, that was from Toushiro. It seems Ichimaru has targeted his division and Toushiro believes he may be using it as a cover."
"I'm on it Captain Ukitake" Nanao replied, she turned away from him and summoned another butterfly while at the same time she gathered a small ball of kido in her hands. The ball of kido swirled in a rainbow of colours before settling on a light purple colour. Nanao then brought her hands together and the kido ball engulfed the fluttering butterfly in her other palm "This will take a few minutes while the butterfly picks up the signal from the tracker."
Ukitake watched in interest as the butterfly floated off Nanao's palm and hovered in the air, the black creature was highlighted against the night sky by a soft purple glow surrounding it. In a blink of the eye it shot away from them and after it flew a few metres away it stopped again, waiting for them to follow.
"Its picked up the signal" Nanao stated, walking after the butterfly at a brisk pace.
"Good job Nanao-san" Ukitake followed her and when they had both caught up with the butterfly it shot away once again.
"What do you make of it?" Rangiku asked standing back from the bars while Momo looked over the supposedly strong kido intertwined in the bars.
"Rangiku-san, I believe these bars are just an illusion" Momo said running her hand up and down the bars, her hand was hovering barely an inch away.
"An illusion...how?" Rangiku knitted her eyebrows together.
"The actual kido we can feel is just a simple barrier with an illusion built into it, to make it appear impassable. Hence the so called thick metal bars" Momo moved away and looked at Rangiku "When I tried to touch the bars before you came, it was actually the barrier that zapped me" she held her badly burned hand up to show Rangiku.
"So... Can we actually break through this barrier? If its just simple kido keeping us here it should be fairly simple...right?" Rangiku was feeling impatient, goodness knows what Gin was planning.
"Yes Rangiku-san... Just give me a few minutes" Momo held both of her hands up in front of the barrier, spreading her fingers wide. Rangiku watched as the bars seemed to flicker under her touch, suddenly cracks began to form beneath her fingers spreading outwards.
A loud screeching noise had Rangiku throwing her hands over her ears, she watched as Momo pushed against the barrier and with a final shove it exploded outwards with a shattering crash. The screeching noise stopped but for several minutes afterwards Rangiku's ears still rang from the noise.
Momo dropped to her knees cradling both her hands close to her chest, Rangiku walked over to her "Are you OK Momo?"
"I burnt my hands" Momo held both of them out to show Rangiku, and sure enough both of her hands were red raw and steaming slightly.
"Come on Momo lets get out of here" Rangiku stepped out of the make shift cell and into the larger room. Curiosity got the better of her and she went over to the collection of computer screens. There was ten screens altogether and each one was showing images from around the Seireitei, it made her feel sick to her stomach when she realised Gin had been spying on them all this time...how long had he been skulking around down here?
She stepped away from the screens and when she turned, she saw Momo was still crouching down on the floor of the cell "Momo... are you coming?"
"You go on ahead Rangiku-san, I don't think it will make any difference to anyone whether I go or stay.." Momo let out a long shaky breath "Its like what Ichimaru said...Nobody even noticed that I was gone.." her lip trembled and the tears began pouring down her face.
Rangiku let out an exasperated growl before marching over to Momo "We don't have time for this!" she bent down and grabbed Momo around her waist before hoisting her up to her feet, and dragging her towards the door Gin had used earlier.
"Don't fall so easily for Gin's lies. It just so happens that a lot of things happened in a very short space of time and Toushiro has been somewhat occupied dealing with everything" Rangiku released Momo when she reached the door.
Rangiku reached a hand out to try the handle she wasn't surprised to find it locked, but she wasn't going to let something stupid like a locked door stop her from getting to Toushiro either. She took a deep breath and braced herself before using all her might with a well aimed kick to the door. The door went crashing open with a satisfying bang.
"Rangiku..." Momo began slightly stunned at her sudden display of brute strength.
Rangiku grabbed her wrist gently and dragged her out the door "No time, lets go!"
As Ukitake and Nanao proceeded through the Seireitei, it became somewhat difficult to keep tabs on where the butterfly was leading them. Many Shinigami populated the usually quiet streets tonight, each of them watching in awe as Toushiro wielded his mighty snow-ice Zanpakuto, tackling the out of control fire that had consumed the entire grounds of his division.
The surrounding air was thick with an odd mixture of Toushiro's heavy spiritual pressure, smoke, ashes, steam and the odd snowflake or two. Several times Ukitake needed to stop to have a good cough and clear out his lungs.
They was currently standing outside the central library waiting for the butterfly to carry on leading the way, however it seemed somewhat reluctant to move any further.
"Nanao-san why has it just stopped?" Ukitake extended a slender finger giving the tiny butterfly a little prod.
"Two reason Captain Ukitake" she reached a hand out and cupped it in her palm "First its either lost the signal meaning the stud holding the kido has been destroyed."
"Or?" Ukitake prompted.
"The person carrying the stud is on the move, so therefore it needs a minute to adjust to finding the new location" Nanao replied with her usual cool composure.
The butterfly suddenly whizzed away from them leading them straight into the library, Ukitake shared a quick glance with Nanao before they both quickly set off after it "Surely Rangiku isn't being held in such a public place" Ukitake stated when they entered the main entrance.
"With all due respect Sir, Captain Hitsugaya said the same thing about the investigation. This place is vast and there is more then one place to hide a secret or two" Nanao said before marching after the butterfly which had took off while they were preoccupied.
"Lucky for me I'm being accompanied by a bookworm who knows every inch of this library" Ukitake followed her, his long strides caught up with her with hardly any effort.
They carried on walking through the library for some time, it seemed like the butterfly was taking them deep inside the abandoned parts. Ukitake felt confused when it stopped abruptly in the middle of an old study area.
"I believe..." Nanao began rotating on the spot tapping the floor in places with her heel "We go down from here."
"Down?" Ukitake wondered if that was even possible.
"Yes into the basement. It makes perfect sense, nobody ever goes down there and the place is just full of junk" Nanao's heel kept up its tapping until she heard a noticeable hollow sound "Right here Captain Ukitake, its a concealed entrance."
Nanao knelt down and felt around the floorboards looking for the mechanism that would slide the floor panel open. Her fingers brushed up against a tiny notch and when she pressed it in, the panel slid back to reveal a flight of stone steps.
"Down it is" Ukitake smiled impressed with Nanao's knowledge.
Satisfied that he'd managed to douse the raging fire as best he could Hitsugaya resealed Hyourimaru and sank to his knees taking in the sight before him. Only the ashy remains of his division drifted in the air and a few blackened beams jutting out in places hinting at where a building use to stand.
Everything was gone, the administration buildings that housed his and Rangiku's office along with his seated members office area. The mess hall, training rooms, his private quarters, Rangiku's quarters, the main sleeping barracks. Everything had been reduced to grey and white cinders. Everything was gone. Smoked still curled from a few hot spots but other then that, the area was empty, barren and dead.
He turned his attention to his own body, the heat had been so intense the hairs on his arms had been singed off within seconds. He stretched his arms and he found his back, shoulders and chest felt tight and sore just as if he'd gotten sunburnt.
He looked down at his sword and he caught sight of his own reflection and saw that his hair was black and his face was covered with a good coating of soot.
He heard several swishing noises behind him and recognized the sound as someone dropping out of shunpo. He turned his head to look over his shoulder to see who had arrived and found that Captains Komamura and Soifon had arrived with their Lieutenants, and also Lieutenant Hisagi from the Ninth.
He got to his feet and walked over to them, stopping to retrieve the rest of his uniform and Hyourimaru's sheath. His skin felt too sore and badly burnt so he made no attempt to re-dress himself properly.
Komamura was the first to speak up "We came to offer some assistance Hitsugaya, but I see there isn't much that can be done now."
"Don't worry about it" Hitsugaya looked back at his ruined division "At least all my men got out safely. Komamura, Hisagi I'm sorry to cause you any inconvenience by sending my men over to you."
"Its fine Hitsugaya, your men are more then welcome at my division" Komamura answered, and Hisagi nodded in agreement.
"Normally I would have sent them over to Ukitake and Kyouraku, but they are both being treated in the fourth."
"Captain Hitsugaya, can you fill me in on what happened to those two?" Soifon barked in her usual manner.
"Ukitake's medication and Kyouraku's sake had been spiked. While lieutenant Ise was attacked in the library, and my lieutenant has been kidnapped" he replied bluntly.
"Wow it must suck having your division burnt down on top of all that" Omaeda said digging into his ear with his pinky.
Soifon narrowed her eyes at him before jumping into the air and kicking him in the face with both feet "Silence Idiot!"
"Do you know who is responsible for all of this..."
The rest of Komamura's question went unheard, as a heavy spiritual pressure engulfed the Seireitei. Hitsugaya gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes, the anger he felt from before burned through his entire being. That spiritual pressure belonged to one man, and that man was at the top of his hate list. The source of the pressure seemed to be coming from the top of the Sokyoku hill.
"Ichimaru..." Hitsugaya growled out, his eyes and body starting to glow with an icy rage. He dropped the bundle of uniform he was holding and gripped Hyourimaru tighter. He turned on the spot and looked up at the vast cliff face, right at the top he saw a figure standing on the edge looking down at him. At this distance he couldn't make out Ichimaru's expression but he knew the man was grinning at him.
"So he's finally decided to come out into the open" His grip on Hyourimaru tightened as he allowed the murderous rage inside of him to well up.
He shot off towards the Sokyoku hill so fast he left the two Captains and three Lieutenants coughing in a cloud of ashy dust.
