Chapter 29

One month later, Byakuya came back from Karakura, happy to announce that the Vizoreds will again join the royal army. While in a good mood, he organized a big dinner for the family, inviting Matsumoto too.

"Captain, I have to say that it all looks too delicious!" Renji smiled and moved his hand to take one piece of fish. Rukia slapped him.

"Not before everyone is seated, Renji!" She whispered.

Byakuya suppressed a laugh.

"Father, you could have also invited my mother." Soifon, who was next to Byakuya remarked.

"I tried too, but she does not love the Palace."

"I wonder why…" Soifon replied sarcastically.

Renji and Rukia looked at each other.

Then, the door opened and Toushiro came inside hand in hand with Hinamori. Everyone was shocked. Byakuya's face immediately darkened.

"Toushiro, this is a family dinner. I think I was clear enough." The tone of his voice was colder.

"You did, father. That is why Momo is here. There are more exciting things to celebrate. Momo is now my wedded wife."

Matsumoto sighed and looked into Byakuya's direction. Rukia and Renji's eyes were about to fall from their sockets. Soifon asked the question everyone wanted to, as Byakuya stood up.

"What?"

"Momo is now my wife. We got married. And also, we are going to have another child." Toushiro smiled. "Isn't it wonderful, father?"

There was an ice cold silence and tension in the room. Soifon was moving her eyes from her brother to her father. When Byakuya's look met Hinamori, she just looked down. Matsumoto was angry at her son, because she had warned him against humiliating his father. Rukia was also quiet. Only Renji spoke.

"Well, congratulations!" The looks moved into his direction.

Suddenly Soifon burst into laughter. The whole situation was so absurd, that she found it funny. Byakuya moved to the door and past Toushiro.

"You follow me! You too, Matsumoto!"

"She did not know." Toushiro said, but Byakuya did not care.

After everyone was out, Soifon took a cup of soju and drank it in one sip. Renji followed her example and started eating.

"Renji!" Rukia was outraged.

"What? This food should not go to waste, Rukia. It will be a pity. Besides, this is no bad news."

He really meant it, which was even more shocking for her. Soifon burst into laughter again.

"Gosh, my in-laws are spectacular!" She could not get a hold of herself. "Cheers, uncle!"

She picked up her glass in Renji's direction. He took his own. Rukia stood up and left.

"Rukia! Come on!" He stood up to follow her, leaving Soifon alone in her laughing fit.


"You got married, knowing fully well, that I would never allow it!" Byakuya spoke as calmly as possible.

"Yes." Toushiro answered, looking straight into his eyes without an ounce of remorse.

"And you, Matsumoto, who were like a mother to him, allowed him to take this woman." He looked at Hinamori with disdain. "The woman, who tried to kill him."

"She did not know!" Toushiro said harshly.

Matsumoto made a signal for him to stop.

"Your Majesty, he was wrong not to talk to you, I admit it. But you refused to give her a second chance! She is the reason why this Empire is still yours today! I saw it! I was here when Aizen sliced us all."

"How dare you!" Byakuya closed his eyes. "Toushiro, for these actions, I can disown you!"

Momo's eyes widened.

"Please, don't!" She spoke up.

"Momo!" Toushiro made a sign for her to remain silent. "I know, your Majesty. Good luck finding another heir!"

This was the last drop, which drove Byakuya to the end.

"Guards!" He shouted.

Momo thought they were going to take Toushiro to prison and instinctively took his hand.

"Matsumoto is to leave the Palace and never to return. She is stripped from all her belongings."

"What?" Toushiro moved closer to Byakuya, but one of the guards put his sword in front of him.

Matsumoto was shocked too.

"Take Toushiro and his wife out! They are also not allowed in the Palace anymore. My grandson, prince Hideki is staying."

"No!" Momo shook her head. "Please, don't! NO!"

Toushiro's eyes were glowing with rage. He did not have his sword, but he still managed to disarm the man standing in front of him. Moving closer to his father, he grabbed his collar.

"You won't take my son from me! And Matsumoto won't go anywhere!" He hissed.

"Toushiro, stop!" Matsumoto shouted.

Toushiro did not listen to her.

"You better follow her advice, if you don't want to lose your precious wife too."

Toushiro looked back. Another one of the guards had a knife to Momo's throat. He moved his eyes to his father again, unbelieving that he would kill his unborn grandchild too. The ice cold glare of Byakuya spoke more than words. Toushiro released him and moved one step back, feeling cornered. Ten men took them out of the Palace. Two of them took Matsumoto out the gates of the Palace and locked them again.

"Matsumoto! I will help you! I promise." Toushiro moved closer to see her.

"Don't do anything, please!" She moved her hand between the bars to catch his. "I know how reckless you can be. And I warned you about this. I also know what you are about to do. And I am telling you "NO"."

Toushiro smirked.

"He will pay for this!"

"No. Toushiro, he is your father! He may be stupidly stubborn and cold and unforgiving, but he is your father. The same man your mother loved more than herself. Think about this before you do anything!"

"He took my son from me!" He moved his head, pointing to Hinamori, who was crying hopelessly on the ground. "And he could have killed Momo and my other child! I won't ever forgive that!"

"After everything you did, I am not surprised."

"Look how he treated you, after years of faithful service!"

Her grip on his hand hardened.

"He is your Emperor and then your father. Never forget that!"

"Please, my lady!" One of the soldiers, who visibly respected Matsumoto, asked her to leave already.

She released Toushiro's hand.

"Matsumoto! I will take you back soon. I promise." He shouted behind her back.

After her figure disappeared in the distance, he moved back to embrace Momo.

"Toushiro, he can't sleep without a kiss from me! He will look for us, he will cry and suffer! He does not even have his favorite toy with him." She was crying in his arms.

"Everything will be fine, Momo! This is just for a little while." He was not convinced himself, but he clenched his teeth as his grip on her hardened.


Byakuya ordered for Toushiro and Momo to be locked in their Palace. When Momo stopped crying, she just stared blankly into the space. Toushiro, however was not about to admit defeat.

"He will pay for what he's done. He did not leave me any other choice."

"He is the Emperor. He can decide the fate of everyone. What can you do other than beg for forgiveness?"

"Momo, do not despair!"

Toushiro kneeled in front of her and caught her arms.

"I won't. Captain Ukitake promised to help us. We just have to wait." She tried to be positive.

"Ukitake would not stand up against my father." He shook his head.

"He will. He is brave and honorable." Momo said with confidence.

"Honorable is exactly what he is! That is why he won't ever engage in a coup."

"A coup?" Momo's eyes widened.

Toushiro stood up.

"I will seize the power. I will remove my father from the throne." His voice did not even tremble as he said it.

Momo was shocked.

"You can't!" She also stood up. "He is your father!"

"He is our enemy now! The only way for us to be happy and safe is when I take the power. He left me no other option."

"You can't! You can't kill him! You said you were ready to give up on the throne!"

"He took our son from us! The matter is not about giving up anymore. And I won't kill him. I will just put him in detention. Of course I need help. But I know exactly who will give me it."

She was getting more and more worried hearing his cold voice and eyes full of need for revenge.

"What about the people who refuse to betray their Emperor? Will you kill them too?"

"If I have to. I will do everything to get my son back."

"Did we do all of this for you to become the one Aizen wanted you to be?"

He turned to her, unbelieving of what he had heard.

"What?"

"Aizen told me in his letter, that you were planning on killing your father to seize the power. That is why I tried to poison you. Remember?"

"This is not the same. And don't you dare mention this guy! He is the reason all of this happened."

"Exactly! You fought with him for more than a year, only to reach this point and do what he wanted you to!" She was shouting.

"Do not try to manipulate me, Momo. The situation is much different. I have no other choice."

"There is always another choice!" She put her hands on his cheeks. "Please, Toushiro! Do not give this example to your son. If you lose, you will die. If you kill your father, you will lose again. There is no victory!"

He put his hands over hers.

"You always see life through rose-colored glasses, Momo. But life is cruel. People are cruel. Sometimes you can't live without harming others."

Momo felt shivers run through her body. She removed her hands from his face.

"Do you know what my biggest fears are?" He was watching her face. "One is that I will lose your love. That you will be done with me!" He reached out to her, but her next words stabbed him like a knife. "The other is that you will become like Aizen. And it is about to come true."

Hurt by her words, he was not able to answer.

"The worst thing is that I am the reason for it. In order to keep your love, I alienated you from your family. This time, I managed to poison you."

"Momo, I know what you are trying to do. But can't you understand me? Can't you support me? You promised not to doubt me!" He raised his voice at her.

"I promised that to another man. The man I love. This one here is not him."

He sighed and moved his back to her.

"You won't stop me."

"Very well then. Just know that if you leave, you won't ever see me alive again. Not because your father will kill me. I will do it myself."

He turned back to look into her eyes. She was strangely calm and cold. He closed his eyes, clenched his fists, then stormed out of the room. When he left, Momo moved back to the couch and sat down, letting the tears roll down her cheeks.

After some time the door opened again and Toushiro went in, relatively calmer. He sat down next to her.

"What do you want me to do? Leave you and apologize to my father or just put up with this situation?"

"None of it! I am not going anywhere without you. And I am not going to give up on Hideki. Just wait, please. Show a little patience. Captain Ukitake promised help. Captain Kyoraku will help us too. Renji and Rukia too. We have friends." She smiled reassuringly and took his hands.

She knew how hard it was for someone as passionate and short-tempered like him to put in the effort to stop and wait. But he did it for her. Toushiro was not convinced that it would work out, but he nodded his head. She moved closer to him and rested her forehead against his.

"Thank you." Then put one of his hands on her abdomen, where a small baby bump was already visible. "The baby and I will be much calmer."

He knew that she was using her woman's tricks on him and it worked, which was a bit frustrating. Like taming a tiger. But he loved her and he couldn't help it but want to see her happy and hate it when she was sad and disappointed.


A whole week passed without any sign of improvement. The only good news they got was that Rukia had taken Matsumoto secretly in her palace. Toushiro was getting more and more impatient and Momo was forced to do something, before he wrote to Hueco Mundo and start a war. One morning while they were having breakfast, Toushiro suddenly felt sleepy. At first he did not suspect Momo, but then remembered her pouring that strangely smelling tea to him.

"Momo…what did you do?"

"I am sorry, love. It is just for a little while. It is for the best, I promise." She gently caressed his hair, before leaving him on the sofa with a blanket on top.

Then she treated the guards to the same beverage and went out. She was incredibly sweet and definitely so weak in men's eyes, that they fell for this trap too easily. Once she reached the garden, she quickly crossed the space and moved to the spot where the men sometimes held meetings outside. It was just under Byakuya's terrace.

"Your Majesty! Please, listen to me!" She shouted.

Unsurprisingly, there was no answer.

"Your Majesty! Please, listen to me!" She kneeled down on the marble.

The soldiers tried to get her to leave, but Ukitake intervened.

"Your highness, please, leave. He won't let you in."

Hinamori turned to face him and he saw the determination in her eyes. Like he was not even there, she continued with her plea. He made a sign to the soldiers not to do anything. Hours passed and the weather was getting hot, her voice crispy. But she did not give up. Ukitake went outside again to give her some water.

"Please, give up. If you keep this up any longer, you may have a miscarriage."

"No!" Was her short reply. "Your Majesty! Please, let me talk to you!"

Up on his balcony Byakuya finally showed up, only to look on without any sympathy. Suddenly feeling weak, Momo moved to the side and sat down, using her hand as support.

"Are you ok, my lady?" Ukitake moved closer.

Then, Hinamori completely collapsed.

"She passed out! Someone help!"

This commotion arose Byakuya's attention as he moved back to look down. Two soldiers took her and according to Ukitake's orders carried her inside. After they poured some water onto her face, she regained consciousness and immediately tried to get up to go outside and proceed with her pleas. Even Byakuya's heart could not take this any longer, so he decided to let her in his chambers.

Hinamori went in and bowed.

"Thank you for letting me speak with you, your Majesty!"

"You have only 5 minutes."

"I came here, because…"

"You want your son back." He cut her in.

"No. I came to give you your son back." She calmly replied.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"You are getting very bold and brave."

"I have no other choice." They were both quiet. "I admit that I made a lot of mistakes. I regret all of them, but I can't turn back the time to fix them. I can, however, prevent new ones from happening."

"By marrying my son?"

"In the letter Aizen sent me, where he told me…to poison Toushiro, he had written that your son wishes to kill you and take the power, encouraged by Yoruichi and Urahara. He also told me that you were a cruel ruler, who would execute even his own family members for order and security. And I cursed myself for believing him. But it seems he succeeding in turning you into enemies."

"You succeeded. Not him." Byakuya stood up.

"I only wanted to be happy with the man I love. For my children to be happy. I don't want that bloody throne. In order to make me suffer, you are losing your own son. I won't allow Toushiro to turn into a killer or be killed himself. Because if this goes on any longer, it will be inevitable." She took out a small bottle from her sleeve.

Byakuya was getting confused.

"You can give me back my son. Give me a chance to prove to you, that I can me a good wife to your son and a good mother to your grandchildren. Or I will just die and stop standing between you. Isn't this what you wanted?"

He realized that the bottle in her hand was poison. His lips curved into a smile.

"Is this another one of your tricks?"

She then took out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"This is my farewell letter to Toushiro, written in my own handwriting and believe me, he does not doubt my ability to end my life. Right now, he is sleeping, because I put some opium inside his tea. He will probably sleep for a few more hours. Enough for you to take the letter back tо him."

Byakuya quickly read the letter. He was shocked.

"My minutes are probably over. My fate is in your hands, your Majesty."

She opened the bottle and moved her up. Then took a look at him. He was watching her with his usual cold expression, but she could hear his rapid breathing. His eyes drifted off to her belly, where his grandchild was growing. She thought he would stop her, because of it, but maybe she was wrong. Regardless, there was no turning back now. She moved the bottle to her lips and opened her mouth.