Hinamori's Apprentice

Chapter 43

"Do you sense her?" Toushiro asked in a hushed voice.

"No," Momo said, her eyes closed and her hand touching the ground, "I can't feel even a trace of her reiatsu. It's likely that they sealed her power when they imprisoned her."

"Maybe, but I can't help but feel there's something else; something is keeping us from noticing Karin," Toushiro said thoughtfully.

"We need to keep looking, that's all we can do right now," Momo said, standing up to continue walking down the corridor.

"Wait," Toushiro said, putting out an arm to stop her, "Isn't it odd? We've been going down this passageway for a long time, but there have been no doors or even other halls meeting up with it. Furthermore, the corridors we took earlier had all kinds of twists and turns, but this one is completely straight. It's too unusual."

"What are you saying?" Momo asked.

She did not receive a reply. Instead, Toushiro suddenly drew his Zanpakuto. Momo immediately copied his action, taking Tobiume out of its sheath.

"What is it? Is someone coming?" she asked anxiously.

Again, Toushiro did not answer. Momo was about to ask again when he suddenly swung his blade against the wall, creating a long gash.

"What are you doing?" Momo said in shock. Toushiro did not pay attention to her question, taking another swing at the wall, then another, then another. Momo watched in confusion as her friend slashed wildly at the wall.

"Toushiro, you're making too much noise! If you keep this up we might get noticed!" Momo said urgently.

"We've already been noticed," Toushiro responded.

"What?"

Toushiro drew his sword back and stabbed at the wall, his blade piercing deep into it. For a second, nothing happened. Then, there was a bright flash of light, followed by a number of cracks appearing. But the cracks weren't just on the area of wall that Toushiro struck; they were on the opposite wall, the ceiling, and the floor as well. Fractures spread all over the passageway. There was another flash, this one coming from each and every crack, and the walls suddenly exploded, disintegrating into the air.

Momo and Toushiro now found themselves inside of a vast enclosed area. It was dimly lit, but the huge size of the room was quite evident.

"Welcome, my esteemed intruders," a deep voice said. Momo and Toushiro looked up to see a man standing upon a ledge on the nearest wall. He jumped down, his cloak billowing behind him as he dropped to the ground. He was grey-haired with a finely trimmed beard and an authoritative look about him.

"Aurion," Toushiro said under his breath. Aurion took several steps towards them, prompting Momo and Toushiro to hold their Zanpakuto up defensively.

"You bring your weapons forth so soon? My, my, children today are so quick to resort to violence," Aurion said, "Do not worry, I only wish to speak with you. Perhaps we will come to an understanding so as to avoid any violence."

"Don't take us for fools," Toushiro retorted, "We know about you and what you've done. You may think of yourself as some reformer or idealist, but you're just a maniac who will gladly sacrifice the lives of others for the sake of your own ambitions. Soul Society has already been ravaged multiple times because of you and your allies. Do not believe for a moment that we could ever trust you."

"You give me too much credit," Aurion smiled, "I'm just an old man trying to help the world in his own way."

"If your intentions are so pure, return Karin!" Momo said.

"Karin Kurosaki will be released when my plan is complete," Aurion said, "In the mean time, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"We're not interested in games, Aurion. Where is Karin Kurosaki?" Toushiro yelled.

"What would compel me to tell you?" Aurion said, "Age has not treated me as well as my old friend Yamamoto, but I'm still more than powerful enough to defeat a pair of children. Now let me ask you my question: What is your greatest source of misery?"

"We're not answering any of your questions," Toushiro growled.

"That's okay, I already know, Mr. Hitsugaya, Miss Hinamori," Aurion said with a grim smile, "I was quite saddened to learn of the pain you two have gone through. It's a terrible thing to be forced upon such young children."

"He's trying to get into your head, don't let him," Toushiro whispered.

"I know," Momo said.

"You believe I am trying to trick you? I assure you, I only speak the truth that you refuse to acknowledge, namely that your suffering is the fault of Seireitei's refusal to change. Had Seireitei been run the way I wanted, the pain you've been through would not even exist."

"You speak nothing but nonsense," Toushiro growled.

"Is it nonsense? If the reforms I desired had been in place, Sousuke Aizen would have been discovered before he had the chance to threaten Soul Society. Even if he weren't caught, his plans would never have worked. In my system, he'd never be able to impersonate the Central 46 so as to issue a false execution order. The Central 46 would have been more open to scrutiny and there would have been safeguards in place for tricks like what Aizen pulled. Furthermore, I would have placed oversight over technological research so that an object as evil as the Hogokyu would never have been created."

"Aizen still would have found a way to get around those measures," Toushiro said, "Now that it's already happened, it is easy to look back and say 'Oh if only we'd done this' or 'We should have done that', but the cold hard truth is that without being aware of what would happen, Aizen's actions would have been impossible to stop."

"Perhaps, but had things gone my way, the two of you would never have been involved," Aurion said.

"What do you mean?" Momo asked, her voice shaking at all the talk about Aizen.

"I mean that you two would never have been allowed to become officers in my world," Aurion said, "I'll acknowledge that you are powerful – you broke through my illusion barrier after all – but you should never have been allowed to become a Captain and a Vice-Captain to begin with. Children as young as yourselves have no place on the battlefield, and it's because you were put in that position that you have suffered so greatly."

"I'll have you know that I'm 112 years old, and Momo is 159!" Toushiro said, his face turning red.

"You are children," Aurion said firmly, "You are easily controlled by emotion, vulnerable to trauma, and impulsive – as your coming here would demonstrate. You should have been taught to control your reiatsu and them put on reserve until you were old enough. You are too young to bear the responsibility and heavy personal cost that comes with being officers. You have both been put through tragedies you should never have been subjected to. Wouldn't your lives be better if you had not gotten so deeply involved with the Shinigami? The same goes for the Kurosaki girl; if you Shinigami had not seen fit to train her in combat so early, she would not be in her current situation. It saddens me to see Seireitei making use of child soldiers and putting them through such trauma."

Toushiro growled. There was a bit of truth to what Aurion said. If he and Momo had been deemed too young to become officers, Aizen would never have had the chance to mold her into his loyal subordinate the way he did, and they would not have been pulled into the chaos he started. Momo would not have gone through such physical and mental trauma and their friendship would not have been so badly shaken. It wouldn't have happened if they weren't Shinigami.

All of the memories of Momo's suffering flashed through his head. Momo going berserk at the sight of Aizen's 'corpse' and nearly giving Ichimaru the excuse to kill her. Momo attacking him after reading Aizen's letter, crying that she didn't know what to believe in anymore. Momo lying in a pool of blood on the floors of Central 46. Momo in a coma, barely alive after Aizen's attack. Momo with dark shadows under her eyes, so thin and weak that she looked like she could barely stand up, all while begging him to save Aizen in a delusional state. Momo finally acknowledging the truth about Aizen, no longer delusional but depressed and ashamed of herself. It didn't have to happen. If only they could have remained with Granny in Rukongai, the pain of having to watch Momo go through such trauma would never have occurred in the first place. Aurion spoke the truth; had his method of rule been in place, Momo and Toushiro would not have been introduced to such harsh lives. But it had already happened, and giving in to Aurion would not do anything to change the past. He opened his mouth to speak, only for Momo to begin before him.

"Such speculation is pointless. Nothing you do will erase what has happened. I will never forget the pain I've been through, and some days I do wish that I had never become a Shinigami, but then I think of how many friends I've made, and of how much stronger I am now. It's obvious that you don't care about us or anyone else for that matter, only your plans. If you were so concerned about the suffering of young people, you wouldn't have kidnapped Karin! You're just like him! You act kind and noble, but underneath you're a vicious sociopath! I fell for that charm once before, and I never will again! If you think that we'll ever join up with you, you're more delusional that I once was!"

Toushiro stared in amazement at Momo. Her eyes were filled with conviction, and there was not a hint of doubt in her words. Despite the serious situation they were in, Toushiro could not help but feel proud of his friend.

"I see," Aurion said slowly, "I didn't want it to come to this, but it looks like I have no choice but to cross blades with you."

Momo and Toushiro immediately took action.

"Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru!"

"Bankai! Kogo-Fushicho Tobiume!"

Momo and Toushiro both grew wings as their Bankai activated. Toushiro's were of ice, Momo's of scarlet-gold feathers. They readied themselves for battle as Aurion stared at them.

"A dragon and a phoenix, eh? Very impressive for a couple of youngsters, but it won't be enough before a god." Aurion drew his Zanpakuto, a straight double-edged sword with a western-style guard. "Smite them, Kami!"


"What… What the hell is this place?" Ichigo said in shock.

"I think you said it yourself just now," Rangiku said in horror, "Hell is the only word to describe this place."

Ichigo, Rukia, and Rangiku stood at the entrance of a large room filled with all manner of horrific sights. On a table was the remains of what Ichigo thought might have been one of Usagi's minions, though he could not be sure as it had been completely skinned and dissected. Several glass tanks held mutilated and altered animals. There was a baby monkey with its eyelids sewn shut, a cat with several spikes embedded in its spinal cord with tubes coming out, and a creature devoid of hair and covered in horrible blisters that might have been a raccoon.

"That's sick," Rukia shuddered. Bracing themselves for more horrible sights, they walked further into the room. It appeared to be some type of horrific laboratory for experimentation on live subjects. There were lines of jars with preserved organs of various animals, with notes indicating the experiments performed on them. Ichigo had to turn away in nausea from a preserved brain with a number of spongy holes in it. Hundreds of beakers and test-tubes were scattered around the room.

"Hey, look at this," Rangiku said, pointing to several glass cases on the ground. There were four cases in total, three containing rats and one containing guinea pigs. In each case, there were three dead animals covered in bite marks and a single, wide-eyed live one that was shaking. The live animals took to rushing against the glass of their containers upon seeing the three Shinigami, desperately trying to attack them.

"Those animals have reiatsu," Rangiku said, "Most animals don't naturally have strong reiatsu. These ones must have been forced to undergo alteration that left them unbalanced."

"Ichigo! Vice-Captain Matsumoto! Get over here quickly!" Rukia suddenly yelled in a strangled voice. Ichigo and Rangiku promptly made their way through the maze of lab equipment to where Rukia was, where they were immediately confronted with a truly horrific sight.

Floating in four tanks were gaunt, emaciated humans connected to many wires and tubes, their limbs removed and their eyes closed.

"What… What is this?" Ichigo said in horror.

"Take a look for yourself," Rukia said grimly, pointing to a crate filled with small silver tubes nearby.

"Those are… Ginto," Ichigo said slowly, "So… these are Quincy?"

"Yeah, that must be it," Rangiku said grimly, "That Usagi Uzaki guy was seen using Quincy Ginto to power his weapons. This must be where he got them."

"I guess this explains why he wanted Uryu. These Quincy are all dead. He must have been looking for a fresh fuel source," Rukia said. Ichigo clenched his fist in anger.

"That bastard…" he growled, "That sick, twisted bastard. To do something like this… and he wanted to do it to Uryu too… and now… Karin…"

"Don't think about that," Rukia hurriedly said, "All we can do is look for her as fast as we can. Panicking won't do us any good."

"Y-Yes, I know. But still… let's hurry," Ichigo said, trying to push the horrible thoughts of what Usagi might have done to Karin out of his head.


"Hya!" Usagi laughed, taking a jab at Karin. Karin reflexively took a step back, thrusting Denryu forward as she did so. Usagi knocked the blade aside and continued his assault.

Their duel was not visually magnificent, consisting only of them stabbing at each other and parrying one another's blades while engaging in footwork to set themselves up for an advantage, but the battle was very intense, as Karin knew very well.

Sweat formed on her face as she carefully parried or dodged each of Usagi's blows, at the same time making attacks of her own. She knew that her very life was at stake in this battle. If she lost, the chances of her surviving were virtually non-existent. She kept everything that Momo had taught her in mind as she battled, knowing that a single slip up would mean death.

Usagi did not seem nearly as tense, laughing and grinning as they battled, but his attacks were ferocious and carefully coordinated. What he lacked in power and strength, Usagi made up for it skill and, more importantly, trickiness. It took a great deal of wits to see through Usagi's many feints and tricks, and Karin had nearly fallen for them several times. He would frequently try to lure Karin in closer to him or make her believe there was an opening in his defense only for him to swiftly exploit her mistake. There was no question that he was a truly difficult opponent.

"You're getting tired, I see," Usagi grinned, "I can see your muscles straining and your stance sagging. It's only a matter of time before I get my chance! Remember, I only need to give you the tiniest prick and you're mine."

"Then I won't let you!" Karin said, knocking away one of Usagi's blows, "I may not have been a Shinigami for long, but I had a great teacher! I trained hard under her so that I could beat people like you! Furthermore, I've spent the entire time you've kept me here meditating on my training and going over your combat style in my head! I am going to beat you, Usagi Uzaki!"

With that, Karin lunged at Usagi, her sword pointed at his chest. Usagi promptly brought his weapon up to deflect it, but was only able to push it up. As he did so, Karin slid her blade forward against his rod, causing the tip to pierce and tear the edge of Usagi's coat. Usagi immediately took a step back, looking angry for an instant only to grin seconds later.

"You say that you've studied my combat style, but you're forgetting that the key element of my combat style is unpredictability and surprise!" Usagi said with a laugh.

With that, he swung his weapon downwards. Karin raised her sword to block, but the instant that the black rod came into contact with her sword, it suddenly went loose, becoming pliable and whip-like. Usagi flicked his wrist, and before Karin could even react, the tip of the whip sliced into Karin's face leaving a cut across her left cheek. Karin's eyes widened in shock at what just happened as Usagi grinned triumphantly.

"Game over," he snickered, returning his weapon to its rigid form.