It hardly seemed fair to Gin that walking into the hall side by side with Ukitake, he was scolded for being late while Ukitake received a welcoming smile from Yamamoto. He wondered if perhaps missing a couple weeks worth of meetings might make old Yamaji appreciate his presence more, but remembered that he had just missed a week's worth after trying to get himself killed, and no one, most particularly Yamaji, had seemed at all pleased to have him back.

He sighed. Thus was the fate of the unappreciated.

Gin only realized Yamamoto had moved on to the reason for the meeting when he heard the old man say, "--attacked by Lieutenant Hisagi."

His head jerked up abruptly and Yamamoto had his complete attention as he continued. "--Lieutenant Hinamori was forced to defend herself and brought down Lieutenant Hisagi with a high level kido. It is very unfortunate that Lieutenant Ise arrived then and, misinterpreting the situation, attacked Lieutenant Hinamori as--"

"She did what?" Kyoraku interrupted. "I'm sorry, Yamaji, but if Nanao-chan attacked Lieutenant Hinamori she must have had a pretty good reason. She'd be more likely to kill Shuhei herself if he'd attacked Lieutenant Hinamori than try to defend him. She's not one to stand by her man if he's done something wrong. That's not the kinda woman she is."

"I know, Shunsui," Yamamoto agreed. "It is very disappointing. Nanao has always seemed far more sensible than most females. I have always been impressed with her work, but she is a woman, and women are emotional. She severely injured Lieutenant Hinamori and was stopped from using Kurohitsugi only by Lieutenant Kira's timely arrival. If she had killed the girl I don't know what we'd do. As it is, I think we can all agree that, given the tense nature of the times, a few days suspension will be adequate."

"You're suspending my lieutenant?" Kyoraku demanded. "How're you so sure Shuhei's the one who attacked Hinamori and not the other way around? Seems to me that girl was pretty hung up on her captain. She's at least as likely as he is to be working for the other side."

"I am sorry, Captain Kyoraku, but the evidence is clear. Lieutenant Hinamori was wounded by a blade, and her blood was on his zanpakuto," Unohana said. "And Lieutenant Hisagi was struck only once, by Raikouhou. He would have lost consciousness instantly. His attack must have occurred first."

Kyoraku frowned. "You must have missed something," he muttered.

"If it is any comfort," Unohana said. "I do not believe he intended to do more than scare Lieutenant Hinamori. Her wound was quite superficial. Had Lieutenant Ise not also attacked Lieutenant Hinamori I would not even have had her brought to the Fourth."

Gin frowned. Well, they obviously had things backwards. Hisagi Shuhei wasn't going to betray the Gotei, but Hinamori would--if Aizen asked nicely enough. Poor thing was wrapped around his finger so tight she couldn't think for herself if she wanted to. Gin hadn't really expected Aizen to use Hinamori again simply because she was so obvious, but he'd clearly been wrong. Now he wasn't quite sure what to do about it. It wasn't like this lot was much interested in his opinion of things, for all that they said otherwise; they simply didn't trust him without some proof to back him up.

"We have kept this entire occurrence quiet, and I expect it to stay that way," Yamamoto said firmly. "We have already begun questioning Lieutenant Hisagi, and as long as his allies are not alerted, we may be able to root them all out before they are even aware of their danger."

Gin flinched at that. There was a reason Urahara would have been less than happy to hear Yoruichi looked like she'd undergone a Gotei inquisition; it included some fairly brutal torture. Fortunately, Gin was pretty sure Aizen's boys must have kept her unconscious through the whole thing, as they were clearly only going for appearance, and Yoruichi conscious was a pretty high escape risk--Hisagi would not be so lucky. He was in for some serious pain if he didn't answer their questions, and Gin knew he couldn't actually do so. "He's not going to be able to tell you anything," Gin said, feeling he really had an obligation to at least try to get the lieutenant out of it. "There really is no point in asking."

"Why is that?" Yamamoto demanded.

"He doesn't know anything. I told you before, Hisagi's loyal through and through."

"You defend Lieutenant Hisagi," Soifon said. "But you admit you do not know who Aizen's agents within the Gotei may be. You can't be sure that he is not one of them."

"Sure I can," Gin answered. "Why do you think Tosen chose him? Oddly enough, he thinks his cause is just, and he planned to bring Hisagi along. He was very disappointed when he realized Hisagi was never going to see it his way. You don't have to listen to me. You can go ahead and shove bamboo under his fingernails or whatever it is you do, but you'll figure it out eventually. Although I'd really recommend not letting Captain Kurotsuchi fry Lieutenant Hisagi's brain because, you know, I am right, and you might want to be able to give Lieutenant Ise back her husband once you figure that out."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Toshiro watched various captains argue back and forth. It was pretty obvious that no one was as certain as they pretended to be. They just couldn't get around the evidence. Hisagi had been there when Yoruichi vanished. The murdered shinigami was an officer from the Ninth, sent into Rukongai by Hisagi and decapitated with a weapon very like Hisagi's, and now Hinamori had been attacked by him--either that or she'd attacked him, and somehow made it look like he'd attacked her first, and what possible motive would she have for that?

Surely she'd learned her lesson about listening to Aizen. Toshiro hated Aizen more than he'd ever hated anyone for what he'd done to Hinamori. It wasn't the attack itself that made him hate the man, it was the expression on Hinamori's face when she'd realized her beloved captain had come back from the dead to murder her. No one should ever have to suffer such absolute betrayal. Surely she could never go back to him after that.

Only Toshiro knew exactly how much a woman in love was willing to overlook. He glanced across the room at his father with his fox-like smile, watching his colleagues argue about a man's fate as though it didn't matter in the slightest. His mother knew exactly how much of a monster Gin was; apparently, exactly like Toshiro, she'd suspected him of even worse for years, and it had never changed her feelings for him in the slightest. Toshiro didn't doubt that if his father tried to kill his mother and asked her forgiveness afterwards, she'd give it to him without a second thought.

Toshiro sighed. Stupid Momo! Didn't she understand the difference was his father would never hurt his mother? Rangiku was loved as deeply as she loved. Gin had unintentionally placed her in danger, but he would give absolutely anything to protect her. Why couldn't Momo see how one-sided her obsession with Aizen was? A man who was willing to let you die for him wasn't worth dying for.

By the time the meeting was over he knew what he had to do. For now Hisagi was still their main suspect, but his father was right, they would eventually figure out they were wrong about him. Then their eyes would finally turn to Hinamori. At most, she had a few days. Maybe she planned to run to Aizen. Maybe he'd even send someone to fetch her like he had Tosen. In any case Toshiro was determined that she would see the choice she was making for what it really was. She was choosing to put her love for Aizen before everything and everyone else. If she really was that sort of person, if she really was that selfish, then she deserved whatever happened to her. But Toshiro believed, at least he wanted to believe, that she was capable of choosing to do what was right if he could make her see it.