Toshiro had barely stepped out into the hall when he felt Hinamori's reiatsu drop abruptly, almost like a flame being quenched.
He slammed the door open, shattering the lock, and found Hinamori on the floor, unconscious, and with a black feathered dart in her neck.
"Get Unohana! She's been poisoned!" he shouted at the shinigami passing in the hall.
Then he jumped through the window.
He recognized that dart. It had been years since he'd seen it. The Third Seat of the Fifth didn't show his shikai off the battlefield, but decades ago, when Toshiro had still been 'the Lieutenant's kid' passed back and forth between various Fifth Division members who'd gotten stuck with babysitting duty, he'd gotten to watch the Third Seat's officer's test. The darts caused sudden loss of consciousness, eventually leading to coma and death. There had been no antidote at the time.
There'd better be one now, was Toshiro's only thought as he searched the area for the familiar reiatsu.
He was surprised by just how hard it was to locate racing from the Fourth. The man was as fast as any lieutenant and was suppressing his reiatsu as well as any member of the stealth squad. Toshiro had to put more effort than he would have thought possible into following the officer. The faint reiatsu kept blending into the surrounding crowd, but Toshiro had spent the better part of a century playing hide'n'seek with Ichimaru Gin, and all that work was finally paying off.
The man had nearly made the West Gate into Rukongai before Toshiro caught up. He drew Hyorinmaru and sent a wall of ice directly across the fleeing shinigami's path, blocking the gate and curving around to block any other path of escape.
The man stopped abruptly only feet from the soaring wall of ice and calmly turned to face his pursuer.
Third Seat Nakajima Yukie was an impressively unremarkable-looking man. He was the sort of man you could pass a thousand times and never notice. He was of average height and average build. His face was neither attractive nor in any way unattractive. He looked exactly like everyone else; even his reiatsu blended into the crowd because it was so much like everyone else's. His very ordinaryness made him almost invisible in a crowd. He must have been a very useful servant for Aizen.
Now he was alone. He no longer had any chance of disappearing. There was no way he could escape. He had no choice but to face the captain who had chased him down, but he showed no fear. As always, Nakajima was a proud man.
His zanpakuto was still in shikai, a small crossbow strapped to his right forearm, and he turned another black dart in his hand as he calmly faced Toshiro.
Toshiro approached carefully with Hyorinmaru still raised. He could not begin to guess what tricks Aizen might have taught the man.
Nakajima frowned. "What a shame. Of all people, it's the Ichimaru baby who finally discovered me," he said. Even his voice was unremarkable. "If only I were stronger! What a great final act that would be for Aizen-sama! To take down the traitor's son, the very child he traded his loyalty for, but, no, I'm nothing if not a realist. I'm no match for a captain. I'm not going to waste my last moments in futility."
Toshiro took another careful step forward. "Give me the antidote for the poison you used on Hinamori or I'll make sure you die a very slow, painful death," he said through gritted teeth. He wanted to tear the man limb from limb; only the thought of an antidote was stopping him.
"Antidote?" Nakajima repeated in surprise. "Why would there be an antidote? I've never shot anything I didn't intend to kill."
"Why Hinamori?" Toshiro demanded. "She loved your 'Aizen-sama'. She wasn't going to betray him."
"She was such a weak little thing," Nakajima answered. "She would break so easily. She was useful for Aizen-sama. No one wanted to suspect such a good-hearted girl, Ichimaru's opposite in every way, and so easily manipulated. It was such a simple thing to convince her Yoruichi was an enemy to Seireitei, and why would Yoruichi keep her guard up around such a helpless little girl? She easily administered a drug to Yoruichi and to Tosen's foolish lieutenant, wasn't he the perfect scapegoat? And her kido was absolutely necessary to restrain Yoruichi; nothing less than a kido master would do for that. Aizen trained her perfectly to play her part. But, poor little Hinamori, she isn't strong enough to save for any other purpose. The failed asset must be discarded.
"But there I made my mistake, didn't I? Forgetting you knew my shikai was a small mistake, but I could have dealt with it well enough, having already carefully crafted my alibi in case someone showed the dart to Ichimaru, but you spotted me, and that I didn't expect. I admit it; I underestimated you.
"How were you able to follow me? No one ever has before. It's my gift, blending in. Aizen-sama thought it was very impressive. He encouraged me to perfect it. I can go almost anywhere now, and nobody notices. I'm just another one of the crowd."
"You're a traitor and a murderer," Toshiro answered, barely able to keep his fury under control. "And we are going to make you tell us everything you know about 'Aizen-sama' and his agents."
"No," the Third Seat answered, "You're not." The dart in his hand pricked his thumb, and he fell to the ground.
"No!" Toshiro shouted, running to the fallen man. He kicked the dart away and turned the man over, searching through his clothes as quickly as he could. "Come on, damn you! No one's stupid enough to handle a poison they can't cure! Come on!"
"There's no cure, Shiro," a voice said from just a step behind him.
Toshiro ignored his father and kept searching. "There has to be a cure! You goddamned bastard, what have you done with it?"
"It was a matter of pride for him," Gin said. "Only the strongest poisons have no cure."
Toshiro stilled. Nakajima's unconscious form mocked him. He was still alive, but Toshiro could not hurt him. He wanted to beat the man to death, but what would that accomplish? The bastard wouldn't even feel it. He had escaped. Even lying here at Toshiro's feet, he was free.
"Then Hinamori?" Toshiro said softly.
"It's only a Third Seat's shikai. Unohana's pretty impressive. I wouldn't give up as long as she's breathing."
Toshiro nodded.
Gin bent and grabbed ahold of Nakajima's collar, lifting him carelessly. "Never liked Nakajima, always on about how superior he was." He started walking, letting the man's hands and legs drag on the pavement. "Think he was a Kuchiki or a Shihoin, some sort of better than the rest of us. Do me a favor, Shiro, don't marry a noble; don't think I could stomach being related to one, even an Ukitake."
Beside him Toshiro's eyes narrowed. "I told you before, I'm never getting married."
"That's right. Always insist on taking care of the kido for her then," Gin said pleasantly. Then, when he didn't get a response, he added, "And sekiseki, keep an eye out for that stuff. It's deadly."
Toshiro still said nothing. They had reached a road and other people were watching them with a combination of fear and awe and were probably trying to hear every word they said just so they could repeat it to their friends later. They really should stop talking. Not that that was possible with his father.
When Gin opened his mouth yet again, Toshiro cut him off. "I don't suppose you could just shut up?"
"Doesn't seem likely. I never have before, no matter how nicely anyone asks, and some people are much better at asking nicely than you are."
Toshiro's eyes narrowed. "You know there's absolutely no chance you're going to die peacefully in your sleep, right?"
Gin smiled pleasantly. "I think any chance of that passed long before you were born. I have dozens of enemies you've never even heard of. You're going to have some very stiff competition if you want to be the one who finally does me in."
"How about you try not to drive me out of my mind, and I join the cause of trying to keep you alive instead?"
Gin made a face. "Doesn't sound worth it," he said, finally.
"You want me to want to kill you?" Toshiro demanded.
"If you can't enjoy your life what's the point of living?"
"Don't you enjoy anything that doesn't involve irritating the hell out of me and everyone else you've ever met?"
Gin paused for a moment and looked down at the unconscious Nakajima; his head was lolling back and the backs of his hands were beginning to show signs of friction burns from being dragged. It was pretty amusing, especially considering how full of himself the man had always been. It really was too bad Nakajima himself couldn't see it. "Nothing comes to mind," Gin said, smiling. "I'll let you know if I think of something."
Soifon and her Punishment Force arrived then to take custody of the 'prisoner', and Gin and Toshiro were informed that General Yamamoto wanted to speak to them immediately. Toshiro was grateful for the interruption.