I

AT last it was evening. The guards were at their posts, and the giant metal doors separating the court of pure souls from the rest of the savage world had been sealed. The light of the pagoda lanterns were constant and soothing and had somehow found their way into Hinamori's room at midnight. Now that Hinamori was already awake, she rose out of bed and put on her shinigami robes. She did so in the most careful manner as she was to see someone of great importance, her captain, Aizen Souske, Captain of the 5th Division among the glorious thirteen divisions. She had been worried about her dear captain ever since the intrusion alarm had been sounded from the intrusion of some very strong villains. Hinamori stepped to the door of her room, hesitant to open the door; she collapsed at the door and cried to herself.

"I keep doing this to myself; I keep thinking that someone might hurt him. It's impossible," Hinamori said. "No one is strong enough to hurt the captain."

"I better go see him just in case." She opened the door of her room and slowly made her way to the 5th Division Barracks where the she early expects to meet the captain. Along the way, she passed the 3rd division barracks and felt a sense of insecurity. She has always been wary of Captain Ichimaru and his motives. Hinamori stopped for a moment in front of the barracks, thinking that she had heard a faint sound from the building. As she slowly walked towards the door to the building, that she feared so much, she began to feel a great trepidation that resembled nothing short of deception. Hinamori felt that she was in a dream; nothing was real or was actually happening. She ignored her strong feelings of fear and continued to walk towards the 5th Division building where she felt warm and welcomed. As she approached the door, the door slowly opened to reveal a familiar figure in the dark that she tried to make out with her eyes. Hinamori was excited to see that the figure was none other then that of Captain Aizen. As the beloved captain embraced Hinamori, tears came into her eyes once more as she held the captain close. She felt warm and safe, all the troubles in her heart were washed away and she felt renewed.

"Captain Aizen, if it is okay, may I speak with you for a while? I will try not to fall asleep again," Hinamori said

"Do you think I would mind? Don't be overly formal now, please, come in. It's cold outside; I wouldn't want you to get sick now would I?" Aizen said.

As Aizen led Hinamori, his trusted and close vice-captain, into his room. He leaves her sitting on a mattress, on the floor, as he goes to his table to finish writing a letter of some unknown purpose. As Hinamori watches Aizen work on his letter, she thinks to herself…

What am I worried about? Aizen is one of the most powerful and skilled shinigami alive and no one would dare challenge him. Maybe it's because of the alarm from earlier today or maybe it was because of Hitsugaya's warning, telling me to be wary of the 3rd squad, saying that the 3rd squad captain Ichimaru may hurt Aizen…but that…

As Hinamori is trapped in her train of thought; Aizen, who is still working on his letter speaks out and breaks the ever lingering silence, Aizen says, "So now, was there something you wanted to talk to me about? Hinamori?"

"Oh not at all! I just wanted to make sure you were okay and unharmed, that's all."

"How is your friend Abarai Renji doing? I heard that he was defeated by an intruder from outside the court of pure souls. Very frightening indeed."

Hinamori jumped at the words of her captain but controlled her movements and sat back down on her mattress. "

Hinamori said, "He is fine, right now, he is resting at the 4th Division Barracks. He shouldn't see anymore action anytime soon. However, the captain of the 6th squad, Kuchiki Byukuya almost removed him as his vice-captain because he lost to an intruder. I…"

Hearing this, Aizen turned his head around slightly as to seeing Hinamori. He gave her the warm smile that Hinamori loved and said softly…

"Don't worry about it. Abarai Renji is a good person; no one within the Gotei 13 would like to see him removed from office. Furthermore, you worry yourself too much, Abarai is a strong person. So please, don't worry so much just put your mind to rest."

After giving Hinamori his little speech, Aizen turns around to resume his sharp undivided focus on his letter. Hinamori was content with Aizen's lecture and sat comfortably on the mattress. She asked, "Captain Aizen is it okay if I just sit here and watch you just like this for a little?"

"Of course, stay as long as you would like." Aizen said

While watching Aizen write his letter, Hinamori did not think or day dream as she would usually have done. She just sat there in the dim light of the lantern and watched a respected man write his letter. Hinamori slowly fell asleep on the mattress and dreamed of a plight of some kind, one covered in blood, conflict and hate. She was troubled by her dreams and in her sleep, shed a tear. At last, dawn had come.

It was morning and Aizen had just finished writing his letter. He folded the letter carefully and attached hot wax to it, keeping it sealed. Earlier that night, he saw Hinamori fall into dreams so he gave her his overcoat as a blanket. Aizen walked to his wardrobe and quickly put on his traditional robes and sword. He was quick to do all of this, for he had some engagement of some hidden and deep meeting to attend. Then, without telling Hinamori, Aizen stepped out of his room and started walking towards the scene of a bloody fight. Upon reaching the eastern wall, Aizen sensed a vicious aura and prepared himself for battle, he reaching for his sword and prepared for some sort of attack that would mean to end his life. He was never afraid of any attacker of any sort or magnitude but the attacker that he sensed, made him uneasy. Finally, without seeing the attacker, Aizen felt a sting from the back and saw that he had blood all over his robes with a sword piercing his stomach. Soon after the sting, the piercing sword disappeared and he felt himself fall to the ground and soon, there was nothing but a sort of black that no one could describe. Aizen was dead and the sun was now awake.

Hinamori, disturbed and disconcerted by her dreams, woke up in the midst of day to the nice old-fashion alarm clock in her captain's room. She looks at the clock and with a truculent force jumps up from the mattress and runs towards the daily vice-captain's meeting. She was late once again and she was running with her full strength, she approached the main squad mountain and ran up the stairs. She decided to take a short cut in order to arrive early and hope that no one had taken attendance yet. She ran up the cut in the mountain and jumped onto the balcony of the building directly across from the vice-captain building. Hinamori was relieved and thought that she had arrived quicker then she would have imagined.

She was reassured now, she remembered that the other vice-captains favored her and would give her more slack in terms of attendance, she ran at a steady pace towards the eastern wall and the captains building. As she walked towards the vice-captain building, she began to hear a dripping of some sort. She froze.

"It can't be, that dream I had, it just can't be real! Even though I don't know the details of the dream, I know it couldn't have happened. Not to him, not to Aizen, not to the captain!" Hinamori said

"I should stop thinking like that, the captain said to stop worrying so much. Yes that's right; it's nothing, maybe just a water leak."

"Maybe I should take a look to see if the leak is bad, yes, that's what I should do. As a proud vice-captain of the greatest captain, Aizen Souske, I have the responsibility to upkeep the court of pure souls even if it's just a leaking pipe."

As she thought to herself, the dripping did not stop. Hinamori became almost happy at the thought of the words of her captain and turned around, expecting to see some water pipe that had been in need of replacement or repair for a long time. What she saw, was a complete shock to her eyes and soul. The captain had been murdered and stabbed onto the wall using a sword. Blood was dripping down from the sword wound and the captain's face looked peaceful. Hinamori was shocked and she walked slowly towards the ghastly figure.

"Captain Aizen…Captain Aizen…Captain Aizen…" said Hinamori

She called the captain's name out in sorrow while slowly walking towards his body. Then she screamed as loud as she could and from close by, the vice-captains were alerted to her presence. The vice-captains ran to see what had just happened when they found themselves as surprised as Hinamori herself.

"What happened here? How is this possible? What is going on?" said Kira

As Kira, Hinamori, and the rest of the vice-captains stand in shock trying to figure out what had happened to their beloved captain, trouble was aloof. Ichimaru Gin slowly makes his way to the scene and intrudes on the commotion.

"Oh my, what happened here?" said Ichimaru Gin

Hinamori eyed Ichimaru Gin with great suspicion. Without thinking, she reached for her sword and charged directly towards the captain with tears falling from her eyes and hate on her visage.

"Was it you!"

Before Hinamori was close enough to strike the captain, his vice-captain had stepped in and stopped her hateful blow. It was Kira, vice-captain of the 3rd division, and he had no intentions of allowing Hinamori to attack his captain. As the fight moved to the two vice-captains, Ichimaru slowly began to move away. His smile had come back, and he was looking as suspicious as ever to Hinamori.

"Move out of the way! He killed Captain Aizen!" said Hinamori

The two vice-captains were in a locked position, sword against sword, both unwilling to move or to allow the other any advancement of any sort against any side.

"How can you prove that!" said Kira

The sword lock was now broken and Hinamori as well as Kira were pushed back. Hinamori was desperate for revenge and released her sword's ability, the ability to shoot fire balls. Hinamori used the ability to the best of her skill and fired a fire ball at Ichimaru Gin by thrusting her released sword in the direction of the suspected murderer. The ball of energy missed and Kira was outraged that she would go so far to hurt his captain. He saw no choice and released his own sword with the ability to make any object that touches it two times heavier. It was a stand-off between the two vice-captains, one coming from the air, one on the ground defending. A moment before the clash, a figure steps between the bickering two and hits both swords to the floor. It was Hitsugaya, Captain Hitsugaya of the 10th Division. With a calm and collected look, he gave his orders.

"Take both of them away." Said Hitsugaya

x x x x x x

As the impartial vice-captains arrested the two fighting ones, Ichimaru Gin approached Hitsugaya and apologized for the trouble he had caused him.

"Sorry bout that, having you break up a fight over me" said Ichimaru Gin

Hitsugaya felt very disturbed by the way he talked and about his visage. To Hitsugaya, Ichimaru always had a menacing look; his smiles were all too fake. Hitsugaya felt distrustful towards Ichimaru for his motives and his eyes were all too veiled to see clearly. Suddenly, Ichimaru's hand reaches for his sword and Hitsugaya responds with a dead glare.

"You were trying to kill her Ichimaru? It won't work, I am warning you. If you make her spill one drop of blood, I'll kill you" said Hitsugaya

Ichimaru's hand had moved away from his sword but his menacing smile remained on his face.

"Oh, that's scary. Then you better make sure that the bad guy's don't get to her first" said Ichimaru

The captains walked towards each other then past each other in opposite directions. Captain Hitsugaya walked towards the 1st Division building to make his report on the happenings of the day.

As he arrived at the building, he requested audience with the general, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni. Yamamoto is one of the most respected captains among them all, and he is the closest person to the governing body of soul society. As he waited outside the building, the guard came out the front door showing him into the building.

The inside of the building was clean and very traditional looking. As Hitsugaya walked into the resting area of the general, he was amazed at the cleanliness of the space.

My division building never looked like this; it was always messy and unorganized

with books and papers all over the place. I wonder how such an old man manages to keep his home so clean

Hitsugaya's train of thought was broken as the general approached him with grace. Hitsugaya was nervous; for this was the first time he had met the general in person.

"Hello young Captain Hitsugaya, is there anything you need to talk to me about in person? Something important?" said the general

Hitsugaya immediately straightened up and answered with the most punctilious and taut tone.

"Yes sir! Today, captain Aizen was found murdered at the eastern wall. He was stabbed to the wall through the stomach" said Hitsugaya

The general gave a shocked look, usually keeping his eyes closed; he opened his eyes and was very disconcerted.

"How could this have happened? Did you find out who killed him?"

"No sir, but I do suspect that Ichimaru Gin be the culprit behind this mess sir"

The General was now more relaxed and his eyes went back into their natural positions. He paced about the room and looked into the clear sky.

"That is impossible, Ichimaru Gin, the killer? He has been a loyal captain well before you became captain that is not possible young captain. What reasons do you have to suspect him?" said the general

Hitsugaya was stomped; he needed to find a good reason. He had always disliked Ichimaru Gin because of his unclear motives and emotions but he did not actually have any physical proof as to his murderous intend towards Aizen. However, during the captains meeting before the sounding of the alarm, he did observe a very suspicious exchange of words between Aizen and Ichimaru in the most obscure fashion. He took one step forward and lost his collected visage.

"During the captain's meeting, I saw him exchange very strange words with Captain Aizen. I have reasons to suspect him to murderer, please give me the permission to investigate this matter more thoroughly! I respected the captain, Aizen was a friend of mine, he may be just another captain to you but believe me, he is much more to me" said Hitsugaya

The general became angry and his eyes opened once more, his visage became very taut.

"I will not have you make a fool of the 10th Division! No captain under the Gotei 13 will make such ridiculous investigations without physical proof. Now please be on your way now, I have other business to attend to" said the general

As the general walked away, Hitsugaya felt childish and insecure. It was near dark outside now, and only the moon would be there to light the way for him walking back to the 10th Division building. As Hitsugaya walked, he thought about what had happened. He could not believe that someone as strong as Aizen could be killed by Ichimaru Gin, but he did not doubt it because of some invisible force that forced him to become irrational and take action at the first sign of foul play. Hitsugaya realized that he had to grow up and become more collected, rather then rash and foolish.

As he approached the 10th Division building, outside waiting was his vice-captain, Matsumoto Rangiku. She greeted him and welcomed him home. At last, the child was home to rest. The next day, he would be out in the world to learn, grow and mature more.

The journey on the circle of tragedy has been started, and soon would grow and grow into a monster, untamed and unseen by our past or present.