Free Talk- Yay! A new chapter! And the reason I am so excited is because like many other authors, I have recently been having a terrible time with the document manager. It won't let me upload. But thanks to a tip I found on the fanficrants community at Live Journal, I was able to get past it. Just in time, too. I was really starting to lose it. If anyone else is experiencing this, log in and go to stories. Open the chapter list and choose to export one of them. The chapter will appear in your documents and you may then cut and paste the content you want in edit mode. Then you can save the changes and use it to update a story. For the record, I also fixed the very embarrassing typo in the last chapter where I wrote 'arms' instead of 'eyes.' I hope everyone doesn't think I'm a total dullard. And to those who do think I'm a total dullard, I thank you for reading my stories anyway. I do my own proofreading… I hope people enjoy the new chapter. Shiro may seem a bit harsh in this one, but all of us who like the kid know it's just how he deals with this kind of situation. Thanks for the support and patience (and overlooking of typos). Please tell me what you think.
Sympathy For the Devil
By Miss Angel Maxwell
thirteenth chapter
THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR WILL BE SECRET
"Captain?"
Toushirou didn't open his eyes at the sound of his vice captain's voice, and continued to lay motionless on Orihime's rooftop. He was deep in thought.
"Captain, Miss Inoue and I are going over to that Ichigo kid's house," Matsumoto told him. "The whole gang is going to meet up there and discuss Aizen's current dormancy. Will you be joining us?"
"Perhaps later," the boy answered with his typical cold indifference. "Don't let that stop you from going, though. I'd rather think things out on my own."
"You're still trying to figure out how to get Momo back," his busty colleague sighed. "It's hard when the enemy won't even show his face, isn't it?"
"It's not just Aizen, though," the young captain informed. "We haven't seen or heard from any of his flunkies either. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that Ichimaru Gin. I'm sure that scum knows where Momo is…" Hitsugaya paused and opened just one eye. The look on Rangiku's pretty face was one of deep longing and regret. "Sorry," the boy apologized gruffly. "Forgot it was a sensitive subject for you."
"Oh, don't worry about me," she replied, flashing an obviously forced smile. "I'm fine, really. Well, I'd better get going. I hope you come up with something. And feel free to come over if you get too lonely, Captain."
Hitsugaya raised an arm and waved the woman away casually. "Yeah, yeah… Take care." Then he waited patiently for the sound of the sunroof closing behind her. When he heard it, he let loose a relieved sigh. He cared about Matsumoto very much, but he liked to be alone when he was in his thinking spot. Last night it had been Izuru, tonight it was Rangiku. There was always someone ready to butt into his personal space and his private time.
With a sigh, he tucked his arms behind his head and gazed up at the night sky. Hitsugaya knew his conversation with Vice Captain Kira could not be dismissed as a mere annoyance because it had been on his mind ever since. Over the past 24 hours, the young man's mind had been consumed not only with rescuing the girl he'd loved since boyhood. But also with how he was going to treat her differently after he did. He was going to get Momo back. That wasn't even a question. And he was going to continue to look out for her and protect her. But he wouldn't patronize her or talk down to her, as if she were a child.
Realizing he'd made a resolve to change himself based on the example of Kira Izuru, a deep frown crossed Hitsugaya's face. "Well, it's not like I'm trying to be like him," he snorted to himself. "I'm just going to become a guy that Momo can see as something other than a little brother… and Kira just happens to be that kind of guy. It's a coincidence really." He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and growled. "Rrrrr… But it doesn't matter if we can't get her back from the bastard! Maybe I should just go to that stupid meeting and see what the others have to say."
Even though he firmly believed that large group thinking usually produced more chaos than insight, Toushirou decided to join his friends and colleagues at Ichigo's home. He stood up and was neatening his white captain's jacket when a flash of blue light sparkled in the very corner of vision. Immediately he whipped around, just in time to see a distant column of blue flame blossom upwards several blocks away then quickly fizzle out. There was an unsettling familiarity to the fire, like the glow that danced around Momo's zanpakutou when she released it.
"Tobiume?" the boy gasped. "Could that be possible?"
Of course, even if it weren't possible that Momo was here in the Living World, Toushirou's initial gut instincts were enough to give his feet wings and send him flying in the direction of the disturbance. His fingers gripped tightly around Hyourinmaru's hilt as he dashed from rooftop to rooftop, his hair and clothes rippling from the speed of his travel. He wasn't sure what unsettled him more, the fact that the fire reminded him of Tobiume, or the fact that it was snuffed out so easily. With taught muscles and clenched teeth, the boy captain quickened his pace.
Hitsugaya's heart had been beating insanely since he first saw the blue light, but when his feet touched ground at its now darkened location, his heart nearly stopped. Except for some scorched pavement and singed grass, there was very little to indicate what exactly had happened and even these things were completely ignored by the white haired boy. His full attention was captured by the pitiful shape of broken young woman, lying bloody in the street next to the glistening pieces of a shattered sword.
"Momo!" he cried out in anguish, as he leapt to her side. Very carefully, he rolled her over from her side. She was alive but unconscious, and Hitsugaya couldn't assess the full extent of her injuries. A head wound was leaking dark red blood down the side of her face and matting her hair. Her mouth and her nose were a swollen bloody mess. She probably had internal injuries as well. Her forehead already burned hot with fever. Right away, the boy started tugging off his white jacket to wrap her up in. His hands were shaking.
His voice was shaking, too. When he spoke again, it was trembling so badly he could barely recognize it as his own. "H-hang in there, Momo… D-don't die on me… D-don't you d-dare die on me…!"
Even though Momo was bigger than him, her body felt so tiny in his arms somehow. He clutched the bundle close to his chest. As her blood began to soak through his captain's jacket, a much rarer liquid, Hitsugaya's tears, dripped down his chin and onto her bruised face. He didn't even realize he was crying as he ran. All he could think about was saving the life of the girl in his arms.
There's nobody from the 4th Division here with us, but Miss Inoue has healing powers. And that Kurosaki father is a human doctor. I have to get Momo to Ichigo's house!
Izuru was easy for the others to ignore, a meeker shinigami amongst bolder colleagues. They carried out their heated debates in Ichigo's living room completely oblivious to the fact that the blonde boy was lost in a world of his own thoughts. He was worrying about Momo. She was all that he could think about since he saw her the night before. The internal argument between his brain and his heart consumed him.
Momo could be in danger. But she was so happy. She's living with the enemy. She loves him and says that he loves her. But that could easily be a lie, knowing what we do about Aizen. Maybe she really can save him. But what are the odds of that? Should I tell somebody? She swore me to secrecy. I can't break her trust…
This dialogue had cycled over and over in his head all night, preventing him from getting any quality sleep, and continued all the next day. Now it was still carrying on when he should be paying attention to the meeting, and somehow the longer he dwelt on the situation the more his mind seemed to focus in on one specific detail, the babies. Will Momo's children really be safe?
"What do you think,Vice Captain Kira?" a voice managed to cut through his trance.
"Yo Kira, Rukia asked you question," another voice said gruffly. This one belonged to Abarai Renji.
"Well… I uh…" the clueless blonde began, hoping that he would miraculously remember what had been asked of him. It was definitely better if he didn't admit that he wasn't paying attention. "You see… I…"
Right before Izuru was about to confess his ignorance, a loud crash broke through the room, conveniently stealing all attention from him. His moment of relief, however, lasted only as long as it took Hitsugaya to kick open the front door and burst into the house. When Izuru saw what the captain of the 10th carried in his arms, his blood turned to ice water. The entire room, shinigami and humans, were in a stir, but he was once again unaware of them.
"Momo!" he cried, rushing over to her. "Captain, what happened to her?"
Hitsugaya was more frantic than Kira had ever seen him. "I'm not sure," he growled. "I found her a few blocks away… She needs medical treatment! Where's Miss Inoue? And Kurosaki Isshin?"
"I… I'm right here," Orihime answered in a timid voice. The uproar had clearly shaken her. "I'll go and get Ichigo's dad from upstairs and meet you in the clinic. There's a fresh bed in there." Then she dashed off as quickly as lightening.
"You, Kira," Toushirou barked. "Take me to the clinic. Everyone else stay here for now."
Without hesitation, Izuru followed the captain's order and led him through the door to the Kurosaki Clinic. Orihime and Isshin arrived just moments later, panting from their quick sprint. Momo was still enveloped in Hitsugaya's jacket when he set her down on the bed, so he and Izuru had to unwrap her as gently as possible and not cause her any further injury.
"Poor girl," Orihime whimpered. "She's only wearing pajamas. And she doesn't even have any shoes."
"She's got a pretty serious wound on her head," Toushirou explained. "That's the most obvious injury. But I think there must be internal injuries as well. She's hemorrhaging from somewhere."
Izuru's watery blue eyes scanned Momo's limp body from head to toe, his heart continuing to pump freezing liquid throughout him. Where was she hemorrhaging? When his gaze moved down her abdomen, he found the answer and his eyes widened in horror. The crotch of her white pajama pants, right at the apex of her thighs, was soaked with dark red blood.
"The babies!" he gasped. "Momo's babies are in danger!" Three pairs of eyes immediately turned on him.
"This is the young woman from last night?" a baffled Mr. Kurosaki asked. "I didn't recognize her face through all the swelling."
Toushirou's eyes darted back and forth accusingly between the doctor and the blonde shinigami. "What the Hell are you two talking about? What babies? What happened last night? Tell me now!"
"I…" Izuru began with a shudder. He didn't know how to explain, and the mix of fear and guilt that flooded his chest made it even more difficult for him to articulate the situation. Unable to speak or think while melting under Hitsugaya's vitriolic gaze, Izuru turned his face. But the white-haired captain lunged at him impatiently, grabbed the collar of his uniform, and forced him to look.
"What the Hell is going on?" he growled.
Izuru flinched. "Momo is pregnant," he mananged to say. "She came to the Living World last night and told me herself. I brought her to this clinic so she could see her baby... you know, on that machine that looks inside people. Well that's when she found out she was having twins. She made me promise not to tell anyone she'd been here."
No matter how scary Hitsugaya's face was when he was angry, it was nothing compared to how it looked he was in a blank state of shock. His relaxed jaw and vacant stare reminded Izuru of those people who go into a trance before they walk on glowing hot coals. For a few moments, he was certain that the boy was psyching himself up to murder him. The captain leaned in closer, dangerously close.
"Are they his?" he asked in a low, gravelly voice.
"What?" Izuru replied.
"The babies," Toushirou clarified in that same, eerie growl. "Are they his? Are they Aizen's? Did he get her pregnant?"
"Y-yes," the blonde stuttered nervously. "B-but it's not what you think! He and Momo are in a consenting relationship. She said so herself! And… and she said that they were both happy with the situation, that they were in love!"
The younger boy glared at the elder only briefly, and then, much to Izuru's relief and confusion, eased back and turned away. He changed his focus back to Momo, who was now being delicately examined by two very different healers. "Put all of your efforts into saving Momo," he said authoritatively. "Don't spare any on that bastard's children. He's probably the one who did this to her."
"No!" Izuru objected, in an inexplicable surge of brass. "You have to save the babies! They're Momo's children! They… they have names! She loves them more than anything in the world! If they die, it would break her heart so badly… I don't think it could ever be fixed. Please, do whatever you can to save them!"
Hitsugaya's eyes turned on the vice captain once again, this time with twice their previous ferocity. "If Momo dies it will be because of you! Because you let her go back to that villain!" he growled. "Momo would be fine if you'd kept her here!"
"She wanted to go!" Izuru stammered. "There was nothing I could do! Was I supposed to chain her up and force her to stay?"
Nostrils flaring, Hitsugaya opened his mouth to answer, but what came out instead was a yelp of pain. At the very same time, Izuru felt a sudden twinge of pain in his ear and looked up to see Kurosaki Isshin looming over him. The doctor had both young men tightly by the ears, and a disgruntled frown was plastered onto his face.
"Both of you, out!" he barked. "You're just getting in the way, so get out of my clinic!"
Neither boy put up a fight as they were ushered out of the clinic and the door shut behind them. Kurosaki Isshin had quite a commanding presence when he wanted to. Once he was well out of earshot though, Hitsugaya turned to Izuru with a severe scowl.
"Thanks for getting us kicked out," he grumbled. "You know it really pisses me off to think I was starting to admire you, Kira."
Izuru didn't have any words to respond with. He just sank to the hallway floor and buried his face in his hands. Despite his best efforts to stay calm, tears began to leak out from between his fingers, more and more until he was practically sobbing. Toushirou crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at the older boy.
"There's no use in crying," he grumbled. "Dry up."
"I know," Izuru wept. "But I can't help it. What if they can't save her? I'm scared, Toushirou. And I know you are too. When you first crashed through that door I could see tears in your eyes."
Hitsugaya frowned. "Well, I've gotten that out of my system now. The time for crying is over and now it's time for me to take action." The weight of hot-blooded resolution in his voice blanketed over both young men. "I am going to kill Aizen Sousuke, with my bare hands if I have to. The price for spilling Momo's blood is death, and I will be the one to administer it. And if Ichimaru or the blind one tries to get in my way, I'll kill them too. I'll murder anyone who gets in my way."
"What about the rest of us?" Izuru asked. "What are we to do while you're on your killing spree? Start digging graves?"
"Don't you dare," the captain replied. "I'm not going to give that monster the dignity of burial. When I kill Aizen, I'll throw his carcass to the wolves."
He clenched his fists tightly and hot air steamed from his nostrils as he let his bloodlust flow through him. Right when his eyes were narrowing to the point where Izuru was genuinely scared, the door to the clinic opened. Kurosaki Isshin stepped out solemnly, his gloved hands slippery with red blood and his head bowed soberly. Both shinigami watched anxiously as he looked up, and with a desolate expression, addressed them.
"I'm so sorry, boys…"
To be continued…
