A small Koi pond was in the middle of the garden with large weeping willows looming over it. There were numerous plants and flowers decorating the small paths around the pond. A small water fountain was the only noise present other than the somewhat distant white noise of conversation at the nearby gathering. They were the only two persons were present in the dim garden.

The large wolf headed captain was casually leaned against the pale barracks wall as he kindly spoke with his new found friend. A relaxed expression was on Zakuro's face as he got to know her.

"You dont seem to miss your home realm too much."

His words made her look away from him and shift her weight. Zakuro stared off to her left as she admitted it,

"I really don't miss it. It feels strange."

"Would you want to elaborate?"

His response got her attention focused back on his face, she stared hard at him for a few moments. Zakuro hated opening up to anyone, giving them information gave them power over you. She didn't like showing any hint of weakness whatsoever. But, something was different about him. His presence was tranquil and made her feel at ease, he certainly didn't seem the type to use anything against her down the road.

The violet haired woman took a slow deep breath,

"I am somewhat of a celebrity in the world of the living. I'm a singer, model, dancer... a performer. I just... "

She trailed off, having doubts and feeling she was over sharing to someone she didn't know that well. The captain sensed her tension,

"I'm sorry, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. I don't enjoy sharing my personal feelings with others either. It's hard to know who you can trust."

As soon as he spoke, he vividly saw his former friend Tosen in his mind. Remembering their friendship was painful, and his death was even harder to stomach. It still hurt like a sharp barb in his abdomen. It made his gaze move away to the pond in front of them, his eyes searched the scene in front of him for answers to his thoughts that weren't there. Zakuro gawked up at him and her voice lowered as she spoke again,

"I'm sure you say that from experience."

"I do, unfortunately. I lost my best friend to the enemy for a reason I still dont quite understand, and it cost him his life. I always think about what I could have done differently, but I don't like to talk about it much."

Zakuro felt sorrow wash over her, she didn't really have close friends like that. The girls were the closest to her, and even their relationship felt like arms length sometimes. The girls all talked about their personal lives, but no one knew much about hers. No one really bothered to ask. Perhaps it was her own fault, for not opening up.

She spoke again in a deliberate but respectful tone,

"You probably couldn't have done anything different. A lot of People are going to do what's best for them, not for what's honorable."

He immediately felt somewhat sorry for her and her perception that others were so selfish. However, Tosen had betrayed so many that he called friends for not himself, but for what he claimed to be a greater purpose. It still ached in Komamura's chest, he responded cooly to the girl,

"Not everyone is selfish like that. Sometimes they are just following what path they believe is right. Their perception is perhaps just different."

"It's a spit in the face of those who care about their well being."

Zakuro almost snapped back, he maintained a calm and respectful demeanor,

"I feel one must do what is best for the greater good. But you're right, it unfortunately could hurt those close to them."

Zakuro felt very comforted by him, she couldn't quite put her finger on what quality it was that he had that put her at peace. For just a moment she had felt tense, but there was something about him that immediately soothed her. She smiled slightly and looked up into his amber eyes,

"I agree. But then again, most aren't willing to self sacrifice for what is right."

"Sounds like you've done a lot for others, and haven't taken much time for yourself. Maybe fame isn't healthy for you."

His words felt like a hot coal. It was something she tried to keep buried down, her self doubt about her career. Sknew it was unintentional on Komamura's part to strike that nerve inside her. Her gut wrenched, further pondering of the regrets she had about pursuing her career. It wasn't what she thought it was, her family had pushed her and then left her high and dry it felt. It had always been so lonely. Her parents let her be lonely growing up, and it's hard to get close to anyone when you're just their idol. Being a mew is the closest she ever has felt to having good friends.

"Yeah... You're probably right."

...

Nearby, Rangiku took note of a cohorts absence as she downed another drink. Nanao sat near her, less intoxicated than the woman beside her. The curvaceous blond held her drink up as if to point with it, slurring her words,

"Where.. Where is Hinamori? She's... She's ssssupossed to be here with us?"

Nanao looked around the table, over the heads of the male lieutenants drinking in the chairs across from them. Hinamori's seat was notably empty.

Nearby, Hitsugaya overheard Hinamori's name mentioned by the two women. He perked up and glanced around, also noticing his good friend's vacancy. He was not intoxicated and was not entirely fond of the celebrations such as this. The white haired captain swiftly stepped away from everyone towards one of the garden paths and used his spiritual pressure to search for her, and noticed she was very far from the party.

He furrowed his brow in concern, why would she have left so quickly? She hadn't said a word.

...

Ryou shook his head while looking down at his drink clasped in his right hand,

"I'm not sure if they'll want to do that."

A cheerful pink cloaked man chuckled beside him as he took a sip of his own beverage, leaning back in his chair. He had just presented the idea to make the mews into substitute shinigami- something that had been a hard law in the past under Yamamoto. But with the threats they potentially faced now, they may have no other option.

The head captain had a slight blush to his cheek from the alcohol as he responded,

"They might not really have a choice... it's the only sure-fire way to boost their power and we know it works. They're far too weak to face even a low ranking arrancar at this point. An Espada would kill them on the spot. We have to do something."

The blond man nodded, understanding completely where he was coming from. The mew team had gone from thinking the fight was over, but it was overwhelming to think they were no where near done with this burden. Ryou noted the captain stiffen up and become more rigid, and the color faded from his face all at once. It was as though he saw a ghost. His glass suddenly was dropped to the table and cracked.

Ryou's sobering reaction became present on his own face with great concern at the sudden change in his counterpart,

"What is it?"

Kyouraku took a shaky breath, a distant but heavy spiritual pressure was suddenly gone. As if it had vanished. The brown haired mans eyes were wide as the party began to fall silent around them, all of the captains and lieutenants seemed to sense the same sudden change in the atmosphere.

Although Aizen had always been pent up in the deepest prison of the central 46, but the most powerful of shinigami could still detect his existence. And it was now entirely gone.

...

Hitsugaya felt his stomach lurch upon sensing Aizen's disappearance, it hit him as he stood on a rooftop observing Hinamori standing outside the main doors of the central 46. She stood alone at the main entrance doors, staring at them in the middle of the large concete thoroughfare. The plain building always made him uneasy to see after the betrayal of Aizen and his history with his zanpakuto. But now he felt even more so perturbed that he could no longer detect any trace of Aizen's reiatsu. It was like he simply vanished.

The white haired captain immediately flash stepped up behind Hinamori as she stood gawking at the doors.

"Hinamori, what are you doing here?"

He felt nervous energy surge through him, he wasn't sure if she felt the same thing he had just felt. Part of him felt some misplaced anger that she would come here alone, but a deep piece of him knew how she cared for Aizen more than just as her captain. The girl didn't turn back to look at him, and kept her eyes fixed on the door.

"I was wondering what it was like in there... And now..."

The girl slowly looked back over her shoulder at him with a vacant expression,

"It seems Captain Aizen might not be in there at all anymore."

Her casual reaction felt like needles in his skin. It irked him so much that she still referred to Aizen the traitor as 'Captain'. Hitsugaya's temper immediately flared, he grit his teeth and practically spat a response,

"What is wrong with you? If he's really gone do you have any idea what that means?!"

He wasn't good at hiding his frustration, he never was. His lack of tact really was like sandpaper to those around him. grinding upon those that didn't like him. Hitsugaya tried to fight his building anger and confusion towards his long time friend who seemed completely mentally absent. The final battle with Aizen and the Espada had changed her in a way he didn't like.

Hinamori blinked, and just seemed in a daze. It certainly wasn't alcohol from the party as she hadn't been drinking with the others or even talking for that matter. Something was surely wrong with her. She took a shaky breath and appeared as though she could cry,

"I don't know why... but since Captain Aizen left... I always felt-"

She was abruptly cut off by the appearance of Kyouraku, Nanao, Byakuya, and Renji. Hitsugaya whipped around to look at the others, Renji immediately hissed at the two,

"Aizen could be gone and you two are just fuckin' standing here?"

Before Hinamori or Hitsugaya could respond, Kyouraku brushed passed them to the main doors of the central 46. He didn't look back over his shoulder as he issued his commands,

"Now is not the time to squabble, we could have a serious problem on our hands. I'm going down there to confirm it with my own eyes. The rest of you are to dispatch all squads to begin searching for any evidence of this disappearance. Immediately. I want to know if there is so much as a speck of suspicious reiatsu in the entire area."

...

The alarms sent the shinigami into a flurry. Everyone was searching for any trace of Aizen or a possible intruder for over a day. Hours went by of scouring every inch of the Sereitei and even the Rukon District. But the most troubling of all, was that there was nothing. Amongst hours of searching, not even a trace of reiatsu was found to identify the intruder.

The captains met back up at the main thoroughfare in front of the first district at sundown of the day after the celebration, and the tensions were flaring up due to the exhaustion of the search.

"What the fuck good is the 12th division if they can't detect an intruder? Your whole division is a fucking joke!"

Kenpachi roared angrily at the unusual pharoah looking captain of division twelve. Mayuri grit his teeth and stood up straighter in front of the monsterous black haired man,

"You are blaming me for something you don't even quite understand? You insolent-"

He was cut off by Kyouraku loudly booming over them,

"Everyone. Now is the worst possible time to be divided. The worst has happened to us, and now we need to prepare every armed person in the sereitei. Aizen could be anywhere, and we have to assume the worst and that he is likely back in Hueco Mundo."

The tired captains around him fell quiet. It was troublesome to know that the ultimate enemy they had defeated had just vanished from a maximum security cell without anyone seeing a thing. The central 46 had been unharmed, and they were in a scramble as well, as none of them could fathom someone entering the building without being detected. Hitsugaya angrily glared at Gin, considering whether he could possibly be involved again. He never fully bought the double agent role Gin supposedly played.

The floral clad head captain continued to address his subordinates,

"We have to get geared up quickly, because we can't give him an opportunity to recover fully or to build his army again. We will have a captain's meeting first thing tomorrow morning, have your lieutenants present as well. I know everyone is exhausted, so get some rest tonight. I don't think we have anything suspicious left in the Sereitei, but keep an eye out for anything. We will re-address this first thing in the morning when everyone has some rest under their belt."

Hitsugaya was still troubled, a scowl was present on his face. He wasn't even listening to the head captain issue orders, he was thinking back to Hinamori and what she hadn't finished telling him. His head buzzed with the idea of a conspiracy between Gin and Aizen. Maybe Hinamori's feelings towards Aizen were even deeper than he thought too- or maybe it was Aizen's zanpakuto affecting her. He couldn't be sure, but something wasn't right.

...

Ichigo bounced her leg nervously as she sat on the back patio of the 3rd division barracks, Izuru and Gin had been gone since the promotion celebration. The sun was setting and rain was falling lightly around her in the courtyard. There was a small pond and some persimmon trees around the area. She had no ability to sense reiatsu, so she had been left behind. The cat girl twisted her mouth in thought, wondering what was taking Keiichiro so long to find the others. They needed the rest of the team, they needed everyone they could to face off against Deep Blue.

The thought that he was more formidible in the after life was gut wrenching to say the least. It hurt her in a way she couldn't describe to think they were no longer powerful enough to fight Deep Blue. However, some comfort was found knowing that the Sereitei had so many capable warriors to help the cause.

The girl leaned back, propping her upper body with her hands splayed out beside her. She gazed over the trees at the darkening sky. They would have to train harder.

Movement out in the courtyard made her jerk upright on the off chance it was something important. Someone flash stepped under the overhang she was perched under and it was the now soaking wet captain of the 3rd division. Ichigo practically squeaked as she popped up to her feet,

"Captain you're soaked!"

Gin wore his usual grin and nodded to her,

"No worries Ichigo~ Did anything happen while I was gone around the barracks?"

The feeling of being utterly useless washed over her as soon as he asked the question. She felt like a housecat left to guard a home. He had been out searching and being productive along with the rest of the division, and she was left here because she couldn't sense spiritual pressure or provide any viable assistance to their search party. It was new to her to feel utterly powerless. Ichigo swallowed her feelings of inadequacy and shook her head,

"Nothing really."

Her expression appeared slightly glum, and nothing made it passed Gin's perceptiveness. As soon as he noted her demeanor, he stepped up closer to her, within arms reach. His soaked hair clung to his forehead and around his narrow eyes as he spoke to the shorter girl,

"What do ya look so sad for?"

Ichigo hesitated, feeling somewhat nervous that he was now standing so close to her. He was so bizarre in his mannerisms, it was hard to read him completely. She choked out an answer,

"I'm... I'm sorry I'm not more useful. I feel kind of helpless, it's something I'm not used to."

Gin's grin widened, he enjoyed a helpless opponent. He reveled in the conflicted emotions of others, but this girl had begun to greatly pique his interest. The captain leaned down even closer,

"You are very useful to me! And I believe the head Capt'n has something to bolster yer powers. So I wouldn't fret too much."

Ichigo gawked up awkwardly at the lean man, he strangely felt comforting to her. She wasn't sure why, but he was quite interesting. It was as though when she was around him, Masaya felt farther from memory. Guilt panged her heart as soon as she thought of him and how distant they'd become. He hadn't even bothered to answer a slough of phone calls and texts from her before she departed. What was more important than your girlfriend going to a realm of souls?

Gin caught her attention once again and stepped back and shed his wet haori. Ichigo realized he was shedding his clothing and whipped around to look away,

"I'll go so you can get dried off Captain!"

She sounded frazzled as she said it and felt her cheeks somewhat flush pink. Something about the way he acted around her made her nervous and excited, like everything was so new. The silver tongued captain brushed against her as he walked passed her,

"I'll see ya in a bit then Ichigo~"

The inflection he used on her name felt like she was his cute pet or something, she thought it was rather cute. No one ever spoke to her that way before. Ichigo kicked herself and turned back to the rainy courtyard as Gin slipped off into the barracks to change. What was wrong with her? Why would she feel so thrilled at the attention of a complete stranger?

...

The rain was pouring loudly by this point, the dull roar of inclement weather filled the sereitei. A black haired girl sat quietly in the outdoor thoroughfare of division 5, her entire body was soaking wet from trekking through the rain to get back here. She stared quietly in a kneeling position, her eyes fixated on the doors ahead of her by a few feet.

It was Aizen's former chamber when he was the captain, seemed like a life time ago. Hinamori stifled a sob as she stared at the door, hoping somehow the Aizen she had known would emerge and everything that happened could be a bad dream. She was so enthralled in her day dream she failed to take notice of her childhood friend, Hitsugaya. The white haired captain sputtered a curse under his breath at the weather as he arrived.

The white robed young man stood near her on the long patio type hall outside of Aizen's former chamber. His eyes were locked on the side of her face as she continued to sit in a kneeling position. For a few moments, the dull purr of the rain was all they could hear. It hurt him in a way to see her like this, they had always been so close. She appeared as an abused dog, still returning to the owner who injured it so badly. He spoke directly but as kind as he could muster,

"Hinamori... What is going on? I'm worried about you, you're acting different recently."

The young woman swallowed hard and failed to blink away the tears that streamed from the corners of her eyes. She appeared so tired and worn down,

"I just... wish everything could have been different. I wish it was back to the way things were. Since Captain Aizen left, I feel like, everything that motivated me to get to this position has all fallen away. It's like, I don't know why I bothered to get here."

Hitsugaya felt anger pool inside him again, she was so hopelessly obsessed with Aizen that it bore into him like hot coal. He tried to remain calm and knelt down beside her, earning her tearful gaze.

"He's not who we all thought he was, it shook all of soul society when he turned on us. But he is gone Hinamori, you have to let him go. He might even be gearing up to fight us again as we speak. We have to be ready, and the Sereitei needs you."

Letting go of Aizen is something she'd been unable to do entirely. Hinamori blinked a few times as she still cried quietly in front of her dear friend. Part of her had thought of what it would be like to be with Hitsugaya in a romantic sense, but that all seemed to disappear as soon as she met Aizen. He was all that she could think about. Impressing him and being the best lieutenant for him was all she wanted, and he still left her behind. He so easily abandoned her and used her as a decoy during his final assault on Karakura.

It was devastating to be so invested in someone to have them utterly disregard you as if you never existed at all. Hinamori choked out words to her friend,

"I just want to know why he did it... If I could ask him that, I would feel at ease."

...