Hey all you wonderful people who read this. I finally found a spot in between all my obligations in life. I've had a lot to do as well as being sick, if anyone was wondering where I disappeared to. And although it might sound stupid, I really am doing my very best to post and finish this story. Since I still trying to breath in all this chaos, this chapter might sound rushed (since it actually is...) and filled with mistakes.

Belongs to Tite Kubo.

chapter 23: It begins

When he saw his subordinate pass straight after the boy, Hitsugaya decided not to following the kid and instead concentrate on how to get to the third the fastest way. The kid having opted to go the long way around every squad to get there. Seems like he didn't understand the concept of jumping from rooftop to rooftop just yet. Passing above the everyday life of the Seireitei, he notice quite fast that no one seem to care about the sudden explosion had had just happened.

The captain frowned at the different scenes that seemed to serine and peaceful. Then and there soul reapers laughing, walking by. People wasn't taking this seriously. Then again he might be the on that is overreacting. But no one here knew what this monster was capable of. He was able to keep a captain trapped for a year and the only reason he actually got out was probably because the experiment Hitsugaya was par of was finished. Honestly, the ending of that chapter had always left a sour taste as there was no real closure. And to expect the bastard to come back was apparently wise.

"You," he called out to one of the officers from the sixth positioned at the gate as he dropped down from the roof and in front of the man. "Why are you all so calm?" The man in question jumped a little at the suddenness, but that had to be expected as he just chose to land there on a split second.

"Captain Hitsugaya," answered the male when the fear was gone from his face, "what brings you to the sixth? Shall I call on the..."

"Why are you all so calm," he cut the man off. Why were all of them not on alert? Hitsugaya held the gas of the man who was desperately trying to look else were.

"Why should we?" He fumbled with the hem of his robe. Captain Kuchiki should place someone else at the gate as this one did have the strength if there was any one how would enter, he noted.

"Didn't you feel the energy just now?" The man looked more closely at the captain in front of him. Hitsugaya watched as the man went from nervous to confused. Looking around there wasn't many there.

"Captain Hitsugaya, are you alright?"

"Huh?" The captain looked back at the man that was looking at him as if he was some sort of wild animal. "Yes, yes." What if? "On second thought. How fast are you?"

"Excuse me sir?" The man was nervouse again.

"Can you stop fidgeting? How fast are you?" He asked the last question slowly for the receiver to understand what he was saying. "Or better yet, is there anyone around here that you know for certain is fast?"

The man looked sideways in desperation to find someone for the strange acting captain who would never speak or even look at the officers from a different squad unless it was work related. The face of the man lit up suddenly. Hitsugaya understood rather fast why, as captain Kuchiki told the man to go and leave this matter to him.

"Captain Hitsugaya, what may I do for you?"

"Why is no one on high alert?" noticing that he just blurred that out without a care, Toshiro rephrased himself. "Captain Kuchiki, good evening. I mean to ask why everyone is going about their days as if there wasn't a massive explosion not far from here."

The captain seemed to be thinking about it for a second before realising something.

"It is true, you probably have never experience what it feels like when you aren't right beside the culprit. You see Captain Hitsugaya, this is what we all feel when Ryuu is having his outbursts. We feel attacked and then we remember we have a ticking bomb on the inside of our walls."

"That wasn't Ryuu," he answered simply to the comment.

"Oh but it was, you see after all this time we have learned to recognise his energy from about everywhere."

Hitsugaya could feel the panic building up. He didn't even understand why he was so shaken by this horrible person, Yin Yang. Nothing could shack him, usually. It had never happened before so why did he feel nearly terrified by this person. It was like a resignation of his mind. He couldn't shack of the dread. And he knew exactly why Yin Yang was here. Well more for who, because what that mad man wanted was impossible to know. And the similar energy he shared with Ryuu was a good give away.

"Are you feeling alright, Captain Hitsugaya?" As he met the older ones eyes, he understood he had been out of it a little moment.

"Seireitei is under attack and I need someone to go to the first and warn them." The raised eyebrow Kuchiki was showing him was not a good sign. Breathing in and pushing away all feelings he started over.

"Captain Kuchiki, Ryuu was in my squad at the moment of the exploration. As you can understand, he could not have been the one responsible since the explosion happened in the third." The expression on the other captains face hardening.

"Why was Ryuu at your squad?"

"All due respect, but that is not the best moment to ask about that. Maybe after when we have understood what is going on, will I answer that question. What matters is that someone is framing Ryuu."

"Are you certain, raising an alarm for no other reason than because you didn't know the difference between two inviduals energy is not a great way to go here."

"I would never lie about such a thing. I know the man responsible for this and..."

"An acquaintance of yours," cut Kuchiki in.

"Not exactly. More of a person who I have been hunting down for a couple years now." As the other stayed silent, Toshiro continued. "He is a very dangerous man with both white and black hair, if that is still the case, and has an energy very similar to that of an arracnar and soul reaper at the same time. Somehow that energy is also similar to Ryuu's."

"A bit like Kurosaki then?" Toshiro knew from the look in his eyes that Kuchiki was believing him and understanding the severity of their situation he was presenting him.

"No, nothing alike. I have never felt an energy like that. It could be because I am still relatively young or the fact that they are not supposed to be any one. Are you satisfied."

"Why is he here." Toshiro looked away opting for the best solution. Truth was the only way to get Kuchiki's trust and the only reason he had it in the first place.

"Probably after Ryuu. As you might have noticed their energy isn't that far apart."

"Which would make it more easily to attack the Seireitei if everyone believed it was Ryuu to begin with. How sure are we that this person isn't the one doing it all the time."

"Because when you stand right beside Ryuu and it happens, you can freeze to death," he answer in a matter of fact voice. "Captain Kuchiki would you please inform the Head captain about what I just told you? I need to see if the man is still there."

"Shouldn't we both go there?"

"We need to warn the rest so that they walk around with their zanpakuto. A man with an obsession with opposites is the one that you are looking for. Yes and while I'm on the subject, this man has very distinguished eyes. Everything he does has something to do with opposites. White and black robes, hair in two different colours and so on. My belief is that Ryuu is indeed a single force that can represent two opposite forced in one body. Probably an experiment of his."

Not really giving the other captain the time to process what he just said, Hitsugaya prepared to leave before turning around and adding, "remember your zanpakuto. You will need it." And then he left the other alone.

So many thoughts that were fighting in his head. But the one that had to be the most important was why now? He almost fell over when he tried to stop in his track and his body not responding the wanted way, thinking about something different. Ryuu and Yin Yang had an awful lot in common. And as he tried to tell before, maybe Ryuu was one of the madman's experiments, but then how come his mother was, well, her? Or had she adopted him, which would mean the eye colour had nothing to do Simon and that he had been looking at this the wrong way since the beginning. What if...

He never got to continue his train of thoughts as something exploded right beside him.

…

Byakuya had felt the energy while sitting in his office. He hadn't really thought anything about it. The unusual explosions due to reitsu had become a normal occurrence that he had grown used to. Not that he liked it, since it immediately put a lot of people in danger, mostly the outer bound of Soul Society. The hollows that would appear rather quickly after such a commotion were an eyesore and even if the 11th squad were having "fun", Kuchiki was having a headache every time his subordinates came with the paperwork that was related to such a commotion.

It wasn't the first time captains had interacted with his squad members but it most certainly was the first time Kuchiki had seen captain Hitsugaya being mad at one of the usual people that guarded the gate. Well generally seeing the child prodigy showing any form of emotion is a rather unusual sight. As long as we were not talking about the young Kurosaki girl, then it was an entirely different story. Maybe this had something to do with her.

When Kuchiki had interrupted the other captain, maybe Kuchiki had already understood that something was up. No matter, better be on the safe side and warn the first squad of the suspicion. As to why Hitsugaya would even think that Ryuu was an experiment told him that the prodigy captain knew a lot more that what he had told.

When he did move toward the centre of the Seireitei there was indeed very few people out. Even though, the captain of the 10th was acting strangely. It wasn't much that could shake him out of his usual trans and more often than not this was related to a certain miss Kurosaki. When he learned it wasn't, the way he acted was even more strange. Or maybe her involvement in past problems had been covered up.

The sudden explosion that made him look up had to come from the fourth squad. Not much to do for him as he had taken another route. Captain Hitsugaya could take care of himself.

Captain Kuchiki had month ago realised the similarities between the child and the captain of the 10th squad. Having asked the head captain, this one had just told him to let it slide. Whatever was happening now must have something to do with that as the ice captain would never act this way if it was not.

The first squad was silent. No one at the gate, no one anywhere really. That should have been his first reason to go directly to the warning. The bureau where trained kido users could make sure to tell the rest of the community that something was up, was gone. That should have been the second. Had he been maybe a bit more aware of his surroundings he should have figured it out before it was to late.

He was drawn to the main hall were he could hear a few indiscreet voices. Knocking, he was surprised when the voice that told him to come in didn't belong to the head captain nor his lieutenant. The man that had called for him to enter was standing were the head captain would usually stand had he been present at the meeting. No matter, Kuchiki realise the one standing there was a representative from central 49, so whatever the man was about to tell them should be important.

Without other due, Byakuya went automatically to his place that would be in between captain Kurosaki and captain Kotetsu had either of them been there. As fast as he had thought so, a knock was heard at the door. The man in the middle, that had not yet spoken since Byakuya had come in, told whoever was on the other side to come in. The captain of the fourth apologised deeply before taking her place beside her fellow captains. Had she been summoned? On second thought, had any of them been notified about this meeting? It was pure coincidence that captain Hitsugaya had asked him to come here. But the man with the odd hairdo of black and white started talking. That was the third thing that should definitely had told Kuchiki that this was not right.

The man sat down in the chair positioned on the podium as he mumbled to himself before nearly shouting out: "Okey". Now Byakuya does not get jumpy and should not react with a scream. He had to look at his neighbour to assure himself it was her that made that sound and not an uninvited person, like say his niece.

"Dear captains of Seiretei," started the man, "most of you must have understood that I am part of the nobles of central 49. Of course there are rumours that goes around about us, but let me assure you that they are all false." The fake laugh at the end of that sentence sent a chill down Kuchiki's spine. "Now now, we are pleased to tell you that we are officially taking over the case about this young man, what was his name?"

"Ryuu," answered the Captain of the second.

"Yes, dragon, such a fitting name for such a boy. Now, we have heard a great deal about this brat and apparently you've all known that the different explosions happening all the time was due to this child. Why haven't we've been notified or even why haven't anyone come to us to ask what to do are not really questions we have to ask our self now. It is a bit to late for that I must admit. You selfish lot, so innocent, the perfects knights of this society and yet you discuss me."

At this point in the story, it was fair to say something was out of the ordinary. For one, the crude tone, the second was the questionably lack of knowledge of how central 49 even worked, and lastly the tickling sensation of numbness in Byakuya's limbs. It was just a tingle, but he could feel it. He couldn't move much and jugging from the face of captain Hirako from across the room, he wasn't the only one that was experiencing this.

"No, my dear captains, we are here to discuss how we are going to punish this child for being born? After all we all know it is his own fault for being alive, so he has to pay for that error. Right?" He was standing now and while raising his hand he screamed to the roof: "Right?" The short breath, he was mad at something, but he was indeed looking like he wanted to kill someone, blame someone.

"Let me tell you," his voice suddenly venomous, "a wonderful story of dead bodies." The eyes were wild, and Byakuya could finally see straight into the intruders eyes, because this could not be anyone else than an intruder. Such hate and misplaced colours. "A soul, just a beautiful soul that was strong enough to make it as the 10th seat in a wonderful squad. There she lived happily with the rest of her squad members. Well like all of you really. So why is it she, the innocent beautiful person she is, is the one that ended up being murders. I spit in the face of your traditions. You say you respect them and then you don't follow up on them. Well if you had Ryuu would have been dead by know. Why isn't that brat dead yet?"

By now, what ever this man said went straight trough Byakuya's mind. The tingling sensation that was before only a bordering nuisance, was now plain and simple making him dizzy. He could clearly see that he wasn't the only one that got affected this way as Hirako soon fell face first on the ground. The man in the middle didn't even budge. He was still telling his story in the background as if lulling them all to sleep. What a tragic way to go. He should have realised the moment he passed through the doors of the first squad that captain Hitsugaya was indeed right.

…

"Ryuu," screamed Rangiku still too far behind the child to actually be able to slow him down. After what must have been the tenth try to make him stop, he did.

"What," he asked right up in her face which would have been comical had the situation been different.

"Where are you going?" she responded with the same insistence as him.

"The squad is under attack," and with that he was about to leave again. She hold him back by the elbow.

"Not so fast, what do you think you are doing?"

"I told you, the third squad is under attack. Since I'm here it wasn't me, so someone else is trying to get me framed," he said as if she was the child in this discussion.

"I know that," she said bluntly. "I mean, where are you, as a minor, not actually a soul reaper, going?"

"Helping them out."

"Ryuu," she said stern, still holding onto his arm, "Go back to the tenth and stay there."

"No," he answered freeing the hold on his arm. "No, I will not go back to that squad. I will not sit idly by and let you all get killed."

"As much as I appreciate that, you are a child Ryuu, what exactly can you do?"

"Yeah, well I'm not staying and doing nothing." She breathed inn before taking on this problem.

"Yes you will, and I'll sit with you if that is what it takes. Right now, if this person is trying to frame you, you need to stay out of it. If his target is you, you need to hide. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"What am I? Five?" And he was back at the rebellious part of his life. She wondered if he ever found it disturbing to have such a wide spectre of mental changes, if you can even call it that. Maybe the difference between the world of the living and here was still affecting him.

"Ryuu," she tried calmly touching his shoulder. "The captains got this. They can fix it and they can protect you. Please, lets get back to the tenth squad."

"You don't get it do you?" he said still upset. Ah man, sometimes she really felt she was having an argument with Karin. They just never ended. "If what you are telling me is true and the captain really is, you now, my dad," he struggled to say, "then I don't want to miss him. I don't want him getting hurt."

"And I can understand your feeling, but think about this, maybe he doesn't want you hurt." She could feel she was getting somewhere. Well she would have, hadn't that blasted explosion happened. It wasn't far from where they were and they both fell to the ground due to the force. She stumbled, maybe she hit her head to and started bleeding, but still, so must he had done too. Well that was all that was needed for Ryuu to be gone. She couldn't see him. He was just gone.

…

The knocking on the door didn't exactly wake him but it did make him wonder who would visit him at such an hour. Tessai is the one that opened the door. Kisuke came down when his guest entered the room.

"Hat and cloth." She must have had a nightmare, why else would Karin Kurosaki, the one and only person who had even broken into his shop, stand in his shop with eyes puffy red from lack of sleep and in pyjamas.

"Karin. What brings you to me at this hour of the night?" He propped down in a sitting position and about to bring out his fan.

"Don't," she stopped him, "get up. I need a way to get to Seireitei."

If he had anything really in his mouth, he would have spat it out. What exactly did she just say?

"Excuse me?" Hopefully Tessai was there to spare him the embarrassment of asking so.

"You heard me. I need to get there now."

Karin and Seireitei on her own, those where not good odds. Last time she ended up dragging a good man down with her. Or the other way as no one really knows what happened. And, well, he would never believe she would ever want to go back there. Not to mention that the head captain had informed her on numerous occasion she had no right to even set foot in Seireitei before she died.

"What are you waiting for you thousand year old fossil?"

"Now, now, that is no way to talk to someone you want something from. Why?"

Instead of answering she showed him the little piece of jewellery he recognised, a pin who had once belonged to a certain captain and that he himself had made a few years back.

"Ah, the captain is in trouble."

"No, Ryuu. I gave him the other one. Okay, will you just hurry up." She answered to his smirk.

"Where is the rush, he is surrounded by captains there to protect him."

"He's back," she said in between her teeth. "I can feel it in my bones. Yin Yang is back."

He didn't know more than the few things Karin might have slipped on him, but if she was this devastated by the news.

"A gate it is," he said moving toward the cave under his house. "This will take a while. Get some sleep while you can Karin. When you are there there will be no time to rest."

Hey, wonderful folks :D Thank you for reading :)
As I was correcting what I could find of errors in my tired state, there might be a large part of repeating myself. Sorry 'bout that.