Three hours later, Toshiro had an answer for Kenpachi. Lieutenant Hinamori Momo, the closest friend he had in the entire Gotei, was holding her zanpakuto to challenge him. She looked half-mad with rage and grief, and the accusations she shouted at him were completely insane.
He knew Aizen had spent years preparing her for this, working in tiny, little lies with all the comfort and wisdom he gave her, but it still hurt to hear her accuse him. He had never done anything but be a friend to her, and she was willing to believe he was a plotting villain, that he was a monster set on conquering all of Soul Society, and why? Because a letter from Aizen had told her so.
"He's not even dead!" Toshiro shouted at her as he dodged a kido blast. That would have hurt! She was really trying to kill him!
"Aizen faked his death!" He shouted more loudly. He didn't even care if it was supposed to be a secret anymore. He just wanted her to know. He wasn't her enemy; Aizen was.
"Liar!" She screamed back, launching an even more fierce flurry of attacks, forcing him to release Hyorinmaru just to defend himself.
"How could you?" She demanded again and again.
She hit him with more strength than he'd ever known she had. He should have expected it. Aizen had chosen her and trained her. He should have known she had the potential. She was a lieutenant. He had to fight her like a lieutenant.
But the moment he knocked her back with his ice-shielded arm she went down, crumpling like a paper doll.
Toshiro froze, absolutely overwhelmed by what he'd done. "Hinamori?" He said softly, forcing himself to take one step closer to her still form.
"That's the thing about people out for revenge; they're unbelievable on offense, but they do tend to neglect their defense."
Toshiro spun around. There was his father, looking down on him from the top of a tile-topped wall, smiling like always.
He lashed out immediately, sending an ice dragon hurtling directly at Gin, and then through the air, chasing after the dodging captain.
"What have I done this time?" Gin asked, as he shunpoed from one spot to another along the wall and the nearby rooftops. "You're the one who knocked to poor lieutenant out."
Toshiro raised Hyorinmaru, calling the ice dragon back. "You're right. You're not even worth getting angry at. You're just Aizen's stooge."
"Oi! I'm at least a henchman," Gin protested. "Maybe even the right-hand man; impressive, don't you think, for a nobody from Rukongai?"
"I think you're both traitors, and you deserve to die," Toshiro said.
"Are you hitting your dramatic stage?" Gin asked. "I've heard children have those, stages that is-anyway, I was wondering if you could do me a favor and take a message to your mother, since you don't want me seeing her."
"What?" Toshiro demanded.
"Well, you know," Gin looked away. "I did want to tell her-tell her I'm sorry, alright?" He turned back abruptly, smiling as big as ever. "Might make her feel a little better, don't you think?"
"I'm not going to lie to her!"
"Not even for her-oh, well, guess I'll be going then," Gin said lightly. Then he turned away.
Behind him Toshiro called out, "Bankai: Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"
Great wings of ice formed on his back lifting him into the air as ice flowed over the blade and down his arms and claws of ice grew from his feet. Three four petaled flowers appeared in the air above him, marking the time he had in bankai.
Gin smiled, even as the boy dived at him, and blocked his attack with Shinso before moving back. He could probably keep it up forever, blocking and dodging; Shiro had never gotten as fast as him. "Come on, you can do better than that!" He said, as he narrowly avoided getting caught in a band of ice.
"Why?" Toshiro demanded, suddenly. "You have everything! Why would you betray everyone?"
"First loyalty to your captain, right?" Gin said, pushing back against Toshiro's attacks for the first time, putting the boy on the defensive. "But, really, what reason do I need? It's been fun. Isn't that enough?"
Toshiro snarled and swung Hyorinmaru furiously, knocking Gin off balance just long enough to catch his left wrist with the zanpakuto's chain. Ice sprung instantly from the cold links, coating Gin's arm and quickly growing.
"I hate you!" Toshiro roared, attacking as forcefully as he could with the chain caught. "I hate you!"
Gin was forced to block Hyorinmaru one handed with the much smaller Shinso. The ice had grown from his left hand and now had trapped his leg and pinned him to the roof. He was in a bit of a jam, but he wasn't the sort to let it show.
"I've heard all children tell their parents that, sooner or later," he said, lightly, and smiled as he noticed Hinamori was finally waking up.
"Shoot to kill!" The silver blade flashed across the distance. Toshiro dodged it easily, but Hinamori let out a shriek as the blade bit into the ground a inch from her face.
Toshiro spun around, giving Gin the second he needed to free himself. Then he vanished, using shunpo to race away at a speed he knew Toshiro could not match.
"Shiro-kun," Hinamori's voice was very weak as he rushed to her.
"It's ok, Momo. You're going to be ok,' he said as he quickly looked her over. He had expected to find her bleeding, that his father hadn't left a scratch was almost unbelievable.
As he was bending over her, Hinamori reached up and touched his face, wiping away a tear he hadn't even known was there. "It's him, isn't it, Shiro-kun? He's the one. He made you help him, but you didn't want to-you couldn't hurt me."
Toshiro didn't even try to argue with her. She could believe what she wanted if that'd help her sleep better.
He'd finally managed to convince Miyako and Ganju to go home. There was nothing either of them could do but they had stood outside Kaien's prison for hours, talking with him, arguing with him, and mostly making his guards really nervous that a prison break might be staged at any moment.
But they had finally left and Kaien was laying back on the cot, trying to sleep, but knowing it was impossible.
The slightest of breezes passed through the room, and suddenly there was another presence in the room.
Kaien shot to his feet and stood staring in disbelief at his unexpected visitor. "Captain?"
Ukitake stood on the other side of the wooden bars, his long white hair shimmering in the dim light. "Lieutenant, I am afraid we must act quickly or things may go very wrong for all of Soul Society."