Chapter Seventeen

"Hitsugaya-taichō wants what?" Rukia asked Renji in surprise after he dropped by her division that morning to inform her of what his captain — her brother — had told her.

"No idea but it has to do with trapping Karin before more trouble ensues." He sighed. "I mean, he's a smart kid and all and he trapped her the first time, I'll give him that but... how sure is he of his plan?"

"What even is his plan?" Rukia signed. "Can we blindly trust him?"

"I was sent by your brother so he must be involved." Renji said and that was the most confusing part of all. Why was her brother in on this? He normally never cared about things like this and was a stickler for the rules.

Rukia sighed. "I'll go to hear what he has to say. I'm sure he has something planned and isn't going into this blindly."

"He is a pretty sharp kid." Renji said. "I just wanna know why he's so invested in Ichigo's little sis. Maybe he has a crush?"

"Who? Hitsugaya?" Rukia laughed. "Impossible. This is the same guy who had to be tricked into going to drink sake with a bunch of Shinō Academy girls then leave ten minutes after he arrived."

"Who knows?" Renji said. "He said they used to play football together. Didn't know Hitsugaya even liked playing games. He is such an old man at heart, no wonder him and Jūshirō drink tea together in the evenings."

"Who drinks tea together in the evenings?" The two lieutenants froze in the midst of their jokes as Ukitake strolled into the office and sat at his desk.

"Taichō! You're supposed to be working from home." Rukia nagged.

"I ran out of paperwork and needed some fresh air." Ukitake smiled at the two. "Are you not going to greet this old frail man, Kuchiki-fukutaichō... Abarai-fukutaichō?"

"Good afternoon, Ukitake-taichō."

"Good afternoon, taichō." The two of them said and Renji accompanied his greeting with a bow since he was standing.

"Good afternoon." He smiled warmly at them before turning back to his desk. "Now, if you would be so kind to tell me what you're gossiping about?"

"We're just... talking about how Hitsugaya-taichō has been very active since Karin she came here to Soul Society." Ukitake visibly froze at Rukia's words. "Taichō? Is something wrong?"

Ukitake cleared his throat before reaching for his ink pen and pulling a document out of the pile. "I'm concerned that he will uncover something he will regret."

Rukia and Renji looked at each other. "Is... something wrong with Hitsugaya-taichō?"

"Nothing is wrong with Shirō-chan... the problem is everything around him is wrong." Rukia hated it when Ukitake was speaking in parables.

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked.

"Shirō-chan maybe a very intelligent young man... but he is still an idealistic boy. He is bound to find something he doesn't like and it will hurt him." Ukitake said. "We can't keep him sheltered forever though."

Rukia and Renji looked at each other again. "Uh... does this have to do with Karin?"

Ukitake looked up. "I think it goes far beyond that. She is just a piece to the problem."

"Why is she a problem?" Rukia asked.

"I fear Hitsugaya loves the girl." Ukitake said and the two lieutenants exchanged looks of surprise. "But like I said, he's still an idealistic boy. He has taken an irrational liking into her and you can imagine how it would be perceived if it got out. Why do you think the sōtaichō was so vehement on him staying?"

"... So the sōtaichō knows?" Renji asked.

"While I'm not entirely sure, there's a reason why Shirō-chan has not left Soul Society for the past year." Ukitake-taichō said. The pieces started to put themselves together in their heads.

"That's makes sense considering that his old captain left Soul Society for that very reason." Rukia said.

"Coincidentally, the father of the girl." Renji added. "So he's been trying to force him to stay..."

"I genuinely don't think Hitsugaya would willingly leave. He worked too hard at building his career just to walk away from it. But similarly, Hitsugaya is just another captain." Rukia shrugged. "Even if he does leave, it will be a great loss to the Goseijūsantai but it will rebuild itself."

Ukitake sighed. "I see Hitsugaya isn't the only idealistic young person around." Renji was confused. "Anyways, why are we talking about Hitsugaya?"

Rukia looked at Renji and was about to make an excuse but Renji blurted out. "Hitsugaya has a plan to trap Karin and needs people to take part."

"But... Renji!"

"What? It's Ukitake-taichō. I'm sure Hitsugaya probably told him by now." He said and Ukitake looked away sadly. "I... Ukitake-taichō?"

"You know... I love that boy like a son." He frowned. "I may have made him angry recently and he hasn't spoken to me since. I was only trying to help him be realistic but he wouldn't see reason... or maybe I'm the problem."

"... Would you like to talk to him tonight?" Rukia asked and Renji poked her, wondering if she was mad. "Oi!" She hissed at her childhood friend.

"What are you—"

"I think Hitsugaya-taichō would appreciate his input." Rukia said.

"That's kind but I don't think he wants anything to do with me right now." Ukitake admitted.

"This is Hitsugaya we're talking about. The boy admires you." Rukia insisted.

Her captain sighed. "... I'll think about it."

"Please keep it a secret." Renji pleaded before glaring at Rukia who stuck her tongue out at him to mock him.

Yuzu put up her best while she was fighting her zanpakutō. She tried to keep her mind as clear as possible to focus on everything that Urahara, Yoruichi and Tsukabishi-sensei had taught her. She tried not to use shunpō too much as well and only used it in short bursts and when necessary. Shunpō was one of her stronger points considering she was a naturally fast runner but she was drained from having to do a kidō attack that was too high maintenance for her current skill level.

Yuzu tried to determine weak spots as she dodged the attacks from the tessen and slid across the tiled floor speedily, dodging every attack despite how close the blade was getting to her face. She slipped underneath and missed her other hand coming up in an upper hand hit and Yuzu narrowly dodged it, using shunpō to flash step quickly and sliding behind her. Thinking she has the upper hand, she raises her katana to strike and Kyōgetsu turns around and uses her tessen to blind her. Yuzu squealed as she hid her eyes only to be kicked in the stomach by the zanpakutō spirit and thrust to the side. Yuzu hit the wall in the most painful hit of the day before falling to the floor.

She grimaced as she tried to stand back up, feeling her arms tire of her forcefulness. "Kurosaki Yuzu, do you want to use these powers or not?" Yuzu did not respond and Kyōgetsu scoffed. "Stand and fight or this test is over. Are you willing to fail?"

"No..." Yuzu coughed.

"Then stand up and fight, weakling." Kyōgetsu spat. Yuzu took a big breath and stood back up, sucking in a sharp breath at the pain in her body and she picked up her katana. Kyōgetsu didn't waste time charging for her.

Tatsuki sighed as she walked into a dark apartment. It was a long day but she was glad she was making some progress. There were too many people at this point: twenty seven names and faces to be linked to a homicidal Shinigami with a thirst for power. Tatsuki had faced him once and he was terrifying. He looked like a normal man, but he leaked a power that paralysed her almost immediately. He seemed pretty cunning too if this was his attempt at another master plan without being caught.

She took her shoes off and looked up, noticing that the TV was on and Ichigo was fast asleep, still wearing his reading glasses with an anatomy textbook on his side. Tatsuki frowned, looking at the clock and wondering if he even had dinner. It was his turn to cook but Tatsuki had nothing but sympathy for the med student. However, she was stuck between "be a good friend and cook for tonight" and "fuck it! We can eat ramen for all I care!" because of how tired she was.

She sighed, eventually deciding that she would like a warm meal and not convenience store ramen before going over to the other side of the room and turning on the lights. Ichigo stirred as the light leaked into his eyelids. "Too bright." He groaned tiredly.

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Too bad, we gotta eat something." She sighed.

"Was It my turn?" His voice rumbled. "Shit!"

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when food is ready." She tried to walk away but Ichigo reached out and held her wrist.

"Stop." He muttered. "I'll do it, just give me a second."

"You're tired. You're probably going to put too much salt in everything." Tatsuki joked

"It was the one time!" He retorted and Tatsuki giggled.

"It's fine, let me do —Ichigo!" She complained when he pulled her down to the couch.

"I'll get to it, alright?" He reassured her. "You had work, I did nothing all day."

"You were studying." She countered

"Trying to study." He corrected her swiftly but Tatsuki knew he was lying. He had always been a capable student and he was good at studying.

"You're not the finest liar, Ichigo." She said. "Compromise is we both do it. How about that?"

"Hard pass,"

"Huh?"

"You're bossy as hell in the kitchen." He stated and Tatsuki poked his side. "Ouch!" She rolled her eyes before snuggling back into the couch. "How was work?"

"I found more names... but I have to keep a low profile." She said.

"Why? What happened?"

"My captain caught me using the equipment unsupervised." She said. "Even if I wasn't an intern, I can't use the equipment for unauthorised investigations."

"So what happened?"

"Kakeru lied to save my ass." Tatsuki said and looked to Ichigo in the corner of her eye and caught that look annoyance — the specific one he saved for the mention of his name. "He asked me for what I'm looking for."

"And?"

"I lied... or at least told him a half truth. People are going missing and they're all linked to a random blood sample we found where my friend's sister when missing. The end." Ichigo frowned. "He's going to keep me in the clear."

"And at what cost?" He asked and Tatsuki frowned. "I don't trust this guy."

"He's the only cop there who respects the scientists." She said

"That or he just wants to get into your pants." Tatsuki gave him a look. "He was here the other day and God knows for what that couldn't have waited for a phone call or the next day."

"... Well, we're getting the information we need, aren't we?"

"Dude!" He protested and Tatsuki sighed.

"I can handle him, okay?" She said. "If it bothers you that much, I'll be careful around him. I know he's a skeeve because he is going through a divorce with his wife for cheating so don't worry. Cops are the type to stick their dicks into anything... I mean, men in general are but cops are on demon mode. I don't find that appealing in anyway."

"Let's hope so."

"I know so." Tatsuki scoffed. "Just a bunch of half siblings showing up to my father's funeral to prove a point. I can only applaud Kakeru's wife for leaving. A lot of them never have the guts to... my mom as well."

Ichigo looked at her. "Do you... want to talk about it?"

"Nope!" She said as she snuggled into the couch and stared at the moving pictures on the TV. "What even is this?"

"The news channel?" Ichigo shrugged. "Hell if I know." She shrugged before taking the remote and flipping through the channels. She needed to unwind... she could only hope her findings tomorrow are not as bad.

"Why is she glowing like that?" Haruki asked out loud as she looked at her cousin from a safe distance. There was a golden glow surrounding her and the ends of her strawberry blonde hair were levitating as well. Her face looked contorted and strained, as if she was in pain.

Mayaka tapped her to get her attention before gesturing to her wrist. "I know... we still have time." Haruki reassured her using sign language before turning back to her. "What is going on in her head?" Haruki wondered out loud.

Yuzu felt her will slowly wearing away as she became slower and more desperate, trying to land attacks where she possibly could but Kyōgetsu's defence was too strong. She couldn't fail. She couldn't give up. Karin was depending on her and she was the only one who could stop her. But at this rate, could she even beat Karin and free her from herself? She was too weak, too feeble, not even her zanpakutō trusted her.

In the midst of her self loathing, Kyōgetsu landed an attack that left her ribs feeling shattered. She dropped to the ground, her hand firmly holding her katana in her hand and Kyōgetsu sighed. "I think I've seen enough." She announced before turning. Yuzu could hear the footsteps moving away from her and internally she started to panic.

She can't win

I have to save Karin

I can't save her if I'm weak

Why am I such a burden?

Useless little bitch

Maybe they should have taken you instead

Why do you feel the need to be present when you know that your presence will only act as a hindrance?

And what are you going to do once you are there other than to stand in our way?

"Getsuga-Tenshō!" Kyōgetsu heard abruptly and was shocked. She turned to see and tried to jump out the way of a gigantic light wave that scraped her right side and left her momentarily blind in her right. Once the wave passed, Kyōgetsu's left sleeve was slightly singed. She looked up to see the young girl standing with her katana in hand before dropping it and dropping to the floor, finally unconscious.

Kyōgetsu looked at her and smiled as her katana glowed and started to change its form. "Thank you for lending me your power, Yuzu-chan."

This is an odd mixture

Kuchiki-taichō contemplated as he sat in Hitsugaya-taichō's loving room of his minka just outside the walls of Seīreīteī. He sipped his tea as he observed the people sitting around him. Next to him was Kurosaki Isshin, other people present were Yamada Hanatarō and Kotetsu-fukutaichō from the fourth division, Kira-fukutaichō from the third division and Matsumoto-fukutaichō.

Hitsugaya sat at the end of the room, opposite to him, looking deep in thought while his vice captain tried to rant his ear off. "Keep quiet." He had snapped at her before hand but that only led to get complaining and crying about how he doesn't appreciate her and her huffed before ultimately ignoring her. Kuchiki-taichō could never understand how other divisions worked with the most eccentric people he could ever come across. Settings like this were not his most ideal because they were too chaotic.

But then again, the chaos wasn't his problem to deal with. Considering who his former captain was and who his current vice captain is, it seems like Hitsugaya-taichō has a penchant for dealing with craziness accordingly.

"Ano... when do we start?" Kira asked, bringing everyone to Hitsugaya's attention.

"We're waiting for Kuchiki-fukutaichō and Abarai-fukutaichō." Hitsugaya answered. "Then we can start."

"So... no Hinamori?" Kira asked. "I would have assumed you told her."

"Her zanpakutō is too destructive." He explained. "It would interfere with that I had planned."

"But... why are we here?" Yamada asked. "We're medics."

"I'll explain once everyone is—." He said before pausing as he heard his front door slip open.

"Excuse the intrusion." Kuchiki-taichō heard Rukia's voice say but could sense three people here. He wondered whether there was a person that Renji added and was surprised to see his sister, his subordinate and Ukitake-taichō enter the room.

"Good evening." Rukia announced as she sat down and Renji followed suit, sitting next to her. Ukitake-taichō remained standing, solely because Hitsugaya was looking at him. Everyone could tell that something was off, considering that everyone knew that Ukitake-taichō liked the young captain and acted as a mentor of sorts to him.

"Good evening." Ukitake said with a smile.

"Are you well?" Hitsugaya asked and the older captain nodded sheepishly. "I hope you aren't here to talk me out of it."

"No, in fact, I'm here to help." He said before sitting down next to Rukia on the other side of the room.

There was an unspoken exchange between the two before Hitsugaya sighed. "Don't push yourself too much." He said before turning to everyone. "Now that everyone is here, we can begin. I won't take too much of your time as I have a request. The reason why I have asked you here is because I don't think there is anyone else here who I can trust to assist me nor do I think there is anyone else who can be suited to the task. As you all know, we're in a crisis situation as an intruder is causing unrest with a corrupt zanpakutō. My concern is that the proper channels aren't being taken into taking her into custody."

"Why do you think that?" Renji asked.

"Because it all feels far too intentional." Hitsugaya said. "Kuna Mashiro reached out to the captains at the captains' meeting that she could help get intruder under control in the safest way possible and there was refusal."

"Maybe because we don't trust the Vizards..." Kira said

"While that could be possible, that also plays into what looks like their plan has been." Hitsugaya said. "It was far too calculated... as if they were anticipating her going to the Twelfth and losing her temperament." He turned to Kotetsu-fukutaichō. "Kotetsu-fukutaichō, if you could recall how she tried to leave the fourth division."

"Uh... yes!" Isane nodded. "She had tricked a nurse and knocked her out cold before taking her identity and attempting to leave."

"And how did she leave the twelfth division?"

"She... killed several people at the research facility and left the remaining severely injured." Isane said

"So you think something happened to her at the Twelfth?" Isshin asked.

Hitsugaya took a moment before shaking his head. "Not particularly. I don't think anything different would have occurred had she stayed at the Fourth. Whatever they may have done to get may have speeded up the process but eventually, we would have still gotten here. I'm mostly concerned with what has happened behind the scenes rather than her."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked.

"The warehouse where the intruder was found, there were also several hundreds of people there we believe were human." He said, completely surprising all the people who aren't of captain class or from the world of the living. "There was large amounts of blood remnants in the facility as well. While we may be unsure of how many people had their blood in it, at least three people could have had their blood drained and killed. Secondly, Kuchiki-taichō brought up an interesting observation to me after he returned... the lack of pluses." Everyone looked surprised while Hitsugaya turned to look at Byakuya. "Would you like to inform them?"

"The long version?" He asked.

"That would be appreciated." Hitsugaya nodded.

"Very well." Kuchiki-taichō put his cup down. "When I was in Karakura Town, I instantly noticed a lack of reiatsu in the area. I assumed that maybe it was because Kurosaki Ichigo was gone but after a day, it started to feel far too abnormal. I went to speak to Kurumadani Zennosuke who confirmed that he has had minimal interaction with pluses and hollows."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Renji asked

"If it's just hollows, yes. If it's both then it isn't good." Yamada chimed in. "It means that very few people are dying and in a population like Karakura Town's, that is very abnormal."

"Correct." Byakuya nodded. "After hearing from Kurosaki Yuzu about the warehouse and the disappearance of people in Tokyo, I decided to try and confirm that theory myself. If there was a mass kidnapping in a larger city orchestrated by high ranking Hollows with many people probably dying from that encounter, there should be a lot of pluses and newly born hollows. I traveled with Tsukabishi Tessai to Tokyo and... it was just as minimal as Karakura Town. If the balance is destroyed, then Soul Society will cease to exist."

Everyone in the room except for Hitsugaya was shocked by the revelation. "But... what about the shinigami there?" Rukia asked, concerned because the placement of Shinigami in the world of the living was the responsibility of her division. She had not heard from them in so long but she assumed everything was going fine. "We had five stationed there for the entire city."

Kuchiki-taichō looked at his sister. "We only Mabuchi Izuki... and he lost contact with the others around three weeks beforehand. He thought nothing of it until then when he tried to contact them and no one replied."

"Why didn't Tsukabishi say anything?" Rukia asked. "He's a kidō master, he would have noticed something a long time ago. What if it is those quincies overhunting again?"

"If it were the quincies, there would still be hollow activity. With this case, it feels as though the hollows and pluses have disappeared or never existed in the first place. I would rather not make any speculations about Tsukabishi Tessai but he did have to deal with Kurosaki Karin's disappearance. Regardless of whether or not it is related to the kidnapping, it is incredibly worrisome. But either way, Kurosaki Karin is playing a very interesting role in distracting everyone from this."

"Correct." Hitsugaya nodded. "From her kidnap to this, by throwing us in a panic, whoever is ultimately behind this is taking advantage of this panic. By focusing on finding her, shinigami, pluses and hollows went missing. With her here, Aizen's disappearance was uncovered and it threw is into another panic. But something else is bound to take place. So we can't allow for that to happen."

"So... what do we do?" Kira asked. "Capture Karin? Can't we leave it to the other divisions patrolling at that time?"

"Capturing her safely for Mashiro to detain her is one side." Hitsugaya said. "The second is to contribute to the frenzy that will be happening when that occurs." Now everyone was confused, even Kuchiki. "We have already agreed that the lack of hollow activity is frightening correct?" People nodded. "And that Aizen is somehow involved... then we would have to think what Aizen's attack of Soul Society would be. His ambitions have always been in the absolution of the barrier between Shinigami and hollows as well as the destruction of the soul balance. If he is kidnapping pluses and hollows to destroy one side of the balance, he will likely put pressure on the other side." Hitsugaya stood up and walked to his bookshelf before pulling a rolled up piece of paper and sitting back down. He unraveled the paper, revealing a map of Seīreīteī. He drew five circles and everyone inched closer to the map.

"We have Central 46, Kidō Corps, the Soul Gate, Sōkyoku Hill and Shinō Academy. They aren't after Central 46." Hitsugaya crossed the first one out. "They have already gotten what they need from there. Shinō Academy is out too." He crossed that once out. "All we have left is these three."

"The Soul Gate is out." Isshin said, calling for everyone's attention. "Zerobantai is most likely ready for any intruders. Plus, it has no relevance to the situation."

"I agree." Kotetsu-fukutaichō nodded.

"Okay." Hitsugaya crossed it out. "Sōkyoku Hill and Kidō Corps... I'm inclined to say Kidō Corps is what their targeting."

"But... why?" Kira asked.

"... The dangai and the seireiheki." Hitsugaya said. "By taking those down, anything and anyone can enter Seireitei and the ones who maintain that is Kidō Corps." He leaned back to look at everyone. "If there is anyone who managed to slip into Soul Society who is making all this happen, we are bound to catch them there. But in order for them to do that, they need to be convinced that Karin is causing as much chaos as possible."

"So... you need people who will detain her... but stall her doing so?" Hitsugaya nodded. "So... you want us dead." Hitsugaya frowned at Renji.

"She's a teenage girl." He deadpanned

"How old was Ichigo when he can't bursting in here?" Renji exclaimed. "You saw what she did to the twelfth." Hitsugaya sighed and Rukia pulled Renji by the way to get him to behave.

"That's why you're all here." Tōshrō sighed. "All of your zanpakutōs have powers that work from long range and are effective in slowing down your opponent. The aim is to hold her down long enough for Mashiro to detain her. I managed to detain her once with Hyōrinmaru. As long as it's a one to many fight, you will survive. Just don't be hasty about it."

"And what about you?" Ukitake asked him. "You won't face her?"

"... No." Hitsugaya shook his head. "I'll be on the lookout near Kidō Corps. Matsumoto will be leading you."

"... Huh?" Everyone exclaimed except Matsumoto and Isshin.

"Hooray!" Matsumoto cheered.

"Nice work, Rangiku!" Isshin clapped for her.