Chapter Eighteen

Yuzu gasped as she woke up from her Jizen just as the sun was setting on the horizon. She was meditating here since sunrise. Was I here the entire time? Yuzu wondered. In the spirit world, it felt as though time went by so quickly, she barely realised it. She was expecting to feel tired but she was rejuvenated.

She looked down on her lap only to see two tantō in the place of her katana. "What is this?" She wondered to herself as she lifted the blades in her hand. She never thought a weapon would be this beautiful. The sheathe was embroided in a gold and silver and the handle had red ornaments on it. She unsheathed it, revealing a bright silver blade.

Honour my name and you will honour yourself. The inscription at the top of the blade read and when she held both by the handles, it's as if she immediately knew what to do.

"Oi!" She looked up to see Haruki approaching her from hatch. "You're awake! I'm so glad." She tackled her.

"Careful, there's a knife here." Yuzu said putting the weapons to the side before shooing Haruki from her.

"By the way... where did they come from?" She asked.

"I don't kno—" Yuzu was stopped by a phone call and she looked at the missed calls she received and called her back.

"I hate to be that person but... why Matsumoto?" Renji asked.

"Favouritism." Kira hissed in annoyance.

"Maybe because I'm better than you." Rangiku stuck her tongue out at the two.

Tōshirō honestly did not know that the vice captains were all such children. He knew Matsumoto was but that was because he had to babysit her all the time... even when he was still a child. "The only reason why I picked her to lead us because her zanpakutō has a defensive ability."

"That's... huh?" Matsumoto stopped herself mid sentence when she realised what he actually meant. "So what you mean is..."

"You're the first and last line of defence." Hitsugaya smirked a little. "Direct line of fire."

"Taichō wants me dead!" Matsumoto cried while Renji and Kira laughed at her. Rukia rolled her eyes at the exchange, trying to comfort the distraught woman with Isane and the captains looked mostly unbothered except Ukitake who was smiling at the youthful exchange. But then again, he everything.

"If you haven't noticed, the reason why I mainly chose everyone here... or almost everyone here, has to do with your abilities; zanpakutō wise or even your skillsets. The aim is to avoid as much contact as possible, overwhelm her and wear her down mentally."

"Wait... so who didn't you choose?" Abarai-fukutaichō asked.

"You... but I suppose Zabimaru will be helpful in putting pressure on her." Hitsugaya said.

"Why did you say that so casually?" Renji frowned at the young Captain.

"All of you are proficient in kidō which will be of great help in distance fighting." Hitsugaya said.

"Any weaknesses we should ?" Rukia asked.

"...She is not well versed in Zanjutsu according to Yoruichi." He said.

"Wait... she's bad at sword fighting?" Renji wondered out loud. "Then... what makes her so scary?"

"Her zanpakutō needs mental control more than anything." Hitsugaya said. "Yoruichi did say she was an excellent hakuda student so that's something to consider but I don't think that's much to fear." He shrugged. "The problem will be detecting her zanpakutō. We don't know how she moves or strikes which is why barriers are key. I'm afraid Wabisuke will be useless, Kira-fukutaichō, unless there is something I am unaware of, so you will have to rely on kidō." Kira nodded. "Renji, you will have to distract her and put pressure on her. But choose your timing wisely, Matsumoto will defend you."

"But—"

"Yamada-san." Hitsugaya cut his vice captain off and looked to the lowest ranked officer present in his quarters.

"Ah... hai!" He nodded enthusiastically.

"You will lend your kidō abilities to Kira." He said. "However, you may use your zanpakutō when you deem fit. I have a theory that the light emitted from it can reveal the positions of Angetsu where possible and if that fails then keep to Kira."

"I will!" He agreed.

"Kotetsu-fukutaichō, you will insert yourself where you see fit. You use an ice based Zanpakutō, correct?"

"Hai!" She nodded.

"You are allowed to engage but from a distance." She nodded. "Kuchiki-fukutaichō is the only one who should to engage directly with Karin."

"Me?"

"Sode no Shirayuki would be the most ideal in slowing her down. You are also the most careful person here." Tōshirō said carefully and she looked skeptical before understanding what he actually meant.

I'm trusting you not to hurt her.

"Understood." Rukia nodded.

"Otherwise, I think we all know what role we're—"

"What about the captains, Kuna-san and Kurosaki-san?" Hanatarō pointed out.

"Kuchiki-taichō and Kuna-san have an important lead elsewhere." Tōshirō nodded. "Isshin will be on standby and..." He paused before looking at Ukitake. "... Ukitake-taichō will have to sit this one out. I refuse for any harm to come on him for to his condition."

Ukitake smiled regardless. "I'll help in anyway I can, Shirō-chan."

Hitsugaya sighed. "Otherwise, you are free to go. Matsumoto will brief you about control protocols we will take. Keep your ears peeled to other divisions and their patrol details just in case they strike."

"Ho!" They nodded.

"Thank you for your time... but I would like the captains should stay behind for a bit." The lieutenants and Hanatarō looked somewhat sceptical but left regardless. After the door closed, Hitsugaya stood up and picked up a box from the corner.

"What's the matter, Shirō-chan?" Ukitake asked.

"This." He placed the box on the floor. "It's the zanpakutō registry in Soul Society."

"Where did you get that?" Ukitake-taichō asked in concern.

"I hope you did not break any laws, Hitsugaya-taichō." Kuchiki-taichō mentioned.

"I'd rather not answer that." Hitsugaya said. "There may be thousands of Shinigami but there are only so little darkness users. I'm still looking through the records to see if I missed anyone. Since you have been in Soul Society the longest, I think you may know these names." He pushed a book from the box forward on an opened page. "There are only twenty of them in all of soul society, eight are unassigned. Others have gone extinct. There are six that belong to the noble families. Otherwise, do you recognise anyone on this list?"

"... I didn't realise that Hyōrinmaru was one." Isshin brought up and Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes him in confusion. "At the bottom of the page." He pointed.

Ukitake-taichō leaned forward. "Ahh! Those are duplicate zanpakutōs." He said in realisation. "It's an urban legend though. Some zanpakutōs inhabit two users at once and only one survives. The one that doesn't is said to be born out of darkness as a failed division of power because zanpakutō spirits can split to form new ones. The other then stays dormant in the spirit world as a shadow while the other continues to circulate. It eventually goes extinct."

"Could have been a long time ago... probably centuries before Hitsugaya-taichō came to be." Kuchiki-taichō said. "But otherwise, I only recognise the nobles on this list which are five people, two of whom are dead. The ones inscribed are those that are active, correct?"

"Correct." Hitsugaya nodded.

"It seems that they remain assigned even after death." Kuchiki-taichō said. "So you would have to determine who are alive as well."

"In this box. I believe they even have the divisions they are assigned to. It would take hours for me to search so I wanted to ask you first." Hitsugaya said

"Very well." Kuchiki-taichō nodded.

"I'm going to pay some of the nobles a visit with my cousin." Isshin said. "They would possibly know something."

"We have to go to Soul Society now." Yuzu said as she went to her room with the two girls in tow as she printed the report Tatuski sent to her off her computer.

"Onee-chan! What happened?" Haruki asked her, following her frantically in tow

"Tatsuki-chan was able to link the blood from the place to at least twenty seven victims who had been reported missing." Yuzu explained

"How did she manage that? "

"She works as an intern for the Shibuya Forensics Lab so she has some access to the database for police cases." She explained. "One of the victims' family submitted her things in case it would help the police find her daughter. It took a while but Tatsuki finally had a match to the blood in the bucket. She looked through the evidence locker to find more belongings to those on the list and continued to find matches."

"But the door is closed." Mayaka signed

"Yes, Maya-Chan... which is why we have you." Haruki said. "So... here is my plan."

"Quiet night, huh?" Kisuke sighed as he sipped tea at in his shōten with Tsukabishi nearby, making dinner. There was less to cook for now that Yoruichi was stuck in Soil Society. Urahara wondered what was going on in there.

Normally, he had an idea because of how predictable soul society predicaments were but now, he had nary a clue. The mod souls wobbled into the kitchen

"Uh, guys. Noba feels something strange present." Ririn claimed

"I don't sense anything." Urahara said

"You don't hear the chanting?" Kurodo asked

"Chanting?" He looked at Tsukabishi only to realise that he did hear faint chanting that got louder and louder as the place became foggy. "What is that reiatsu?"

"It's... Quincies."

The fog quickly turned red and Mayaka burst through the shōten quickly and nimbly, knocking everyone out unconscious.

Haruki stopped chanting and the fog faded. Yuzu stared in amazement. "How—"

"Learn how to use your Quincy powers and maybe you'll understand." Haruki said. "Lead the way."

Yuzu led them through the shōten, quickly murmuring a 'sorry' at her teachers and the mod souls. "How exactly do your powers work?"

"I'm a harbinger and Maya-Chan holds negative energy." Haruki said. "Similar to how you use kidō, I chant spells and use enchanted instruments. Maya-Chan can cancel out any reiatsu with her own reiryoku within a vicinity. You can imagine how much she must have to be able to do that. I chant spells like kidō. That was just meant to create a fog that confuses the enemy which is why they couldn't detect us easily. I'm guessing the plushies could a little better because that is their job but it is extremely effective." She explained

Mayaka tugged on her sleeve to get her attention and swung a set of keys. "Nice." Haruki said before Mayaka gave the keys to Yuzu. "So? Lead the way."

Yuzu looked at the two and nodded.

Hitsugaya's home was finally empty of his guests as the remaining guests left. He looked around and after all that was discussed, he reached a conclusion: I need a smoke. He said before walking over to the kitchen

Careful! You'll become dependent. Hyōrinmaru warned his wielder as he put water in a kettle

What will happen to me? Will I die? Tōshirō mocked his zanpakutō before opening a window

... Yes. Hyōrinmaru said dryly. He wasn't wrong but he wasn't right either. Souls still could have organ damage and die, however, reiatsu keeps the souls alive which is why souls live a long time. Souls heal easily but when organ damage is faster and more severe than what reiatsu can fix, then a soul will die. That's one of the reasons why Ukitake-taichō was sick. He had a terminal illness and the organ damage rivaled the healing of the organs by surrounding reiatsu.

But Hitsugaya doubted that cigarettes did anything. You smoke and drink coffee at the same time. Hyōrinmaru pointed out and Hitsugaya rolled his eyes before finding the box of cigarettes, ashtray and matches in the drawer. Maybe that would kill him... but it was a pretty good combination. In fact, he only smoked in the mornings most days with a cup of coffee... especially if he felt he needed the extra boost. He didn't make a habit of it and no one knew of this... except Kyōraku-taichō who he smoked with once or twice when he visited him some afternoons.

Many people seemed to forget that Hitsugaya was an adult now... not that he was excited about it. All his life, he thought he was ready to be an adult and be treated as such but now that he was one, it was overrated. He lit the cigarette and took a long drag before waiting for the kettle to boil.

There was a lot to consider in case Karin were to attack again. He just wished there was a way he could know. I want to get to her before anyone else. Hitsugaya thought

Do you think other divisions would hurt her?

I fear her hurting them. Hitsugaya claimed but the dragon looked unconvinced. ... And I'm a little concerned that they'll get her.

... She could be executed.

Over my dead body. Hitsugaya shut him down. The dragon stayed silent. Hitsugaya knew it was possible. Anything for the goteijūsantai to avoid accountability for their fuck ups. That's what they had planned to do with Rukia who barely did anything wrong... what makes him think they would not try with Karin? But that would not happen by him.

That and he needed to make Kurotsuchi bleed while he was at it. The water boiled and he pulled it off the heat. "I didn't take you for a smoker." Hitsugaya turned to the window before a cat hopped in and sat on the counter.

"Shihōin, I clean my counters... and we all have fatal flaws." He simply said as he prepared the coffee.

"Technically you have two." She claimed as she hopped down the counter. Hitsugaya gave her a quick side look before turning back to what he was doing.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Hitsugaya finally finished before going back to the kotatsu to sit down.

"Just checking in. Mashiro told me you were having a meeting tonight." Yoruichi said as she walked over. "She said you have a pretty solid plan. Expected from Soul Society's prodigy."

"Surely you didn't come to sing me praises." Hitsugaya said as he took a drag and collected the ash in the ash tray he brought with him

"You're right. I didn't. I wanted to hear more about your theories." She said. "You mentioned something about how you think that they are after Kidō corps?"

"Correct." Tōshirō nodded

"And? What is Byakuya investigating?" She asked. "Apparently you were vague on that one."

"Central 46." He said. "It's under his jurisdiction so he will have better luck there."

"Why?" Yoruichi asked

" ... don't you find it suspicious that Aizen has probably been gone for weeks?" Tōshirō pointed out and the werecat was puzzled.

"I thought there was an illusion." She said

"Clearly... but someone must've been keeping it alive." He said as he leisurely drank his coffee "Karin disappeared for two weeks so we can assume that during that time, she came here at some point to do it. How she got in is a mystery for another day. But considering it's been two or so weeks since we found her and we found out about his disappearance a few days ago, Aizen broke out days ago, weeks even. But someone should've noticed beforehand."

"Maybe she did it while she was here? She may have snuck out?" Yoruichi pointed out

"Fair enough... but the theory still applies because she must've done it while she was at the 4th. It shouldn't have taken that long to discover it."

"How so?"

"Food and water." Tōshirō stated. "We may be souls but we need to eat too."

The werecat finally saw where he was coming from. "I see. If he has been gone for sometime, then whoever was giving him food and water should have noticed that he wasn't eating."

"Correct. Because he wasn't there." Hitsugaya took the final drag before stubbing it in the ash tray once it got too short. He reached for another. "The person who discovered his disappearance was a patrol guard. He dropped a ball and it rolled into his cell and just passed through him according to his statement. It's odd that such a strange incident was what uncovered it. They said he was in solitary isolation and he wasn't chatty but I think someone would at least notice the food."

"So had that not happened, we would probably think he was still here." She said

"I think it was a blunder on their end." He said. "I think the big reveal was supposed to be when Karin becomes defeated."

"Defeated?"

"Execution." The werecat was shocked. "I strongly believe they only used her as a distraction while the real plan goes on under our noses. And something we know so far about Karin's powers is that an illusion stays as long as she thinks it... the range must be strong too. But she isn't in control of her own powers so you can imagine how powerful this zanpakutō is."

"So... you think someone is here helping pull the strings?"

"Definitely. How did she even get in undetected?" Tōshirō said. "There are definitely forces at work here making it easier for them."

Silence as Hitsugaya finished his cup of coffee and cigarette. It seemed as if she was meditating on all she just said. "Someone needs to investigate the senkaimon keepers as well."

"I put taichō and Ukitake-taichō on it." Hitsugaya said.

"Do you need assistance at Kidō corps?"

"I'd prefer there was more to face Karin instead." He said

"... But why did you volunteer to not face her? You could've easily sent Renji especially since he wasn't a part of that end of the operation... especially since you are chasing a speculation."

Hitsugaya sighed. "I'd like to sleep please." He stood up and cleared the table. The werecat understood that she had overstayed her welcome.

"Okay then."

He washed the dishes he just used while Yoruichi headed for the window. "I have... one more question."

"I'll answer depending on what the question is." He said.

"Any idea when she is going to strike?" Yoruichi said. "Because she must be loitering around waiting for the perfect opening."

"Well, we're all patroling so she's going to..." Pause.

"What is it?"

"Shit!" Hitsugaya hissed as he came to the realisation of something before rushing over to his work folder to look for something. Yoruichi came back and walked over to where he was searching. Hitsugaya found what he was looking for and seethed. "Fucking dumbasses!"

"What?"

"The 4th are patroling alone sometime this week." He said. "The 4th can't fight."

"I wouldn't underestimate their strength, Hitsugaya-taichō." Yoruichi pointed out. "They are more than just healers.'

"No, no... they can't fight. They shouldn't fight." Hitsugaya clarified. "They're the last line of defence we have. If people get injured, we have to turn to them." He huffed. "It's all making sense now."

Yoruichi paused to wait for him to gather his thoughts

"Karin didn't come into Soul Society beforehand. She did it while she was here. We let her in and someone concealed it." He concluded. "She may have taken on the identity of a guard to do so or worked hand in hand with someone at Central 46 and that person covered it up."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because if my suspicions are correct and they are after the barrier, then Karin would have taken down the 4th a long time ago in a manic phase." He said. "If we assume that the disappearing people and souls were taken by Aizen, we should also assume that aren't souls anymore, or human. That means, he is planning an invasion with an army... and if the 4th is down, who will heal everyone else?"

Yoruichi finally saw his point. "So... you think Karin will strike soon?"

"If I'm correct, she will strike two days from now when the 4th will be patroling." He said. "I won't tell the others though... I don't want to put too much into it in case it doesn't happen like that."

"But you seem very sure." Yoruichi said.

"... I'm trying to think like the enemy." Hitsugaya said. "The enemy always makes the rules so we just need to figure out what they are."

Yoruichi nodded. "You loved her, didn't you?"

Hitsugaya sighed. "I'm really tired..."

"Humour me..."

"... I still do." Hitsugaya admitted. "Which is why I'm working so hard on this. I'm angry... I'm stressed, I'm tired... I can only imagine how she feels. I wasn't there when she needed me and... I think this is my fault."

Yoruichi looked at him before rounding the table. "Hitsugaya-taichō, you're a child."

Hitsugaya looked at her, almost about to pounce on her neck but she stopped him. "Hitsugaya-taichō... you. are. a. child." She repeated. "And there's nothing wrong with being a child. You have many years ahead of you. There's so much you don't understand about the world. There's so much I don't understand... even Yamaji who has lived the longest, I don't think he knows much really.

"And one of the things that we almost always fail to understand is love. There's a reason why I reminded you of how young you are. I don't think people reminded you all the often... and when they did, they probably did it in that condescending way that would make you feel incompetent and... inept. I think that's the reason why you and Karin got along so well. Karin took pride in her youth... and when you were with her, you were allowed to be young too. You were allowed to be Hitsugaya Tōshirō... not Hitsugaya-taichō. She was your friend and you trusted her. It's only natural that you fell in love with her. It was irrational but it made perfect sense.

"What happened to her isn't your fault. You wouldn't have known what happened and regardless of whether you were friends or not... it may have happened regardless. But let me tell you right now... if you love her as much as you say you do... fight for her. No one understands love... absolutely no one. No one on that court does... so who are they to judge you?"

Hitsugaya looked at her and the cat bobbed her head. "Well, I should let you rest. I hope you have a good day." She left him alone as she made her way to the kitchen and jumped out the window.

Omake

Three guards stood before the senkaimon right outside of Seireitei. It was a chilled night. After all the pandemonium going on, this night was quite quiet in fact. Too quiet even.

"I dreamed a dream the other night..." One guard started to sing, catching another off guard.

"What the..." The surprised guard gaped

"Lowlaaaannds! Lowlands awaaaaay me John!" The two guards sang together in unison

"My love she caaaaaame dressed all in whiiiiite" One sang

"Lowlaaaannds awaaaaay..." The guard who wasn't singing was completely stupefied.

"What are you doing?! We're supposed to be keeping watch." He complained

"What?" One said

"We're bored!" The other added. "Besides, there's no one out here."

They started to sing again. The sane guard tried to stop them but all three were knocked out unconscious in the blink of an eye by a little, confused Mayaka. She looked up at her sister and cousin.

"They were singing." Yuzu explained

"It must be a grand day to be deaf." Haruki said.