Chapter Twenty Three
It was hard for the fourth to operate without their fukutaichō or their third seat officer but they got to work. Luckily, Kotetsu-fukutaichō, Yamada-san and the others who came in with them were not injured too badly and they needed a bit of kaidō to heal their wounds. So they were in the reception to leave room for more injured shinigami that encountered the ryoka.
"I'm okay to get to work." Isane insisted as she stood up.
"Fukutaichō!" Matsumara, the 4th seat tried to stop her because she was still trembling a bit.
"Just rest, Isane." Renji sighed as he lied on the couch. "I can't believe we got beat by a teenage girl."
"Hitsugaya-taichō did warn us." Rukia sighed. "Karin is smart, possessed or not. She must have known we figured out part of the plan when we fought her."
"That's the problem!" Renji seethed angrily. "Zanpakutō are supposed to be for fighting! That wasn't a fight. That was a beat down! It was like being attacked by ghosts."
"I hope you're not getting angry at a teenager." Kira laughed at him
"She's 18 and she's a Kurosaki!" Renji claimed and the others laughed at how he was getting reeled up.
"I hope everyone is okay." Rangiku sighed.
"We have a fatality!" Everyone in the reception turned as Hitsugaya and a few members of a task team from the fourth rushed in. "We have a shinigami with a case of poisoning." One of the task force shinigami said, pointing to Kuna Mashiro who was the only one being carried in on a trolley. She had blood coming out from her mouth but it was stopped with a towel and she was sweating profusely.
"Oh no..." Isane rushed to her feet to reach the patient before checking her wrists to observe the colour of her veins. "Get her to surgery, now! I need all seated officers ranking from 3rd to 7th there this instant."
"But fukutaichō—"
"Now, Matsumara!" She ordered before everyone followed and rushed her through.
"What about the girl?" The tenth seat asked.
"Put her down and assess her." She said before helping Hanatarō to his feet and following Mashiro down the hall.
"... Taichō... what happened?" Matsumoto asked her captain who looked at the personnel performing kaidō.
"Is there room for one more?" He asked, gesturing to Yuzu who was on her back and he nodded. The officer opened the shield and allowed Hitsugaya to step in and leave Yuzu on a chair. "Are you legs doing okay?" Yuzu shook her head no.
"Yuzu-chan?" Rukia looked at the little girl who gave a weak smile.
"Rukia-nee!" She buzzed happily
"How did you..." Rukia sighed. "Did you sneak into Soul Society?" Yuzu nodded and the older woman sighed, shaking her head.
"Don't be too angry at her." Hitsugaya sighed as he sat down on the floor, putting his zanpakutō down to loosen the ache on his muscles. "If anything, we should be thanking her. She's the one who stopped Angetsu."
"Wait... what?" Renji asked in outrage and the girl let out a weak, goofy smile.
"Heehee." She tried to rub the back of her neck but her arm burned in pain. "Owie!"
"But... how?" Even Kira was offended at this point.
"My shikai is the polar opposite of her shikai so... I'm her weakness, I guess?" Yuzu explained. "But now, I used her attack to counterattack. It worked but the energy corrupted my limbs so now my arms and legs hurt."
"How could you even see the attacks?" Matsumoto asked
"I just... could." Yuzu said. "It's something to do with reishi manipulation and I can see reishi in any form so... that's why? I'm too tired to think or explain."
"This is not fair!" Renji growled in her direction and Yuzu pouted. Rukia hit him upside the head. "Ow! ... and on top of that, you could have hurt yourself."
"She did." Rukia stared at her in disappointment. "Now look! You can barely move."
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to help..." She pouted.
"Lay off." Hitsugaya sighed. "She did what needed to be done. We managed to detain three ryoka so all is well and good... except for Kuna-san and Kurosaki."
"Taichō, what happened to Mashiro?" His vice captain asked.
"I don't know." Hitsugaya said. "My guess is, she succeeded in sealing Angetsu away... but it took a negative toll on her body." There was the sound of footsteps walking into the front door.
"Hitsugaya-taichō." The young captain looked up at the two who wore an insignia of Chrysanthemums. They were from the first division. "You are being summoned."
"Hai." He said as he stood up. "I'll come back to you guys later. Thanks for everything." He said before following them out.
Hitsugaya was not looking forward to what would happen next. He pretty much just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep. He followed the men to the first division and all the captains, except Ukitake, were gathered there, with three men bound before them, kneeling. He looked around and also noticed Haruki quietly standing to the side. She must have brought the man from kidō-corps here... but they most likely did not know what to do with the child quincy. "Hitsugaya-taichō." Yamamoto-sōtaichō said and the young captain bowed before straightening up. "I take it that you were involved in the detaining of these three men."
"Yes." He nodded.
"Where is the fourth?" He asked. "Kurosaki Karin?"
"She's at the 4th division." Hitsugaya sighed. There was no point in arguing, she had to be tried regardless.
"Why are we treating a traitor?" Kurotsuchi asked. "She should be on the chopping block." Hitsugaya had no wish answering him because he knew the man was nonsensical. "Why are you not answering, Hitsugaya-taichō?" He tried to taunt him but he ignored him.
"You shinigami are pathetic." Haruki rolled her eyes. "Traitor to who? What allegiance does she owe a group of idiotic old men who can't even warrant danger because they have self-inflated egos that bruise too easily? When she endures all the suffering from your mistakes, she is supposed to suffer from the consequences of your stupidity?"
"Who allowed this child to speak?" Mayuri hissed at her.
"Who allowed your ugly, piggly bitch ass to exist? Captain my ass, you barely even have a division anymore. Humble yourself." She hissed at him and Zaraki started to laugh.
"I like this kid." He grinned.
"Could we return to the matter at hand, please?" Sui-Feng was tired of standing around. It has been hours since their last meeting and her division was also in and out of the fourth. They also tried questioning these men but they all insisted that they 'couldn't say'.
"Mashiro has effectively sealed away her zanpakutō spirit." Tōshirō announced. "But she is in a critical condition. Apparently she has some kind of poisoning."
"Ah..." He turned to Shinji who nodded. "She has a very rare disease caused by her zanpakutō which is why she doesn't use it. It is a poison based zanpakutō but the poison surges through her bodily systems."
"If you knew about this then why didn't you say?" Kyōraku-taichō asked and Hirako-taichō looked up at Muguruma who said nothing and looked away from his gaze.
"Because I do not have the slightest understanding of how it works." Shinji said instead. "So I would prefer not to speak on things I do not understand."
"So I take it that Kuna is the one is effectively stopped her?" Sui-Feng asked.
"Actually... it was her sister." Hitsugaya said, surprising the other captains present. "She had worked hard to unlock her shikai. I don't understand the mechanics of how the Shiba clan works but from what I understand, her and her sister have twin zanpakutōs in the same manner that they are twins. In the end, Kurosaki Yuzu's strength was her sisters weakness and it left Angetsu almost useless."
"Now, are we ready to begin?" The sōtaichō asked.
"Wait..." The doors opened as Ukitake walked in without his haori. Behind him was Mayaka who was holding his haori like a sack over his shoulder.
"Ukitake." Kyōraku sighed. "Where have you been?"
"We have been going around the walls." Ukitake let Mayaka put the haori on the floor and revealed spirit bombs.
"Eh? Are you mad?" Mayuri hissed at him. "What are you bringing them in here for?"
"Don't worry. Mayaka-chan defused them." He said and everyone looked at the little girl, surprised. She hid behind Ukitake's legs but the old man smiled before kneeling to her level. "Good job, Maya-chan." He raised his palm and Mayaka nodded before giving him a high five. "Now, go wait with your sister." The young girl nodded before running over to Haruki. "She's has excellent senses. She's a quincy who neutralises energy."
"Ah. Her sister too." Hitsugaya agreed. "I was trapped in kidō corps by Nakamura Benjiro and Machida Takemichi. From what I understand, Machida placed a seal around the whole building that made everyone except the two of them powerless. We were trapped inside as well. Nakamura was fighting me as a distraction while Machida was creating a hadō spell strong enough to break the soul barrier. I wouldn't have gotten out if she hadn't gotten rid of the seal." He nodded in her direction and the girl perked before looking away, turning red.
"Stupid shinigami." She muttered.
"Very well." The sōtaichō nodded. "Young girls, your assistance has been greatly appreciated. You may return to your family." Haruki looked unconvinced but decided that she wasn't going to bother causing anymore trouble. She picked up Mayaka's hand and led her out of the room. After the door shut behind them, the sōtaicho turned back to the court. "Ukitake-taichō and Kuchiki-taichō." Ukitake froze and the captain of the sixth looked up. "Your involvement tells me you knew of Hitsugaya-taichō's plans. Am I correct?"
"I asked for their assistance." Hitsugaya said before bowing. "If anyone should be held accountable for anything that occurred then it is my responsibility."
"No." Hitsugaya looked up, surprised by Kuchiki-taichō speaking. "I am my own man who is capable enough of making my own decisions. My decision to help Hitsugaya Tōshirō was out of my own sense of justice and not any form of allegiance to anyone outside my allegiance to Soul Society. If you deem that to be a punishable offence then by all means, I will be held accountable as well."
"Same goes for me." Ukitake-taichō said. "I said it once and I'll say it again, if I am to uphold justice, even in a manner which is wrong in the eyes of Soul Society, I will do so. Look at the faces before us: Nakamura Benjiro and Taishi Hajime... were they not well within our ranks? Yes, they committed a felony today. But the fact that they have committed a felony today against us should speak volumes about how we have been running things."
"How did they even survive?" Sui-Feng wondered, she recognised both of them and both of them were sentenced for execution; Benjiro a 1000 years ago and Hajime only a few decades prior.
"If I may add, the guard who committed suicide today at Central 46, Sugo Kenta's wife, Sugo Manami was executed around the same time period as Kaien for hollowfication." Kuchiki-taichō mentioned. "It appears to me that most of the people linking back to this has to do with how Soul Society runs things."
"And what does that have to do with us?" Sui-Feng asked.
"I don't know, Sui-Feng. I'd be pretty pissed off too if I was executed for something that turned out to be false and I survived." Shunsei admitted and the female captain huffed.
"Enough!" Genryūsai huffed, commanding the silence of everyone nearby. "Hitsugaya-taichō, Kuchiki-taichō, Ukitake-taichō... I cannot deny the fact that you have helped us ward off a devastating sneak attack on Soul Society. Had it not been for you three, we would have been left defenseless. As a matter of fact, Hitsugaya-taichō, I should have taken your concerns more seriously and for that, I apologise. However, there is a way of doing things and what the three of you and your allies have done is questionable. In these ranks, we must maintain trust, and if we group ourselves and do our own biding, that trust is lost. You will be placed on a three day suspension." He sighed. "Moving onto official business, all the ryoka involved in today's attack will be tried and punished. In the case of Kurosaki Karin—" The sōtaichō paused. "She will also be tried and punished equally. Should all of them be found guilty, they will be executed."
"Have we learned nothing?" Hitsugaya-taichō questioned, now visibly angry. "We're solving a problem that we created by doing what caused that problem in the first place."
"Hitsugaya-taichō, do you object?" He said
"Yes, I do." Hitsugaya claimed. "This is idiotic and unfounded. On what grounds are we deciding that this is correct?"
"On the grounds that they invaded Soul Society with the intent of breaking out barriers." Kurotsuchi-taichō said. "In fact, they killed half my division. That girl and her hoard is dangerous."
"That girl doesn't even know what's going on!" Hitsugaya angrily proclaimed. "We. Didn't. Listen. As a collective. The brunt of what happened tonight and this past week is on us. No one else."
"Nice try kid..." Nakamura laughed. "They might just bring out the spirit sealing pit." He did not like children but this young man, he particularly liked. "You know, they banned it after they tried to kill me and the Ryōdoji clan abdicated from Soul Society when the truth was revealed about their crimes. It was too... inhumane apparently."
"We are not here to dwell in the past." Kurotsuchi-taichō ignored him.
"Isn't the point to look at the mistakes we made and learn from them?" Hitsugaya argued.
"We all know you don't care about these three. Just say you want to save your little floozy and—" Kurotsuchi-taichō was caught of guard by the tip of a katana being held at his neck. He didn't expect it to be the fast... nor did he expect to get under his skin that quickly.
"Hitsugaya-taichō, stand down." The sōtaichō ordered and Hitsugaya looked at him with a glare. "You are not exempt from any rules. Do not raise your sword to a fellow captain." Hitsugaya faltered before hissing and sheathing his sword. He turned and made a beeline for the door. "Where do you think you're going?"
"I won't be taking part in this foolishness." Hitsugaya announced as he walked for the door.
"Your unruly behaviour will cost you—"
"I don't care." He said before the door closed behind him. Silence was left in the hall after the fact until they heard chuckling.
"Children these days are so disrespectful." Kurotsuchi-taichō commented with a shake off his head.
Isane swore that she could never get a break. They managed to stabilise Mashiro and now she was in a coma. She wished Unohana was around. Even though she felt like she knew nothing about her now considering her past, the woman she knew was nothing short of a kind woman. Now she was running the division like a captain while being disrespected by everyone else on the court.
Which is why she was this close to fighting when two guards wearing white jinbaori from the first stormed back in. "We're trying to treat people here." Isane said in annoyance, not bothering to address them properly.
"We're here for Kurosaki Karin. We have an order to seize her from the sōtaichō." One announced
"Huh?" Isane narrowed her eyes at her. "She's my patient."
"She's a criminal." Isane turned to the others who were still under the kaidō shield getting healed and they were just confused.
"She is under treatment." Isane said
"What are you doing?" Yuzu questioned.
"You will assign personnel to heal her from her holding." The man ignored her before the other moved around her and searched the halls
"Hey!" Yuzu yelled, trying to force herself forward but her feet were still in pain.
"Yuzu!" Rukia tried to hold her down and the girl tried to fight against her hold
"Put her down!" Yuzu yelled at they took Karin's unconscious body out from her room. "Hey! I said put her down!"
She continued to scream but they ignored her before turning to Isane. "Make sure the people you assign are at Ichibantai by morning." They then continued out the door with Karin's limp body in their possession.