Welcome to the second chapter!
I can tell from the reviews I got for the last chapter that a lot of you were pretty surprised about what happened and want to know what's going to happen next. Glad to know that having a vague description helped in not spoiling the surprise!
Also, a couple of you asked if Hitsugaya is evil in this story. And all I have to say is... you can be the judge of that. :)
Without further delay, here's the chapter!
~ H-Mira
Chapter 2:
It felt like no sooner had Hitsugaya disappeared from her sight that Hinamori felt herself being forcefully pushed to the ground and restrained. Squinting from having dirt shoved in her eyes, she felt powerless to fight against those restraining her from behind.
Not that she would have fought back even if she could. She simply had no strength or will left in her. Not after what just happened…
"Hey! Just what are you doing!?" she heard a voice call out in her defense. "Hinamori-kun had nothing to do with this! So there's no need to-"
"Kira," another voice responded. "Don't. If we try to do anything now, we'll just make things worse for her."
"Abarai-kun…" she heard her old classmate reply.
But she couldn't have cared less about the exchange. She was so tired, so exhausted. And when the familiar sensation of a sleeping kido hit her, she welcomed her darkening world with open arms.
.
.
.
When she next awoke, Hinamori felt herself become immediately blinded by a strong light. Surrounded by unfamiliar walls and straining against the sunlight, she found herself wondering where she could be. She tried to lift her hand to block the sun from her eyes, only to realise that she couldn't move her arms.
That's when the realisation hit her. She was a captive, someone suspected of betraying the Soul Society. And that Hitsugaya Toshiro…. Her most trusted and loyal friend… was the reason why she was now awaiting a possible death sentence from the Captains council. She would have started to panic if she was not still feeling the after effects of the kido they hit her with.
It felt like no sooner had she remembered what was happening that Captain Kyoraku and Captain Ukitake exited a large room and began to make their way towards her. Without so much as exchanging a word, they gently helped her to her feet and escorted her towards the room they had just exited. Hinamori thought she saw Captain Ukitake give her a reassuring smile, but that smile had no hope behind it. It only had pity.
Before they even reached the room, the overbearing doors swung open and revealed the nine captains laying wait inside. Looking around the room, Hinamori noticed a wide array of expressions facing her way. Some were curious and sympathetic, others were stern and wary. And after remembering just who the two missing captains were, it took all of the strength left in her not to shed a tear as she was brought to the centre of the room.
"Vice Captain Hinamori," the Head Captain began, over powering the silent room with his voice. "You are brought here today under suspicions of conspiracy to aid the traitor and former captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro, in overthrowing the Soul Society and assassinating the Soul King. How do you plead?"
Overthrowing the Soul Society? Assassinating the Soul King? Just what were they talking about? Even though Hinamori had to admit that her childhood friend had defected from the Seireitei, but not once throughout the ordeal had he mentioned anything about overthrowing the Soul Society, let alone assassinating the Soul King. So just how did they know…
And that's when it hit her: traitors. During the small exchange she had with Hitsugaya on top of Sogyoku Hill, he had called the Seireitei traitors. And Hinamori had a nagging feeling that those present in the room around her knew exactly why Hitsugaya had called them that…
"The girl is obviously guilty" she heard Soi Fon say as she was still wrapping her head around what was happening. "Look at her, she's just stalling for time. I say we throw the traitor's girlfriend in the Maggot's Nest or execute her and be done with it."
"Now, now, Captain Soi Fon" the squad three captain jumped in. "Don't you think you're being a little impatient? That's some mighty talk for someone who was sent running with her tail between her legs."
"Shut up!" the squad two captain sneered back. "He just caught me off guard. Next time I'll definitely-"
"Enough!" the head captain roared. "Now, lieutenant Hinamori, how do you plea?"
With all eyes on her once again, Hinamori felt the weight of the room on her shoulders. So much so, that it felt like a miracle when she was able to clearly say "I plead not guilty, Head Captain Yamamoto."
"Then tell us your events of what transpired" the head captain demanded.
And that's exactly what Hinamori did. She told them everything, from reading her dead captain's letter, to confronting Hitsugaya with her captain's allegations against him, and to waking up the next day confused and alone in his room. She even told them about what happened on Sogyoku hill that day. She told them everything, except for when Hitsugaya had called them traitors. That bit of information, she thought, was better kept for only those she knew she could trust.
"And you expect us to just take you at your word?" the wounded squad two captain retorted. "Don't you have any proof? Someone who can vouch that what you just said is true?"
Did she have any proof? She immediately thought of Aizen's letter, but remembered that it wasn't next to her when she woke up in Hitsugaya's room the following day. Her childhood friend must have been true to his promised and disposed of the letter while she was unconscious.
What about an alibi? Was there anyone who had seen her, could confirm that what she said was true? After scrambling through her blurred memories of that night, she realised that someone had seen her that night. And this person was standing right in this very room.
"Poor Hinamori-chan, no one to confirm your story, huh?" Ichimaru asked, an almost strange amount of malice in his voice. "If only someone had seen you, then we could have believed ya…"
Hinamori was about to say that he had seen her, but right before the words could leave her lips, Ichimaru shot her a glare so terrifying that her words died in her throat. They both knew he was lying, and yet Hinamori had no idea why. Just what did Ichimaru have to gain? Did he really want her dead so badly? Or was there something more, another reason why he lied….?
"Lieutenant Hinamori, do you have a way to prove your testimony?" the head captain asked, to which Hinamori hesitantly shook her head. "Very well then. As head captain of the thirteen court guard squads, I pronounce you… not guilty."
"However," Head Captain Yamamoto continued before anyone else could speak. "That does not mean you are free to go as you please. While I do choose to honour your position within the thirteen court guard squads and give your testimony the benefit of the doubt, it does not mean that you should not be considered as a potential threat to the Soul King and to the Soul Society as a whole. Your history with the traitor is too strong to ignore, not to mention his attachment to you. Therefore, we must decide what is to be done with you, Lieutenant Hinamori."
"Why not use the girl as a weapon?" Captain Kurotsuchi asked. "You said so yourself, the boy is obsessively attached to her. So why not use that attachment to our advantage and have her kill him? It would certainly save us all the trouble. And if she refuses, I can always be very… persuasive."
Hinamori suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Her, kill Hitsugaya? The boy she grew up with… Her little Shiro-chan… He had always been her rock, despite being younger than her in age. Always there, always listening... Could she really hurt him? She couldn't do it that night, but could she now? Now that she knew what he was really accused of?
"Now, let me just say what everyone else in the room is thinking" Kyoraku began. "Obviously, none of us want to send the poor girl to her death, not to mention make her do something against her will. But... desperate times call for desperate measures. We all saw what the kid did to good old Captain Aizen… and he didn't even have a scratch on him to show for it. Plus he was able to keep up Captain Soi Fon's speed… While it is possible that we'd be able to beat him in a team, I doubt we've even seen a fraction of what he's really capable of. And now with the hogyoku in his possession… I just think we should cover all our bases, and if that means using poor Hinamori-chan… Then so be it."
Much to Hinamori's disbelief, all of the captains in the room eventually agreed to Captain Kyoraku's proposal. As they went over the details of the agreement, which included either using her as bait or having her be the one to commit the killer act, Hinamori's nausea continued to get worse. And before she knew it, her vision was blurry and her chest was wet. Just how long had she been crying? And why did no one but her seem to notice?
"Now, where should we keep the girl in the meantime?" Captain Kenpachi asked, scratching his head in boredom. "Throw her in the Maggot's Nest or not, I don't care. Let's just get this over with."
"Why not hide her instead?" Captain Tousen spoke out. "The girl is no criminal as of yet, so it would be unjust to treat her as such. Furthermore, as a previous captain of the Gotei 13, Hitsugaya Toshiro would be more than familiar with how to get in and out of that prison unseen. Not to mention that it would be the first place he would think to look. No... I would suggest we hide her instead. Someone place he would never even think to look."
"And where do you propose that would be?" the head captain inquired.
"The world of the living." Tosen continued. "I have heard word from ex-captain Urahara Kisuke that he is developing a new type of gigai, one that is similar to the one that Kuchiki Rukia was using. This gigai completely suppresses all traces of spiritual pressure from those wearing it, as long as they remain in the gigai at all times. So, if we were to put lieutenant Hinamori in one of those gigais, we could hide her in plain sight."
"Yes, yes… that could work." Captain Ukitake added. "We could also send a team with her, just to make sure nothing happens to her. And we could ask the ryoka for help too. Now that the matter with Rukia has been cleared up, I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help us if we asked."
"Then it has been decided" the head captain echoed. "We will make the arrangements tonight. And tomorrow, this mission will begin."
