Chapter 5:

On the walk to the high school that morning, Hinamori kept going over those two sentences in her head. It had not even been 12 hours since she contacted her childhood friend and someone had already figured it out. Sure, it was Matsumoto, and Hinamori felt she could trust her, but still… Not even 12 whole hours had she managed to keep it a secret from her "protectors"...

Maybe Hitsugaya was right to doubt her secret keeping ability after all.

In any event, Hinamori was just glad that it was only Matsumoto who noticed. Matsumoto showed her yesterday that she was also concerned about the white haired captain and wanted to believe in him. So, if someone had to find out about it, it was a good thing that it was her... But, had it been anyone else who noticed, then…. Well… Hinamori would need to improve on her poker face. And fast.

The fifth division lieutenant spent the entirety of the morning period trying to narrow down who could be Hitsugaya's information provider. She only had two clues to work with: 1) they were likely a captain, or 2) someone who was "protecting" her right now. But then, the more she thought about it, the more she became less sure of these criteria… After all, it was possible that the informant overheard someone talking about it… or simply snuck in and stole the information. Perhaps the informant had been secretly following her since Hitsugaya left, so they would always know where she was….

The possibilities seemed endless.

By the time the lunch bell rang, Hinamori could have pitched her pencil across the room in frustration. There were just way too many possibilities that it seemed impossible to narrow it down. Surely there something or someone who stuck out more than the rest…. A more likely candidate that Hitsugaya would choose to confide in…. Even over her…. But her mind was just drawing a blank. Did she really pay so little attention to his interactions with others to not even think of a few people he might trust...? The thought sadden as much as it discouraged her.

"Hinamori…." Matsumoto called to her in an anxious voice, waving her hand in front of the raven haired girl's face. "Don't you think it's time we had that…. Talk?"

And that's when it hit her - maybe Matsumoto could help! As his right hand officer, she would know better than anymore who Hitsugaya is most likely to interact with on a daily basis. She could help narrow it down!

"Yes!" the fifth division lieutenant exclaimed, startling her friend with her sudden enthusiasm. "Yes, let's head up to the roof right away!"

But before they could take more than a few steps towards the classroom door, a voice interrupted them.

"Hey, where are you two going?" Abarai asked with a yawn, taking a moment away from his conversation with Kuchiki to notice the two lieutenants leaving.

"We're… going to have lunch on the roof" Hinamori replied nervously, figuring now was as good a time as any to work on her poker face. "We figured out a way to sneak up there yesterday and really liked the view, so…"

"Oh, is it really that nice?" the red haired lieutenant questioned, to which Kuchiki responded with a nod to her companion. "If that's the case, maybe we'll join you-"

"Oh, Renji! Don't you know that's code for girl talk!?" Matsumoto chimed in with a wink, clearly much better of thinking on her feet than her shorter friend. "There's so much new stuff to do in the world of the living! So many stores to shop… sweets to eat… We just need to figure out what stores to hit first!"

"Oh, really? That maybe I'll just join-" Rukia began, but was cut off by the voluptuous women who was now leaning directly over her.

"...Really?" Rangiku asked with an evil smirk. "We'll be talking about plenty of other things too, you know. Things like what shows to buy, or… what guys we're interested in. Now, that is something I've always been wondering about you for little while, Kuchiki. It seemed so straight forward before, but now that I've gotten a good look at that substitute shinigami, well… This could prove to be a very good lunch."

"...On second thought, I'll eat with Renji..." Rukia replied, breaking eye contact with the attractive women in front of her.

"That's what I thought" the strawberry blond stated as she once again looked to her raven haired friend and added "Well, Hinamori, our lunch awaits!"


"...Hmmm, interesting" the tenth division lieutenant puzzled as she went over the information her companion had just told her. "So he has someone on the inside, huh…. I have to admit, I'm a little hurt he didn't consider me, but… At the same time, I gotta give the guy credit for being clever - because I'm stumped over who it could be."

"I know, right!?" Hinamori exclaimed with a sigh. Finally someone could relate the frustration she had been feeling since last evening. "I've been trying to figure it out all morning and I'm drawing a blank. I think it's either a captain or someone in the world of the living with us right now, but even then it's still possible for it to be someone completely unrelated… Anyway, I still can't get over how you figured out I spoke to him so quickly!"

"Please!" the strawberry blond said with an eye roll. "You were talking so loud, how could I not hear you? Didn't you catch on when I called up to you, asking if you wanted company?! That was my way of telling you to quiet down before Inoue and Gin heard you too! You didn't honestly think I was going to go up there, did you?"

"I wasn't that loud..." Momo pouted in response, even doubting herself as the words left her lips.

"Sure, whatever you say, Hinamori." Matsumoto sarcastically replied. "Anyway, back to business with this mysterious informant. How about we start with the assumption that he has at least one captain on his side" Matsumoto added as she grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from her bag. "Not a bad assumption, right? If he really is planning on taking on the whole Seireitei, then he'll need allies. And not just any allies, but strong allies. So it would make sense if he has captain on his side. Plus, it wouldn't be weird to see him speaking privately to a fellow captain - something that can't really be said about him and someone else's subordinate."

"That makes sense…" Hinamori muttered as she watched her friend write out the names of all the captains the piece of paper she had taken out. "But still, there's no guarantee-"

"Of course there isn't" Matsumoto interrupted, not even bothering to look up at her friend as she continued to write names down. "But we won't get anywhere unless we starts somewhere, right? So I say we should just pick the most likely out of all the possible assumptions we can make and work from there. And if we need to, we'll start over again with a different one. Sounds good?"

Hinamori nodded in response. It really was as good a place to start as any - much better than the bottomless pit of possibilities she was going by earlier. So, she looked down as Matsumoto finished writing the names on her list and began examining the narrowed down possibilities:

1. Yamamoto Genryuusai

2. Soi Fon

3. Ichimaru Gin

4. Unohana Retsu

5. Aizen Sousuke

6. Kuchiki Byakuya

7. Komamura Sajin

8. Kyoraku Shinsui

9. Kaname Tosen

10. Hitsugaya Toshiro

11. Zaraki Kenpachi

12. Kurotsuchi Mayuri

13. Ukitake Jushiro

"So… Let's start from the top and work our way down…" Matsumoto suggested as she looked down as the first name on her list. "I think it's safe to say that the head captain didn't suddenly decide to betray the organization he runs, so we can scratch him out."

The fifth division lieutenant nodded in response. "We can also scratch out Soi Fon-Taichou and Ichimaru-Taichou. Soi Fon-Taichou was defeated by Hitsugaya-kun so easily, remember? And I don't think she was faking how angry she looked afterwards… That look of wounded pride was just too real... And Hitsugaya-kun told me himself that it wasn't Ichimaru-taichou, so we can definitely scratch him out…"

"I suppose Unohana-taichou could be a possibility" Matsumoto added after crossing out the first three names. "I mean, it's always useful to have someone who's good at healing on your side if you plan on starting a war, right? I've also heard rumours that she's a deadly fighter, but I don't know… Could you really see her hurting anyone? Sure, she has that death stare of hers, but I don't think she would actually act on it…. Probably."

"But she's so loyal to Yamamoto-soutaichou…." Hinamori countered. "I can't imagine that she would just betray him… Not to mention another war would lead to more wounded, which kind of goes against the very purpose of her division… I guess she could be a possibility, but I doubt it."

"Well, let's just put her down as a maybe then" Matsumoto compromised as she put a star next the fourth division captain's name. Her pencil then hovered for a second over the next name on the list. But before the air could become heavy around them, the tenth division lieutenant quickly scratched out the name and move onto the next name on their list. "... So what about Kuchiki-taichou?"

"Hmm, not sure…" Hinamori mumbled as she heavily contemplated the next name on the list, very eager to get the previous unspoken name out of her mind before it had a chance to linger. "From what little I know about him, he'll do anything for the honour of his house… So, I guess if it benefited his house in some way, I could see him siding with Hitsugaya-kun."

"Alright, I follow you" Rangiku added as she put a star next to the sixth division captain's name. "Now what about Komamura-taichou? Personally, I can't see him going anywhere without Tosen-Taichou. And since I doubt Tosen-Taichou's sense of "justice" would let him betray the institution he's dedicated his life to, I think we can cross them both off the list."

"I think the same could be said about Kyoraku-Taichou and Ukitake-Taichou" the fifth division vice-captain said in response. "Where one goes, you'll find the other. And since they've been the head captain's loyal students forever, I don't think they'd betray him… So let's scratch them off too."

"So then the only two we have left now are Zaraki-Taichou and Kurotsuchi-taichou." Matsumoto stated as she looked down at their narrowed list. "Hmm, I can't really picture Taichou willingly working with either of them… I guess I could see him putting up with Kurotsuchi-taichou if they had a common goal, but there's no way he would trust Zaraki-Taichou to gather intel and keep a secret. Even I know better than to do that. So I say we can keep Kurotsuchi-taichou and cross out Zaraki-taichou."

"Let's see who that leaves us with, then" Hinamori stated as she examined their list again. "So we have Unohana-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou, and Kurotsuchi-taichou… Hmm, that makes things a lot simpler. Out of those three, which do you think is more likely?"

"Well, I think the most valuable choice would be Unohana-taichou, with her healing and all…" Matsumoto began as the thought it over more thoroughly. "But, like you said earlier, she's probably pretty loyal to the head captain, so she would be a tough sell… And while Kurotsuchi-taichou's knowledge would be valuable, I can't imagine Taichou would be able to stand him alone for more than five minutes… ten max… So I'm going to have to go with Kuchiki-taichou."

"...If that's true, do you think there's a possibility that Kuchiki-san here with us is in on it too?" Hinamori questioned, trying to piece things together in her head as she said them outloud. "They are related after all… And if Kuchiki-taichou is doing it for his house, then I could see Kuchiki-san doing it for the same reason… Plus, with her here with us on the mission, it would be a great way to keep an eye on what's happening without directly being involved…"

Before Matsumoto could respond, the bell rang signaling the end of lunch period.

"Well, looks like we'll have to work on that hunch for now. Best get back to class before people think we're ditching" the strawberry blond added as she stood up. "You know… unless you wanted to ditch. Which I am 100% okay with, by the way."

"No, let's head back" the raven haired girl said with a small laugh as she stood up as well. "Best not to make the others worry… even if the class really is the most boring thing in the world. It makes me thankful that I had Abarai-kun in my classes in the Academy. At least with his reitsu explosions, you stayed awake in class!"

"God, that must have been hilarious!" Matsumoto responded with a laugh as the two ventured back inside. "Now, to this day, I still can't figure out how he managed to pass that class…"


Later that evening, Hinamori was lying awake on her cot as she she pondered over today's events. She might not have much of a grip on what was going on around her, but at least she now had a potential lead on who the mysterious informant could be. Now, she only had to try to think of a way to confirm her hunch…

As she was thinking of a millions ways to approach the subject with Rukia without revealing all the cards in her hand, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by hushed voices coming from the other room. Curious, Hinamori slowly got out of bed and crept towards her door. Ever so gently, she pushed the door open and realised the voices were coming from Ichimaru's room.

"... And that's the end of my report. Same old, same old, here" Ichimaru concluded, his voice becoming more clear as Hinamori got closer to his door. "Looks like the little captain hasn't been able to find us yet."

That's what you think Hinamori thought to herself as she pressed up against the door and looked inside. In the room, she could make out Ichimaru talking to the head captain, Tosen, and Kyoraku through the telecommunication device they had brought with them when they left.

"Good, the smoother things run, the better" Kyoraku added with a nod of his head. "Now, if only things could keep going this smoothly, everything will work itself out in a week's time…"

"...A week?" Ichimaru questioned, his usual playful demeanor disappearing for an instance as he was caught off guard. "Has something changed?"

"Yes, quite" Kurotsuchi stated, startling Hinamori as she didn't see him before he suddenly appeared out from behind Kyoraku. "It appears that we have less time than I initially thought. It seems that we have a week to conclude the ceremony, possibly two if we want to take our chances… which I do not. Honestly, if it weren't for that short tempered swine, we could have had the ceremony over and done with by now!"

"But there's nothing we can do about that now" Kyoraku chimed in, trying to ease the tension in the room. "So we'll just need to get the girl back here at some point before the end of the week. I know we only just sent you all there, but look on the bright side! At least now you'll be able to come home sooner than we thought."

"While I bet that propect is certainly promising for Ichimaru-Taichou" Tosen interrupted. "We best not have them come back too early. The traitor has been unable to locate them as of yet, or else he surely would have taken her, so that appears to be the best hiding place for them in the meantime. Since the ceremony takes time to prepare, it may be for the best to keep them there until the day of the ceremony next week. We wouldn't want to accidentally reveal her location when we've hidden her so well, now, would we?"

"It shall be as Tosen-Taichou suggested" the head captain echoed in agreement across the room. "You and the others will guard Hinamori-fukutaichou until such time as the ceremony begins. Then, and only then, will you all return. We cannot afford to lose this chance again, for we may not get another."

"As you wish, head captain" Ichimaru replied, his head low in a bow before his superior. "Now, if you will excuse me, it is fairly late here and I have a class of eager students to teach tomorrow. Bye, Bye."

As soon as Ichimaru turned off the screen, Hinamori was broken from her trance and scrambled to get back inside her room before the captain noticed her presence. Curled up underneath her blankets, she paused for a minute or two to see if she could hear any noise outside her door. She didn't even dare breath out of fear it would alert the captain of her eavesdropping. When enough time had finally passed, she breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the captain likely had no idea she was spying on his conversation. Yet, now that this problem was solved, the impact of what she had heard earlier came tumbling down over her.

Just when she thought she had something figured out, the world was pulled out from under her once again.


So I finally decided to update this story!

Sorry for the long wait! I'm really bad at staying motivated to write.

On the plus side though, I pretty have the whole story figured out now. So I at least won't need to take breaks to figure out what I want to do with it next!

Thank you so much for putting up with me!

~H-Mira

PS: About those suggestions for who the informant is... Best keep in mind that just because Hinamori and Matsumoto came to a certain conclusion, doesn't automatically mean I came to the same one. After all, I know things they don't :)