Hinamori's Apprentice
Chapter 23
"We are in a state of high alert. All Shinigami are to be completely mobilized. I want one hundred Shinigami to stand watch around our domain, with none more than twenty meters from another. Division Squads 10-20 should be enough for that task. Squad 1 and Squad 2 will stay here in the main offices. Squads 3-9 will take patrol duty. The remainder of our forces are to split between the South Barracks, the Sakura Road outpost, and the training grounds to stand by for action. We're on high alert, so don't let your guard down."
"Yes Vice-captain Hinamori!" the five Shinigami officers before her said with bows. They promptly left to carry out her orders. Momo turned to Ichigo who stood off to the side.
"As for you, I'll have you file a request for a fifteen percent increase in division funding. That should be enough to cover expenses for the rest of the month. Place all bonuses on hiatus and suspend paid vacations to make up for the lost funds," she said professionally, "The necessary paperwork should be in file cabinet B, folder 13."
"Uh, yeah, I'll get right to that…" Ichigo said, amazed at the authority Momo spoke with.
"The entire division is on high alert, so make sure you perform all matters from here on out swiftly and promptly. Be efficient and don't waste any time," Momo said.
"Yes ma'am!" Ichigo said nearly chuckling. Momo looked up at him disapprovingly.
"I mean it, don't goof off. If you had been doing the job properly, there wouldn't be as much of a rush," she said.
"Right, right, sorry about that. Just a bit of a nervous reaction I guess," Ichigo said while scratching his head, "I guess I forgot how well you handle things around here. You don't really look the part of a leader yelling out orders, so it's a strange sight." Momo herself smiled a bit at this.
"A leader has to be strong and maintain discipline. If they are not, things will fall apart," she said.
"Like what happened when I was in charge, huh?" Ichigo said with mild amusement.
"Bluntly put, yes. Now hurry up and fill out those papers! I have to go make sure that the division is properly mobilized.
---
When Momo returned home that evening, she was utterly exhausted. Ichigo had let things run pretty wildly when he was in charge of the division, and it took a lot of work to get things back to normal. She wanted to believe that he would get better (and he was certainly improving) but she would be lying if she said that she wasn't a bit worried for the future of her division. She shook the thought away quickly though. Now that she was home, she would have some peace and quiet to relax in.
"Momo! Momo, there's something I have to tell-"
"Vice-Captain Hinamori, call me Vice-Captain Hinamori," Momo corrected the excited Karin. She had forgotten that Karin was staying with her.
"But you said last night-"
"I was wearing informal attire last night. When I'm in uniform, you should address me by my title," Momo said.
"I… Very well then, Vice-Captain Hinamori.
"That's better," Momo said with a smile. She then reached over and removed her Adjutant's badge from her shoulder. "There, now you can call me by name."
"Um, okay then…" Karin said, not really seeing what difference a little badge makes, "I have something to tell you, Momo."
"Can it wait? I'm really tired right now, and I have to go do my daily exercises before I end up letting myself become complacent."
"It's actually kind of important," Karin said.
"Sorry, we'll talk later!" Momo said, running off to her room.
"Fine, then maybe I won't tell you," Karin said stubbornly, even though Momo was no longer present to hear her.
Karin sat down on the couch and waited, hoping that Momo would come out soon and listen to the news Karin had. As time passed however, it was beginning to feel like Momo wouldn't come out any time soon. After a while, she looked up at the clock and realized that it had been twenty-five minutes since Momo had gone into her room.
Frustrated, Karin got up and walked down the hall to Momo's room. When she opened it, she found that Momo was doing sit-ups on the ground, wearing very little clothing. Karin nearly rolled her eyes.
"What's with that look? Surely you've been exercising all day while I was gone," Momo said with a small smirk as she continued to exercise. Karin blushed, realizing she had forgotten.
"I, uh, did a little, sort of…" she said. Momo nearly laughed, but kept a straight face.
"So is there anything you want?" she asked.
"Yeah, there's something important I have to tell you!" Karin said.
"Okay fine, just give me a minute to get up…" Momo said. She slowly stood up, breathing a little heavily from the exercise.
"Wow, you're in pretty good shape…" Karin said, forgetting about what she wanted to say as she looked at Momo's fit physique, covered only by a light tank top that exposed her midriff and some shorts that looked more like underwear. She turned away after a minute, not wanting it to seem like she was staring or gawking. She could not help but be amazed at how fit the seemingly young and fragile girl really was. Momo was definitely full of surprises.
"Well, as a Vice-Captain I have to stay in top physical condition," Momo said in answer to Karin's statement, "Now what did you want to say."
"It's about Toushiro," Karin said.
"Oh, I see…" Momo said, her tone becoming much grimmer and losing the light tone it had moments before.
"He woke up!"
"What? Really?!" Momo said, her voice suddenly bright again. She seemed to be trying to keep her excitement under control as she spoke, though with little success, "How did you find out?"
"A butterfly flew in through the window while you were away. It landed on my finger and I heard its message in my head. I remembered seeing those butterflies before, and realized that it must have been a message meant for you," Karin explained.
"Why didn't you say so before?! This is fantastic news!"
"Well I did try to say so before, but you wouldn't… Oh never mind," Karin said as she rolled her eyes with a smile, "It is great news though, isn't it? Now you can go see Toushiro like you said!"
"What?" Momo said, suddenly snapping out of her cheerful mood.
"You said that as soon as he woke up, you would go talk to him and reestablish your friendship, remember?" Karin said.
"Oh… That's right, I did say that…" Momo said slowly.
"We could go to see him now if you wanted," Karin suggested.
"No, I think we should see him tomorrow. It's better that we all be rested up first, and besides, visiting hours will be over in a while," Momo said hastily, hoping that Karin did not notice her shaky reasoning, "We'll go tomorrow though, I promise!"
"Alright then, we'll go tomorrow," Karin nodded.
"Yes… I'll go make us dinner now, okay?" Momo hastily walked away, hoping that the doubt and anxiety was not too visible on her face.
---
Momo stood outside the door to Toushiro's hospital room. She fidgeted with a cloth-wrapped package that she held in her hands and took several deep breaths. She had to do this. It would be tough, but she absolutely had to. Beside her, Karin watched as she worked up the nerve to open the door.
"Go on," she said quietly. Momo nodded, gulping and slowly reaching for the door knob. She gripped it and cautiously turned it, opening the door.
Toushiro was lying in bed next to the window, his face illuminated by the morning sun. Momo silently walked in, taking care not to make a sound as she approached his bedside. He was sleeping peacefully, his expression lacking the usual coldness that he displayed during the day. Momo was reminded of the funny little boy he used to be as she looked at his peaceful expression. The lack of his usual scowl and chilly demeanor made his boyish features more visible. For a moment she considered not waking him up and instead watching him sleep like this, but she brushed that idea away. She reached out her hand and gently tapped him on the shoulder.
Toushiro's made a small groan and shifted a little in bed before settling back in his original position. Momo gave him another cautious nudge, and this time Toushiro's eyes cracked open for a moment. He closed his eyes and opened them again, squinting up at Momo. He stared at her for a minute or two before speaking.
"Momo…?" he said weakly. Momo bit her lip and nodded, tears threatening to emerge from her eyes.
"Yes Toushiro, it's me…" she whispered.
"What're you doing here?" he asked. He began to sit up, but noticing his pained expression, Momo forced him back down.
"Don't move around Toushiro," Momo said, "I just came by to see you. I…I'm glad you're alive Toushiro… I mean Captain Hitsugaya."
"Don't call me that," Toushiro said, his voice quiet and expressionless.
"Sorry, I forget sometimes. I did correct myself though! Sorry about that Captain Hitsugaya," Momo said sadly.
"That's not what I meant. Stop calling me 'Captain Hitsugaya'. Just address me by name the way you used to," Toushiro said.
"But… you always scolded me for not addressing you by your title in the past!" Momo said in surprise.
"I know… and I regret it now," he said.
They were silent, both of them looking at eachother only through the corners of their eyes. Momo chewed on her lip nervously and Toushiro was gripping the bed sheet tightly with his good hand. Both were extremely tense. Momo finally broke the tense silence after a few minutes.
"I, uh, brought you some amanatto!" she said, holding up the cloth-wrapped package, "I know it's your favorite. I probably didn't make them as well as granny did, but I'm sure they'll still be good!" Toushiro stared at the package before looking up at Momo.
"I can't eat anything solid for a few days. I have some bruising on my stomach and Captain Unohana said that she wasn't sure if my body could handle eating anything right now," he said.
"Oh… sorry…" Momo said, setting the package down.
"I heard you were allowed to resume Vice-Captain duties," Toushiro said.
"Um, yeah, that's true!" Momo said.
"Are you still training Karin?" he asked.
"No, not officially. I suppose that she's still sort of my apprentice, but I won't have as much time to train her as I did before," Momo explained.
"Ah, I see. Where is she now?" he asked.
"She's standing right over by the door," Momo said. She turned around and gestured for Karin to come in. She walked over to the side of Toushiro's bed and bent over to look at him.
"You look a lot better than you did before," she said in greeting, "I'm sure you'll be better in no time." Toushiro looked at her skeptically, unconvinced of her sincerity.
"I mean it! I'm sure you'll get better soon and be able to go and take revenge on whatever did this!" Karin said. Toushiro's face suddenly turned dark.
"I doubt that will happen," Toushiro said, "The thing that did this was far stronger than I am. There's no way I could have beat it."
"But you're so strong! Aren't you the one that everybody calls a prodigy? The one who people say has the potential to become one of the greatest Captains in the history of the Gotei 13?" Karin said.
"It's no use. I was beaten, there's no way around that. Because I wasn't strong enough, both Matsumoto and myself were nearly killed," Toushiro said, his voice bitter, "I have to find out what's going on. This is bigger than that thing that attacked us, there's something else…"
Karin looked at him and then at Momo, who was quietly standing off to the side. Karin cleared her throat and nudged her, trying to urge her to say what she had come here to say. Momo didn't say anything, so Karin nudged her again and made a fake coughing sound.
"What's wrong with you?" Toushiro asked.
"Oh, nothing…" Karin said nonchalantly, "Hey Momo, wasn't there something you wanted to say?"
"I, um, I don't know…" Momo said nervously.
"Are you sure you don't know what you wanted to say?" Karin asked with emphasis.
"I… No…" Momo said nervously.
"Well you said before that you wanted to work out your problems with Toushiro and patch up your friendship," Karin said bluntly. There was a stunned silence in the room. Both Momo and Toushiro were unable to say anything. It wasn't until several minutes later that Momo was finally able to speak.
"H-Hey Karin, why don't you go check on Rangiku?" Momo suggested.
"Fine," Karin said reluctantly, giving the two a significant look before walking out.
"So that's why you're here," Toushiro said.
"Yes, it is…" Momo said.
"Why now?" Toushiro asked.
"Because… Because I was afraid! I… I thought you might die! And you almost did! Look at yourself! What if…what if one of us died before ever having the chance to make up?" Momo asked, tears coming to her eyes.
"So you still care about me then?" Toushiro asked.
"Of course I do!" Momo said, "You're the most important person in the world to me! I…I want so badly to be your friend again that it hurts!"
"I feel the same way," Toushiro said, "You're a precious person to me, and it's been painful without you. I want to be friends again too."
"I… I don't know what to do," Momo said, "I don't know how we can restore our friendship."
"What do you mean? Didn't we both say that we wanted to be friends again?" he said.
"Oh Toushiro, you know it's not that simple? If we don't work out the root causes of what tore us apart, we'll never be able to be friends again!" Momo said.
"Yeah, I know…" Toushiro said. As he spoke, Momo noticed him wince and grimace for a moment.
"Toushiro, what's wrong? You made a face, does something hurt?" Momo asked.
"Everything hurts," Toushiro said, "My head hurts, my chest hurts, my stomach hurts, and my limbs hurt. But what hurts worst is my hand."
"Your hand?" Momo asked. Toushiro nodded.
"Yeah; half of it was cut off in the battle. Unohana reattached it, but I don't know how good it is. My entire hand hurts, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to use it normally after this," he said. Momo stared at him for a moment.
"Let me see it," Momo said.
"Huh?"
"Let me see it," Momo said again.
Toushiro did not respond immediately, looking at her questioningly. Eventually however, he slowly lifted his bandaged right hand up. Momo took his hand and carefully unwrapped the bandages around it. When she saw his hand, she nearly winced. Half of his hand was swollen and a bright pink color that contrasted to the normal skin on the other part of his hand. The swollen portion was attached to the rest of the hand rather roughly. There was a visible crease where it connected to the rest of his hand.
"Can you move it?" she asked.
"A little, but it hurts like hell," Toushiro said.
Momo nodded quietly and placed her hands on Toushiro's, one on each side. A pink glow surrounded her hands.
"Captain Unohana already did everything she could to heal it, there's nothing you can do for it," Toushiro said.
"Just stay still," Momo said, "I know what I'm doing."
Toushiro stayed still as she instructed. At first he felt a bit annoyed, believing this to be a useless gesture. Then, however, he began to feel strange. His hand stopped hurting as much, and a warm feeling overcame him. The rough connection between the severed portion of his hand and the main part became smoother. The flesh connected more completely. Blood vessels and muscles that had been severed joined up with eachother again, and the swelling in his hand went down. After several minutes, Momo took her hands away, leaving Toushiro to stare in amazement at his now healed hand. It still hurt a bit, but overall it had been healed remarkably well. He was able to move his fingers and it was not swollen as it had been before.
"How… how did you do that?" Toushiro asked, "Captain Unohana said that it would take a long time before it healed."
"Captain Unohana probably focused more on your other wounds," Momo said, "But there's also the fact that our reiatsu is similar to eachother's. I'm good at healing kido, but not as much of an expert as senior Fourth Division members. The reason I was able to heal you like that was because the reiatsu in our bodies are so in tune with eachother. We've spent so much of our life together, our bodies are able to recognize eachother's reiatsu and will heal faster than if it were someone else."
"I never thought of that…" Toushiro said.
"Yes, when we grew up together in Rukongai, our reiatsu developed with us alongside eachother. It's almost as if-"
"Rukongai!" Toushiro suddenly said, "That's what we have to do! Rukongai must be investigated!"
"What?" Momo said in confusion.
"I was first attacked in Rukongai. There were other strange occurrences too. I have to tell the other Captains to investigate Rukongai!" Toushiro said, beginning to sit up. Momo forced him back down however.
"Don't even think about it. There's already an investigation going on, you'll only put yourself through stress if you try to join in on it," Momo said, "Besides, I came all this way to talk to you! You can't leave now!"
"I know, but… I've experienced more of what's going on than anyone else. It has to be me! I'm well enough to advise, and you and I can talk later-"
"Don't you dare!" Momo said, "I'm not going to let you hurt yourself trying to help. You just stay here! I wanted to talk to you, but since you don't seem to consider that important I'll just leave!"
"No, Momo, wait!" Toushiro said.
"No, I'm going!" Momo said, "You can just 'talk to me later', right? I can't believe you. I come to try to work things out, and you just want to get away as soon as possible."
"That's not it! I just meant-"
"Forget it. I'm not in the mood to talk anymore," Momo said bitterly, turning to leave the room, "So long Toushiro; when you decide that you can stand the inconvenience of talking to me, I'll come back."
---
Momo nibbled on the amanatto that she had made for Toushiro as she sat at the table in her quarters, a depressed look on her face. She had tried to talk to Toushiro, she really had, but he only cared about the investigation into what was happening. She understood that he felt a responsibility to work on the issue, but it made Momo feel upset and rejected. It wasn't like he could do anything anyways, so why did he mess up the perfect opportunity for them to patch up their friendship.
She sighed. Maybe Toushiro wasn't to blame; maybe it was her who reacted too harshly. He was probably a bit confused after all, given the injuries he'd sustained. This thought made Momo feel even worse, as it meant that it was her who had rejected the opportunity to talk out their problems.
She ate the amanatto slowly but persistently all day long. After a few hours, she had begun to have a stomach ache, but she kept eating absentmindedly. She was beginning to feel like there was nothing she could do to repair her friendship with Toushiro. Both of them kept screwing up any chances of being friends again. Even though they both wanted to make up, it just wasn't that simple.
"Why are you just sitting there? I thought you were going to make up with him," Karin said disapprovingly, "You said before that you weren't going to put it off any longer, remember?"
"I know, I just… I don't know. Things went wrong this morning, I know that, but there will be another chance. Maybe tomorrow-"
"Why not go tonight?" Karin asked.
"It's already past visiting hours, I can't go tonight," Momo said.
"Well why not sneak in then?" Karin suggested. Momo smiled a little at this.
"You have an interesting way of looking at things," she said.
"Hey, I just want you two to resolve this as soon as possible," Karin said, "If you keep putting it off, it will never get done. If I were you, I'd go see him right now."
"Maybe… maybe that's not such a bad idea," Momo said, "Yeah… I'll do it! I should probably apologize for running off earlier anyways."
"Can I come with you?" Karin asked.
"Sorry, but I think that it would be better for me to go alone," Momo said, "I'd better go soon though. I'll see you later."
Momo stood up and left abruptly, leaving Karin behind.
"Well that wasn't as hard as I thought," Karin mused to herself. She had been sure that it would take more than that to convince Momo to go visit Toushiro after visitation hours were over. She sat down and helped herself to the remaining amanatto, content to wait until Momo got back.
---
It was hours before Momo returned. It was dark Karin had nearly fallen asleep on the couch when the door was thrown open and a distressed looking Momo walked in. Her face was pale and she looked out of breath.
"He…he's gone!" she gasped.
"What do you mean?" Karin asked.
"He's gone! Toushiro's gone! He wasn't in his room and he wasn't at any of the other places I looked! There's no way he was well enough to have been released already, something's happened!" Momo said in distress.
"But what?" Karin asked. Momo anxiously paced for a minute before abruptly stopping.
"Rukongai! He said before that he wanted to go inspect Rukongai!" she said.
"In his condition?" Karin said skeptically.
"He doesn't understand what he's doing. He only just woke up and is probably still disoriented. He's in no condition to do anything like what he was talking about earlier. I have to go after him before he gets hurt!"
"Follow after him? Isn't that-"
"Yes it's against the rules, but I have no choice! Toushiro will get punished too if he's caught; I have to find him and take him back before dawn! Karin, stay here, I'm going to find Toushiro," Momo said.
"I want to come with you. Toushiro is my friend too, and besides, two sets of eyes are better than one," Karin said.
"I'll be sneaking out of Seireitei and be putting myself in an area with known enemies. I can't take you with me, it would only put you in danger," Momo said.
"If you don't take me with you, I'll tell the authorities about what you're doing," Karin said stubbornly. Momo sighed. She couldn't waste time arguing over this.
"Fine, but take your zanpakuto and be careful. I don't know what's going to happen while we're out there, so do whatever I tell you," Momo said.
"How are you going to find him? Rukongai is a big place…"
"We'll only need to search the areas that he would pass through. He specifically mentioned searching the districts with unusual occurrences. If I search those areas, I should be able to pick up a reiatsu trail and follow it to Toushiro."
---
After leaving Seireitei, Momo and Karin searched for hours. No matter how hard they looked however, there was no trace of Toushiro. Momo thought she sensed Toushiro's reiatsu from time to time, but it always ended up being a false lead. Soon it was nearly dawn, and Momo and Karin were getting tired from searching.
"It's no good. We'll have to return to Seireitei before it's discovered we left without permission," Momo said.
"What's going on? Where could he be? It's not like Toushiro to-"
"Karin! Get down!" Momo suddenly yelled, suddenly pushing her to the ground. When she looked up, she saw that Momo had her sword drawn, and that there was a shallow cut across her cheek. She looked over and saw that there were two figures standing, outlined against the faint light of dawn.
"Well, it looks like you did come. We heard that you might!" a voice cackled.
"We were lucky to have found you," another voice said. Momo's eyes narrowed as she looked at the dark figures. Though it was dark, she could clearly see white pieces of bone-like substance attached to their faces.
"Arrancars…" she muttered, "Karin, get behind me!"
Karin began to stand up, but as soon as she did so, there was a burst of static-like noise, and a moment later she and one of the arrancars had disappeared.
"Karin!" Momo yelled. She turned to the other arrancar, "What did you do to her?!" she yelled angrily, fearing for Karin's safety.
"Oh, my companion just took her somewhere else to fight. Whichever one of us kills our quarry first will go to aid the other. I suspect it will be him, as it seems that girl was a novice who could not possibly stand up against an arrancar.
Momo grit her teeth. She knew he was right; Karin was neither strong enough, skilled enough, nor experienced enough to fight off an arrancar. She was good, and had developed at an astonishing pace, but arrancars were in an entirely different league. She had no idea where Karin was, and the arrancar in front of her probably wouldn't give her time to search. She would have to defeat her current opponent and go to help Karin afterwards. She gripped her sword tightly in preparation for battle.
Please be okay, Karin…