Part One - Recovery

Chapter Three - The Problems with an Uphill Battle

...

"I'll give you the first move, old friend."

"Are you sure that's the wisest option? I've been setting the board while you sat and watched."

"I've seen that, but I prefer a more elusive strategy."

"Very well, but remember the one to strike first usually wins."

"Usually."

...

The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool – Steven King

...

"Shiro, where's Captain Aizen?" Momo asked suddenly.

Toushiro had been halfway through writing his signature when his arm jerked, causing the wooden nib on his pen to break and an angry splotch of ink soaked into the paper. He raised his head and blinked a few times trying not to let panic rise to his face. It had been a week since Momo's release from the Fourth; he should have been prepared for this question. He had rehearsed the answer in his mind a million times over, so why had his throat gone dry?

"What?" he choked out.

"Captain Aizen hasn't visited me at all, so I was just wondering where he was. Is he really that busy?"

"Um... well," he's rotting away in Muken never to see the light of day.

"He's out on a mission, Momo," Rangiku sighed from behind a magazine.

"But that was a week ago," Momo sighed, looking deflated.

"It's a long term mission, so just sit tight, okay."

Toushiro had never been more thankful for his lieutenant. But really, he should have been able answer that simple of a question. He grumbled as he noticed the mess he had made of his paperwork. He'd have to redo the file; thankfully it wasn't anything too important, just a requisition which he could easily rewrite in a matter of minutes. He needed a new pen though. He sighed; this was why he preferred brushes to the new bamboo pens Matsumoto had made him try.

"What kind of mission? Is there anything I can do to help him?" Momo asked, brightening slightly.

He took a deep breath and shut his eyes momentarily; Rangiku's shoulders tensed minutely.

"He's on a recon mission," he muttered, looking back to his spoilt paperwork. "Hollows have been popping up in different parts of Rukongai." It wasn't a complete lie, except it was his men investigating the situation and not Aizen.

"Can I go help him?" Momo clutched the back of the couch. Her eyebrows rose in question and her eyes widened hopefully.

He scratched the back of his neck, "No, and besides you're in no condition to go out and fight any hollows."

She pouted. "Neither are you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Which is why I'm not out there, bed-wetter."

"Shiro, stop calling me that," Momo groaned and covered her face in slight embarrassment.

Toushiro felt the corners of his mouth twinge upwards as he rummaged through his drawers for a new pen. Momo turned to Rangiku with a frown and folded arms, giving Toushiro her back. Grinning, Rangiku held out her magazine to Momo.

"But I'm glad that Captain Aizen wasn't injured in the accident." Momo said wistfully, ignoring the magazine.

Toushiro clenched his jaw.

"Read this article; you wouldn't believe the things they come up with in the world of the living. We're so behind on the times here, it's sad actually." Rangiku rolled up the magazine and tapped her on the nose with it.

Momo scooted back from the blond woman and gingerly took the magazine from her hands. "What's it about?"

"Makeup that decreases wrinkles. Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

"Oh Rangiku," Momo giggled, "You don't have to worry about wrinkles yet; you're not that old."

Toushiro really should have been on Rangiku's back to get her to work, but she had been such a good distraction for Momo that he decided to cut her some slack this past week. The paperwork had been surprisingly light lately, so as long as Rangiku made herself useful in other ways he didn't mind taking care of her share alongside his own.

Momo had been very inquisitive the past week. She did not complain as she followed him and Rangiku around, but asked many questions about her stay in the Tenth. She had noticed a few small differences in the way things were being handled around the division. That also brought up the question of how long she had been unconscious for, since any sort of change took millennia in the Soul Society. Toushiro knew that some lies wouldn't add up; Momo was smart and would figure out that they were hiding something from her. At least she seemed to be getting better.

Yet, with all her progress, Toushiro did not know how much longer he could keep on walking on eggshells around his sister; his nerves were already raw after a week. He knew that he was dreading the day she re-gained her memories, even though he denied it with ever fibre in his being. However, keeping up this act was tiring, and a part of him earnestly wanted Momo to be well again. Still, every time she opened her mouth he felt the smallest bit nervous. With each question she asked she was closer to recovering her memory. He had to keep on reminding himself that it was a good thing.

His shoulder twinged slightly and he absentmindedly reached up to rub it.

"Oh, Captain, don't you have a session with Captain Unohana today?" Rangiku asked, studying his movements like a hawk.

He paused and nodded. "Yes, I probably should be going now. Rangiku, do you think you can finish up the paperwork while I'm gone?"

Rangiku scrunched up her face, "But-"

"I can help," Momo exclaimed.

Toushiro frowned, and he looked for his lieutenant to his sister. "I don't think-"

"Oh, come on, I'm a lieutenant; I know how to handle a little paperwork. I'm not going to mess anything up and I have nothing better to do."

He scratched the back of his neck again. "Well, I suppose..." he turned to Rangiku and sent her a glare as if to say 'make sure she doesn't get into anything serious'.

Rangiku nodded. "Momo are you really forcing me to work? After all I've done for you?"

Toushiro rolled his eyes as he left the office. Their playful banter followed him down the corridor and he smiled a bit.

...

Unohana remarked on his good mood when he arrived at the Fourth and he gave her a brief summary of Momo's week. She was happy to hear that Momo was getting back into her life so well and told Toushiro to keep up the good work. He quickly changed into a pair of running shorts – provided by none other than Rangiku – and a tank top and they began their session. Even though Toushiro had healed enough that he could walk on his own, he was nowhere near the strength he needed to be. Ten minutes on the treadmill had his thigh screaming in agony and he began to run with a pronounced limp, eagerly waiting until she said that he could stop. Unohana unsympathetically made notes on her clipboard and moved him through different sets of exercises. At the end of the session he was drenched in sweat and breathing much heavier than he would have cared to admit. Unohana waited until he had rested a bit then led him to an examination room and had him hop up on a paper-lined bench.

"Your muscles are pretty tense, more so than they should be after exercising," she observed as she made him lie on his back and ran her fingers down his thigh. "Have you been doing your stretches every night?"

He chewed the inside of his cheek. With everything that had been going on he had forgotten about stretching. "Sorry, I forgot. I've been preoccupied and they slipped my mind."

She pursued her lips and poked a few places on his leg. He grunted as she ran over a sensitive spot.

"I'll give you a quick massage, but I think we might have let you off the crutch prematurely. I don't like the look of this muscle, it feels swollen. Have you been feeling any pain?"

"A bit more than usual, but really it's just been sore especially if I stand up too long." He sighed at the thought of having to use a crutch again.

"And your shoulder?"

"It twinges from time to time, but nothing too bad."

She nodded. "Then the trouble will be with your leg; we need to take it easy until your muscles are fully healed."

"I've been spending most of my time at my desk, and I haven't been walking or standing that much."

"That's not the best thing either, Captain Hitsugaya, apart from our sessions you need to find small ways to work your muscles. We've taken a few steps backwards this week."

Toushiro let out a frustrated sigh.

"Don't worry about it too much, healing is a journey of many ups and downs. And you have been progressing at a healthy rate."

He hissed when she prodded a spot on the outside of his thigh and tried to hold still and not kick her in the face.

"Yes, you need to build up a little more muscle here. I'll say maybe two to three more weeks, and then we'll see how you do without the crutch."

...

Toushiro couldn't find it in him to put up a facade when he came across his men on his way back to his office. He avoided all eye contact, since he knew that they were staring at his crutch and he may or may not have glared more darkly than necessary.

This is ridiculous, he thought, I should be better by now.

Hyourinmaru rumbled, You don't need to push yourself so hard. No one is expecting you to be in top shape so soon after the war. The whole of the Seireitei is still recovering; this is no race, Little One.

Toushiro sighed; the dragon was right. He was always right. But, he still felt as if he had failed and he glared at his left thigh. None of the other captains had lost a leg. They had all been up and about in relatively short times while he had been stuck in bed. He ground his teeth together.

Hyourinmaru let out a great sigh. This is not a sign of strength. You will get better in time.

He nodded but still felt bitter and pushed open the door to his office. Rangiku had been snoozing on the couch, but shot up when she heard him enter. She frowned in confusion when she saw that he was back to using a crutch but made no comment as he hobbled to his desk. Momo let out a loud gasp from her position at Rangiku's desk.

"What happened, Shiro? Why do you have to use a crutch again?"

He clenched his jaw and sat down. He roughly yanked open a drawer, almost pulling it off the tracks, and slapped a thick manila file on his desk.

"Shiro?" Momo asked softly, "Why are you angry?"

He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. "Unohana said I wasn't strong enough to walk without a crutch yet. I strained a muscle or something."

"Oh, that's terrible," Momo exclaimed, "does it hurt? Do you need anything? Oh I know; I'll make you some tea." She jumped up from her seat and shuffled out the door. "I'll be right back."

He sighed heavily as she left.

"Don't worry about it, Captain, I can't tell you how many times I almost got a lung infection last month. Unohana had me on antibiotics for at least two weeks."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't tell me any of this?"

She waved him off. "It wasn't important-"

"Not important? Rangiku-"

"All that matters is I'm better now. What I mean is there are going to be ups and downs, so don't take it too hard when things don't go perfectly."

He paused. "That's wise of you..."

She smiled. "What do you say we call it a day? You look like you could use some rest."

"Nice try. We're staying here until we're done. Did you even do any work while I was gone?"

"I had to keep the important stuff away from Momo, so yes, I did a bit."

He shook his head and opened the file he had set on his desk. However, upon seeing the first page he began to frown. This was the same report from a week ago. The file hadn't been updated in a week. Normally he would attribute it to Rangiku never doing her work, but this was the file from the squad he had sent to monitor Rukongai hollow activity. After receiving their report almost two days late he had pushed the incident to the back of his mind. Nothing had been terribly wrong; they had dealt with the hollows and the backup team he had sent was well received. But that was all last week, if nothing was wrong why were they taking so long to report? Something was off and he had a feeling it wasn't a problem with communication.

"Rangiku, have you gotten any new reports from the Rukongai platoon?" he asked.

She tilted her head and turned around to look at him. "Them again? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want me to put together another team to check on them?"

He shook his head. "No I already sent a backup squad, but I would like to know why they are so negligent with their reports."

She put a finger to her lips. "There haven't been any strange hollows have there? I mean, sure, there have been more than normal, but nothing too dangerous right?"

"Nothing above regular class."

"Then they're probably just tired, not all of us have your worth ethic, Captain."

He shook his head and closed the file. He would give them three days before he would start investigating.

"Momo's taking long with the tea," Rangiku mused aloud, "I'll go check on her."

He nodded and went back to work.

...

The next morning he had barely sat down behind his desk when Matsumoto barged into the office looking frazzled. Her hair was a mess, like she hadn't brushed it and she looked like she had pulled on her uniform in a blind rush.

"Momo!" she called frantically. "Is she in here?"

Toushiro stood up, his eyes had gone wide. "She's missing?"

Rangiku swallowed. "She's not in her room, not in the bath house, the mess hall, or the kitchen; I checked everywhere!"

Toushiro felt his stomach churn uncomfortably, but this was no time to panic. He grabbed his crutch and hobbled out from behind his desk. He had to face the situation with a level head; Momo had probably wondered off somewhere, she often did that. They would find her sooner if they got some of his men searching.

"Matsumoto, round up some soldiers. Have a group search the division from top to bottom and send another to search the nearest squads. Search for her reiatsu and we'll have her in no time."

She nodded, snapping to action. "But what if she found out something about Aizen?"

"Then we'll deal with that when we find her, now go. Alert me as soon as you get wind of her."

She shunpo'ed away and he followed her, going to set off on his own search. Unohana had told him to refrain from using shunpo, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He grit his teeth against the rough landing that sent tremors up his left leg and concentrated on locating Momo's reiatsu. He closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths to clear his mind. His heart was racing and he felt every single muscle in his body tense, but he willed himself to be calm.

He let all his surroundings fade into the background as he concentrated on finding Momo's reiatsu. Her reiatsu was almost as familiar to him as his own. It had been a little shaky and somewhat weak as she recovered from her injuries, but it was still warm, bubbly, and something else that was exclusively Momo. Sometimes finding a shinigami's reiatsu was like sniffing out a scent; he got whiffs of it here and there but it was hard to pin down to a specific location. He concentrated on where he felt it the strongest and let his senses carry him to her. After a few minutes he found her location down to be somewhere near the Twelfth. He frowned and opened his eyes; what was she doing there?

Immediately, he leapt into another shunpo and raced towards the Twelfth. Who knew what she would encounter over there. All the captains had been instructed to keep the details about Aizen from Momo, but they couldn't control everything their men said. He felt panic rise in his chest once again and wrestled it down. Now was not the time for emotions. He had let himself get distracted by them countless times before and had suffered the consequences.

He came up behind Momo as she wondered around a pathway near the boundary wall of the Twelfth.

"Hinamori," he called, "there you are."

She jumped slightly and spun around. "Shiro," she answered in apparent relief.

He let out a breath he hadn't realised that he had been holding and limped towards her. "What are you doing here?"

She looked away with a slight blush on her cheeks. "I took a wrong turn somewhere and I got lost. Somehow everything looks different; did a few pathways get changed during re-construction?"

He let out a breath through his nose. "Yes, that's why you're not supposed to go anywhere without me or Matsumoto."

"I'm sorry," she clasped her hands behind her back, "I thought I memorised the Tenth's layout, but I guess not."

"It's not a problem, just next time ask someone for help or, better yet, don't go anywhere without telling me or Matsumoto."

"I hope I didn't cause too much trouble. I'm really sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'll just tell Matsumoto we found you then let's go back to the Tenth, okay?"

She nodded and he turned around to summon a hell-butterfly. He reached his hand out to let the black insect land on his finger when it appeared.

"Take this message to Lieutenant Matsumoto," he instructed it, "I found Hinamori; we can call off the search. She was wondering around the Twelfth, and said that she got confused because the pathways were changed during the re-construction..."

He trailed off, his eyes going wide. How did Momo know about re-construction? He hadn't mentioned anything about them having to re-build anything. Yes, she knew that there was a big accident, but the details, especially not the building and property damage details, had not been disclosed. Did she remember something about Aizen or the Winter War? And why hadn't she told him?

He spun back around, ignoring the jolt of protest from his left leg. "Hinamori, did you-" his words died in his throat as he saw Momo facing him with a raised palm. Her face was contorted in fury and she was biting her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Momo-"

"Bakudo number sixty-three; locking bondage stripes."

Toushiro's eyes widened in shock and Hyourinmaru roared. He jumped backwards but it wasn't enough to evade the thick, yellow ropes that shot out to ensnare his torso. His arms were bound tightly to his sides and his crutch fell to the ground with a clatter.

"Momo, what the hell are you doing?" he shouted as the ropes tightened around his chest to an almost painful point.

Momo said nothing as she walked up to him. Her fists were clenched and her mouth set in a grim line; Toushiro had never seen his sister look this angry before. In that instant she knew that she had remembered everything. He began to let out a little of his reiatsu in order to break her kido spell; he needed to talk to her and explain everything that happened. She had obviously jumped to conclusions and he had to clear the air before proceeding.

"Hinamori," he started again, "listen to me. I know that you're angry but hear me out, at least. I'm sorry that I hurt you; I didn't mean to, I never meant to hurt you. It was that bastard, Aizen's fault-"

She narrowed her eyes. "It wasn't his fault."

"Wasn't his fault? Do you remember what he did to the Soul Society, to you?"

"Shut up!" she roared, her voice cracked slightly. "The only one who 'hurt' me was you, lying and not telling me what happened."

Guilt gnawed at his stomach, "Momo, I'm sorry; we were trying to protect you. Why didn't' you come to me when you remembered?"

"Because, Shiro, a lieutenant is always loyal to their captain."

A flash of purple in the corner of his eye drew his attention. He swore harshly as purple cherry blossoms began to fall around him and he heard Momo mutter 'white crawl'.

"Damnit, no Hinamori, stop this and listen for a second!"

He knew it was hopeless and his words would not reach her as he saw her eyes flash with contempt. His vision began to blur and his surroundings became muddy and melted together into a grey blob. He swayed and fell to his knees.

"Momo, no," he called as his tongue began to feel heavy and his body felt like it wasn't his own anymore. He fell forward and black spots swam in front of his eyes.

"Stop," his voice was barely louder than a whisper as the last of his energy left him and he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.

...

"It's your move, old friend."

Yes, things were too quiet; they should know better by now, something was bound to go wrong.

How's Hitsugaya gonna react to a crazy Momo? Cue lies, deceit, and a lot of super sleuth action.

Hope you guys enjoyed, please leave a review on your way out :)

-Mymomomo