Part Two - Regression

Chapter Four - Downward Spiral

...

What is loyalty? Pledging oneself to a person, a group, or a government? Loyalty and trust go hand in hand. If there is no trust, then there cannot be loyalty. And trust, trust can be a very dangerous thing. Sometimes it is best to play the game by oneself and not risk the chance of betrayal. But, more often than not, it pays to trust and it certainly pays to be loyal.

...

Toushiro's head was pounding. He was used to migraine headaches and even just tension headaches, but this was something different. He felt as if he was emerging from boiling water. His movements were sluggish and he felt dizzy. What the hell had happened? He tried to raise a hand to his head but found that he couldn't. The clang of an iron chain told him that his arms were cuffed behind his back. His left shoulder ached at the forced position and his leg was pulsing lightly.

He slowly opened his eyes, ready for his pounding head to be assaulted by harsh light, but he was met with darkness. He frowned and looked around as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. There were bars in front of him, prison bars, and he was slumped against a rough plaster wall.

"What the hell?" He muttered as he recognised the elements of a holding cell. Each division had a few for small disciplinary matters. How had he ended up here? The last thing he remembered was...

He froze, his breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened. Momo had regained her memories. Momo had bound and knocked him out with kido. Momo had been furious with him. He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh Captain, good, you're awake." Rangiku appeared on the other side of the bars. She looked exhausted, yet relieved.

"What happened?" he asked, standing up. He struggled a bit since his hands were secured behind his back and his left leg protested greatly at the movement.

"I was hoping that you could tell me," she sighed.

"Where's Hinamori?"

"We don't know," she mumbled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and kneeling down in front of the bars.

Toushiro took a deep breath. "Okay, so why I am in here, in handcuffs no less?"

Rangiku chewed her bottom lip apprehensively. "What happened with Momo?" she asked.

"I asked you a question first-"

"Please, Captain, I'm trying to piece this together myself."

Toushiro paused and regarded her expression. Her usually happy blue-grey eyes were sharp enough to rival her zanpakuto. "When I found Hinamori she seemed to have recovered her memories and was confused. She... she attacked me with kido and that's all I can remember."

Rangiku's eyes widened. "She remembered everything about Aizen?"

"I'm not sure if she remembered everything, but enough to be angry with me. Why, what happened?"

Rangiku shut her eyes for a moment. "No one knows exactly what happened. Momo was no were to be found and the next thing I heard Aizen was freed from muken-"

"What?" Toushiro exclaimed, "How?"

"We don't know how, but everyone suspects Momo. She must have used some sort of forbidden kido to break in because only the head-captain has clearance to go down to the eighth level. No one was hurt, thankfully, but both Momo and Aizen have gone missing."

Toushiro sighed heavily. What had his sister gotten herself into this time? Why would she break Aizen free? She knew what an evil bastard he was, so why would she help him? Had he really hurt her so badly that she would go crawling back to her former captain? He shook his head; it would not be useful to sit around and sulk; he had to find Momo and get to the bottom of this. He glanced to Rangiku then eyed the bars separating them. If the reason for his imprisonment hadn't been clear before it was certainly clear now.

"I'm suspected of helping Hinamori aren't I?" The sinking feeling in his stomach intensified and the words sat heavily on his tongue.

His lieutenant hung her head. "Yes, sir. You were the last person to come into contact with her and given your history together... well they assumed that you helped her."

"That's ridiculous," he growled, even though deep down he knew it was not such a farfetched accusation. "Everyone knows that I hate Aizen. Momo may be my sister, but I would never help her do something like this."

"That's what I said," Rangiku huffed, "But everyone was so intent on assigning blame and with no proof."

Toushiro sighed, "That's to be expected, but I would like to hear the reasoning behind this before jumping to conclusions. There must be something else if they've accused me of doing something so drastic and unreasonable-"

He was cut off by the screech of the door to the outside opening. A couple of shinigami dressed in short, white overcoats and carrying spears walked in. Toushiro warily watched as they opened his cell and stood over him.

"Captain Hitsugaya, your presence has been requested by Head-captain Yamamoto," one of them said, "Please do not resist and come with us."

...

His left leg was shaking so badly that they had no choice but to release his hands from their bindings and allow him to use his crutch. Toushiro swore in frustration as his body betrayed him and made him look weak. Since he had been summoned to see the head-captain, he wanted to enter with a straight back and not hobbling on a damn crutch. The guards stopped right outside the doors to the First Division meeting hall and instructed him to enter. The head-captain was sitting in his usual chair at the back of the hall watching with half-closed eyes as Toushiro limped towards him. The only other captains which were present were Unohana and Soi-Fon. By their presence Toushiro knew that if he was being punished that his punishment had been decided beforehand. He bowed as deeply as his leg would allow and waited for the head-captain to speak.

"Do you know why you are here, Captain Hitsugaya?" Head-captain Yamamoto asked gravely.

Toushiro had been on the receiving end of Yamamoto's chastisements a few times before, but he had never seen the old man look so stern. Even the flames from the torches hanging on the walls looked more intense than normal. Yamamoto's reiatsu was usually held with a tight rein but Toushiro could feel it flooding the room. His throat constricted slightly and swallowing didn't help in the slightest.

"Yes, sir," he said, surprised at the strength of his voice, "Lieutenant Hinamori is suspected of freeing Aizen from muken and you assumed that I helped her."

Yamamoto nodded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I was not aware that Aizen had been freed until a few minutes ago when my lieutenant told me."

"But you do know that both Hinamori and Aizen are currently missing and traces of Hinamori's reiatsu were found in the Underground Prison?" Soi-fon asked.

He paused. "I did not know that-"

"And that you were found unconscious not too far from the prison as well?"

Toushiro frowned, "No, I was in the Twelfth when I was rendered unconscious..."

There was a bloated silence.

"If what you are saying is true-" Soi-fon began.

"I assure you that it is-"

"Then Hinamori orchestrated and executed this plan to free Aizen by herself?"

Toushiro sighed. He did not want to believe that his sister would or could do such a terrible thing, but if that's what all the evidence pointed to then he had no choice but to accept it as the truth.

"Why do you hesitate?"

"I did not know that she was that skilled-"

"You seem to be ignorant of a lot of things, Captain Hitsugaya," Soi-fon spat, obviously getting annoyed with him.

He hung his head as shame and bitterness pooled in his stomach. "Forgive me; I was unconscious for quite some time and this is a lot to take in so quickly."

There was another pause.

"Very well," Yamamoto boomed, "Could you tell us what happened when you saw Hinamori, as you said, in the Twelfth? You were the last person to come into contact with her, after all."

Toushiro recounted everything he could remember from the time he found out Momo was missing to when she knocked him out with 'white crawl'. "She must have regained her memories sometime during the night, but for some reason she seemed to have thought that Aizen was mistakenly convicted. I had no idea that she would resort to freeing him from muken."

"Yes, it appears that Hinamori's memories are still skewed," Unohana said, "I can only assume at this point that a large chunk of her memory, namely the part about Aizen's betrayal, is missing. She thinks that Aizen is the victim and we are in the wrong."

"And how was it that you, a captain, could not restrain her, especially after you noticed she was not of sound mind?" Soi-fon asked.

Toushiro chewed the inside of his cheek. "I... she was distraught-"

"This is turning into a very sensitive topic, Captain Soi-fon," Unohana interjected, "We all know what Captain Hitsugaya and former Lieutenant Hinamori have been through. I think we should be more focused on locating Aizen and figuring out a way to handle this situation rather than searching for something we already know the answer to."

Toushiro glanced to the dark-haired woman. Her face was impassive, however, when he caught her gaze.

Yamamoto heaved a great sigh, "As much as we would like to believe that you are innocent, Captain Hitsugaya, we cannot ignore the evidence. You could have restrained Momo Hinamori when you had the chance and therefore, whether it was intentional or not, you allowed her to infiltrate the Underground Prison and free Aizen."

Toushiro clenched his fists. It was his fault; he should have been able to see past his emotions, his guilt for harming Momo, and have done the sensible thing to restrain her as soon as he figured out that something was wrong like Soi-fon had said. Once again his vision had been clouded when it mattered the most and his actions had caused serious repercussions. He deserved every bit of the punishment he was going to get. His stomach was bubbling in anger and he bit his bottom lip.

"I agree and accept whatever punishment you see fit for me," he said, bowing again.

"However, there is still much investigating to be done. We are assuming that Momo Hinamori must have had outside help; we are not sure from whom or what, because it should have been impossible for someone of her calibre to overpower the prison guards and break Aizen out of the deepest level. Even with your help, Captain Hitsugaya, it would have been unfeasible. Also, and the hell-butterfly which you sent to Lieutenant Matsumoto and the fact that there was no trace of your reiatsu found inside the prison prove that there is some truth to your story."

Toushiro looked to the head-captain in confusion. He could not possibly be granting him pardon; the situation was too serious for him to be pardoned. Aizen had escaped. "Sir-"

Yamamoto stopped him with a raised palm. "You understand that we cannot take even the slightest cause for suspicion lightly and, while I go by the saying 'innocent until proven guilty', you will still be punished. All of Squad Ten's duties are to be put on hold and you will be put on probation until we can be absolutely sure that you had no involvement in breaking Aizen free. Am I understood?"

Toushiro hung his head again. "Yes, sir – But my entire squad should not be punished for my actions-"

The head-captain raised an eyebrow causing Toushiro to shrink slightly. He could see why this was necessary; the squads were essentially an extension of their captain's will. The Gotei Thirteen had be caught completely off guard when Aizen betrayed them the first time, so he could understand why the head-captain was being so cautious. It was unfair to his men, but necessary. The punishment could have been a lot more severe; he knew he was getting off easy.

"The omnitsukido will be watching you very closely, Captain Hitsugaya, so I expect you to work very hard to prove that you are innocent."

...

He called a squad meeting as soon as he got back to his division. It took everyone almost half an hour to get assembled and he was met with much confusion and loud, raucous protests. He couldn't remember the last time there had been a squad meeting, if there even had been one in the past. But, that was just like him, he thought, making a first time for everything, be it bad or good. He was positive that everyone had heard about his suspected involvement in freeing Aizen so he wasted no time in beating around the bush.

"If I could have everyone's attention, please," he called over the noise. They instantly quietened. "Thank you. You all know the circumstances behind Aizen's escape and subsequent hiding-"

"Is it true that Lieutenant Hinamori had something to do with it, sir?" someone shouted from the crowd.

"Yes, that is true-"

"Are you are really suspected of being an accomplice, sir?"

He sighed, "That is also true-"

There was a new wave of loud murmuring. He felt Matsumoto tense beside him and she let out a grunt of annoyance.

"Everyone settle down," he shouted over the noise, "I can assure you that this is not the case." They quietened, but not as quickly as the first time. "Yes, I am being suspected of helping Aizen since Lieutenant Hinamori was under my care. I, however, played no role in breaking Aizen free; my loyalty to the Seireitei, the Gotei Thirteen, and you, my Division, still stands strong. I admit that I am at fault for not restraining Lieutenant Hinamori and allowing her to get to Aizen, but I ask each one of you here for your forgiveness and to continue to stand behind me as your leader."

He paused to gauge their reaction. There were a few conflicted gazes but no one made a move to counter him. Pleased, he continued, "But the purpose of this meeting is not to ask for your loyalty but to inform you of our squad's situation. Because of my actions, all of our duties have been put on hold. Any missions we were taking part in will be re-assigned to other squads for the time being."

"But that's not fair!" someone shouted in outrage. "You can't be serious, Captain!"

There were a couple more shouts of agreement and soon the entire squad was engulfed in cries of outrage and disgruntlement. Toushiro sighed and rubbed his temples as he let them shout themselves out. Rangiku placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her and she sent him a quick smile of encouragement.

"It is unfair that all of you are being punished on my account," he said after a few minutes. "However, I have no grounds to stand against the head-captain's orders. We will keep you all busy with in-house duties, or if you wish to take a temporary leave of absence then that can also be arranged. I ask you all to bear with this; it is only temporary."

He dismissed the soldiers and waited for most of them to leave before turning to Rangiku. A few of the higher seated members had also hung back. "The same applies for you all as well."

"Are you kidding me?" she laughed, "I'm not leaving you to deal with this all by yourself." The seated members nodded in agreement.

He shook his head. "Fine, suit yourselves. Can I leave you in charge of recalling the outpost team, Matsumoto?"

She saluted him. "Consider it done."

...

"Can you believe this?"

Toushiro paused as a soldier's voice floated back to him. He was passing through the barracks, heading back to his quarters, when he heard a few of his men discussing their displeasure in their situation.

"Yeah, this sucks. I hope our pay won't be affected."

"That's not even the problem. How is he still a captain?"

Toushiro felt his stomach drop. His men hadn't bad-talked him in a long time; he had almost forgotten how badly it stung.

"After he nearly got himself and three other captains killed in the Winter War I thought he would have been dismissed. And now this?"

"That's not our call to make; you shouldn't say that."

Toushiro clenched his jaw and turned back the way he came. Gods, they were right. Yamamoto had gone easy on him. He was suspected in aiding a dangerous criminal escape. He should have been thrown in muken himself. He noticed his hands were trembling and he was having difficulty in keeping a firm hold on his crutch. He swore aloud and leaned against the wall as he felt something in his chest tighten and a bitter taste rise at the back of his throat.

And would you prefer that, Little One? Hyourinmaru asked with a snarl, Would you prefer being wrongly imprisoned and not be able to do anything about it?

It's what I deserve, Toushiro sighed as he pushed off the wall and continued on his way.

Hyourinmaru growled, Yamamoto didn't think so; are you going to put the opinions of a pair of unseated soldiers above the head-captain?

There is some truth behind their words; I keep on screwing up.

And who doesn't make mistakes once in a while? You can't, and shouldn't, expect yourself to be perfect.

Well, it's what I have to be. Ever since I was made a captain people have been rooting for me to fail and so far I've given them the satisfaction.

If you think you are a failure then that's all you will amount to. Hyourinmaru was getting irritated; Toushiro could feel the change in his inner-world. Enough of this; you are not going to sit here and wallow in self-pity. There are plenty people out there who still believe in you, so you better start paying attention to them and not some small, loose-tongued soldier who was only speaking out of anger. Who do you truly want to disappoint; the small-fry or the people that matter like Rangiku or the head-captain?

Toushiro huffed; the damned dragon was always right. He always felt like a fool when he berated him.

What are you going to do now? Hyourinmaru asked.

It's not like you're giving me a choice. I'm going to get to the bottom of this, find Hinamori, and deal with Aizen once and for all.

Good.

...

"Playing all of your trump cards so soon? What good will that do?"

"Just you wait, old friend, I have many more traps up my sleeve. Besides, the game has only just begun."

Sorry for that God-awful cliff hanger last time, hope this clears things up.

Reviews are always appreciated :)

-Mymomomo