Firstly, I'm sorry for the long break. I kinda lost inspiration for this story for a while. I do plan on finishing it no matter how long it takes...

Season's Greetings to everyone.

Also this chapter is unbeta'd, I didn't want to annoy my beat reader over the holidays, so sorry for any errors.

Part Two - Regression

Chapter Seven - Web of Lies

...

Toushiro was summoned to the First Division the day after he had dismissed the soldier. Usually the divisions were autonomous, but the Head-captain had found out about the Tenth's information leak, and, because Toushiro currently wasn't on the best standing, Head-captain Yamamoto wanted to double check his actions.

"She shared information that she wasn't supposed to have even seen," Toushiro offered up in explanation. "I had no choice but to relieve her of duty."

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow. "How did she come by this information?"

Toushiro chewed the inside of his cheek. "It was partially my fault," he admitted through a clenched jaw. "I left the file on my desk, assuming that the cleaning staff knew not to touch anything on my desk, especially reports."

Yamamoto hummed and Toushiro felt his cheeks heat in embarrassment. Yes, he should have locked the file away with the others. He knew that it had been careless on his part just to leave something that confidential just lying out in the open. It was a foolish mistake, and right now he couldn't afford to keep on making such mistakes. He clenched his hands into fists, feeling his left shoulder twinge slightly.

"What information did she reveal?" the Head-captain asked at length.

Toushiro raised an eyebrow, surprised that Yamamoto didn't outright reprimand him. Though, he still hesitated. He couldn't lie to Yamamoto, but he couldn't disclose the contents of the mission either. He chewed the inside of his cheek, thinking of a way to divert Yamamoto's attention from the details of the information.

"It was a mission report, one that another squad is now handling. Either way, this will not be happening again." It wasn't a boldface lie, but enough to get him into trouble if he was found out. His stomach churned and he felt a bitter taste at the back of his throat.

"Very well, see that it doesn't, Captain Hitsugaya," Yamamoto said with a great sigh, "And do try to get some rest; you look tired."

Toushiro bowed and he was granted permission to leave. He clenched his jaw tightly as he turned away from the Head-captain. He shouldn't have had to be sneaking around like this, but as things stood, he couldn't afford to have any more suspicion on him. The lie had been the lesser of two evils, he presumed.

You'll give yourself lockjaw if you continue like this, Hyourinmaru warned gently in an attempt to lighten his mood.

Toushiro growled softly. It'll just be another thing to add to my never-ending list of problems.

Hyourinmaru sighed deeply, Look, Little one, I know things are grim as they are now, but-

I don't want to hear it, Hyourinmaru. I don't need to be comforted like some naive child.

The dragon huffed, Fine I'll leave you alone for now.

Thank you.

...

What is Aizen up to, Toushiro asked himself as he poured over the report from Captains Ukitatke and Kyoraku later that day. The two captains were still gathering intel about the new hollows, but Toushiro already knew the answer in his gut. It was just way too circumstantial to be a coincidence; Aizen had to be behind this.

He propped his chin up with his good hand and stared out of the window. Heavy grey clouds blanketed the sky and a few monstrous raindrops began to fall. Usually weather like this lightened his mood, but now the dark clouds mirrored the feeling he had in the pit of his stomach; the feeling that had nested there the moment he had found out what he had let Hinamori do. He ground his teeth together as he followed the path of a raindrop as it slid down the window pane. How many more times was he going to mess up?

"Oh, Captain, there you are," Rangiku sang as she bounced into the office as if she had no care in the world. "How was the meeting with Yamamoto?"

Toushiro sighed softly and slowly closed the file.

"What did he say? Was it bad? Is that why you're brooding?" She hopped over to stand beside his chair.

"He just wanted to know why I fired that soldier."

Rangiku's eyes widened, "You didn't tell him-"

"I told him what was necessary. I avoided the details of what the report said, but it's going to get around, Matsumoto, and the consequences are going to be calamitous."

Rangiku was silent for a moment as she rubbed her temples as if trying to ward off a headache. "I was in the library this morning; just to see if they had anything about Aizen's previous experiments."

Toushiro raised an eyebrow.

"Captain, we need to figure out what exactly is going on before the others do. Why would Momo free Aizen, and what is he planning by turning shinigami into hollows? He can't be making more visored. This all seems too repetitive; another hogyoku doesn't make sense. Aizen doesn't do the same thing twice."

Toushiro laced his fingers together and placed them under his chin. He had not expected Matsumoto to do any research on her own and this had come as a complete surprise.

Maybe you should take a leaf out of her book; stop brooding and actually get something done, Hyourinmaru suggested scathingly.

Toushiro pulled his lips into a thin line. I was not brooding.

He glanced to his lieutenant before re-opening the file. "I'm not sure what Aizen is after, either. We can't tell the exact circumstance of the hollows until new information comes from Ukitake and Kyoraku. But, the similarity to what happened a hundred years ago is unnerving. I'll see what I can find about out about Aizen's experiments myself"

"Captain, are you sure you should be the one to-"

He stopped her with a hand held up. "It'll give me something to do; all our missions have been reassigned and there isn't much paperwork left."

...

Midnight found Toushiro nose deep in stacks of papers. Like Matsumoto had said, there was nothing that they didn't already know. But still, he read through each incident report, taking notes to see if he had missed anything.

Roughly one hundred years ago Aizen had begun experimenting on shinigami by turning them into hollows. He already knew that much. He read through all of the missing person reports; people had first gone missing from the Rukongai then followed by some soldiers from the Ninth. Kisuke Urahara was responsible for saving the shinigami by turning them into visoreds. Toushiro leaned back and rubbed his temples. None of this made sense; why would Aizen repeat an experiment to which he already knew the outcome? And where had he gotten a hogyoku to turn the shinigami into hollows in the first place? Plus, Aizen should have been powerless; the hogykoku had destroyed his zanpakuto and had caused his powers to regress into that of a normal shinigami. He couldn't have made another hogyoku while he was locked away unless he had someone on the outside.

Toushiro shook his head violently. No. There was no way Hinamori could have possibly created another Hogyoku. She had been under his supervision almost twenty-four/seven. She couldn't have... she didn't know how.

Either way, if she did or did not it's not our primary concern right now. We need to figure out what Aizen is after, Hyourinmaru growled.

Toushiro sighed.

What did he want last time?

I don't know. To push his limits, become a god maybe.

And the experiments were just the first step right?

They were a test for the hogyoku. But he doesn't need to test it again...

Maybe it's just a sign – a message – he wants us to know that he's back.

Toushiro sighed heavily and looked back down at the files scattered about the table. But that doesn't seem like Aizen's way of working. He's always secretive until he's sure that his plan is flawless. He isn't the type to send messages just for the hell of it.

Hyorinmaru was silent for a long while. Maybe we should think about this more tomorrow. It's getting late and right now we're running in circles.

Toushiro nodded and began to pull the files together into a neat stack. As he limped out of the library he paused by the doorway and squinted off into the night. A figure dressed in black was retreating along the rooftops. Toushiro clenched his hands and drew in a few short breaths. So, Soi-fon would actually stoop so low as to spy on him. He knew that she didn't trust him since Aizen's escape, but he had been pardoned by Yamamoto. She had no right to send her omnisukido to spy on him. Unless Yamamoto really didn't trust him at all. Then that meant that he'd been lying to his face.

We don't know that, Little one, Hyourinmaru sighed, but he seemed to be just as irked as Toushiro was. We'll think more about this tomorrow; you're tired and chasing down Soi-fon's spy will do no good now.

The shinigami sighed heavily. I know.

Though he was tired; his body ached in ways he hadn't felt in a while, it was difficult for him to find sleep. His thoughts chased themselves in circles and his dreams were short and feverish. Even if he couldn't recall what they were about the next morning, he knew that they must have been jarring from the sluggish way his body moved and his head swam.

...

Toushiro dragged himself into the office the next morning feeling as if he hadn't slept at all. He had just brewed himself a cup of tea and sat down at his desk when Matsumoto flounced into the office. She had been coming into the office early lately. He frowned slightly; did she think that he needed extra help too? Did she not trust him to do his job anymore?

"What's the matter, Captain?" she asked, tilting her head. "I know you've been rocking the dark circles lately, but you look like you didn't even sleep last night."

Toushiro huffed.

"Captain?" Matsumoto insisted.

"I'm fine, Matsumoto. It's nothing."

She folded her arms across her chest. "I smell bullshit."

He sighed, "It's nothing; I'm just over thinking things."

"Oh, Captain," she breathed softly, shaking her head and suddenly she was behind him. He tensed when she put her hands on his shoulders and began kneed her fingers into his muscles.

"What are you doing?"

"Relax, Captain, you hold tension in your shoulders. If you don't want to tell me what's bothering you then I'm just going to have to make sure you're physically comfortable."

He rolled his eyes. "You don't have to-"

"I know. But believe it or not, I care about you."

He gave in after that and let her massage his back and shoulders to her heart's content. He didn't want to admit that it felt good, but he couldn't deny it when his eyelids began to droop and it became harder to stay awake.

The next thing he knew someone was gently stroking his hair to wake him up. He blinked a few times realising that he was lying on the couch in the office with his head resting against Rangiku's lap. He slowly sat up with as much decorum as he could for just waking up.

"Feel better?" she asked softly.

Toushiro pushed back his hair from his face and covered a yawn with his palm. "Sorry I didn't mean to-"

"You needed it, Captain."

He scratched the back of his neck. "I suppose I did. Thank you, Matsumoto."

She gave him a small smile and stood up. "Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku are coming in around fifteen minutes. I'll go prepare some tea."

He nodded as she left the office then collapsed against the couch.

You're still tired, Hyourinmaru observed.

I'm fine.

Toushiro-

I'm fine, Hyourinmaru, just drop it. It's not like I can magically make the night have more hours so I can sleep.

The dragon sent him a dirty look. Toushiro shrugged and hobbled over to his desk to retrieve a couple manila folders. When the two captains arrived Matsumoto set out some cups and a tea pot and they all sat on the couches. After exchanging a few short pleasantries Captain Ukitake handed Toushiro a thick report.

"This is the reiatsu analysis for each hollow," he said grimly, "I'm afraid that all of the reiatsus match up with those of you missing men."

Toushiro sighed heavily, "I thought so; it couldn't have been a coincidence."

Kyoraku nodded. "But, the only other thing is no other soldiers have gone missing. Both Jyushiro and I have had men patrolling the Rukongai for the past week and there have been no new hollow sightings and no one has gone missing."

Toushiro scowled. "What are you hinting at?"

Kyoraku and Ukitake shared a look. "Why was it just your soldiers who went missing? If this is Aizen, and if he did want revenge on us then he wouldn't concentrate his attacks on your squad. There was equal opportunity for him to attack our squads as well, so why didn't he?"

Toushiro paused. "Is... Is he targeting... me?"

Ukitake placed his cup on the coffee table and sat up straight. "He could be. It could also not even be Aizen. The time between his escape and your men turning into hollows is a bit close."

"Even if he had outside help it would have been extremely difficult," Kyoraku added, "There is no communication in and out of muken. He must have had planned this before we locked him up and somehow I don't think that his situation would have been at the forefront of his mind at the time."

Rangiku frowned deeply. "Outside help? Do you mean Momo-"

"No," Toushiro cut her off. "We were watching Hinamori from the moment she woke up. She couldn't have set anything up for Aizen while she was with us."

A strange look passed among the older shinigami. Toushiro pretended not to notice it.

"I was researching Aizen's experiments from a hundred years ago," he continued, "they are strikingly similar, but they are not necessarily Aizen's way of working. As far as we know they are completely random; he has no motive and he already knows the outcome of such experiments."

Kyoraku stroked his chin thoughtfully and picked off a piece of lint from his stubble. "If we start to consider that these attacks might not be Aizen's work then what are we looking at here? A new enemy? An Aizen copycat?"

"Someone could be trying to create another hogyoku," Ukitake suggested.

Rangiku sighed in frustration and tugged a lock of hair behind her ear. "That means we should launch an investigation to find out who it is."

"I think we should find Aizen first," Toushiro said. "There is still a possibility it's him and who knows what he's planning now that he's free."

Kyoraku nodded. "Soi-fon is already heading a mission to locate him."

Toushiro stiffened; why hadn't he been notified of this?

"And, Hitsugaya, I'm sure you already know that Soi-fon doesn't trust you. Don't give her any more cause for suspicion."

"Why would I-"

Kyoraku held up a hand to silence him. "All I'm saying is don't associate yourself too closely to this. I understand that you're concerned for your men and the rest of the Soul Society, but think about how it looks when you spend your time looking up Aizen's old experiments."

Toushiro clenched his jaw. "I was trying to help my men. I owe them that, at least."

"You owe them nothing by putting yourself in danger," Ukitake said warily.

"So you're saying that I should just sit back and do nothing?"

"No. We're saying do it a little more discreetly, or Yamamoto won't be able to protect you anymore and Soi-fon and the Central Forty-six with pounce."

Toushiro blinked and his stomach bubbled uncomfortably. "Yamamoto was protecting me?"

Ukitake sighed and Kyoraku drained his cup.

"Most of the other captains are still on your side. The Central forty-six wanted to incarcerate you on the spot, but the old man got them off your tail for the most part. He stuck his neck out for you." Kyoraku said as he regarded the tealeaves at the bottom of his cup. "Anyway, I'm telling you this so you understand the weight of your situation."

Toushiro looked at his lap, unsure how to respond. If he messed up any more now, it wouldn't just be him in trouble. He never would have guessed that Yamamoto would have gone so far to clean up his mess. He wished that the news hadn't come with the feeling of such immense guilt.

...

"Are you read to give up yet?"

"This game is far from over yet, old friend."

"That it is, but you seem to be working very hard to defend your player. Was it worth all that trouble?"

"You lose some to gain some. I'm sure you've heard that saying."

And you think that you're going to gain after this?"

"I know it."

As always, I'd love to hear what you guys think - even after like 3 months :/

-Mymomomo