DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach or any of it's related titles. All credit goes to Tite Kubo.

A/N: I'm aliiiiiiiiive! Haha. I am SO sorry for keeping you guys waiting, but with graduation and all those such things that had been going on, I really had NO time for writing. Well, fanfiction writing that is. The only writing I was doing was speech and essay writing. Blah. Icky stuff. So now I'm back to the good stuff, and I think I'm gonna stop writing now, cause nobody ever really reads these, and you're probably too excited about the chapter to even care, sooooo…please enjoy! (In case you didn't notice, I've had quite a bit of sugar and very little sleep, so I'm a little hyper at the moment…haha.)

Chapter 9: Lost in Translation

Rangiku stepped into her Captain's office the next morning, only to find Hitsugaya still sitting at his desk, the small book in his hands. His eyes were focused on the script, and she could only begin to wonder if he'd discovered how to decode the almost illegible handwriting.

"Good morning, Matsumoto," he said without looking up from the book.

Rangiku stopped in her tracks, unsure of how he knew of her presence. "Good morning, Hitsugaya-Taichou…" she said hesitantly.

"Your work is waiting for you on your desk…" he said slowly, turning one of the pages. "I suggest you start on that immediately."

Rangiku didn't dare protest and settled herself at her desk, carefully picking up the first parchment. She began writing, looking up at her Captain every so often to see if he was looking at her, but he didn't seem to even blink as he flipped through the pages of the book.

"Have you found anything yet?" she finally asked, trying to sound more calm than she felt.

Hitsugaya didn't look up. "Do you expect me to find something in here, Matsumoto?"

"N-No," she answered hastily. "There's nothing…really in there…just a bunch of gibberish…I'll take it back when you're finished with it…"

Hitsugaya didn't respond.

"Is…Is that alright?" she asked, raising her voice a little. Perhaps he had not heard her.

"I'm afraid not, Matsumoto," he responded, looking closer at what seemed to be a small diagram at the top of the newest page.

"Why not?" she pressed on. "It's just a diary. That's all."

"I'm not finished with it, that's why not, Matsumoto," he answered shortly.

"Oh…" Rangiku looked down. "Well…when you're finished…"

"I'm afraid not," he repeated, finally looking up from his work.

Rangiku looked down quickly, pretending to busy herself with her own papers. She didn't want to make eye contact with him at the moment. For some reason, it always made her feel vulnerable. He had this funny way of seeing right through people, no matter what kind of walls that person had built.

Hitsugaya shook his head and sighed heavily. "Matsumoto, this book contains information that could save the entire Soul Society from destruction…" he stared at her with the very eyes she feared. The ones she was certain were reading her thoughts.

Kittens. Sunsets. Pink. Boobs. Girly stuff.

She did everything she could to throw him off.

Just in case, of course.

"You know that just as well as I do," he said, finally standing up from his chair, not appearing much taller than he was before. "And it would be a lot easier for me, if you'd tell me how you managed to get your hands on this…"

Rangiku refused to answer him honestly. "I found it."

"You found it?" Hitsugaya raised a bushy eyebrow. "You found this?"

"Yes," she answered quickly.

He stood at the front of her desk, looking down at her bent head. "Matsumoto, I know you're lying to me. And you don't have to tell me where you got it, because I already know. I just wanted to see how willing you were to cooperate…"

She finally looked up, nearly taking him out in the process. Hitsugaya stood back and crossed his arms, sliding his hands into his sleeves, as though this would make him look more threatening.

"Matsumoto, I know that you did not simply find the diary of Aizen Sosuke lying around…" his eyes were fixed on hers.

"I-Is that what that is?" Rangiku tried to play it cool. She wasn't entirely sure if that had been what it was, honestly. She knew it belonged to Aizen, but what it was exactly, she wasn't sure. For all they knew, it could have been some kind of recipe-book. Perhaps Aizen liked to bake cherry pies in his free time. Who were they to judge?

"Did Ichimaru give this to you?" he ignored her question, his eyes now flashing dangerously.

"I-Ichimaru-Taichou?" Rangiku shook her head ferociously. "No…no certainly not…"

"No?" Hitsugaya didn't believe her and it was obvious, but he wanted to hear it from her first. "No? Ichimaru Gin did not give this to you during one of your secret rendezvous'?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rangiku looked away quickly, anger building from the bottommost pit of her stomach. Hitsugaya had touched a nerve.

"Don't lie to me, Matsumoto," he warned. "Lying will get you nowhere but a cell just like Ichimaru's. You could be executed, just as they're planning for him. Is that what you want?"

Rangiku's heart sank. She knew this was going to be his fate. She knew it. She had been telling him, had been warning him, all along and now it was too late. There was nothing she could do, or she would face the very same.

"No, Hitsugaya-Taichou…" she bowed her head.

"I could do it, you know…" he said, his mouth turned downward menacingly. "I could hand you over along with this book, and have it all be done with. All taken out of my hands."

She nodded. "I know…"

"I didn't ask for this," he continued. "I didn't want to have to be put in this kind of situation. You brought this onto yourself, Matsumoto, and now I'm in a very difficult position…"

"Gomen, Hitsugaya-Taichou…" Rangiku was truly sorry. She had never intended to drag her Captain into this either. If he turned her over, she wouldn't blame him in the least.

"And that's why I'm not going to turn you in…" he said slowly.

Her head shot upward, stunned by what he had just said. "You're not?" she narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Because," he continued calmly. "You're more important to me than you are to them, and this way, I'm sure we can handle this without causing a huge uproar…"

Rangiku nodded. He certainly had a point. If she were handed over, along with Aizen's diary, the whole Soul Society would be up in arms. Two Soul Reapers would be executed, and the threat of Aizen would be rampant once again, and that was the last thing they needed, just as things were starting to calm down a little.

"Who else knows about this?" Hitsugaya pulled the book from his sleeve. Apparently he had held it with him the entire time.

"The book?" Rangiku stared at it, as though it were the most precious item she'd ever laid eyes on. "N-Nobody…well, Ichimaru-Taichou…but other than that, nobody…"

"Does anyone else know that you and Ichimaru have had contact?" he pressed on, starting to move away from her, back toward his desk.

"…Izuru…" she said hesitantly. She didn't want to drag Kira into this as well, but perhaps it was for the best. Hitsugaya would make sure Kira was kept safe.

Hitsugaya looked up. "Izuru knows?"

"Ichimaru was his Captain…" Rangiku justified herself. "He had the right to know. He was concerned."

"It would be best if Izuru knew nothing…" Hitsugaya sighed and shook his head. "He is a danger to us. In battle he is useful…at times. But the man cannot keep his head. With little torture, he will give away any valuable secret he knows."

Rangiku looked concerned. "You believe that he will be tortured?"

"Aizen will certainly know if his diary is missing," Hitsugaya snapped the book shut. "Wouldn't you notice? And wouldn't you go looking for it? Especially if it held some great secret?" he stepped back toward her, his eyes wide and unblinking once again. "And wouldn't you do anything in your power to get it back, no matter who got into your way?"

"You think Aizen will dare to come back to the Soul Society?" a small crinkle began to form in Rangiku's forehead. She hadn't intended for Aizen to return either. Things were certainly turning for the worst.

"What's stopping him?" Hitsugaya shrugged. "And who? We couldn't stop him before, what makes now any different? And he has more help on his side than we even know about." His eyes locked onto hers once again. "That is…everyone except you."

Rangiku jumped as the book was tossed into her lap. She looked up at her Captain, quite confused. "Hitsugaya-Taichou, what-?"

"You're the only one who can read that thing…" he said matter-of-factly. "I've been staring at it since I managed to get it from you, and I'll been able to determine is that it belongs to Aizen, and that I did from his handwriting. After working with him for as long as we have, anyone could recognize that…" he shook his head, clearly quite annoyed. "And I believe I saw the word 'Hollow', somewhere, but I could be wrong."

Rangiku nodded. "I read a passage about the Hollows too…"

"If Aizen has the Hollows on his side…" Histugaya said loudly. "In short, we're screwed. But we're not out of the game yet. As long as we don't go into this whole thing blind, we still have a fighting chance. And that's where you come in…"

"Me?" Rangiku yelped. "What on Earth can I do? I got us into this whole mess, didn't I?"

"Yes, but you're going to translate that, and you're going to help us come up with a plan…" Hitsugaya started to sound annoyed by Rangiku's unwillingness to cooperate.

Rangiku fell silent and began to absently flip through the pages. There were tons of them, and Aizen's handwriting was so tiny. It would take her weeks, months even to translate all of it, if she could even translate it in the first place. Hitsugaya was taking a shot in the dark with this one.

"Tell me that, by 'us', you mean more than just the two of us…" she stared at him. "Right?"

"Three of us, actually…" he corrected her.

"Hitsugaya-Taichou, let's not bring Izuru into-…" she looked worried.

Hitsugaya held up a hand to silence her. "Not Izuru…"

"Then…" Rangiku shook her head. "Who?"

GINXRANGIKU

"Rangiku?"

Her face appeared between the shadows as she stared at him, her heart beating wildly beneath her heaving bosom. The small book was lucky to still be alive in her writhing hands. It was late and she shouldn't have been there. One wrong move and she'd be caught, landing her right behind those very bars.

"Gin, I need your help…" she said slowly. "Can you translate this for me?"

She held the book out through the bars toward the slumped man, who almost immediately sprang to life at the very sight of it. His trademark smile glowed in the midnight moonlight, causing a sense of relief to wash over her. He was starting to act like his old self again.

"Fantastic. You got it back…" he grinned and flipped through the pages playfully, leaning back against the wall. "Sure thing, love…come back tomorrow…"

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed that last chapter. Things are going to start to heat up soon, in both a good and bad way, so please staaaaay tuned. Oh and please review. I'd like to know what you guys think so far…and if you have any ideas as to what you'd like to see happen in this story. Thanks a lot you guys!