Captain Kyoraku walked in on Rangiku drowning her sorrows.

"That's three bottles of my strongest sake you've gone through already. Even I wouldn't go through them that quickly."

"It's no good." Rangiku said miserably. "I can't get drunk."

"That's for the best. Take it from a guy with two thousand years' experience. Numbing the pain now will only make it worse in the long run." Shunsei sat down next to her.

"But talking helps, if you're ready."

Rangiku chugged a bottle.

"And now that's four. I'd never thought I'd say this, but you really need to stop this drinking. I've been aging this sake for hundreds of years. Too much more of this'll kill you."

"Isn't that what's supposed to happen?"

"What do you mean?"

Rangiku wiped her mouth. "Isn't a lieutenant supposed to die to defend her captain?"

Shunsei raised an eyebrow. "How does killing yourself after the fact work?"

"When my captain needed me I wasn't there."

"What do you think you could have done? You were already out of it, and that was Aizen we were talking about. The old man ordered all lieutenants not to engage him under any circumstances."

"I know that!"

"Then why are you making this out to be your fault? Captain Hitsugaya knew the risks. He knew that his gambit was more likely to kill himself than Aizen. I think if he knew for sure what would happen he'd have felt he was getting a bargain."

Rangiku nodded. "That's true, but..."

"But what?"

Rangiku began to cry. "Did you know that I was the one who recruited the captain?"

Shunsei nodded. "Yes. It's common knowledge among the captains."

"He didn't even want to be a Soul Reaper. If I never made him come, he's still be-ohhh!"

Rangiku broke down completely, and Shunsei put his arm around her shoulder.

"There, there. No need to hold it in."

She continued to sob uncontrollably.

"Do you know what Toshiro cared about most? I think I got to know him pretty well, and I believe he was glad to have become a Soul Reaper, because he had the power to protect his friends. He was content at the end, knowing you and Momo were safe."

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"How's Lieutenant Matsumoto doing?" Jushiro Ukitake asked.

"Not good." Shunsei answered. "She's sleeping off the sake now. She blames herself for finding him in Rungunkai."

"I see."

"How's Momo doing?"

Jushiro shook his head. "I tried to visit her, but she refuses to see anyone."

"Each person grieves in their own way. I guess she's more like Toshiro than we thought, shutting herself off like that."

"Shunsei, I'm worried about what's going to happen next."

"How so?"

"Since Aizen betrayed us and Lieutenant Hinamori was placed in the hospital, the Tenth Division has been handling much of the Fifth's duties. Now both don't have captains and their lieutenants are probably not up to the task of running a division right now."

"True. And now we're short four captains, with no one to replace them."

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'It's funny.' Ichigo thought. 'It was much easier to decide to go to the Soul Society when I knew the whole Seretei was going to try to kill me. Even going to Hueco Mundo didn't make me this nervous.'

"Ichigo!"

He snapped out of his reverie.

"Yoruichi?"

"It's time, Ichigo. Kisuke's got the portal ready.

Ichigo got up and followed her down to Urahara's underground training facility. Orihime, Uryu, and Chad were already there, looking solemn. Uryu and Ichigo were dressed for battle, while Orihime and Chad wore their Sunday bests.

"Are you all right, Ichigo?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah. But I'm not looking foreward to this. It's going to make it seem...real."

"Are you hoping that he'll pop up looking for his lieutenant after she snuck off to the real world for a shopping spree?" Uryu asked.

"No. But I never thought that any of the captains could...you know."

"All things considered, Kurosaki, we were luckier than we deserved to only lose one person. By all rights we should all have died fighting the Espadas and the Soul Reapers and Visoreds should have suffered far worse losses to Aizen."

"I know. That's what happens in war. But still..."

"Ichigo," Yoruichi asked, "you did remember that you were asked to speak, to give a human perspective."

Ichigo sighed. "Yes. I remembered."

"If that's all," Urahara said, "it's time."

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"And the name of the dispicable person plotting this is..."

"No! No! No!" Hinamori shook her head furiously.

"Captain Aizen's murderer."

The last time she had seen him face to face, she had accused him of treason, of killing a man she looked up to like a father.

"Idiot! Do you really think Aizen would write something like that!"

She really was an idiot. Blinded by rage and grief, she had attempted to kill her childhood friend.

"Captain Aizen must have a good reason for what he's doing!"

And then, with that stupid hope, she had ruined her one attempt to apologize.

"Please save Captain Aizen!"

'Oh, Toshiro. I'm so sorry.'

The captain she had so admired had not spent his last breath on an explanation or an apology as she had been so sure he would. He used it to take away her best friend forever.

A final act of cruelty.

'Captain Aizen wanted to kill Toshiro from the start. First he made me try to do it, then Captain Ichimaru, the finally-'

Hinamori wanted to cry. She tried so hard.

But she had no tears to shed.

'I couldn't stop crying when I thought Captain Aizen was dead, so why?'

Someone knocked on her door.

"Forgive me Lieutenant Hinamori," a voice said from behind it, "but I thought you would like to know when it was starting."

Hinamori stood up, wishing she could wipe her eyes.

"Thank you. I'll be right there."

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"There's so many people here." Orihime said.

"What did you expect?" Ichigo asked. "It's a funeral for a hero."

All those who had fought in what was now being called the Winter War, named for both the time of year it took place in and the captain who brought it to a close, were seated up front, while the rest of the Soul Reapers formed a solemn crowd.

"I don't see the Visoreds anywhere." Uryu said.

"They get along with Soul Reapers about as well as Quincies do."

"Shush." Chad said. "The Head Captain's getting up to speak."

Head Captain Yamammoto walked slowly to the stand in front of the shrine that had been built at the end of the training grounds of the Tenth Division. The crowd immediately quieted down.

Ichigo tried to listen closely, but the speech sounded generic to him. There was much said about courage and loyalty.

"Is he talking about his ideal captain or about the one he had?" Ichigo demanded in a whisper.

Shunsei whispered something into Ishida's ear, which he related to Ichigo.

"Captain Kyoraku says that the dead are often elevated to a pedastal they never actually reached. In a way, Captain Hitsugaya is more valuable to the Soul Society as a martyr."

Ichigo nodded in understanding. "Who else is speaking?"

Ishida again relayed the answer from Shunsei. "Just you. Lieutenant Matsumoto was supposed to speak, but she wasn't up to it."

"Tell me about it. I've got more butterflies in my stomache than Byakuya has blades in his bankai."

Ichigo tune out what was going on, focusing on what he was going to say.

"And so we must not only persevere," Yammamoto finished, "we must thrive. For that is the best way to honor Captain Hitsugaya's memory."

There was a round of applause as the Head Captain stepped down to make way from Ichigo.

Ichigo had to choke back a gulp as he looked at the crowd.

"I was surprised when I was asked to speak, because I didn;t know Captain Hitsugaya well. I didn't interact with him very much, and when I did it was always about the conflict with Aizen. There are Soul Reapers here whom I've spent even less time with than him and I still feel I know them better.

"But when I think of who I want as my role model, who is what I want to be as a Soul Reaper, the answer is clear. It is Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya.

"He was not the strongest, or the fastest, and maybe not the smartest.

"What made Captain Hitsugaya unique was his relationship with his Zanpakto.

"When Muramasa launched his rebellion, all of our Zanpakto's turned against us, their natural resentments at us becoming their dominant emotions. Even my Zanpakto, Zangetsu," Ichigo said, tapping the sword sheathed on his back, "was compelled to turn against me for a time.

"But Hyorinmaru was different. The only way Muramasa could seperate him from Captain Hitsugaya was to remove all of his memories.

"And yet, even with no information about his past other than Muramasa's lies, all Hyorinmaru could think about was going back to Captain Hitsugaya.

"I was was jeaslous. Heck, I still am jealous. For a Soul Reaper to be that close woth his Zanpakto, to have that deep a connection, he must have been special.

"And now I'll never get a chance to learn how he did it, how he forged a bond that goes deeper than that of any living Soul Reaper with their Zanpakto. I can only try to achieve the same. That's all any of us can do.

"The light of the Seretei shines a little dimmer."

Ichigo took his seat again as the head of the Kido Corps approached the shrine, a great basin of everlasting ice. He cast a powerful bakudo spell, creating a pillar of silver fire in the basin.

Ichigo could scarcely imagine a better tribute to the Captain of the Tenth Division, an immortal silver flame inside ice that would never melt.

A sad melody began to play as Rangiku Matsumoto walked through the crowd, followed by all of the seated officers of the Tenth Division. She carried the shards of Hyorinmaru, and laid them on the stone base in front of the basin.

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"Ah, the good die young." Shunsei said after the ceremony.

"Yes." Jushiro said. "We old war horses always seem to linger on while the young..."

"If it could have been me instead I would have gladly taken his place."

"As would I."

"You know what I'll miss the most? His-"

"Wait, Shunsei." Jushiro said. "Ichigo's leaving, and I want to talk to him before he goes back."

"Go ahead."

Jushiro began to wave. "Ichigo!"

"Ukitake!"

The orange haired boy made his way to the long haired captains. "What is it?"

"I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your speech."

"Thank you. I meant every word."

"People like myself tend to ficus on the tragedy of waste and unrealized potential. We were always waiting for the time when Toshiro would surpass us. Thank you for reminding us that there was a way in which he had already done so."

"In that way he was ahead of the old man."

Shunsei laughed. "We'll never know just how good he could have gotten. With the most powerful ice type Zanpakto maybe he could have surpassed Yamma's fire type in a thousand years."

"Ichigo," Jushiro said, "I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it?"

"We're now extremely shorthanded. In the future, we may have to rely on you a lot more. As a captain level Soul Reaper, you're now a valuable commodity."

Ichigo smiled. "You need me, just give me a call. I'll be there."

Good. I look foreward to working with you more closely."