It was a quiet day in the seireitei; nothing stirred the atmosphere, except for the wind that gently blew the leaves and grass. Cherry blossoms were in full bloom; their fragrance was sweeping over the soul society. The scent was pleasant for many, but for those who have allergies, they thought the scent as "annoying". In this time of spring there are certain shinigami who believe it is the time for drinking and partying. Right now Matsumoto is currently at a flower viewing party being held by Shunsui.

"I can't believe he hasn't had a drop of sake!" Matsumoto had already drunk 8 bottles…..

"Hey, calm down now, he's still at a young age…" Shunsui was so far "holding his liquor"

"Does it matter? As long as he doesn't go overboard, he'll be fine!"

"Aw, Matsumoto, don't you remember when you had your first drink. We all know you went overboard that time. Same goes for me when I had fist had a sip of my lovely sake." Shunsui was now having fond memories of his first sip of sake that apparently was home-made by his mother. He was grinning as he was remembering; not paying attention to Rangiku who still thought Hitsugaya should drink at least a sip of sake.

Hitsugaya wasn't even finished with his work yet, he was still working silently as Matsumoto was partying, even though he hasn't noticed her absence yet. He then sneezed. It was short, but it was a sneeze. He then wondered if someone was talking about him. Though he wasn't known for it, he was a little superstitious. Ever since he read up on how you sneeze when someone is talking about you, about when you clip your toe nails at night you won't be present at your parent's death and other suspicious claims, he became fascinated with superstitions. He then felt a liquid substance on his hand. It was black ink. He looked down at his paper. Most of it was stained by the black substance. He then immediately put his thin brush down to rest on the table, so that he could clean up the mess.

"How careless of me…." Hitsugaya said to himself. Apparently when he was thinking about superstitions he still had the brush in his hand, still on the paper. It was only a matter of time until the paper soaked the ink-which it did. Luckily though, it didn't stain the other papers, the paper was thick. He was just throwing away the ink-stained paper when something caught his attention. He smelled something. He wouldn't have noticed it if he didn't get up from his desk, surrounded by the smell of ink, freshly printed paper and the spring breeze. He sniffed once. He just wanted to make sure his nose wasn't playing tricks with him. But he undeniably knew the smell. It was the smell of sake. As he was picking up a new ink stone, as his current one was almost demolished, he followed his nose to the file cabinets where most of his subordinate's résumés are kept. He then opened the cabinet closest to the ceiling, and almost immediately jumped back, just in time to escape the spilling sake and falling paper. The mess made a loud crash as cracking glass and now-soaked papers loudly made their way to the floor. The noise was loud enough to catch multiple people's attention.

Hitsugaya stared at the wet mass for a moment "one of these days….i will find a way to accurately punish her for her actions." Though his voice was low, it sent some of his men back to whence they came, when they were just about to open the door to ask what on earth that sound was. Hitsugaya then decided to find Rangiku, and have her clean up her mess. It was in this short search throughout his barracks that he learned that his lieutenant was nowhere within his confines. He then ran a hand through his spikey, white hair. He's been out of sorts lately. He should know that for most of the spring his lieutenant would take every opportunity to go out and either party or get drunk. He then, yet again, looked up at the sky. It was a little past mid-day. "How long has it been…since her death…." He wondered.

"Hey, Captain!" The 10th squad's 3rd seat, Kihiku Liku was running toward his captain, as he knows when something is out of the ordinary with his superiors. Hitsugaya is always thankful for that "6th sense" as his 3rd seat is very reliable and always does his job.

"Ah, Kihiku, if you don't mind, can you clean up the mess in my office. I'm going out to find Matsumoto." Hitsugaya's voice was casual, but it only hid his irritation and sadness.

"Yes sir. I'll do it right away. But, uh…..mind if I ask you something?"

"No, I don't mind. What is it?"

"Well, this has been on the mind of many squad members…. Have you ever drunk sake before? Or any type of alcohol? I mean, surely in your early years as captain, Lieutenant Matsumoto must've worn you down at least a little…" Kihiku's face was that of excitement and nervousness.

Hitsugaya was somewhat surprised by the question, but he knew someone would ask that question at some point. "Well….." he coughed to show his hesitance. "…I did drink a little sake once…but it was only because I was JUST appointed captain and Rangiku…got me curious. I only took one sip though."

Hitsugaya lied a little bit; he did drink sake, but not just one sip. He drank over 19 bottles worth! Due to the power of Hyourinmaru and his insanely cold spiritual pressure he was immune to the sake's effects until it went past his limit. He had no hangover the next morning, but he did wake up in a certain room in the 8th's squad barracks. Nanao found him wandering around drunk and correctly assumed Rangiku got to him; she then hid him inside her room after much convincing. The next morning Nanao allowed Hitsugaya to use the shinigami women association's secret underground alleys to safely escape the eyes of other soul reapers. To this day Nanao constantly uses that as leverage to make Hitsugaya do her bidding at desperate times.

Kihiku had the face of contempt, with a full grin on his face "I won't tell a living soul, captain" he put his right hand up to make the promise.

"Thanks" Hitsugaya was relieved that little incident would be kept secret.

Kihiku then walked away, heading toward the captain's office. Hitsugaya used flash step to quickly head toward the 8th squad's barracks, the party central of the seireitei.

Sure enough Hitsugaya found Rangiku drunk at Kyoraku's garden. Through endless practice he was able to carry the still active Rangiku back to his barracks and dump her on the couch in his office, while he finished his work and wait for her to wake up. He then sent a message to the 12th squad to retrieve the missing résumés from their data base, so that he could replace the ones that have been soaked and ripped. Hitsugaya then worked for hours on end finishing his paper work, tending to the missing files, taking care of the safety and well-being of his squad members, do his lieutenant's paper work because most the signed formed were due at the 4th squad's barracks by the end of the day and to top it off he had to do extra work because he had taken charge of squad 5 until a new captain is assigned. At some point in his working frenzy he fell asleep due to stress. The extra paper work added on by the 5th squad was enough, but the multiple missing résumés and his lieutenants paperwork was excruciating.

"Excuse me, sir. Some files have come in from the 4th squad concerning the medication they've been sending to the 5th squad, and the 12th squad sent those résumés you needed to replace…" Kihiku silently pushed the door aside as he made his way in, only to find his 2nd in command sprawled out on the couch in drunk slumber and his captain asleep at his desk with piles of paperwork unfinished. He then walked to the desk and took a closer look at the piles of paper. They were reports from his squad and the results of the health examinations of the 5th squad as well as his own, papers concerning the bills they have to pay for medical supplies and food and the paper work concerning the searching of a new captain and lieutenant for the 5th squad, which takes about 50 piles of work, each with 30 pages- and that's just for the lieutenants' position! Kihiku decided to take the "useless" papers and give them to volunteers who know that their captain needs less stress. In other words he was going to take the junk that doesn't need that much attention and give it to every other member, for every member of the 10th squad cares for its young, kind captain. Kihiku silently made his way out of the office, he intended to let his captain sleep for hours.

Hitsugaya slept through most of the day, his lieutenant woke up at some point and decided to handle the rest of his work after he heard from the squad members about his "hard day". The white-haired captain slept on until he awoke at the sound of wood banging against wood in such a way it echoed across the entire seireitei, catching everyone's attention. It was the alarm.

"Alert! Alert! Intruders inside of the seireitei! Intruders inside the seireitei! All squads are to assume defense positions immediately! I repeat, all squads are to assume defense positions immediately!" The voice of the watch man rang loud and clear.

Hitsugaya was out of his chair and out the door in an instant. Some of his squad was already assembled, and his lieutenant was already at his side asking for orders. He looked at the darkened sky before answering.

"You stay here and organize the squad and keep a look out for the intruders, whoever they may be. I'll go over to the 5th squad and get them into order; I'll stay there until I feel I'm needed elsewhere."

"It's odd, don't you think? How no one has given details about the intruders." Matsumoto was saying the same thing Hitsugaya was thinking. It was odd about how no information regarding the intruders was announced.

"Well, as long there are intruders, and as a result are a threat, then we must follow our orders." And with that, Hitsugaya flash stepped away toward the 5th squads barracks. It took about five minutes but he got there soon enough. The 5th squad was managing along as best as they could muster but once Hitsugaya appeared they piled him with question as to what to do. Hitsugaya gave them all orders without stop until they were all in a good position to sit and wait. He proceeded to the 54th district, street #7 where he told members of the 5th, is where he would stand watch with others. The street he was on was practically the border of 5th squad's territorial area. The area between the 5th squad and the 6th squad was no more than an abandoned streets and compounds that were primarily out of use apart from being used as training grounds and hiding spots. But the streets were clean none the less, Byakuya wanted every area around his squad clean, and that included an abandoned area like that. The moon was high in the sky, almost midnight. Hitsugaya had been asleep for a long time. Two minutes passed. Not a single report has been issued. But his attention was quickly caught.

"Over there!" a soul reaper with brown eyes and blond hair was franticly pointing toward street #8, toward the one of the roofs of the buildings.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened. The figure on the roof top was the same size as a human, but it had a complete hollow mask. The only type of hollow that fit that description was vasto lordes, and that type of hollow is supposed to have the strength surpassing that of a captain.

"Everyone, keep away from him!" Hitsugaya's voice strained slightly and those within hearing distance backed away immediately.

The figure was just standing there, it was unclear if he was watching or if he was just loafing around. Where the eyes should have been were filled with darkness. The only thing that made him doubt if it was vasto lordes was the uniform which it wore, and the sword it had attached to the black belt. By that classification it made it an arrancar, which could be worse than vasto lodes. The figure then took a small step, time seemed to stand still and the members held their breath. He then vanished for a moment before all hell broke loose.

Blood was being splattered to the ground, war cries of bravery turned into shrill shrieks of terror, men cried at their fallen comrades as the arrancar cut every one of them down going place to place with sonido. Hitsugaya didn't see it coming. Hitsugaya didn't waste a moment after that, he instantly jumped forward to slash at the arrancar at blinding speed. But the arrancar saw this attack. His sword was in a position to where he could have easily counter attacked or blocked, in which case the squad members would have time to run and escape. But instead of doing either, he jumped back a little late. Hitsugaya's sword made a hissing sound as it sliced through the flesh, giving the arrancar intruder a fatal wound to the chest. The arrancar was now back on the roof tiles, gripping the wound.

Why didn't it block?

The arrancar seemed to stare at Hitsugaya for a brief moment before it used sonido to retreat. Hitsugaya was trying to arrange the facts in his head. It wore a complete hollow mask, it had a zanpoktou and it wore clothing. "I want someone to send in a report to all the captains of the gotei 13! Tell them one of the intruders is an arrancar and it has the capability to effortlessly use sonido!"

The report didn't take long to spread, already hell butterflies were fluttering toward Hitsugaya each bearing messages from the other squads. Some asking for more detail, some asking if there were any more within their vicinity and some suggesting that we track the arrancar down. There was also a hell butterfly bearing an message from the head captain that basically told them to stay put until the stealth force gathers more information. The stealth force was already at the spot where the arrancar was sighted along with squad 4 members that arrived to help the wounded. Within minutes sightings of arrancar have appeared to almost every corner of the seireitei. The vicinity around the 10th squad barracks in particular had the most sightings. Hitsugaya wanted to return to his squad and assist them, but he couldn't leave the 5th squad without a highly capable officer, which it didn't have. The mere sightings however, turned into mass killings and battles with the hour. Squads from all over were asking assistance from others nearby, the 4th squad was sending relief teams to every section of the seireitei and the stealth force were trying their best to counter the intrusion which turned in an invasion. No squad was without a battle; with the exception of the 5th squad, which for whatever reason had not been targeted. The 11th squad was getting pummeled, the fourth squad was meeting an enemy resistance barricade around their barracks, and the rest were in full-out battle. The thing that caused confusion for many was that the attacking arrancar all looked the same! The tables turned when the captains quickly defeated their offensive numbers without much difficulty. The reaming few that survived fled toward the seireitei forest. But by that time the head captains orders were sent; "All captains are to track them down and eliminate them and their commander". The arrancar were working in coordinated groups and attacked in certain sections, meaning someone had control over them. Now every squad had major losses and casualties. The head captain wants the battle to end as soon as possible; he himself was out and about, tracking the arrancar.

Hitsugaya was close to the forest now, the 5th squad was left in charge by Nemu, Captain Kurosuchi was told to stay behind and gather data.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" the strict voice was by Soi Fon, she came up beside Hitsugaya as they flash stepped into the forest.

"Do you have any other information on the arrancar?" Soi Fon's voice was serious, as it normally is in situations like this.

"No. My squad wasn't targeted, so we haven't even encountered many, but now my squad is dispatched all over the place..." Hitsugaya's mind was trying to answer some questions.

"Why do you suppose they left those two barracks alone?" Soi Fon's question was the same as anyone else's that has heard the reports.

"I don't know…"

They then nearly gasped at the sudden burst of spiritual pressure from up ahead, it felt strong and menacing. It was more powerful and tame than the others.

"Looks like we found the "Mother" " Hitsugaya was already grabbing for the hilt of his Hyourinmaru.

Soi Fon was doing the same, they were both preparing for the fight ahead. They ran into a small clearing, and stopped dead in their tracks, little clouds of dust forming. In front of them was an arrancar with a cracked bull shaped mask, and beside him was a petite arrancar with only a part of her mask attached to her eye. The small petite arrancar made a hateful scowl on her face the moment they appeared, her pink eye was staring at Hitsugaya with anger. The small arrancar seemed to stand with as much authority as the other one, making it hard to tell who the dominant one was.

Soi Fon spoke "Are you the ones responsible for this invasion!"

The one with the bull-shaped mask spoke "My name is Rudobon. I must say, I'm surprised. I only expected to see the 10th squad captain here…"

Hitsugaya's hands grasped the handle tighter. A moment seemed to pass without a word

Soi Fon slightly winced at the statement "Why only him? Why did you not attack the 5th and 10th squads?"

"First of all, I am not responsible for this invasion. It is true most of the opponents you've seen are my underlings, but I am not the one who condoned this. Second of all, the 10th and 5th squad's weren't targeted because we weren't ordered to attack them" Rudobon's tone was never changing.

Hitsugaya was the one who spoke next "Then who is it that ordered this!" Hitsugaya was running out of patients.

The small petite arrancar answered the moment he spoke "You don't need to know! Besides you brought this upon yourself!"

Both of the captain's eyes widened even more "What do you mean…?"

Rudobon head sharply turned to the arrancar "Be quiet, Loly! We don't need the captain running away now can we?" Rudobon's voice was somewhat humorous with his last question.

Loly eyed the captain once again "I've had enough….Lets begin the real show before more captains appear…" She then raised her hand directly over her head, flicked her finger and slowly made a garganta open.

Out of nowhere, the garganta suddenly gapped open in less than a second, and in that time a familiar figure, attacked Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya blocked the attack of the sword with his own, but the force of the attack was pushing him backward. Hitsugaya held his stance. He recognized his face instantly. The lavender eyes, the neat, black hair, the three pink star tattoo over his eyebrow and the remains of the hollow mask serving as a hair pin…. Hitsugaya instantly recognized Luppi, a person who swore to kill him. The last he saw him was when he was escaping his Sennen hyouro (thousand year ice prison) in the world of the living. Did he come back to keep his promise?

Hitsugaya then blocked Luppi's second attack, then tried to strike him down with downward slash with his sword. But Hitsugaya missed as Luppi agilely dodged by just swerving a little. Hitsugaya then noticed by his actions that he has become stronger through some regimen of training. His spiritual pressure was higher and more powerful than last time; his movements were no longer slow and easily readable and he barely relied on his zanpoktou. He wasn't as formidable as Tia Harribel, but he was formidable enough. As Hitsugaya fought his battle Soi Fon was fighting her own with Loly. Loly had unsheathed her dagger to counter Soi Fon's zanpoktou and try to attack small, but lethal areas of the body. She too, has gotten stronger over the months that have passed, enough so, that her movements were just as fast as Soi Fon's and was able to block and attack just as efficiently as her. Hitsugaya knew that he was facing a formidable opponent, same goes for Soi Fon; he also knew that he and Soi Fon were outnumbered, even if It was just by one arrancar. Rudobon so far was just observing. Being outnumbered put the two of them at risk, not only were they arrancar, but they haven't been giving any war orders or any type of permission to release their zanpoktou. If that was the case then Hitsugaya and soi Fon only had one option….

As if thinking the same thing, both of the captains leaped up in the air as fast as they could. The attacking arrancar pursued, just as they had hoped. But Rudobon stayed behind. They continued going upward, more and more, the leaves gently brushing their faces, breathless as they made their way upward, until they reached the sky above the forest. They stopped, and the arrancar stopped as well, each facing their opponent at a few yards distance. They then all hear rustlings in the forest down below. Loly and Luppi watched in surprise and horror as Kyouraku, Ukitake, Komamora and Byakuya Kuchiki appeared from the tree tops as if they were ghost. The enemy was now surrounded by captains of the 13 court guard squads.

"Where on earth is Kenpachi...?" The question was asked by Byakuya, who, in particular, disliked that captain.

"He most likely got lost again." Shunsui was still in his laid back manor, he still had a wide grin on his face.

"…and Unohana?"

"Doing her usual duty and healing those who have been injured."

Loly and Luppi were almost distraught; they fell for such an elementary tactic. Loly looked like she was about to panic "What now…."she" won't like this…."

Luppi answered maybe to calm his own fears that were clearly showing "If something doesn't go according to plan, she can make up a new one faster than one can utterly fail…..besides, all we have to do is keep the others at bay, which shouldn't be too hard. With the new technique I've learned I think she'll be able to complete what she came here for…."

"That's if she's in the area!" Loly was indeed, close to a panicked state.

Komamora then broke their conversation with his booming voice "That is enough! By order of head captain Yammamoto we are to eliminate you!" there was a moments silence before he loudly uttered "Prepare yourselves."

As if on cue, all of the captains charged at their enemies on all sides. Luppi then eyes some his opponents leisurely, his expression of fear completely eradicated. "Well, either way….we don't have a choice, Loly" he then uttered the words "strangle…Trepadora…"

In that instant, a sudden burst of pink spiritual power emitted from his zanpoktou, the captains retreated by a few steps to make sure they weren't running into a trap of some sort. In that time of night the glow of the spiritual energy was enough to be seen by every inhabitant. The captains were now preparing for whatever may emerge from the spiritual pressure that was still emitting. Hitsugaya then heard a yell behind him that warned him of an attacking Loly, he dodged the attempt to stab him. But Loly was then attacking at every angle, leaving not even a second in between her attacks. Even though Hitsugaya blocked all of her attacks, he was still being pushed toward the releasing arrancar, Luppi. Before the spiritual pressure even started to settle they all slightly heard "Cerro...ranpu shouheki…." In that moment 8 projectile looking blast of red energy shot out in all directions… but they were all heading downward, not even close to the captains. In fact, even it didn't even get as far as the captains; it was cut short by a few feet or so. They soon realized what the technique was meant for. It was faster than they realized it, once the projectiles touched the ground the energy then connected in a circle formation at the bottom, it then shot out energy upward, this energy then closed up near the top. These projectiles created a sphere like barrier, keeping the captains out…and Hitsugaya trapped inside with Loly and Luppi.

Luppi had a grin on his face, enjoying the suprised stare he was recieving from Hitsugaya "Surprised? The technique I just performed; I created it. It consists of firing projectile-like cero in all directions and having that energy fire up in way that it makes a sphere like barrier. It doesn't wear out because the energy is maintained from all the sources of the cero projectiles, and none of that energy is wasted, and, as you already know, a cero…is not exactly the easiest thing to get through, most times people dodge it rather than counter it…and just so you know this barrier is under the ground as well, similar to the barrier around the seireitei, except this one is much easier to set up." Luppi's tone was mocking in his usual laid back way. He was now in his released form, with 8 tentacles protruding from his back each of them lashing about.

Loly on the other hand had a combination of fear and anger in her voice "How on earth is she supposed to get to us here!"

"Oh, don't worry. She can get here easily enough…." Luppi then looked at Hitsugaya who was raising his spiritual pressure in a way that it looked like he was going to release his zanpoktou, and that he was no longer going to hold back, he then spoke "Who is this "she" you guys are referring too?"

"Remember when Loly said "You brought this on yourself"…do you have any idea why that is?" Luppi was looking expectantly at him now.

"You swore you'd rip off my head….that's all I can assume. More importantly, why are you answering my question with a question!"

"Your question will be answered with time…..but allow me to tell you something;...there is someone else that has more reason than anyone else in existence, to kill you….and this person once called you " friend". It is for that reason, that I have relinquished my claim to brutally kill you…..But instead I will help this person who deserves the right more than anyone else." He said it in such a way, anyone within earshot could tell that what he said was no joke.

"What on earth are you rambling on about!" Hitsugaya was losing his patience.

"You, Toushiro Hitsugaya, should already know!…." Luppi then started to walk away, and his zanpoktou began to reform after his released state started to dissipate "Just know that I'm not the one you should fight…." He then closed his lavender eyes, knowing who was already within the vacinity.

"Do you honestly think I'm going to let you go!" is what Hitsugaya yelled as he charged at him ice already forming at the tip of his blade.

But that blade was stopped by a much longer blade than Luppi's, it was the same size as a standard katana, and it originally came from behind…. Whoever it was held the zanpoktou much like Soi Fon whenever she sneaks up behind someone for the kill. But that did not surprise Hitsugaya, but one thing did make him surprised enough, to make his eyes widen and his mouth gape and his face run pale. The spiritual pressure he sensed within the blade was like that of….

It can't be…..

It was a lot stronger….and darker….. Hitsugaya felt like he could no longer breath, and he actually felt scared to turn around and see for himself is she actually….

It can't be….

It can't be….

It can't be!….

Hitsugaya was thinking the same thought over and over, until finally he slowly turned his head…..what he saw made his heart stop.

There was Hinamori, his Hinamori, but she now wore white hakkuma trousers, a Singaporean themed shirt that stopped around her midriff, a slanted black belt with her zanpoktou's sheath attached. But what made him want to believe this was a dream was what he saw on the left of her face, the remains of a hollow mask in the form of a lower jawbone with pointed teeth and a smooth white collar around her neck….and her eyes were full of hatred and anger…

It's impossible….!

In that next moment, so much happened. In just that one moment, the Cerro ranpu shouheki dissipated, Hinamori went for the killing blow at his neck, which was oh so close…..and yet...it was blocked, and who ever blocked then proceeded to attempt a killing blow, but that too, was blocked by a sword….but it wasn't Hinamori's. It was Grimmjow's.

Now that the cerro barrier was broken all captains waiting on outside stood witness to what was before them….all of their faces were that of shock and disbelief. They all saw her face, they all saw the face of a person who was thought to be dead, and they all saw what she was now wearing and what was upon her face…..

Luppi, Loly and Rudobon were all watching in utter shock, Luppi was back in his original form his eyes wide.

Hinamori's blade was right by Hitsugaya's neck drawing blood, but it was blocked by the same person who forcefully broke the cerro ranpu, head captain commander Yammamoto. He too was looking at Hinamori's face in utter shock, the same goes for Hitsugaya who almost dropped his zanpoktou, as he felt weak….the only reason he was still holding his sword was because of habit that was drilled into him years ago. Yammamoto's sword was, like Hinamori's, next to his opponent's neck, except his wasn't drawing blood, it was blocked far too quickly. Grimmjow just barely arrived in time; he was overseeing the invasion in a separate location, and he didn't expect the head captain to going to intervene. He was now looking straight at the head captain now, almost not believing that he would intervene at a vital time like this, when Hinamori was just about to complete her goal. The head captain was paying almost no attention to Grimmjow; like all the others they were all looking at Hinamori, who was silently fuming, her eyes blazing.

Grimmjow then made a wise decision, "We have to try another time…."

The head captain barely had enough time to avoid the yellow beams of light that shot down from the gargantas that suddenly opened naggacion….and within a mere minuet, all of the intruders just merely disappeared….leaving all captains in their state of shock….

But it left Hitsugaya in a state of utter guilt that made him feel ill…and it almost made him want to die….