Cloud, Tifa and Shelke had managed to find a Lieutenant, the Lieutenant of Squad Five, but she seemed a little unsure about leading them around.
"I was, um, off to see Sh-Captain Hitsugaya." The young looking girl, black hair up in a blue-clothed bun and brown eyes wide with a sense of childish innocence, replied to their question about finding Captain Ukitake. "He's been really busy lately with all this Sephiroth business, I was going to try and cheer him up."
She had a small box, of what they didn't know, and she looked proud of it.
"What's in it? Sweets?" Tifa smiled sweetly while Cloud looked rather curious about the girl herself.
"Oh no, he hates candy and things like that." She sighed. "Captain Ukitake likes to give him some when they pass in the halls but he always gives it to Lieutenant Kusajishi instead. This is Amanattou, his favorite. He used to eat it all the time when he could back in the Rukongai."
"Oh? You grew up together?" Tifa gained that curious look in her eyes as well and Shelke was also recognizing the familiar situation. "Could you be Momo Hinamori, then?"
Momo blinked in confusion at how they had figured out her name.
"Captain Hitsugaya mentioned someone he lived in the Rukongai with, someone he considered a sister." Shelke told her and the Lieutenant beamed.
"That's right! I always thought of him as a little brother. Though, he's a Captain now and he won't let me call him Shiro anymore."
"I'll go back to the barracks with you." Shelke offered, wanting to get to know this mysterious sister of Toshiro's better.
"Oh, thanks." Momo smiled kindly at her, and then turned to the other two Gaians. "By the way, try to find Rukia; she's the Squad Thirteen Lieutenant."
"Will do."
Cloud and Tifa continued on, hoping they would stumble upon Rukia or Jushiro. They were lucky enough to stumble upon the latter as he was on his way back from chatting with Shunsui. He replied to their question for information with a smile and said he would gladly tell them what he could, leading them towards his own Squad barracks.
As for Shelke, she walked quietly on with Momo back to the Squad Ten barracks.
"You don't talk much, do you?" Momo said to the ex-Tsviet.
"I tend to analyze my situation first before speaking." Shelke replied.
"Wow, you sound like Shiro." The Lieutenant giggled. "Are you a prodigy, too?"
"I guess I could be considered that. I'm actually turning twenty in a few weeks. My body has yet to grow into my age. My sister says it may take some time before the Mako in my body wears out and I can grow normally."
"Well I guess you get a few extra years tacked on then." Momo seemed rather startled by Shelke's age, as the girl was hardly bigger than Momo herself. "Most humans are always trying to find ways to look younger."
"It's a different case when everyone thinks you're a child."
"You sound so similar to Shiro." They reached the Squad Ten barracks. "Alright then, let's see if he's too busy for these."
They stepped silently through the halls together, Momo masking her Spiritual Pressure so as to surprise her 'brother'.
Inside the office, Rangiku had fallen asleep again and this time Toshiro didn't bother waking her up. He had too much work of his own to waste energy waking her up constantly. Vincent was rather silent as well and the Ice Captain vaguely wondered if he was also asleep. What was the gunman waiting for?
The doors slid open and two people stepped inside, catching Toshiro's attention, as well as the gunman's, proving he wasn't asleep.
"Momo?" Toshiro was definitely surprised to see her there, along with Shelke.
Vincent looked far more interested now. This was the 'sister' he'd been so worried about when Nero had trapped the boy in darkness. The one Aizen had forced him to hurt multiple times without him even knowing it.
"Hey Shiro!" Momo greeted with a big smile, stepping over to his desk and placing the box in her hands on his desk. He looked at it curiously.
"That's Captain Hitsugaya, Hinamori." Toshiro replied, smirking slightly. She just beamed at him. "What's this?"
"Captain Unohana helped me make it. It's Amanattou, your favorite." She giggled as the Captain grew a slight blush and quickly opened the box. The treat always brought out that rare child side that no one ever got to see.
"Thanks, Momo."
Letting her 'brother' eat, she turned to the black haired man in the room.
"You're one of the Jenova War Heroes, too, right?" She questioned.
He nodded.
"I was the one travelling with Hitsugaya to stop Omega. He helped me out quite a bit; I probably wouldn't be here without him."
"There were times you had to help me, though, so don't think you're in debt to me." Toshiro's expression went dark for a moment as he remembered Nero's Oblivion. "Besides, in the end it was both of us who had to stop Omega together."
"True." Vincent shrugged.
The white haired Captain turned to look outside, noticing the sky darken.
"Everyone should probably get some sleep." He said, standing. "Thanks again, Hinamori, but you should probably get back to see if Hirako has anything for you to do."
"Right." Momo nodded and Flash Stepped away with a small wave of goodbye.
"Since Matsumoto's already sleeping I'll just leave her there." He glared at said Lieutenant. "I'll remain outside in case your friends come back."
Grabbing a handful of the Amanattou before he left, Toshiro stepped outside the office and vanished with Flash Step into the courtyard. Shelke took a seat on the couch opposite Vincent and got comfortable, hoping to get as much sleep as possible. She already knew the trials ahead would be rough and that she would need as much energy as she could get.
A Hell Butterfly came to the tiny Captain as he sat on the roof outside that Cloud and Tifa would be staying in the Squad Thirteen barracks for now since it was already late. Judging by that, Toshiro guessed Kadaj would be staying with Soi Fon. He wasn't sure how the interview was going, but if she was still keeping him, then he must have quite a bit of fascinating information for her.
She had a lot of information alright. Everything Kadaj could remember about Sephiroth was gladly given with as much information as he could muster. She knew almost everything about Sephiroth from the time he found Jenova and began his killing spree to when he used the Remnants against the Jenova War Heroes. Before or after that, Kadaj didn't know a thing. Soi Fon could gauge his strength from that, his abilities, the fact that he only had one wing but could fly as well as anyone with two wings and that he thought he was a god.
Oh how similar he and Aizen were.
When Kadaj told all he could, the assassin let him leave the interrogation room and offered him the couch in her office to sleep on, violently kicking out her own rather obese Lieutenant who was trying to sleep on it.
Somewhere at midnight, Toshiro was alerted by way of the ethereal aqua butterfly that Cid and Yuffie would come back some time the next morning with some others who wanted to come. He was also warned that Rufus was indeed sending his Turks, intent on getting the Soul Reaper power for himself no doubt. The Captain sighed heavily. He couldn't just refuse the president, but his guards were going to be sorely disappointed once Kisuke proved they didn't have the ability.
As almost a last minute thing, the report stated that the Lifestream levels were normal once more and that Natsuko was wondering whether or not to return. Before the butterfly could vanish Toshiro fed it a return reply for at least Natsuko to remain to watch over Marlene and Denzel, since most, if not all, the Jenova War Heroes would be coming to the Soul Society.
That done, Toshiro stepped back inside and went to his room to get as much sleep as possible before the eccentric shop keeper arrived.
One more day of Finals then i'm free! Still wearing my brace but if I stay off the computer most of the time I should get better pretty quick. Thanks for all the kind comments ^^
The next chapter is where their Soul Reaper training begins and I've got lots in mind ;) I've already picked out zanpaktou names (they're not in Japanese, just so ya know. Gaia has Wutai, sure, but it's not entirely Japanese like the Soul Society so the names will be different.) and i'm working on what the spirits themselves look like, as well as what Vincent's demons will look like as Hollows.