While Hanatarou was trapped in the 10th Division headquarters with its captain, a different chase was unfolding only a short distance away; among the buildings of the 3rd Division. Izuru Kira was pursuing the night-time intruder that bore a striking resemblance to his former captain. His target was running at an incredible speed and had a decent headstart; even if Kira flash-stepped he would not be able to easily overtake him; and it would drain precious reserves of spiritual energy if doing so resulted in a fight. Kira was beginning to choke with exhaustion, but the lieutenant grimly kept up the pace. If Gin had truly returned to Soul Society, he vowed that only one of them would live to see the next morning.

Without a backward glance, the figure kept running. The pair sprinted through the dark and nearly-abandoned streets of Sereitei. To Kira's surprise, apart from his impressive speed, the man didn't seem to be trying to evade pursuit and didn't respond when Kira yelled a challenge; his breath ragged with exertion. For a while, Kira feared that Gin was trying to lure him into a trap. But then they passed the same grove of willow trees twice; and Kira realised that his target wasn't running anywhere in particular!

Suddenly, his prey swerved violently down a narrow alley which Kira knew to be a dead end. Most seated officers including himself could jump to an incredible height when compared to regular human beings; and he had no doubt that Gin could do so as well. Kira followed him down the alley without a second thought. Incredibly, the person bolted to the end of the alley, made a neat 180 degree turn, and rushed directly towards him.

Izuru Kira screeched to a thankful halt, bracing to strike the charging opponent. As the man turned around, Kira began to sense that something did not seem right about Gin, apart from his bizarre behaviour. For one thing, he'd never known Gin to put beads in his hair. Secondly, he was no longer smiling. And his zanpakutou was too long.

Lastly, for all the years he had known Ichimaru Gin, Kira had never, ever known his captain possessed cleavage. No matter how slight.

In a split second, Kira dropped his sword and grabbed her wrists instead. They collided and the lightweight lieutenant flew backwards from the impact. Kotetsu Isane's eyes flew open, and a hoarse cry escaped her lips.

"OMELETTES…!!!"

For several, long moments, they stared at each other in stunned silence interrupted only by heavy panting. Isane, still quaking from her sleepwalking nightmare, was the first to stand. Brushing the dirt off her white nightgown, she offered her hand to help the stunned Kira to his feet. The two panic-stricken officers eventually broke into sheepish smiles and apologies. Then they were interrupted by a booming roar. Once they turned to the source of the noise, they were treated to the sight of a two hundred-foot ice dragon with glowing red eyes spiralling upwards into the sky. As they watched, it gracefully swooped downwards.

"Shit! Hanatarou's just gone towards the tenth! I saw him head off that way!" Kira exclaimed, pointing to where the dragon had disappeared from view. Isane shot a horrified glance towards him and darted off in exactly the same direction.

Kira ran to fetch Hinamori.

Hanatarou had seen the mighty dragon before. He'd seen it when the taichou summoned it back at Kurakara Town, during a battle outside the burger joint where he once worked. So when he felt the chill creeping up on him, he knew without turning around that his chances of survival were inestimably slim. And then, he tripped.

I'm sorry, Hinamori, the shinigami thought sadly, as the ground rushed up to meet him. He fell forward. Though he knew it would not save him from his ultimate fate, Hanatarou still instinctively flung his hands downward to push against the ground. Ironically, it seemed the fall had saved him. Hanatarou was treated to the rare sight of Hyourinmaru's dragon flying over his head; a solid column of ice and reiatsu that left frost and small icicles clinging to his clothes in its wake. He gave a silent scream as the serpentine beast passed barely a foot above him for its entire length. Once the tail passed, he scrambled to his feet in time to watch the dragon turn before it could hit a building some distance ahead. It rose into the sky again and paused, hovering before him. Perched on a nearby wall was Hitsugaya himself. There was no way he could deal with both. Hanatarou froze like a trapped rat, gasping to catch his breath.

"One last chance, Hanatarou. Will you leave Hinamori?"

Hanatarou opened his mouth to answer, but before he could do so, a pale figure in a nightgown materialised in front of him. Isane's lanky, sinewy form endowed her with natural swiftness. When augmented by shunpo, she approached an explosive speed rivalling that of many captains. Ignoring Hanatarou's look of surprise, she challenged Hitsugaya, teeth bared.

"If you spill one drop of Hanatarou's blood, I will kill you." Without turning around, she aimed a mule kick at the chest of the shinigami behind her, sending Hanatarou flying head over heels with a squeal to land in some bushes at the other side of the courtyard. She drew Itegumo, her sword; as Sereitei's tallest woman glared upwards at its shortest male. As Hanatarou picked himself up, Hitsugaya couldn't help but remember how familiar those words sounded…but he had no time to think of that now. He snarled with annoyance. The lieutenant's presence was inconsequential but also highly inconvenient. How best could he dispose her?

In one giant leap, he descended from his perch, with the dragon alongside. Isane spun to evade the dragon, but Hitsugaya lashed out with the chain attached to his zanpakutou. It wrapped itself around Itegumo, trapping Isane's weapon. Before the lieutenant could react, the dragon looped backwards and engulfed her legs up to the thighs, trapping the lieutenant herself in a solid mass of ice.

"Do not interfere," said Hitsugaya in a low monotone. Who knew that the 4th Divison had so much fight in it? With a final yank he wrenched Isane's zanpakutou from her grasp, sending it clattering across the courtyard and out of her reach. She continued to struggle impotently as Hitsugaya ran towards Hanatarou, who had now gathered his wits sufficiently to flee towards an open sewer access nearby. He called out to his saviour.

"Isane-fukoutaichou…!"

"Baka! I'm not dead yet! RUN!!!" Isane's hands now glowed with kidou, and she planted her hands against the ice as her lips began to intone the incantation needed to melt it.

Hanatarou dashed towards the manhole, helpless to assist. By some miracle, he reached it before Hitsugaya and leapt inside. It would be too cramped inside the drain for the dragon to fit, the ceiling being barely a couple of inches above his own head. Outside, Isane's hands began to sink into the ice as she worked to free herself, and water trickled down as it melted. She had to buy enough time for Hanatarou to escape, and Hitsugaya had his back to her. Isane realised the irony of having woken from one nightmare into another. But then the captain stopped and gave a barely perceptible nod in her direction.

Rangiku Matsumoto brought the hilt of her zanpakutou down smartly onto the back of Isane's head, and left the unconscious lieutenant to thaw at a much slower pace in the middle of the square.

Hanatarou kept fleeing through the sewer as filthy water splashed about his knees. Even without a lantern, he was able to travel confidently, for the drainage network and underground tunnels of Sereitei were familiar to most 4th Division members. He moved at a brisk jog, but could not avoid occasionally tripping over unseen things in the dark. Hanatarou fretted over Isane for a bit before consoling himself that he was the captain's primary target. She was too powerful and important for him to kill without arousing suspicion. Thanks to her sacrifice, he now had a chance of escape. Without having actually traversed them before, even a captain would have difficulty finding him in the maze of tunnels.

He was headed towards what he liked to term the 'Central Chamber'. There, effluent water from each of the thirteen divisions converged into a circular room at the head of a larger tunnel. Once there, Hanatarou could try to make his way to either Hinamori or Unohana. He sighed deeply with relief as the immense reiatsu presence behind him faded into the distance. Soon, the only sounds to keep him company were the splashes at his feet and the thumping of his own heart; and he began to feel a little more hopeful as far as his immediate survival was concerned. Hinamori and Unohana would protect him.

So Hanatarou jumped and nearly knocked himself out on the ceiling when a loud beep interrupted his thoughts. An eerie blue light pierced the darkness, emanating from the centre of his chest. Drawing his cellphone out of his kimono, Hanatarou read the words on the glowing LCD screen.

You have 1 new message!

He pressed a button, and the screen filled with more text.

R U ok? where R U?

We R comin,

- Kira n Hina

The number it was sent from was indeed Kira's. Almost crying with relief, Hanatarou felt safe enough to stop running in order to reply.

A/N: It was hard to write Isane's character in battle as at this point in time, her capabilities are not well-defined in the canon storyline. So I've taken some creative licence to develop her character based on the canon. The only time she uses her shikai, she is instantly knocked out by Ichigo. What we do know is that the incantation for release is 'hashire', which means 'sprint'. Given her physical build and rank and the fact that most lieutenants are capable of shunpo, I figured she could realistically be an extremely fast runner. She also knows enough kidou to perform a level 77 binding spell after Aizen's betrayal.

And yes, she also gets strange nightmares, if the Shinigami Cup jokes are right. Nightmares and high speed combine to form the ultimate sleepwalker from hell IMO.