Chapter II – The Chapter After The First One.

Hitsugaya's first thoughts upon leaving the 1st division headquarters were of Hinamori. She no longer had a captain to look after her and the squad itself was in chaos. He had to protect her, especially if those three were back. But then he remembered that he had a squad to look after as well. 'Matsumoto, could she be trusted to direct them on her own?' he thought.

Images suddenly flashed in his mind of his vice-captain, very drunk and very incapable of the workload. 'Dammit' he said under his breath, and hoped his childhood friend could look after herself for a few extra minutes. The short tensai then made his way to where the vice-captains had met, hoping to come across either Hinamori or Matsumoto.

-----------------------------

'It can't be,' she whispered under her breath, but there was no mistaking the glint of those glasses. 'Aizen… taichou?'

'Hinamori-kun, you look well'

Her eyes widened and her hand released its grip on the zanpakuto. 'No, but, you…' she faltered in making a sentence.

'Hinamori-kun, you would never believe-'

'NO!' she cut her former captain off before he could go any further. In a rage of fury she whipped out Tobiume and held it ready. 'No! You aren't Aizen-taichou! He wouldn't… you're an impostor!'

He made no move to defend himself against her unsheathed weapon, but instead his glasses flashed in the afternoon sun. 'Hinamori-kun, how long has it been since you had a decent night's sleep?'

With that, she charged. 'AAAAARGH! Aizen-taichou!' and a fraction of a second later, before she realised what had happened, she was standing there with her sword infront of her, an inch away from cutting into the large man that stood there.

No, what am I thinking! she said mentally and let out a small gasp. This was her captain. Why was she attacking him?

Aizen allowed himself a grin.

No… no! This can't be Aizen taichou! He … he betrayed soul society!

Her eyebrows were creased as she struggled with the thoughts. Her mind felt like a dam that was about to burst.

'Hinamori-kun,' he spoke in that ever so soft voice of his, 'you look unwell, allow me to help you.'

A solitary tear rolled down her face. His voice was so enchanting that she felt her mind slipping in and out of consciousness. She barely noticed the clang of her sword hitting the pavement.

No…it can't…be…

Aizen leaned over the girl that was now unconscious on the ground.

-------------------------------

Hitsugaya was so immersed in thought that he barely noticed when he ran into something. What made him notice was a loud whoop from his vice-captain. What he noticed was that he had run into her.

'Well speak of the devil, here he is!' she laughed gaily. She and Kira were standing in the middle of the street for no apparent reason.

'Matsumoto,' he paused, getting his bearings, 'what are you doing here?'

She looked up at the sky thoughtfully. 'Hmmmm, well you see…… that's a very good question taichou!' she beamed at him.

Hitsugaya and Kira looked at her blankly. 'She's drunk again, taichou,' Kira explained.

Well, big surprise there, he thought.

The blonde continued, 'I was wondering what I was supposed to be doing, since, you know, with what happened to my captain and all …'

'Mmm,' Hitsugaya prompted.

'So Matsumoto said she would be able to help me out with the third squad and somehow we ended up here.'

Hitsugaya then decided that he didn't want to know what happened in between. Exactly how long had their meeting gone for?

'Ok,' he decided, speaking to Kira, 'Gather the tenth and third divisions, send messengers if you must. Join them together, you know your orders?'

'We got them at the meeting sir–'

'Good, take her with you,' indicating to his fukutaichou that was now sprawled on the floor, 'she'll sober up soon, I think she has immunity to sake or something now…'

'But what about you taichou?'

Hitsugaya looked at Kira's disbelieving face. 'Going to look for Hinamori.' And with that, he hurried off.

------------------------------

As it turns out, finding Hinamori is a lot harder than it sounds. After coming across three dead ends, he decided to go by rooftop. Now he knew why Zaraki was always so tense. Think, you fool, clear your mind! He had said to himself after staring at the third white wall infront of him. But that too, was proving to be far more difficult than it was supposed to. Thoughts were clouding his vision, and after almost slipping on a loose tile, he decided to stop for a moment. That's when he heard the vulgar yelling to his left.

'Oi! You there! Yes, you, get over there. The gate has to be sealed, now!'

Hitsugaya spun around to see the red-headed Renji order the sixth division around. Byakuya stood a small distance behind him, impassive, his scarf fluttering in the slight breeze.

Hitsugaya jumped down from the rooftop, landing lightly on the pavement. Byakuya shifted his eyes to rest on him.

'Have you seen Hinamori?' Hitsugaya got straight to the point.

The captain didn't respond but instead his eyes shifted to the back of his lieutenants flaming head. As if Renji could sense this, he turned around.

'Yeh,' he said, 'Hinamori? She went over that way, Hitsugaya-taichou,' roughly indicating further North. Byakuya gave a curt nod, which Hitsugaya returned and sprang back onto the rooftop, heading more to the north this time.

Hitsugaya soon found himself in an old part of Seireitei that was mainly used for housing, but since all of the squads were out doing one thing or another, the place was practically deserted. 'Damn Renji,' he cursed under his breath, mentally reminding him never to listen to the red-head again. That was when he noticed the movement in the corner of his eye. Hitsugaya looked down in disbelief. The man looking back up at him was exactly the same as the old Aizen he knew long ago, from the fifth division captain's haori to the rectangular rimmed glasses, but in his arms was…

'Hinamori!' he gasped.

Aizen held back a chuckle. 'Yes, dear, sweet Hinamori.'

'Give her back, Aizen you bastard!'

'You have to claim her back if she's yours.' Aizen smirked at Hitsugaya's growing annoyance.

'Why, you..!' He leaped off the building. 'Souten ni zase, Hyourinmaru!'

Out of nowhere, the freezing ice dragon lunged, at such incredible speed, freezing everything in its path in a matter of seconds. It headed directly towards Aizen who, Hitsugaya just realised, still had Hinamori in his arms…

To be continued

------------------------------

Ah, thank you very much for reading! Please tell me how I can make it better or what you liked/disliked. I'd appreciate any feedback : )