Chapter IV – Four Chapters after the Beginning

The sun was up and light was streaming in through the window as tenth division captain, Hitsugaya Toushiro woke. His first thoughts upon waking were, Oh my gosh, how much did I sleep in? The normally early riser was looking out the window to see the bright blue sky. Unohana had convinced him in her subtle way to stay the night in the fourth division quarters even though he insisted that he was fine. When he got that thought out of his head, another came. Where the hell is all that noise coming from?

Outside Hitsugaya could hear orders being yelled, very similar to the other morning, The morning I couldn't protect her, he thought.

He sat up, head still pounding, and put a hand to his forehead. The bandages were still there and he could feel a headache coming on. Not a good way to start a day. The outside noise was making it worse and even though he knew he should find out what was going on, frankly, right now he didn't care. Not until, that is, he heard Hinamori's name mentioned. In an instant he was alert, headache now just a dull throb in the back of his mind. There were more important things than mild discomfort. He made to the door and was just about to open it when—

'Hitsugaya-taichou!'

The door slid open infront of him and he looked up, as he usually does, to see his orange-haired lieutenant.

'Matsumoto!' he said, 'What's going on?'

'Ah! Taichou!' she exclaimed.

'Why didn't you wake me?' he asked. 'Who's taking care of all the fifth division papers?'

'Ah, about that… I got some of the others in our division to do it, since none of them wanted to wake you.'

Not brave enough to wake you I should say.

'But Kyouraku-taichou told me to come get you... Taichou, Hinamori's been found.'

Hitsugaya suddenly felt like a bag of ice was dropped into his stomach and his eyes widened. 'Hinamori? Where?' and began down the corridor to the entrance.

'The eighth division office; she's with Kyouraku-taichou,' she replied, keeping his pace. 'Some of the fourth division have already gone to see her. She seems perfectly fine as usual. No injuries at all.'

'No,' said Hitsugaya,' Aizen wouldn't kidnap her for no reason. There must be something. I'm going to see her, and if Aizen has done anything… Matsumoto, you have to check all the fifth division papers. Make sure they're done properly!'

'Awwww, but taichou!' she whined.

'Do it Matsumoto.'

'Alright then,' she gave in, and slinked back to the tenth division.

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He walked along at a brisk pace towards the walls of the eighth division, when Hitsugaya saw a figure in the distance. As he got closer, he saw who she was, but she didn't seem to notice him, her attention directed at the ground in front of her. Hinamori didn't realise Hitsugaya was there until they got to the same point in the lane. The shock was there and her eyes even widened, but it was only for a split second until he re-composed herself.

'Ah, sumimasen,' she said and stepped aside to let him pass.

Hitsugaya was relieved to hear her voice again and see her safe, but at the same time was still worried.

'Hinamori, are you alright?'

'Mh,' she nodded. 'I'm fine.'

He wasn't convinced. 'No really, daijobu ka? What happened?'

'Daijobu, I have to see Ukitake-taichou later for an interview, but first I have to go and get the fifth division organised.'

'And you're sure you're fine with this?'

He stared into her eyes for what seemed like forever, for something, any sort of hint to reveal a lie, until she managed to pull her eyes away to stare at the ground.

'I can handle it. I'm sorry for causing you concern, Sh— Hitsugaya-taichou.' And with that, she hurried off down the lane.

He watched after her, their meeting coming as a blow. 'Hitsugaya-taichou?' he said to himself. Why did she call him that? What happened to Shirou-chan? Sure he despised the nickname, but why the sudden change?

'Perhaps,' he muttered, 'perhaps she's still in shock. Or is it something else?'

Aizen had something to do with it. He definitely knew that. But what did he do? Then a thought came to him.

Was that even Hinamori or an impostor?

He immediately tried to sense her reiatsu but by then she was already too far away and not using it. Hitsugaya dismissed the thought. Even Aizen would do a better impersonation than that. It wasn't exactly a secret in soul society that he and Hinamori were close, not that she was ever discreet about calling him 'Shirou-chan.'

'But then,' he thought. 'Maybe that's what Aizen wants me to think. If she were forcing herself to act friendly I would be able to tell, wouldn't I?'

He put a hand to his head and remembered his headache. The throbbing was becoming more violent with each new thought. 'I should get some rest,' he told himself. 'Whatever Aizen's done to Hinamori, I'll play along, for now.'

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Hinamori quickened her pace the rest of the way to the fifth division office. She wanted to put as much distance between her and Hitsugaya as possible. She finally reached the familiar wooden building walked down the corridor to the main office. Slipping her shoes off as she opened the door, she looked inside to see sitting behind the captain's desk, Aizen, sifting through stacks of papers.

The sight brought a faint smile to her lips as he spoke.

'My my, I expected the squad to be in shambles when I got here, but alas, I find everything neat and perfect.'

The smile slightly faded though, as the next line came out.

'Hitsugaya-kun must have put so much time and effort into this; I wonder how the tenth division is doing?

Hinamori thought for a moment.

He had to burden all the extra work. My extra work. Who else would have done it? Ukitake-taichou is too ill, Kyouraku-taichou barely does his own, Unohana-taichou is busy, Komamura-taichou isn't very good with paperwork, I wouldn't dare ask Kuchiki-taichou, and the other captains definitely wouldn't help me.

Which got her thinking about the tenth squad,

How is the tenth division going anyway? If Hitsugaya is busy all the time, who's going to maintain it? Matsumoto isn't exactly helpful when it comes to duties. What if something happens and they need him but he's to busy? That would be my fault then wouldn't it? Then Yamamoto-sama would blame him instead of me.

Aizen's voice interrupted before she could go any further.

'Hinamori-kun, I'm going to go for a rest. Masking my reiatsu is rather tiring.'

'Oh, of course, taichou,' she said, her eyes still staring into space. 'No-one knows you're here. I haven't told a soul.'

With that, he smiled, nodded curtly, and exited the room, leaving Hinamori on her own.

To be continued

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My apologies for taking so long. The holidays are now over and I have vehicle design diagrams to draw. On a happier note though, I re-watched the bleach musical : ) My favourite song has to be the final 'Sayonara.' (I don't really know the name of the song) But I always seem to find myself singing along with it. Ashita wa kitto hallelujah. . .

Keheh, anyway thanks for bearing with me and reading thus far! Hope you enjoyed it.