Renji and Rukia had made sure to leave before the situation had totally gotten out of hand. They weren't sure of what was to come, but this many soul reapers in one general area was asking for trouble. They had quickly made their escape while Matsumoto left to find her captain.

"Matsumoto?"

"HITSUGAYA-TAICHOU!" Matsumoto, upon seeing her dear captain, ran towards him. Ziva could only watch in astonishment as the orange headed woman grabbed Toshiro and hugged him tightly, his head pillowed in her breasts.

"Who might you be?" Ziva managed to say through her shock. This woman was older than the white haired boy obviously but their relationship was unclear. Yet, the orange haired woman addressed Toshiro with a title, but Ziva was unsure of the meaning of said title.

Toshiro pushed his lieutenant from him, freeing himself from the lack of air. He inhaled deeply, relinquishing the air he was momentarily deprived from. His face was a rosy red, but he immediately collected himself and turned to the Israeli agent in front of him.

"This is – "

"Lieutenant Matsumoto!" She said with a cute salute, and a wink.

Ziva noticed her attire was similar, if not the same, as the attire NCIS had found Toshiro Hitsugaya in. The woman in front of her leaned over the table and jutted her hand out for a hand shake; this woman did not know her situation. At all.

Ziva hesitantly shook the hand and with doing so noticed the long, ornate sword Matsumoto carried. The sword was also similar to Toshiro's. By design means it differed greatly, each had their own beautiful, ornate designs, but in length and type the swords were very similar.

Hitsugaya turned his head suddenly, noting the opening of the door. He saw the taller, brown haired agent poke his head in.

"Ziva, we need Tosh . . . – Who on earth is that?"

Matsumoto turned quickly towards DiNozzo, "I'm Matsumoto, and who might you be?"

Momentarily caught off guard, DiNozzo replied, "T-Tony DiNozzo. You can call me Tony."

"DiNozzo." Ziva warned.

Hitsugaya sighed, "I assume you wanted me?" Toshiro had a slight idea of what for. The sudden emergence of three new spiritual pressures bothered him, especially because there was a faint recognition tugging at his consciousness.

"Yeah, we're trying something new. I guess Miss Matsumoto could come too, she may be needed."

Matsumoto stiffened, "I'm not leaving my taichou's side, again," her voice was barely audible, but there was conviction laced through it.

Hitsugaya heard his lieutenant clearly.

. . .

Because of the magnitude of suspects at one time, and multiple stories and views, Gibbs thought he'd experiment with something new. He had told DiNozzo to gather McGee, Ziva, Ichigo, Hitsugaya, and Karin so they could all gather. Gibbs had negotiated with the one Leon Vance to get a large conference room. Not only was this a bad idea, and Gibbs knew it, but it was also potentially very dangerous. There was no worry; Gibbs had his best agents with him.

Gibbs observed Kisuke Urahara sitting at one end of the large, ovular table while the three brothers sat opposite. The brother by the name of Taro sat dead center, while his younger brothers sat to each side. They looked up to their brother, respected him with deep admiration. It was almost like they weren't even related, Taro was their leader who would command them to death but the two brothers would do it. They would die for their brother.

Gibbs didn't quite understand the dynamics of the relationship; the elder brother was silent and strong. Not the typical charismatic leader one would expect. The brothers seemed to have a business like relationship, rather than blood.

There was one thing Gibbs was not expecting, a big breasted, orange haired female who looked overjoyed to be here. Urahara, at his end of the table, choked out a laugh. The three boys at their end of the table stiffened and mentally added another person to their hit list.

When the boys saw Toshiro was when they leapt into action. There was flash of movement and Taro was no longer at the table. Taro was weaponless, having let the government agents take away his sword, but he still had his body. Taro was aiming for Toshiro, but what he didn't expect was the sword pricking his nose.

Matsumoto noticed the sudden movements of the boy, but found an absence at her waist. There was a moment of sheer panic, where was her sword? There was a thick uneasiness coating her stomach. She had messed up and lost her captain once, could she not protect him even now?

Toshiro stood in front of his lieutenant, her sword heavy in his hand. There was absence, his Hyōrinmaru would do the job better but he had to deal with what he had. Toshiro didn't expect the ambush when he walked in, in fact it was DiNozzo's negligence that allowed him the upper hand, the sword.

Taro put his rough, calloused, hands on the blade and shoved it aside pouncing on the white haired captain. Toshiro raised the blade, diagonal across his chest waiting for the attack. The attack never.

"NCIS! Hands in the air!" Yelled DiNozzo and Ziva, Gibbs had also drawn his weapon, aiming at the wild Taro.

Taro set his hands in the air, blood flying and dripping to the floor as the grab wound was rather deep.

"Matsumoto," said Toshiro, handing the sword back to his lieutenant. He noticed the shock and sadness in her eyes, something was definitely bothering her.

"Put your weapon down too," Gibbs said calmly.

Matsumoto grasped her sword, holding it close to her chest. She didn't want to give it up; no soul reaper would willingly abandon their zanpakutō. She looked to her captain, who only nodded as to follow the instructions.

Taro tore a large piece of his sleeve off and wrapped it around his hand, tying it off with his teeth. Sitting down between his brothers he crossed his arms, and stared blankly across the room like nothing had ever happened.

Matsumoto and Toshiro took the hint to sit, but handed the sword before sitting by Urahara. Urahara shot a grin to the captain and his lieutenant, "Making friends, are we?"

Toshiro rolled his eyes while Matsumoto stayed uncharacteristically silent.

Ichigo, Karin, and McGee finally arrived, arriving a bit late after having to retrieve Karin.

Both Kurosakis were intensely curious as to why the number of soul reapers increased, but didn't say a thing. They took seats next to each other and waited for whatever was to come.

"It's like a twisted version of 12 Angry Men, except there's actually women."

"How?" asked McGee, but silently regretted it after asking.

"In both instances we're trying to figure out what actually happened, and what it means."

There was a moment of silence as McGee took in what his fellow agent said, he didn't necessarily agree . . . but whatever fit Tony's logic.

Gibbs turned to the three boys at their end of the table, "Why do you want to kill Toshiro Hitsugaya?"