Flower in the Flames: Revised

Chapter 5: Process

-X-

There was chaos in an instant, signaled by Komamora's astute howl as a monstrosity formed in the room "What the hell!"

No one could even blink before the creature suddenly entered their world from nothing—writhing, struggling and tearing as it did so, desperately trying its best to not let go of its prized catch that now bled profusely.

It tore on Hinamori, digging its fangs of no particular pattern even deeper into her soft flesh. It dug its nails and protrusions into any spot available, its nonsensical anatomy only serving to accentuate the creature's damnation as it continually skewered and maimed its prey with abandon.

In a mere moment Hinamori's journey to hell ended abruptly, and now she was giving a blood curdling scream as she was rendered the victim of it.

In that momentary miniscule of a second since its arrival, the captains did not hesitate; the beast was cut down by the sudden and vicious slash of a blade within moments, sending the creature of howl its pains and it was banished to the room's corner by way of cold steel.

Hitsugaya's unsheathed sword practically hissed as its stone cold blade made contact with it, fully intending to smother and drown whatever flames that gave it life. All the while the gaze of its wielder looked upon the ugly thing with eyes of intense feral anger.

As it pathetically squirmed on the ground with dank ash spewing from its wound like broken bits of crust, the thing seemed to look even more unseemly. It looked like a mix and mash of many rotting creatures that were defiled by burnt cinders, and its ivory teeth of various sizes and shapes were blemished by black soot and grey ashes. The eyes, frantically darting all around its socket, were hollow and transfixed by a flaming fire. Its overall form was basically a combination burnt ruin and putrid corpse. Parts of it fell apart as the thing continued to futilely struggle against the encroaching ice that only expanded in its veins—its howls and shrikes ranging from a sound like a nail against glass to a fearsome creature howling its carnal blood lust.

Regaining its footing, this time aiming for Byakuya, who instantly cut the best down with his own precise strike of a sword. Instantly severing the body into two halves, the creature finally stopped moving, its form now starting to become susceptible to true decomposition and destruction as its body started to fall into filthy waste till it became nothing more than an unseemly sight on the floor.

The pile only elicited silence form the room, which was only broken by the hushed voiced of Hitsugaya who spoke in a low mutter "Please no…"

They all looked back to see him cradling the girl in his arms, the blatantly exposed wound taking the appearance of a sickening marring of gore and flesh that oozed and gurgled crimson liquid that drowned any cream skin that wasn't torn off. With the blood still cascading down one of her arms, Hitsugaya's one tentative hand was carefully and delicately tugging the cloth of her uniform free from the wound's entanglement in the areas throng of excess torn muscle and converging strands—not that there was much cloth left from the savage attack anyways.

Unohana briskly stepped forward, examining the wound only for a deep frown to emerge on her face. With her eyes slightly opened more due to shock, however briefly, she quickly started fumbling with the remnants of the cloth to get it ready for proper procedure "Hitsugaya, take your scarf off."

Without hesitation he did so, slipping it over one arm and handing it over to the professional healer without so much as a mutter. The entire time, he was careful to not disturb Momo's careful position in his arms as Unohana used the makeshift cloth as a bandage on the seeping wound.

It was difficult to tell if Momo was still truly awake even as everyone could clearly see her wide open eyes. With a look of fear and horror still remaining in their orbs, the somewhat distant look made some doubt if she was truly conscious as her eyes left echoes in the minds of all who looked at them at the momentous yet savage pain that fell upon her.

But the doubts were put to rest when Unohana started the bandaging process, with even the slightest changes in her position made by the gentle hands eliciting whimpers and sobs. Whimpers and sobs that sounded like constrained sets of resonant of their source as they were inwardly hindered by damage that ravaged her throat—of blood that seeped into her drowning lungs with a seemingly boiling heat that allowed the bubbling liquids to leave blisters and marks upon her insides. Once realization hit once the shock wore off, the sobs and whimpers became a weird combination of hallow gurgles and hindered gasps, her hot tears that slid down her face did little to express anything of the wounds on the inside of her that had yet to be addressed.

But it wasn't like she could move. Even though it primarily her arm that was affected, she found that control of her body was minimal if not nonexistent. With muscles torn and shredded, and with her nerves going haywire with the massive input of internal information, all she could do was squirm and emit sound that was oh so distorted from internal strain.

It was painful for her to even be held, with every well intentioned touch only making her body feel like it was on fire and aflame. Even as Unohana efficiently tended to her gaping wound that was the only wound clearly displayed before all, Momo found that her body responded to every tug and pull of her muscles elicited pain from her person. Pain of hot iron, ash mauling cinder and heat inlaid ash.

It was all necessary to stop the bleeding however, and it demanded attention in such a manner that Unohana discarded the idea of removing the jagged teeth that were still imbedded in her, which looked more akin to black nails with their soot covered ivory bone. With both Unohana's and Hitsugaya's hands now covered in a sickeningly red substance that still felt warm to the touch, Hitsugaya could only curse at his own uselessness as he was forced to do little but watch and hope Unohana could spare her more pain.

"Hey! Hurry up out there!" Soi Fon shouted, her face revealing her angry annoyance at the slow response of the emergency relief team. Granted, the whole ordeal lasted less than a half a minute, but she was under the impression that these hand-picked assistant soldiers would be quicker in reaction time. That, or the monstrous howls from before made them scarred stiff. Still unacceptable in her opinion.

The reactions did not become that much better when the entered the door to look at the scene; being met with the unruly sight of a mangled pile of ash that emitted the stench of rotting decay, a wounded lieutenant whose wound filled the room with a metallic scent of blood, and a captain who held a face twisted in a mixture of rage and ominous killing intent. His eyes intently looked at Unohana's menstruations, with a look of steely calm anger, and his reiatsu was carefully managed in its low state. The intent behind that reiatsu was riddled with bits of calm anger and heavy sorrow that added to the forced repression of a cold beast just looking for something to aim at. Their skin prickled with the sensation of cold needles.

Immediately rushing over to put her on a strainer, taking special care to do it with gentleness, they proceeded to rush out of the room. Unohana quickly followed.

Once they left the vicinity, the captains took notice to the partially released reiatsu that creeped about the room, adding bits of frost of the wall and floor and even on the edges of their uniforms. But few paid it any mind as they too, released at least a portion of their formerly restrained anger, with the new pressure in the room blatantly expressing anger and infuriation at the recent developments. It was only by happenstance that Hitsugaya's reiatsu was the only sort that had a more material effect of developing ice and lessening of the temperature.

Hitsugaya steadily rose from his previous position, the red that stained his uniform only accentuating his mood "I knew he couldn't be trusted…" he made quick steps toward Kenryu, and no one made an attempt to stop him.

No one quite knew what he was going to do to the prisoner, but everyone in the room figured that he was the one with the most justification to do it, and quite frankly, many of them didn't particularly care. Soi Fon merely leered at the spectacle, with her frown showing neither pity for Kenryu nor irritation at Hitsugaya's unordered actions. It was just the typical scorn she had for criminals. Byakuya acted like nothing in particular was happening in front of him, his expression being just as calmly stoic as ever as he permitted anything to befall upon Kenryu's lesser stature.

The Head Captain however, thought otherwise "Stop Hitsugaya!"

Hitsugaya ceased in his tracks reluctantly, but did so all the same…..barely.

Giving him a stern look, he continued "We had no idea that was going to happen, and even if we did, we would most likely send her there anyway. Furthermore, Kenryu couldn't do anything, it all happened in an instant. I didn't think I shouldn't have to say it out loud but you have to calm yourself."

With the old man sparring Kenryu a scrutinizing glance, his eyes almost as judging and assumptive as many of the captains in the room who secretly (or not so secretly) despised the face he now wore; a grin with glistening eyes of interest. He seemed genuinely interest, like he was watching a new set of amusing events for the first time in his life. It was a look that made even the coolest among them develop near inexplicable feelings of bitter hatred. A girl was torn apart today, yet this look of near distinct glee was his only response.

Growling as he made his way toward the nearest wall, Hitsugaya shot Kenryu another glaring stare before he opted to lean on the adjacent wall. In every single moment most could hear the tightening clasp of his hand around the scabbard of his sword, gripping it with such intensity that same could've sworn that they even heard stressed cracking.

Gauging his temperament for a moment, the head captain took notice of his self-restraint and returned hs attention toward Kenryu "Is there anything in particular that we should know about?" referring to Hinamori' injured state.

Kenryu, however, thought he was referring to the slaughtered monstrosity that still laid in the corner like an eye sore "The beast in one of the many creatures that reside in hell" he took a moment to collect himself "From what I can recall, they are very common. From certain reports from witnesses—" he spared one slightly worried look in Hitsugaya's direction, as if measuring his reaction for any hint of offence. He saw none as he remained facing away from him and making no noticeable movement. "...I theorize that they look for anything to satisfy their hunger. I always imaged them quite ravenous. I am quite glad to see that much was true."

"I'm sure you were overjoyed to see one then…" Hitsugaya muttered.

"Quite. I was able to observe first hand its movements, structure and habits. I will make sure to make use of this information in the future for the betterment of the cause." He sneered.

Just for a moment, the head captain could've sworn that Hitsugaya's face morphed into an unfathomable look of venomous scorn, but it seemed to vanish just as suddenly as it appeared. It was at this moment that the old man concluded that just Kenryu's mere presence was enough to have him test his reign over the other captains—his blatant provocations, intended or not, only served to ensure a more hazardous situation to his own person. A person that, disappointingly, was deemed pivotal in the current situation, and thus should be rendered nearly untouchable.

Yukio sighed "It's a shame she didn't bring anything else back…."

The look resurfaced on Hitsugaya's face, but the head captain had other things to attend to other than Kenryu's antics "At any rate….in consideration of recent events, I want Kurotsuchi to look into the possibility of sending a physical device with her on her next voyage so that we may better monitor her status."

He glanced at Kenryu "I will also have Kenryu transferred over to Soi Fon's custody where she will be put in charge of his incarceration. Until further notice, these are my orders."

-X-

Lying on a bed of pure white, Momo was trying desperately to ignore her throbbing shoulder. But she found that to be difficult no matter how much she tried to focus on the soft texture of the sheets, trying to concentrate on the thing that seemed to be the polar opposite of the crispy, raspy soot of blackened ash.

Motionless, and fearing any movement that may make her body scream, the only indication of her suffering escaped her body in the form of a lone tear that cascaded down her face. With a blurred vision, she allowed her eyes to roam over to the left, trying to decipher the sight of the squad healer that applying kido to her wound. His face, it seemed, was a bit of a mix between slight fear and serious contemplation; looking at his own progress with every amount of scrutiny as he beheld how his spells seemed to have minimal effect on her person.

The wound was closing at about the same rate the pain was lessening—which was nothing at all. It was almost like a mental scar in that seemed to have to heal on its own, and was immune to outside forces. At this revelation, the squad member's spirits dropped, and that was only reflected in the energy emitted by the essentially-useless spell. A quality that only made Momo worry.

Unohana came in through the doorway, her frown still protruding her features as she glanced at the papers she held "That will be all for now."

The man scurried on out, leaving Unohana the chance to look over the wound herself. She looked at it with a prominent frown, not at all liking what she saw; the wound was still slightly bleeding, exposed to the elements, showed signs of charred muscle and was essentially just as bad as when it was afflicted. Even now, it still bled, albeit at a slower, more controlled pace. The body's natural process of blood clotting was all that prevented the girl from bleeding out to death, and though the teeth were removed, Unohana could still see the deep holes that marked their locations.

She reached toward the bandages, trying to let her eyes avoid the green sash that was soaked with now dark crimson liquid. It almost seemed to mock her about the coursing velvet red that threatened to seep evermore "It would be best if we cover that wound…it will hurt a little, dear. But we just can't let that get infected."

Hanatarou came in just then, carrying a tray of fresh medical essentials.

"Yamada, please do get Hitsugaya's sash and have it cleaned and returned to him." She said.

With his face still looking just as flustered as ever (a bit paler too, with what he has heard from his superiors), he was quick to already start heading toward the door "I uh- y-yes captain Unohana. I-I'll do that immediately!" he got to the door only to emit a shrill shriek, startled to find the painted face of Kurotsuchi storming toward him.

"You will do no such thing!" He snatched the soiled fabric away from him with ease "I need this for the blood samples! Don't be so foolish as to clean it!"

Irritated at his rather loud outburst, Kurotsuchi found himself being eyed by Unohana, whose demeanor told him that she held little patience for him right now " Captain Kurotsuchi, must I remind you that this is a hospital and that the patients here need rest and tranquility above all else when recuperating? I do not want any of my patients to have nightmares of you troubling them in any way, otherwise I will have to deal with the problem myself personally. Do save us both the trouble and act accordingly."

No one had to be an expert to know when the fourth division captain was giving a threat, though it may be gracefully hidden behind a serine façade. Just like everyone knew when the renowned captain was giving a threat, everyone was in an unspoken unanimous consensus that no one wanted to know what would happen should her threats not be taken seriously.

Kurotsuchi nearly stuttered at first before he could get so much as word out "….I….yes. Yes, I will keep that in mind. But first and foremost I should ask—"

Unohana opened her eyes to silence him before he could utter a word "You want samples, yes? Then I am sure that all the blood samples you need are in that sash. Taking anything else from her will be unnecessary. You are however, free to take the extracted teeth that were acquired from the incident. My third seat should be taking care of them, and you may take them right now if you so wish. But I do not want you disturbing anyone under these premises…am I clear?"

He stayed silent for a moment "Yes. Perfectly clear."

He scurried away under her intense gaze. Lingering a bit on his retreating figure as if contemplating on whether or not other actions were needed.

Coming back to the task at hand, she gave Hinamori an apologetic and reassuring smile "I apologize. Him being here must've sent a shiver down your spine. But rest assured, as long as I am in charge of these quarters he will not be allowed to put so much as one finger near your person." She opened one of the drawers in the adjacent nightstand, grabbing a carefully prepared syringe "This is just to ease the pain."

In truth, however, she wasn't sure if it would do any good; the wound itself has already shown properties that made it immune to the typical healing approaches. Who was to say that the typical drugs would work better? It almost seemed useless to try, but try she shall. Injecting the liquid into the bloodstream of her patient, very content to eventually observe the sleep-inducing effects taking gradual but steady effect on Hinamori, whose eyes started to become heavier and heavier as time passed on.

For this, Unohana was relieved that the wound's peculiar attributes almost seemed entirely limited to the effects of the reishi that lingered. She made a mental note to try a more drug emphasized treatment.

"I have heard that healing kido isn't working on her."

She looked toward the doorway to find Hitsugaya standing there, his posture erect and resolute as ever. The sight seemed a bit unordinary without his sash, instead seeing the man instead holding the sheath of his zanpaktou with his bare hand. The exceedingly long blade had to be held upward so as to avoid unnecessary toppling of objects—and even now, it seemed to be of the same height as Hitsugaya, if not a bit taller.

"Yes. I have reason to believe that the wounds from these creatures are resistant to shinigami reiatsu, therefore our traditional healing methods are useless. She's badly injured, but all she needs is time to recuperate." She said.

She watched him walk over toward the hospital bed, taking note of the sorrowful look in his eyes "I apologize for not returning your sash to you, but Kurotsuchi needed some samples. He will make sure you get it back though, I assure you. But more importantly…"

He mutely turned his gaze toward her, his face telling her that he couldn't care less about the sash.

"What is your take on the situation? Surely you believe it to be difficult for one lieutenant, or a many number of captains for that matter, to find that kuseiko in the depths of hell. Do you think she will –or any of us-will even have a chance at success?"

He closed his eyes "Based on the reports from the Kido Corps, we have less than two weeks before the situation reaches clinical mass. By that time, nothing we do will be of use. I hear the head captain is actually considering sealing the senkaimon in order for hell's personnel to perform some sort of "sacrificial closing". It will be devastating, but necessary for any chance at stability. However…" he opened his eyes "Despite the low chances, Momo seems to give me the impression that she will give everything she can to help in any way possible. She seemed to agree rather easily." Too easily, he wanted to add. "So I take that mean that we have a chance, however small."

Unohana nodded "I see." She offered Hitsugaya a rather peculiar look, one between serious and sorrowful ""A week is too short of time for her to recover from the wound completely. But it seems that the Head Captain has deemed the situation too dangerous to allow such a long period of time to transpire without another attempt. She will be given time to rest, but once she is functional and able she will have to return to her duties."

Unohana examined the heart monitor "The head captain also said that, as per his agreement, she is now under you care –from the moment she is let out from mine, of course…"

Hitsugaya left after an hour or so of silent vigil in Momo's hospital room, thinking that it is best if he distracts himself with the flow of paperwork that didn't really stop under any circumstance. He was going to visit her tomorrow…or in a few hours. Whichever time his insecurities began to slither into his mind.

But he found that he was content enough with the situation to sleep for a night, highly relieved that there was no immediate enemy to potentially harm anybody. He had his morning tea, finished a few important forms and was about to exit the office to search for Matsumoto, debrief his soldiers, gain spoken reports from his higher ranked officers and finally, head on toward the 4th division to visit Hinamori.

But he found his eyebrow twitching slightly when he felt the presence of a low-ranked soul reaper approaching his office door. A knock ensued, and he replied without the slightest hint of interest "Enter."

The unknown man slid the door open, already bowing slightly as he addressed "Captain Hitsugaya. I am here to inform you of the recent transfer initiation of Lieutenant Hinamori to the squad ten barracks. She is being transferred by—"

"It hasn't even been a full twenty-four hours since her admission into the intensive care unit! Who in their right mind would permit a transfer so early?" He gave the man a stern glower.

"T-the head captain…" He cleared his throat "It was decided that, due to the current state of the situation, it would be best for Lieutenant Hinamori to recover in closer proximity to her allocated room so that in the next few days she may resume her duties. This decision was made by the Head Captain, sir." He looked straight at the ground, a bit reluctant to meet his captain's gaze, but when he did muster the strength to look up, he found that his superior had already left. The only sign of his leaving was an open window, one that was closed when he first entered.

-X-

The head captain sat at his desk, his stern face not the least bit perturbed at the white haired prodigy that stood before him. He was not the least bit fazed by his sudden arrival "Hitsugaya, your coming here was not unexpected…"

Hitsugaya did a slight nod of his head "Head Captain. I am here to inquire about your recent decision regarding Lieutenant Hinamori."

"I know you are."

"Surely you don't expect her to be able to fulfil her mission to an ideal capacity without at least three days to recover. While I understand that we are in a delicate situation regarding time, I do not understand why you are insistent on having Hinamori return to hell on such short notice when she obviously needs time to have her wounds heal. From the reports we have gathered, it has been determined that we have at least three weeks until the situation reaches a critical stage. I believe it would be more ideal to have her to be in more capable capacity before we send her on her next voyage."

The head captain stared at him blankly, appearing to be unfazed. In realty however, he was somewhat thankful for the young captain's rather direct approach; he was not exactly looking forward to having to deal with his potential rash actions in the future if his temper was so set aflame. This way, he could address the situation with much more tact and perhaps curb the young man's irritable rage spells as of late "It is unfortunate. But fact of the matter is that we simply cannot waste time. The estimated time before the situation reaches clinical mass is mere that-an estimate. It could very easily be days earlier than expected. Or even weeks later than expected. But regardless of wither case, it would be for the best to assume the worst case scenario." He opened his eyes to convey his message "Regarding this fact, and the fact that the chance of finding a kuseiko is slim, it would be practically foolish to have her recuperating for such an extended period seeing as we have no other avenue available for the kuseiko's retrieval."

Hitsugaya's stare still lingered, but looked significantly dulled; defeated almost. It seemed there was no moving the head captain's decision.

The old man cleared his throat "Hitsugaya, are you aware of hell's general layout?"

Surprised at the sudden turn in conversation, his eyes only widened slightly before speaking "I can't say that I do."

The head captain nodded "I was considering bringing up this topic briefly in one of our future meetings. However given its lack of substantial relevance, save for a bit of perspective, I instead abandoned the idea. However, given that you will likely find this information partially useful in your handling of Lieutenant Hinamori's condition, I shall relay it to you."

When Hitsugaya settled himself, rooting his position onto the spot with his arms crossed, he continued "The hell Hinamori goes to has various sections. Each one goes lower, and each one has souls who committed a particular variety of sin. Naturally, this usually means that each level is more dangerous than the last. The lower sections are usually kept under close guard by hell's wardens, and the lower sections usually allow no one inside or out. According to Yukio, however, this may still hold true."

Hitsugaya grunted at the mention of his name "Is Yukio really of any use to us apart from his first aid processes in the event Hinamori encounters an enemy? Apart from his healing abilities that are well matched to healing the wounds of hell, he seems to be of little use. This is proving to be especially true seeing as how the fourth division has been largely successful in finding their own methods in addressing similar wounds." He tried to keep it as professional as possible, but he reluctantly realized that a sliver of both anger and concern laced his voice. Even that slight difference made his usual demeanor, commonly void of such personal feelings, seem out of place in this dire situation.

Yammamoto either didn't notice or didn't care however, but he was slightly irritated "I made it quite clear what his uses were in our meetings."

"I am well aware of that" Hitsugaya let out a sigh "However, Yukio as a person and not an asset makes him more liable to be seen as a vital security risk as a—"

Mentally insane person "…high liability".

Thoughtful consideration was given "Make no mistake, the man concerns me…." He walked over to the open veranda "A lot of things concern me, Hitsugaya. The most prominent one is the inevitable outcome that should occur if we fail at retrieving that kuseiko. You and I both know all too well what would happen."

Hitsugaya could not bring himself to disagree with him. The balance would be severely damaged—perhaps to the point of no return. In all likelihood, the Soul SoXciety would have to seal the senkaimon in a desperate effort to maintain itself. But the mere act of doing so would put strain of the government, a strain that he was highly confident would break them. They were just barely recovering from the cracks made by Aizen, but trying to survive such a dissolution of purpose and safety for soul reapers was like asking for the sky to open up. Even now, these were still little inconsistencies in the mode of how things were going amongst their government. The Central 46 are more conscious on their decisions, the Onmitsukido has been overly overbearing on the nobles, and the nobles in turn are starting to resort to heated political banter as a pastime. At least for now, and assuming that they could gain the kuseiko, they can try and further their stability and recovery.

The head captain spoke with the voice one would use when making a rule clear "I stand by my order, Momo Hinamori will venture into hell again once my allowed time limit is up; no exceptions."

-X-End