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Chapter Seven - Searching for Answers

Hitsugaya had once again lost track of Midori and he was beginning to grow frustrated over the fact that she seemed to be able to hide her reiatsu at will. It was beginning to feel as though he only found her when she wanted, or else didn't care, to be found. And on top of his feelings of frustration was confusion for the young captain was still unsure exactly what kind of being Midori had turned into. His first thought had been that she was an Arrancar, a rare and advanced form of Hollow but now that he had seen that she possessed a zanpaktou he was unsure.

"It's not supposed to be possible," Hitsugaya muttered to himself as he searched for any signs of Midori. He had given up on the waiting game, thinking that it would be better if he made an active attempt to locate Midori instead of merely sitting around and waiting for her to make an appearance.

"I have to figure out what the hell is going on."

The fact that Midori possessed a zanpaktou was a cause of great concern for the young captain of Squad Ten as well as great confusion. There was supposed to be a clear cut line between Hollow and Shinigami and yet with Midori the lines were blurred if not down right invisible. She seemed to possess qualities of both and yet couldn't really be classified as either. That was one of the greatest mysteries of the situation.

The other mystery was why she wanted to breech the barrier between Soul Society and the world of the living. What possible motive could she have? What was so important that she would risk everything? The answers to these questions simply did not exist and yet Hitsugaya couldn't keep himself from wondering. But at the same time he was irritated that he even cared. This woman, who had been supposed to love and cherish him beyond all others, had in fact caused him pain and then ended his life.

He shouldn't give a damn what had brought her to her current state but the young captain couldn't deny that he did care. It didn't make any sense and he couldn't rationalize it but he did care what had happened to make her willing to risk everything.

The wind was whispering gently through the trees as Hitsugaya stared up into the cobalt blue sky. The young captain had always found peace from gazing up at the sky and he desperately needed that peace now. There wasn't a cloud in the sky however the tranquility of the day only served to mock Hitsugaya's own tumultuous emotions. His teal eyes were wide and haunted as he thought back on the woman that he should hate. By all rights he should despise her and not care what was causing her current actions. She had callously ended his life and was now an enemy of Soul Society. That should be all the information he needed but it wasn't.

"What brought you to this place. . . Mother?"

Soul Society was beginning to grow concerned over the fact that the person attacking their barrier had yet to be caught and in the hopes of speeding up the process Head Captain Yamamoto authorized both Matsumoto and Hinamori to travel to the world of the living to offer aid to Captain Hitsugaya. The young captain had been in constant contact with Soul Society and had made no attempt to hide the fact that he was having some difficulty carrying out his mission. The child prodigy had sounded irritated about the fact that he'd had to admit his failure but at the same time he realized that his superior needed to know what was going on. Hitsugaya felt that his duty to Soul Society was more important than his personal feelings.

Realizing that things would more than likely progress better if Hitsugaya had some help the Head Captain authorized the deployment of the two vice-captains. Two people that Hitsugaya trusted, or so he thought. He didn't feel that Soul Society could afford to send another captain however the two vice-captains should serve just as well and Hinamori and Matsumoto had quickly volunteered.

"Do you think Toushirou will be angry that we came?" Hinamori asked, a concerned expression in her chocoloate colored eyes as she and Matsumoto made their way toward the Senkaimon that would take them to Karakura Town. She had been friends with the Squad Ten Captain since their childhood days in the Rukongai and she knew that in some instances Hitsugaya was quick to anger.

"I don't know," Matsumoto replied honestly. She wasn't sure how Captain Hitsugaya would react to the fact that Head Captain Yamamoto had sent in reinforcements but for their sakes she hoped that he would take the news well. And to be completely honest she was happy that they were going because she had been worried about her captain since his departure. He was still sleep deprived and that would not make fighting easy for the young captain.

Hinamori looked worried however there was also a determined look in her eyes. Hitsugaya was her best friend, had been since their childhood days together in the Rukongai, and she too was concerned for his safety. She didn't want to see anything happen to the boy that she had grown to care for greatly over the passing years.

Standing in a clearing in a grove of trees on the outskirts of Karakura Town Captain Hitsugaya tensed as he felt a pair of familiar reiatsu. "Why the hell are they here?" he thought to himself as he gazed in the general direction that the reiatsu was radiating from. Clenching his hands into fists he used his flash-step to travel to the location where the reiatsu was radiating from, the position where he knew Hinamori and Matsumoto would be waiting.

"Captain!"

"Shirou-chan!"

Hitsugaya cringed as he heard Hinamori address him by that vile nickname, a nickname that she knew he despised. "It's Captain Hitsugaya. . . and what are you doing here?" The young captain's gaze shifted back and forth between his childhood friend and his subordinate.

"Head Captain Yamamoto sent us to assist you with the intruder," Matsumoto said, deciding that her captain had a right to know the truth. And she had to be the one to tell him, no matter how much she would have loved to give the job to someone else. "Things have changed somewhat since you left Soul Society."

"What's changed?" Hitsugaya inadvertantly shifted into his commanding, captain's voice as he asked this question. There was a part of him that resented the fact that Yamamoto had decided that he needed help but his desire to know the truth over rode that feeling and forced him not to mention it.

"We think we know why the enemy is attempting to breech the barrier between Soul Society and the world of the living," Hinamori explained, taking over from Matsumoto. "Captain Aizen told me that it had something to do with a demon that had once attacked the Seireitei. It was massively powerful, so powerful that the Shinigami couldn't kill it. In order to bring it under control they used a long forgotten kidou spell to seal it's soul inside a tree."

Matsumoto nodded. "Head Captain Yamamoto thinks that the enemy you were sent here to stop is attempting to break into Soul Society to release the demon."

Hitsugaya's mind briefly flashed to the image of Midori holding her rainbow colored blade. What purpose could she possibly have in releasing a dangerous enemy contained in Soul Society? Hell she shouldn't even know about it. He hadn't known about it after all. It didn't make any sense.

"Are you alright Toushirou?" Hinamori's voice was concerned.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" the young captain snapped, glaring at Hinamori through narrowed eyes. When would she learn not to address him by his given name? At this point it seemed like the answer to that question was never. "And I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."

"Thinking about what Captain?" Matsumoto asked.

"Do you have free access to Soul Society?" Hitsugaya asked, chosing to completely ignore the question that had been posed to him by his vice-captain.

"Yes," Matsumoto replied after a moment's hesitation.

"I need you to return to Soul Society and go to the library," Hitsugaya said, deciding on a course of action. He needed to find out if Soul Society had any kind of file on Midori. And above all he needed to make sure that no one found out exactly who she was.

"The library?" Matsumoto repeated, somewhat confused by her captain's request.

Hitsugaya nodded, a trace of fear in his teal eyes. This was necessary, he had to know exactly what he was dealing with, however he didn't want his subordinate or his childhood friend to know that he had a connection with the enemy who was now attacking Soul Society. "I need for you to search Soul Society's archives on known threats and see if you come across the name Midori."

"Okay." Matsumoto nodded, knowing that her captain had to have a good reason for asking her to do this. "Is there a last name that goes with that?"

Hitsugaya's features almost gave a hint that he knew more than he was willing to reveal however he managed to force them back into their normal stoic expression. Besides, had there been someone on the list of threats who shared his last name the young prodigy was sure that he would know about it so that knowledge wasn't relative to the mission that he was assigning his second in command. "Midori is all that I have managed to find out but if it helps I can give you a description."

The Squad Ten vice-captain nodded.

Taking a deep breath Hitsugaya summoned a mental image of his mother so that he could accurately describe her to his vice-captain. "She has long black hair that she wears hanging loosely about her shoulders, the right side held back by a piece of broken Hollow mask. She's around five feet, seven inches tall and has. . ." The young captain paused at this point, almost afraid to continue. The last physical trait was the only one that linked her to him however it was important so he would have to tell Matsumoto. All he could do was hope that she wouldn't make the connection. "And her eyes are teal. I know it's not much but I'm afraid that it's all I have to go on. I'm sorry Matsumoto."

"Don't worry about it Captain," Matsumoto said, flashing him a winning smile. "If there's any information on this Midori person then rest assured that I'll find it."

"Thanks Matsumoto," Hitsugaya said.

Hitsugaya watched as Matsumoto summoned the Senkaimon and disappeared and then he turned his attention back to Hinamori. His childhood friend was standing there and she held a concerned expression in her chocolate colored eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere Toushirou," Hinamori said quickly, thinking that he was going to order her back to Soul Society as well.

"Captain Hitsugaya," the young captain automatically corrected, his thoughts elsewhere. He didn't know if Soul Society would have a file on Midori but he really needed more information on her. At this point, based on what he'd seen and the feelings that he had, he wasn't sure that he could win in a fight against her. Or even that he could fight her at all.

Hitsugaya was brought out of his thoughts by the feel of a hand on his shoulder and, somewhat startled, he jerked involuntarily.

"I'm sorry," Hinamori said in a quiet voice. "But I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine," Hitsugaya said, fighting hard to keep his voice reassuring. "Now come on. We aren't accomplishing anything by just standing around here. Let's search the area. It's a long shot but maybe we'll come across something."

Delighted that Hitsugaya had included her Hinamori nodded and together the two young Shinigami left the area.

When Matsumoto arrived back in the Seireitei she immediately erected a kidou barrier around herself, to conceal her reiatsu from detection. She had told her captain that she was free to come and go but in truth the Squad Ten vice-captain wasn't entirely sure that she had told Hitsugaya the truth. She was aware that she could very well be breaking the rules by returning however she would not deny a request from her captain.

"I hope I don't get in trouble for this," she muttered to herself as she made her way to the library.

Upon arrive Matsumoto painstakingly searched through the archives of known threats to Soul Society, the threats that the higher ups knew about but had yet to deal with, but after hours of research she came up with nothing. There was absolutely no record of an enemy named Midori fitting the physical description that Captain Hitsugaya had given her in any of the records.

"I wonder," Matsumoto thought to herself as she moved on to another list. She knew that it was a long shot however she quickly decided that it was worth a shot. Besides, she had told her captain that if there was any information on Midori then she would find it and she couldn't make a liar out of herself. She had a reputation to protect after all. Quickly scanning the list Matsumoto's blue eyes widened in shock as her name fell upon the name Midori Hara, former third seat of their own Squad Ten, from the time before they joined. And across from the name were the words missing in action.

"I have to tell the captain," Matsumoto exclaimed, jumping to her feet and rushing from the library.

A/N - There's chapter seven. Hope you enjoyed, please review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.