"This will only hurt for a second, Kiteyama-san,"

"You know, Kotetsu-Taichou, I want to believe you but—"

I yelped as she tore off the bandage molded to my blood-crusted wound. I rose my clenched fist to my gritted teeth as I muttered curses.

"See? That wasn't too bad, ne?" She tried to coo me sheepishly.

I grunted for my only form of response through the nearly blinding pain.

She proceeded to treat me while my mind raced over the fact that this was the wound I myself caused. I had almost finished healing from the damn last one, and yet here I was with one I caused myself.

"Did something happen between yesterday and now, Kiteyama-san?" She asked me as she began working her reiatsu into the wound.

"What do you mean?" I questioned back with my best nonchalant effort.

I don't know what she touched, but the action radiated down my legs and up my chest in a single moment—I cringed and refrained from yelping as much as possible.

"You've torn your skin since last I saw you,"

Oh. Well. I mean…

"I kept having nightmares and sprang awake from all of them—it's more than likely because of that," I partially lied.

What was I supposed to say—I tore it from having semi-rough sex with Toushirou? Yeah, that would definitely fly. Toushirou would be so mad that I didn't tap out with a safe word—if he knew what that was—wait, did he know what that was? Last night certainly seemed like—

"I see," she replied hesitantly.

Kami she knew—I was tensing up. Damn it. Just play it cool.

I changed the topic as she continued to attend to the wound—the wound itself wasn't too deep, and with the amount of reiatsu she was putting into it, I felt a lot better than I had when I got here.

She didn't like the fact that Toushirou insisted that I stay at his house rather than here in her infirmary, but I was going to let the two of them duke it out and play the clueless game—thank Kami Toushirou was winning the fight until further notice.

After she finished patching me up and helping me get dressed, she called Toushirou in and asked me to step out for a moment. It kind of scared me because I had a bad feeling that she was going to ask him something uncomfortable—like our activity last night that I was still riled up about—but I had no choice but to wait patiently outside the room in the busy hallway. Although I really wanted to press my ear up against the door, I decided that I should probably walk down the hallway a bit so as not to seem like the eavesdropper I really wanted to be.

Several Squad Members rushed by; all pre-occupied by something or other in a way that made me feel like the laziest person in existence. While everything right now was at a critical point in my life—I really envied them. Well, I didn't envy the fact that they all more than likely saw some gruesome shit on the daily, but the fact that all of them had a purpose that they fulfilled each day—it seems almost miniscule when phrased that way, but I wished that I could be in their shoes.

Damn that man. I never envied anyone in that way before; I accepted my life and held myself to a standard that made sense due to my occupational misfortune, but now that I was doing this whole letting myself feel thing, the things I thought irrelevant now held huge relevance to me—I wasn't sure just how to proceed with it.

The door of one of the rooms I was about to pass was left open, and my damn curious nature had my head turn to inspect as I walked—of course to bite me right in the ass.

I bumped into someone due to my lack of attention; immediately bowing in embarrassment as their papers scattered on the floor.

"My apologies! I wasn't watching where I was going," I auto-replied without even looking up.

A giggle was the response I received; the vocal chords in question all too familiar.

"It's okay Kiteyama-san," Miyuki replied.

I opened my eyes at the voice, and noticed just how many papers fell on the floor due to my ignorance when I did. Immediately I squatted down to pick then up, almost colliding with Miyuki once again due to my un-lady-like drop—I winced at the abdominal pain.

"You okay, Kiteyama-san?" Miyuki reached and hovered her hand in front of me in case.

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine—sorry about making you drop all the papers," I tried my best not to cringe as I reached to pick all of them up.

"Not to worry at all, Kiteyama-san—accidents happen," she replied as she gathered them as well.

As I collected the papers, my head was wrapped around the fact that being in her presence wasn't as heart-wrenching as it was before. Sure, there was residual awkwardness that couldn't be avoided, but it didn't feel so uncomfortable as it had every other time she was near. Maybe it was indeed the actions that took place last night that solidified my feelings for each of them—Miyuki as my fading past, and Toushirou as my continuously increasing opaque future. It almost made me want to smile just thinking about it, but I had to remember to control myself and not seem like something was up between us—a hard task in itself.

I reached to retrieve one of the last papers—Miyuki's hand accidentally touching mine in an effort to take the same page. For some reason, I kind of just froze rather than have any type of reaction. I couldn't put my finger on it, but for some reason I didn't react in the same frazzled way as I had when I bumped into her.

"Ah, sorry, Kiteyama-san," Miyuki retracted her hand.

I picked up the paper, and was about to reply before my eye caught reflective green from the page—I couldn't help but solve that damn curiosity of mine.

"Oh, that's too comical," Miyuki began—she evidently caught my facial expression.

It was a picture of a forest; shades of greens and browns brilliantly making the picture pop as it depicted the wooden wonderland.

"I saved that picture for you,"

I blinked harshly once my brain processed her words—my look of confusion making her giggle again.

"I saw that picture in the Seireitei Bulletin; it was in an article for a great summer retreat. I thought that you would like it, so I tore it out of the magazine and was going to have it framed," she smiled, "it looks like you caught me before I could."

I blushed without consent. "Oh—you didn't have to go to the trouble, Nankai," Good Kami it felt weird calling her by her last name.

"No, not at all! I know that you've been going through a lot lately—it's the least I could do to cheer you up,"

Well that certainly was thoughtful—I didn't really know how to respond other than thanking her.

"That's very sweet of you—thanks." I smiled. "There's no need to frame it though; I don't really have my own place to put it anyway. I'll just keep the photo as is." I began to fold it.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, thank you," I sported a small smile in appreciation.

Once I finished folding it, I tucked it into my inner pocket, and looked up at her to hand her the papers I collected. She took them, and once she stacked them along with the others, stood up after me.

"Thanks for helping me pick all of those up,"

"No problem; sorry again, and I'll be seeing you," I nodded at her and turned on my heel.

"Kiteyama-san," she seized my wrist suddenly, and the contact surprised me enough to make my head snap back to her.

She had that smile that used to uplift my spirits spread on her lips; flashes of her spreading her arms out for me to enter into now flooding my thoughts with cravings I'd decided to put to rest.

"Maybe this summer we could go there together?" She prompted.

I smiled at her, but before I could say anything, she continued.

"You do love the forest after all, and I'd love it if your first time visiting would be with me,"

My facial expression dropped.

She…she just…

"Thanks for waiting, Kiteyama," Toushirou announced; arriving at that moment with my wrist still in her possession.

She dropped her hold on my wrist to formally bow at him.

"Hello, Hitsugaya-Taichou—how are you feeling today?" She smiled up at him.

I didn't even listen to his response.

What she just said…wad she starting to remember our past?

"I'll see the two of you soon—please take care!" she bowed and excused herself.

I stood there unsure of how to respond to what just happened. With just one sentence, she was able to stir the emotions I'd officially laid to rest—I couldn't do this; at all costs I couldn't let them rise again.

"What happened?" Toushirou asked me.

I snapped myself out of it to turn to him. "Nothing. What did Kotetsu-Taichou say?" I subject-changed.

He knew better than to trust my words, but due to where we were decided to temporarily let the topic pass.

"She wants you to stay here, but I fought her on it." He turned, and I did as well to follow him toward the exit.

"Good; I wouldn't want to stay here anyway," I shoved my hands in my sleeves as I walked. "Anything else?"

"Just the situation outside the facility, but I'm assuming your zanpakutou is out of commission at the moment, so we'll deal with that later."

Oh shit. I forgot that the outside of Division 4 was still destroyed from the battle yesterday.

"I see; okay sounds good." I confirmed his acquisition.

We emerged outside, and I immediately reached for my tucked away tin—he already knew without having to ask.

"Wait a few moments longer—let's get to my office first,"

I nodded and turned to him; he picked me up carefully with ease—I couldn't say that it didn't still make me blush. We took off back toward the barracks; his steps fast but controlled as he glided with me across the sky. I nuzzled into him as I always did—the warmth of the bare skin I pressed against re-igniting the warmth he made me feel inside. He didn't say anything during the trek, and before I knew it we were already outside the office building.

It was still early, and hardly any shinigami were about the building. He set me down, and when my land-legs were brought back to life, he did something that he'd never done before—he took my hand in his, and proceeded forward. The blush I had on my face before was child's play compared to what it was now. I nervously tightened my grip, to which he responded in a light, reassuring squeeze to help calm me. He knew his action was foreign to me, and while I assumed it was also foreign for him, he played it off with such an unfazed confidence that I was envious.

"She told me about the tear,"

Damn it—I knew it.

"I didn't even feel it happen and only really noticed it after the fact," I tried to wave it off. "I would've said something if I'd felt it—I promised I would,"

Okay, so I did feel it when it happened, but I was in such a trance that I paid it no mind and just wanted to continue. The first time we'd done things at all was different; that wound was on the front of my torso rather than my side, was far deeper than this one, and the pain was more intense when I sat up compared to this one. Stopping at that time couldn't be avoided, stopping this time had to be avoided for my mental health's sake after what happened with Koizumi.

I made my rebuttal by leaning into him, and taking hold of his arm with my other hand as we walked—hopefully he wouldn't see through my tactic. Then again, he was a tactician when it came to any offensive or defensive tactics.

He assessed me without looking, and with an exhale finalized his reply. "No more of that until you're healed—I can't have you getting hurt like that,"

While my prior, pig-headed self would've retaliated in a rather obnoxious fashion, I had to take his feelings into account. While his tone seemed normal, I had a feeling that inside he was somewhat angry at himself for letting it happen in the first place. I mean, I provoked him, and I was the one that insinuated everything—he shouldn't take blame for something that wasn't his fault. But then again—now that I thought about it—did he blame himself for giving into me?

"Toushirou," I stopped and withdrew my extra hold. He turned to look at me, and I looked up at him. "Do you regret what we did?"

His face didn't change, but I assumed that maybe he was just holding it in to make me not feel bad. Kami, is this the kind of shit people deal with in relationships if that's what this was? Reliance on body language, over-thinking, and second-guessing every action to the point of panicked heart palpitations? I suddenly felt so terrible during that brief silence before his reply. The thought of making him uncomfortable or invoking feelings of regret hurt me.

"I regret not thinking it through enough to realize that you weren't ready for that with your injuries, but as for everything as a whole—I meant what I did and said." He paused and tucked a stray hair of mine behind my ear.

"While I should have urged us to wait—you weren't the only one that needed that," he leaned down to me, and pulled me into him with a kiss.

"The two of us need to work through our own strife—with the help of one another. Last night not only was a respite for you, it was one for me too—thank you, Akinoyo,"

Bad feelings—gone; good feelings—back in action. It's baffling what this man could accomplish.

"That's a relief," I pecked his lingering lips. "You had me worried," I muttered.

I could feel the small grin forming on his face—the jerk. "My apolo—"

"Goodness!"

With the speed I flew back from Toushirou and against the wall with, you'd think I remembered how to flash-step.

Embarrassment—check; anxiousness—check; frail, feeble female tendencies—check; panic—in full effect.

"I knew it! I am so happy for you guys!" Rangiku rushed me.

Fucking Kami I was so embarrassed—could I just crawl in a hole and die please? I needed this shyness to incinerate in the fiery pits of Hell.

She took hold of me and wrapped her arms around me to squeeze the life out of me. "This is too great! I can't even tell you how happy I am right now! It's about damn time!" she squealed—was this what it was like to have an actual friend?

"Don't make a scene, Matsumoto," Toushirou almost scoffed at her.

She immediately let me go and stomped up to him.

"Oh no—I'm having this one, Taichou. Do you even understand how many years I've waited for this moment? Don't be such a stick in the mud, and let me be happy for you!"

I wasn't expecting this at all, but I was too impressed and overjoyed to see it happen—Rangiku reached up, and pulled his cheek as if he were still a child; my barking laughter couldn't be contained.

Immediately Toushirou smacked her hand away with a glare. "You shouldn't grab a person's face—let alone your Taichou!" he almost sneered.

"Like I care! I'm celebrating this occasion whether you like it or not—I'm owed that much for having known you this long!" She sassed right back. "Drinks all around!" She grinned.

My inner alcoholic perked. "Yes on all accounts!"

"No—no drinks, and nomaking a huge fuss over it, Matsumoto. This needs to stay quiet for the time being." Toushirou scolded.

She huffed in response—defeated in her celebratory rambunctiousness she was beginning to ensue. This woman was such comedic relief—I couldn't be more grateful.

"Fiiiiiiine. This will be celebrated though, and there will be drinks." She whined—the annoyance surfacing in Toushirou was so hilarious that I could barely handle not teasing him.

Rangiku grinned at me, and dismissed Toushirou with the sassiest of hair-flips known to mankind. I had to purse my lips to keep it together. She lopped her arm in mine, and proceeded forward to the office—leaving Toushirou in the dust.

I turned my head to wink at him so he wouldn't chop her head off.

-x-x-

"So, now that we have more to work with, let's take a closer look at these results now that you're awake."

The pictures of the abducted female Shinigami I'd skimmed through prior were now spread across where I smoked outside; each of them now possessing a taped piece of paper with their names on it at the bottom of their photo.

"I've organized these photos based on the earliest abduction. We have a total of 13 including yourself that have gone missing over the course of 40 years—the fact that we haven't come up with a better system to prevent situations like this is beyond me." He took the stack of paperwork he'd set down to arrange the photos.

"Kato Hanako:

Formerly an unranked member of Squad 10—M.I.A. 40 years ago during a Hollow investigation in the Rukongai.

Hashikawa Keiko:

Formerly the 18th seat of Squad 8—M.I.A. 37 years ago during a routine World of the Living Hollow extermination.

Fujita Kaori:

Formerly an unranked member of Squad 3—M.I.A. 29 years ago during a Hollow investigation in the Rukongai.

Maeda Ayame:

Formerly the 23rd seat of Squad 5—M.I.A. 26 years ago during a group training in the Rukongai in which a group of Hollow mobilized and attacked. Several were injured, none dead, one M.I.A.

Ishikawa Dai:

Formerly an unranked member of Squad 4—M.I.A. 21 years ago on an expedition in the Rukongai. They assumed all Hollow were exterminated and called for Squad 4's relief team, but evidently the battle wasn't over. Three died, several injured, one M.I.A.

Tanaka Saya:

Formerly the 27th seat of Squad 6—M.I.A. 18 years ago on a routine World of the Living Hollow Extermination.

Shimamura Yuuri:

Formerly an unranked member of Squad 1—M.I.A. 16 years ago on a scouting mission in the Rukongai. Hollows attacked, leaving several injured, and her M.I.A.

Koizumi Fumiko:

Formerly an unranked member of Squad 7—M.I.A. 15 years ago without any mission assigned to her.

Nakagawa Sayuri:

Formerly an unranked member of Squad 12—M.I.A. 12 years ago during an investigation within the Precipice World. Hollows attacked the unprepared team, resulting in several injured aside from the M.I.A. squad member.

Okamoto Hikari:

Formerly an unranked member of Squad 11—M.I.A. 11 years ago during a Hollow investigation in the Rukongai.

Fukuda Yumei:

Formerly an unranked member of the Stealth Force—M.I.A. 9 years ago during a training in the Rukongai. Hollows appeared and were defeated with no injury or casualty, but Fukuda did not return.

Uchida Haruka:

Formerly an unranked member of Squad 9—M.I.A. 7 years ago during a Hollow investigation in the Rukongai.

Kiteyama Akinoyo:

Formerly the 28th seat of Squad 13—M.I.A. 5 years ago during a Hollow investigation in the Rukongai. Currently seated in front of me,"

I was glad that he threw the last tidbit in there. Hearing him talk about this subject in particular was already enough—when he got to Koizumi I had to bite my lip to stifle myself from the surfacing guilty emotions; luckily he didn't mention her deceased date. I tried to make the corner of my lips upturn in a small smirk, but ended up failing in the attempt with the seriousness of the topic.

"All of these are Hollow related," I pointed out. "Regardless of the location or the reasoning behind the excursion, it seems as though Hollow involvement was one of the root conditions of the abductions for everyone aside from Koizumi." I took a deep drag from my kiseru—a necessary measure to calm myself—before looking at each of the photos again.

I took Koizumi's photo; looking deep into her serious eyes as if they could telepathically tell me what in the fuck was going on—to no avail of course. Still though, something was different about Koizumi than the rest of us; the fact that she's the only one aside from myself—which I was completely accidental—that has made an appearance really says something.

"Are you thinking she went to the Organization willingly?" Rangiku voiced my next thought.

I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes before setting the photo back down. "I was, but that would be far too easy. Aside from that, her last words to me only prove that it couldn't be the case."

I opened my eyes, and looked up to the clouded sky; trying to keep myself in check rather than crumbling so early in the day. "She told me to 'do the right thing: take my own life before I take everyone else's.' To me, it almost sounds like she didn't have a choice in her actions—as if she were being forced to kill others. With the regretful tone that laced her words, I find it hard to believe that she went willingly. There has to be some type of catch."

"With how frequent the past 40 years have been, along with the intel within the Seireitei, perhaps abduction for her didn't require a type of expedition cover-up. Maybe a form of blackmail," Toushirou crossed his arms and sat next to Rangiku.

"I think it had to have been blackmail; with just a simple approach, there's no way she wouldn't have tried to run, or scream for help—there must've been something important at stake." Rangiku added.

I thought of how I'd let sacrifice dominate me in the past with Miyuki, and even now with Toushirou—I'd give my life for them without a second thought; the fact that Koizumi couldn't even fight back made the base of my throat hollow.

"I have other news about her," I began; gaining the turning of their heads in attention. "From the beginning of the fight, she felt very familiar to me. Her reiatsu was strange and all-around monstrous, but something that I've felt before—something that immediately translated to incredibly dangerous. I didn't like the feeling of it—it scared me to my core, and in my mind I knew that somewhere within me, I once knew Koizumi."

I turned to look at them; my eyes shifting every so often. "My zanpakutou confirmed my feelings of familiarity; she knew that reiatsu, but said that Koizumi was not from the past she was apart of. She said that Koizumi wasn't one that I would've particularly associated myself with in the past, but that she didn't know any more about her specifically than I did."

"If I may," Rangiku interjected. "Can you touch in about the 'not from the past she was apart of' part? Zanpakutou are born with their Shinigami, and die with their Shinigami—what does your zanpakutou mean by that?" she questioned.

I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. She ignored my questioning after that because we were in the middle of the fight, and I haven't talked to her since. My zanpakutou urged me to not utilize her because I wasn't ready…now I can't even get a hold of her. As soon as I can reach her, it's definitely the first thing on my list."

"That makes me come to a conclusion that's been on my mind for a while now," Toushirou began. "If what your zanpakutou said is true, aside from the temporary inexplicable absence of her in your past, you had prior dealings with all of these abducted Shinigami. If her reiatsu was familiar to both you and more specifically your zanpakutou, then it eliminates the possibility of you meeting her within the past five years. While at the moment the actual memory is lost, the fact that you both were able to recognize what she was proves it. You along with the other 12 were all gathered prior to these documented abductions. Something happened more than 40 years ago, and whatever it was didn't go according to our enemy's plan—hence the abductions to remedy the situation."

He had to be right. This wasn't just an abduction at random—this was a planned operation to rectify some situation from the past. There was a few minor tidbits that didn't add up though.

"It sounds like you hit the nail right on the head," a familiar and unexpected voice chimed in.

I shot around to zero-in on the voice so fast my neck almost snapped—Toushirou and Rangiku weren't fazed in the least.

The black cat I hadn't seen since Urahara's had crept into the garden; hopping up onto the wooden floorboards the three of us were seated on and walking toward the photographs.

"I've had the same feeling as soon as Kisuke brought back all of these photographs. The two things that aren't adding up now that we've gathered this data are these: is there a reason why all of them were in each Squad of the Gotei 13, and is there a reason why Akinoyo wouldn't want to keep them in her company? The first in regard to separating out into each of the Squads would make sense if there was an undergoing operation that required the cooperation of each, but the second puts that theory to rest. If Akinoyo detested, feared—or what have you—the others enough to avoid them, then any type of planned operation theory doesn't make sense." The black cat elaborated.

"I can agree with that," Toushirou commented as the male cat sat next to me.

I took another drag; petting the cat next to me softly while I exhaled. "Long time no see—do me a favor and don't sneak up on me like that,"

The cat nuzzled his head into my hand and ushered me to pet down his neck and to his back as he stood. "Well then let me warn you here and now that someone's approaching," he told me before turning around.

I subconsciously put my hand on the hilt of my zanpakutou—the fact that I was scared enough to have this as a reaction was saying something. Rangiku's soft hand placed over mine—a soft coo that we weren't in danger, and to drop my guard. As soon as I did, five men and a woman appeared in front of us—the woman and one of the men I completely wasn't expecting to see.

"Kiteyama Akinoyo—the time has come," Kurotsuchi Mayuri—the Taichou of Squad 12 that rattled my nerves on another level—began. "You're to come with me for further investigation immediately,"

"What's the meaning of this, Kurotsuchi?" Toushirou stood.

"Kiteyama Akinoyo, you are subject to immediate arrest if you do not comply—hand over your zanpakutou."

"Explain, Soi Fon," the black cat commanded the female Taichou.

I took my zanpakutou out from her position on my backside, and placed her in front of me—to which one of the men immediately took her.

"The results of her bloodwork called for immediate action—until further notice, she is an enemy of the Soul Society."