I've said it more than once, and I will continue to say it again. EternalDream rocks for being such an awesome beta!
As always, Standard Disclaimers Apply
The Ties That Binds
Chapter 17
Uryuu Ishida looked at the now unconscious man who was lying in a bed, unable to believe that the pale, almost lifeless man was Isshin Kurosaki. The man was larger than life. Uryuu almost expected him to jump out of bed and laugh that he was able to fool them all. Pushing his glasses up, he looked at the fourth division members hovering around Isshin and sighed. There was no guarantee this would work, but it was worth a shot. Taking blood from an unwilling donor however, was making him uncomfortable. Regardless of what he thought of Hideyoshi, he could not shake the fact that what he was doing was unethical.
"Is everything up to your specifications, Ishida-san?" Retsu Unohana walked in the room. The Shinigami stood next to Uryuu, who bowed slightly in greeting to her, and watched as the tube from Hideyoshi's arm was attached to Isshin by Isane. "Are you having doubts about the success of this procedure?"
"No," Uryuu replied hesitantly. "Not about the procedure. However, I wish that we had a more…willing donor. Enemy or not, that man still deserves our respect. I know that we are trying to save a life, but…"
"You feel it is against the Hippocratic Oath?" Uryuu looked up in surprise at Retsu, who smiled gently at him. "I know that this situation isn't ideal. However, at this very moment, we have little choice. It's not how I would like to save Kurosaki-taichou, but the threat of the poison—it's too dangerous for us not find a way to fight it. It will not be one of my proudest moment, and I doubt it will be the last, yet, we do as we must. The poison has to be eradicated, or more lives will be lost." Retsu sighed tiredly, feeling the weariness of her age and all the countless wars she had been in, in her long life. Her finger's brushed Isshin's hair from his face. "I had just started at the fourth division when I first saw him," she smiled, remembering. "I thought that he was everything a Shinigami taichou should not be. He quickly proved me wrong though. I remember you were with his son when young Kurosaki-san proved our new generation of taichous wrong."
"Did he act like a complete buffoon back then?" Ishida asked dryly, and Retsu laughed.
"That is most unkind, Uryuu-san." Retsu scolded him gently, a hint of a smile still curling her lips. "I'm not sure what a buffoon could've done to deserve that from you."
The Quincy chuckled. He looked at Isshin Kurosaki, and even though he knew it was many, many centuries ago, he could imagine the man causing havoc within Seireitei.
"I don't even know if this will work."
"It's worth a try. In a few hours, we will find out."
"Is that man...I believe his name is Hideyoshi. How is he?"
"He's fine. I made sure that we did not take more blood than what was necessary. Although I'm afraid he'll only have tonight, or until noon at the latest tomorrow to recover. Yamamoto-taichou has already ordered he be brought in for questioning tomorrow." The two of them stood silently for a moment, knowing exactly what that questioning would entail. "You should rest; I've heard of what happened back in Karakura Town. Will your fiancé be alright?"
"She's in shock, for the most part. Ayame will be fine, thank you for asking."
"Is she a Quincy? I detect something in her, but her reiatsu feels clouded. Almost as if there is something blocking it."
Uryuu nodded. "I'm beginning to wonder myself, though from what I've learned so far, her father appears to have made sure she has no knowledge of any business that relates to Quincies or anything spiritual for that matter."
"Hmm. A shame," she whispered softly as they both watched, and hoped, that the man lying before them would soon wake up.
-0-0-0-0
"Yuzu-nee?"
"I'm sorry, Sora-chan. Yuzu-nee is not here at the moment," Orihime said softly, and felt her heart break as her son began to whimper. "Shh…" Orihime bounced Sora in her arms as he began to sob. Never had she felt so helpless in easing Sora's discomfort. Ever since Ichigo's sister went missing, her son was either crying or throwing a tantrum, refusing to eat or drink anything that was offered to him.
Even from a distance, she could feel Ichigo as he released his anger on the training grounds at the Kuchiki compound. Urahara had suggested it, fearing that the anger that Ichigo was feeling would be used by the hollow if he tried to restrain his reiatsu. She could only hope that Uryuu's plan would work.
Sora's sobs were about to turn into another round of tantrums, so Orihime kissed her son on the forehead and rubbed his back in an effort to calm him down. "Shh, Sora. It will be okay." He stared at her for a few seconds, before his wail echoed in the room. Orihime heard the shoji slide open and looked at Byakuya apologetically. "I'm sorry, Kuchiki-taichou..."
Byakuya just nodded as he watched the boy who was straining away from his mother as he continued to wail.
"His aptitude in sensing reiatsu is causing his distress. He is too young to realize what is going on, and he cannot protect himself," Byakuya explained as he walked closer. "He can feel everyone's reiatsu, and all that energy is too much from him."
At his words, Orihime looked at him gratefully. She called her shields and watched as Sora's eyes blinked before he looked around him. She could feel his chest settle into a steady beat and soon, his wails slowly ceased as he began to yawn and settle himself against Orihime's shoulder.
"Thank you Kuchiki-taichou."
Byakuya nodded and watched the boy who looked at him with soft brown eyes slowly drifting shut.
"Orihime!"
Orihime glanced behind Byakuya and waited for Rukia to reach her. She gave Orihime's hand an encouraging squeeze, unable to hug her due to the shield. "Are you alright? I heard about what happened to Isshin-san and Yuzu-chan."
"I am..." Orihime replied as she tightened her hold on her friend, grateful to feel her comforting presence. "Thank you, and you as well, Kuchiki-taichou, for accommodating us."
"Nonsense," Rukia said. "Nii-sama, I will be taking Orihime and Sora-chan to their rooms. The others have settled in already."
Byakuya nodded. "I will be speaking with Yamamoto-taichou shortly. Remember our agreement, Rukia."
"I will. Thank you again, Nii-sama."
The two women bowed to Byakuya before Rukia gently led Orihime away. The taller woman looked down at her friend worriedly. "Is everything okay, Rukia?"
"Everything is fine," Rukia assured and gave Orihime a comforting smile. "I'll tell you everything later."
-0-0-0-0-
The sun had barely risen when Momo was summoned to the 2nd Division interrogation chambers. She stood next to Shuuhei who gave her a small nod of acknowledgement.
"We have the disc," he announced.
Momo's eyes widened in surprise. "How?"
"One of the men from the Taira clan was left behind after the attack in Karakura. We have his Zanpakuto. We have the whole disc."
Before Momo could reply, Byakuya walked in, followed by Renji. She could feel Renji's shock at seeing Shuuhei and herself, but he made no mention their way except a brief tilt of the head to say hello. The four of them and the prisoner were surrounded by members of the Second Division's onmitsukido.
Shuuhei felt the hair on his arms stand up. It was very rare for members of different divisions to be present in an interrogation, and for a taichou of a different division to head the interrogation. He heard Momo's gasp as another figure walked in the room. Toushiro Hitsugaya gave him the same glare that he graced everyone with before bowing his head to Momo, who returned the gesture with grace.
"Is this how you welcome all your prisoners? To be graced by the Heavenly Guardian and Sierietie's best?" Hideyoshi asked as he stared at the people around him. His hands were shackled, but he didn't need his hands or any weapons to attack everyone in this room. Not even the shackles preventing the use of his reiatsu could stop him. He had always known the arrogance of the Shinigami would bring them down, and today will be the day that he would prove that. He only had one chance, but if he eliminated at least Hitsugaya, it would weaken the Shinigami in the future. He tried not to smile at the opportunity presented to him and instead bowed his head so his expression would be hidden and lowered his shoulders so they would mistakenly think he was afraid. He already knew everyone in the room except for the woman in the back. There was something familiar about her…but regardless of who she was, she would not be able to stop him. No one could.
"What is the purpose of your abduction of Yuzu Kurosaki?" Byakuya asked, his tone bored as he stared pointedly at the man chained to the wall.
Hideyoshi sneered and spit in Renji's direction. "Why don't you ask him? I believe I already made that quite clear."
"I am asking you," Byakuya responded, his face impassive. "What is the purpose of your abduction of Yuzu Kurosaki?"
"A gift. For some unknown reason, Mamoru-sama seemed quite attached to the human. Seishiro-sama thought it would be a gesture of good will to give the girl to him."
"How did your clan find the machine to travel through time?"
As Byakuya asked his questions, and Hideyoshi answered with mockery, Momo noticed something strange. Hideyoshi's left foot was moving. While other prisoners had done the same to alleviate discomfort, there was something about the way he was moving it that caused her to be on alert as she studied the movements.
"What are your intentions towards Soul Society?"
Hideyoshi smirked as he finished the butterfly pattern and stamped his foot on the wooden board, causing the wood to glow red and rise to the ground. The bricks around them became shrapnels that attacked the Shinigami. The biggest piece of wood headed straight for Toushiro, but before it could even reach the prodigy, the bricks and the wood disintegrated to the ground. Hideyoshi gasped in disbelief at how his attack could've failed. This time, it was Toushiro who smirked.
"Arigatou, Hinamori."
Behind him, Momo nodded. The moment she'd realized what the man was trying to do, she erected a kidou barrier without chanting the words to prevent Hideyoshi from figuring out that she'd discovered his plan.
Renji glared at Hideyoshi as he hauled him to his feet. "What the hell was that?"
"It's one of the specialties of the Taira clan," Momo said, before Hideyoshi could choke out another sarcastic answer. "It's their last line of defense should they be captured and relieved of their weapons. As long as they can move a part of their body to make a pattern of a butterfly, they can access the kidou."
Hideyoshi's eyes widened when he realized who the woman standing before them was and why her name was now so familiar.
"Momo Hinamori. Che," Hideyoshi sneered as he looked at the fifth division fukotaichou. "Your reputation as a kido master is certainly true." There was a certain tone in his voice that made Momo freeze in disgust as his eyes roamed over her body. "Makes me wonder if the other rumors are true as well."
Toshirou glared at Hideyoshi as he angled his body and shielded Momo away from the man. "What are you talking about?"
"It's no wonder Aizen was quite fond of you. You did serve under him quite well. And your appearance is so cute and innocent. The perfect little lamb waiting to be eaten up by a big, bad wolf."
Momo's hands tightened in her fists, but she refused to reply or even flinch under his gaze.
Renji grabbed Hideyoshi by the throat and forced the man to face him. "You are really asking to get your ass kicked, aren't you?"
Hideyoshi just grinned nastily and turned his head as much as he could towards Momo. "They don't know, do they? I'm not surprised. I wouldn't be walking around admitting that I'd been Aizen's whore, either."
"Enough!" Toushiro said in anger. The room began to feel cold, and as Renji felt the hair on his arms stood up, he knew it had nothing to do with the sudden drop in temperature.
"I'm sure Aizen will be more than pleased to see you again. After all, he misses his sweet, little Peach. I wonder how many—"
Hideyoshi never finished his sentence because Renji delivered an uppercut to the man before carelessly dropping him to the ground. At Byakuya's look of disapproval, Renji raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
"Hinamori, are you alright?" Shuuhei asked with concern.
Momo had gone white as a sheet. "I'm fine, Hisagi-sempai. I just need…" She didn't finish her words, just walked out of the room, needing to be out of there and away from everyone's prying eyes.
"Oi, Hinamori!"
Momo didn't turn around even after she heard Toushiro call out her name a second and third time. She continued to make her way back to the Fifth Division until her path was blocked by her childhood friend's smaller body.
"Are you alright, Hinamori? You shouldn't let that bastard get to you," he ground out in anger as Hinamori's hand settled on her stomach in an attempt to calm herself down.
"I'll be alright, Shiro-kun. I just need to lie down for a bit…"
He looked into her eyes, and in that moment, he knew that what the man had been saying was true. Toushiro felt his blood freeze as realization dawned on him.
"It's true…isn't it? You slept with Aizen."
Momo nodded, her expression haunted, and Toushiro never realized that he could hate Aizen even more than he already did until that moment. Anything he wanted to say was forgotten as Momo continued to stare at him, her face completely pale, and he could've sworn she was going to drop to the ground any second now.
"I loved him!" Momo whispered as she looked pleadingly at Toushiro, begging him to understand. "I honestly loved him," she continued as she took deep breaths. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she silently prayed that no more tears would be shed over Sousuke Aizen. "I thought that he loved me too."
"Hinamori-fukotaichou." The two of them turned around at her name. Members of the onmitsukido surrounded them. "Your presence is required back in the Second Division Headquarters."
Toushiro carefully regarded the people surrounding them. "She will not be going anywhere but the Fourth Division."
"Yamamoto-taichou has ordered—"
"Fuck Yamamoto-taichou," Toushiro snapped. He knew where this was going. He saw the look on their faces the moment that bastard Hideyoshi insinuated an affair had occurred between Momo and Aizen. There was no way in hell he was going to let them interrogate and question her loyalty again.
"Shirou-kun," Momo said softly behind him, gently taking his hand into her own. "It's alright."
"No, it's not," Toushiro said, his voice low with anger as he glared at the people in front of them. "I'm taking you to Unohana-taichou."
"Hmm! It's supposed to be Spring, isn't it, Hitsugaya-taichou?"
Toushiro craned his neck around and saw Shinji Hirako walking towards them with his usual, stupid smile plastered across his face. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't turn it into Winter. Otherwise, I won't be able to see all the pretty ladies in their pretty kimonos."
Toushiro felt his eyes twitch as the blond approached them. "What are you doing here?"
"Mou, Shirou-kun!" Momo admonished softly as she clutched his sleeves chastisingly.
Shinji grinned wider. "I heard interesting news on the social grapevine that my fukotaichou's presence is wanted back at the Second Division. It's always been my understanding that the correct protocol is to inform the taichou of the division, who will then escort his lieutenant."
"Your presence is not necessary."
"Oh, but it is. Huh…lemme guess, you're all eager to impress your pretty little taichou, ne? Well, you can't exactly impress her if you've all turned into popsicles after Hitsugaya-taichou finishes with you all."
"We have direct orders from Yamamoto-taichou!"
"Under what directive?" Shinji asked in a bored tone as he examined his nails. "It's been a while since I've been here. Perhaps you can remind me—or even better, do you have this request written down, signed and sealed by the First Division? Because if it's not, then, your words are meaningless. And as the head of the Fifth division, you have no jurisdiction over my lieutenant. And if you try to approach her, well, I won't do anything. I can't promise anything for Hitsugaya-taichou's sake, though."
"This…this is preposterous!" the man stammered.
Shinji shrugged and gave Momo a warning look before she could speak up.
"Maybe it is. But until you hand that written notice to me, there's nothing much for us to talk about. Unless, of course, you want to play this out with everyone watching."
The leader of the interrogation group looked around. They had gathered too much attention, and he knew Soi-fon taichou would not approve.
"We will return with that written order."
Without waiting for a response, the onmitsukido left quickly.
"Hitsugaya-taichou." Toushiro raised an eyebrow at Shinji. The insolent smile was gone from his face. "I trust you will take Hinamori to the Fourth Division?"
"Of course."
"Good," Shinji said before giving Momo a serious look. "Whatever happens, do not go with them."
"But…"
"This place has not changed much since I left. It is not about your innocence—it's about how they can twist things to their advantage. Your mastery of kidou and your added knowledge of the Taira Clan's kidou is making a few old goats nervous. Ichigo's presence and the threat of the Taira is making a lot of people agitated. They know they can't take on Ichigo, and they can't do anything about the Taira at the moment, but you…you are somebody they can, and will, exploit if you give them the chance to."
"She will stay with me," Toushiro spoke up, as his mind had already come to the same conclusion that Shinji's had.
"Good. Now that we have that cleared, I have a few people whose feathers I need to ruffle. Take care of my fukou-taichou; she is my first love after all!" Shinji cried out as he walked away with a wave.
The young captain shook his head in exasperation and then focused his attention on his friend. Momo's face was still very pale.
"Oi, what are you just standing there for? We have a division to get to."
"Shiro-kun..."
She looked at him hesitantly, and Toushiro rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to make you talk about it, baka bed wetter," he muttered. "I'll wait until you are ready." Momo smiled sadly at him, and Toushiro could only hope that Aizen would be wiped away from her memory forever soon.
"Thank you."
Toushiro just nodded as he looked around them, making sure there would be nothing that would stop them from reaching the Fourth Division. "Let's go."
TBC
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Anna: Hope you like this update. More on Ayame soon! 7
Kevin Trevino: Maybe, maybe not. I do have something planned for them. ;) And yes, I changed the summary! You're not hallucinating! Thanks for liking this fic!
LuvleeCookieChan: Thank you! I hope by the end of this I can show that Ichigo isn't a deadbeat, just a guy made some poor choices!
Guest 7/16/12: Yes, Seishiro made the wrong move! There will be more about the royal family and what happened back with the Taira, and glad that Ayame is not as annoying in this chapter! OrihimeKurosakiInoue: Thank you so much!
Xtremefairy 7/14/12: Thank you! Mamoru isn't happy with his brother at the moment, and I hope you will enjoy what I have in store for Mamoru and Yuzu!
DeathBerryLover1995: hhhmmm, you may be on to something here! I hope you enjoyed this update!
nypsy: Seishiro made the wrong move! There will be an interlude that will show more about the Taira and the current Royal Family, but I am keeping my lips sealed about the princess!
RainingLight1: Thank you for your earlier review as guest! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and what I have planned next!
Magdalena88: lol! Darn! I do hope you will like her by the end at least!
melnel: Kisuke knows a lot of things, but sometimes he doesn't share! I hope I can satisfy your curiosity with the bracelet and the medication when the time comes!
Ermilus: Yuzu will be back soon, and who knows who Ayame really is? (I do... but not telling at the moment!)
Thank you all again! I appreciate it very much! I hope you all continue to read and enjoy The Ties that Binds, as I enjoy (sometimes, when it's not stressing me out) writing it as well.
Reviews and Comments are always appreciated!
Till next time!