Inner Conflict — VIII
Blame wasn't something that was ever evenly distributed. No one ever wanted to take it on themselves. It was easier — natural — to blame someone else.
But, no matter how hard Ichigo and Toushirou tried, they could find no one to blame but themselves.
Who had been with Rukia and Hinamori more than the two men? They had been watch dogs, hawks for heaven's sake! And, even after all that, Aizen had still slipped under. He'd still gotten to Rukia and Hinamori, he'd still taken them. But neither Toushirou nor Ichigo wanted to take the blame for this. And amazingly, nobody else was trying to pin it on them.
"Damn Aizen." Rangiku spoke in a low voice. She'd been pulled out of the real world. Every remaining captain and vice-captain had been pulled from whatever they had been doing before — their numbers were dwindling badly, especially the vice-captains. They were now down to six.
"Karakura isn't safe now." Kyouraku said in a low voice. "Aizen wasn't being stupid about his choices."
"Rukia knows every last inch of defense there." Renji added. "Karakura is her town. And Momo knows just enough — with the added bonus that she'll do anything for Aizen."
"I'd love to know what part Rukia plays." Ichigo said in a low voice. "How in the world did Aizen get to her?"
"Does it matter?" Soi Fong asked impatiently. "The only important detail right now is that they're both traitors, isn't it?"
"They're not traitors." Ichigo growled.
"There has to be a reason." Toushirou added, retaining only a little of his own dignity. He wouldn't stoop to the same level as Ichigo, no matter how tempting it was.
"I have to agree with Kurosaki-kun and Hitsugaya-kun here." Ukitake spoke for the first time. "I know very little of Hinamori Momo — though I've heard nothing but good things about her. I do, however, know a lot about Rukia. And I know she would never do something like this without a reason."
"Then perhaps you don't know er as well as you thought you did." Soi Fong snapped, not liking the contradiction she was receiving.
"Hinamori Momo is blind when it comes to Aizen." Kuchiki Byakuya spoke at last. "She has proven that in the past."
"It's not her fault." Kira Izuru spoke up. Renji nodded his agreement at once.
"Her fault or not, it is clear she can not be objective." Byakuya retorted coldly, no emotion betrayed in his voice.
"And what of your sister?" Kira shot back. He'd become much more outspoken since becoming Third Squad Captain. "I don't hear you condemning her!"
Ichigo wanted to kill them both, Kira and Byakuya. "Rukia will accept whatever punishment is given to her. She has in the past, and this time will be no different."
In the past. Ichigo bristled at the ugly reminder. His amber eyes locked on Byakuya's face, and to his surprise he saw a large range of emotions cross through the nobleman's eyes. And he remembered that he wasn't the only one that found that day painful to remember.
"Why are we discussing punishments?" Hitsugaya snapped. "We don't even know that they're guilty of anything!"
"You need proof?"
"Enough!" Yamamoto shouted at last, cutting through the argument. "Proof and motivations are the least of the problem right now. Aizen has taken three more of our vice-captains—" Soi Fong winced at the reminder that her own vice-captain had joined the ranks of the missing, "and the fact that of those three went of their own freewill is not what we should be concerned with right now. If they want to count themselves among Aizen's followers, then we can not hesitate to fight them. It is as simple as that. No complaints!" He added as Toushirou and Ichigo opened their mouths to protest. "The next time any of you are faced with Hinamori Momo or Kuchiki Rukia, do not hesitate. Killing them is not out of the question. Do what you must to walk away alive."
"Kaien-dono is rolling over in his grave Rukia-san!"
Rukia winced, denying the ridiculous urge to cover her ears at the sound of Kaien's name. Kiyone was not happy with her vice-captain. That was to be expected though.
Rukia and Momo were down in the prison block. They (well, Rukia more) had insisted on seeing the capture Shinigami for themselves. Aizen hadn't seen a problem with it, but had sent Ichimaru along with a guard — he was standing at the end of the hallway, looking quite content.
It was late. Kiyone was the only one awake. She was glaring Rukia down, obviously disapproving. "Don't give me that look—"
"Rukia-san look at yourself." Kiyone groaned. "You and Vice-Captain Hinamori, how could you? Do you know what you're doing?"
"I have a fairly good idea, yes."
"Then why—"
"Kiyone please." Rukia begged. "I know this is bad, and it's hard, please don't make it any worse."
Kiyone paused for a moment, surprised by this sudden request. "What are you going to do?" She asked quietly, her voice almost inaudible.
"I don't know." Rukia groaned, dropping her head into her hands. Momo knelt down wordlessly beside Rukia, resting a hand on her shoulder. They were both obviously worn out.
"We'll think of something."
Kiyone frowned, deciding now was a good time to change the topic. "So…uh…how's um…how's Sentarou, does he…you know, miss me?"
Rukia laughed weakly. "Oh definitely. And it's so quiet without you two running around yelling after each other."
Kiyone brightened a little, her face lighting up. "He misses me? Really?"
"Really." Rukia nodded, smiling slightly. Kiyone looked smug now.
"Well, I always knew he couldn't live without me, I shouldn't be surprised." Momo giggled. For a moment the three women managed to forget the dire situation they'd gotten themselves stuck in, managed to forget how bleak and hopeless everything looked. But then Rukia turned serious again.
"I'll get you out of here Kiyone. I promise." Kiyone sighed, looking into her vice-captain's violet eyes.
"You can't save everyone, Rukia-san."
"Up until now I haven't saved anyone. But I will change that." Kiyone could see that there was no use arguing with her now. She let it go.
"Kuchiki-san and Hinamori-san did what?!"
Despite the warnings he had been given, Ichigo had still insisted on going to the living world to catch Orihime and Uryu up on the latest turn of events.
"Why?" Uryu asked in a slightly calmer voice than his wife's, as if the prospect of two Shinigami traitors (one of whom was supposed to be his friend) was no reason to be concerned.
Do I look like I know why?" Ichigo asked, a little annoyed. "I don't have the faintest idea. If I did maybe I'd be able to figure out how to get her back."
"Mind control?" Orihime suggested.
"Not one of your more creative theories."
"Okay, how 'bout this?" Orihime took a deep breath. "Their brains were eaten by zombie Arrancar and Aizen's controlling their minds now."
Ichigo and Uryu just stared, their mouth's open. The latter patted Orihime's shoulder. "Welcome back."
Ichigo ran a hand through his spiky orange hair, sighing. "So what are you going to do?" Uryu asked finally. Ichigo shook his head.
"I…really don't know. I mean, Old Man Yamamoto told us to fight them…but he doesn't really think I can, does he?"
"You're more than strong enough—"
"That's not what I meant." Ichigo cut across Uryu impatiently. "You know that."
Uryu did. Of course he did. He fell silent.
Of course Ichigo was strong enough. Hell, he could take Rukia and Momo between his fingers (at the same time) and snap them in half like twigs. The question was whether or not he was willing to. And he already knew the answer. He wasn't.
"Captain?"
Toushirou looked over his shoulder. He was sitting on the roof of the division building, watching the stars and thinking. Rangiku knelt down behind him, watching him with a weary expression.
"What do you want, Matsumoto?"
He didn't say it rudely — just wearily. He wasn't sure how much more bad news his mind could comprehend.
"Are you all right?"
The words he had been dreading. "No, Matsumoto. I'm not all right. Just…go away. I want to be alone."
She didn't listen. Of course she didn't listen. She never would. Not when things were like this. "Do you want to talk?"
"Not really." He spoke through his teeth now. Why couldn't she take a hint and leave him alone? Was she trying to be annoying? Because she was certainly succeeding if she was.
"All right. I'll wait until you do/" She settled in behind him, preparing for a long wait. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and looked forward again.
"Hope you enjoy disappointment then." Toushirou suppressed a groan. He knew she wouldn't leave now. Well, she might be if she got bored…
They sat in silence. Rangiku didn't speak, but her very presence was enough to drive Toushirou nuts. He had come out here to be alone. Why didn't she see that? Why didn't she leave?
An hour passed. Two. Toushirou had never heard Rangiku this quiet. Maybe she'd fallen asleep…
"I don't know why you're blaming yourself." Toushirou jumped and looked over his shoulder. Rangiku was watching him. "It's not your fault. You said it yourself — Aizen gets what he wants no matter what. No use taking the blame on yourself."
Toushirou scowled. "You don't understand."
"Yes, I do, actually. You think you should have been able to do something, should have been able to stop Aizen from getting to Momo-san. But it wouldn't have made a difference, your interference. You know that."
Toushirou's scowl deepened. Damn her. "Matsumoto, how do you think Ichimaru knew you were in Karakura Town?"
Rangiku frowned. That seemed like a rather out of the blue question. "They told him." Toushirou went on without waiting for an answer. "They had to have. Who knows how long they've been passing on information for? How long has this been happening?"
"It can't have been more than two months." Rangiku said quietly. "That's when we came back from our last scouting mission, remember?"
"Too long." Toushirou retorted. He sounded tortured. "That's too long, Matsumoto. I was so…careful, I practically never let her out of my sight, except for when she went home. So how…how did he still manage to take her?"
Rangiku didn't answer. There was no answer. "And now she's a traitor." Toushirou went on, his voice cracking. "She's a traitor, and when she's captured she'll probably be executed, and there's nothing I can do about it."
He was right. Rangiku hated to admit it, but she was right. Momo and Rukia were both doomed.
Author's Note: Sorry about how long it took to get this out. I had it written in my notebook, and I was too lazy to type it up. Annoying, I know. I'll try to be quicker next time, promise. Anyways, if you're curious about captains and vice-captains in this story, go to my profile and scroll down to the bottom, you'll find a list of 'em. Review please! — Sam