We woke up early the next morning to head down to the Captain's meeting hall. The Gotei 13 was about to welcome another captain into our midst and I already didn't trust him. Aizen was strong and well known, but there were reports of him concerning Urahara and Yoruichi'd disappearance and the people who made those accusations that connected him to that night disappeared a while later.

The Sou-Taicho was waiting for all the captains to arrive and we were the first ones. Once the doors closed, Yamamoto Sou-Taicho stood up and proclaimed that we would be welcoming a new captain and so and so. I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying because I heard this speech many times meaning once is enough.

Once we were dismissed I went back to my barracks and for once my subordinates seemed surprised to see me. Soi Fon was in the office doing paper work, her head shot straight up when she heard me coming. "Hinamoto-sama, we've haven't seen you for a while. You can move back to your barracks tonight. The damages to your chambers have been fixed and . . ." Soi Fon's stomach rumbled and I took it to be a time for her break.

"Come on, Soi Fon. Let's go get something to eat." She reluctantly got up from her seat, but eventually seemed at ease when walking with me. "Ma'am, where are we going?" I cocked my head to the side and smiled. "We're going to Squad 10. I need to go collect something first." Shadow was roaming somewhere in the Squad 10 gardens near Toshiro's room and we found her in a sunny patch, asleep.

My fukutaicho and my new pet seem to enjoy each other's company because Soi Fon was feeding her roasted fish and she didn't hiss at Soi Fon. I smiled at the scene, comparing it to yesterday when Toshiro almost sat on Shadow was hilarious. An angry reiatsu ripped throughout and we both sensed it. "Hollows, Soi Fon!" She nodded and we both left the restaurant, first leaving Shadow in a tall tree so she wouldn't get hurt.

I wanted to try a new move that I was working on. My haori was discarded and I let my reiatsu swirl around me like a kido barrier but it was also an attack for the offensive. It was a lot easier then the last times, seeing how the enemy only consisted of regular hollows and not huge hollows or menos. My robes were ruined, the shoulders and back were completely gone and I was completely tired from my first use of that move in combat.

When I got back, I found new sets of uniforms on my desk which was relief because I tire of wearing shoes that were a hazard on smooth ground. During the next couple of hours I was constantly nagging myself about something. When we were fighting the hollows, I swore I saw a man standing near the trees. I didn't get a good look at him, but if he was responsible for the attack, then he would recieve no mercy from me.

I miss having those boots even though I hated them. After that, I just went over to Squad 10 with my flute and Shadow to see if there was anything they had that could keep me from going insane. As usual, my greeting was a back-breaking hug from Matasumoto-fukutaicho and a grunt of acknowledgement from Hitsuguya-taicho. Matsumoto-fukutaicho looked so miserable at her desk that I faked an issue to pull her out the office. "Hime-chan, where is the hollow you wanted to show me?"

I shook my head and said "Forget that, that was just an excuse I used to get you outside. Now would you like a cup of tea, Matsumoto-fukutaicho?" She frowned and said "You should stop being uptight and call me Rangiku-san instead, ok Hime-san." I nodded and she continued on "I'm glad you're not like taicho. Always snapping at people who don't call him by his title. Say, you're about his age aren't you?" I nodded again and she turned estastic about this. Then she shoved my flute under my nose and sipped her tea.

Toshiro was grumbling about Matsumoto when he heard a sound drift through his window. A flute, he thought, Which meant Hinamoto had lied to him and purposely pulled Matsumoto out of her duties. He went outside and a bizarre sight beheld him. In the center was Kurohime with a cat on her head and Matsumoto. Kurohime was playing a fast melody and Matsumoto was under her spell, she was dancing in tune to the song. It attracted many soul reapers who were mesmerized by their fukutaicho dancing and many of them were clapping to the beat and cheering. The flute suddenly went up a pitch and Matsumoto danced faster, Toshiro himself had an urge to join her.

When they finished, everyone cheered at the top of their lungs and shouted for another until they noticed him there. The crowd slowly scattered and Matsumoto shunpoed away before Toshiro could make her feel his wrath. Which left Toshiro and Kurohime together. She gave a dry laugh and prepared to leave when Toshiro grabbed her wrist and flute. "I would like to know why you dragged my fukutaicho away from her duties." She shrugged and replied, "I wouldn't call that "duties", Hitsuguya-taicho. Obviously, she would like to go outside once in a while unlike someone I know here." Her eyes narrowed to certain point and she walked away.

I had a lot on my mind right now and frankly I would not like to be disturbed. Un fortunately, Shirobara didn't understabd that concept.

"Still thinking, Hime-san?"

I gave her a brief nod and continued with my trivial matters. But the most annoying thing was the man that had appeared at the site that the hollows were at. If I wasn't mistaken, the reiatsu I felt belonged to someone I knew but who?

*6 Years later*

It hadn't changed since I joined the Gotei 13 so many years ago. I was doing the same routine over again and over again. Get up, get dressed, wait for the afternoon patrol, eat and feed Shadow, wait for evening patrol, take a shower and go to sleep. If it weren't the frequent visits from Soi Fon, Matsumoto, and Toshiro, I swear I would have gone mad from the boredom. Shadow gave birth to kittens and I had to give her away to a family in Rukongai. Oh, how I wish I could pet her right now. As I entered the Captain's meeting hall, a tall man with glasses gave me a wink. Sosuke Aizen, he may not look like much, but he makes me break out in cold sweat just like his fukutaicho does. Lately, there were reports of dissapearances from the Omeitskidos and they return in the most horrible conditions.

After we were dismissed, I walked back to my division thinking what I could do about these attacks. The reports claimed that three men were always seen at the site afterward and the people who submited these reports were after killed in the same fashion.

Soi Fon suddenly appeared out of thin air and knelt. "We've found traces of the assailants' reiatsu, Ma'am." Then she turned around and I followed her to a building near the division barracks. There was a huge crater in the ground and in the center were two men I knew as my second divison jailers. They were covered with multiple lacerations and this time I noticed something different.

Previous victims were stabbed through the heart, but they had died of lacerations and they had fragments of hollow masks on their face. Soi Fon went up to one of them and tried to pull it off, but it only budged just a bit and a trickle of blood ran down the man's face. "Take them to Unohana-taicho immediately! Ask her if she can isolate the cause of death and then give them a proper burial."

I went back to my office to submit my report to Yamamoto-soutaicho. It was quick and after I just sat there, thinking. My men and the Soul Society were in danger and I was frustrated that I hadn't even found a trace the person yet. It happens every night and in the morning I'll have to investigate. What good is investigating if it leads to nothing. The attacks lst night were at Squad 2 barracks and the night before was at Squad 1 and the night before was at Squad 13. I was such an idiot.

I must to prepare before the next attack struck.

Toshiro was doing paperwork and as usual Matsumoto was passed out on the couch drunk. He wondered what had landed him with her. As he sipped his tea he thought about the recent attacks on the Seireitei. And Kurohime. The past six years with her had been eventful although he wasn't quite happy that Matsumoto had always been around to set him up with her. He had noticed lately she had rings around her eyes and she lost weight. The stress from this mission must be taking its toll on her.

He finished the papers in record time and exited the office. But before he could enter the room he felt a huge blast reiatsu in the distance. A hollow's and Aizen's.

My blade was dripping with red and standing over me was Sosuke Aizen. I naïve and stupid to charge at him and all around us was my personal squad. "Have you wondered how I've kept this a secret for so long, Hinamoto-taicho?" I spat blood at him and hissed, "You're a monster, Aizen. Is this what you did to Shinji Hirako?" The man next to Gin Ichimaru stepped forward, about to draw his zanpaktou, but Aizen stopped him. "Kaname, you shouldn't hurt a young lady. It's just rude."

I felt his hands cup my face and I slashed Shirobara at him. I missed and backflipped to a safe distance. "Sashi Muko, Shirobarakaze!" The blast of wind had left a huge cut on his face and he smiled as his blood dripped down on his haori. I streched out my left hand and a tornado of wind swirled around him. When I saw he was still smiling, I clenched the hand into a fist and the tornado closed in around him. It splattered blood on me, but I wanted to watch him die. The wind ceased and I saw he was still standing.

He was coughing up blood and there were severe lacereations across his chest, but the smile was still there. I shunpoed up to him and aimed a punch at his face, he dodged and I kicked his torso hard. The ground was painted red with our blood. Aizen's katana had just raked a bloody path through my back and I felt myself weakening by the moment. A sudden jolt of pain ran up my spine and I heard a blood-curdling in my head. Then my mouth forced itself to open and I saw a white blob snake its way to my face . . .

Hitsuguya and Matsumoto ran toward Squad 3 after Kurohime's reiatsu announced it presence in the battle. When they got there, they found the bodies of several Omeitskido members. They ran further in to find a bloody Aizen staggering and a small hollow fighting. The hollow turned around and the other side of its face was Kurohime's. The molten silver eyes had returned from its slumber and Toshiro even remembered what had happened six years ago when they had been awake.

Then she turned around and raise her blade high above her head. She was about to kill Aizen. She is the one behind all these attacks, he thought. The blade came crashing down but it never hit Aizen. Matsumoto had block it just in time. "Hinamoto-taicho, I ask that you withdraw your blade." She responded by swating Matsumoto aside and kicked Aizen in the face. Toshiro ran up to her and wrapped his arms around him as an attempt to restrain her.

She screeched and her reiatsu flared out, destroying her haori. He charged at her only to be stopped by an invisible force and her zanpaktou found its way into his stomach. Suddenly, her eyes returned to normal and she spat out blood. She collasped on the ground and picked her self up as more of the hollow mask enveloped her face. Her eyes widened as she saw him. Then Kurohime hit him on the back of his head and he saw nothing but black.

A couple of days later, he woke up to a familiar face. "Unohana-taicho," he said. She gave him a small smile and said "Kurohime Hinamoto escaped to the world of the living. The Soutaicho has asked me to deliever this message to you. He said that as soon as you woke up, you'll be joining your fukutaicho to the world of the living to search for her."

His mind reeled from what she said. They were searching for her and if they captured her, they were going to kill her. But she was a traitor, he saw it himself. She killed her subordinates and attacked two captain of the Gotei 13. She was a traitor and that's all he saw in her now.

"I'm going now, Unohana-taicho.