Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach in any way! All copyrights go to Tite Kubo.
Author's Note: Gah, it's finally done! I was so focused on my other two stories that I've kept delaying the completion of chapter seven of The Next Greatest Treasure. Then again, this one was a fairly long one to write. Phew...Anyway, thank you everyone for being so patient with me especially my dear reviewers: tlg, icyangel27, Neko-cheung, redpandagirl, KnowledgeandImagination, RebelAngel91210, HyourinmaruIce, serenity095, MoonLightView, applestoapples, Samantha, WhitePrincessOfHope, NeonCookies O.o, Kaye. Shirogane, becomeafan, athfdrizzle, lil'sayuri-chan, anime16, maili-chan. Without further adieu, what will Toshiro do now that he knows Momo has been kidnapped? Find out in chapter seven. Enjoy!
LEGEND
"Talking." "Thinking." Flash Back.
The Next Greatest Treasure
Chapter Seven: Comeback
Once he entered his chambers and closed the door behind him, Hitsugaya did not hesitate to slam the bottom of his fist against the nearby wall beside him. "Damn it, I should have been more attentive of what's going on around me or else Momo would have never disappeared in the first place."
Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door.
"Go away Matsumoto and you too Ichimaru."
"Amazing Captain Hitsugaya, you knew it was me all along without having to say a word," said the female voice from the other side.
"And that goes the same for me," the male voice added.
Toshiro leaned against the door and then rolled his eyes. After letting out a defeated sigh, he turned around and opened the door for them to see him. "Are you here to mock me or to make me feel better?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Rangiku asked. "We're here to make you feel better."
He raised an eyebrow, not quite convinced of their words. These are one of the things he is still trying to comprehend: Ichimaru's and Matsumoto's thought process. Sometimes, their expressions don't match their thinking. "What do you plan to do to make me stop feeling like shit?"
"First of all, don't beat yourself like that. It can't be helped that you weren't able to save her. Just make up for it by running out of the palace and risk your life to save her."
Hitsugaya gave her a look.
"Remember back then when you were fighting against Aizen? You went into battle because you wanted to save Hinamori. You never cared about being an ordinary Rukongai Citizen or the notorious thief. You did it because you love her from the bottom of your heart."
He looked down for a moment. Stuffing his right hand into the inside of his kimono, he took out a small navy velvet box and opened it. After looking at the gift inside, Toshiro closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Upon reopening them, he look up at Matsumoto and Ichimaru, who are wondering what's inside the box.
"Whoever stole her are thieves and you know what happens when one steals something, right?"
The white haired teenager let out a defeated sigh. After closing the box and putting it back into his pocket, he let out a smirk. "There's always a chance for the original owner to steal it back. You want me to get out of retirement and save her in style, don't you?"
Matsumoto smiled. "Of course, oh great notorious thief."
"For the sake of saving my greatest treasure, Aisu no Ryu will be temporarily back in business."
Then, the strawberry orange haired teenager put up a guts pose while Ichimaru merely smiled with delight. "Alright Hitsugaya!"
"Good luck with your mission," Gin said.
"It has only been six months, I don't think I need good luck. Besides, it's not like I've been out of practice, haven't I?" Toshiro asked.
"Good point there."
"Putting that aside for a moment, what happened at the Yamazaki residence?"
"Well, Izuru, Abarai-kun, Hisagi-kun, myself, and the other Royal Guards when we went to the Yamazaki household to protect their treasure..."
"Hi no Tori is late," Renji said. "She is not the punctual type compared to Hitsugaya-taicho."
"Every thief is different," Hisagi said.
"The message could be a diversion to keep some of us away from the palace," Ichimaru said.
"Weaker in numbers, huh?" Kira speculated.
Gin smiled. "It may seem that way, but as long as a plan is carefully formulated, the outcome is not easily predicted."
"Let me guess," Renji said. "You and Hitsugaya-taicho have planned something out."
The older teenager's grin grew wider. "You got that right, Abarai-kun."
After giving him a look, he turned to his fellow Trio Knight members and said, "I swear, if those two weren't on our side, they can rule the world if they want to."
Izuru and Shuhei both nodded with agreement. "Enough fooling around, you guys. I think it's time for action."
Heads turned to where Ichimaru is looking at. A member of the Royal Guard ran up to them and exclaimed, "Hi no Tori has been spotted from the southern side of the Yamazaki residence!"
"Well everyone, let the games begin."
The Trio Knights and Captain Ichimaru all drew their swords from their sheaths. The four members of the Royal Guard then split up in order to gather more ground and increase their chances of discovering Hi no Tori's whereabouts. Kira took the eastern route, Abarai took the southern route, Hisagi took the western route, and finally, Gin took the northern route.
Just as Izuru turned at the corner, he noticed something from the edge of his eye. Immediately, he turned his head and ran after it. As one of the guards are following alongside him, the pale blond haired teenager instructed, "Inform Abarai-kun, Hisagi-san, and Ichimaru-taicho that I have spotted the whereabouts of Hi no Tori."
"Yes sir!"
Once two have gone, Kira continued his pursuit to catch the thief. "Hi no Tori is likely to be heading to where the Fountain's Tear is. So, the others are more likely to go there and ambush her."
"Kira-san, the thief just made a right!" One of the guards said.
He nodded with agreement. "Alright, we're going to continue to pursue her."
"Yes sir!"
When they made the next turn, they met up with a few more guards. One of them said, "Ichimaru-taicho has instructed to pressure the thief to making a left. Abarai-san and Hisagi-san are there to ambush her."
"Okay, I got it," Izuru said. "You heard what he said! Half of us are to split up at the next intersection. We're going to corner her!"
"Ossu!"
Did as they were commanded to do, the guards went their separate ways at the intersection in an attempt to corner and ambush the thief. Just when they thought their plan is working, when Kira's, Hisagi's, and Renji's groups met, there was no sign of the thief. "Oi, what's the big deal?" the red headed teenager asked. "I thought you were suppose to lead Hi no Tori here, not lose her."
"We were going after her," Izuru explained. "However, it seems like she noticed our intentions."
Renji cursed and stomped on one foot. "Ichimaru-taicho should have seen this coming."
At the mentioning of his name, Kira and Hisagi looked at one another before turning their attention to the other Trio Knight. "Do you think he considered this as well?" Shuhei asked.
"Knowing him, it's a yes," Kira replied.
"What are you guys talking about?" Renji asked.
"We need to go to the treasure room to help Ichimaru-taicho."
"Um, yeah...sure."
A piece of the ceiling is removed, allowing Hi no Tori to quietly leap onto the ground without making a sound. She looked back and forth before letting out a sigh of relief. "Good, no one's here."
"Sorry, did you say something?" asked a male voice from behind. The sky blue eyed thief turned around to see the grinning teenager standing in front of the door behind her. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "I didn't catch the last part. Can you please repeat what you have said?"
"Judging from the clothes you're wearing, you must be the other Captain of the Royal Guard."
"My name's Ichimaru Gin." All of a sudden, the gray haired captain charged at her. With a swing of his sword, he tried to cut her. In response to his actions, she quickly drew her ninja sword and defended against the attack. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Immediately, the two fighters pushed each other back in order to create some distance between them. "Ichimaru-taicho, huh?" The two swords clashed into one another once more as they battled for dominance. "Are you good as Captain Hitsugaya?"
A wide grin appeared on his face. "Why don't you sit back and find out?"
He pulled back his sword and turned his back against his opponent. Noticing him facing away from her, she used the opportunity to strike him from behind. However, it is exactly how Ichimaru wanted things appear to turn out. Gin grinned with delight. Without any hesitation of his clothes' well-being, he stabbed his sword through his haori and towards Hi no Tori's face.
By the time she realized it, the thief girl shifted her body to the side, evading the assault. Using the momentum of her movements, she twisted her body around and swung his sword to the side. Just as the blade is about to make contact with his vulnerable arm, the gray haired captain quickly took something out from the inside of his kimino and dropped it on the floor. Shortly after, he barely evaded against the attack. "What a sly trick you have pulled off," the thief said.
"Thank you," he replied. "However, that's not all the tricks I have up my sleeves."
After hearing something fall on the ground, she looked down and let out gasp. Ichimaru has dropped a small explosive which caused impact to the environment around them. They were soon covered in a thick cloud of smoke. Despite knowing that it doesn't give him an edge in battle, it certainly gave him some time to change tactics. "Oh Hi no Tori, come out wherever you are!"
"You're pretty smart, Captain Ichimaru," he heard her reply. "However, let's see if you can fight against me and my army of allies."
All of a sudden, he heard the sounds of shattering glass from both sides of his ears. When the smoke was forcefully removed by the wind, he saw he was surrounded by her and an army of at least fifty men. "My my, isn't fifty against one a bit unfair?"
"Not in my book that is."
"Oh well, it doesn't matter," Gin said with his usual grin on his face. "At least, I can even up the numbers a little bit."
At this time, the Trio Knights and his army of guards opened the doors behind their captain, ready to fight along his side. "Very well then, let's fight."
"Here's your mission everyone. Keep the Fountain's Tear safe and capture Hi no Tori."
"Yes sir!" his loyal servants exclaimed.
With a swing of her sword in front, the thief girl shouted, "Charge!"
With shouts from both sides, the two sides ran after one another and clashed their swords together.
Hitsugaya raised his right hand up to his mouth and gently bit his thumb nail. "In the end, she and what's left of her army ran away."
"Unfortunately, that's how it ended," Ichimaru replied. "She definitely has left quite the amount of allies on her side over overpower ours while she ran off with her tail between her legs. On the bright side, we still managed to keep the Fountain's Tear safe."
"Fine then, the next thing we should worry about now is to keep a very close eye on her."
A grin appeared on the older captain's face. "You got that right."
"What exactly are you two talking about?" Rangiku asked the two geniuses. "You do understand it's rude to keep a lady in the dark."
"I'll explain once we head over to Rukongai," Hitsugaya explained as he began leaving the room. "It's time for us to do some information gathering. Maybe Kyoraku and Ukitake knows something about what happened to Momo and about her kidnappers. Let's go, Matsumoto."
"Hai taicho."
"See you later you guys," Gin said, watching his two comrades leave the room. Once they are gone, the gray haired captain let out a grin on his face. "Well, it's time to get things moving. It's time to find out what Ume-chan and Nagara-kun are up to."
Hitsugaya kicked the front doors open, immediately getting the attention to all the drinkers, bartenders, and waitresses in the bar. "Well, if it isn't Captain Hitsugaya and Matsumoto from the Hinamori Palace," said one of the drinkers.
Then he noticed a serious look on the white haired teenager's face, who just walked by him without a single word. He then turned to his strawberry orange haired companion.
"Did he get into a dispute with his princess girlfriend?"
"That's not the case," Rangiku replied. "He's here to gather some information. A while ago, Hinamori has been kidnapped."
"Really? Then that totally explains Hitsugaya's very serious behaviour."
She nodded with agreement. "At that rate, he definitely able to travel to the other side of the planet just to save her."
"No kidding."
"Matsumoto," Toshiro called out, getting her attention. "Let's go. Ukitake and Kyoraku are inside waiting for us."
"Okay, I'm coming!"
Once she walked to his side, the two former Rukongai residents went inside the small room to find their other companions in there. "Yo Hitsugaya, what's up?" Shunsui greeted.
"Good evening Hitsugaya-kun, Matsumoto, what brings you both here?" Jushiro asked.
The two members of the Royal Guard took their seats at the table. Immediately, the white haired teenager placed his right arm on the table and looked directly into their eyes. "A few hours ago, Hinamori has been kidnapped supposedly by a group of thieves. Have you seen them around the area recently?"
"Name your price and then we'll spill the beans," Kyoraku said.
The young captain gave the straw hat man a stern look. "Let me guess, you're broke again."
He smiled. "You got that right, little captain."
Rangiku leaned over to her companion and whispered, "What do we do now? They're difficult people to deal with when they have a money crisis in their hands."
"Don't worry; I got it all covered. I expected something like this to happen to us eventually."
He took a bag, which he was carrying around with him, and placed it on the table. When he opened the bag, he took out a rare brand of large jug of sake, a rare brand of blended herbal tea in a box, and a sac of money. "Eh, Hitsugaya this i-"
Before Rangiku could say anything more, he covered her mouth with his hand so that she doesn't say anymore. "My offer to you are all these for the information of the thieves' whereabouts. These items are hard to come by these days, but that fact only applies to people who live here."
"You're serious Hitsugaya? You managed to get your hands on this brand of sake even if you're still underage?" Kyoraku asked, picking up the jug to get a better look at it.
"Hey, you're talking to someone who is living in the Hinamori Palace. It's obvious that Hinamori gets a lot of rare expenses and gifts from nearby countries."
"Are you sure it's okay for you to take them from there?" Ukitake asked.
"Hinamori would prefer that you have it. Besides, I'm pretty sure she is running out of room to keep her stuff."
"Then you got yourself a deal," Kyoraku declared, shaking hands with the young captain.
"No, that's the jug of sake I was planning to drink tonight!" Matsumoto thought, mentally crying over her loss. "You're so mean Hitsugaya!"
"Thank you for your co-operation," Toshiro replied after letting go of the female teenager. "Now tell me everything I need to know about the thieves that stole Momo and their whereabouts right now."
References
Aisu no Ryu - Ice Dragon; Hitsugaya's codename as the notorious thief, Hi no Tori - Fire Bird; Princess Ume's codename as the female thief, Taicho - Captain, Ossu - Yes Sir, Haori - Kimono Jacket, Hai - Yes
Author's Note: Kyaa! Aisu no Ryu is making a comeback to steal back his greatest treasure! Will he succeed? Well, he better hurry up or else who knows what the band of thieves are going to do to Momo. O.o Find out what happens next in chapter eight! In the meantime, please review! Thanks.