Toshiro's POV
I made my way to the meeting. Why is he back? I know that he needs Rukia for something, but what? He already took the hogyoku from her. What else does he need from her? I can't imagine how scared Rukia was when he took the hogyoku from her. Now, he's back and what's something else from her. I can't imagine how terrified she was when she saw him again.
I arrived at the meeting then entered. This will be an interesting meeting.
On my way in, I saw Matsumoto approaching the entrance. Why is she here? I thought she was injured. I made my way towards her. I could see that her arm was bandaged. Her arm that wasn't injured was holding the one that was.
"Matsumoto, why are you here? You should be resting!"
"Don't worry Captain," she said.
"Don't worry?! Your arm is bandaged!"
"It's just a flesh wound. I'll be fine, it only hurts a bit."
I stared at her then let it go. We entered. Everyone in there was talking about the incident. Everyone was restless.
"Order, order!" Captain Commander Yamamoto yelled out. "This meeting is now in session! I'm sure everyone knows why this meeting was called." Everyone silently nodded to themselves. "Aizen has appeared here, in Seretei. Captain Unohana," he looked over at her.
She knew what he wanted her to say. She stepped forward then spoke. "While Aizen was here, he injured Lieutenant Matsumoto of the 10th division, Lieutenant Abarai of the 6th division, and unseated officer, Rukia Kuchiki of 13th division. So far those are all known injuries."
Everyone except for Captain Ukitake, Matsumoto and I seemed surprised when she mentioned an unseated officer. Had they forgotten that she was his target when he first betrayed us?
"Captain Hitsugaya, you were there before anyone else arrived, tell us what happened."
"I was with Rukia Kuchiki before she was attacked by Aizen but I left her with Lieutenant Abarai. I went back to my office. Soon after I arrived there, I felt Aizen's spiritual pressure. Both my lieutenant and I immediately left the office and rushed to where Aizen was. When we arrived, Lieutenant Abarai was bleeding out and Rukia Kuchiki was with him. Aizen saw we had arrived then started to provoke Rukia Kuchiki. It worked and she started to attack him. He was able to disarm her and started to choke her. That's when I started to fight him. He let go of her then I brought her to Matsumoto. He then started to provoke me and it worked," I admitted shamefully. "I attacked him then Captain Kuchiki showed up. He attacked Aizen but Aizen disappeared. That's when he injured my lieutenant. When I found Aizen again, Rukia Kuchiki was about to attack him again. I tried to stop her but Gin Ichimaru stopped me. At the same time, Tousen and Captain Kuchiki were battling. I tried to get to Rukia Kuchiki but he stood in the way. That's when I engaged in battle with Ichimaru. That is all I can tell you about the incident."
"Very well," Yamamoto said. "Does anyone now the intentions Aizen had for coming here?"
"Sir," I began. "I believe he has come back for Rukia Kuchiki."
"Why do you believe this?"
"When he first betrayed us, he was after Rukia Kuchiki because she had something he wanted. Also, he appeared where Rukia Kuchiki was. And when I was fighting Aizen, he mentioned something about taking Rukia with him. I believe he is back for her because he still needs her for his plans."
"Your theory is quite convincing, Captain. For now, since we do not truly know the intentions of Aizen, we will act as if Captain Hitsugaya's theory is correct. We will act as if Rukia Kuchiki is what he wants. Therefore, we will need protection for Rukia Kuchiki. It will have to be a captain and lieutenant. Captain Kuchiki, how about you, she lives in your household after all," Yamamoto pointed out.
"Sir, I will be off on a mission soon. It will be too dangerous for her to come along with."
"I also must add," Unohana started, "his lieutenant is too injured to protect Rukia Kuchiki."
He grunted in thought.
"Sir, we would like to protect Rukia-chan!" It was Matsumoto.
"If your captain accepts then the protection of Rukia Kuchiki will be your responsibility."
"Came we, Captain?!"
I started to think about it. After I told Rukia that I cared about her, I don't think I want to take it. Maybe there's someone else that could take this. Let's see. Soi Fong is always on dangerous missions. 3rd division has no captain. Unohana would be too busy to protect her. 5th division doesn't have a captain and I get the feeling that Hinamori doesn't like Rukia too much. 6th division's lieutenant is injured and the captain will be on a mission. I don't think I could trust Kyoraku with Rukia. 9th division doesn't have a captain. I sure can't trust Captain Zaraki with her. I'm sure Captain Kurotsuchi will try to preform experiments on her. How about Captain Ukitake? No, he's too sick and he doesn't have a lieutenant. That leaves me and 7th division. Ah, forget it, I'll do it.
I sighed. "Yeah, we'll protect her."
"Very well, where is Rukia Kuchiki?"
"My lieutenant is finishing up healing her."
"Very well, when your lieutenant is finished healing Rukia Kuchiki, she is to hand over Rukia Kuchiki into the custody of the 10th division."
"Geez, he makes it sound like Rukia-chan was the one that committed the crime," Matsumoto mumbled to me.
"This meeting is now adjourned!" Yamamoto called out.
We all left then Unohana approached us.
"Captain, Lieutenant, come with me," she said to us.
"Are you taking us to Rukia-chan?" Matsumoto asked.
"Yes," she said then started to lead us.
Soon, we were at the 4th division. She took us to a room. In the room, Lieutenant Isane was healing Rukia. Rukia was unconscious and she looked like she was in a lot of pain. Is all that pain my fault? If I could have gotten past Gin, would she be still be conscious? If I had gotten to her faster, would she still have gotten stabbed? If I hadn't made the mistake of leaving her, would she have gotten hurt at all?
"Isane, are you almost done?" Unohana asked her lieutenant politely.
"Yes Captain, why do you ask?"
"At the meeting, it was decided that Kuchiki-san be given into the custody of the 10th division."
"But Captain, Rukia-chan is in no condition to be moved!" Isane exclaimed.
"Oh, I see," Unohana said in thought.
"We can stay here with her for a while," I said, interrupting her thoughts.
"Are you sure? We could try and arrange something if you…" she started.
"No, it's fine. She should get her rest, anyway."
"All right, we'll bring in some extra futons for both of you."
"Thank you," I said to Unohana as she and Isane left the room.
Matsumoto went to the foot of the bed and sat there. She was looking at Rukia. She looked sad. It was like the other time.
I looked at Rukia. Her breathing was labored. That made it easy to see the rise and fall of her chest. I looked at her neck. The image of Aizen choking her came into my mind. The way she struggled against him, the way she whimpered when she couldn't fight back. Her neck showed Aizen's hand marks. She looked so uncomfortable. She had beads of sweat running down her face and neck. She was even frowning in her sleep. She looked like a little kid having a bad dream.
Is all that… my fault?
"It's not your fault, Captain," Matsumoto tried to reassure me. "You didn't know that this would happen."
"But I could have stopped it, Matsumoto."
"There's no way of knowing that, Captain. Maybe you could've, maybe it would have ended the same way."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Matsumoto got up and went closer to Rukia. She looked even sadder when she did. She sighed then took a dry cloth from a counter near the bed. She took it and started to wipe the sweat from Rukia's face. Then she opened the window that was next to the bed.
"There, are you more comfortable now, Rukia?" No response came. Was she trying that thing again? I don't know if I want to talk to her right now, especially since she's unconscious. I know I did it before, but it's different now.
The rest of the time, it was silent. Matsumoto didn't talk to Rukia, like I thought she would. I didn't talk to Matsumoto and she didn't talk to me.
A bit after, someone brought in two futons. We laid them on the ground, close to Rukia's bed.
Matsumoto and I decided we'd take shifts staying up to keep watch. I'm taking the first one.
She fell asleep pretty quickly. I turned off the lights to make her comfortable. The only light in the room was the moonlight that was shining through the open window. I paced around most of the time I was up. Mostly, I thought about today. I thought about how it would have ended differently if I had stayed with her.
Then I was distracted by Rukia. She started to stir around in her bed. She looked like she was having a nightmare. I walked to the side of her bad. I kneeled down next to her. She was breathing harder and she looked terrified, even though she was asleep. I didn't know what to do. Then, I don't know what happened to me, but I placed my hand over her forehead and quietly shushed her. After a while, it started to work and she was calm again. She was actually smiling a bit. This made me smile. It felt nice comforting her. It felt natural. Then I found myself looking at her lips. They looked so small, so soft. They looked perfect. That's when I found my lips hovering over hers. I wanted to kiss her. My heart was beating so fast. I got closer. I felt my lips start to brush against hers. I was so close then I… stopped. I couldn't do it. It would be like taking advantage of her. Instead, I kissed her forehead. That's more appropriate. It's just a sign of friendship and care.
I held her hand the rest of the time. I wanted to make sure she felt comfortable. I wanted to make sure the nightmares stayed away.
Soon, it was Matsumoto's shift. I woke her up and she got up without protest. She must really care about Rukia. Matsumoto loves to sleep and she's giving some of her sleeping time to protect Rukia.
I didn't go to sleep for a while. I stayed up a bit. When I did fall asleep I had the images of Rukia sleeping in my head. She looked so peaceful. I loved it when she looked peaceful. Then the images of her being scared popped into my head. It made me sad to see her like that.
That's when I decided I'd protect her from anything that would harm her. I'd protect her from anything that could hurt or scare her. I'd protect her from Aizen. I'll make sure he never lays a hand on her ever again.