CHAPTER 15: TOWARDS ANOTHER DIRECTION IN TEARS

It had been fifty years since Kiseida and her last stepped into Soul Society. She could feel the moment drawing closer and closer. Her reiatsu was almost completely restored and while waiting for it to be fully restored, she attempted to fix her communicator. They had moved to another town, under Jean's instruction. They had been living in this new town for a year now.

As for the communicator, she had been tinkering with it for six months now. Due to her busy schedule, she could only find time to try and fix it twice a week. Urahara's manual was not exactly the most user-friendly manual and he had been gone from the shop for a really long time. Tayomi was left to her own devices and continued playing with the communicator.

"Sheesh, why couldn't he have made this manual easier to understand?" Tayomi mumbled to herself.

She wondered what the last few sentences meant. Success was so close, yet she had not managed to decipher the meaning behind the last few sentences, which would effectively fix her communicator and make them all set to return to Soul Society. Just then, her left eyelid started to twitch uncontrollably and she shut her eyes. Kiseida stared at her before laughing, telling Tayomi to get a rest and let her try to fix the communicator instead. Tayomi shook her head, knowing perfectly well that Kiseida was hopeless at fixing such sophisticated gadgets. With her eyelid twitching, she continued staring at the manual and wondering what to do with her communicator. Inside, she had a bad feeling burning in her heart. She was sure that she could fix the communicator, but felt that somewhere out there, there was trouble lurking around.

"You're too impulsive…" Aizen smirked. "Hitsugaya Taicho…"

Hitsugaya snarled, glaring at Aizen. The man who betrayed Soul Society and attempted to kill his childhood friend was here, mocking him. Hitsugaya was ridden with grief, as he had been tricked by Aizen, causing him to stab Hinamori on accident. Hinamori had fallen onto the ground below, bleeding in the chest. Captain Soi Fon, Captain Shunsui and Captain Komamura all faced Aizen, their faces full of anger. Aizen was the cause of all this trouble. Aizen had caused the various casualties in this battle and their Lieutenants were rendered helpless, as they had fallen onto the ground. The Vizards had fallen as well, leaving the Captains alone to face Aizen. Aizen gave them all a sly grin as he slashed every single one of them, without a single Captain realising what he had done. Hitsugaya looked at his arm and leg, as they separated themselves from his body and felt himself fall to the ground below. All the Captains landed with a crash, trying to bear with their injuries. Just then, Aizen came up in Hitsugaya's face and smiled.

"Fifty long years ago, Captain Ukitake wanted to send Miyako Shiba on that special training mission. I intervened though, telling him to send Tayomi Sakuri instead. Once that group reached the Living World, I bribed some members of the Secret Mobile Corps and ordered them to kill everyone there, including innocent Tayomi-chan…"

Hitsugaya's eyes grew wide, as everything came together. Aizen… He was responsible for that tragedy!

"Tayomi Sakuri was everything a Shinigami should be. Strong, powerful, upright and calm. You, Hitsugaya Taicho, are hot-headed. You won't be much of a threat to me. But Tayomi Sakuri… She was a threat to me and I had to get rid of her. So I sent those assassins for her life…"

"Aizen…" Hitsugaya mustered up all his energy and tried to speak. "Damn you… You bastard…"

"Don't be so unhappy, Hitsugaya Taicho. Think of it this way. If you die now, maybe you would meet her again as well… Without any memories of each other!"

Aizen cackled, before he headed to the Living World with Ichimaru. Hitsugaya watched Isshin and Ichigo give chase immediately. It was all Aizen's fault… He hurt her. Hitsugaya was burning with rage inside, determined to kill Aizen if he got the chance. He was well-aware of his injuries and hoped that Ichigo would be able to do the killing for him, in his place. With that, Hitsugaya lost consciousness as blood poured from his wounds.

Tayomi and Kiseida were still at work, in the music store in that town. Her eyelid had continued twitching and it irritated her very much. Tayomi was relieved that her day at work was almost ending and that her time in this town was almost done. Her reiatsu was about ninety eight percent restored and she was able to return to Soul Society. She had almost figured out how to fix the communicator and was determined to get it done by tonight, so they could go home. Kiseida and Tayomi had handed in their resignation letter to their boss, claiming that they were moving to another town. It was their last day at work and their boss was definitely sad to see them go, even though they had been working there for only a year. Tayomi had written a letter to Jean and left it in the house, as well as her guitar, promising that she would go to Jean's aid if she ever needed it.

Tayomi and Kiseida returned home right after work. Tayomi instantly sat down at her table, picked up the screwdriver and tweaked the communicator back into shape. Once she was done and it was up and working, the both of them changed out of their Gigai and read the updates that had been sent to the whole of Soul Society for the past forty five years. Their eyes immediately spotted a message about a traitor and they read it. Aizen Sosuke betrayed Soul Society? Aizen Sosuke… A.S.?

"Kiseida…" Tayomi gasped. "I think Captain Aizen was the one who attempted to kill us. A.S. Aizen Sosuke!"

Kiseida gasped in shock and they read the latest update, about the Lieutenants and Captains going to the town where they used to reside in, to battle Aizen, his 'Espada', Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tousen. Apparently, Ichimaru and Tousen had defected as well, leaving the Gotei 13 with only half of its military power. So that was why her eyelid was twitching... Something bad had definitely happened. Kiseida and she decided to head to the town and assist the Captains. Surely, they would be in need of aid. As they were both skilled in Kidou, they could help treat the injured. Tayomi immediately opened the Senkai Gate and they headed towards Karakura Town. Kiseida and Tayomi were horrified, once the Senkai Gate opened and they saw everything that was before their eyes.

The whole of Karakura Town had been reduced to rubble. The buildings were crushed and power cords were left hanging all over. Windows were shattered and the road was filled with deep depressions. There was absolutely no sign of life there, as she could not sense the reiatsu of anyone from Aizen's army. I have to treat the injured first... Kiseida and her split up, searching half of the town each for any casualties. Just then, Tayomi managed to sense a faint reiatsu nearby. It was cold, icy and very familiar to her. It was the reiatsu of the person she had wanted to see the most. She could feel her own tears about to overflow and leak down her face. Her legs picked up speed and she headed towards that reiatsu. Why was his reiatsu so faint? As she felt herself get closer and closer, she could feel Hinamori's reiatsu, about to fade off as well. Using shunpo, she ran towards her friends, whose lives were obviously in danger. Once she reached, she knew that she could never be prepared for what she was about to see.

"SUSU-CHAN!"

She ran over to him and the mass of bodies, belonging to the various Captains. His left arm and leg had been chopped off, separated from his body. Below his arm lay Captain Soi Fon and his leg lay on top of Captain Shunsui. Hinamori's chest was bleeding and Tayomi knew that there was no more time to waste. She created a barrier around them and began treatment instantly. Knowing that as a healer, she had to go by the severity of their injuries, she started off by healing Hinamori. Trying as much as she could to hold back tears, she healed Hinamori's wound. She aimed to sustain Hinamori's lifeforce and the other Captains' as well, before she could heal them fully and restore their reiatsu. However, Tayomi doubted that she could do so, quite sure that she would be exhausted, just healing her to the bare minimum. Hinamori's injuries were very serious and Tayomi knew that she had just snatched her from the brinks of death. After an hour of hard work, Hinamori was finally done. She could live. Tayomi evaluated the rest of the Captains' injuries and decided to heal Hitsugaya next.

As she healed him and used a high level healing spell to attach his arm and leg back to his body, memories of their past began flooding in. She was right after all. By the time she returned, he was wearing a Captain's haori, rising to become the Captain of his Division. His hairstyle had changed, but his face still looked the same way it did fifty years ago. He still seemed troubled and even though she was unsure if he still felt that way he did fifty years ago, it did not matter. She was happy enough to be able to see him again. After a great amount of effort, she managed to heal him, much to her delight. She began healing the other Captains and once she was done, she felt faint. Her reiatsu was probably exhuasted, after healing so many Shinigamis at one go. She turned to look at Hitsugaya again and could no longer hold back her tears.

"Hitsugaya Taicho... Don't die..." She spoke, before she lost consciousness.

Hitsugaya awoke in the 4th Division's barracks, wondering what had happened. The last time he was conscious, he remembered Aizen cutting off his left arm and leg. His left arm and leg were attached to his body and was working fine, leaving him curious. Was the war over? Had Ichigo managed to defeat Aizen? Surely he should have done so, since he was back in the Gotei 13 headquarters. Just then, Hinamori, Kira and Renji entered his room.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, you're awake at last!" Kira smiled.

"You've been asleep for about a week now..." Renji sighed.

"Anyway, Hitsugaya-kun, we want to show you something. You may be happy after seeing it, but sad as well..." Hinamori tried to smile.

Hitsugaya followed them into another room in the 4th Division's barracks. He noticed Captain Ukitake and Captain Unohana whispering to one another, before they turned around and saw Hitsugaya staring at them.

"Are you ready to meet the one who saved you, Hinamori and all the other Captains?" Captain Ukitake asked solemnly.

Hitsugaya nodded and walked towards the bed. Sleeping in it was a young girl with dark, black hair and bangs covering her forehead. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly pink. There was a pink hairband on the bedside table and once he looked at her, he instantly recognised the girl he was looking at.

"Tayomi..." Hitsugaya gasped.

Author's note:
YAY Tayomi is back home at last! But that doesn't mean everything is alright... She still has a lot of explaining to do and she has to make sure Yamamoto believes her :D Plus, Hitsugaya and she are both equally unsure if time has done anything to change the feelings they have towards each other. Nonetheless, she decides to give Hitsugaya a surprise at his next Captain's meeting! Stay tuned for the next chapter and please keep reviewing! ^.^ Thanks!