Bleach 1. Chapter 1: Meeting again

**Well, I know if anyone's reading this, they're going to wonder how i had to time to write this while I'm still writing Let Me Go. The thing is, I was sorting out my drawers the other day and I came across the drawer where I kept all my stories that I had started or had ideas about. Low and behold I found this bleach story, a full seventeen pages of it if you'll believe and this chapter is only the first eight. so i read through it and decided to type it up while editing and adding bits in here and there and this is the result so far. my second fanfic but i won't really be concentrating on it until I'finished let me go so chapters will be posted up whenever. enjoy and tell me what you think of it if you want to**

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_**The beginnings of moving on**_

_**Chapter 1: Meeting again**_

Momo wasn't feeling particularly happy at this moment in time. Shiro was away and her entire squad was depressed. They'd been betrayed by Captain... Captain Aizen hadn't meant to betray us, it was Gin who really betrayed us she nodded her head in determination to believe this. The only problem was she just couldn't. Reality hurt like hell sometimes but it was better than living a lie, she sighed as she walked along the streets of her childhood.

"Momo!" she turned to see Izuru bearing down on her. Like her Izuru had been betrayed by his captain, Gin Ichimaru. Only their bond hadn't been as close as hers and Aizen. Even after the events of the invasion of soul society and Rukia Kuchiki's execution she had stayed friends with as many people as possible so the fifth and third lieutenants had stayed friends, helping each other survive the loss of their captains.

"What is it Kira?" she asked anxiously. Was something wrong? It didn't have anything to do with Toshiro, did it?

"Don't look so worried Momo," he reassured her, "Your new Captain, I mean K..Ka...Kari has asked for you to see her in the office," he shuttered at the informality of calling a captain by their name without rank attached onto it. But the Captain had requested it, so everyone did try their best to uphold the request even though they thought she was slightly mad.

"Thank you Izuru, I'll go now. Thank you for finding me. I know it mustn't have been easy going near her... Thank you," she bowed before using Shunpo.

Her new Captain was overwhelming to say the least. She was so happy and bubbly, if Matsumoto had met her, no doubt they would be best friends. But Rangiku and Toshiro had both left for the real world before she had been instated. Oddly enough no one had heard of her Captain before she'd become a Captain. No one even knew where she'd come from. All they knew was that Head-Captain Yammamoto had suggested her for the position and she'd been given it.

Despite suspicions against her, she'd turned out to be a good captain. So far. Not like the last new Captain Amagi.

When she reached the fifth division she knocked before entering the room.

"Momo, what have I told you? You don't have to knock," said a warm voice. The fifth squad Captain smiled at her gently before clapping her hands together in excitement. Her whole face lighting up, "I've got really good news Momo. Hitsugaya has requested for extra shinigami in the real world. Apparently there's been a rise in Hollow appearances and they're being stretched to get them all," she smiled brightly, her green eyes sparkling brightly as if she'd been given a birthday treat.

"Eh... and how is this good news?" Momo wondered if her Captain was entirely sane. If their ranks were stretched thin in the real world, more shinigami would have to leave soul society giving their enemies a slight edge if they were to invade.

Kari who was slightly younger than Momo and the second youngest shinigami to obtain the rank of Captain with shiny black hair giggled ecstatically, "Cuz old man Yammo asked me to go to the real world and you're coming with me. That way, instead of sending whole ranks of shinigami they're sending two powerful ones so our ranks won't be depleted and they'll only lose a small amount of defence and offence power," she was practically shouting with enthusiasm.

"When are we leaving?" Momo whispered in dread of the answer.

"Today!" Kari yelped, "Aren't you excited? You'll be able to see your friend again. What's his name To...Tosh... Toshiro and I'll get to see the real world again. I can't wait? Can you?"

"No," she muttered before excusing herself. Hope and fear emerged in her as she walked to her room. Toshiro, she would finally get to see him and this time they would have no choice but to stop avoiding each other.

While she had been in the fourth division healing, he would come and visit her everyday but never once did he look at her. Then he began to visit less and less often before he stopped at all. When she'd been released and reassigned to her duties she'd only see him as often as her job required her to. After work he would never speak to her and always seemed to avoid her. It had filled her with confusion to begin with, but then she'd understood. He blamed her, for pointing her blade at him, for not believing in him. After this realisation hit her, she stopped trying to see him, to talk to him. No matter how sad it made her, if this was what he wanted then it was nothing more than she deserved.

Now she would face him after months of avoiding each other, he would have no choice to acknowledge her. Maybe this is what we need, she thought, maybe we can learn to forgive and trust again. She sighed as hope once again fluttered through her.

Toshiro wasn't her only problem, she sighed, how was she going to keep her enthusiastic hyperactive Captain under control?

***

Momo hated the pathway between the real world and soul society. It didn't help that the Senkai Gate towered over her when she stood before it. Snap out of it Momo, she thought as she passed through the gate. If this is how you feel and it's not even your first time passing through the gate then how must Captain Kari feel?

Glancing over to her left, she was somehow unsurprised to see her Captain looking excited and exclaiming over how dim it was. "Think positive Momo, only one minute to go and we're out of here!" Kari whispered to her but it sounded like she was shouting due to the echo. Glancing over to her Captain, Kari smiled reassuringly. Momo hated it when she acted like this; it always reminded her of how this fun little girl could be her Captain. Although she may act ditzy when around other squads Momo knew that it was only a well perfected act. The young girl was smart and talented in all areas of a Shinigami. It was even said that she had perfected her bankai, something not even Toshiro had managed to achieve yet. Thinking of her childhood friend brought back her worries. She wasn't ready to see him yet, she would need sometime before she could face him. But if he was waiting at the end, that wouldn't be a bad thing either.

Light emerged through the dimness and the real world came into view. It wasn't like the places that had been chosen for training the shinigami students, closed off and out of the way. The sun was clearly setting and they were down by a river. Though they could see that they had come into the middle of Karakura Town. Buildings and houses were all around them. It was slightly disconcerting for both of the Shinigami, Captain and lieutenant. Until a familiar voice shouted, "Momo!" Rangiku Matsumoto, lieutenant of the tenth squad and whose Captain was Toshiro Hitsugaya ran up to meet them. She wasn't wearing her shinigami uniform but blue jeans and a cream top that for once seemed to cover her decently all over. "Thank goodness I made it in time…" she stared at Kari before glancing black at Momo who had now entered her gigai which was wearing flimsy clothing that would not keep her warm and was hardly decent.

"Who's the kid?" she whispered behind her hand while glancing at Kari who was smiling at herself in the flimsily dressed gigai.

"That's the new Taicho of 5th squad. Captain Kari," Momo whispered back discreetly.

"You're joking! We heard you received a new Captain but we didn't know it was a kid. Captain's going to have a field day when he finds out that the new Captain's a kid like him, but only _she_ acts her age!" Rangiku sighed, imagining having to put up with her Captain for the next few days once he heard the news.

"Where is Hitsugaya?" Momo asked, slightly disappointed that he hadn't come to see her. But she felt guilty at feeling slightly relieved as well. Unbeknown to her, she had unconsciously folded her hands together in a trait that everyone knew as nervousness.

Rangiku hurried to reassure her, "Oh, don't worry. You'll see him when we get to our accommodation but right now he's off with Ikkaku looking for hollows. He requested soulreapers but I don't think he was expecting _you_ to come!" Rangiku smiled, imagining yet again, her Captain's happiness over seeing Momo. _God knows he hasn't stopped worrying about her since she woke up!_ "Come on! We're staying at Inoue Orihime's house. It'll be fun," Rangiku marched off with Momo and Kari following her. While they walked to their destination, Rangiku blabbered on about all the shops and how many outfits she'd bought.

Glancing at her Captain to see if she was listening, Momo saw her Captain deep in thought. _Wow, there's a first time for everything!_

The streets were like a maze, twisting and turning until they seemed endless. After what seemed hours of walking but was only probably around ten minutes they reached their new residence for the period of their stay and mission. As Matsumoto stepped inside, Hitsugaya could clearly be heard shouting over her lateness and then the shopping bags as well. Momo hesitated in the doorstep as Kari proceeded her into the house, glancing back at her curiously but Momo paid no heed to her Captain's questioning face.

She hesitated, nervous and unsure of herself. She'd never been like this before. After Aizen's betrayal she lost all of her confidence in herself and in others. Only now was she beginning to gain it again along with the friendships that had been put under strain. Now she was about to face the friend that she had betrayed the most and who had left her while healing, not seeming interested in resuming their friendship. When she'd just woken up though, it had actually seemed that he hadn't minded about the whole matter of her pointing her sword at him.

"_Hinamori, please wake up!" the voice constantly said. It echoed through her head and wouldn't let her rest. She was so tired and the voice wouldn't let her get back to sleep. In fact it had woken her up completely and taken her out of the darkness of her sinister nightmares. Now that she realised that she was finally free to emerge from what seemed like an endless sleep she was nervous. _

_She knew that when she woke up there would be no more hiding from the facts that she'd been betrayed and that her beloved Captain had actually stabbed her._

"_Momo, wake up. Please don't make me call you by your nickname, bedwetter Momo," this time a sob emerged on the nickname she pretended to hate. She really must wake up, she couldn't let Shiro go through pain like this all because of her. Through sheer force of will and wanting to see her friend's face again, she opened her eyes slowly._

_At first everything was blurry until her eyes focused on the white haired boy lying on the bed beside. He was small and his eyes were closed but puffy and red. Tear tracks ran down his cheeks. He looked so small and vulnerable then. She could only guess what he'd had to deal with but he looked so young. She only ever saw his true emotions when they were alone like this._

"_Lil'Shiro, why have you been crying?" she rasped, only now realising that she needed water. _

_His eyes jerked open and he stared at her, stunned. It went on and minutes must have passed._

"_If you're not going to answer, then can I at least have some water please?" she asked._

_Hitsugaya jerked and stood up, flushing slightly before moving over to the water jug on a table in the corner of the room. He took his time, trying to compose himself and school his emotions._

_By the time he poured out the water and walked back over she was feeling drowsy again. Taking a small sip she then closed her eyes again feeling exhausted. _

_She didn't really understand what happened next. She could only assume that Toshiro had thought she was asleep._

"_I was crying because I was told there was a good chance that you were going to die. I thought I was losing you Momo," he sighed, "I didn't want to lose you. I love you too much!" he whispered and bent over, kissing her forehead lightly._

_She didn't know what had made her say the secret that she'd been hiding from him for so long but say it she did, "I love you too Toshiro!" before she drifted off to sleep. When she next woke up he wasn't there and slowly he stopped visiting her. It was all her fault because she had told him her feelings for him._

She went to move away from the door but her wrist was caught by Kari who promptly dragged her inside. Taking a deep breath she prepared herself, opening her eyes and raising her head to look at the room. She briefly saw Ikkaku and Yumichika in the corner of the room trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves while Rangiku was in the middle of the room with Toshiro scolding her. The contrast between their sizes was not as large anymore, Toshiro must have had a growth spurt recently.

Seeing them enter out of the corner of her eye, Rangiku did her best to get rid of her Captain's disapproving eyes off her, "Captain," she exclaimed loudly in Matsumoto styled fashion, "look who our reinforcements are!" she sang.

Hitsugaya turned to the door and froze. He barely paid attention to the black haired girl, she was no one of great importance and didn't seem to be interested in her surroundings. She was quite tall and seemed to hold herself with confidence in a room full of high-ranked officers.

His eyes went to the girl beside her. She stood quietly with her shoulders hunched and her face tightened into a worried frown with her hands wrangling with nerves. A pressure lifted from his heart and all he wanted to do was hug her and keep her in his arms where he could always protect her but he didn't move towards her as he wished to. She was in even more danger now in the real world that she would have been in Soul Society and he might not be there to save her, to protect her. She had to leave and there was only one way to make her. He knew it would hurt her deeply, like distancing himself from her had, but it had to be done. Captain Yammamoto had no right to send her here and it left him no choice.

His voice came out colder and harsher than anyone in the room had expected, even he was surprised, "What are you doing here Lieutenant Hinamori?"

She stared at him in shock, at his cold unfeeling eyes, shutting her out from him. This time, even she couldn't see past his cold unsettling exterior. "I thought you wanted Shinigami-"

"-that's right, I wanted Shinigami here! Not someone who's going to be a liability to everyone," his voice rose as he shouted at her, "Not someone who considers their enemy to be their friend. Not someone who would cross blades with one of their own and attempt to kill them. I didn't ask for you to come here because I don't need you here to worry everyone. We have enough problems as it is!"

"But Shiro," Momo tried to interject.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya and you would do well to remember it lieutenant. I don't have time to look after a silly little girl like you. Go back to Soul Society and send someone more capable of being here," he turned his back on her, making it clear that she was dismissed.

For Momo this was too much to bear. First betrayed by Aizen and now rejected by Toshiro, the only person who had ever really known her! Who she considered to be her most loved one, her special person. Her heart broke into a million pieces and she fled the house and the pitying looks of her fellow shinigami.

As Momo fled the house, Toshiro knew he'd overdone it. He'd stared into her eyes and had seen what his words had been doing to her but he hadn't been able to stop. The words just kept leaving his mouth. All his anger and frustration, he had taken it out on her without meaning to.

An eerie silence filled the living room as everyone stared at Hitsugaya in shock. After everything, they had never expected him to treat Momo like that. But no one dared to interfere, that would only enrage his wrath. "You cold heartless bastard!" Kari stared at her fellow Captain in rage as she marched up to him and slapped him hard on the cheek. His head flew to the right and his cheek was red and stinging, as was Kari's hand, "Don't you ever speak to her like that again!" she marched to the door.

***

Momo ran through the streets crying her heart out. Why would Shiro say something so mean? She asked herself desolately as tears blinded her eyes. She sobbed over her now broken heart. She distantly heard her Captain calling for her to slow down but it wasn't the voice that she wanted to hear.

How could lil'Shiro say such things. Out of everyone she thought he would have understood the most… but he hadn't. And she hadn't been able to see through his cold exterior like she'd normally been able to. He'd changed when he'd turned his back on her. He'd grown colder, stronger and he didn't want to be friends anymore. Pain like she'd never felt before her crashed through her making her slump down the alley wall. The pain was even worse than when Aizen had left her. She couldn't live without Toshiro, he was a part of her but obviously she was no longer part of her life.

Rain poured down onto her. Her flimsy top and skirt doing nothing to keep her warm as she curled into a ball.

"Are you alright?" a voice echoed down the alleyway. Momo started in surprise as two boys walked towards her wearing grey blazers and trousers, white shirts and satchels. One was medium height and skinny wearing glasses and had black hair with a small shaped cross attached to a bracelet on his wrist. The other was tall and wide with brown hair and brown skinned. Although she knew she should be terrified of this large teenager she felt entirely safe due to the kindness in his eyes. Momo nodded hoping the rain would cover her tears, she didn't want these strangers to think of her as weak and vulnerable, even if they appeared safe she could be wrong.

"You're a shinigami, aren't you!" the black haired boy asked as his hair dripped water into his face. She gasped in surprise, wondering how he could possibly know until he pointed at her Chappy sticking out of her pocket. "You're mod soul Chappy is sticking out of your skirt pocket," he explained to her.

He pointed to himself and the boy beside him, "I'm Ishida Uryuu and this is Chad. We entered Soul Society a while back with Kurosaki Ichigo,"

"You were one of the Ryoka," she stared up weakly at the one called Chad, he was so big! He held out his hand and hauled her up when she hesitantly placed her hands in his and covered her with the umbrella.

"Momo!" her Captain said following her tracks and stopped when she saw who Hinamori was with.

"Chad! Uryuu!" she yelped as she ran and hugged them both, "What are you doing here?"

"Walking home," was Uryu's reply as he pushed up his glasses that had fallen down when Kari had hugged him. Kari turned to Momo and hugged her as well, "Come on," she said, "We have to find somewhere to stay."

"Aren't you supposed to be staying at Inoue's?" Uryuu asked curiously.

"We were but we found that it wouldn't be appropriate for us to burden ourselves on Orihime when she's already got…guests,"

"Then where are you going to stay? Kurosaki's?"

Biting her lip, Kari thought for a second before shaking her head, "No. They've no room there," she thought again desperately.

"Well, I'd offer for you to stay at mine but my dad would probably kick you out as soon as you stepped through the door," he sighed.

"I have a spare room," Chad said, speaking for the first time throughout the whole conversation, "If you want you're welcome to stay at mine," he offered.

Glancing at Momo who looked like she was close to hypothermia she agreed quickly and they parted ways with Uryuu before heading to Chad's. The streets were long and winding and apparently never-ending. At least that was the way it seemed to Kari as she was carrying Momo on her back with Chad holding an umbrella over them.

By now it was dark and the sky was cloudless, the stars shone brightly, "It's been a while since I've seen Earth's stars," Kari sighed as she gazed up brightly at the shining planets above her.

"Here we are," Chad stopped outside a small house and unlocked the door before they all entered. The hallway was dark and quite small but it gave off a homely comfy feeling. They kicked off their shoes and Chad brought them to the spare room where Kari left Momo wrapped up warmly in the bed.

"Thanks Chad," she said as she came out of the room.

"It's fine," he said while he shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

"I know that you've already done so much but could I ask for a favour? Would you look after Momo while I go to Urahara's for a couple of things?" she stared up at him hopefully and he nodded back.

"Kurosaki might be there as well," he stated.

"Thanks," she nodded as she ran back out the front door into the dark rainy night.

Running at such a slow pace annoyed her but Momo had her Mod Soul so she couldn't exactly leave her gigai behind her, she'd already lost her real body, she couldn't afford to lose this one and she couldn't be bothered to carry it either. Sighing she continued on at the tiring pace as the roads and street lights fly by.

It was weird but she hadn't expected Hitsugaya to act towards Momo like that. She, like Rangiku had been expecting a happy reunion between friends and perhaps something more? Not the cold shoulder that had chilled the poor girl to the core. Memories of what it was like living in Hueco Mundo came back to her. The cold atmosphere and the feeling of being able to trust no one to look out for you. She'd learned from a young age that you could depend on no one as they'd always end up betraying you. You had to look after yourself and no one else. But then Ichigo had come along, looking for his friend the dimensions witch as she'd aptly named her. He had brought along a whole new life with him, of love and friendship… of what ifs, if she hadn't been kidnapped when she was younger, she would still be with her family and with her twin, Ichigo.

She sighed again. It was pointless thinking like this… that life had been torn away from her as soon as Aizen had curled his claw of a hand around his arm.

She wondered if she'd see Ichigo at school tomorrow, she was looking forward to school, but definitely not the homework, that would be too like her Captains paperwork for her liking. But they were all many experiences to be experienced.

She ran along the wooden fence and turned into Urahara's shop. She'd never met this mysterious ex-captain of squad twelve but she was hoping he could explain things to her.

The old dilapidated yard was a disappointment to the grand splendor she'd imagined.

"Ururu are you nearly finished?" a small red headed boy asked to a little black haired girl picking up rubbish.

"Jinta, I'm doing your job here," she complained as she bent down to pick up a can and throw it into her garbage bag.

Kari stepped into the yard and walked up to the porch where the two kids stopped their bagging to turn and stare at her suspiciously. Where is the ex-captain Urahara Kisuke of squad twelve?" she asked softly but her voice seemed to echo across the yard.

"He's busy Shinigami lady," Jinta said sharply as he turned to stare at her intensely.

"Well he'll just have to make time," she said not wanting to appear rude, "It's important,"

"Yeah, yeah. Like I'm going to… Tessai!" he gasped as a large shadow loomed over him menacingly. The appearance of the large imposing man seemed to bring some degree of civility to the boy's tone. Jinta pointed at her, "She says she's something for Urahara," he said shakily under the intense glaring he was receiving from Tessai.

Realising that he'd misinterpreted what she'd said she stepped in, "No I have something important to discuss with him," she said staring confidently into his eyes. He was bound to understand.

"I'm afraid that he is busy little shinigami, if you can call back in the morning," he said as he ushered the two kids into the shop.

"Fine," I said annoyed, "Could you tell him then that the fifth squad captain will speak with him tomorrow then,"

"Captain," murmured Jinta as he stared at the slim unthreatening girl walking away from them who looked to be the most defenceless and weakest person he had ever seen, it wasn't that she didn't look strong. It was to do with her eyes, they looked tired as if she had seen enough of the world and wanted nothing more to do now than rest.

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**Ok, so it starts of a bit weird. its after the defeat of Captain Amagi but in the real world Toshiro is still there from his earlier mission so its a mixture of the two seasons. Anyway the fifth division have a new captain called Kari and everyone's really suspisious of her because of the Amagi incident. She's only fifteen so she's the youngest captain and to make it better her twin brother is Ichigo Kurosaki. Her past is still a bit of a mystery in this chapter but it'll be filled in later. Ok getting off track, her division begins to trust her because she's so friendly and cheerful but it's really just a front to hide her true feelings and her pain.**

**Everyone thinks of her as a child due to the way she goes on so no one takes her truly serious. When she's sent to the real world she's excited as she hasn't seen it since she was a little kid. ok im going to stop blabbering on now cuz im tired and want to eat my easter eggs. so bye**


	2. Chapter 2: Accepting

_**Chapter 2: The beginning to moving on is accepting**_

Toshiro stood by the window glaring out at the street below. He'd expected Momo to be back by now. He knew he should go and apologise but he knew if he went right now with Rangiku and her two pals he'd never hear the end of it. Right now his pride was winning over his worry but he knew if she wasn't back in half an hour he'd go and find her. Damn his pride and Matsumoto too.

Just after the fifth division members had left there had been an unearthly silence in the room, as everyone stared in shock at Hitsugaya Toshiro. They knew that deep down the ice Captain loved his childhood friend but now that certainty was replaced by doubt. He wouldn't have treated her like that if he was truly in love with her but then yet again he would never speak to her in that tone. There was a first for everything.

Matsumoto stood torn as the others left the room. Her Captain hadn't moved since Momo left and she felt like slapping the kid like the other Captain had but she also knew that he needed advice, guidance and she wasn't really one to give it. Her only love had ended up betraying her and soul society. What did she know exactly?

She left the room silently with her fellow shinigami feeling thoroughly ashamed of herself for not helping her Captain when he needed her the most. She left him to his thoughts not knowing that she was doing the best thing for him, leaving him in the hands of a far more capable and wise dragon.

_**For a tessai you are the biggest baka I have ever seen!**_ The voice echoed loudly in his mind as Hitsugaya groaned to himself. Compared to the dragon, he'd rather face Matsumoto.

_**Oh, don't worry little one. You would have had to speak to me sooner or later and if not me that little lieutenant of yours would have gotten her claws into you.**_

I would hardly call her little, Hitsugaya commented dryly

_**Too me she is. Besides that you are avoiding the issue at hand fledgling. You spoke to the girl in an unseemly manner that does not befit a Guardian. It does not hold you in good light and right now I would freeze you myself for damaging your future life like that.**_

My future life? What the hell are you on about? My only future is to destroy Aizen, he growled deeply just at the thought of the man that he detested with all his heart.

_**But why do you feel the need to kill this man, what's with this personal vendetta of yours. I know for certain that it has nothing to do with a wounded pride. So why do you really want to hurt him so badly and be honest!**_ The voice in his head growled icily.

Because… because… he sighed deeply before saying his true reason. He hurt Momo, he hurt her worse than any hollow could ever have done and I'm going to get revenge for her. His hand clenched tightly as he thought of it.

_**Ah, little one, that is not the only reason involving Hinamori though is it. Say it out to me and I shall leave you be. Say it and finally accept it into your heart.**_

Toshiro gulped at what the dragon wanted him to say but he knew he had to say it. The last time he would not admit something to Hyorinmaru, the ice dragon had roared in his head very loudly for a very long time freezing his entire insides. He had had a killer headache for an incredibly long time after.

The other reason is that 'gulps' I love Momo and he took her away from me. She gave her admiration and devotion to him, not to me and I want to make him pay for that as well. For taking the only girl I've ever loved and will always love for my entire existence away from me.

_**Very good Toshiro!**_ The dragon said calmly as it felt an inner peace settle inside his partner's mind. _**Now you see why I speak of her as your future life or put simply your wife.**_ The dragon chuckled to itself as its presence faded away from Toshiro's mind leaving the young boy looking out the window waiting for his only life to return to him.

And he was still waiting, hours later with his breath fogging up the window in front of him as he stared out desperately into the darkness searching for her to return to him. He distantly heard the phone ring in the background but ignored it leaving Rangiku to pick it up so as not to wake Orihime who had come home exhausted from school complaining about a lot of homework she had received. It was the first time his lieutenant had returned to the room since Momo had left, trying to avoid upsetting her Captain any further and he did appreciate it deep down somewhere.

"Captain," she whispered holding the phone out to him, her face showing nothing. He felt relief course through him, he could finally apologise to Momo and tell her how he hadn't meant any of it until a cold voice answered him through the phone, "Captain Hitsugaya, there's no need to worry about us. We are both at a safe accommodation and we may attend the school tomorrow. Goodbye!"

"Wait..." Hitsugaya called out desperately earning a raised eyebrow from Rangiku, "I want to speak to Momo…please!" he asked anxiously.

"Momo is asleep and I will not be waking her up just so she can speak to _you_. She needs rest to regain her energy after today's events," the voice remained cold but then softened slightly, "You may see her tomorrow if she decides to attend school, but so help you God if you hurt her again. Until then Captain," with that his fellow Captain hung up on him. He growled slightly and the temperature dropped drastically in the room.

"Captain. What's wrong?" Matsumoto asked attentively, not wanting to put him into a greater temper than he was already in.

"If that stuck up child thinks she can stop me talking to Momo she has another thing coming!" he shouted angrily paying no heed to the fact that people were trying to sleep in the house, especially their host.

"She told you that you're not allowed to see Hinamori?" Rangiku asked and wasn't surprised to see her Captain stop and stare at her idiotically, it happened so often that she had gotten used to it a very long time ago.

"That's not what I said Rangiku. I'll see you in the morning," he stomped out of the room to his temporary bedroom and the temperature rose again after his departure.

Grabbing her phone and the box of uniforms Rangiku checked her phone, located Momo and Kari and went to leave them their school uniforms for the next day. She felt quite proud of herself, even her genius of a captain hadn't thought to use his phone to track Momo's location but then he had been too deep in thought to concentrate on reality.

***

That was a disappointment to say the least, Kari thought as she walked away from the Urahara shop and slowly down the streets. Unaware of where her feet were taking her through the town until she glanced up and froze in shock. She hadn't known that she still remembered her way home. Ichigo's house… no not just Ichigo's house. It was her house as well.

Hesitantly she walked up to the front door and raised her fist. Three knocks shattered the silence of the rainy night that was leaving her soaked to the bone. Only now did hesitation set in. What if Ichigo didn't want her here? Did she even want to be here? Sighing she turned away from the door and stared at the night, at the now dark cloudy sky with rain washing away everything. She walked away slowly still staring at the sky.

"Yes?" said a familiar voice. She knew the moment she heard it she would stay and face her family.

"I'll understand if you ask me to leave Ichigo," she whispered loudly enough for him to hear before turning, "I-"

"You're nearly as stupid as Rukia sometimes Kari," Ichigo sighed walking closer to her and looked deeply into her eyes, "I've just found you, I don't want you to leave. Come on, let's get you inside before you freeze to death," he grabbed her hand and dragged her inside before she could even protest.

"You don't have to worry; only Rukia's here so don't worry about meeting everyone else, only when you're ready," he brought her into the living room with Rukia before walking out again.

"How do you put up with him?" she asked with honest curiosity.

Rukia rolled her eyes and smirked, "You don't want to know! I have the patience of a Saint," she emphasized the last word heavily as Ichigo re-entered the room with two large towels and some clothing.

He guided her to the bathroom to let her dry off. She wrapped the towel around her and stepped out of her wet clothes seriously contemplating killing whoever put those clothes on her gigai. It was probably a man, they have absolutely no sense of logic or practicality. She put on one of Ichigo's shirts that he'd handed her. Despite the fact that they were twins, the t-shirt was still slightly too large, but not large enough to cover all of her so she still used the towel to cover herself.

She emerged into the hallway, only to be immediately grabbed by Rukia who dragged her up the stairs, into Ichigo's room and then proceeded to hide them both in the closet.

"You've got to be joking," she said exasperatedly as Rukia motioned for her to be quiet.

"No Isshin, Yuzu and Karin are back so be quiet," she whispered, "Or else they'll find us and that would give them the wrong impression, especially with the way you're dressed and in Ichigo's room," she said hesitantly but this only confused Kari.

"But wouldn't it be even worse if they found me dressed like this in Ichigo's room hiding in his closet. Then they would definitely get the wrong impression!"

At Rukia's glare she sighed and sat quietly in the closet worrying. She had to get back to Chad's house before it became too late.

A crash and thump sounded from downstairs and then heavy footsteps up the stairs before Ichigo came into his room slamming his door behind him. "You can come out now," he said quietly.

"I need to be leaving soon Ichigo," she said quickly, "But first I want to know what's been happening recently. I tried to ask Urahara but he was busy. Oh and heads up, I and my lieutenant will be joining your school tomorrow so I need a very quick tutorial about blending in with students,"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Rukia guffawed as her chest puffed out proudly, "I managed to figure how to blend in _very_ quickly. All you have to do is be polite and act demure. They don't suspect a thing!" she smirked, "Oh and don't let this idiot here," she poked Ichigo, "Blow your cover like he nearly did mine,"

After an hour Kari finally made it back to Chad's house at eleven. She was tired and her head was killing her with too much information. She made a quick call to Orihime's house to alert her fellow shinigami that they were safe before going to bed. After all she had to go to bed early to meet Urahara and then prepare for her very first high school day in the history of her entire life.

She checked in on Chad to alert him to the fact that she had returned before heading to the room that she was sharing with Hinamori. As she entered, the slow regular breathing of the teenage girl filled the room. It brought back memories of long ago. Sitting by the coma induced vice captain explaining that she was to be her new Captain after she passed the Captain proficiency test and her presence was announced to other shinigami, instead of hiding away in the first division.

She'd tried to visit her as often as she could, avoiding contact with other soul reapers at the same time, until Yammamoto decided to publicize her presence to Soul Society and its Captains. When she was announced as Captain, Momo had been awake for quite a while and was fit and healthy again. From that moment on, they had worked their way towards the beginnings of a friendship and she had told Momo about most of her past, including Aizen and Hueco Mundo.

Momo had never failed to talk about Hitsugaya Toshiro and her memories of playing with him and worrying about him, when he had been a kid and even now when he was a Captain she still cared about him and tried to look out for him without him ever seeming to notice.

***

The next morning in class 1-3 everyone was quite surprised to see that they had new students, but only two students in the class leaned forward expectantly as the two girls entered the classroom. Both girls had their hair down and were smiling demurely at everyone in the class apart from the white haired boy in the corner who they just ignored completely.

Hitsugaya tried to catch Momo's eye to apologise but failed awfully. She kept her eyes firmly on the wall in front of her not wanting to see the annoyed look that she thought would be directed to her from him. She sighed with relief when she ended up sitting beside a delighted Keigo and behind Chad. Kari groaned as she sat beside a very irritated Hitsugaya, the only thing keeping her sane was that Rukia was in front of her.

As she sat down the temperature dropped a few degrees causing her to shiver slightly, "Don't think I'm happy about this seating arrangement either," she muttered after the icy teal eyes glared at her and then she proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the class. During the maths class neither spoke to each other and avoided direct contact. The class lasted for an hour before it was break.

With relief Kari left the room with Momo at her side and neither girl glanced back at the annoyed boy behind them. They walked up to the roof with a few other students and began to talk to Ichigo and his friends. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed apart from the odd interruption from Keigo who seemed fascinated with the two girls and kept talking about some movie that was being filmed about an afro man with a sword and strange white monsters.

Everyone ignored him and the only thing that ruined the mood was the ice boy. Toshiro sat in the corner of the roof glaring at anyone who came near him, not even his own vice-captain dared to approach him. His mood grew fouler and fouler as he watched Momo laugh at something that that Keigo idiot had said. He knew that he should have been happy to hear Momo laugh like that but he wasn't. It just made him angry that it wasn't he who was beside her putting that beautiful smile on her face. He wanted to be the one to make her smile, no one else.

A shadow crossed over him and he turned to see Kari staring down at him, her hands on her hips with an irritated expression on her face. She was standing right in front of him, there was no way he could ignore her without discarding all civility and as much as he wanted to he wouldn't cross that line, not yet anyway and not for one measly stuck up Captain brat.

"What?" he asked sullenly. This girl seemed to bring out the worst in him for some reason and that upset him greatly.

"I thought you wanted to speak to my vice-captain but all you've been doing is acting like a surly kid who's not getting his own way," she gave off to him, "If you keep this behaviour up I will have no choice but to keep you away from each other. What's your reply to that shorty Shiro?" she asked her eyes gleaming.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya and I'm not short!" he growled threateningly as he stood up indignantly before realising his mistake. Kari was a good bit taller and to make eye contact he had to raise his head quite a bit.

"You really don't care!" she stared into his eyes deeply, "If you truly cared about Momo as deeply as you seem to think then you would have said something different. You wouldn't have defended your pride but your relationship with her," she sighed sincerely, "You need to straighten out your priorities!" she said before walking off leaving Hitsugaya staring speechlessly at her before he sat down. While his icy exterior remained calm on the inside he was a whirlpool of emotions.

_**She had a point you know!**_ His dragon rumbled in his head only to be pushed away by the annoyed boy, Oh, sod off Hyorinmaru he thought back at him.

He knew that both had been right, he should have been defending his right to stay at Momo's side, not defending his name.

His cell phone beeped loudly as did Momo's and Kari's. Flicking them open they gazed at the screen in silent horror. Tens of thousands of hollows as well as a hundred menos had appeared. Glancing up from his screen he saw Kari, Momo, Renji, Ichigo and Rukia heading for the scene in their soul reaper uniforms with Orihime, Uryu and Chad following leaving behind their startled group of friends.

Their team ran in front of him and somehow he felt left out following behind the group. Rangiku, Ikkaku and Yumichika met them halfway from their patrol of the town and they proceeded towards the site emerging onto the scene in a forest park just outside of town.

Ichigo led the charge unwrapping zangetsu as he ran. Toshiro glanced around and located Matsumoto, Ikkaku and Yumichika joining the fight, unleashing their zanpakuto as they raced towards the oncoming hollow. The battle was long and dangerous. As soon as one hollow had been dealt with many more took its place. Not only that but when they were fighting one hollow another came up behind them to attack. If Orihime hadn't been there to block the odd sneak attack then many of the group would have been sliced apart. The shinigami and humans alike were invisible to the naked eye as they raced rings around the invading hollows and menos.

They fought on for ten minutes and destroyed over half of the hollows and after twenty minutes no hollow was left alive. The last hollow was slayed with a screech leaving behind an exhausted weary group who had a few wounds that needed slaying and badly wanted rest.

They came together into a group on the ground and stared at each other deeply confused.

"Right," Kari said starting off the discussion, "Aizen must have sent those hollows and menos out for something. There must have been a purpose for it! So what is it?"

Pushing his glasses up his nose, Uryu joined into the conversation, "It is reasonable to say that it could have been to wear us down or tire us out," he frowned, "which he's obviously succeeded in," he stared around at the weary faces.

Hitsugaya glanced at Momo to check her for any injuries. Amazingly, neither of the fifth squad members had a single mark on them nor did either of them looked very tired either. Then he noticed Momo's hands folding nervously in her robes and she was biting her lip, glancing around hesitantly. Before he could prompt her to say what she wanted, her Captain got in before him.

"Momo, if you want to contribute to the conversation then don't hesitate," she smiled at the girl encouragingly. Everyone in the circle turned to look at the nervous fifth division lieutenant and she seemed to shrink slightly under their gazes.

"Em…" she glanced up nervously seeking for reassurance but not from him, Toshiro whom she'd known since childhood but Kari, her Captain and friend. "Well it's just if they wanted to tire us out they would have used more hollow and menos to injure us or at least take some of us out. But the numbers weren't seriously overwhelming and no one has any life threatening wounds. I believe-" she paused slightly for a second before continuing on, "-that Aizen wanted to keep us distracted while he set up some other plan or carried it out," she frowned suddenly before shaking her head as if trying to get rid of an image.

"Set something up?" Kari muttered to herself before gasping in shock, "Momo come with me!" she ordered before turning to the others, "I have an idea but I need to check something out first. Go back to school and we'll meet you at Urahara's later," she shunpoed off with Momo following quickly behind her. The others looked at each other unsure of what was going on while Orihime began to heal their slight injuries and fixing their clothing.

When they returned to school there was no sign of either girl. Their teacher used the usual jokes on their account while assigning every single one of them onto after school tutorial class. Groaning with frustration, Hitsugaya dragged himself over to the after school class.

This was just great, Hitsugaya grumbled, every soulreaper from soul society apart from the fifth division as well as Orihime, Ishida, Chad and Ichigo were stuck in the room staring bored out the window. If anyone was attacked it would be this teacher's fault, he thought sourly while the teacher came in sporting a pure white hair band and a wide grin.

The maths teacher then began to spout a load of crap about some topic called differentiation and tangents to gradients while the class passed by slowly. Ichigo and Hitsugaya thought about Kari and Momo and everyone else pondering over the previous attack on Karakura Town and its relevance.

The whole class was edged with expectation as it neared the time that they could leave. As the bell rang they rushed out of the room with the teacher screaming at them to come back. They ran to the Urahara shop an hour later than planned and stepped through the door to be greeted by the shop owner himself.

"Ichiiiigoooo," he called out while fluttering his fan wildly in a flirtatious manner.

"Knock it off!" Ichigo said as he pushed him out of the way and walked into the backroom with everyone following, filing past the rejected Urahara.

Although they'd hoped that the fifth division members would be back they were nowhere to be seen. Their missing presence left curiosity as everyone wondered as to what they were up to.

"Oh," Urahara came in nosily with his comfort food sucking madly on the lollipop, "Everyone looks very anxious and contemplating," he said in a mocking tone.

"Have either of the fifth division members been here?" asked Rukia as she sat down beside Renji.

"Oh, yes," he stared into the distance for a second before starting as if from a dream, "They arrived here an hour ago and left around ten minutes ago after more hollows arrived outside the town again," he took a lip of his lollipop before continuing what he was saying, "They should be back soon after they've defeated the Espada."

"What!" Ichigo and Hitsugaya jumped up and yelled at the same time, terror passing over their faces as fears of finding the two girls dead passed through their heads.

"Don't worry!" Urahara said waving for them to sit down but they ignored them causing to huff inwardly at the lack of respect he had been receiving lately, "It's only an Espada. They'll be able to defeat it easily!"

But the two boys never heard the last part meant for their reassurance as they had dumped their gigai on the floor of the shop and were already on their way to assist the fifth division members, whether they needed it or not.

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. so now you know a little bit more about Captain Kari and Toshiro's finally coming to accept his feelings. Well I'm proud two chapters up in record time! Hehehe.**


	3. Chapter 3: Dying Breaths

**Chapter 3: Dying Breaths **

Momo and Kari knew that they were in a little bit of a pickle. They were surrounded by hollows and there were even more coming through the garganta. To their dismay they could hear the faint distinct sounds of Menos Grande coming through the portal and they feared Arrancar coming through.

Even with the harsh extensive training they'd both been doing in the fifth division training grounds they hadn't trained to kill hollows on a large scale twice in a day. The first battle had been easy but tiring. Now they were exhausted both physically and mentally.

Kari grabbed Momo and dragged her out of the way of a hollow attack. They couldn't carry on like this and there was no way she was drawing her zanpakuto for this. She wouldn't have needed to before and becoming a Captain had not made her any weaker.

Flash-stepping a distance away while dragging Momo with her, Kari stopped and turned back to face the oncoming hollow. She focused her mind and then uttered the words of the kido spell she had invented herself. A giant barrier surrounded the hollow and portal, encasing them all in so they could travel no further. She placed her hand on the barrier and it glowed brightly as she pushed inwards. The dome shaped barrier shrunk in size forcing the hollow together and cramming them together so they had no room to move. Taking a deep breath she prepared for the energy drain she knew she would feel and placed her second hand on the barrier while muttering a second spell.

The shield shone brightly so eyes were averted but the noise of an explosion and the screams of pain from the hollows was enough to know that they were being killed. As the light faded Momo darted over to her Captain and inspected her for injuries but there were none.

She then turned to stare at the space were the hollows had been and shivered, the portal was gone as well as all of the hollows. Obviously the explosion had caused the garganta to become unstable and close in on itself.

"We should leave Captain!" Momo shouted into her Captain's dazed face but as quick as a flash Momo was grabbed and dragged to the opposite end of the clearing. While she was about to complain about how she was being treated she noticed a huge crater where they had been standing and the noise of it hit her ears as the rocks landed.

Yammy took his fist out of the ground and turned to inspect the two shinigami staring at him. The small girl with the bun and lieutenant's badge was staring at him in shock and a slight bit of fear was twinkling in her eyes. He smirked and her eyes widened as she clutched onto the arms of the other shinigami.

His smirk vanished as he turned to the other and his eyes filled with hatred, "_You_!" he snarled pointing his finger at her.

"Yammy," Kari greeted him while glancing around him, "Where is Ulquiorra or did you come here on your own?" she frowned while she stated this, "Aizen must be going senile to have done that,"

"What did you say!" said a deadly calm voice from behind them making Kari twirl and jump back bringing Momo with her. "Do not insult Aizen-sama!" Ulquiorra remarked as he walked calmly towards them.

"Well, I think it's funny to hear the once loyal Kari insult him. It shows that there's some hope for the rest of us under his command," came another mocking voice from the side along with a mini cero as a greeting gift.

Backing away quickly with Momo behind her she deflected the cero with her hand. "What are you doing here?" she asked trying to buy time while she thought of a plan to get them out of this dire situation that they had suddenly found themselves in.

"Aizen-sama sent us here to get the girl behind you but he also said if we were to ever encounter you we were to bring you to him as well," Ulquiorra said without a hint of emotion on his face but Grimmjow and Yammy grinned evilly displaying enough emotion for all of them. Although Kari didn't show it she was worried. She had never been able to take on more than two of the Espada at a time when she had lived in Hueco Mundo.

"Momo, do you think you can take on Yammy?" Kari asked while keeping an eye on the Espada.

"I'll try," she replied and drew Tobiume hoping she was strong enough to take on the brute in front of her.

"Ok, I'll try to help you if I can but don't do anything too drastic. The best we can do is hope that we'll have reinforcements soon. Good luck!" Kari smiled slightly before drawing her zanpakuto.

Walking and trying to focus despite her weariness Kari walked up to Ulquiorra and Grimmjow. From growing up in Hueco Mundo she knew these two and their battle styles but that advantage went both ways and wasn't really much of an advantage at all.

Grimmjow attacked first, lunging forward eager to start the fight. He made to punch her but she danced quickly out of the way while moving her hand swiftly and precisely, leaving a wound sliced across Grimmjow's chest to his shoulder before she jumped back and then ducked avoiding a thrust from Ulquiorra.

She knocked back Ulquiorra by planting her hands on the ground and swirling her legs around in a circle. Out of breath slightly when her feet were back on the ground she uttered a kido spell and muttered its name before it fired at Ulquiorra. She turned back to Grimmjow who had lunged at her, causing her to sidestep before elbowing him and whirling around to kick him in the stomach. Hearing a scream she turned to where Momo was to see Yammy release his zanpakuto.

Growling with frustration she put a sealing kido on Ulquiorra and Grimmjow but knew it wouldn't be long before they'd break out of it. Yammy charged for Momo and Kari shouted out quickly, "Momo, Deflect!" Like in the training they'd been doing in the training grounds Momo twirled automatically to face Kari as her Captain uttered a kido spell and fired at her. The spell hit Tobiume and the force of it pushed Momo back a few metres and out of the way of Yammy's charge. She rushed over to Hinamori only to see Yammy move lightening fast and Momo go flying back into a massive tree thanks to one swing from Yammy's hand and causing Momo to be knocked instantly unconscious before he unleashed his resurreccion shouting "Destroy Ira!".

_Damn_, she moved in between Yammy and Momo before he could cause her any further damage. Knowing she had no choice she released her zanpakuto. Drawing her second blade from its sheath she muttered, _shine Akemihime_. She joined her two swords together at their hilts and her zanpakuto glowed brightly before it revealed a spear like weapon only with two blades, one at each end. The blades made up the whole spear and ran all the way along it apart from a space in the middle caused by the joining of the two hilts where the spear/staff-like weapon was to be held.

Twirling the spear around her body and above her head she charged at Yammy, knocking him back before she slashed him along the arm, sending him roaring in pain. A crashing noise alerted her to the fact that Ulquiorra and Grimmjow had broken free of her restraints and were charging. Still howling, Yammy bashed his other arm into her whilst she was distracted, sending her flying into the air. Not able to stop her projection she could only watch helplessly as Grimmjow and Ulquiorra approached her at lightening speeds before they lay into her with fast kicks and punches, cracking ribs and bones and splattering her blood everywhere before she crashed to the ground.

She groaned trying to move as she saw Yammy's arm move towards her for the finishing blow. But she couldn't. His fist moved closer and closer to her. She had no energy left. Closing her eyes she awaited the final blow, only it never came. Her eyes flew open to see who or what had stopped her from dying but was shocked to see her own hand raised in front of her, stopping his abnormally large hands from crushing her.

A giggle moved through her head. _**Looks like you need some help, my little Kari**_ and she heard her inner hollow giggle again while she felt her body being restored with energy. _**Thanks**_, she said to the hollow, _**sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you**_.

_**Die most likely**__**, **_the inner hollow said impishly, _**besides put on your mask. You always used to wear it in Hueco Mundo and we were inseparable. I need some fresh air and I'll help hold back the pain from your wounds as long as the battle lasts!**_ She tried to bargain. _**I suppose that's the least I can do for you**_, Kari sighed as she placed her hand in front of her face and concentrated, willing for her mask to come.

A white mask formed over her face and slightly over her forehead to keep her hair back. Her hands also turned white like her mask but the substance was more flexible allowing her to grip her sword or form a fist but retaining the same strength. Her mask was covered in purple intricate designs looking slightly Celtic in origin while outlined in black.

She sat up and pushed Yammy back with her hand while she stood up. She tensed before she moved causing Ulquiorra and Grimmjow to collide as they charged at her. The battle was more than even now as she began to fight him. Her body was seriously injured but her hollow was fending it off and now she was giving as many injuries as she was receiving.

Knowing she had to finish it off quickly she gather the three Espada and encased them in the Kido barrier she had used earlier. All three of them recognised the spell instantly and knew its potential damage to them. Ulquiorra calmly accessed the situation before creating a garganta and returned to Hueco Mundo. Grimmjow was the last to leave through the dimensional gate. For once his snide smile was not planted on his face and he looked at her sadly before he waved and left.

Dispersing the barrier after making sure the garganta was closed she allowed her mask to break and fall off as her injuries and exhaustion took its toll on her but she smiled happy in the knowledge that Grimmjow had forgiven her for leaving Hueco Mundo. She stared around at the damage in the clearing. There were craters everywhere and a number of trees had been knocked down in the midst of the battle, not that she had noticed at the time. Sighing she faintly wondered what Yammamoto was going to say to her about the destruction before with a jolt she remembered Hinamori who had been knocked unconscious while she had been fighting Yammy.

Kari's head snapped around until she located the girl and sighed with relief. Hinamori was unconscious but it didn't look like she had suffered any further damage from the battle that had just ended. She sighed again and allowed her head to tip back so she could stare at the sky holding her bloodied sword and wearing her tattered bloody uniform until she dropped the sealed form of her sword from exhaustion. Her eyes closed then and she took a deep breath trying to ignore the pain it brought across her chest. All of her injuries were coming back to her along with intense waves with pain now that her hollow didn't keep back now that she had sealed her away again.

She heard a roar shattered her out of her reverie and she watched in terror as she saw a large monkey like hollow charge at Momo.

There was no time to pick up her sword or even think. Only the need to protect her lieutenant and friend as she darted between the hollow and her lieutenant shielding the girl with her own bloody battered body. She felt the claws enter her body from her neck down to her waist as it slashed through her skin. The pain was unbearable and she distantly heard her name being called out but she couldn't focus as she heard a rushing noise in her ears as id some loud big river was flowing through her head and everything seemed to slow down as if she was watching everything in slow motion.

She stared at the hollow, into its red merciless eyes and felt nothing as it bared its teeth and sank its fangs into her body repeatedly until its claws tightened inside her causing a scream her mouth and her body arch in pain. The claws kept on tightening and it raised its arms causing her to hang limply until it swung its arms back and then tossed her through the air. As her body left its hands the hollow didn't bother to retract its claws, instead tearing chunks out of her as he threw her away.

Blood arced out of her wounds and it gathered in her mouth, causing her to start to suffocate due to her ripped throat unable to get any air. Distantly as if in a dream she looked back and saw the hollow approach Momo but she wasn't scared of it anymore as she saw a flash of white hair and an ice dragon stop the hollow from reaching its intended target.

She felt her own movements through the air stop as she gazed into her brother's face. Tears were in his eyes and his mouth was moving rapidly but the rushing water noise in her head wouldn't let her hear him as he lowered her to the ground. Another head popped into her view. That Captain Hitsugaya and she saw Momo carried over his back still unconscious. She wanted to tell him to take care of her but she couldn't say anything as she began to cough up blood to stop herself from drowning in it. She stared into Ichigo's face as he cradled her in his arms and wanted to tell him that if she was to die she wanted to die in his arms but she couldn't say that either.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and last thing she saw was ginger before her sight faded. She felt someone shake her body and distantly heard her name being recalled repeatedly until her river blocked it all away and carried her away from the voices and pain of her body, allowing her to rest in peace in the darkness that could only belong to death.

***

"Ichigo!" Toshiro yelled over to the ginger haired shinigami, "There's three Espada were Momo and Captain Kari are!" The worry was plain to see on both the soulreaper's faces as they thought through what could be happening with the two girls.

"What! How's that possible? Should your phone device not have picked up on that earlier?" Ichigo yelled back as his speed surged forward and he didn't wait for Toshiro's answer. His mind too worried over his sister. If she met the Espada they weren't going to look kindly to her as she had abandoned them and to make it worse there were three of them. No matter how powerful Kari was, there was no way she could take on three Espada after already being in a large fight with the hollows from earlier on.

The time to reach the outskirts of Karakura Town seemed to take forever. Buildings passed by underneath them and then they faded as tree began to crop up and then they were racing over the forest. "We're not far," Toshiro said as he finally caught up with Ichigo. He may have been a good Shunpo user but the fact was that Ichigo did have longer legs and could take wider Shunpo steps than him. "Wow!" Toshiro remarked as he stared at his silver phone screen.

"What? What is it?" Ichigo asked desperately.

"The Espada signals have disappeared. So they've either been killed or gone back to Hueco Mundo," Toshiro stated as he stopped and began pushing buttons on his phone trying to widen the search for any Espada reiatsu. But there was none.

"They've gone back to Hueco Mundo," Ichigo hypothesized and under Toshiro's questioning gaze he explained further, "Even at Kari's strongest there's no way she could take on three Espada and kill every single one. She mostly likely fended them off and then probably forced them back to Hueco Mundo,"

"How do you know Kari's strongest?" Toshiro asked, "I thought you two just met?"

Ichigo stared at him before turning away and began to Shunpo towards the girls location but not as fast as before now that they had no need for help. "Well, the information doesn't just belong to me but to Kari as well and if she didn't tell you and your fellow officers I can only presume she didn't want you to know so ask her to explain it to you," Ichigo stated as they came into sight of the clearing and both Soulreapers paused to survey the battle field.

There were a total of six craters and what had once probably been a very small opening amongst the trees had become enormous with many trees knocked over. In the middle of the opening they could see a figure standing but there was no sign of any other soulreaper there. Hesitation swamped over the two boys they didn't want to go down and see who was still standing but their feet moved of their own accord and soon they could see white over the shinigami uniform.

Ichigo heard a gasp escape from the normally reserved captain beside him and as he turned to stare at the boy he could see tears forming in his eyes. Ichigo returned to staring at the girl in the clearing, relief flooded through him that she was still alive and sadness that the other girl wasn't. The girl who Toshiro obviously seemed to like very much.

Suddenly something drew both of the boys attention. They heard a faint sound of a hollow roar and Kari had darted forward between the hollow and a clump of black, her lieutenant Hinamori. Ichigo could see no sword in Kari's hand and she barely managed to make it in time to stop the hollow from attacking Momo but he froze in shock as he saw blood flow away from her. He knew he was shouting her name over and over again as he moved towards them with Toshiro following but he never made it in time. He watched with horror as he saw the hollow bite his sister over and over again and her scream reached his ears full of agony. When he saw Kari thrown away he glanced over at Toshiro and motioned for him to deal with the hollow before he ran to catch his sister.

He knew when he caught her that there was no hope. Her whole body was covered in blood and her entire front was a mess, like she had been shredded. Wounds were all over her body and flowing freely but the worst injury was her throat. It was nothing more than strips of skin and he could see her shoulder bone and the bone in her arm as well. Tears filled his eyes as he landed on the ground with her in his arms. She stared into his eyes and he knew that she couldn't really comprehend that he was telling her to hang on and just live. Toshiro arrived beside him and stared at his fellow Captain with undisguised grief. Although he'd barely known her anyone who risked their lives to save Momo he automatically respected. To see the girl in front of him on the ground coughing up blood and trying to breathe as she stared around her filled him with remorse. That could just easily been Hinamori. He didn't know what to do as he heard Ichigo calling out to her to hang on and just live for him. Saying he didn't want to lose her again.

But the girls eyes closed and her raspy breathing stopped. Silence filled the surroundings as the two boys tried to comprehend that Kari had just died or passed on to whatever was left for Soul reapers.

Ichigo was shaking her desperately trying to call her back.

"Captain," a faint voice muttered by Toshiro's ear and he turned quickly to look at Momo's face on his shoulder to see her staring at her Captain on the ground in front of her in shreds. Her eyes widened in shock as she took everything in before she uttered a loud scream, "Caaaaaaptaiiiiiiiin!"

* * *

**OMG! I was cryng when I wrote this chapter. I didn't want to kill Kari off but it felt right to do it as it projected the story forward. I'm so sorry Kari. Anyway few little bits of info, Kari's sword when she unleshes it, **_shine Akemihime _**means shine bright beautiful princess or at least that's what I think it means. Also next chapter might reveal more of Kari's past. oh and while I'm mentioning the next chapter it has a high probability of being late as I have a mock maths module and a french oral to learn for so wish me luck in that next week. oh and please review**


	4. Chapter 4: Grief

**Chapter 4:**** Grief**

"Where's Ichigo?" Rukia asked suddenly, breaking the mournful silence that had been in the room.

"He's still stuck in the room beside her body. He won't say anything to anyone. He just looks so… lost," Hitsugaya said as he came into the small room. He glanced around the room before walking over to the sofa beside Hinamori and took her into his arms, giving her what little comfort he could as she sobbed quietly into his shoulder.

Silence settled in the room again. Uryu sat beside Chad and Orihime in their own group in the corner with Renji and Rukia as they tried to comfort each other in their grief over the girl who had entered their lives and made them a whole lot brighter.

A throat cleared and everyone turned to stare at the ice Captain. "I don't understand. What is… what was Kari to Ichigo?" he asked hesitantly, not sure if it was appropriate to ask the question, but he seemed to be the only person in the room who didn't know what was going on.

"She was my twin sister," came a soft voice from the door and everyone turned to see Ichigo leaning against the doorway. His eyes were red and the grief in his eyes went very deep. No one knew what to say to him then, his eyes and body language told them he didn't want their pity or comfort.

"Your sister?" Toshiro asked, regretting asking the question now that it was Ichigo was answering. "But, then why was she a Captain and why were we never alerted to the fact that you had a twin?" Toshiro asked, figuring that what he started might as well be finished.

Ichigo's eyes were pained as memories of Kari passed in front of him and the overwhelming need to be by her side took him. He missed her; a tear ran down his cheek followed by another before he left the room slowly looking like a man without any hope in life. He walked back in the direction of her body. Rukia glanced worriedly at his retreating form before she left the comforts of Renji's arms and went to check on him.

"We were never alerted because when she and Ichigo were four she was kidnapped," came a small voice from his shoulder and he glanced down in surprise at Momo.

"You know about her?" Renji asked.

"Yeah. When I was in the fourth division she would visit me a lot when she was off duty and we'd both tell each other about ourselves. She told me nearly everything about herself and I told her about my life as well. She said when she was four she was kidnapped by a soulreaper and he brought her to Hueco Mundo where he left her in the company of arrancar and Espada who raised her,"

"Who was the one who kidnapped her?" Toshiro asked before realising he probably already knew the answer. Who was the cause of most of the problems they had to deal with?

She sniffed before whispering the name, "Aizen, he kidnapped her eleven years ago and turned her into a soulreaper but gave her hollow powers as well. He along with Gin and Tosen would visit her every so often to train her how to use shikai and then bankai," she said her voice growing stronger.

"You know the whole story from her point of view? Please tell us," Rukia said walking back into the room and guiding a grieving Ichigo over to the sofa beside his friends.

"Em, yeah it's from her point of view and it's quite long so get comfortable," Momo said quietly before words flowed from her mouth. They were the last link to Kari Kurosaki.

-(-*-)-

I was playing in the park with my brother when it happened. Dad was at the clinic practicing and mum was sitting over on the bench with Karin and Yuzu, trying to get them to go to sleep in their pram while me and Ichigo played around with the football. We were quite small at the time and the ball seemed enormous then so we did use our hands quite a lot.

Ichigo got that look on his face when he's going to try and do something with everything he's got and what he was doing was kicking the ball. He kicked it so hard that it went bouncing into the trees. Me and Ichigo went chasing after it, trying to see who could get to it first, not bothering to check if we were still in sight of mum.

The ball bounced and bounced and didn't seem like it was going to stop but I eventually caught it and held it up triumphantly to Ichigo with a proud smiled on my face. But then I saw Ichigo with a terrified look on his face staring at something behind me. I dropped the ball as I turned around to stare up at a large man with brown hair and glasses wearing funny black robes as clothing with a white haori over them. His face looked kind but there was something in his eyes as he stared down at me, greed and a look of triumph. His hand clamped onto my arm and I heard Ichigo running off, shouting that he would be back with mum.

I didn't want my brother to leave me with this strange man but I didn't want this man to get my brother either so I didn't shout after him like I wanted to. Besides I was five minutes older than Ichigo so it was my job to protect my little brother.

Then the man smiled at me and told me his name was Sosuke Aizen and that he had an important job for me. He lifted me up into my arms, cradling me like I was a little baby and jumped up into the air. He jumped higher than I had ever been able to and when I looked down it was like we were flying. I looked up then just as we passed through a black hole in the sky which I later learned was called a garganta. Then began my new life in Hueco Mundo.

When I woke up next I found myself wearing the same black robes as Aizen and I was in a white room with a sword in the corner. A man was standing by the door with a wide grin on his face. I learned that his name was Gin. I asked where my family were and he said that if I did what I was told and did my part in the war that was to come in a few years then I could return to my family and live happily in the knowledge that I had done a good deed.

I smiled and agreed not realising that it would be years before I would be able to return to my family. I grew up in that desert place and there I learned not to trust anyone because that was a sign of weakness. Aizen or the other two Captains would visit me every so often and with their help I became strong enough to take on and defeat the first Espada. I did make one friend though who I did trust. His name was Grimmjow and he treated me like a sister. He and I became inseparable and it was him who I told about my family in the real world and how I wanted to see them again.

The time came then when Aizen, Gin and Tosen arrived in Las Noches and told us the battle was near. I didn't really care at that time about death or war. After all that seemed to be a permanent state within Hueco Mundo as arrancar and hollow alike were always fighting to gain power. By this time my family was forgotten about and my memories of them were hazy. I didn't remember their names or their faces. They were just people who would die one day like everyone else, strangers. So when I first saw the orange haired shinigami on the camera screen I felt nothing towards him. Only a desire to crush the bug who would dare try to disrupt Lord Aizen's plans. He had come after the strange girl who Ulquiorra had taken from the real world.

I had met her a few times and knew her name to be Orihime. Her tales of friends and families and of the real world fascinated me and I would often take to going to her room and asking her to explain things. To begin with she took me to be an arrancar as I always wore my hollow mask but then she began to notice things about me. How I showed compassion towards the weak arrancar and when I told her I was from the real world she was amazed. I remember laughing at her expression. She asked me who my family were and then I couldn't help but feel sad that the only thing I remembered was that I had a twin brother called Ichigo. She smiled at that name and I asked her what was wrong. She told me she had a friend called Ichigo and I knew she was talking about the strong shinigami who had come to rescue her.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that the shinigami was in a holding cell being experimented on Szayel and Aizen but her talking about this shinigami hybrid had me curious and so I went to visit him. Back then I hadn't known who he was in relation to me but when his eyes met mine I felt a connection with him. Something I hadn't felt with anyone in a long time, not even Grimmjow. I took to visiting him nearly everyday but I never said a word to him and nor did he to me. I felt I knew this shinigami and when he first spoke to me, his voice sent shivers of déjà vu down my back. He asked me who I was and I replied Aizen's servant. He grunted at this answer and didn't talk to me again. But agitation swept over me and I couldn't get this soulreaper out of my head.

The familiarity towards this boy filled me with curiosity and I hacked into Aizen's files trying to figure out who he was. That was when I realised he was my twin. My brother whom I hadn't seen for eleven years. Determination to help him overcame me and I snuck into the weapons holding cell and grabbed his zanpakuto and snuck back towards his holding cell.

He didn't look at me as I entered so used to me my presence but when I lay his zanpakuto outside his cell he stared at me in surprise and I could faintly remember that look from some of my old memories but on a younger face. I told him that I had questions. I asked if he had a twin sister and he replied yes. Then I asked him where she was and he said that she had been kidnapped but he thought she was un Hueco Mundo, That was when I let my hollow mask come off my face and I told him my name. Our reunion was brief as we still had to sneak out of the hollow infested place. We left Las Noches and walked deep into the desert before I opened the garganta. All I could think at the time was how happy I was to meet my brother after eleven years and how he'd turned from being smaller than me to being taller.

We arrived in Urahara's training ground where we were met by Urahara and Captain Yammamoto who offered me the position of becoming Captain after I'd been debriefed. I took it because I wasn't ready to meet my family yet but I knew one day that I would and I do look forward to it. And that's really how the third segment of my life has started where I get to make great friends here in Soul Society and how I'm sitting in this chair beside you Momo. I've told you a shortened version of my life so why don't you tell me yours?

-(-*-)-

Momo glanced around the room as the last few words left her and she broke down into tears. Toshiro hugged her to his chest but she pushed him away.

"Don't come near me," she choked out, "I'm cursed. All of my captains have… have died. First the Captain Aizen I knew died and now Captain Kari," she yelled, "It's all my fault. I should have done something," her hands clutched her head as she jumped off the couch and faced the room with her tears blinding her. If I hadn't been unconscious I-" her voice stopped as she stared into Ichigo's tear filled eyes.

"There's nothing you could have done lieutenant Hinamori. My sister did what she thought was right," he stared at her, "and that was protecting you. And if Kari were here right now she'd be shouting at you to get your act together," she smiled as he thought of her before taking the trembling lieutenant and hugged her, showing that he didn't blame her.

Toshiro watched the two between slit eyes and felt guilty for feeling angry at Ichigo for comforting Momo when he couldn't. But he knew that was ridiculous, he was jealous over someone who had just lost someone important in their lives. Why should he be jealous? **Because he comforted her. He hugged her. He consoled her.** Came his Zanpakuto's voice. He stood up and left the room motioning that he needed some air. But what he didn't expect was to over hear a conversation that wasn't meant to be heard.

"We can't tell them," Urahara said quietly but his voice was clearly filled with frustration. Tell us what, Toshiro thought and listened closely.

"Don't you think you they have a right to know?" came back an angered voice that could have been none other than Yoruichi's.

"They do but if they know then they're going to go rushing off rashly and get themselves killed. Especially Ichigo and Captain Hitsugaya. They'll just go gallivanting. You know what they're like Yoruichi. We can't afford to lose them so close to the upcoming war," Urahara said persistently.

"I know that but its wrong not to tell them and what if they find out in the midst of things. That could get them killed as well if they don't know the whole truth," Mistrust filled Toshiro. They were keeping something hidden! But he knew not to trust what he was hearing. The last time he had overheard a conversation which had been between Gin and Aizen had been nothing but to throw him off their trail of deceit.

"They will be told. Just not now! They need to get past this first of all and remember to keep a close eye on Ichigo. He might do something suicidal right now. But I need to start creating those defences," Toshiro dived to the front of the shop as he heard footsteps coming towards where he was. They moved away and into the room with everyone else and he went outside under the porch trying to avoid getting wet by the rain.

**It seems that even heaven is mourning** came a voice in his head. Yeah it does, Toshiro replied as he stared up at the dull grey clouds overhead crying their tears of sorrow onto the ground.

**Listen closely Toshiro and listen well,** Hyorinmaru said in his warning voice, **Take nothing at face value!**

What's that supposed to mean? Toshiro asked curiously but he got no reply.

"Toshiro. Will you come inside?" said a quiet voice behind him disrupting him from his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'll be in, in a second Momo," he muttered taking one last look at the clouds before stopping his musings over Hyorinmaru's warning and walked back inside to be with his friends.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Training was all he could concentrate on. Neither Rukia nor Orihime could get him out of Urahara's underground training room. He would avenge his sister's death and make everyone pay who had ever meant with harm. Starting with the Espada and he'd eventually make his way to Aizen. Inch by inch he _would_ stick a sword into that man's heart if it was the last thing he did. Even if it killed him.

"Ichigo," a calm voice came behind, "Let go of the sword. You've injured yourself again!" the annoyance in Toshiro's voice was clear to hear as the white haired Captain walked to him sheathing his sword.

"So," Ichigo retorted before gesturing at Toshiro's zanpakuto, "Come on, we weren't finished fighting yet!"

"No but you were. You haven't rested since Kari died; all you've been doing is running yourself ragged. She wouldn't have wanted you to go on like this," Toshiro said wisely while staring determinately into Ichigo's eyes.

Shoulders sagging Ichigo went back up to the ground level to pay a quick visit to Orihime so she could heal his hands. When he climbed up the stairs he was annoyed to see Yoruichi and Urahara with Orihime and Rukia drinking tea. Orihime glanced up meeting his eyes briefly before focusing in on his hands. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she sighed as she stood up but she made no comment over having to heal him so many times but Yoruichi had a different opinion. Before Orihime could even begin her incantation the flash step goddess was already there bandaging up his hands tightly.

"Orihime, don't heal Ichigo any longer, he needs rest and he'll be more likely to do so if he can't move his limbs," she glared at him as she walked back to her seat and Orihime followed glancing back apologetically.

Groaning he walked stiffly over to his body, only realising now how stiff he felt. Back in his physical form he left the shop and walked back to his house on his own. He knew he had been acting depressed and his family had picked up on it. Karin still had her 'I couldn't care less' attitude but Yuzu was worrying over him. Even Isshin was acting depressed as well, as if he could sense that he had just lost something important to him. Ichigo didn't have the heart to tell him that Kari whom he had always believed to be alive was in fact dead. He didn't know how he'd explain how he knew that in the first place.

The world seemed so much dimmer now. Funny how he hadn't noticed how bright it had seemed until he had lost her.

* * *

**Ok, sorry it's sp short but I've had two mock test to do and my french oral so I'm sure you'll all forgive me. Of course it hasn't helped that the labtop with all my stories on it was taken off me for 'giving back cheek'. Aw well. 16 or 17 days till my proper module. Somehow I'm going to have to start studying. Au revoir :)**


	5. update

**Hi, **

**I know that I haven't updated in a while and I'm sorry but I stored my stories onto my ipod and now they have become corrupted and my completed chapters have to be rewritten so hopefully it should be updated this Friday in a few days time. **

**Sorry about all this and thanks.**


	6. Chapter 5: searching and new surprises

**Chapter 5: Searching and new Surprises**

Ichigo sat and stared at his bedroom ceiling while he lied on his bed with his hands behind his head. He was on his own in the house. Rukia along with Hitsugaya and the rest of the soulreapers from soul society had gone to Urahara's. So had Chad, Inoue and Uryu. He had been invited but had denied the invitation. He didn't feel like meeting up with everyone so he could receive pitying looks from them. It had been a week since Kari's death.

A few days after she had died and her spirit particle body had dispersed a memorial had been held in Soul Society for her in the fifth division. Everyone had gone everyone but him. He knew he was being selfish, closing himself away from the world and it wasn't what Kari would have wanted but he wasn't ready to face the world yet without doing one final thing.

Karin and Yuzu continued on as normal. Why should they act any differently? After all they had no memories of Kari and had never met her when she had recently returned. He and Isshin had never really spoken of her so they only knew her from the odd photograph and stories that were sometimes told. Isshin himself was acting different. Ichigo didn't know if it was some sort of parent's sixth sense but he had always said that Kari was alive even after she had been declared dead. He said he just knew but now he was acting depressed and not his cheery self. Perhaps somehow he knew deep down that the daughter he had always said was alive was finally dead but Ichigo didn't want to tell him. That would bring up too many awkward questions of how he could know this information and he wasn't ready to tutor his dad about what really goes on in the afterlife. Not that he would probably believe him.

Ichigo quietly got off his bed and walked throughout the house to check if anyone was there without his knowing before returning to his room. He lifted up his mattress and pulled out a bulkily wrapped object. He unwrapped it and stared at the two swords that had been Kari's zanpakuto, Akemihime. Their scabbards were beautiful and the carvings on it seemed to show a sun near the hilt with rays shining all the way down it.

Ichigo knew that he should tell someone that the zanpakuto had not disappeared with its owner and that it wasn't natural. But some part of him wanted to keep it a secret as if it was a symbol that somehow she was alive. Ichigo knew this was a fools hope, after all he had watched her die in her arms helpless. He knew he had to move on and the swords were the only things keeping him back which is why he had planned today perfectly.

No one was around as his dad was leaving his sisters at a football match and everyone was at Urahara's meeting so there was no one to disturb him. Rewrapping the swords in the blanket he walked out of the house locking it behind him. He walked quickly to the park making sure that he didn't meet anyone he knew as he walked. When he reached the park a small sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he walked into the place of his childhood memories.

He walked into the trees, were along time ago a ball had rolled into them, becoming the cause for everything. Though Ichigo had no doubt that Aizen would have tried to kidnap Kari at another time. The clearing hadn't changed much as far as he was concerned. He still remembered it clearly even though it was slightly overgrown. He walked around the edge to a small stone memorial in the corner. A memorial left for his sister all those years ago. Of course there had been no need for it back then but at least now it could be put to good use. The cause it had been built for.

He walked in front of the memorial to the part that had been recently dug up by him. He had planned this moment over the last few days and finally it could be executed. He gripped the sword wrapped blankets one final time before lowering them into the earth. The final resting place for the last link to Kari Kurosaki. Ichigo stood staring at the swords for a while before covering them up again with the soil. As soon as he patted the final plod of soil into place the loss of the swords and pink baby blanket immediately came down on him. The blanket had been a past reminder of what she had once been like to him as a child and the swords of what she had grown into.

He knelt back on his knees, head bowed in respect and prayer for her to go to a good resting place. He didn't know how long he knelt there before the memorial turned grave and he didn't know when he became aware of the presence behind him. He was so uses to the feeling of his father's spiritual pressure that he hadn't really noticed it but now he realised there was something different about it. It wasn't entirely human, more shinigami like than anything. Dreading as to what he was about to see he turned slowly still kneeling down to see his father staring at him sadly.

Ichigo's eyes lowered slowly to see the shinigami uniform and then a piece of a Captain's haori strapped to his arm. A zanpakuto at his side.

Betrayal echoed throughout the empty I Ichigo. The last rock of safety and normality had left him. Not even his house was safe from anything to do with Soul Society.

"Ichigo…" Isshin stopped as he met Ichigo's betrayed eyes and the glare he received. "I know that you think-"

"-You don't know anything about me!" Ichigo snapped at him standing up abruptly.

"I know more than you think Ichigo. I know that Rukia is of the Kuchiki clan and that Uryu is a Quincy. I also know that Orihime and Chad have powers as well. I know that when you left over the summer it was to save Rukia from execution and when you returned you fought the Bount. Then came the Arrancar threat and the kidnapping of Orihime where you and your friends went to save her. I've know what's been going on for a long time,"

"Then why weren't you there?" the growl of anger shocked Isshin more than he let on and the hatred filled glares were slowly breaking his heart but like always he repressed his feelings slightly. "You could have been there. All those times that we were in trouble you could have helped," Images flashed through his head as he shouted those words. Rukia about to be executed and Orihime kidnapped. Fighting the Bount, fighting Soul Society and killing Arrancar. And then the images slowed down for the final two.

The first a more recent one of Kari dying in his arms and then Masaki. His mother who he wanted to learn to fight for so he could protect her. Only she had ended up protecting him in the end from the Grande Fisher.

"You could have saved Kari… you could have saved MUM!!!!" Ichigo bellowed and when he got no response from his father who stood where he was he cracked and charged at him, fists swinging forgetting he could do nothing in his human body but not for long. Taking out his soul reaper badge he pressed it firmly to his chest letting his soul form out of his body. Unwrapping Zangetsu he swung his sword fast and hard, intent on hurting his father like his father had ended up hurting his wife and daughter. Isshin stared impassively at his son before dodging the first swing making no attempt to stop his son from his rash actions knowing he needed to clear it out of his system.

"Why… weren't… you… there?" Ichigo yelled, speaking each word after a swing at his father. Hatred and pain showed clearly in his eyes as he let his repressed emotions out. Every single one that he had bottled up since he had been a child. His spiritual pressure spiked up highly and still increased. "Our family was torn apart and you could have stopped it!" Ichigo jumped back as his father stopped avoiding his attacks and lunged at his sword hand, his reiatsu rising quickly before missing his target.

Both men jumped back from each other and looked at each other warily before Isshin drew the sealed form of his zanpakuto and used flash step to get behind Ichigo. Ducking Ichigo avoided the sword thrust and rolled away before standing back on his feet. His eyes following Isshin as he used Shunpo to surround his son before coming in for another attack from above. Isshin leaped into the air and came down at Ichigo, his sword prepared to slash him apart but Ichigo predicting the move managed to move out of the way in time. As his father landed he charged at him, Zangetsu ready to stab into him. Only by sheer luck did Isshin avoid the fatal blow by moving quickly. His body missed the blunt of the attack but his side was pierced and he stumbled slightly staring in surprise at his son.

Ichigo stood where he was, sword still left in his stabbing motion as he stared at his father. His eyes almost pleading for Isshin to tell him it was going to be ok. It brought back memories of his son as a little child looking to him for reassurance that everything was going to be ok and this time Isshin didn't think he would be able to comfort him.

"When did you learn to fight so well Ichigo?" he asked curiously. It had been a while since anyone had managed to touch him with a sword and never had anyone dominated a battle like his son had.

_When did you surpass me Ichigo? Was I not watching as close as I thought I had been? Or is it just my fighting skills that have diminished with age?_ Indeed it seemed the latter for he was breathing heavily as he thought these thoughts while clutching the wound on his side. A blur in front of his eyes caught his attention and only then did he notice that Ichigo was no longer in front of him.

Turning around and bringing his sword with him he managed to parry Ichigo's sword but as his son struck down again and again he knew that he had lost and as his zanpakuto left his hands he didn't feel regret, only how proud of his son he was. He closed his eyes slightly waiting for the final blow and would not surprise him if his son did kill him. The rage he was in he could do anything. After a few seconds when nothing happened he opened his eyes and they were immediately locked with confused brown eyes unsure of what to do next.

For Ichigo when he had started the battle, all he had wanted to do was hurt his father. Maim him perhaps. But now the time had come to giver deliverance for his father's casual abandonment of his family he didn't think he could do it. His father was still his father, no matter what he had done or rather what he hadn't.

Confusion took over and he fell to his knees with despair gazing up at the man who had kept his entire existence's purpose hidden away. The man who should have been there for him but who had lied to him instead. For Isshin as he saw his son glaring up at him he saw two paths that they could go down. The first where their relationship broke down and where his son hated him for all the lies that had made up his life. The second was the harder for Isshin who had never been able to express his feelings like he wanted to, instead hiding behind an idiotic image and showing love to his son by trying to beat him up.

These two paths flashed before Isshin in a second and he chose the one he believed to best for them both.

He kneeled down to face his son seriously for once instead of towering over him. When he stared into Ichigo's eyes he didn't see Masaki staring back at him or a younger Ichigo but a young man grieving the loss of his sister and looking for help to show him how to live life again. "I'm proud of you Ichigo. More than you could ever possibly know," he swallowed back his tears as he looked proudly at the shinigami before him, "You suit your namesake perfectly. Your will to protect those you care for can do anything if you will it!"

"But I didn't save Kari. The one who means the most to me. I've lost her. I failed her. I-"

"You didn't fail your sister, if anyone it was I who failed her. And she's not lost. You have your memories of her no matter how brief they were. It's those memories that keep her essence with us and keep her truly alive… You remind me of Masaki so much," Ichigo held his breath waiting for what was to come, "She was so compassionate and caring to those around her just like you. Why those qualities never went to Karin, I don't know," Isshin shrugged sorrowfully as he thought of the walloping he'd received from his daughter for teasing her about a crush she had on a white haired middle-schooler. For his attempt at humour he received a feeble smile.

"Did you ever look for her?" there was urgency in his voice for the need to know that his dad searched for Kari was overwhelming. He needed to know if someone had searched when he had been unable to.

"Yeah I searched. When you came back talking about a man wearing black robes and a white haori I knew it narrowed it down to thirteen people. From that I narrowed it down even further. I thought the older Captains like Yammamoto, Unohana, Kyoraku and Ukitake were innocent and unfortunately I thought Aizen to be free of the crime as well. In all the time that I searched for her when I was at 'business meetings' I never thought to search for her in Hueco Mundo,"

Ichigo nodded thoughtfully, his heart lighter that someone had tried to find her. "Did you meet her at all?" he asked knowing that he wanted his dad to know about her.

"Yeah the night she came over to the house she stayed outside waiting for me to notice her spiritual pressure like she'd noticed mine. That was when I got to know her even though it was only for an hour or two,"

"That's good!" Ichigo thought, at least we weren't the only ones to know her properly.

***

Aizen walked through the halls of Las Noches feeling immensely sad. He hadn't expected Kari's death to hit him so hard. He had expected to be glad to have one obstacle out of his way but he had raised her albeit with Gin and Tosen but all the same he hadn't expected to feel a small sense of pride when she left for what she believed in. But now she was dead, the only major obstacle out of his way was gone.

"Gin," he called out and awaited for the sly faced man to come which he did five minutes after he had been called. Aizen stared at him with hostility before gesturing to below him, "Go down to the basement floor and I think it's safe to let out Rin," he gestured dismissively and turned to head back to his room, "Bring her to me,"

"Aizen, do you think that to be entirely smart," came the usual drawling voice serious for once, "She'll try to find her body and get on a rampage!"

"But Gin," came the smug reply, "That's exactly what I've planned," Aizen walked off feeling smug with himself for once again staying one step ahead of the genius but there was one problem. If he were to let Rin out and on a rampage Tosen was bound to protest over her serious amount of killing. I'll deal with him later, he thought walked through the halls of his dome shaped castle. He felt content as he watched the Arrancar scurry out of his way, fear written across their faces.

He knew that he would rather it be Shinigami that fled away in fear and it gave him an awful longing for home. But he couldn't go back yet. He still needed to plan his ascension to heaven and how he would destroy Hueco Mundo once he was king. After all he was first and foremost a soulreaper and as one, his first duty was to destroy hollows and he planned to do it with a bang!

"Lord Aizen," came an icy voice from behind him that sent icy chills running down his spine at the pure malice in the voice, "You have seen fit to release me. May I ask what has brought about this joyous occasion? Hopefully someone's death," the voice turned optimistic at the thought of throats being slit and watching life filled eyes turn to dull holes in sockets as their life's essence left them.

"A death. Yes it was a death," he paused waiting for the tension to build up, "Sadly one week ago Kari Kurosaki died," Aizen smiled as he imagined the girl's expression on the face behind him.

"I want you to go to the real world and kill her murdered. Do you think you can do that?" he smirked.

"I'll do it with the smallest force necessary," the voice had turned angry, "Who killed her? Who would dare to even hurt her?" the voice spilled out cold in anger.

"The person you're looking for is her brother. Find Ichigo Kurosaki and bring me his head!"

"Gladly Lord Aizen. I'd love to!" a blood thirsty smile spread across the face of the girl known as Rin.

* * *

**Gosh, I never thought I'd finish this chapter cuz this week has been so hectic. it's now eleven at night and im tired so the only thing i'll say is the reason I chose the name Rin was because it means cold, dignified, severe and i thought it to be appropriate**

*******

**ok now I'm wide awake and I must thank akiharu-chan for alerting me to the fact that I had used the fifth chapter of my other story to update this one instead of the correct one that i had uploaded. guess my tiredness overtook me and I saw one of my documents say chap 5 and i clicked. aw well just so you know it wasn't my fault and thanks for alerting me to this fact.**

**anyway I've got sick and tired of having a sad depressed Ichigo so that's it for him moping. next week he's back to normal hopefully, but maybe still a little bit sad. hmm perhaps. anyway does anyone want to guess who Rin is in relation to the story. I bet none of you will expect who she is. anyway forewarning my tests have finally arrived next week and I've barely studied so wish me luck and next weeks chapter might be late and quite short.**

**Bye bye,**

**blackwitchkarma**


	7. Chapter 6: Infuriation

**Chapter 6: Infuriation **

Everyone had gotten into a regular routine. They got up early to go to Urahara's where they organized the Hollow patrol shifts. Everyone had been teamed up for these shifts. During the day Isshin and Ryuken took the main brunt of the work while everyone else went to school.

As Yumichika and Ikkaku tended to bunk off school due to the rule against weapons, wooden or not, they were also told to patrol during the day.

As for everyone else, Uryu paired up with Orihime and Chad saying he'd rather not work with the shinigami while pushing his glasses up his nose obnoxiously. His dad's defense to that statement was that Isshin was no longer of Soul Society so he didn't count as a proper shinigami. Ichigo paired up with Rukia as no one else wanted to be paired up with him, plus the only ones truly comfortable around Ichigo in his silent grief was her and Momo, who was still ripping herself up over Kari's death. But Hitsugaya knew he would be too worried about her if she wasn't with him so he paired up with her, also he didn't want Momo and Ichigo getting too close. Although he considered Ichigo to be his friend he didn't want Momo and Ichigo to bond over Kari's death and go beyond the terms of friendship.

That left only Renji and Rangiku to be paired up together. Neither of them minded as they had stashed sake from Hitsugaya and were organizing their boozing night. Although Toshiro wasn't as unaware of their plans as they thought. Unfortunately the hidden sake that they were planning to use was frozen solid so that not even intensive heating would melt it, compliment from Captain Hitsugaya.

* * *

"You know what I hate most in the world?" came a voice roaring throughout the house, "When you make fun of me in front of my friends and then talk to that ridiculous poster of mum!" the voice grew louder and shriller, screeching throughout the house and waking up everyone as Karin kicked her father in the kitchen.

Ichigo drowsily opened his eyes as the yell echoed through his ears like it did nearly every other morning. Grumbling Ichigo sat up in bed and rubbed the back of his head with his hand to get rid of an itchy patch. Knowing that something wasn't right he pulled his hand from his head and stared at it and the gooey substance on it before letting out the second yell in the Kurosaki house that morning.

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled coming into the room, still in her pajamas with her cell phone in hand. Ichigo was looking in the mirror at the back of his head as he tried to poke something out of his hair before he turned around when he heard his name being called. There could have been a hollow in the bedroom at the time, but all Rukia would have noticed was Ichigo standing in front of her wearing his boxers.

"What is it Rukia?" he asked completely unaware of the reason why a blush had spread across her face as she now tried to avoid looking at him.

"I heard you yell but…" she trailed off as she noticed a dead butterfly on the back of his head.

"Is that a butter… you idiot!!" she screamed at him, "Why the hell is that hell butterfly squished into your hair. That was the last one here in the human world and we won't be getting another shipment of them for another few days. You killed off our last way of tracking the hollows and immediate contact with soul society."

"What! It's not my fault, I just woke up and it was dead in my hair. Besides what happened to the other hell butterflies?"

"Over the past week, they've been disappearing and we don't know what the cause is. Hitsugaya was the first to notice them going missing,"

"Why didn't any of you tell me?" Ichigo asked indignant that they were keeping things from him.

"We did! We announced it at the meeting two days ago but obviously you weren't listening again," Rukia practically screeched having forgotten about her earlier embarrassment as she proceeded to whack Ichigo before storming out of the room to change for school.

"They always seem to argue don't they Shiro!" Hinamori remarked as they waited outside on the wall in their school uniform where they could still hear the two shouting at each other. Hitsugaya sighed and flipped close his mobile. With the last hell butterfly gone they would have to search manually for hollows and Aizen could send in Espada and they would never know. Why was everything going against them recently?

He glanced at the girl beside him before sighing yet again. Over the past two months Hinamori had improved over losing her Captain and although she was no longer the trusting happy bubbly girl she had once been there was still a small part of her left and that was good enough for him. "Hinamori?" he asked curiously and waited until he had caught the girl's attention before continuing, "This has been bugging me for the last two months and I haven't asked because I thought it would hurt you but I really need to know. When you were attacked by the Espada you said they wanted you. Do you know why" he asked hoping she would have an answer but the expression on her face immediately told him she didn't and the shake of her head confirmed it as her brown eyes relived the day of Kari's death.

"Toshiro," Ichigo came out of the house and waved a greeting with Rukia coming out behind him looking thoroughly annoyed.

"It's Captain Hitsugaya," Toshiro said more out of habit than actual annoyance at his first name being used.

"Not when we're dressed for school it isn't so I can call you by your name little Shiro," Ichigo smirked as he used Hinamori's little pet name.

"Don't call me that!" Hitsugaya brushed off the remark by jumping off the wall and then proceeded to walk away heading toward the school. With slight hesitation Momo smiled before running after him, her loose brown hair swaying in the wind as she rushed toward her child hood friend.

"Those two are so meant for each other," Rukia commented as she walked beside Ichigo and they both stared ahead of them at the cute pairing as they talked to each other quietly.

"You think so?" Ichigo asked as he stared at the two different opposites before it occurred to him, "Yeah I see what you mean. They're so opposite that they automatically need each other to complete themselves," Ichigo smiled slightly at this as he stared at the blue sky above him thinking hard.

"You sound like you know what you're talking about," Rukia commented wondering what was going on through his head at the moment.

He turned to her and smiled brightly, "Perhaps I do," for some reason that smile made Rukia blush slightly and she quickly looked away.

"Hey lovebirds, hurry up or you'll be late," came the calm icy voice ahead of them that had them both blushing and rushing to catch up to the fifth and tenth squad members.

"Captain," Rangiku yoo-hooed as she met them up outside the school gate with Renji by her side. She smiled slightly as she swayed unsteadily on her feet. "You know Caaaptain… you (she poked her finger in Toshiro's chest repeatedly) are a slave driver and such a meanieeee," she cried as she half collapsed over her white haired Captain with Renji looking on while sniggering underneath his breath at the infuriated look on Hitsugaya's face.

"Matsumoto why do you smell of alcohol?" came an enraged voice that made every student enter the gate stop and stare. But the soul reaper group outside failed to notice that they were being watched by hollow and these hollow had slight crumbs around their mouths from a spiritual meal that they had had earlier. Stuck in one's teeth looked suspiciously like a hell butterfly's wing.

* * *

"Is everything ready?" the controlled voice asked with a slight glee as one of Sayzel's fraccion typed at the keyboard in front of the large computer screen.

"Yes Rin, the garganta should take you directly near his location. Now do you remember everything that you need to know?" Gin asked as he stared cautiously at the malicious teenager in front of him. He hated this plan and had even objected about it when he had spoken to Aizen but he had ignored his warnings saying that he could control the evil filled child but Gin had doubts about that as he stared into the hungry red eyes.

"Yes yes I know. Kill Ichigo Kurosaki and everyone else I can but I'm to take one Hinamori Momo back here alive for Lord Aizen." The girl grinned and flicked back her white haired fringe out of her eyes as she recited off her instructions that she had to carry out.

"That's correct and remember stick to the plan. Don't go off exploring for anything!" Gin warned, "Or there will be consequences."

"You're telling me to not search for my human body aren't you fox man," she whispered as she stepped closer to the grinning Gin, her white skirt swishing as she moved, "But I warn you, when I find my body I'll be free from you and Aizen's control and then I'll kill you both,"

Her face was millimeters away from Gin's and he gulped audibly as he stared into her eyes and saw more hate and anger in them than was possible for anyone person to contain. She sensed his fear and smiled maliciously before stepping back and tapping her finger to open a garganta. She allowed the few underlings that she was taking to pass through but paused to turn back to him, "That girl that you're close to with the blonde hair. Matsumoto Rangiku isn't it? I'm sure you must miss her terribly not being able to see her and all. So how about I do you a little favour? I'll bring back her head just for you Gin. I'm sure you'll love to see the pain in her lifeless eyes as her face is twisted into one of pain and horror and I'm positive that you'll love the smell of her decaying flesh. It's a brilliant present from me to you," with one final smile and laugh she left through the portal leaving a shock and terrified Gin behind her. One sly faced man who was seriously annoyed and was going to do something about it.

* * *

**Omg I am so sorry that I haven't updated in like two or three weeks but my life has been really hectic recently. First I had my modules and I've pretty much failed Chemistry and then I had a fundraiser to go to and I invited my friends along and that got even more hectic and now I have end of year tests to do that I haven't studied for even though they're two days away and to make my life so much better I have a guitar exam on thursday for grade 2. It's my very first grade exam and I'm probably going to freak out and freeze when I have to play so wish me luck everyone.**

**Anyway... I know this chapter is really short, only round five pages long and I'm sorry but it was the most I had time to write.**

**The weather that we've had recently has been brilliant. Normally it's kinda mild and wet or just cloudy but recently we've had clear blue skies and temperatures between 24'C and 30'C. Aren't we lucky!! Of course I've been stuck in school most of the time and our school uniform is like navy/black and everyone knows that black absorbs heat so feel for me people melting inside an ugly school uniform! and do you want to know what makes it even worse? They're taking up our school skirts. Right now they're white and navy checked skirts that come to just below our ankles but our vice-principal soon to be principal wants to take them up by eight inches and it looks horrendous. I wouldn't be seen dead in it, it's that bad! Honestly the power has gone to her head. She says its for safety but we were told by someone else that it's because they don't want us tripping on our skirts and falling down the stairs even though for the ten years that we've had the skirts there's never been an accident.**

**My life officially sucks and I'm depressed. But I will survive hopefully. Bye, hopefully I'll update soon.**

**_Hana if you're reading this at all... Charlie like's you :) and I mean REALLY likes you. Spread the love Charlie, spread the love!_**

**_sorry that's a joke between me and my friend. We were both watching 'bizarre animal ER' and this cat had a sex change and we made a sort of story out of it with a lizard and a unicorn in it!!!!_**

Perhaps I'll share it with you guys sometime


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