Orderly Madness, the Melody of Chaos #08: A new development
Orderly Madness, the Melody of Chaos [#08/?]
Chapter rating: PG-15 for description of mutilation
Chapter specific warning: A murder. And another.
Chapter specific spoiler: None
Chapter summary: The latest addition to the serial murder brings a new information to light.
Author’s Note:
Liteitai is the fifth squad of Onmitsukidou; they are the messengers with a folded hat covering their faces. The squad made their first appearance in the original Bleach when Kyouraku had just won against Sado; a messenger had come to deliver a message to Ise Nanao about the discovery of Aizen’s death, which was classified as Class 1 priority message, signed by Yamamoto and Hitsugaya. One of Liteitai also got abused(?) by Yachiru when he kept insisting on delivering the message when Kenpachi and Ichigo were in a fight. Poor guy.
Now, I have an announcement to make. After this chapter, there will be no update for a while -just for a while-. My life is very rocky at the moment and I’m not very far ahead of this chapter. Instead of rushing things, I’d like to get around to them properly. I wouldn’t say ‘hiatus’ since I’m still writing and I would return once I’ve written four or five more chapters, so I would be really glad if you all return when I post the next chapter. *Hiatus lifted*
As usual, thank you to everyone who reviewed because that’s bread and butter for me and my muses.
PS One of reviewers pointed out that Karin plays soccer, not football. I live in UK and speak British English, which means that by ‘football’, I mean ‘soccer’. Just a little clarification.
:::::Orderly Madness, the Melody of Chaos by Kanon Ch.8:::::
New development
The air was cool and crisp, the soft moonlight falling upon the blooming sakura tree in a shadowed corner. Small petals glistened in the silvery light that seeped through them, where two figures were whispering in low voices. The darkness of shadow easily overcame the weak, feeble moonlight that trickled through the countless pale pink petals, and the two were safely guarded away from the silent world.
“Wait…”
“Don’t.”
“………”
“Good.”
‘…Let………end……’
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A blur was all anyone would have been able to see as a mysterious figure tore through the labyrinth-like streets in the lightless night of Seireitei. It landed on a narrow rooftop of a wall once in a while but was gone in the blink of an eye without any sound nor any hint that one had ever landed on it. The form came to an abrupt halt when some noises came from the other end of the dark street, a sober voice in amidst of slurry, drunken ones bidding farewell with ‘see you tomorrow’ before most of the noises started to drift away again. A soft, inaudible chuckle left the shadowed one’s lips before disappearing from the spot again, only to reappear in front of one very startled shinigami.
And startled the poor shinigami should be, for one second ago, he was contemplating about what time he had to wake up tomorrow morning, and the next second, his eyes were blankly staring into the air, devoid of life. The same blade that had pierced four other’s necks left its latest victim and this time, there was no staring at the lifeless form, no inexplicable gaze spared for the pitiful, limp body, sprawled on the freezing cold ground. A few rustles of clothes, a few swings of a dangerously shining katana were soon followed by sickening bone-crunching sounds.
And that night, Seireitei had its fifth victim, lying in his own pool of blood, his mouth filled with his own castrated organ and broken fingers.
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Hitsugaya’s perpetual scowl deepened as he headed toward the meeting room; the restlessness between the shinigamis was thick in the disturbed and tense air. When a messenger from Liteitai came with Yamamoto’s summon for an emergency captaincy meeting, Hitsugaya had almost not been surprised.
Almost.
It had been nearly a week since the last murder and the twisted killer had struck again last night. What made the tenth division captain even more worried was that the Captain-Commander had called for them via Liteitai rather than the usual method of using hell butterflies. The special messengers were usually reserved for Class 1 priority messages or during wartimes when messages needed to be delivered in a more secure manner. In any case, a sudden call by Liteitai for whatever reason was never good news. Quickening his steps, Hitsugaya had just entered the first division building when he heard someone calling him.
“Hitsugaya taichou!”
Hitsugaya stopped and turned around, finding himself face-to-face with Hisagi Shuuhei. The ninth division captain was wearing a full-length sleeved haori like Ukitake to protect himself from the cold wintry air but in the brief flapping of the top clothes, Hitsugaya could see that his shihakshou was sleeveless as usual.
“Hisagi.”
“Hitsugaya taichou, do you know why sotaichou has called us by Liteitai?”
Hitsugaya shook his head and took off again once Hisagi had caught up with him. They walked
past a number of shinigamis who bowed deeply, quickly sidestepping to let the two hurried captains through, and soon arrived at the meeting room. The meeting started almost immediately as all the captains had responded to the abrupt call in a swift manner. The air was heavy, the room silent save the quiet coughs from Ukitake; his illness always worsened when the weather turned chilly. Yamamoto’s stern gaze swept across the faces of the twelve captains in front of him before he hit the wooden floor with the end of his cane.
“Thank you for responding to my sudden invitation so quickly. Now we shall begin the captaincy meeting. We have a fifth victim on our hands, Ayame Mitsukuni from the third division.”
Everyone’s eyes fell on the ex-spy briefly before returning to the Captain-Commander; the third division captain had the trademark smile on his face as usual and nothing could be read behind the sneaky grin.
“Unohana taichou has been carrying out the post-mortem all morning and has informed me with news that changes the situation drastically. Unohana taichou.”
“Hai. In the past four victims, I had noticed that the trace of reiatsu left at the neck wounds has been getting stronger. I do not know why. However in the last victim, the reiatsu increased significantly and after trying to match it to the samples I have collected, I have come to a conclusion it does not seem to belong to anyone in Seireitei.”
“!!!”
Everyone with the exception of Yamamoto and Soi Fon looked at the medical shinigami with wide eyes. It was a scenario no one had even thought of. Ukitake stifled another cough as he frowned and cautiously put forward a question that all the captains were thinking of.
“I do not mean to doubt your ability, Unohana taichou, but… how is that possible?”
Unohana’s face remained in a gentle smile.
“It’s okay, Ukitake taichou, I find it hard to believe myself. The reiatsu remains somewhat hazy so far with no clear, distinctive traits, so I will not put aside the possibility of the culprit being a shinigami completely for now. However we need to find out if we are really out of any danger from enemies outside Seireitei. If there are unknown outsiders involved in these murders, it means they have somehow managed to infiltrate into Seireitei by some other means than Senkaimon without setting off any alerts.”
Hitsugaya scowled, keeping his emerald eyes locked on the medical shinigami. The implication of her words was grave. Oddly enough, it was Kurotsuchi who piped up at the news.
“How is that possible? I don’t need to explain about the barrier we have around Seireitei from Sekkiseki (AN: Bloodthirst stone), do I?”
The forth division captain stayed calm and quiet in spite of the rather insulting comment from her comrade but the sharp-eyed prodigy noticed her smile was a little more restrained than before.
“Of course not. However that is the only logical theory.”
“It is NOT possible!”
“SILENCE!”
Kurotsuchi visibly flinched at Yamamoto’s booming voice, earning himself a snicker from Zaraki. No one else cared about the experiment-obsessed captain as they focused on the Captain-Commander, waiting for his order.
“Unohana taichou has not ruled out the possibility of the killer being one of our own shinigamis yet but if someone has indeed found a way to enter Seireitei in such a way, the consequences will be severe and it is not a chance we should take. There has been an increase in Hollow attacks in the real world and although there has been no evidence to suggest the Hollows are being manipulated, the timing roughly coincides with when the murders started. Hitsugaya taichou.”
Hitsugaya answered straight away with his usual impassive face although internally, he was somewhat startled by the sudden call.
“Hai.”
“You will join the investigation team. I cannot allow it to be fully open until it is confirmed for sure that no shinigamis are involved in this but if there is even a possibility that an unknown force has intruded Seireitei, it cannot be overlooked until confirmed otherwise. You are to look for any possible parties that may be responsible. Soi Fon taichou will brief you on the progress the team has made so far but understand that she may not be able to tell you some parts of her inquiry.”
“Hai.”
The prodigy was not all too surprised with the order; in Gotei 13, there was no division officially stated to be the investigation department, but because of his sharp eyes and high analytical skills, the job was often given to Hitsugaya, the duty frequently sending him to the frontline of a battle, such as the one with Arrancars.
Yamamoto’s eyes were solemn as they stared into a pair of determined emerald ones, his tone lower and if possible, even more serious than before.
“I trust that you will remember the fact that the internal investigation is still going on.”
The old Captain-Commander did not say anything else on the matter but Hitsugaya understood what he meant.
“Hai.”
In short, I have to be careful what I tell to whom, Hitsugaya thought to himself. His choices in who to deploy on his behalf would be very limited and he would also have to make sure he was the only one who read all of the individual reports so that even if there was any leak from someone, it would not jeopardise the whole investigation. The white eyebrows knitted a little further from their usual places; this was going to be one very broken inquiry at least until Unohana confirmed the identity of the mysterious reiatsu.
Hitsugaya had already started to go through the list of names in his head when Yamamoto’s growly voice rang throughout the silent room again.
“Every taichou is to stay alert and watch out for any signs of anomaly. The patrols will now take place every hour and the new rotation will be sent out to all divisions sometime today. Increase the night guards at each of your divisions and station some more shinigamis near the four Gates that lead to Rukongai as a precautionary measure.”
“Hai!”
“Given the circumstance, Hitsugaya taichou will have full authority over the external investigation which is to remain unknown to those outside of this room at this moment except those who will be involved in it. I expect there to be no hindrance from any of you in either of the inquests. That will be all for now. Dismissed.”
Kurotsuchi grumbled under his breath that it was simply not possible for anyone to enter Seireitei by any other means than Senkaimon without setting the alert off but all the other captains remained silent, lost in their own thoughts about what had been discussed in the meeting. Hitsugaya remained in his place, wondering if it was a good decision to keep his own inquiry discreet. In the event that the killer was in fact a shinigami, the news of an external investigation might cause carelessness in the future homicides; however, if Seireitei was facing an unknown force outside of their walls, the concealment might allow Hitsugaya’s team an easier access to the culprits while it looked like Gotei 13 still did not expect any foreign involvement.
The prodigy sighed quietly; either way, they would lose something. Since the internal investigation was already well-known within Seireitei, perhaps it was a good idea to be silent about the soon-to-be-started investigation.
“Hitsugaya taichou, if you do not have any important business, we can discuss the case right now in my office.”
Hitsugaya was almost startled at the sudden voice interrupting his thoughts; he had not noticed Soi Fon approaching him. His surprise well masked behind his usual frown, he nodded at the petite but fierce Chinese and followed her out of the meeting room, joined by Unohana. For a moment, the small captain wondered if his uneasy feeling about these murders had been because he perceived them as an omen of another war.
Whatever the case was, now that he was involved in the investigation, Hitsugaya was going to get to the bottom of it.
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It was another few hours before Hitsugaya left Soi Fon’s office, processing a bunch of information he had just received in his head. Just the briefing on the murders had taken a while although it didn’t reveal much, of which he was rather disappointed, but at the same time, allowed him to comprehend the true depth of difficulty Soi Fon’s team had been facing. After that, the three captains had discussed a variety of different theories and suspects until they were reminded of time and had to wrap up the conversation.
Hitsugaya could now understand the second division captain’s frustration; with no connection and no pattern, the case was of utter irregularity and mysteriousness. However if it had truly been an outsider’s work, the victims were most likely to have been targeted at random. Why the bodies had to be mutilated in such a way remained incomprehensible but it would presumably be explained once he or Soi Fon found out the identity of the murderer.
Nevertheless, it was hard to ignore the odds that the killer would be a shinigami. How on earth
could someone get through the Sekkiseki barrier without causing explosions and intruder alerts like Kurosaki and his friends? Hitsugaya did not doubt Kurotsuchi was devouring through his database at this moment, snarling at his artificial daughter who would stand next to him obediently.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the administration office of the tenth division; if it hadn’t been Matsumoto bursting out of the office, practically shouting in his ear, Hitsugaya would have continued to walk past the office.
“Taichou! You’ve been gone for so long, I was starting to get worried!”
Hitsugaya instantly scowled at the ringing in his ear, moving out of her arms’ reach before she could suffocate him what Kon had called ‘the valley of the Gods’ -in his opinion, they were ‘the valley of the Death’-.
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere, taichou, I felt your reiatsu so I wanted to greet you!”
“Then get back inside, Matsumoto.”
Matsumoto looked at his serious -even more than usual, that is- face curiously before she stepped back in to let the prodigy through. Hitsugaya closed the door behind him and set a barrier around the room. The silvery eyes turned solemn at her captain’s action and when Hitsugaya sat down at his desk, the vice-captain was instantly standing next to him, all her bubbly air dissipated in an instant as if someone had just poured a bucket of freezing water over her.
Hitsugaya didn’t say anything for a while and Matsumoto waited patiently. It seemed there were many things going through the famed prodigy’s head, the white brows tightly knitted and two hands interlocked in front of his face. After a few minutes, Hitsugaya finally turned and looked up at her with stern eyes.
“Matsumoto, what I tell you from now on remains here between us unless you get a specific permission from me directly to do otherwise. Is that understood?”
Matsumoto blinked with surprise. The young captain rarely said such things since if there was something he did not wish others to know, he simply kept it to himself. Nevertheless the buxom shinigami quickly nodded when she realised her captain was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, waiting for her answer; of course, there was only one answer she would give.
“Hai, taichou.”
“Get a chair and sit down. This is going to take some time.”
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It was indeed some time after Matsumoto had sat down before Hitsugaya finished relaying the news and the relevant -and summarised- facts. The vice-captain now understood the cautionary steps he had taken to ensure no uninvited audience.
“So what’s your plan, taichou?”
Hitsugaya leaned back a little, clearing his throat; he hadn’t spoken so much in one go for a long time.
“A team needs to be sent to the human realm to investigate the Hollow activity, especially in Karakura, and with sotaichou’s permission, another one to Hueco Mundo.”
“Hueco Mundo?”
The captain nodded, his usual scowl now gaining a faint glimpse of grimness; that one would take some planning but was necessary to confirm one of his suspicions.
“If this is not a work of a shinigami, in other words, an outsider, who’s most likely to want deaths of shinigamis?”
Matsumoto replied in an anxious voice.
“The Hollows who survived the War.”
The turquoise eyes lost their focus a little as the prodigy captain started to fall back into his thoughts. Hitsugaya could have millions of things in his mind but was always able to speak out the relevant facts in a logical manner even if that was not how the thoughts were stacked up in his head. That distant look was something that adorned the frosty captain’s face whenever he was searching for what he wanted in the sea of the knowledge and thoughts.
“As far as we know, no Vasto Lordes escaped the War alive, at least the ones under Aizen. A number of Adjukases had run away but sotaichou hadn’t thought they would be any significant threat with no one to order them. It could be leftover Adjukases with some sort of last revilement or a new Vasto Lorde trying to follow Aizen’s footstep to get rid of shinigamis. Aizen had certainly shown them that it was feasible.”
The frown was of disgust and concern when Hitsugaya practically spat out the last words but Matsumoto’s face showed confusion instead.
“But taichou… Why kill all those low-rank shinigamis if that’s the case? Wouldn’t they have just invaded Soul Society or do something else more threatening?”
Hitsugaya had thought about that as well and although he couldn’t get any firm answer on the
question, he had a theory. It was, of course, under the assumption that it was Hollows behind these murders.
“We are either facing a very sloppy work from some rogue Menoses or a very clever one who has some unknown intention behind the murders. After all, they had managed to prevent the focus of the investigation turning outside of Seireitei until now. However it’s only a theory, we cannot overlook anything.”
Matsumoto nodded with a grimace across her delicate feature; really, one War had been more than enough and too many hearts were already broken and tattered including many of her friends, not to mention her own captain. The strawberry-blonde shinigami sincerely hoped they would not find any serious threats and the ordeal would be over soon. Then she remembered the other part of her captain’s answer and asked again.
“What about Karakura? Is it because Ichigo’s there?”
She had mentioned the substitute shinigami to lighten up the heavy air a bit but was surprised with Hitsugaya’s straight-faced reply. She didn’t even get a tinge of pink; what a disappointment, Matsumoto thought to herself. It seemed her captain was deeply immersed in the case already, despite having received the order only a few hours ago.
“There is a chance that these attacks concern revenge, either for their loss of power or Aizen’s death itself. If vengeance is their cause, Kurosaki may be another target of theirs since he and I were the ones who killed Aizen, which ultimately led to the degeneration of Arrancars.”
Then Hitsugaya realised there was someone else that was involved in bringing Aizen’s demise. It was true that he and his lover had done most of the work but the final blow had been delivered by someone else.
“I guess that might include Kuchiki taichou as well although I wouldn’t put it past him to have already thought out this much on his own when an outsider’s involvement was suspected.”
Matsumoto nodded; Kuchiki Byakuya was definitely one of the finest Gotei 13 had ever seen in its history and with his capability and the impenetrable coolness, he might have been the one to be called a prodigy -after all, he was the strongest leader of one of the Great Four Noble, Kuchiki clan- if it had not been the young master of Hyourinmaru sitting in front of her. Briefly she wondered if one of the necessary requirements for a prodigy was being as aloof as one -un-realistically can be but her musing was interrupted by the said white-haired tendo.
“The increase in Hollow attacks may not be coincidental although for now, everything remains as a possibility. Nothing should be taken for granted.”
With Hitsugaya having thought out pretty much everything, there was nothing else for the vice-captain to do but nod, when she suddenly realised something.
“Taichou, that means you might be targeted as well!”
Hitsugaya did not admit nor deny it; he would be one of the main targets if it was revenge for the dead defector but the idea seemed somewhat absurd. Would the ex-Arrancars have such things as honour and loyalty? However, for their lost power, maybe; to Hollows, power was what mattered and the taste of the ultimate strength as Arrancars would have been intoxicating. Nevertheless, they would be Adjukases and with their number significantly decreased, it would be almost suicidal to launch attacks on Gotei 13 that had now more or less fully recovered.
Maybe that was why they turned to assassination instead of launching a full front attack. On the other hand, if there was no vengeance involved, then he wasn’t going to be the only one that caught the enemy’s eyes as a big threat. The number of Vasto Lordes has never been clear and there was no way for Soul Society to know if Aizen had had all of them under his command at the time of the War.
“But taichou, who are you thinking of sending out? We are a bit restricted in our choices, aren’t we?”
“Soi Fon taichou has offered her force for collecting information on Hollows in the human world. Kurosaki and his friends can deal with the attacks anyway, so there is no need to send any more battle-fit shinigamis to the area unless necessary. The problem is the teams that will be sent to Hueco Mundo.”
“Teams? You are sending more than one?”
The captain’s answers were simple, direct and swift. Even if Matsumoto was fully aware of his praised talent, the absolute concentration and the speed of calculations that the famed prodigy displayed when he put his gifts in full use were still amazing.
“Perhaps. Anyway, that’s it for now on the case. Remember the internal investigation is still ongoing so act appropriately.”
“Of course, taichou.”
Sensing the end of the long discussion, Matsumoto stood up from her chair; she had been sitting down for so long that her butt had gone to sleep and with so much information presented to her at once, her head was dully throbbing. She was just twisting and stretching her stiff back when she remembered that she was keeping something in her shihakshou for the frowning captain.
“Before I forget, taichou, a letter came for you from Ichigo while you were away.”
Hitsugaya took the white envelope from his vice-captain’s outstretched hand, promptly ignoring her wide cheeky grin.
“Go to Yamamoto sotaichou and ask for permission to enter Hueco Mundo when the teams have been put together.”
“Hai.”
Matsumoto giggled behind her hand and answered in a sing-song voice; it was an order that she had seen it on the way but it was also to probably shoo her out of the office so that the wintry captain could read his love letter -she giggled again at the thought- in private. The buxom woman would have usually stuck around a little more to tease the prickly prodigy but this time she decided to give a bit of time for Hitsugaya to relax after all that intense brainwork even if it did not look like the said genius was taxed by it.
Hitsugaya lifted the barrier and Matsumoto bounced out of the room, waving cheerfully at someone she had noticed outside as she closed the door behind her. The icy captain looked at the letter in his hand and the paperwork sitting in front of him which seemed to have gained several inches while he was away then decided to read the letter first. It would certainly take less time to do that than to attempt to conquer Mt. Paper Everest.
‘Toshiro,
I’ve moved back to the clinic now, Karin’s going to the camp thing in two days. Pop tried to torpedo me as soon as I got in but it’s good to be with my family again. Kon’s freaking out though, he’s got bad memories with Yuzu.
Pop’s closing the clinic early on Xmas so I’ll come over in the afternoon and bring your birthday presents. Everyone wants to know if you liked them and they won’t know till you see them, right? I’ll have to go back in the evening though. Yuzu’s planning this massive Xmas dinner thing since I didn’t see them whole winter last year.
I’ll see you on Xmas, then.
Ichigo
PS I just asked Pop about New Year, he says it’s the usual stuff. I was hoping you could come and join us, the old man says it’s fine. Yuzu asked how you were doing as well.
And hey, you never told me you’ve met Karin before! She told me you helped her out in a football game and how you kicked ass! So did you enjoy playing football for the first time in your life, with elementary kids no less? Anyway Karin wants to see you again as well. And obviously I want to spend New Year with you. Try to come if you can, okay? There’s something I want to do and I need you with me to do that.’
Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at the last line; what did Kurosaki mean by that? And it was not that he didn’t tell him about Karin on purpose, he had simply forgotten about the brief encounter he had with the teen’s sister amidst all the Arrancar attacks, trying to stay afloat above the fierce battles. His first fight with Shawlong Qufang did most definitely not go well and it had been all thanks to Inoue Orihime that he was back on his feet again in no time. The prodigy groaned inwardly though; the strawberry had to find out that he had played football out of all things.
Checking the calendar that seemed to pop up on his desk whenever he received a letter from Kurosaki, the small captain sighed with a frown, not of annoyance but of regret. With the murder investigation on top of his usual work amount, it was unlikely that Hitsugaya could afford a day at the human realm again so soon after having spent a night over there only a few days ago; this was something that he could not have Ichimaru -or anyone else- cover for him.
Kurosaki was not going to like this news or the other one, as a matter of fact. Who would like to hear that he might have become a target of revenge from Menoses?
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Silvery clouds glided across the black sky that seemed to have been deserted even by the stars that used to be sprinkled over the dark canvas. A pair of blank but pained eyes stared out of the open window at the sky that remained oblivious to what was going on in the room. Only sheer emptiness ran through the broken mind but it didn’t seem to matter to the other one, whose face was hidden in the shadow, sitting up in a half-inclined position a few steps away from the one spread out on the floor.
A quiet humming echoed around the silent room. The melody was soothing and calm but there was heartbreaking sadness as if it spoke of love that was not returned yet impossible to give up because it made one feel so happy, but not without incomprehensible pain. It was a relatively short tune and there was a small intake of air before the figure repeated it over and over again. It was a while before a quiet, raspy voice broke the continuing music.
“…Stop.”
The humming stopped, replaced by soft chuckles.
“It’s a nice piece of music, don’t you think?”
“…Stop.”
Another quiet laughter penetrated the still air.
“You are distressed. I’m only helping you to relax.”
It was apparent that it was the presence of the humming figure that troubled the other but the chuckling one appeared to be oblivious to it. Or perhaps the figure was simply pretending not to have noticed the obvious. This time, the raspy voice gained slightly more volume with angered irritation.
“…Stop.”
Only that it was to no avail for the humming started again, this time sounding much closer than before.
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Ulquoirra was in his room by himself, blankly staring into the air when he heard a knock on his door. It was pretty late at night and he wasn’t expecting any visitors but he had an idea as to who it might be.
“Come in.”
He wasn’t surprised when Nelliel walked in through the door; she was the only Menos who would come to Ulquoirra’s room at this time of the night or any other time of the day for that matter. The green eye noticed the weariness emanating from the beautiful woman, lack of sleep evident in her dreamy eyes, but he did not say anything about it. He was not the type to worry about others for any personal reason and the trait had gone from bad to worse since Aizen’s demise.
“What is it?”
Nelliel sighed quietly and tucked the wavy hair behind her ears, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Ulquoirra, we might have to change the way the bracelet works. I don’t think I can make an exact replica of the original one.”
“………”
“But I think I can make ones that would definitely work with all the abilities we want if we have a separate machine as the source of the power for the barrier.”
“………”
Ulquoirra didn’t say anything but then Nelliel hadn’t expected to hear anything either. She just hoped that he would understand the level of effort she had put in, which was everything she
could give, but all these R&Ds were not her strongest area and it was the best she could come up with. The melancholy Vasto Lorde’s face did not show any change and Nelliel continued on.
“Of course, that means the bracelets will work within Hueco Mundo where the signals can reach…”
“Will they work as long as signals reach them?”
Nelliel blinked at the sudden interruption, not because she was offended but because she was surprised. She had expected Ulquoirra to tell her to insist on producing the ones that he wanted, not what he had to be happy with. Even though everything about life stayed out of Ulquoirra’s interest, he was quite insistent when it came to his plans for avenging Aizen.
“Yes but Ulquoirra, for that, you would need to have a garganta opened the entire time so that there’s a passage that the signal can travel through to the other realm. It’s too dangerous.”
How stoic the chalk-white face remained was sometimes rather frightening; there was no joy or disappointment or anything, whatever news Nelliel brought to him.
“I see.”
The gentle feature morphed into a slight frown but Ulquoirra fell back into silence, wordlessly telling her to complete her report.
“I think I can maximise the distance for them as well if we have a powerful enough machine supporting it.”
“Fine.”
The pale eyes blinked again; the swift answer had not been expected and the sudden change in
his attitude had stunned her. Nelliel had a vague idea as to what Ulquoirra’s plan was and limiting the bracelets’ ability to Hueco Mundo was going to rattle it from the base of it. However, the other did not seem fazed by her reaction, his hand shoved in a pocket that no doubt held the precious silver bracelet inside.
“How long will it take?”
Still rather bewildered at how easily Ulquoirra had succumbed to the situation, Nelliel searched for an answer at the question she had almost missed.
“I cannot say for sure yet, but I guess it will be easier than trying to crack all the technical details of the original one. I’m not saying the new ones will be easy to make but I have higher chance of succeeding in that method. It might still take awhile.”
“Work on it but see if you can reproduce originals.”
Nelliel nodded, happy with the reaction she got; honestly, it was much better than what she had expected. It would be hard to tell with the deadpan voice of Ulquoirra anyway, but it sounded to her as if he wasn’t even mildly irritated by her failure report. The ram-woman had just turned around to leave the room when the stoic Vasto Lorde’s toneless voice stopped her.
“Nelliel, go and sleep. You are the only one who knows these technical things; it will be troublesome if you push yourself over the limit.”
Nelliel looked over her shoulder, wavy dull cerulean hair falling over her shoulder. She knew it was not a personal attention from Ulquoirra, that what he was concerned about was losing the all important main researcher in the group, which would jeopardize his plan big time. Nevertheless, her pale brown eyes sparkled at Ulquoirra’s deadpan face and she smiled.
“Then I’ll just take a few hours off.”
When he nodded, Nelliel bid good-night and left the room. She closed the door behind her and stared at it for a moment before she smiled and walked off to her own room, her heavy eyelids already drooping down as sleep threatened to take over her at any minute. After a few hours of sleep, she would feel much more refreshed and her brains clear for the new project.
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A pair of turquoise eyes suddenly shot open in the bleak darkness, their gaze unfocused and hazy. It took a while for the white-haired captain to realise that he was in his office and had fallen asleep on his desk yet again while he was contemplating on who to send to Hueco Mundo.
Gingerly pushing himself off the desk, Hitsugaya blinked a few times in confusion and growled. He thought he had a dream but now, he couldn’t remember anything except one thing. He placed a hand over his forehead as he leaned on the desk.
It was someone whispering, so desperate and broken that it almost scared Hitsugaya. It seemed that the pleading was what woke him up but he couldn’t remember anything else from his dream that left him more disturbed than he would like to admit, although why, Hitsugaya could not imagine since he forgot about it as soon as he opened his eyes. Muttering a curse under his breath, Hitsugaya stood up from the desk and left the office.
He wondered if he had dreamt of Hinamori again; sometimes his nightmares were not about the time he had killed her. Now and then it would be their childhood memories, twisted and distorted, and at times, it would be Hinamori crying as he watched her helplessly, bound to his place by some invisible restraints; he had even dreamt of Hinamori killing him instead of him killing her, although it seldom happened. Those rare ones were the ones he preferred, in fact. After all, he could take his blood and the feel of her zanpaktou piercing him much better than her blood and the feel of his zanpaktou piercing her.
Hitsugaya bitterly scoffed; you are such a hypocrite, Hitsugaya Toshiro, you are the one who killed her. There was a familiar pang of pain in his heavy chest but the only sign the prodigy gave was a small sigh.
A quick walk found Hitsugaya at the stone bridge that led to his quarter for the first time since Ichigo’s last visit. There was an overpowering silence in the air as the black, midnight wings embraced slumbering Seireitei and he stood at the bridge for a while as he looked down at the perfectly still pond below it. His sea-green eyes fell on some lotus flowers that had blossomed on the pond and he wondered if he had seen them last time he crossed the bridge. It seemed that sometime since then, the beautiful flower had finally woken up from its long sleep to grace the rather bare pond with its pastel pink petals that glowed mysteriously in the silvery moonlight.
Hitsugaya spent a few minutes on the bridge in the crisp, cold air, his emerald eyes fixed on the lotus flowers, melting into the serenity of the moment. Slowly, the swirling emotions and the discomfort started to scatter and his heartbeat returned to its normal, regular rhythm, gently pumping the essence of life around his body. The pain, the sadness, and the guilt would not be leaving him any time soon but with time, he was learning how to pull himself together when he had been shattered with the grim flashbacks.
Casting one last look at the beautiful, elegant flowers, Hitsugaya turned around and went over to his quarter. He found his bedroom cleaned, the futons laid out on the tatami floor. Once in a blue moon, Hitsugaya would come back to his quarter in the dead of night like this so the servants always prepared his bedroom before they went to sleep and checked the room in the morning just in case. Feeling grateful for their effort which, more often than not, went wasted, Hitsugaya quickly changed into a soft, white yukata from his shihakshou and got under the comforter.
Perhaps a proper sleep in his bedroom might allow him uninterrupted rest.
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Hitsugaya frowned, although considering his perpetual scowl, it wasn’t saying much. However Soi Fon could sense the disgust emanating faintly from the prodigy at the scene in front of them.
Hitsugaya’s rare return to the quarter had not lasted long although thankfully, the rest of the sleep was dreamless and peaceful. It was still rather early in the morning when Haru announced
that an emergency message had arrived for him from Soi Fon; there had been another murder, this time, in the Northern District for the first time.
As soon as he got the message, Hitsugaya got freshened up and shunpoed out of his place to the scene and was greeted with what he could safely say one of the most grisly scenes he had set his eyes on and considering the time he had spent in various battles and the injuries he had received, that was saying something. The body was not chopped up into bits nor was it drenched in blood but the ominous way the broken fingers stuck out of the opened mouth was distressing enough.
He had heard about the bizarre presentation that the killer always left behind but it was the first time that he had actually seen it for himself. The body was more perturbing than he had imagined although as Soi Fon had mentioned before, there was surprisingly little blood despite all the mutilation the victim had gone through. He was not sure whether he should think of the after-death maiming as a humane streak of the warped killer or a clever carefulness not to attract any unwanted attention during the process.
There was a restricted zone being set around the crime scene by Onmitsukidou under Soi Fon’s order and Hitsugaya crouched next to the body, trying to get a closer look. There was thick blood dripping from the gaping slit on the neck onto the ground where a small pool of the red fluid was half-frozen to slush state in the frosty morning temperature. After scanning the body once more, Hitsugaya placed his hand just above the fatal wound, trying to sense the reiatsu that lingered faintly.
Soi Fon had just finished instructing her subordinates to investigate the area when she noticed the prodigy next to the victim and came over but her fellow captain remained focused on the body. She gave Hitsugaya a few seconds as she watched him then called him when he took his hand away with a somewhat tense expression.
“Hitsugaya taichou.”
Hitsugaya almost jumped at the voice from behind him; Soi Fon was a master at hiding her reiatsu due to her guard training but that was not the only reason he had not felt her approaching him.
It was the reiatsu from the victim. It was hard to tell because not much was left behind but he was not sure if he could classify it as belonging to Hollow’s. He now understood the confusing conclusion Unohana had made after her screening. She must have sensed this little oddity in the vanishing reiatsu as well. Furthermore, there was certain discomfort welling up inside him from the mysterious reiatsu and his gaze swept over the body from top to bottom again, his eyebrows deeply furrowed. It was like when he had heard about the murders. Something was not right.
Soi Fon glanced at the body behind the prodigy when she noticed the look on Hitsugaya’s face. It was hard to tell exactly what it was but then it was also the first time he saw the level of the brutal attack. However the scrunched face soon turned impassive as the white-haired captain stood up and turned around to greet her.
“Soi Fon taichou, thank you for alerting me. Who is the victim?”
Soi Fon did not look too happy as she answered the question.
“11th division 14th Seat, Hanajima Akito. He was part of a guard team but apparently he had cut it short because he was ‘tired’ and ‘nothing would happen’. 12th Seat, Kuragi Manabe, was on the early morning rotation so came over when it was time for him to take over and found him in front of his house like this.”
“He negates his duty for an extra hour of sleep and gets killed.”
Hitsugaya muttered as he sighed. The street was still relatively empty as it was at least another hour before the normal work hour started and there was misty fog in the area that had descended down to the ground over the chilly night.
“Where is Unohana taichou?”
“We’ve sent her a message too so she should be on her way.”
“Has Zaraki taichou been informed?”
Hitsugaya was sure he heard something of a snort from the Chinese captain.
“Yes, but I doubt if he will care much. Unohana taichou will send post-mortem reports to you when she finishes. How about your teams?”
The emerald eyes finally left the mutilated body as he stood up from his place, taking the time to think about the question for a while before he shook his head.
“I do have some in my mind but they have not been informed yet. I do not doubt they will take the mission but I still need to confirm it with them.”
“Of course. I have already put a few of Onmitsukidou aside to assist you with the information gathering in the real world. They have all been instructed to report any findings to you directly.”
“I appreciate your help, Soi Fon taichou.”
“It is my job. If you will excuse me now.”
With that, Soi Fon returned to her subordinates, herself entering the house just behind the victim in the hope of uncovering any clues. Seeing that there was nothing else for him to do, Hitsugaya decided to leave the scene and go back to his division. He would have to move fast with his own investigation if they did not want to see any more of the mutilated bodies.
( #07 l #09 )
Chapter rating: PG-15 for description of mutilation
Chapter specific warning: A murder. And another.
Chapter specific spoiler: None
Chapter summary: The latest addition to the serial murder brings a new information to light.
Author’s Note:
Liteitai is the fifth squad of Onmitsukidou; they are the messengers with a folded hat covering their faces. The squad made their first appearance in the original Bleach when Kyouraku had just won against Sado; a messenger had come to deliver a message to Ise Nanao about the discovery of Aizen’s death, which was classified as Class 1 priority message, signed by Yamamoto and Hitsugaya. One of Liteitai also got abused(?) by Yachiru when he kept insisting on delivering the message when Kenpachi and Ichigo were in a fight. Poor guy.
Now, I have an announcement to make. After this chapter, there will be no update for a while -just for a while-. My life is very rocky at the moment and I’m not very far ahead of this chapter. Instead of rushing things, I’d like to get around to them properly. I wouldn’t say ‘hiatus’ since I’m still writing and I would return once I’ve written four or five more chapters, so I would be really glad if you all return when I post the next chapter. *Hiatus lifted*
As usual, thank you to everyone who reviewed because that’s bread and butter for me and my muses.
PS One of reviewers pointed out that Karin plays soccer, not football. I live in UK and speak British English, which means that by ‘football’, I mean ‘soccer’. Just a little clarification.
:::::Orderly Madness, the Melody of Chaos by Kanon Ch.8:::::
New development
The air was cool and crisp, the soft moonlight falling upon the blooming sakura tree in a shadowed corner. Small petals glistened in the silvery light that seeped through them, where two figures were whispering in low voices. The darkness of shadow easily overcame the weak, feeble moonlight that trickled through the countless pale pink petals, and the two were safely guarded away from the silent world.
“Wait…”
“Don’t.”
“………”
“Good.”
‘…Let………end……’
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A blur was all anyone would have been able to see as a mysterious figure tore through the labyrinth-like streets in the lightless night of Seireitei. It landed on a narrow rooftop of a wall once in a while but was gone in the blink of an eye without any sound nor any hint that one had ever landed on it. The form came to an abrupt halt when some noises came from the other end of the dark street, a sober voice in amidst of slurry, drunken ones bidding farewell with ‘see you tomorrow’ before most of the noises started to drift away again. A soft, inaudible chuckle left the shadowed one’s lips before disappearing from the spot again, only to reappear in front of one very startled shinigami.
And startled the poor shinigami should be, for one second ago, he was contemplating about what time he had to wake up tomorrow morning, and the next second, his eyes were blankly staring into the air, devoid of life. The same blade that had pierced four other’s necks left its latest victim and this time, there was no staring at the lifeless form, no inexplicable gaze spared for the pitiful, limp body, sprawled on the freezing cold ground. A few rustles of clothes, a few swings of a dangerously shining katana were soon followed by sickening bone-crunching sounds.
And that night, Seireitei had its fifth victim, lying in his own pool of blood, his mouth filled with his own castrated organ and broken fingers.
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Hitsugaya’s perpetual scowl deepened as he headed toward the meeting room; the restlessness between the shinigamis was thick in the disturbed and tense air. When a messenger from Liteitai came with Yamamoto’s summon for an emergency captaincy meeting, Hitsugaya had almost not been surprised.
Almost.
It had been nearly a week since the last murder and the twisted killer had struck again last night. What made the tenth division captain even more worried was that the Captain-Commander had called for them via Liteitai rather than the usual method of using hell butterflies. The special messengers were usually reserved for Class 1 priority messages or during wartimes when messages needed to be delivered in a more secure manner. In any case, a sudden call by Liteitai for whatever reason was never good news. Quickening his steps, Hitsugaya had just entered the first division building when he heard someone calling him.
“Hitsugaya taichou!”
Hitsugaya stopped and turned around, finding himself face-to-face with Hisagi Shuuhei. The ninth division captain was wearing a full-length sleeved haori like Ukitake to protect himself from the cold wintry air but in the brief flapping of the top clothes, Hitsugaya could see that his shihakshou was sleeveless as usual.
“Hisagi.”
“Hitsugaya taichou, do you know why sotaichou has called us by Liteitai?”
Hitsugaya shook his head and took off again once Hisagi had caught up with him. They walked
past a number of shinigamis who bowed deeply, quickly sidestepping to let the two hurried captains through, and soon arrived at the meeting room. The meeting started almost immediately as all the captains had responded to the abrupt call in a swift manner. The air was heavy, the room silent save the quiet coughs from Ukitake; his illness always worsened when the weather turned chilly. Yamamoto’s stern gaze swept across the faces of the twelve captains in front of him before he hit the wooden floor with the end of his cane.
“Thank you for responding to my sudden invitation so quickly. Now we shall begin the captaincy meeting. We have a fifth victim on our hands, Ayame Mitsukuni from the third division.”
Everyone’s eyes fell on the ex-spy briefly before returning to the Captain-Commander; the third division captain had the trademark smile on his face as usual and nothing could be read behind the sneaky grin.
“Unohana taichou has been carrying out the post-mortem all morning and has informed me with news that changes the situation drastically. Unohana taichou.”
“Hai. In the past four victims, I had noticed that the trace of reiatsu left at the neck wounds has been getting stronger. I do not know why. However in the last victim, the reiatsu increased significantly and after trying to match it to the samples I have collected, I have come to a conclusion it does not seem to belong to anyone in Seireitei.”
“!!!”
Everyone with the exception of Yamamoto and Soi Fon looked at the medical shinigami with wide eyes. It was a scenario no one had even thought of. Ukitake stifled another cough as he frowned and cautiously put forward a question that all the captains were thinking of.
“I do not mean to doubt your ability, Unohana taichou, but… how is that possible?”
Unohana’s face remained in a gentle smile.
“It’s okay, Ukitake taichou, I find it hard to believe myself. The reiatsu remains somewhat hazy so far with no clear, distinctive traits, so I will not put aside the possibility of the culprit being a shinigami completely for now. However we need to find out if we are really out of any danger from enemies outside Seireitei. If there are unknown outsiders involved in these murders, it means they have somehow managed to infiltrate into Seireitei by some other means than Senkaimon without setting off any alerts.”
Hitsugaya scowled, keeping his emerald eyes locked on the medical shinigami. The implication of her words was grave. Oddly enough, it was Kurotsuchi who piped up at the news.
“How is that possible? I don’t need to explain about the barrier we have around Seireitei from Sekkiseki (AN: Bloodthirst stone), do I?”
The forth division captain stayed calm and quiet in spite of the rather insulting comment from her comrade but the sharp-eyed prodigy noticed her smile was a little more restrained than before.
“Of course not. However that is the only logical theory.”
“It is NOT possible!”
“SILENCE!”
Kurotsuchi visibly flinched at Yamamoto’s booming voice, earning himself a snicker from Zaraki. No one else cared about the experiment-obsessed captain as they focused on the Captain-Commander, waiting for his order.
“Unohana taichou has not ruled out the possibility of the killer being one of our own shinigamis yet but if someone has indeed found a way to enter Seireitei in such a way, the consequences will be severe and it is not a chance we should take. There has been an increase in Hollow attacks in the real world and although there has been no evidence to suggest the Hollows are being manipulated, the timing roughly coincides with when the murders started. Hitsugaya taichou.”
Hitsugaya answered straight away with his usual impassive face although internally, he was somewhat startled by the sudden call.
“Hai.”
“You will join the investigation team. I cannot allow it to be fully open until it is confirmed for sure that no shinigamis are involved in this but if there is even a possibility that an unknown force has intruded Seireitei, it cannot be overlooked until confirmed otherwise. You are to look for any possible parties that may be responsible. Soi Fon taichou will brief you on the progress the team has made so far but understand that she may not be able to tell you some parts of her inquiry.”
“Hai.”
The prodigy was not all too surprised with the order; in Gotei 13, there was no division officially stated to be the investigation department, but because of his sharp eyes and high analytical skills, the job was often given to Hitsugaya, the duty frequently sending him to the frontline of a battle, such as the one with Arrancars.
Yamamoto’s eyes were solemn as they stared into a pair of determined emerald ones, his tone lower and if possible, even more serious than before.
“I trust that you will remember the fact that the internal investigation is still going on.”
The old Captain-Commander did not say anything else on the matter but Hitsugaya understood what he meant.
“Hai.”
In short, I have to be careful what I tell to whom, Hitsugaya thought to himself. His choices in who to deploy on his behalf would be very limited and he would also have to make sure he was the only one who read all of the individual reports so that even if there was any leak from someone, it would not jeopardise the whole investigation. The white eyebrows knitted a little further from their usual places; this was going to be one very broken inquiry at least until Unohana confirmed the identity of the mysterious reiatsu.
Hitsugaya had already started to go through the list of names in his head when Yamamoto’s growly voice rang throughout the silent room again.
“Every taichou is to stay alert and watch out for any signs of anomaly. The patrols will now take place every hour and the new rotation will be sent out to all divisions sometime today. Increase the night guards at each of your divisions and station some more shinigamis near the four Gates that lead to Rukongai as a precautionary measure.”
“Hai!”
“Given the circumstance, Hitsugaya taichou will have full authority over the external investigation which is to remain unknown to those outside of this room at this moment except those who will be involved in it. I expect there to be no hindrance from any of you in either of the inquests. That will be all for now. Dismissed.”
Kurotsuchi grumbled under his breath that it was simply not possible for anyone to enter Seireitei by any other means than Senkaimon without setting the alert off but all the other captains remained silent, lost in their own thoughts about what had been discussed in the meeting. Hitsugaya remained in his place, wondering if it was a good decision to keep his own inquiry discreet. In the event that the killer was in fact a shinigami, the news of an external investigation might cause carelessness in the future homicides; however, if Seireitei was facing an unknown force outside of their walls, the concealment might allow Hitsugaya’s team an easier access to the culprits while it looked like Gotei 13 still did not expect any foreign involvement.
The prodigy sighed quietly; either way, they would lose something. Since the internal investigation was already well-known within Seireitei, perhaps it was a good idea to be silent about the soon-to-be-started investigation.
“Hitsugaya taichou, if you do not have any important business, we can discuss the case right now in my office.”
Hitsugaya was almost startled at the sudden voice interrupting his thoughts; he had not noticed Soi Fon approaching him. His surprise well masked behind his usual frown, he nodded at the petite but fierce Chinese and followed her out of the meeting room, joined by Unohana. For a moment, the small captain wondered if his uneasy feeling about these murders had been because he perceived them as an omen of another war.
Whatever the case was, now that he was involved in the investigation, Hitsugaya was going to get to the bottom of it.
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It was another few hours before Hitsugaya left Soi Fon’s office, processing a bunch of information he had just received in his head. Just the briefing on the murders had taken a while although it didn’t reveal much, of which he was rather disappointed, but at the same time, allowed him to comprehend the true depth of difficulty Soi Fon’s team had been facing. After that, the three captains had discussed a variety of different theories and suspects until they were reminded of time and had to wrap up the conversation.
Hitsugaya could now understand the second division captain’s frustration; with no connection and no pattern, the case was of utter irregularity and mysteriousness. However if it had truly been an outsider’s work, the victims were most likely to have been targeted at random. Why the bodies had to be mutilated in such a way remained incomprehensible but it would presumably be explained once he or Soi Fon found out the identity of the murderer.
Nevertheless, it was hard to ignore the odds that the killer would be a shinigami. How on earth
could someone get through the Sekkiseki barrier without causing explosions and intruder alerts like Kurosaki and his friends? Hitsugaya did not doubt Kurotsuchi was devouring through his database at this moment, snarling at his artificial daughter who would stand next to him obediently.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the administration office of the tenth division; if it hadn’t been Matsumoto bursting out of the office, practically shouting in his ear, Hitsugaya would have continued to walk past the office.
“Taichou! You’ve been gone for so long, I was starting to get worried!”
Hitsugaya instantly scowled at the ringing in his ear, moving out of her arms’ reach before she could suffocate him what Kon had called ‘the valley of the Gods’ -in his opinion, they were ‘the valley of the Death’-.
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere, taichou, I felt your reiatsu so I wanted to greet you!”
“Then get back inside, Matsumoto.”
Matsumoto looked at his serious -even more than usual, that is- face curiously before she stepped back in to let the prodigy through. Hitsugaya closed the door behind him and set a barrier around the room. The silvery eyes turned solemn at her captain’s action and when Hitsugaya sat down at his desk, the vice-captain was instantly standing next to him, all her bubbly air dissipated in an instant as if someone had just poured a bucket of freezing water over her.
Hitsugaya didn’t say anything for a while and Matsumoto waited patiently. It seemed there were many things going through the famed prodigy’s head, the white brows tightly knitted and two hands interlocked in front of his face. After a few minutes, Hitsugaya finally turned and looked up at her with stern eyes.
“Matsumoto, what I tell you from now on remains here between us unless you get a specific permission from me directly to do otherwise. Is that understood?”
Matsumoto blinked with surprise. The young captain rarely said such things since if there was something he did not wish others to know, he simply kept it to himself. Nevertheless the buxom shinigami quickly nodded when she realised her captain was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, waiting for her answer; of course, there was only one answer she would give.
“Hai, taichou.”
“Get a chair and sit down. This is going to take some time.”
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It was indeed some time after Matsumoto had sat down before Hitsugaya finished relaying the news and the relevant -and summarised- facts. The vice-captain now understood the cautionary steps he had taken to ensure no uninvited audience.
“So what’s your plan, taichou?”
Hitsugaya leaned back a little, clearing his throat; he hadn’t spoken so much in one go for a long time.
“A team needs to be sent to the human realm to investigate the Hollow activity, especially in Karakura, and with sotaichou’s permission, another one to Hueco Mundo.”
“Hueco Mundo?”
The captain nodded, his usual scowl now gaining a faint glimpse of grimness; that one would take some planning but was necessary to confirm one of his suspicions.
“If this is not a work of a shinigami, in other words, an outsider, who’s most likely to want deaths of shinigamis?”
Matsumoto replied in an anxious voice.
“The Hollows who survived the War.”
The turquoise eyes lost their focus a little as the prodigy captain started to fall back into his thoughts. Hitsugaya could have millions of things in his mind but was always able to speak out the relevant facts in a logical manner even if that was not how the thoughts were stacked up in his head. That distant look was something that adorned the frosty captain’s face whenever he was searching for what he wanted in the sea of the knowledge and thoughts.
“As far as we know, no Vasto Lordes escaped the War alive, at least the ones under Aizen. A number of Adjukases had run away but sotaichou hadn’t thought they would be any significant threat with no one to order them. It could be leftover Adjukases with some sort of last revilement or a new Vasto Lorde trying to follow Aizen’s footstep to get rid of shinigamis. Aizen had certainly shown them that it was feasible.”
The frown was of disgust and concern when Hitsugaya practically spat out the last words but Matsumoto’s face showed confusion instead.
“But taichou… Why kill all those low-rank shinigamis if that’s the case? Wouldn’t they have just invaded Soul Society or do something else more threatening?”
Hitsugaya had thought about that as well and although he couldn’t get any firm answer on the
question, he had a theory. It was, of course, under the assumption that it was Hollows behind these murders.
“We are either facing a very sloppy work from some rogue Menoses or a very clever one who has some unknown intention behind the murders. After all, they had managed to prevent the focus of the investigation turning outside of Seireitei until now. However it’s only a theory, we cannot overlook anything.”
Matsumoto nodded with a grimace across her delicate feature; really, one War had been more than enough and too many hearts were already broken and tattered including many of her friends, not to mention her own captain. The strawberry-blonde shinigami sincerely hoped they would not find any serious threats and the ordeal would be over soon. Then she remembered the other part of her captain’s answer and asked again.
“What about Karakura? Is it because Ichigo’s there?”
She had mentioned the substitute shinigami to lighten up the heavy air a bit but was surprised with Hitsugaya’s straight-faced reply. She didn’t even get a tinge of pink; what a disappointment, Matsumoto thought to herself. It seemed her captain was deeply immersed in the case already, despite having received the order only a few hours ago.
“There is a chance that these attacks concern revenge, either for their loss of power or Aizen’s death itself. If vengeance is their cause, Kurosaki may be another target of theirs since he and I were the ones who killed Aizen, which ultimately led to the degeneration of Arrancars.”
Then Hitsugaya realised there was someone else that was involved in bringing Aizen’s demise. It was true that he and his lover had done most of the work but the final blow had been delivered by someone else.
“I guess that might include Kuchiki taichou as well although I wouldn’t put it past him to have already thought out this much on his own when an outsider’s involvement was suspected.”
Matsumoto nodded; Kuchiki Byakuya was definitely one of the finest Gotei 13 had ever seen in its history and with his capability and the impenetrable coolness, he might have been the one to be called a prodigy -after all, he was the strongest leader of one of the Great Four Noble, Kuchiki clan- if it had not been the young master of Hyourinmaru sitting in front of her. Briefly she wondered if one of the necessary requirements for a prodigy was being as aloof as one -un-realistically can be but her musing was interrupted by the said white-haired tendo.
“The increase in Hollow attacks may not be coincidental although for now, everything remains as a possibility. Nothing should be taken for granted.”
With Hitsugaya having thought out pretty much everything, there was nothing else for the vice-captain to do but nod, when she suddenly realised something.
“Taichou, that means you might be targeted as well!”
Hitsugaya did not admit nor deny it; he would be one of the main targets if it was revenge for the dead defector but the idea seemed somewhat absurd. Would the ex-Arrancars have such things as honour and loyalty? However, for their lost power, maybe; to Hollows, power was what mattered and the taste of the ultimate strength as Arrancars would have been intoxicating. Nevertheless, they would be Adjukases and with their number significantly decreased, it would be almost suicidal to launch attacks on Gotei 13 that had now more or less fully recovered.
Maybe that was why they turned to assassination instead of launching a full front attack. On the other hand, if there was no vengeance involved, then he wasn’t going to be the only one that caught the enemy’s eyes as a big threat. The number of Vasto Lordes has never been clear and there was no way for Soul Society to know if Aizen had had all of them under his command at the time of the War.
“But taichou, who are you thinking of sending out? We are a bit restricted in our choices, aren’t we?”
“Soi Fon taichou has offered her force for collecting information on Hollows in the human world. Kurosaki and his friends can deal with the attacks anyway, so there is no need to send any more battle-fit shinigamis to the area unless necessary. The problem is the teams that will be sent to Hueco Mundo.”
“Teams? You are sending more than one?”
The captain’s answers were simple, direct and swift. Even if Matsumoto was fully aware of his praised talent, the absolute concentration and the speed of calculations that the famed prodigy displayed when he put his gifts in full use were still amazing.
“Perhaps. Anyway, that’s it for now on the case. Remember the internal investigation is still ongoing so act appropriately.”
“Of course, taichou.”
Sensing the end of the long discussion, Matsumoto stood up from her chair; she had been sitting down for so long that her butt had gone to sleep and with so much information presented to her at once, her head was dully throbbing. She was just twisting and stretching her stiff back when she remembered that she was keeping something in her shihakshou for the frowning captain.
“Before I forget, taichou, a letter came for you from Ichigo while you were away.”
Hitsugaya took the white envelope from his vice-captain’s outstretched hand, promptly ignoring her wide cheeky grin.
“Go to Yamamoto sotaichou and ask for permission to enter Hueco Mundo when the teams have been put together.”
“Hai.”
Matsumoto giggled behind her hand and answered in a sing-song voice; it was an order that she had seen it on the way but it was also to probably shoo her out of the office so that the wintry captain could read his love letter -she giggled again at the thought- in private. The buxom woman would have usually stuck around a little more to tease the prickly prodigy but this time she decided to give a bit of time for Hitsugaya to relax after all that intense brainwork even if it did not look like the said genius was taxed by it.
Hitsugaya lifted the barrier and Matsumoto bounced out of the room, waving cheerfully at someone she had noticed outside as she closed the door behind her. The icy captain looked at the letter in his hand and the paperwork sitting in front of him which seemed to have gained several inches while he was away then decided to read the letter first. It would certainly take less time to do that than to attempt to conquer Mt. Paper Everest.
‘Toshiro,
I’ve moved back to the clinic now, Karin’s going to the camp thing in two days. Pop tried to torpedo me as soon as I got in but it’s good to be with my family again. Kon’s freaking out though, he’s got bad memories with Yuzu.
Pop’s closing the clinic early on Xmas so I’ll come over in the afternoon and bring your birthday presents. Everyone wants to know if you liked them and they won’t know till you see them, right? I’ll have to go back in the evening though. Yuzu’s planning this massive Xmas dinner thing since I didn’t see them whole winter last year.
I’ll see you on Xmas, then.
Ichigo
PS I just asked Pop about New Year, he says it’s the usual stuff. I was hoping you could come and join us, the old man says it’s fine. Yuzu asked how you were doing as well.
And hey, you never told me you’ve met Karin before! She told me you helped her out in a football game and how you kicked ass! So did you enjoy playing football for the first time in your life, with elementary kids no less? Anyway Karin wants to see you again as well. And obviously I want to spend New Year with you. Try to come if you can, okay? There’s something I want to do and I need you with me to do that.’
Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at the last line; what did Kurosaki mean by that? And it was not that he didn’t tell him about Karin on purpose, he had simply forgotten about the brief encounter he had with the teen’s sister amidst all the Arrancar attacks, trying to stay afloat above the fierce battles. His first fight with Shawlong Qufang did most definitely not go well and it had been all thanks to Inoue Orihime that he was back on his feet again in no time. The prodigy groaned inwardly though; the strawberry had to find out that he had played football out of all things.
Checking the calendar that seemed to pop up on his desk whenever he received a letter from Kurosaki, the small captain sighed with a frown, not of annoyance but of regret. With the murder investigation on top of his usual work amount, it was unlikely that Hitsugaya could afford a day at the human realm again so soon after having spent a night over there only a few days ago; this was something that he could not have Ichimaru -or anyone else- cover for him.
Kurosaki was not going to like this news or the other one, as a matter of fact. Who would like to hear that he might have become a target of revenge from Menoses?
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Silvery clouds glided across the black sky that seemed to have been deserted even by the stars that used to be sprinkled over the dark canvas. A pair of blank but pained eyes stared out of the open window at the sky that remained oblivious to what was going on in the room. Only sheer emptiness ran through the broken mind but it didn’t seem to matter to the other one, whose face was hidden in the shadow, sitting up in a half-inclined position a few steps away from the one spread out on the floor.
A quiet humming echoed around the silent room. The melody was soothing and calm but there was heartbreaking sadness as if it spoke of love that was not returned yet impossible to give up because it made one feel so happy, but not without incomprehensible pain. It was a relatively short tune and there was a small intake of air before the figure repeated it over and over again. It was a while before a quiet, raspy voice broke the continuing music.
“…Stop.”
The humming stopped, replaced by soft chuckles.
“It’s a nice piece of music, don’t you think?”
“…Stop.”
Another quiet laughter penetrated the still air.
“You are distressed. I’m only helping you to relax.”
It was apparent that it was the presence of the humming figure that troubled the other but the chuckling one appeared to be oblivious to it. Or perhaps the figure was simply pretending not to have noticed the obvious. This time, the raspy voice gained slightly more volume with angered irritation.
“…Stop.”
Only that it was to no avail for the humming started again, this time sounding much closer than before.
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Ulquoirra was in his room by himself, blankly staring into the air when he heard a knock on his door. It was pretty late at night and he wasn’t expecting any visitors but he had an idea as to who it might be.
“Come in.”
He wasn’t surprised when Nelliel walked in through the door; she was the only Menos who would come to Ulquoirra’s room at this time of the night or any other time of the day for that matter. The green eye noticed the weariness emanating from the beautiful woman, lack of sleep evident in her dreamy eyes, but he did not say anything about it. He was not the type to worry about others for any personal reason and the trait had gone from bad to worse since Aizen’s demise.
“What is it?”
Nelliel sighed quietly and tucked the wavy hair behind her ears, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Ulquoirra, we might have to change the way the bracelet works. I don’t think I can make an exact replica of the original one.”
“………”
“But I think I can make ones that would definitely work with all the abilities we want if we have a separate machine as the source of the power for the barrier.”
“………”
Ulquoirra didn’t say anything but then Nelliel hadn’t expected to hear anything either. She just hoped that he would understand the level of effort she had put in, which was everything she
could give, but all these R&Ds were not her strongest area and it was the best she could come up with. The melancholy Vasto Lorde’s face did not show any change and Nelliel continued on.
“Of course, that means the bracelets will work within Hueco Mundo where the signals can reach…”
“Will they work as long as signals reach them?”
Nelliel blinked at the sudden interruption, not because she was offended but because she was surprised. She had expected Ulquoirra to tell her to insist on producing the ones that he wanted, not what he had to be happy with. Even though everything about life stayed out of Ulquoirra’s interest, he was quite insistent when it came to his plans for avenging Aizen.
“Yes but Ulquoirra, for that, you would need to have a garganta opened the entire time so that there’s a passage that the signal can travel through to the other realm. It’s too dangerous.”
How stoic the chalk-white face remained was sometimes rather frightening; there was no joy or disappointment or anything, whatever news Nelliel brought to him.
“I see.”
The gentle feature morphed into a slight frown but Ulquoirra fell back into silence, wordlessly telling her to complete her report.
“I think I can maximise the distance for them as well if we have a powerful enough machine supporting it.”
“Fine.”
The pale eyes blinked again; the swift answer had not been expected and the sudden change in
his attitude had stunned her. Nelliel had a vague idea as to what Ulquoirra’s plan was and limiting the bracelets’ ability to Hueco Mundo was going to rattle it from the base of it. However, the other did not seem fazed by her reaction, his hand shoved in a pocket that no doubt held the precious silver bracelet inside.
“How long will it take?”
Still rather bewildered at how easily Ulquoirra had succumbed to the situation, Nelliel searched for an answer at the question she had almost missed.
“I cannot say for sure yet, but I guess it will be easier than trying to crack all the technical details of the original one. I’m not saying the new ones will be easy to make but I have higher chance of succeeding in that method. It might still take awhile.”
“Work on it but see if you can reproduce originals.”
Nelliel nodded, happy with the reaction she got; honestly, it was much better than what she had expected. It would be hard to tell with the deadpan voice of Ulquoirra anyway, but it sounded to her as if he wasn’t even mildly irritated by her failure report. The ram-woman had just turned around to leave the room when the stoic Vasto Lorde’s toneless voice stopped her.
“Nelliel, go and sleep. You are the only one who knows these technical things; it will be troublesome if you push yourself over the limit.”
Nelliel looked over her shoulder, wavy dull cerulean hair falling over her shoulder. She knew it was not a personal attention from Ulquoirra, that what he was concerned about was losing the all important main researcher in the group, which would jeopardize his plan big time. Nevertheless, her pale brown eyes sparkled at Ulquoirra’s deadpan face and she smiled.
“Then I’ll just take a few hours off.”
When he nodded, Nelliel bid good-night and left the room. She closed the door behind her and stared at it for a moment before she smiled and walked off to her own room, her heavy eyelids already drooping down as sleep threatened to take over her at any minute. After a few hours of sleep, she would feel much more refreshed and her brains clear for the new project.
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A pair of turquoise eyes suddenly shot open in the bleak darkness, their gaze unfocused and hazy. It took a while for the white-haired captain to realise that he was in his office and had fallen asleep on his desk yet again while he was contemplating on who to send to Hueco Mundo.
Gingerly pushing himself off the desk, Hitsugaya blinked a few times in confusion and growled. He thought he had a dream but now, he couldn’t remember anything except one thing. He placed a hand over his forehead as he leaned on the desk.
It was someone whispering, so desperate and broken that it almost scared Hitsugaya. It seemed that the pleading was what woke him up but he couldn’t remember anything else from his dream that left him more disturbed than he would like to admit, although why, Hitsugaya could not imagine since he forgot about it as soon as he opened his eyes. Muttering a curse under his breath, Hitsugaya stood up from the desk and left the office.
He wondered if he had dreamt of Hinamori again; sometimes his nightmares were not about the time he had killed her. Now and then it would be their childhood memories, twisted and distorted, and at times, it would be Hinamori crying as he watched her helplessly, bound to his place by some invisible restraints; he had even dreamt of Hinamori killing him instead of him killing her, although it seldom happened. Those rare ones were the ones he preferred, in fact. After all, he could take his blood and the feel of her zanpaktou piercing him much better than her blood and the feel of his zanpaktou piercing her.
Hitsugaya bitterly scoffed; you are such a hypocrite, Hitsugaya Toshiro, you are the one who killed her. There was a familiar pang of pain in his heavy chest but the only sign the prodigy gave was a small sigh.
A quick walk found Hitsugaya at the stone bridge that led to his quarter for the first time since Ichigo’s last visit. There was an overpowering silence in the air as the black, midnight wings embraced slumbering Seireitei and he stood at the bridge for a while as he looked down at the perfectly still pond below it. His sea-green eyes fell on some lotus flowers that had blossomed on the pond and he wondered if he had seen them last time he crossed the bridge. It seemed that sometime since then, the beautiful flower had finally woken up from its long sleep to grace the rather bare pond with its pastel pink petals that glowed mysteriously in the silvery moonlight.
Hitsugaya spent a few minutes on the bridge in the crisp, cold air, his emerald eyes fixed on the lotus flowers, melting into the serenity of the moment. Slowly, the swirling emotions and the discomfort started to scatter and his heartbeat returned to its normal, regular rhythm, gently pumping the essence of life around his body. The pain, the sadness, and the guilt would not be leaving him any time soon but with time, he was learning how to pull himself together when he had been shattered with the grim flashbacks.
Casting one last look at the beautiful, elegant flowers, Hitsugaya turned around and went over to his quarter. He found his bedroom cleaned, the futons laid out on the tatami floor. Once in a blue moon, Hitsugaya would come back to his quarter in the dead of night like this so the servants always prepared his bedroom before they went to sleep and checked the room in the morning just in case. Feeling grateful for their effort which, more often than not, went wasted, Hitsugaya quickly changed into a soft, white yukata from his shihakshou and got under the comforter.
Perhaps a proper sleep in his bedroom might allow him uninterrupted rest.
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Hitsugaya frowned, although considering his perpetual scowl, it wasn’t saying much. However Soi Fon could sense the disgust emanating faintly from the prodigy at the scene in front of them.
Hitsugaya’s rare return to the quarter had not lasted long although thankfully, the rest of the sleep was dreamless and peaceful. It was still rather early in the morning when Haru announced
that an emergency message had arrived for him from Soi Fon; there had been another murder, this time, in the Northern District for the first time.
As soon as he got the message, Hitsugaya got freshened up and shunpoed out of his place to the scene and was greeted with what he could safely say one of the most grisly scenes he had set his eyes on and considering the time he had spent in various battles and the injuries he had received, that was saying something. The body was not chopped up into bits nor was it drenched in blood but the ominous way the broken fingers stuck out of the opened mouth was distressing enough.
He had heard about the bizarre presentation that the killer always left behind but it was the first time that he had actually seen it for himself. The body was more perturbing than he had imagined although as Soi Fon had mentioned before, there was surprisingly little blood despite all the mutilation the victim had gone through. He was not sure whether he should think of the after-death maiming as a humane streak of the warped killer or a clever carefulness not to attract any unwanted attention during the process.
There was a restricted zone being set around the crime scene by Onmitsukidou under Soi Fon’s order and Hitsugaya crouched next to the body, trying to get a closer look. There was thick blood dripping from the gaping slit on the neck onto the ground where a small pool of the red fluid was half-frozen to slush state in the frosty morning temperature. After scanning the body once more, Hitsugaya placed his hand just above the fatal wound, trying to sense the reiatsu that lingered faintly.
Soi Fon had just finished instructing her subordinates to investigate the area when she noticed the prodigy next to the victim and came over but her fellow captain remained focused on the body. She gave Hitsugaya a few seconds as she watched him then called him when he took his hand away with a somewhat tense expression.
“Hitsugaya taichou.”
Hitsugaya almost jumped at the voice from behind him; Soi Fon was a master at hiding her reiatsu due to her guard training but that was not the only reason he had not felt her approaching him.
It was the reiatsu from the victim. It was hard to tell because not much was left behind but he was not sure if he could classify it as belonging to Hollow’s. He now understood the confusing conclusion Unohana had made after her screening. She must have sensed this little oddity in the vanishing reiatsu as well. Furthermore, there was certain discomfort welling up inside him from the mysterious reiatsu and his gaze swept over the body from top to bottom again, his eyebrows deeply furrowed. It was like when he had heard about the murders. Something was not right.
Soi Fon glanced at the body behind the prodigy when she noticed the look on Hitsugaya’s face. It was hard to tell exactly what it was but then it was also the first time he saw the level of the brutal attack. However the scrunched face soon turned impassive as the white-haired captain stood up and turned around to greet her.
“Soi Fon taichou, thank you for alerting me. Who is the victim?”
Soi Fon did not look too happy as she answered the question.
“11th division 14th Seat, Hanajima Akito. He was part of a guard team but apparently he had cut it short because he was ‘tired’ and ‘nothing would happen’. 12th Seat, Kuragi Manabe, was on the early morning rotation so came over when it was time for him to take over and found him in front of his house like this.”
“He negates his duty for an extra hour of sleep and gets killed.”
Hitsugaya muttered as he sighed. The street was still relatively empty as it was at least another hour before the normal work hour started and there was misty fog in the area that had descended down to the ground over the chilly night.
“Where is Unohana taichou?”
“We’ve sent her a message too so she should be on her way.”
“Has Zaraki taichou been informed?”
Hitsugaya was sure he heard something of a snort from the Chinese captain.
“Yes, but I doubt if he will care much. Unohana taichou will send post-mortem reports to you when she finishes. How about your teams?”
The emerald eyes finally left the mutilated body as he stood up from his place, taking the time to think about the question for a while before he shook his head.
“I do have some in my mind but they have not been informed yet. I do not doubt they will take the mission but I still need to confirm it with them.”
“Of course. I have already put a few of Onmitsukidou aside to assist you with the information gathering in the real world. They have all been instructed to report any findings to you directly.”
“I appreciate your help, Soi Fon taichou.”
“It is my job. If you will excuse me now.”
With that, Soi Fon returned to her subordinates, herself entering the house just behind the victim in the hope of uncovering any clues. Seeing that there was nothing else for him to do, Hitsugaya decided to leave the scene and go back to his division. He would have to move fast with his own investigation if they did not want to see any more of the mutilated bodies.
( #07 l #09 )