Raised Reaper

Toshiro Hitsugaya

Toshiro had been worried about Momo, ever since the report of Captain Aizen's murder. He knew that Captain Aizen had meant a lot to his adopted sister, and he could see that she wasn't her usual spunky self. When the order demanding all captains, lieutenants, and seated officers carry their zanpaku-to at all times had come through he had worried even more. They still hadn't found the killer, and had no idea who it might be, but clearly it had to be someone powerful to have killed a captain without causing a scene. Could it be the Ryoka that had penetrated the barrier around the Seireitei?

He was caught by surprise one night when he felt her spiritual pressure fighting with someone else. He didn't hesitate to leap into a shun-po in her direction, speeding across rooftops to get to her as quickly as possible. Despite his desperate speed he felt her spiritual pressure waver then fade. He arrived taking in the scene in a single quick glance. Momo was lying on the ground, her zanpaku-to lying next to her fingers. Lieutenant Abarai was approaching her his zanpaku-to sheathed at his hip. Toshiro took that as an encouraging sign, but he still wasn't sure why they had been fighting or what had happened to his sister.

Toshiro landed just in front of Momo coming up in a kido stance as he turned to face Lieutenant Abarai. In his haste he had forgotten to grab Hyourinmaru. With his zanpaku-to he felt confident he could have taken Lieutenant Abarai. Without it, this would be a much more difficult fight. Lieutenant Abarai took a step back, his face showing surprise as he raised his hands in a warding gesture. Toshiro raised his spiritual pressure just in case; the temperature dropping around him. A few frozen water particles drifted down,sparkling like bits of crystal.

"Whoa, whoa!"Lieutenant Abarai said, taking another few steps back and moving his hands in a pushing motion toward Toshiro, as if trying to hold him back. "Easy, I don't want to fight. I tried to tell her that. I don't even know what's going on." Toshiro dropped his spiritual pressure in surprise. Lieutenant Abarai had tried not to fight Momo? Then, why was she unconscious on the ground? Had she pressed the issue? But why would she want to fight the Squad Six Lieutenant? The situation still didn't make sense to Toshiro.

"What happened?" he asked more calmly than he felt. Despite the calmin his voice it was rude to address a higher ranking officer like he was. At the moment, he didn't care. Lieutenant Abarai still held his hands with their palms facing Toshiro, but he was no longer retreating and Toshiro saw his shoulders relax.

"I was just out for some fresh air when she came launching at me and attacked me. I was trying to ask her what was going on and she said I killed Captain Aizen; which is ridiculous. I tried to explain that I didn't, but she wouldn't listen to me so I knocked her out. I was just coming to check on her when you showed up. That's all I know."

Toshiro spared a glance at his sister. As far as he could tell she wasn't hurt, which may mean that Lieutenant Abarai was telling the truth. Toshiro wouldn't know for sure until he got Momo's side of the story. Here turned his attention to Lieutenant Abarai, who hadn't moved. Toshiro relaxed his stance dropping into a hasty bow before scooping his sister into his arms.

"Thank you,Lieutenant. I'll take care of her." Toshiro again used shun-po to move with great speed.

"Wait! Hey!!" Lieutenant Abarai called after him. Toshiro turned briefly to make sure that they weren't being pursued. Satisfied that no one was following him he returned to the Squad Ten barracks, masking his and Momo's spiritual pressures. If someone was trying to destroy Squad Five it would make sense for them to kill Captain Aizen. But if they were strong enough to do that, why not just kill Momo as well? Toshiro had too many questions and no answers. He brought Momo inside his room then cast a powerful Kido that would keep anyone who didn't know how to dispel it out.

Satisfied that they were safe for the moment he turned his attention to her injuries. She had a bruise forming on the left side of her head. That must be where Lieutenant Abarai had hit her. Toshiro did his best to treat it. When he was finished he noticed something sticking out of the top of her shihakusho. Gently he pulled it free to reveal a letter. She had already unfastened the ties so he felt a little less guilty about reading it.

Unfolding the sheet Toshiro stared at Captain Aizen's hand writing. The words didn't make sense. He spoke of a man trying to destroy the Seireitei by taking the Sokyoku when it was released. Then the letter named Renji Abarai. Toshiro felt completely bewildered. The letter concluded with Captain Aizen saying that he was going to confront Lieutenant Abarai. Should he fail he asked Momo to carry on in his stead. Toshiro lowered the letter and stared at the floor for several moments trying to process everything he had just learned.

Although he didn't have an intimate knowledge of Lieutenant Abarai, he was fairly confident that even if he had caught Captain Aizen by surprise he wasn't powerful enough to kill him outright. Additionally,Lieutenant Abarai would have needed to be an incredible actor to show genuine surprise when Toshiro showed up. If his angle really was the destruction of the Seireitei then Momo declaring that she knew he was responsible should have forced his hand and he would have killed her to keep her quiet. Additionally, he would have killed Toshiro as well. No, whoever was behind this it wasn't Renji Abarai. Besides,he didn't seem clever enough to have covered his tracks so thoroughly, and Toshiro highly doubted he'd be able to create such a sophisticated forgery, as this letter surely couldn't be real.

Toshiro didn't blame Momo for acting on the letter as it was. She was no doubt drowning in grief and unable to think clearly. What then? What was Toshiro missing? He couldn't figure out who would kill Captain Aizen and then write a letter trying to place the blame on Lieutenant Abarai, and address it to Momo. Who would stand to gain from that? Toshiro raised the letter again studying the handwriting. It was a really good forgery, he couldn't tell it apart from Captain Aizen's own. He decided there wasn't anything more he could do about it tonight. He let Momo sleep in his bed and put together some blankets on the floor for himself.

Although he tried to sleep his mind continued to race mulling the problem over. Should he warn Captain Shiba? Should he take it to Central 46 himself? No they'd never listen to him. Maybe they would listen to Captain Shiba if he could convince him of the potential threat. Finally, he drifted to sleep. By the time he awakened it was too late. Toshiro rushed into the office to find that Captain Shiba and Lieutenant Matsumoto had already left for the execution. Still trying to decide what the best course of action was, he headed back to his room. He was surprised to feel someone undoing the barrier he had left there. Toshiro quickly side-stepped into an alcove to hide and watch.

-

Momo stepped out of the room looking around as if she was unsure where she was. Toshiro was about to step out and reveal himself to her, when she took off. Surprised he decided to quietly follow her. He stopped quickly in the room to retrieve his zanpaku-to then returned to the hallway. She made her way outside and looked like she was about to head toward Sokyoku Hill when she was stopped by Captain Ichimaru.