"Kira! There you are!"

Kira wouldn't have turned around, under normal circumstances. He certainly wasn't in the mood, what with the entirety of Seiretei going haywire, his own squad in a panic and his Captain conveniently gone off somewhere. Not to mention that the Vice Captains were being called to gather what seemed like every few minutes. It would have been easy to pretend he didn't hear her over the chaos. But her tone suggested that she would be hurt more if he didn't reply at all than if he replied moodily. Which he did.

He swerved around, his expression downcast, hair looming dangerously over his left eye. "What is it, Hinamori?" he asked nearly harshly to the still meek girl behind him. He expected her to cringe, at least a little bit taken aback, but she stayed firm. On a second glance, he could see her wringing a Lieutenant's badge in her hands . . . yet her own was still on her shoulder.

"It's Renji," she said obviously, worry wrinkling her eyebrows. She gave a half-glance to the side of her. "He's . . . I was talking to him . . . and he suddenly just . . . ran off."

"What were you talking about?" he asked curiously.

"Just about Rukia, and the intruders," she said innocently. "Do you think . . . maybe he . . . he went to fight them?"

Why would that not surprise me? Kira thought, but held his chin in thought as though he didn't think it likely. "I hope not," he said with an exhasperated sigh. "He'll get in horrible trouble if he goes after them on his own."

"I know," Hinamori said gently, looking down at the badge in her hands and running a thumb over the stitching in the flower. "That's why I'm asking you to look for him. Before a Captain finds him."

"Why me?" Kira asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because you can talk him out of it," Hinamori pressed. "I'm sure you can."

If only that were true. Kira wasn't even sure Hinamori believed her own words; more like she was willing the both of them to believe them, or at least act as though they were true. Well, if it was worth that much to her. "All right," he said at last. "I'll gather together a search party. You keep an eye out, too."

"Of course," Hinamori nodded, giving a polite bow, holding out Renji's armband. Kira hesitated before taking it, like he had with his own, and he once again found it forced into his hands. He bowed back, hoping that Renji would still be in shape to wear this badge when, and if, they found him.

This meeting was really, really boring. Like, immensely boring. Only made more dull by the fact that they could be out there, right now, fighting the good fight, saving Seiretei, protecting what was theirs, instead of sitting indoors, talking about it. Not to mention he could be visiting Rukia right now.

"Abarai! Pay attention, will you?"

Renji focused on the figure at the front of the room, a strange-looking fellow with military-cut blonde hair and who always wore sunglasses. Renji always assumed that he had demon eyes or something of the like, because it was fairly dark in the room, yet he could still read off the piece of paper he was holding.

"Anyway," the man continued, "the injuries are as follows. 11th squad third seat and fifth seat are being treated for severe injuries."

Renji's ears pricked up, and clenched his fist. He knew those guys.

"The eleventh squad has also been reportedly . . . er. . . wiped out."

The announcer didn't seem especially concerned, but almost at once, murmurs broke out among the few Lieutenants present. Renji listened to their concerns half-heartedly, but didn't pay much attention. His mind was still on an escape plan. Some way to get out of here, to get out there and face the man who had caused it all, the man who . . . Rukia . . .

"In the most recent news," the blonde continued, "it has been reported that three ryoka have kidnaped a member of the 4th squad and are holding him hostage."

This created the most stir among the crowd, as they began spouting their own rumors of who had fallen, and who was still out there, and who was missing. Renji half-listened, watching as the blonde struggled to call everyone back to order.

No one was watching. Without a second glance, he stepped out of the room in search of an orange head of hair, well aware that he may not return.

"Oh, no! Oh, no!!"

Hinamori covered her face with both hands, eyes open with horror and tears starting to form in both of them. Kira could understand what she was going through; he felt exactly the same way when he found Renji only a few minutes ago, lying in a pool of his own blood, shoulder mangled, clothes torn, a victim of a horrible encounter with one of the ryoka. Very powerful ryoka.

"I know," Kira said softly. "He was like this when we found him . . ."

"What happened?" Hinamori stressed, kneeling almost automatically beside her friend, hands unsure whether or not it was wise to reach out and touch him. It wouldn't have mattered, really; he clearly couldn't feel it in his current state, it all came down to whether she wanted blood on her fingers. "How did this--"

"We can only guess," Kira answered, biting his lip. Though he had told his third seat he would have joined in the battle if he had made it in time, he had to wonder if it would have really made a difference. From what he saw before him now, Gin had been absolutely right – these ryoka were more powerful than any of them could have anticipated. Even Renji, who had most likely gone looking for them, thinking he would have an easy victory, had misjudged. And if something like this could happen to one of the most determined and stubborn fighters he knew . . . what would they have to do to keep Seiretei safe?

"Did you call Fourth Squad?" she asked, deciding to lay her hands on the mat beside him.

"Not yet," Kira replied. "I brought him straight here. I'll go now. Watch him, will you?"

"I don't think so," came a dark and looming voice from behind them. Kira recognized the droning brood at once, the same unfeeling one that gave Renji usual reason to complain.

Both Kira and Hinamori swerved around to see the long-haired Byakuya Kuchiki staring miserably at the lump of flesh and blood and red hair, his eyes filled with a deep loathing.

"Kuchiki Taichou!" Kira exclaimed, too surprised to say anything more polite.

"Throw him in prison," Byakuya muttered obviously.

"Prison?!" Hinamori repeated in shock. "You cant mean that! Abarai-kun . . . he needs medical attention. He faced those ryoka head-on, and . . ."

"Enough," Byakuya spat. "He was alone. He had no excuse to lose. What use to I have for a Lieutenant who can't even get rid of a few intruders, after all?"

"You can't mean that!" Hinamori continued, eyes even wider in the horror of his unfeeling unkindness. "How can you--"

"Hinamori!" Kira hissed, grabbing her shoulder. She should know better than to address a Captain like that, especially since his eyes were almost murderous. As much as he disagreed, it was up to Byakuya to do what he willed with his Lieutenant. He bowed deeply to the dark-haired captain. "I'm sorry," he said softly, hoping Hinamori would follow suit.

At first, she was rather hesitant, but, as she saw that Kuchiki Taichou was almost waiting for her apology, she reluctantly complied. "I'm sorry," she muttered, giving a bow as well.

The two of them watched in silence as Byakuya disappeared through the open door, almost mysteriously vanishing as soon as he met the horizon.

"Tsk, there he goes again," came another mysterious voice, this one even more familiar. "Scarin' everyone like that. Loomin' around. Creeper, ain't he?"

This being about two seconds after Byakuya had vanished, both Hinamori and Kira jumped, even though Kira smiled to note who was in the room as soon as the initial scare had warn off.

"Gi – Ichimaru Taichou," he said calmly.

"Heya Kira, Hinamori-chan," Gin said cheerfully, then looked thoughtfully after the sixth-squad Captain. "Can't believe he ack-chally said them things," he said matter-of-factly. "Scary man. Or 'least he thinks he is." He turned back to the two Lieutenants, who were calm for the moment, but still both looked a little shaken. "Doncha worry. I'll get fourth squad."

"You will?" Hinamori asked, cracking a smile, though it wasn't a trusting one.

"Course," Gin continued. "I'll go now. Kira," he said firmly, "C'mon wit me."

"Okay," Kira said, noticing too late that he sounded way too eager. Well, with all the commotion going on, he had been fairly sure he wouldn't see his Captain again for a long time; this was, actually, a pleasant surprise. Without bidding his friend farewell, he followed his Captain out the door.

Hinamori watched the doorway long after Kira had gone out of sight, exasperated. She had indeed noticed the expression on her friend's face when his Captain had appeared; it had been a while since she had seen him smile like that. That wasn't what made her so apprehensive, though – actually, she thought it was cute. It was just that she felt helpless. And she hated feeling helpless. Usually, there was something that could be done, but . . . this whole situation with the ryoka was making it impossible to do anything without making some kind of mistake.

And these Captains popping up out of nowhere . . . everyone was on edge enough as it was, but they were just making it worse. It was almost as though they were doing it on purpose . . .

"Well at least Abarai-kun's going to be taken care of," she sighed, and went to kneel down beside him.

"Don't do that," came a sullen voice from behind her. "You'll get blood on yourself."

This time, Hinamori actually jumped in the air, her hand on her sword as she swept around to find one of the three people in Seiretei shorter than herself. The white-haired Hitsugaya was looking as miserable as ever, staring past her at the figure laid out on the floor.

"Hitsugaya-kun!!" she cried, half in relief, half in annoyance.

"You shouldn't address me like that, I'm a Captain," he said stiffly.

She could never tell if he was kidding, but to her, he would always be Shiro-chan. He should be lucky to be called by his full last name.

"What is with all the Captains today?" she exclaimed, thinking aloud. "Why don't they make sounds when they walk? Do they think it's funny, sneaking up on people?"

He didn't respond, his expression as . . . expressionless as ever. In the silence, she immediately realized something strange: they were alone.

"Where's . . . your Vice-Captain?" she asked meekly.

Histugaya sighed. "I'm here myself," he started, "because . . . I needed to tell you something."

"What?" Hinamori asked, her cheeks turning a healthy pink. "What -- what did you need to tell me?"

"It's a warning," he continued, eyebrows creased seriously. "Watch out for Squad Three."

It took a minute for her to register the words. "Squad Three?" she said obviously. "You mean . . . Kira-kun? What's . . . what's wrong with him?"

"I meant Ichimaru, actually," Histugaya noted. "But, now that you mention it . . . watch out for Kira as well."

"But . . . .why?" Hinamori started, but was cut off.

"Especially when they're around Captain Aizen."

"Around . . . Captain Aizen?"

Hinamori was immensely confused by this. "Why would Ichimaru Taichou be a danger to Aizen Taichou? I thought they were good friends."

"Well," Hitsugaya said, looking aside. There was a heaviness to his voice that she had never heard before. "Things aren't always what they seem."