Chapter 5: The Pit of Despair Part 1 1/3

WARNING: DEATH AND SOME GORE/VIOLENCE and DARK STUFF! SKIP AHEAD IF YOU NEED TO. HOPEFULLY, IT STILL FITS IN RATING GUIDELINES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Chapter 5 – The Pit of Despair PART 1

The day was cold and miserable. Icy sheets of now and harsh, biting winds whipped around the entire Sereitei, freezing everything in its path.

Winter had finally arrived, and boy was it going to be a nasty one.

The Gotei Thirteen were used to harsh weather, but even they had to put specific duties on hold in the wake of such terrible bitter cold.

Even the usually stern and devoted Captain Kenji Shiraki of the Third Division had been forced to give the members of his squad a half-day off due to it being near impossible for them to deliver any paperwork they had finished.

Now he was stuck inside his office, whittling the time away with his lieutenant Hibiki Hamada playing chess at his desk, not that his heart was really in the game.

"Captain? Captain, it's your move now."

Shiraki blinked and looked down at the chessboard. His king was in check by Hibiki's knight. He scowled as he quickly used his castle to snatch the knight, knocking over the piece with a little more force than necessary.

"Your move" he grunted, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms moodily.

Hibiki looked at his Captain, his expression softening slightly as the man turned his head to pout as he glared out the nearby window, which was closed and had the curtains fully drawn.

There was only one reason the usually conservative man would look so openly grumpy, and it did not surprise the lieutenant in the slightest.

The big old softie.

With a fond amused smile, Hibiki stood to his feet and strode over to stand behind his Captain's chair and wrap his arms around his shoulders from behind.

Shiraki groaned, leaning into the other man's hold comfortably as he turned his head to kiss him softly on the lips.

Neither of them was quite sure how this relationship had started. They had both trusted one another for years as Captain and Lieutenant and had a series of short term rather meaningless relationships. Then one day, the Captain had brought a baby girl back to the Third Squad from one of the Rukon districts, and everything changed.

They were no longer just Captain and Lieutenant anymore; they were parents, parents to a spirited and sweet little girl who meant the world to them. And somewhere along the way as they had raised her, so too had their love and respect for one another grown into something more profound.

Since it was generally frowned upon for a Captain and a Lieutenant to fraternise in such a manner, they had kept their relationship a secret. Not that it was difficult. They had already acted like an old married couple even before they were together.

Not even Kokoro knew that they were in a committed relationship, though she had already admitted to Shiraki on several occasions that she saw Hibiki as a second father.

The two men sighed as they broke the deep, sensual kiss, Shiraki letting his refined mask drop as they rested their foreheads against one another's. He looked tired and worried, then again, Hibiki thought sadly, his captain and lover had had much to worry about these days.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Kokoro-chan is alright" Hibiki tenderly kissed Shiraki's pale temple.

"I know she will be" Shiraki grumbled moodily as he turned to glower at the chessboard once more "It's just…ugh…It's her first squad mission. We should have been there to see her off."

"I know, but you know how sudden these emergency missions can be. And besides Lieutenant Matsumoto and Lieutenant Ichimaru are leading their teams, they'll make sure she stays out of trouble."

"Hibiki, you know that won't stop trouble from getting to her. She's like a magnet for such things" Shiraki muttered bitterly.

"Maybe," Hibiki rolled his eyes as he leaned back but kept his hands on his captain's shoulders, massaging them gently but firmly "but she's still our girl. Our little kick-ass Tiger. She'll be fine."

"We can't know that." Shiraki snapped standing to his feet and striding away towards the window to look through the curtains at the nasty blizzard still raging outside.

"You've heard the recent reports coming in, right? Those hollows in the districts are getting stronger and bolder. Even seated officers are having trouble containing them. Seated officers Hibiki! Men and women who have fully formed Shikai! Our girl does not even know the name of her Zanpakuto, and she's being made to face them. How can you expect me to be alright with this?!"

He sucked in a deep breath as he looked down at the bottom of the windowsill. He hated feeling so hemmed in like this when he was worried. He should be out there with his squad helping, protecting…

He stiffened as he felt a pair of lean arms wrap around his middle and hold him tight from behind.

"I know you want to protect her," Hibiki mumbled into the back of the white haori. "I wish I could be there for her too. But we knew we'd have to face this sort of problem eventually; that's why we trained her ourselves."

"I know" Shiraki muttered through gritted teeth. "I just…if something were to happen to her-"

"Kenji," Hibiki turned his Captain around to face him, his brown eyes firm "She will be fine. She's strong and smart. She's been in trouble before and always found a way back to us, so stop worrying. Now come here and kiss me or I'll drag you to Captain Unohana and force her to give you a sedative to relax."

He leaned up to kiss his lover once more and smiled as he felt the man return the embrace readily, his whole-body sagging in defeat.

"You know, you could get in trouble if anyone caught you threatening your captain in such disrespectful tones?" Shiraki muttered against his Lieutenants lips.

"And you know you could get in big trouble if anyone caught us with that window open?" Hibiki grinned, chuckling as with a deft swish of his hand, Shiraki made the curtains close behind his back with a dark smirk.

"What window?"

A forest of pale and thick trees rustled as wind and mist blew through them. Above the dense canopy of leaves, a stormy sky swirled and seethed as thunder and lightning clashed in their loud vicious dance.

Kokoro sat in the clearing biting her lip as she leaned back into the soft damp grass to look up at the sky. The dark storm above was strangely soothing to her ears, like a rolling hypnotic drumbeat.

Something rustled behind her, but she did not turn her head to look. If whatever lurked behind the trees wanted to come to her, it would do so in its own time when it was comfortable.

Until then she would wait right here.

She shut her eyes as the massive creature approached the clearing cautiously. She could feel its spiritual pressure, fizzing and broiling like the storm above. It was curious, interested in the lack of her usual anxiety and feverish excitement to follow it.

Its footsteps were slow as it carefully stepped out of the trees, giant clawed paws barely creating a sound with each step.

Kokoro stayed stock still, not daring to turn around for fear she would spook the creature as it approached her back.

It was not long till she could feel its warm breath on the back of her neck, her heart hammering as she opened her eyes and saw that her body was shrouded by a massive shadow.

She turned around slowly to face it, only to find herself face to face with…a wall of pale cloud-like mist.

"Forgive me, master…but now's not the time" a deep rumbling voice purred from the depths of the mist, a pair of glowing pale eyes the only things visible to her. They were slanted and catlike with sharp vertical pupils and tendrils of glowing energy sparking and dancing within the yellow irises.

"When will it be the time?" Kokoro asked desperately. "Please, why don't you trust me? I trust you!"

"Do you really?"

"Yes! Yes, I do! Now let me see you!"

"Not yet…the time is not right." The rumbling voice in the mist was firm but compassionate as the wall of mist began to retreat towards the tree line whence its owner had come.

"Then when will it be right?" Kokoro cried out.

"Soon…Kokoro Shiraki…Soon" the voice purred soothingly, their deep tones fading as both the yellow eyes blinked and vanished.

It was cold, the blizzard outside was still raging so their unit had been forced to take shelter inside a friendly inn. Kokoro bored of just having to wait and shiver her ass off, had taken to sitting in the lotus position in a corner to practice her Jinzen while the rest of the Shinigami chatted amongst one another quietly around her.

There were two squads currently working in tandem, the Tenth and the Fifth, led by Lieutenants Rangiku Matsumoto and Gin Ichimaru, respectively. Each had brought three seated officers to help keep order, with whom they were now in deep tactical discussions within the room next door while all the non-seated officers stayed in this one large room, eating, shivering or exchanging stories with one another.

It was not often so many members of different squads got the chance to socialise with one another in one large gathering like this. Oh for sure, many people got together for drinks after work, but even then many tended to stick with friends they had made in their squads. Kokoro, on the other hand, had no real friends amongst the rabble. Her only friend Kimiko had been on a scouting mission in this area the day before with several officers, however, there had been no word from them yet on their progress, though that was probably due to them being stuck in this ridiculously powerful snowstorm.

"Umm…excuse me Shiraki-san?

"I'm awake" Kokoro groaned as she felt her shoulder be shaken gently by a small hand. She opened a bleary eye and blinked up into the pale, and shivering face of a petite young woman with black hair tied back in a short bun and large doe brown eyes, dressed in a Shihakuso with a thick white hooded cloak over the top.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you." The girl smiled a sweet apologetic smile down at her "But Lieutenant Matsumoto asked me to hand out these so we can keep warm."

Kokoro blinked and then noticed that the girl was carrying several cloaks like hers in her arms.

"Thank you, miss?"

"Hinamori, Momo Hinamori, Fifth Squad, twelfth seat. It's nice to meet you Shiraki-san, ah sorry that was forward of me" the girl, Hinamori, apologised again. "Shiro-chan told me who you were, that's how I know your name"

"Shiro-chan?" Kokoro blinked confusedly.

Who the hell is Shiro-chan?

"She means me" A familiar voice drawled grumpily behind Hinamori's back making the poor girl jump in surprise.

"Shiro-chan don't do that!" she squeaked turning around to face a boy with a head of short snowy white hair poking out from the large white cloak that covered his black uniform.

"No, I won't stop doing that until you stop calling me Shiro-chan while we're on duty" Toushiro Hitsugaya pouted folding his arms grumpily at Hinamori in a way that fiercely reminded Kokoro of the look her father gave her godfather Captain Kyoraku when the latter annoyed him.

Otou-san…Hibiki… her heart stung in her chest. She wished she could have seen them off before her mission.

"Aww, but Toushiro-" Hinamori whined, but Hitsugaya ignored her as he turned to face Kokoro.

"We're heading outside in five to start scouting so get ready. You're with my group today," He grunted.

"What, five minutes? But what about the storm?" Kokoro frowned glancing outside only to find to her surprise that the storm had stopped for the moment though the clouds still looked dark and menacing high above.

"We have no choice but to push through it." Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "Orders from the top, don't complain to me. Now come on, the sooner we get this over and done with the better."

"Okay, okay. I'm coming." Kokoro grumbled as she stood to her feet and secured the cloak around her shoulders and over the top of her favourite crimson shawl which she pulled up to cover her mouth and nose.

She ignored the small sniggers from her comrades as she and Hitsugaya wove their way through them, picking up the other members of their small group on the way. One of them was Renji Abarai, the red-haired, tattooed man Kokoro had met after her first Hollow attack who was quick to drag along a rather thin and pale blonde-haired man with half his fringe in his face to join them.

"Hey," Renji frowned as he caught sight of the scar peeking out from under Kokoro's hood "I remember you. You're that kid that took down that hollow last month? What was it? Shiro-Shira?"

"Kokoro Shiraki" Kokoro coughed blushing a little as she saw the eyes of blonde man next to him widen in astonishment.

"Shiraki? Like Kenji Shiraki the Captain-"

"Of Squad Three? Yes. And before you ask, yes he is my father." Kokoro rolled her eyes slightly in exasperation. She loved her father but honestly, she was getting sick of that line.

"Hey-hey no need to get snippy kid we were just asking" Renji grunted as the girl gave a massive sigh and mumbled a small guilty:

"Sorry," Kokoro muttered cheeks flushing even darker as the blonde man from before smiled kindly back at her.

"It's fine Shiraki-san. I guess it must be annoying hearing the same questions over and over. I'm Izuru Kira-"

"Oy Kira, Abarai! Quit pestering Shiraki and get your cloaks on!" Hitsugaya barked over his shoulder at them waspishly.

"Sorry sir!" the blonde-haired man, Kira, muttered while Renji rolled his eyes and grumbled

"Sir? He's just a kid. Pff! Trust us to be stuck with the bossy midget seated officer as a leader"

"I'd be careful about calling Hitsugaya-san names Abarai-san" Kokoro smirked as she saw said midget's shoulders tense angrily from behind. "I've seen him take down idiots three times his size in training and that was on a clear sunny day. In these circumstances, he would definitely wipe the floor with you."

"Oh, I don't know, Shiraki-san." Kira smiled quietly "Renji's pretty tough. The only reason he hasn't got a seat is because his Kido is terrible."

"Oy! My Kido's not that bad!" Renji snapped as he pulled his hood and his cloak tighter about himself "I just need some practice."

"Yeah, five-hundred years of practice" Kira smirked under his breath and Kokoro sniggered quietly as Renji shouted:

"I do not!"

Hitsugaya sighed heavily as they came to the front of the inn, quietly thanking the innkeeper on his group's behalf before opening the front door.

A blast of ice-cold hit his face, but unlike the others who all shivered and cursed, he stayed calm and sucked in a deep bracing breath as he made his way outside onto the frozen street.

What was usually a busy thoroughfare was now as deserted and as silent as a graveyard, for all the Pluses were staying indoors in their homes to protect themselves from the cold and the danger.

He could feel Hyorinmaru itching to be released into the cold air. The ice dragon within was practically dancing with excitement at the prospect of being in his element, making his own usually perfectly controlled reiatsu flicker in the air and mingle with something warm and buzzing.

Wait warm and buzzing?

Hitsugaya's brow furrowed as felt around with his sixth sense. And there it was. A warm, buzzing, crackling force flickering out occasionally from the form of the blonde-haired girl with the scarred face behind him.

She like him was anxious, despite her excitement. She was far more relaxed than when he had first run into her in that corridor long ago. Now that he thought about it, she had been a lot less timid after killing her first hollow.

True, she kept to herself mostly and barely socialised outside of her friend unless someone approached her, but it was not so much out of fear as it was that she was naturally an introvert. Hitsugaya could understand that all too clearly, being a fellow introvert himself. However, he had to admit he was intrigued by the person slowly coming out of her suppressive shell.

She was intelligent, thoughtful, and playful when she was calm, yet fierce, sharp, and jumpy when provoked or prodded in the wrong way.

In many ways, she reminded him of a large stray tabby cat that used to wander the area around his Granny's house. He had liked that cat. It was one of the few living things aside from his Granny and Momo that was not afraid of him, even if it was wild and slightly feral.

Then again Kokoro Shiraki was not exactly as tame as she would have liked everyone to believe. He felt it whenever he watched her spar at training. She loved to fight; it came to her like second nature. Though she rarely spoke or taunted her opponent, she was ferocious and competitive. Every match she fought to win, and often she would.

He could see that side of her surfacing slightly as he watched her interact with Kira and Renji from the corner of his eye.

Renji had always been a hothead. Honestly, Hitsugaya was surprised he was even in the Fifth Squad. With his temperament and strength, he would have been far better suited to the Eleventh Division. He was busy asking Kokoro what the training regime was like in the Tenth Division while Kira, ever the polite quietly listened and smiled.

Kokoro meanwhile had quickly relaxed as she, in turn, questioned him about the Fifth Squad's training methods. Hitsugaya was quick to note that while she was curious and happy to hear news about Lieutenant Ichimaru she was warier of his Captain Aizen.

Hitsugaya had always thought it odd that someone as shy as Kokoro had taken such a shine to the creepily sly fox faced lieutenant but was so afraid of his much milder mannered, better read and more genteel superior.

Then he remembered the concern and protectiveness of the Fifth Squad's lieutenant for the girl that he had shown that night he had crept upon them. It was clear to anyone that looked that Ichimaru cared deeply for her and probably would kill anyone that dared hurt a hair on her head.

He certainly would not hesitate to kill Hitsugaya if he screwed up in any way around her. The menacing smirk he had been fixed with barely fifteen minutes ago when he had said he would take Kokoro with him as part of his scouting group was proof enough.

"Be careful with 'em Shiro-kun" the slit eyes seemed to harden as the lips curled. "I will be extremely disappointed if any of them get hurt. And you would not like to see me get disappointed would'ya?"

Despite himself, Hitsugaya shivered. Just his luck he would get on the bad side of one of the more dangerous men in the Soul Society in his first year, and it was over his acquaintanceship with a girl of all things!

He heard said girl approach him from behind, though she was careful to stop just behind him out of respect for his higher rank. Renji and Kira were arguing in heated whispers with the six other members of their group, a mix of Fifth and Tenth Division officers (that unfortunately for Kokoro included that moron Sabe Ikeba of all people), all about which squad had better training methods so they did not pay attention to her even as she made to ask quietly.

"Umm…Hitsugaya-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Has there been…I mean have you heard from yesterday's patrol?" she bit her lip nervously, her voice quiet and unsure.

"Yesterday's patrol?" Hitsugaya quirked an eyebrow then remembered:

Oh yeah, her friend was on that patrol wasn't she?

"No, we haven't heard from them. Don't worry." Hitsugaya added in what he hoped was a gentle tone, he was always terrible at comforting people. "I'm sure Shibata is fine. Communications and travel have been bad because of the storm so that's why they might not have made contact yet."

"I understand." Kokoro sighed gratefully, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards in a small smile. "So where and what exactly are we scouting for Hitsugaya-san?"

"The Twelfth Squad have discovered that all the recent hollow sightings in this area are all originating from one localised point. They think there must be a weakening in the barriers between worlds that is allowing the Hollows easier access to the Soul Society. However, they have yet to determine the exact location of the rift so-"

"So, they're sending us to do their dirty work and be cannon fodder," Kokoro grunted softly much to his surprise. "Yep, that sounds exactly like the Twelfth Division."

"I take it you've had bad experiences with them" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed with embarrassment at her slip from professionalism.

"Yeah well…let's just say you won't ever get me to deliver any paperwork to their offices any time soon," she muttered darkly, shuddering as memories of having to visit Captain Mayuri Kurostuchi's research labs with Captain Unohana for her monthly check-ups as a small child played over in her head.

She hated the smell of that mad scientist's domain. It smelt so artificial, so chemical…so sterile and dead inside. Just like the abhorred man himself.

"Well I don't think we'll have to worry about them, we're just scouting. Though we may have to take down whatever hollow crosses our path" Hitsugaya's voice brought her out of her terrible reminiscences.

"So what do you want me to do? Unlike the other's I don't have a Shikai" Kokoro frowned as she quietly looked back at the officers with her.

"I know." Hitsugaya agreed quietly.

Truthfully, he did not really know why he had asked her to be on his scouting team. She was the most inexperienced officer in an entire unit of sixty people. He just supposed he preferred her company. Also, he had to admit he was a little afraid of letting Hinamori be alone with her in case his oldest friend decided to share any embarrassing stories about his childhood. It was bad enough she still called him Shiro-chan in public.

Well, at least he's being honest.

Kokoro heard a voice that was not her own grumble in her head and sighed softly to herself. Ever since the hollow attack, her Zanpakuto had been far more talkative to her than before. What had once been a slightly muffled rumble like distant thunder, was now a recognizable deep, husky yet distinctly feminine growl that often colourfully insulted and threatened to end the idiots that Kokoro ignored daily.

What surprised Kokoro was that no matter how moody and violent her spirit guardian got, she was still too shy to let Kokoro see her or know her name.

I hope she shows herself real soon before another strong hollow shows up. I don't know how I'd be able to last against it if it had one of those weird special abilities.

Kokoro thought sadly as she looked back once again at the rest of her troupe. The last thing she wanted was to be the weak link in the chain that needed babysitting.

It was just as she was pondering that dismal thought that she smelt it. The horribly familiar stench of rotting flesh mixed with the irony tang of blood coming from an alleyway on her left. But it was much stronger than the one she had felt before.

She stopped and sniffed the air, catching the attention of her troupe who all stopped at once, their hands flying to their swords in readiness.

"What the hell is the freak doing now?" Sabe muttered under his breath as he and a friend of his finally caught up to the back of the group, but in the silence, the comment was heard by everyone.

Oh, that is it! I'm so sick of this moron ragging on me!

Kokoro turned around to face Sabe, her pale blue eyes narrowed so venomously that the man took a step back in fear.

"It's called being useful, idiot, maybe you should look into it sometime. It might finally help you fix your crap personality."

The other officers in the group all smirked trying to keep their composure. Renji on the other hand openly snorted in a very undignified way.

The girl had spunk he would give her that.

"Shiraki, what have you got?" Hitsugaya asked swiftly but quietly before Sabe could retort to her insult.

"There are hollows somewhere on the other side of that alleyway" Kokoro nodded to said alleyway.

"How can you tell? I can't feel a thing." Kira frowned as he and Renji squinted down the narrow path.

"The smell. Only hollows stink like the back end of a butchered pig." Kokoro winced as she was hit by another wave of the horrible smell. Oh man, that really was nasty.

"Shiraki has enhanced senses. She can smell and hear far better than most people which makes her able to track most things even when they try to mask their reiatsu." Hitsugaya explained quietly to the rest of the men.

"So she can track them even if we cannot sense them?" Renji raised his tattooed eyebrows.

"That's a pretty impressive skill Shiraki-san" Kira smiled with admiration at the young girl who flushed brick red at the compliment much to her own personal chagrin.

God, why did she have to be so damn bashful when people said nice things to her?

You should not be surprised master; you are a decent tracker. You should own your skills instead of hiding.