2/3

Her Zanpakuto purred sardonically, and Kokoro could almost see a pair of glowing pale-yellow cat-like eyes rolling with exasperation in her mind's eye. She seemed to have this gift for making compliments sound like insults.

However, she had no time to dwell on her Zanpakuto's words. Time was pressing and this so far was their best lead.

However, before she could take a step towards the alleyway, Hitsugaya grabbed her arm quickly to stop her.

"Stop. You go in there alone the Hollow will most likely corner you."

"What do we do then?" She asked quietly.

Hitsugaya thought for a moment.

"Alright, here's what's going to happen. Five of us and Shiraki are going to go stealthily through the alleyway in the direction of the hollow. Abarai, Kira, you two take the front. Shiraki you and I will follow them in the middle so we can both run point. Obata and Masuya you two will walk behind us and watch the rear. The rest of you four, Junko, Ikeba, Furi and Temura, you will take to the roofs and follow our movements as closely and as silently as you can. If anything happens to us that we cannot handle you are to return to either Lieutenant Matsumoto or Lieutenant Ichimaru and raise the alarm at once, got that?"

The men all nodded, even Sabu, though he still looked slightly put out as he took to the rooftops with the others.

Kokoro, on the other hand, felt her heart hammer in her chest. She was going to help Hitsugaya running point? Was he insane? Then again, she was the only one who could track the hollow, but still, she had never been on a mission like this before!

She had no time to think as Renji, Kira, Masuya and Obata took up their positions around herself and Hitsugaya who quietly ordered them to advance through the alleyway.

The men stayed silent as she sniffed the air and pricked her ears, momentarily shutting her eyes so she could focus better on her target. All the while, Hitsugaya kept a hand on her shoulder, his other one held on tight to the hilt of his own sword which he had strapped over his cloak on his back.

The others made no comment as they followed orders and slunk quietly down the alleyway which was long but, narrow, with many pathways deviating off it before they reached the end which was a crossroads that veered either side of them all. The top was open allowing the officers above full view of the small troupe as they approached the crossroads.

"So which way is it kid? Left or right?" Renji grunted quietly.

"Neither." Kokoro opened her sky-blue cat-like eyes and stared at the wall that lined the perpendicular lane. Above their heads, on the second floor, there was a window. "The hollow is straight through and down"

"Down?" Kira quirked a brow at her. "You mean underground?"

"It must be" Kokoro muttered, ignoring Hitsugaya's narrowed eyes as she walked through Kira and Renji to lean her ear against the plaster wall.

She heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. True, plaster walls like this were harder to listen through but even so, she could always hear deep bass sounds or higher pitches. But this wall, there was nothing behind it. It was like an empty shell.

"Does anyone live in this building?" she asked.

"I don't think so. It's the old Town Hall." Kira frowned. "I cannot sense any Pluses behind it"

"Neither can I," Masuya said from behind, fearfully glancing sidelong at his partner Obata who shook his head.

Right well, that settles it. Kokoro frowned as she glanced sideways to a nearby wooden beam set into the plaster to help hold up the second storey.

"Shiraki!" Hitsugaya scowled as the girl put her hands up high above her head against the beam and began climbing up it like a cat clawing its way up a man's leg.

It would have been almost comical to watch had it not been for the sight of her long sharp nails digging into the wood and leaving small scratches here and there when she slipped once or twice.

Her hands were not just hands, they were more like claws.

Hitsugaya gulped as he remembered the few times, he had watched her bare her teeth in a snarl and had seen her pointed canines.

Kokoro Shiraki was not like a cat. She pretty much was a cat. The only thing missing were the whiskers, ears, and tail!

The thought would have amused him if he were not so intrigued and worried by her current state as she precariously managed to hoist herself up to the window above their heads to look inside.

Kira was right it was a town hall of sorts, made for district council meetings and special community theatrical performances done on the stage at the far end. However, what should have been a warm and welcoming place of gathering was instead dark, cold and…and…

"Oy kid! Careful!" Renji hissed in worry as Kokoro leapt down from the window and landed easily on her feet before them.

"Shiraki what were you thinking?!" Hitsugaya snarled as he reached for her arm to turn her around, only to stop as he caught sight of her deathly pale face and her wide shocked eyes.

He knew that look; he had seen many a Shinigami bear it on his missions.

"It's in there isn't it?" he asked quietly.

"No." Kokoro gulped down the massive lump of vomit threatening to rise in her throat. "They're in there…"

"They?" Kira gulped "As in there are more Hollows?"

Kokoro nodded mutely, not trusting her gut to betray her and force all its contents to spill everywhere if she dared open her mouth.

"W-what were they doing?" Obata bit his lip.

"…Feeding" Kokoro mumbled, barely moving her lips.

"On Pluses?" Masuya gulped.

Kokoro shook her head.

"On Shinigami?" Renji scowled but once again Kokoro shook her head.

There was a bone-numbing silence as the horror of the situation began to sink into every single one of the officer's heads.

Hollows…feeding on other hollows.

Cannibalism amongst the masked monsters was not unheard of, though they only tended to do so if they could not find fresh, whole pluses or Shinigami souls to feed upon. In short, it was a last resort. So why when they had a fresh pick of all the souls in the Junrinan would they imprison themselves in one building and feed off one another in a mass massacre?

Renji could not blame the girl for looking so queasy, it must have been a bloodbath in there.

He had to admit he was impressed when after a few seconds she gulped down hard, straightened her spine, and sucked in a deep breath through her nose.

"So now what?" she turned back to Hitsugaya, her voice slightly strained.

"I don't know. How many hollows did you see?" Hitsugaya asked quickly.

"I'm not sure. It was hard to tell." Kokoro rubbed the back of her neck. "They were all y'know all up in one another's faces, mingling and ripping at each other around this big hole in the floor."

"Hole?"

"Yeah, wait here I'll show you." She quickly unsheathed one of her blades and drew a quick rectangle in the snow beneath their feet. "Okay. Here's the theatre stage." She drew a line one-quarter of a way inside the rectangle, before marking an X on the opposite end just outside the line. "Here's where we are outside. The hole is about…" she drew an ovoid shape over the centre of the drawing. "there are hollows all around it and some…coming out of it to join the frenzy…"

She trailed off as she felt another small wave of nausea hit her and she was forced to gulp her vomit back down her throat again. She was soothed as Kira reached out to pat a consoling hand on her back.

"That must be where the rift is. Underground in the catacombs. That's why the Twelfth Division cannot pick it up on the sensors." Hitsugaya scowled. The situation was worse than they thought.

"Alright. Let's all go back to the Lieutenants and inform them of our findings."

"But all those Hollows-" Renji started to object, his hand already on the hilt of his Zanpakuto but was stopped by Kokoro who shook her head.

"There were way too many for us, we'd be dead before we even got one step through the do-"

SMASH!

"AHH!"

"SHIT! WHAT THE?!"

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto sighed and shivered as she pulled her cloak tighter about her buxom bosom. Damn the Captain for sending her out on a mission like this in this miserable weather while he got to be cooped up in his cosy office most likely drinking and napping his day away.

Bastard. Oh well, it could be worse. At least I've got Gin to back me up…if he doesn't decide to just up and leave without saying a word again.

She scowled as she glanced sideways towards the silver-haired lieutenant who was currently taking a report from a small patrol that had returned.

"I see. Well then if that area is clean then meet up with Hinamori-chan's troupe and help 'er check on the North would'ya? The area has a lot of twists n' turns, it'll take ya a while to scope out completely."

"Yes sir" the officers nodded before running off in the direction of the North.

"Ah another dead end" Gin sighed folding his arms in his sleeves as he walked back over to Matsumoto. "This is quite the tricky one ne Rangiku? none of the patrols 'ave found anythin' yet"

"Honestly Gin, I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't find anything for a while" Matsumoto admitted her nose red as she snivelled in the cold.

Gin's smirk softened slightly as he reached forward and gently pulled up her pink scarf so that it covered the lower half of her face from the cold.

"Here, can't have my partner getting' a cold in this weather." He muttered in response to her grumpy scowl.

"Thanks, but I can rug myself up just fine on my own." She grumbled, cheeks faintly pink as Gin pulled away.

"Oh, I know ya can. It's just fun to see ya get flustered" he grinned, but Matsumoto could see his usual smirk was still slightly strained as he turned his head to look down the long snow-covered street.

"I'm sure Kokoro-chan is alright" Matsumoto muttered, smirking behind her scarf as she saw Gin's expression falter for the slightest of seconds before returning to its usual smirk.

"I'm not quite sure whatcha talkin' about Rangiku" he replied swiftly.

"Oh cut the crap Gin," Matsumoto muttered, narrowing her eyes. "I know you're worried about her. You've been itchy and distracted all day."

"I can't hide anythin' from you huh?" Gin sighed heavily, shaking his head with a soft chuckle as he made to lean back against the outer wall of the inn.

"Guess I have been pretty worried. The kid's first official mission and it's a dangerous one. And to top it off she's gone off with that Shiro-brat!" he all but spat the last two words as he folded his arms in his cloak.

"So that's why you're giving Toushiro-kun such a hard time." Matsumoto rolled her eyes though her smile betrayed her amusement "You think he's going to steal your little Hime-chan away huh? But why are you so worried about that? Toushiro-kun's a decent boy, I mean he can be a little bit of a stick in the mud sometimes, but he is a sweet kid. Shiraki-chan could do a whole lot worse. And anyway shouldn't it be her father's duty to protect her from boys?"

"Yeah, well I don't see Kenji Shiraki anywhere, around do you?"

"I suppose that's true." Matsumoto nodded in agreement. From the little she had seen of the Third Squad Captain, he was far more protective of his daughter than even Gin was and that was saying something.

"Well, one thing's for certain." The busty Lieutenant of the Tenth Division sighed "When the time comes for the poor girl to date she's going to have a hard time finding a boyfriend, with you scaring them off."

"The way I see it Rangiku, if a boy is too scared to take on those who look out for Hime-chan then he obviously does not deserve her." Gin snorted, and Matsumoto shook her head.

Gin Ichimaru did not have many people he was close with, but hell hath no fury to those that dared mess with the few people he cared for. Matsumoto herself was high on that list, being his oldest friend until a little over fifteen years ago when her position was taken by the new daughter of the Third Division's Captain.

In the beginning, Matsumoto had been quite confused, and admittedly a little jealous, to find her spot had been taken over by a drooling helpless infant. That was until Gin had brought her over to the Tenth Squad one day as he dropped off some paperwork. She had been only ten months old and was already babbling a few words as she stared up at Matsumoto with those big sky-blue eyes, sucking her thumb against Gin's shoulder as he cradled her to him in one arm.

"Gin-" Matsumoto started to say but stopped as a shock of energy suddenly rippled through her.

Gin felt it too for he leapt off the wall he leant against, slit eyes widening to reveal his shocked pale orbs.

"What was that?" he muttered, hand flying to the hilt of his short Zanpakuto.

"I don't know but that felt like-GIN!" Matsumoto called out as the silver-haired lieutenant flash-stepped towards the source of the terrible shockwaves.

They were dark and heavy, the essence of them hanging putridly in the air like the smell of a dead animal. It filled Matsumoto with dread as she followed Gin swiftly, dodging in and out of streets, calling out to those patrols they met to follow them and ready to fight.

The oppressive presence grew stronger as they finally found the street it came from, a few streets away from the back doors of the inn.

That's when they saw them. Hollows, at least a dozen of them spewing out into the empty street roaring and scrambling over one another, their tongues flailing their and teeth, gnashing, as they noticed the unit of Shinigami swiftly approaching.

"Oh my god" Matsumoto stared aghast at the creatures. She had seen many hollows in her career but these seemed to be worse than anything she had ever seen.

They were covered in blood and guts and their eyes…the eyes within each of their masks were glowing the same bright eerie yellow as one another's.

"Protect…must protect the Queen…our Queen," they all hissed in unison making all the Shinigami before they shiver in horror, all save one.

Gin's eyes, still open, was staring at one of the Hollows mouths from which a scrap of deep crimson material was hanging limply out, fluttering with each of the monster's breaths.

Oh crap, this is not good.

Matsumoto gulped as she glanced sidelong at her old friend, whose pale eyes glimmered even as they narrowed back to slits, his thin mouth twisting into the most horrific warped smirk she had ever seen on his fox-like face.

"Shoot to kill, Shinso"

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 lay in the clearing on her back staring up at the great storm above her head. It seemed different than usual, more menacing more frightening. However, she was not afraid of it because somehow, she knew the anger was not directed at her but rather at something else.

It was trying to protect her.

"SHIRAKI!" a voice called out to her, distant and almost lost to the howling winds "SHIRAKI! WAKE UP! COME ON!"

She sighed as she shut her eyes again. She felt so sore all over and the grass beneath her was so soft and comforting even as the rain began to fall softly upon her from above.

It was a warm shower, the droplets splashing down upon her body yet she did not become wet or drenched like she thought she would. They just seemed to slide over her and soak into the ground, refreshing her, soothing away all her aches and pain.

She heard something rustling through leaves and felt the vibrations of giant paws thudding against the wet earth.

"Open your eyes Master" A deep rumbling voice purred in her ear, hot breath fanning her face as its owner nudged her cheek gently with a giant snout.

Kokoro obeyed and opened her eyes, only to come face to face with…a tiger.

A beautiful, powerful and terrifyingly massive white tiger.

Only it was nothing like any tiger Kokoro had seen in pictures.

It was not covered in fur, but thick white and grey storm-clouds that twirled constantly around a pure white skeleton that became visible briefly where the clouds were thin and where the lightning that made its stripes flashed brightly.

"You…You're here" she breathed as the tiger pulled away to stare at her. Its eyes were pale yellow cat-like orbs of pure energy with sharp vertical pupils as black as the deepest void.

"Yes…I am" The deep voice from before rumbled from the tiger, its thick tail flicking and crackling with electricity as the storm above raged. "But you should not be here, master. Not now, your friends need you-"

"But I'm scared" Kokoro whispered tremulously as she sat up "What if something terrible happens? What if …what if I die?"

"I won't let that happen" the tiger purred soothingly as it leaned its' head down to press its forehead against the frightened girls. "I will guide you through to the very end"

"B-but I don't even know your name-how will I-"

"You will know it when the time is right." the tiger rumbled nuzzling her face gently before stepping away to look down upon Kokoro, yellow eyes flickering as charges of electric energy danced out of them.

"You said you trusted me, Kokoro Shiraki. Now its time for you to prove it. Now wake up"

"Wake up Shiraki!"

Darkness, that was the first thing Kokoro Shiraki registered when she opened her eyes. It was dark, cold and damp and a hand was shaking her shoulder.

"Shiraki, Shiraki! Wake up! Come on idiot please wake up!"

"H-Hitsugaya?" she mumbled blinking as her one good eye became quickly adjusted to the darkness.

Toushiro Hitsugaya was leaning over her, turquoise eyes fierce and worried as he shook her gently.

When he saw her blue eyes open and glimmer faintly in the dark he sighed in relief.

"Thank god. For a moment I wasn't sure you were going to ever get up." He leaned back to give her space as she gingerly craned her neck up to squint at him.

"Neither was I" Kokoro grunted, clutching at her head. It felt like it was splitting apart, such was the pain. "Ugh! What happened?"

"We got dragged underground by the hollows that attacked us in the alleyway" Hitsugaya murmured as he reached forward to help her sit up. "You should take it slow. You hit your head pretty hard on the way down here,"

Pretty hard was an understatement, Kokoro could feel small tendrils of something warm and wet dripping down the scarred side of her face, and she was sure it was not sweat.

"Where…where are the others?" she muttered, yet even as she wiped the blood from her blind eye, she could hear the voice of Kira hissing urgently in the dark.

"Renji! Renji hold on don't get up too fast your arm's in no condition-"

"Screw that we gotta get out of here! AH! My arm! My arm!" the gruff voice of Renji cried out in pain.

"That's what I was trying to tell you, idiot! Now hold still while I pop it back into place"

Kokoro squinted. She could vaguely see two shadowy figures struggling just a few feet away against a wall behind Hitsugaya's back.

There was a cry of pain and a god-awful snapping sound and suddenly a light flickered to life.

Kokoro cringed back in terror, shielding her face with her arms as Hitsugaya drew his sword beside her only to stop as the shape of a man became visible. It was Obata, his tanned skin and shaggy black hair illuminated by the glow of a ball of light floating above one of his hands.

"Sorry I thought this might make it easier if we could see." He sighed apologetically as everyone groaned in agony as their eyes were assaulted by the sudden appearance of the light.

"That's okay Obata. At least now we can see one another" Hitsugaya grunted as he looked over the scene around him.

They appeared to be on either side of the banks of a roughly carved, cylindrical stony yet frozen underground sewer. Everything in here stank and was deadly cold as the wintery chill from above manifested itself in slippery ice-covered stones and sharp deadly stalactites hanging from the ceiling. The sewer water that ran in a river between them was frozen on the top though Hitsugaya could see through a thin patch of ice that turbulent disgusting water ran swiftly beneath it.

We'll have to be careful walking around down here

He thought as he looked over the rest of his companions.

Kokoro was sitting up beside him, her hair and face a mess and her white cloak and red shawl both torn slightly. Opposite him, Kira was kneeling mostly unhurt beside Renji, who was massaging and rolling his heavily bruised and tattooed left arm and Masuya…

"Holy crap Masuya!" Kira cried out as Renji scrambled backwards, all pain in his arm forgotten in his fear.

The body of a shinigami was lying next to them on the ice, its white winter cloak stained with blood.

"OH GOD!" Obata nearly shrieked in horror "Oh no Masuya?!"

But his question was cut short by the sound of someone gagging.

They all turned to see Hitsugaya staring at a spot beside them, the latter clapping a hand over his mouth as his face turned green, his other reaching out to grab a pale and staring Kokoro as he tried to drag her away.

"Shiraki! Shiraki come on. Don't look at him." Hitsugaya's voice was thick and heavy as he forced himself to swallow down his own sick to tug at the shellshocked girl.

But she did not budge

There was a silence as she reached out with tremulous fingers.

"Shiraki?"

"What the hell is she doing?"

"Hey, careful-don't slip!"

But Kokoro ignored them as she stepped towards the body, her feet treading cautiously over the surface of the icy river. Renji and Kira both stiffened warily, watching her with wide eyes as she carefully knelt down beside the corpse.

"Rest in peace, friend" she murmured reaching out with two fingers to gently shut the staring eyes.

Behind her back, her four remaining companions lowered their heads and shut their eyes deferentially in silence for their fallen comrade.

They all knew the costs that came with this life they had chosen, and so had he, though that did not make his passing any easier to witness.

"We need to keep moving" Hitsugaya spoke. He hated to be the one to say it or interrupt the silence, but unless they kept going they'd end up the same as Masuya, perhaps worse. He could not – no – would not let that happen.

The rest of his company all nodded silently as they got up to their feet. Kokoro moved the slowest, her eyes still staring down at the body before her.

Does it frighten you, master? The sight of your comrade's death? The rumbling voice of her Zanpakuto asked her quietly.

Did it frighten her? Kokoro was not sure. It had shocked her, yes, and the smell of the blood and guts was not pleasant. She was sad that the man had passed on but for some reason, she was not frightened of his corpse. Why that was she did not know, nor was she sure she even cared.

Remember this master. Her Zanpakuto said softly, her voice deep and echoing like the thunderclouds she was made from.

Never forget this moment.

"Shiraki come on, I know it's tough but you have to keep moving," Hitsugaya's voice said faintly behind her.

Kokoro shut her eyes.

If you wish to wield me and fight with me for the rest of your life you shall have to be ready to face death like this every day.

"Kid, come on. There's nothing more you can do." Renji said softly as he placed a large warm hand gently into her shoulder

Are you ready to do that?

"I'm ready" Kokoro murmured sucking in a deep breath and opening her sky-blue eyes.

"Let's go."

Ichimaru Gin surveyed the carnage in that surrounded him, his pale pointed face a mask of wrath.

Hollows were just pouring into the streets of Junrinan from the abandoned town hall like ants swarming out of a destroyed ant-hill.

Their unit had tried to contain them quickly with Kido, but there were just too many of them. Matsumoto had already called for emergency backup from the Sereitei however would they be too late.

NO! it's not too late. I'll keep cutting this filth down myself if that's the last thing I do.

He growled as with a deft slash he hacked through another berserk hollow that raged at him, its eyes glowing that eerie yellow even as it disappeared into thin air.

The Queen it had said. Protect the Queen. What Queen?