"That's five Shinigami missing in as many days. I don't think we can wait."

"True, Internal Affairs is notoriously slow on issues they don't have a vested interest in."

"Then you agree that we need to take action ourselves! And we need to keep this contained within the division."

"But… Is it still possible that they're deserters; that they spooked and fled after recent events? They were all rookies."

"Yeah, they were. And if they'd wanted to run, the easiest way would be to make a break for it on a Rukongai or Living World patrol - just never come back. But they didn't. None of them were seen going out the gates. To my knowledge, none of them were seen leaving the division on the nights they disappeared. Tell me you know of any rookies with that kind of stealth, Kira."

He shook his bowed head. "Not outside the Onmitsukido, no." Kira continued to shake his head even as he looked up to face Itou. "But I also think it would be folly to issue any kind of alert before we have more of an idea what we're dealing with. If we move too fast, jump to conclusions, we run the risk of creating a panic which will hamper further investigations."

The matter was serious enough that they convened in Kira's office instead of Itou's. Here, there were no splatter-painted walls to distract from the matter at hand: five Shinigami had gone missing from the Third Division and Captain Ichimaru was unable to be contacted.

Itou was of the opinion, and Kira agreed, that whoever or whatever was behind the disappearances had been watching them for a good long while and had chosen to make their move when the division was at its weakest - when it was without a captain, without a lieutenant.

"Why are you so sure it's‒" Kira stopped, inclining his head to the door where he had heard a telltale shuffle.

Across from him, Itou had also frozen. In an instant, she had bolted up from her seat and raced to the door, flinging it open and nabbing whoever was on the other side before the eavesdropper could flee.

"Let go! I'm reporting this to the First Division!"

Kira made to close the door as Itou flung the intruder into the room. He made sure to first glance both ways down the halls for any others before turning back to the scene. When he did, he saw that their intruder was Hamano Arisu. Itou was staring down the slighter woman, who continued to shout.

"‒ought to be court martialed for not reporting this sooner!"

"Shut up for a sec and just‒"

"No, you shut up! I don't know what kind of sick games you and Ichimaru have been playing, toying with the lives of everyone in this division‒!"

"Just fucking listen!" Itou grabbed Hamano by the collar. "That's exactly the reason we didn't tell you! This is the kind of panic we were trying to limit!"

"Well that's too bad, isn't it? I managed to get a Hell Butterfly out to the Captain Commander just before you found me."

For a brief second, it looked like Itou was about to hit the other woman, but she shoved her away instead. "Damn it! Now we'll have outsiders crawling up our ass about this, and do you have any idea what they could do to Captain Ichimaru when he returns?"

"You're the one who has no idea," Arisu hissed. "Lives are at stake here and all you care about is keeping the captain's dirty secrets."

Kira had been standing by the door through the altercation. He stepped aside when Itou muttered, "Let her pass." His eyes narrowed, but he did as he was told.

As Hamano passed, she shot him a look laced with venom and muttered to him under her breath, "I thought you at least would be better than this."

Once, perhaps, her words would have stung. The person Kira had become was one who was somewhat cold about such matters, and he barely spared a glance to her retreating form before returning his attentions to Itou and their plans regarding the inevitable crisis.

"She could have been bluffing about the Hell Butterfly."

"I know. It doesn't matter."

Kira nodded. It didn't, really. Word would have gotten out one way or another. They were woefully ill-prepared for the situation and had overlooked so many variables… One detail from their interrupted conversation was still bothering him, so he returned to it.

"Why are you so sure it's a Hollow?" he asked.

"I just… have a feeling about this."

Kira waited for her to say more, but Itou just sucked in a breath and held it. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides as if grasping for something just out of reach. Eventually, she graced him with a rare shy smile before it faded into impassivity.

"Walk with me," she said.

They departed for the main entrance before the summons came.

Gin is off his game; he has been since the Kyoto mission. Kira notices because he pays attention. (Definitely not in a desperate lovesick stalker move the way certain friends of his would say. He's just… naturally observant.)

He catches Gin's attention when they both have a day off and he asks, haltingly, stutteringly, if he could accompany Gin into town today in a totally-not-a-date way. It's just that he's noticed that Gin seems to be making these trips like clockwork lately - not that he means to pry!

Gin ruffles Kira's hair, the affectionate gesture making Kira feel like a little kid, and he says in that strange quiet way of his when he's being gentle, "Sure, come along if ya want. Just gonna visit my ma."

That's how Kira finds out where Gin's been going. The air somehow feels so much more solemn. They wind their way through the Rukongai together, speaking few words. When they do, it is quiet.

"I've always thought of you as an orphan," Kira says. "You were…" Like me. "I was just wondering what it's like to have a mother as an adult. I can't imagine what it would be like if my parents saw how I turned out. Would they be proud or surprised, that's… It's what I've been thinking about lately."

"Is that all. That's all ya took away from our li'l adventure?"

"Well, no, but it's the most important."

"More important than the monsters tryin' to kill us?"

As far as Gin's teasing goes, today he's not up to par.

"Family's important," Kira reiterates. "We can't let the monsters take away our humanity."

Gin seems to accept that. He smiles. (Of course, he's always smiling. And Kira is reminded of a saying about comedians, that the funniest people are the saddest inside; that comedy and tragedy are but two sides of the same coin.)

"Oideyasu, oideyasu‒"

The woman welcoming customers to the inn speaks with the same soft Kyoto accent, perhaps a bit more pronounced than her son's. Her hair and clothes are as Kira remembers them when they met for the first time, though cleaned and groomed. For a moment, he wonders what it would be like to take her up on that offer and call her "ma" like she had asked.

To be family. They could be...

"Welcome, sirs," she greets. "Ichimaru-han, how nice t'see ya 'gain."

And he smiles. And he laughs. And he carries on being friendly and jovial when his own mother doesn't recognize him anymore. It's a horror show of the finest caliber.

Kira berates himself for having forgotten. Shinigami souls are eternal, they say, because they have more spiritual power than the average Plus, and with that power comes a certain amount of awareness. Most Shinigami, except those newly born in Soul Society, retain some memory of their past lives. But regular Pluses, they start to forget as soon as they arrive. They gather together in adoptive families because they remember what it was like to have a spouse or a child, but they forget the faces of those who used to fill those roles.

It's a sort of cleansing, or purification, to wash the soul clean before reincarnation, but that doesn't mean it hurts any less for those who remember.

The quiet conversation they had before is gone. On the way back, there is only silence on Kira's end. And Gin? His smile has regained its edge. He says only one thing for the rest of the night:

"Humanity? Ain't somethin' I've ever had."

They met the delegates of the First Division by the main entrance. The First Division members, led by Lieutenant Sasakibe, were all the very picture of military discipline as they stood at the ready. Arisu stood with them, and when her eyes met with Kira's and Haru's, she glared at them in defiance. On the other side of the gate, the gathered members of the Third appeared sloppy and disorganized, leaderless but for a Third Seat who had seemingly been placed there as a joke.

"Unfortunately, the Captain Commander could not be here himself, but he would like this matter settled as swiftly as possible," Sasakibe said. "As you are currently also without a lieutenant, I have been given special dispensation to take charge of the Third Division until your captain returns. Should you choose to accept these terms, my men will take care of the problem for you."

There was a muted outburst among the members of the Third as they heard this and processed the implications. Captain Yamamoto was engaged in other matters, probably involved in peacekeeping efforts between the Twelfth and Thirteenth as they worked together to investigate the recent murders and grew more and more frustrated with each other the longer they made no headway. Perhaps it was shortsighted of him that he did not put enough stock in another such potential outbreak in the Third to come himself, but in a way it was also a relief. They had been given a choice.

Autonomy or tyranny? It wasn't much of a choice at all. Even if the path of freedom was fraught with dangers, the members of the Third would never flourish under the strict rule of the First Division, not to mention how they would have to face Captain Ichimaru and tell him they keeled over without trying. Haru, who stood front and center, spoke for them on this matter.

"None shall have jurisdiction over another's division. This was the philosophy laid down at the founding of the Gotei 13. I was put in charge by Captain Ichimaru, and until he returns, I am in command of the Third. With all due respect, sir, this is our fight."

Sasakibe accepted the decision with a curt nod. "So be it. Effective immediately, the Third Division is under quarantine. No one is to enter or leave without express permission."

With a wave of his arm, the two officers standing to his sides began chanting. The walls around the Third Division shimmered and glowed with kido.

"Wait!" Arisu cried. "I'm going in!"

The barrier had started to take form. Lieutenant Sasakibe's eyes widened and he tried to reason with her. "Think of what you're doing, Miss Hamano‒!" His words fell on deaf ears. Arisu made her charge, diving through, slipping in right before the translucent wall thickened to the point of impenetrability.

She was met with grim silence and distrusting glances on the other side. There was curiosity as well, from those who wished for her to explain herself.

"Look," she said, "we disagree on a lot of things, and I think it's wrong that you try to sweep Captain Ichimaru's mistakes under the rug, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about him or about this division. Faults and all, this is my home. There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"Family's important," Gin says mockingly. He goes back to the inn once every two weeks, like clockwork.

Kira wonders if it still counts as "family" if said family doesn't remember being of any such relation.

Nonetheless, the two Shinigami become semi-regulars at the tea shop. Gin's mother greets them warmly each time. Kira can't help but keep watch on her expressions, to see if she shows any sign of recognition whatsoever. He watches Gin equally, silently urging him to explain the situation to her.

Then Kira comes to his senses and thinks, 'what good would it do?' None at all. She would feel guilt for forgetting her own child – who wouldn't? – and perhaps she would even truly remember, only to forget again.

Gin watches his mother adopt another son. She says she kept feeling as if she used to be a mother. He congratulates her for filling that void. He watches her memories rearrange themselves so that she thinks she's always been this child's mother. He watches them be happy together.

"It's a good thing, isn't it, Izuru? This time she doesn't have to worry about her son becoming a monster."

He watches her live. He watches her die for the second time, weak spirit particles floating away, dispersing. He does it all with a smile.

Kira watches Gin with indescribable sorrow.

Itou took to command with the kind of reluctance that characterizes a leader who did not rise to the position with power in mind. She did her best to delegate responsibilities, but she couldn't afford to weaken her own position while the division was in such a delicate state, and so was forced to be sterner, more absolute with her orders than usual. If Kira had not already held her in high regard, his opinion of her would have risen. As it was, he played makeshift second to her makeshift lead and thought to himself in the quiet moments that he would recommend her for a promotion to lieutenant once things went back to normal.

There weren't many quiet moments. Normal was not so quick to return.

The first night of the quarantine, Third Seat Itou set just one decree: no Shinigami were to go anywhere alone, not even during the day. They were trapped here with a murderer, possibly a high-level Hollow, she said plainly. "Be on your guard. Watch each other's backs."

Groups were assembled; patrol schedules and routes established. Kira stayed with Itou in her office, their temporary command center. It was strange with the whimsical decorations torn down, but paint splatters still covering the walls. They listened to the others' reports – nothing found, found nothing, nothing here either – pored over maps of the division, and re-drew countless routes. Nothing. The Hollow could not be drawn out that night nor the following day.

"Anything?" Haru asked when Chieko and Arisu came back in. It was evening of the second day of the quarantine, almost an entire 24 hours since the start. Tensions were rising, as were tempers.

Aida, who had just finished giving his report with Inose, barked out laugh. "Lemme guess: nothing!"

"Nothing!" Arisu spat out. She looked for a second as if she would throw her zanpakutou to the ground, then thought better of it. Arisu growled as she purposefully stalked to the couch, picked up a cushion, and dashed it to the hardwood floor with a soft, unsatisfactory 'paff'.

Aida and Inose left the office, chuckling.

"So… nothing. That's it for your report?"

"Absolutely!"

Chieko chimed in at that point. "I think we need to do something different. We're too loud, you know? Seated officers patrol in pairs, but everyone else? We're running around in groups of three to, I dunno, I've seen up to ten when two groups run into each other and team up."

"That's true," Kira said, "though the point of this system is so the unseated officers will not run into the Hollow. They must be loud and have a robust backup team so that the Hollow will be lured toward seated officers, of whom we are more certain will survive the encounter long enough to alert us."

"Well, we're still too loud! I don't think this Hollow has ever gone after anyone who wasn't truly alone! That's probably its MO."

"There… was a chance this would be the case," Haru reluctantly admitted.

Arisu scoffed. She stood with her arms crossed while sneering down at Haru who was seated at the desk. Kira could sense they were about to fight again, and held himself at the ready to defuse the situation.

"You thought this might be the case from the very beginning, yet you didn't tell anyone, just like you didn't tell anyone about the Hollow that's been slowly picking us off for days. And god knows how much else you're hiding! What the fuck are you and Ichimaru hiding? Why isn't he here! I swear your secrets will get us all ki—!

"Stop it!"

Just as Kira was about to jump in, Chieko beat him to it. She tugged on her friend's arm and said, softer this time, "Stop, okay? Now's not the time."

It was hard seeing Chieko so serious, such a far cry from her normally airheaded self. Kira was reminded that she was a soldier too, as they all were. He nodded to her in thanks.

"Back on topic," Haru said, "I know you're going to suggest setting up traps with lone Shinigami as bait. My answer is no."

"What?!"

"Shush," Chieko said, tugging Arisu's arm once more.

"That's a last resort, and we're not so desperate yet," Haru finished. She shot Kira a look, which he returned with a nod of encouragement. "Kira and I will personally take patrol tonight. We have more experience masking our reiatsu; perhaps we can lure it out."

"And if you die?"

"Both of us? Well, then you either carry out the last resort or bunker down until reinforcements arrive from the First Division. Fight or hand over the reins. It'll be your call."

Arisu clenched her fists, but bit back her words until she had reached the door. "Don't think for a sec this means I trust you or that I'll ever trust you again. Either of you." She directed the last barb at Kira. How can you stand with those two scheming bastards?

"That's fine. I don't need your trust, I just need you to obey orders."

Even Kira cringed at Haru's soft-spoken dismissal. Chieko looked back with hurt written plain on her face; she turned her head quickly, closing the door in a hurry.

Two spiritual signatures left down the hall, and all that was left was oppressive silence.