Excerpt: In Spite of Appearances

(From Chapter Four)

"Nakahara. What's going on?" he asked sharply. In that second, he remembered the man's previous behaviour at his irritation, and added, "Don't you dare freeze on me this time."

Nakahara paled, and fidgeted again, but to his credit did not sieze up this time. "I . . . I'm not sure I understand what you mean, sir. This is . . ."

"Not the Fourth, nor is it where Matsumoto and I were injured," Hitsugaya finished for him. Did the man really know nothing, or was he just playing at ignorance? He eyed Nakahara carefully, taking in his pallour and his shaking hands. No, this was no lie he had told. Whatever had moved them here, Nakahara had nothing to do with it.

"It's . . . not?" Nakahara sounded completely baffled. "But I found the both of you here, wounded and unconscious. It doesn't make sense that something would move you to the middle of nowhere and just leave you. Are you sure that –"

His scowl deepened. "Are you questioning my observational skills?"

Matsumoto stepped between them, forcing Hitsugaya to look up in order to avoid getting an eyeful that he did not want. One of these days, he was going to be able to look the woman in the eye without craning his neck. When, exactly, he had no idea. But one day it would happen, and he would be glad for its occurrence. As it was, those eyes were full of cheerful impatience – however the hell that was supposed to work, but that was what it was – and her lips were set firmly, though they did twitch a bit, as though she were trying to keep from smiling.

"Boy, boys, let's not argue!" She turned and gave Nakahara a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Sorry about that; he's just being cranky. But it's true, you know. We were fighting near a lake, and . . ." Here, she swept a hand out to indicate the surrounding landscape. "There doesn't seem to be one in sight. It's just strange. That's all."

Hitsugaya snorted when Nakahara seemed to relax a bit at those words; colour had returned to the man's face, though his hands still shook. Really, had he not communicated that very same thing a moment ago? He didn't need Matsumoto to repeat his own questions, couched in softer language. There was no point in saying the same thing twice.

"Oh," Nakahara said, taking a moment to push a strand of short dark hair out of his eyes. Yes, he certainly looked more relaxed now. "Well, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can tell you about that."

"Really? You don't have a clue?" Matsumoto looked well and truly baffled now, and Hitsugaya could not find it in himself to blame her. This whole situation just made no damn sense at all.

Nakahara shook his head. "I am afraid not, Matsumoto-fukutaichou. But perhaps one of the others might, if we head back to base."

Hitsugaya blinked. "Base? Others? Mind explaining that before we go anywhere with you?"

He was not entirely convinced that this was not a trap of some sort. Everything felt too wrong, and Nakahara wasn't giving straight answers. Not in Hitsugaya's view, anyway, and that was what mattered. He hated to think that he could not trust another shinigami, but not everyone was trustworthy, and he had never met this man before. For now, the situation was stable, and he would not yet pass judgement on Nakahara's intentions. A chance to regroup was one that should be taken.

"Well, sir, there have been quite a few others that have ended up here in some fashion." Nakahara stood straightbacked and proud, like a proper officer when he spoke. Matsumoto's gentleness must have coaxed that out of him. "All from various divisions, even another officer or two. I . . . can't say exactly. For that, you might need to talk to Okada-san; he's already got a better handle on who's who than I do."

Hitsugaya was about to answer, but when he heard that name, he stopped, stunned. "Okada?"

That was too much of a co-incidence. This man had just spoken out the name of Hitsugaya's tenth seat, and there was no reason for him to have known it beforehand. If he hadn't planned to go to this base earlier, he certainly intended to now.

"I see. Lead the way, then. Immediately."

Nakahara bowed wordlessly before jogging ahead. For a second, Hitsugaya felt slighted by the lack of shunpo – he could do quite a good job at it, in case anyone wondered – but then remembered the man's rank. Officers that low typically couldn't shunpo, and clearly Nakahara was no exception.

He nodded to himself when Matsumoto pulled up beside him, but made no effort to move ahead. Good to see that she could respect protocol occasionally. Besides, they needed to have a word or two anyway, where their guide couldn't hear them. This would work nicely.

"So we're going to see Okada, hmm?" Matsumoto said lightly, an undisguised note of teasing in her voice. Just fantastic. Really. "You sure you're up to that? You know how much he upsets you; I wouldn't want you to get overly stressed."

In all honestly, Hitsugaya was not exactly sure that he wanted to deal with Okada right now. Or ever, really. The man was a nuisance who held absolutely no respect for his station. Oh, he used his title alright, but jokingly. Hell, the idiot had laughed at him the day he took over the division. Speaking with him was never a pleasant prospect.

But he had no choice.

"I can handle Okada," he snapped. He didn't want to, but he could. "And I have to, anyway. Don't you realize the significance of his being here, Matsumoto? This is something that you should have been aware of."

Matsumoto blinked, clearly not getting it. "Why should I be aware of something like this? That's not my job."

Grinding his teeth, Hitsugaya forced himself to calm down, just a little. Wasn't part of her job? What the hell did she think her job was? "I suppose it's too much to ask for you to keep track of mission assignments. But if you had done so as required, I wouldn't have to be explaining this to you right now."

He didn't know why he bothered. He really didn't. After a scant few months, Hitsugaya had come to realize the near-futility of getting Matsumoto to do anything resembling work. In the office, at least. She seemed to handle herself well enough in the field, the last encounter notwithstanding. But paperwork? Might as well do it all himself. At least people would be able to read it that way.

"Okada was in charge of the squad that was just brought back into the Fourth."