Momo was nervous as she followed behind the taicho of the forth division. "Am I nervous because she is a captain or am I nervous because I'm worried about seeing Toshiro again." Then... "I think it is both. … Se is amazing. …. Aren't all taicho are amazing? … I don't know... I mean... Aizen and his fukutaicho are both pretty amazing. I don't think it is possible to have two people be that amazing. … But you don't know unless you try. … "

"Plus... she's the reason Shiro-chan is alive." Momo's hand twitched, stopping short when Unohana motioned them to stay outside of the door. The woman stepped in to speak with someone.

The door opened eventually and a rather stern looking young man looked out at them with a frown on his face. The stern look disappeared temporarily upon seeing one of her male companions. "Izuru... you've grown quite a bit since I last saw you."

The man then turned his head to look at the girl, examining her as he did causing Momo's trembling to return. The man then looked inside the room frowning. "You can peek in to see if it is your brother."

The small female found herself creeping forward to peek in. Her eyes suddenly widened in horror. "Shiro-chan!"

Her voice suddenly caused the small body in the big bed to seize. Miyako and Unohana both moved to settle the child down. Momo also made to move to her brother's side. The man who knew Izuru's name thought was watching and suddenly snapped his head her way. With a dept movement he scooped her up and with his foot closed the door with another swift movement. "No. This way."

Momo's arms flailed as she tried to reach for her small brother and she struggled to get loose. The man though didn't put her down until they arrived in a conference room. He then pulled a chair out from the table. "Sit and calm down. You two sit as well. I'll go and get some tea from the kitchens to calm her down."

The girl found herself sobbing, the tears falling onto her small hands. Eventually the sound of the door slid open and a trey was sat down. The man then took a seat in a rough manner, sitting in a fashion so unlike most of the noble families. Renji stood, the corner of his mouth twitching from irritation and his arms crossed across his chest.

The small female's sobs finally calmed down and the man spoke in a rather candid manner. "So... do you understand why you couldn't sense your little brother's reiatsu?"

Momo began to choke again and suddenly she burst into tears. "I didn't know! I didn't mean to not be able to find them."

Renji's voice rose then. "Look... I put up with you hauling Momo away from her little brother, but this? That was absolutely uncalled for! I know you probably think she should have been there, protecting her little brother but..."

Izuru suddenly grabbed his friends arm. "Are you an idiot! He's a member of the Shiba clan!"

"So he's some stuck up noble! I was able to wipe the floor with you during sword play. I can easily..."

"No you idiot! The Shiba clan's different then the other noble families!"

Kaien looked at the young man with irritation, his arms crossing. He turned his head towards Momo. "You grew up in the Rukongai? What district?"

The small female hiccuped out the answer. She then sobbed out more words. "I wouldn't have gone to the academy if I know this would have happened. Honest!"

Renji pushed Izuru way. "Would you just stop tormenting her already!"

The blond let out a sigh. "Renji... he is one of the five noble clans."

The member of the Shiba clan in question ignored the two males. "You know... in the same regard you feel it's your fault this happened to your brother we of the Shiba clan should also feel it is our fault as well. There is no point in beating yourself up about it."

Momo blinked a couple of times while the red haired academy student blinked a couple of times. "Wait... what?"

"Now that you've calmed down..." Kaien stood up and poked Renji in the forehead. "For your information that area is supposed to be under the Shiba clan's protection. We're always looking out for anomalies in the area."

"I don't like the fact you're calling Momo's little brother an abnormality."

"Not abnormalities... anomalies." Kaien sat back down with his arms crossed. "Though some people would call the people who cause the anomalies an abnormality. We consider these people who cause these anomalies to just be different people who need a place to fit in."

"I'm..." Renji frowned. "Honestly... I'm not understanding what you're saying."

"Back to why you weren't able to sense your brother's reiatsu."

The red heads finger pointed at the man. "I do know that though is rude!"

Kaien's mouth twisted up into a frown and his hands went down to his knees. He then stood up, glaring at Renji as he did so. He grabbed the young man's head and got into his face. "You! Now see here! I'm tired of your punk ass attitude acting all tough and all as if you want to fuck up my face. I am not going to put up with crap from you and if you don't stop you're going to find your head stuffed up your ass. I'm far from being in a good mood, but I am honestly trying to be civil here."

He then pushed Renji away and sat down. "Plus... I wouldn't bring up something if there wasn't a reason for it."

The red haired academy student blinked a couple of times before sitting down. He turned to Izuru. "Um... he's a noble?"

The small male leaned over. "I told you... the Shiba clan is different then the other noble families."

"So... they've got a bad ass reputation?"

"Not... exactly."

"Would you two shut up." Kaien's words caused the two males to freeze. "What can you tell me about your zampaktuo?"

Momo blinked a couple of times while wiping her tears away. "I still can't hear my zampaktuo's voice."

"That... ehh... what?" The older male blinked a couple of times while his arms were folded across his chest. "You're what year of the academy?"

"I'm in my last year."

"Ehh..."

Izuru spoke up. "Momo's weak point is the sword. Her strong point is Kido."

"Her only strong point is Kido." Renji rolled his eyes. "That and book studies."

Kaien's hand went to his head. "That explains a lot."

"It explains a lot?" Momo shook her head. "What does it explain?" There was silence. "And my brother... he's going to get better, right?"

"We don't know." The man let out a sigh. "So... you mean to tell me you honestly haven't any idea what your own reiatsu feels like?"

"No... but what does that have to do with anything?"

Izuru piped out. "Momo's reiatsu has a nice warm feeling about it."

Kaien looked at the boy before shaking his head. Renji however frowned. "Momo's right. What does that have to do with anything."

The man leaned back, his face still twisted up in frustration. "Your reiatsu has a fiery feel to it. It's far from being anywhere near as strong as Yamamotto's or even my older brothers but it is still there. Despite the fact your little brother has one of the highest icy feelings to his reiatsu we've felt in a long time your reiatsu was for a long period of time able to counter it."

"So... if I hadn't have gone to the academy Toshiro wouldn't have accidentally have killed granny?"

"No. Well, if your reiatsu was serving as a method to keep his in check and stopping it from growing then yes. But I honestly don't think that was the problem here. There is a chance if you didn't go to the academy that it wouldn't just be your granny that is dead now."

Momo clutched her pant legs. "Yes. But the thing is I could have at least noticed that something was wrong and have done something to make it so that he wouldn't have been alone and granny could have gotten help. Also, it wouldn't have happened as fast at least."

Kaien frowned, folding his arms across his chest. "You can't look at things in hind sight like this. Eventually you still would have gone to the academy and instead of your granny dying during your sixth year she would have died sooner." The man paused. "You actually don't understand how high of a reiatsu your brother has do you?"

The small female flinched. "What..."

"That child's reiatsu is on par with a third seat and that is without him having any training. Eventually he's going to reach captain level. Of course... whether he can become a captain or not depends on his mental state. You saw how he reacted in the other room. That beating those villagers gave him is going to leave some major mental scars."

"I'm not understanding. He's just a little kid. I want him to remain a little kid and not have to worry about being a Shinigami. I mean..."

Momo's words were interrupted by the door opening.