I do not own Bleach, it belongs to Tite Kubo-sensei!
This Isn't Goodbye
It has finally come to this, the war against Aizen has finally reached its peak. The Gotei Thirteen squads' captains and Ichigo are now standing in front of a smirking Aizen. Both Gin and Tousen had fallen. Gin, who had an unexpected reason and came with Aizen to betray him in the end but fell under the hands of Aizen and is now lying next to Matsumoto, barely alive. Tousen, who had swore his loyalty to Aizen had fallen in the hands of his former good friend, Komamura. And now, only Aizen is left, but all the shinigamis are all too tired and too cautious in case the smirking man in front of them had set up a trap to finish all of them off.
"So then, aren't you all going to finish me off? Oh wait, I know, all of you wanted to catch your breath after fighting so hard." Aizen said chuckling, agitating most of the captains. Aizen then quickly turned around to block an upcoming attack.
"Ho, I see you still have strength to go on, Yuki-chan." The said girl gritted her teeth as tears sprung out from her eyes before she started to yell.
"You're not Aizen nii-taichou anymore! So you cannot call me by that name anymore! Aizen nii-taichou died, and you are nothing but a monster!"
"My, my… I'm hurt, Yuki-chan. You really think that Aizen died and then changed to me? Well, you were wrong about that, the Aizen nii-taichou you know never really existed, it was just a mask for me to use and to dispose of." Everyone could feel Yuki's reiatsu shot up through the roof and Aizen know this will certainly be interesting.
"Yuki! Get a hold of yourself!" Hitsugaya yelled. Ah, so that boy is still clinging unto his feelings for her, Aizen thought amusedly as he watched as Hitsugaya's face expression changed quickly when he noticed how Yuki's reiatsu just shot up because of her anger.
"Well then, come at me, Yuki-chan. Let's see how you've improved since then." Aizen said, chuckling before opening his hand out to cast a barrier to separate him and Yuki away from the gotei captains and the ryoka. Aizen then laughed when he heard how Kurosaki kept on trying to break the barrier in order to save his 'baby' cousin.
"It is futile to even try to break it, Kurosaki. Why don't you sit back and watch how your dearest cousin will quickly die under my hand, perhaps you can mourn her together with that captain friend of hers." Aizen said with a smile before shunpo-ing, leaving Ichigo yelling out Aizen's name in rage as Aizen's laugh echoed around them. Ichigo fell unto his knees and kept on hitting the barrier, but his strength is almost none, he had stupidly used almost all of his reiatsu at the fight and now he had left his cousin unprotected, and that is what he regret most after the guilt of his mother's death.
All captains, even Yamamoto, tried and tried to break through the barrier but all efforts were useless until all of a sudden the barrier dropped, surprising everyone. Everyone thought whether this was a trap to lure them, but then there could only be one reason.
"Aizen… has been defeated?" That could only be the explanation. Because of Aizen had won, Aizen would surely come to them and stand at the other side of the barrier, smirking and laughing… and he will definitely tell them of how he had defeated and killed Yuki. Thinking about the second reason had made them cringe, hesitation started showing, anxiousness and worry over the black haired girl who went by herself to defeat Aizen. Is Yuki alive? Where is she? Where is Aizen? Had he escaped? Questions came back and forth, but no one had the answers to any of them, it was agonizing. But then hope shot through all of their hearts, it was a small flicker reiatsu, a reiatsu they knew very well. It was then when Hitsugaya shunpo-ed away with all his remaining strength to get to her.
"Yuki! Yuki!" Hope and anxiousness dwell within him, hope for her safety, and anxious about the outcome of the battle. But then he became worried, that flicker of reiatsu is getting smaller and smaller, almost none. If a reiatsu was to disappeared, it would mean death, and that was the last thing he wanted to think about. Hitsugaya still hold onto his feeling for the girl, and he had hoped and hoped to finally get his chance to tell her that he wanted to always be by her side and be the one she'd go to in the future.
"Yuki! Answer me!" Hitsugaya then stopped when he saw a body and took a step back, it was the body of Aizen, lying on the sand, his sword no more and there is no light in his eyes. Death had finally come to him. But where is Yuki? She should have been here, but where is she? There is no trace of body and the small reiatsu is almost too small to detect. Unohana and Kurotsuchi then began to look to Aizen's body as Soifon, Kenpachi and Yamamoto stayed to guard if the unthinkable happens. Hitsugaya remembered Ukitake, Shushui and Matsumoto stayed behind in order to keep Gin alive as long as they could; and Komamura stayed behind to let himself mourn over the death of the person he had regarded as his best friend. So that leaves him, Byakuya and Ichigo to find Yuki.
"I saw someone over there!" Ichigo said as the three of them quickly fled towards the shadow figure at the distance. Hitsugaya felt his heart started to beat faster, happiness and hope filled through his body at the though of seeing her safe. But then all of his hopes were crushed; it was too soon to hope for the best after thinking that she must be safe after defeating Aizen, but there she was, right in front of them, lying as a pool of blood started to build under her.
"Yuki!" Hitsugaya yelled. He then knelt down and placed the girl's head on his lap and felt his insides twist at the serene smile on her face. Yuki let her eyes opened and gazed over to Hitsugaya, Ichigo and Byakuya.
"Toushiro-kun… Ichi nii… oji-chan…"
"Save your strength, I'm calling Unohana-taichou over." Hitsugaya said before Yuki shook her head and let out a shuddered breath.
"It's no use… let me stay here just for a while longer…" Hitsugaya ignored the blood that was seeping unto his hakama and held onto Yuki tighter.
"Wait here, Yuki, I'm going to get everyone over and Unohana-taichou can heal you." Ichigo said before Yuki weakly lifted her hand and touched Ichigo.
"Ichigo nii-chan, please stay… just for a while…" Ichigo gritted his teeth and stayed, making Yuki smile a bit wider. Silence then fell, it was painful as they felt Yuki's reiatsu getting smaller and smaller, they knew that this can't be avoided.
"I'm just going to be Aizen nii-taichou's guide for a while… maybe I'll come back to Rukongai soon… and meet you again…"
"Tell everyone… I'm very happy to have met them… and thank you, for telling me things that I don't know, I must have been quite a bother… and tell them I love them so much… it was fun…" Hitsugaya felt his lips tremble and Yuki felt water on her face.
"Are you crying, Toushiro-kun? Don't cry, it's not like you to cry… can you tell Matsumoto nee-chan to take care of Gin nii for me…? Give him a second chance… to explain everything…" Yuki suddenly coughed out blood and the three people who are watching over her never felt so scared in their life. Byakuya then held Yuki's hand and caressed it.
"Nee, Byakuya ji-chan, I had so much fun with you… I learned so many things… and I get the feeling Rukia nee will be mad at me…"
"Don't worry, she cannot be angry with you…" Byakuya said softly.
"Ichigo nii-chan… you're always strong… you always protected me and helped me when mommy and daddy died… I really love you… please tell Yuzu and Karin not to wait for me anymore… they'll get old if they kept doing that…" Yuki said, attempting to humor everyone but failed to do so and she started to close her eyes, even though Hitsugaya told her to hang on.
"Tell them yourself, Yuki… please… Yuzu and Karin are always waiting for you…" Ichigo said.
"That's why I don't want them to wait… I don't want to see Yuzu and Karin crying for me anymore… I love them…"
"Yuki…"
"Nee, Toushiro-kun… I might meet Momo-san soon… maybe I'll say hi to her…"
"You… you idiot…"
"And maybe I'll meet Hisana ba-chan too… and mommy and daddy… and Masaki ba-chan…"
"Stop saying those things, you're staying here, that's final." Hitsugaya said, gritting his teeth.
"I really like you, Toushiro-kun, you were cold, but you're actually very nice… you just trust people slower than most people… and more cautious too… I really really like you…" Yuki whispered, making more tears fell unto her face.
"Stop… crying… we'll… meet… again… it's not… like I'm… saying goodbye…" Hitsugaya couldn't talk anymore, he never felt his chest so tight before it's like someone is cutting off his air supply. All three of them noticed that the captains are surrounding them, watching sadly at the death that is coming to Yuki.
"This is… not goodbye… I'll… see you all soon… and thank you… I'll guide Aizen nii-taichou now… take care…" Yuki said before she breathe her last breath and fell limp in Hitsugaya's arm. Ichigo then yelled with all the strength he had when he felt the last of Yuki's reiatsu diminished as if the wind blew it away. Byakuya bowed his head, not letting himself cry in front of everyone but inside, just like that time when he saw his sister's unmoving body, his heart broke at the lost of his only niece. And there's Hitsugaya, even though he knew this was coming, he couldn't make himself to move or to open his mouth. Yuki told him she really likes him, yet he couldn't tell her that he felt the same, Hitsugaya then yelled in anguish, holding Yuki close as he cried unto her shoulder. All captains bowed their head to respect and to mourn their fallen fellow shinigami, the youngest yet perhaps the bravest. Some said prayers, some wept, while some just stayed silent the whole time, not daring to break the moment.
"Hitsugaya-taichou… we should bring her back…" Unohana said softly as she placed a comforting hand on Hitsugaya's shoulder. Hitsugaya did nothing as Unohana instructed Isane to pick the cold body from his arms and he felt himself being pulled up by Ichigo before Matsumoto led him by the shoulders. Hitsugaya felt like his mind and gone blank, his memories of Yuki flashed right before him, and his tears kept on flowing endlessly.
"Taichou… we'll see her soon…" Hitsugaya nodded stiffly and brushed Matsumoto off before stepping aside from the group so he'd walk a bit further than the others.
"Let him be, Ran… the boy had many to think about… after all, this is the first time he felt such things…" Shunshui said, stopping Matsumoto when she was about to call unto her captain.
"… I hope Yuki-chan will be alright…"
"We'll see her again, like she said, this isn't goodbye." Ukitake said as Matsumoto nodded and left her captain alone. Matsumoto looked towards the clear blue sky, clearly telling them that the war has finally ended, but it came with a price.
"Come back soon, Yuki-chan… taichou needs you…" Matsumoto whispered to the wind.
待ってね、必ず帰りますから。本当に大好きですわ、冬獅郎君、永遠に。
—黒崎ユキ
Read and review everyone!
So... how was it? Did you like it? I hope so!
Maybe I'll put up an epilogue for this... hmm...