Disclaimer: If I own Bleach, Hitsu-kun would totally go with Ichigo & Co. to Hueco Mundo too. Seeing as how he didn't...
Hi there, thanks for checking this story out. This is my first Bleach fic, so please be nice lol. I've had this idea for awhile now, and today at 3 AM in the morning, I suddenly had the urge to type it all out orz.
Anyway, this fic takes place a little time before Ichigo and co. went to rescue Orihime. Oh, and while I don't know if this is canon or not, let's just pretend that after Aizen went off & killed those 46 chambers people, they were replaced, ok? Cuz in this story they are. Oh, and it has a little of the Diamond Dust Rebellion Movie to it, too, but mostly just Hitsu's memories of the past, not the actual movie itself, so they're not really spoilers, I don't think.
And with that, I hope you enjoy this fic!
Blood splattered on the ground excessively as the Tenth Division Captain struggled to hold himself up, hands grasping the surface while he willed the wings on his back to flutter once more and lift him up. A few more droplets fell as one perfectly composed Arrancar stood a few meters away, as if waiting for his opponent to recover.
"I suggest you think about what I had said." Ulquiorra spoke, face as emotionless as ever, while the other boy gasped heavily, trying to catch his breath and hold on to his consciousness.
"Shut up!" Hitsugaya spat out, voice rasping. "There's no way in hell I'll join you. I'm a shinigami, not to mention a Taicho of a whole division. I'm not going to group with the likes of you, EVER. Tell Aizen he can go to hell, and he very well will be, once I'm done with him!"
The Arrancar tilt his head up a bit, face not showing a hint of expression, but a slight twitch of the eye can be seen as he heard his leader's name being mentioned. "While I honestly do not get what it is that Aizen-sama sees in you, especially since you can't even hold your own against me, let alone Aizen-sama himself, having you join us is his wish, and I will simply fulfill it, with or without your consent."
Ulquiorra started to lift his hands up when both heard the distinct shout of "TAICHO!" and several footsteps, not to mention the reitsu, of other shinigamis, coming closer and closer to where they are. "I will be coming for you again, Junbantai Taichou." Without missing a beat, Ulquiorra started to walk towards the just-appeared hole out of thin air in the sky.
"Wait! Are you running away? We're not finished yet!"
"Hardly. But what Aizen-sama wants is you, no one else. He also told me not to make you unnecessarily angry, and I have no doubt that you will be, if I happened to exterminate them all once they arrived, so I will be taking my leave now. I will simply come for you at another time." With that, the Arrancar disappeared, along with the space distortion, before Hitsugaya can lunge forward, making him swung at thin air.
"D-Damnit. Come… back…" Hitsugaya staggered, now knowing that his opponent is fully gone. He can feel Matsumoto's reitsu coming closer, can hear her voice thick of worry, can see the world being distorted, swaying left and right in front of him, blurred, and before he knew it…
Darkness. Nothing but black.
:-:-:-:-:-:
Unbeknownst to him, forty-six pairs of eyes stared at the screen projector, playing everything that just happened during his encounter with one Arrancar, thoughts and ideas heavily on their mind.
"So, what do you think of it?"
"So it's true after all. But I wonder if we really should…"
"We are at a stalemate right now. This cannot continue on forever. We are losing many lives as we speak."
"But I'm still not sure about the idea…"
"Well, Hitsugaya Toushirou has proven to be very trust-worthy so far. In fact, he's one of the more better captains we have right now."
"I have to admit that I can understand where the traitor's idea came from. Still so young, yet already a captain… surely his potential shall be immense as time goes on."
"-Which makes him the perfect person for this job, is he not?"
"But what if he follows them—"
"Do not be afraid. He didn't betray us for what happened before, he wouldn't, now. If he does this, we will have an enormous advantage over the enemy. I have no doubt it will aid us in the upcoming winter war."
"Hmn."
"I agree."
"So all votes, in?"
"Well, then…"
:-:-:-:-:-:
The world slowly came into focus as Hitsugaya blinked slowly, trying to clear through the thick haze in his mind.
"Ah, Taichou! I'm so glad you're awake!" A familiar voice called out to him.
"Mmnn… Matsumoto…"
"Don't try to get up just yet. Please just lay down. Your injuries are still recovering, Taichou."
Managing a weak nod, the Tenth Division Captain started to look around, recognizing his surroundings to be in one of the Forth Division's medical room. Of course he recognized it, he had been in here quite often over the past few weeks. "Damn that Aizen…" he muttered out, anger beginning to well up inside him again.
His fukutaichou sighed, hands coming up to unclench his hands that had unconsciously tightened earlier. "So he's still bothering you, huh. I'm sorry we couldn't come earlier, but the Arrancar put up a sealed barrier and we couldn't discover his presence-"
"It's alright." Hitsugaya cut in. "It's my fault. I need to be stronger." That was it - simply it. If only he were stronger, he could've defeat that blasted Arrancar, could've defeat Aizen, then his division wouldn't have lost so many casualties, his fukutaichou wouldn't have gotten hurt before, Hinamori wouldn't have been like this…
Sometimes he wondered why exactly it was that that traitor wanted him to join his side. Surely he was strong, but he was not the strongest captain out there, he knew this much. Not to mention those Arrancars of his are quite powerful, too. So, why him…?
"…Taichou?" Matsumoto asked, voice filled with concern, and Hitsugaya snapped out of his own thoughts to faintly shake his head, mumbling out a "Nothing." and said that he wanted to be alone for awhile. He needed time to think.
Matsumoto only smile understandingly at him before getting up to leave the room, but not before chirping a "Get well soon!" merrily at him. Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel a bit better, and retorted a "Don't forget the paperworks!", making her pouting face the last thing he saw before the door closed gently.
Closing his eyes again, Hitsugaya drifted back to sleep, mind filled with disoriented thoughts.
:-:-:-:-:-:
A flash, and then suddenly there is another figure in the room, bowing down to the one sitting on the throne-like seat in the front of the room.
"Aizen-sama, I have returned."
"Ah, yes. And about what I had asked?"
"We were interrupted, again, but you need not be concern, I will have him with us before long."
"Then I shall take your words for it. After all, you are my most-trusted Arrancar, Ulquiorra."
No expression changed on the surface, but one Aizen Sousuke can see the way the dim eyes lit up, if just a little, at the comment. He smiled. The guy is completely under his control. How pleasing. Nothing better than a puppet who obeyed and satisfied his master's every wish, were there not?
Of course, it couldn't hurt to have a certain little icy captain who happened to wield the strongest ice-water zanpakutou, too. No one could ever truly be contented, after all. Not even the man who had everything.
:-:-:-:-:-:
Hitsugaya sat there, staring at the white walls ahead. Though he was well enough to go out now, the medical staff said that he should still rest for a few more days, lest his wounds open up again. So there he was, back at that room that had grown to be so familiar, nothing to do to keep him busy and away from all those negative thoughts. Sighing softly, he barely noticed the creaking of the door before the Forth Division Captain appeared, smile on her face as always.
"Hello, Hitsugaya-taichou. How are you feeling?"
Though the white-haired captain was feeling irritated, he managed out a "Better than before, thank you for your care." It's only common courtesy, after all. He had that, if nothing else.
"That's good. Soutaichou requires your presence, so if you're feeling alright, please go to the meeting room."
Hitsugaya blinked in surprise. The Soutaichou wanted to meet him? As far as he remembered, there were no meetings supposed to be held today, so the head captain wanted to meet with him, alone?
"Thank you for the message, I'll be going then." He managed a curt bow towards Unohara before walking out, only too glad to be out of that blank white room.
:-:-:-:-:-:
"Soutaichou, you requested my presence?"
"Yes. Hitsugaya-taichou, please come with me." Before the smaller captain could ask him to elaborate, Yamamoto pointed a finger out at him, and suddenly, he was…
…Back to that blasted place again. This makes it the third time, he absently thought, before his eyes narrowed as to why on Earth he was here.
"Hitsugaya Toushirou, currently the Captain of the Tenth Division, correct?"
"Ah, yes." The boy managed out, confused and careful not to let that anger seeped into him. There had been nothing but bad memories to go with this place.
"We've saw that the traitorous Aizen Sousuke has expressed an… incentive for you to join him, is that correct?"
"Yes, but I-"
"Do not interrupt, Hitsugaya Toushirou, for we were not finished. Now, you do see how we are at a stalemate with them, do you not? No matter what we do, they always are able to push back. We have lost countless lives due to this, correct?"
"…Yes." The small captain grudgingly admitted. It's supposed to have only been a few months since Aizen's betrayal, yet it felt like forever had passed. He couldn't even begin to estimate how many shinigamis were killed by them. It was really frustrating him, yet there was nothing he could do to help.
"That is why… we have a special mission for you, Junbantai Taichou."
"Eh?" Hitsugaya looked up, face filled with surprise.
"You will be accepting Aizen Sousuke's offer of joining him and go to Hueco Mundo, and there you shall be posing as a spy, relating information back to us for all of their plans."
Hitsugaya could do nothing but stared in shock. Him… joining Aizen… to spy on them? Even if it was acting, to join the man he hated the most, wanted to kill the most…?
"I… I refuse." He grounded out.
There was a brief whispering between the members of the 46 Chambers, before one of them spoke up again. "We do not believe you have a choice to refuse, Hitsugaya Toushirou. This is what we, the 46 Chambers, requested you to do, and you shall do it."
Before the boy can retort back a comment of something about free will, the voices spoke up again. "Ever since the day you agreed to be a shinigami, working under us, you agreed to abide to all rules and laws we set out, and any other commands we shall make at any given time, for the rest of your life. Have you not forgotten?"
Growling softly in frustration, he didn't know what do say. Not again. This was like the last time. Not again.
"I…" I don't want to do this. Haven't you guys have had enough? Why must it always be me? That last time, I had no choice - he took out his sword before I had a chance to respond, so I had no choice, but this… I don't want. I don't want.
"Besides," the voice cut in, interrupted the thoughts that he were hesitant to let loose, "this is nothing bad, now is it? You're only pretending to join them, not actually joining them. Once all of this is over, you can simply go back to the life that you had once known, as the Captain of the Tenth Division."
Maybe so, but what about that time until all of this is over? To betray Soul Society, even if it was only an act, but who would know? Since this was a secret mission, and to make sure Aizen didn't find out, mustn't find out, he would not, and should not, be allowed to tell anyone about this. How would the people around him react to his 'betrayal'? The captains would be out to get him, his own division would be out to get him, Matsumoto included, not to mention possibly Kurosaki Ichigo and the rest of his friends, too. He would not belong anywhere, there would be no one for him to turn to if he ever feel lost… Everything he had would be lost…
"Hitsugaya Toushirou, surely you do not want more lives to be taken away? With you as our undercover, we will know ahead of time what Aizen's plans are. No matter what, it will surely tipped the scale over in our favor. You want this war to end soon, do you not? You want Aizen Sousuke and the rest of them to be gone forever, do you not?"
Hitsugaya jerked his head up, face distorted as he took in that last comment. Despite all that, what they said was right… Every single thing they listed. Especially that last part. He wanted to kill Aizen, more than anything – this person who started it all, who brought pain to so many people closed to him. If doing this mission could help realized that desire…
Once he agreed, that would be it. He was still unsure of how long it would take. Surely everyone he knew and held dear would hate him for it.
Everything I have will be lost…
But if it was so that one day, the future would be better - so that no one would have to feel this pain anymore, then…
There's no going back… after this…
"I accept."
So there goes the first chapter. One of my biggest pet peeve is keeping characters IC. I constantly look for OOC-ness, so if you see any of them acting out of place, please tell me and I will do my best to fix it! :D Next chapter shall actually be Hitsugaya joining Aizen and meeting the rest of the Arrancars, not to mention seeing a few old fellows from way back when. How will Hitsugaya react to this? Can he actually keeps his temper in check so he won't get exposed?
Oh, another thing is that the pairing of this fic is still undecided. It's supposed to be Hitsu-centric, but I wouldn't mind pairing him up with someone, too. I'm fine with all Hitsu pairings except one (lol take a wild guess as to who that person is) so if there's enough suggestions for it, I will make it happen. Yaoi and het pairings are welcomed, really. :D
So yes, please review and vote for someone you'd like him to end up with (or that you want to have him not end up with anyone at all. I'm ok either way.) and tell me your thoughts on this chapter. The more reviews I get, the more motivations I'll have to update sooner, seriously, so yeah.
So until then, ja-ne!