Title: Redux
For: kiriga on LJ; IchiHitsu Secret Santa challenge
Summary: Like all books, they have a beginning, middle, and an end.
Warnings: Kissing, death-fic, drama, angst, some blood, AU-ish towards the end.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. (Seriously defeats the point of fan fiction...) All characters depicted are of legal age.

I should never be allowed near chocolate cake before writing...
And merry Christmas to everyone, from CA. It's... windy out... and sunny... with not a cloud in sight... ;;

Redux

by: Boshoku

.:Like the pages of a book, we have a beginning, middle, and end.:.

At any other time, Hitsugaya Toshiro would have been tempted to laugh.

They were dancing. Dancing about in the air, with no one but the other, against a backdrop of cloudy skies, high above Seireitei.

Only most dances didn't include clashing blades and promises of spilt blood.

"TOSHIRO!" came the guttural scream, a butchered echo of Ichigo's voice. His golden eyes were wild with eagerness, desperate for the gleam of crimson in the dim light. There was not even a trace of the serious, but oftentimes stupidly noble boy. His visage was obscured by a frightful mask that seemed to smirk at his every move, as if every movement he made had already been deciphered.

And the black blade came singing through the air at the white-haired captain, who dodged it with deadly grace before he tore through the air on icy wings, retaliating with a cry.

Most dances didn't end in death.

The moon was eclipsed by clouds that night.

"Ne, Toshiro?" The orange-haired substitute Shinigami's voice broke the silence.

"It's Hitsugaya-taicho," the captain replied automatically, eyes not even bothering to glance up from his paperwork.

Not even registering Hitsugaya's blatant reply, he went on. "Toshiro, if something were to happen…"

"And that something would be what, Kurosaki?" He straightened the papers before setting them aside, laying his pen down.

Ichigo finally took notice of his blunt attitude. Smiling grimly, he said simply, "My inner Hollow… if something were to happen, and I were to lose control, enough so that I would hurt one of you, I want you to kill me."

Hitsugaya was forced to end his reminiscing when a sharp, metallic bang punctuated his last thought. Cursing at his own inattentiveness, he soared above the next reckless slash, only to whip sharply around in order to block the blow from above.

Sparks flew as both swords threatened to give way from the force. "Kurosaki Ichigo, stop this madness!"

"I cannot promise you that," Hitsugaya said, after a long pause. "Have someone else do it."

"But Toshiro – "

"I have the blood of a friend on my hands already, Ichigo," Hitsugaya roughly interrupted. His eyes met Ichigo's, and the slightest twinge of guilt passed through them. The use of Ichigo's given name only added to the gravity of the scene. "I won't add your name to that list."

Clang. "I know that you're stronger than this!"

Cling. "I know that you're better than this!"

"Ichigo!"

"I know…" Toshiro murmured the last part bitterly, more to reassure himself than anyone else, "…that you love me…"

"But I trust you!" Ichigo declared angrily. "And I love you, okay?"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened, breaking composure for the first time as he stood to face Ichigo, less than an arm's length away. "What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself, it's awkward as it is," Ichigo muttered. "But yeah, for all your honorable, anal retentive tendencies, I love you. Maybe it's just a schoolboy crush, maybe I'm being an idiot, but it's the truth."

"Getsuga tenshou!" The crescent wave exploded towards Hitsugaya, but his massive frozen wings folded around him. Nonetheless, he was blown back, the attack forcefully imploding, leaving behind a frosty cloud.

Hitsugaya's silence unnerved Ichigo slightly, but he didn't regret his sudden vow of love, as cliché and corny as it was. "Toshiro-"

"Shut up, Kurosaki." Ichigo stepped back as though he had been slapped, eyes flashing, when Hitsugaya reached up and tugged him down for a messy kiss, tongues invading each other's mouths forcefully, diving, teeth nipping, in an altogether clumsy, inexperienced kiss.

They drew apart, a strand of saliva still connecting them before breaking. Hitsugaya shoved Ichigo away without a word, wiping his mouth on his sleeves.

"I'll promise," he said quietly, tiredly, without looking at Ichigo. "I'll promise because I love you. But promise me, that you will never let it come to that."

"…I promise."

"Something like this is like the pages of a book, Ichigo," Toshiro went on lowly. "There is a beginning, a middle, and always, always, an end."

Ichigo – the Hollow – seemed to revel in the success of this one strike, a mad cackle ringing in the night air.

Hitsugaya roared out of the smoke, leaving Hyorinmaru and Zangetsu to meet again that night, as he shouted at Ichigo, "Have you been lost so far, stooped so low as to attack the very ones you have sworn your life by? Answer me, Kurosaki Ichigo!"

"Sorry, littletaichou!" the Hollow howled in glee, unperturbed by the proximity of his opponent. "Ichigo's not here right now!"

Hitsugaya's blue-green eyes narrowed. "Liar."

With a knowing snicker, the Hollow vanished from sight, though his laughter still seemed to fill the air about him. Hitsugaya gritted his teeth, eyes glancing first this way, then that, wings spread as though preparing for flight.

"You know," the Hollow continued, "don't you have a promise to keep? After all, your koi, your love, won't be quite so happy if you don't. After all, if you don't – "

He spotted the blur of black a split second before a frozen wing shattered, shards of ice trailing through the air as he dived back, so slowly in comparison to the lightning fast demon before him.

"-then even if you save him, you'll be the one who dies!" Here the Hollow tsked, suddenly coming to an abrupt stop. "Oh, wait, you're already dead! Better luck next time, Toshiro!"

And as he flew at Hitsugaya, realization suddenly dawned on him, and time seemed to slow.

"Getsuga tenshou!"

"Ryusenka!" And like the fool-headed Kurosaki, he charged. As the blade met its mark, ice encased the Hollow with a crackling, breaking sound.

But not fast enough, he thought faintly. Not quite fast enough, even as Ichigo's frozen prison shattered, and with it, the Hollow's mask.

Hateful golden eyes were replaced by surprised, concerned brown. But the final message was still clear.

I win.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo, though weakened and disoriented, still miraculously dived quickly enough to catch the falling captain, even as his haori was painted red with blood, and broken, crimson ice fell through the air. Blue-green eyes, though beginning to glaze with pain, were still painfully clear with relief. "Why?" Ichigo said in a near roar, even as his hands flew desperately to the wound to stop the bleeding.

"You didn't keep your promise," Hitsugaya retorted, voice hoarse. "Why should I have kept mine?"

"You stupid…" They captured each other's lips, blood mingling with the taste, as well as too many unsaid things. It was messy and quick, confusion and desperation serving only to make it more bitter. Ichigo bit angrily at Hitsugaya's lips, wanting him, needing him, but losing him, all the same.

They broke apart, gasping, Hitsugaya trembling slightly in Ichigo's arms from the cold – was this what it felt like, from another's point of view? – and the force of the kiss.

"Ichigo," Hitsugaya panted, grasping for his next sentence. "I told you we would have an end."

"But-"

"Shut up and listen," he said, voice rasping and nearly inaudible. "But a book… a book can be reread. And things that were missed… can be discovered."

He managed a listless chuckle as the effort of keeping his eyes open became too much. He had never been one to be cryptic; why start now, on the brink of his death?

And he was falling again, falling through darkness again, with no one to catch him.

"Toshiro!"

"Toshiro!" There was a tap on his shoulder, and he sat up, blinking away the groggy haze as he frostily glared at the orange-haired boy who loomed over him. His eyes narrowed to an icy sliver. Something was different.

"What's wrong, Toshiro?" the other boy asked, oblivious. Then his eyes lit up slightly. "It's my costume for the musical, silly." He struck a pose, pulling the prop sword from his back. "You should go get yours, too," he added. "The girls are getting all excited over how cute you'll look, though frankly, I don't see why."

"I've told you already, it's Hitsugaya!" he gritted out through clenched teeth, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Toshiro," he went on wantonly.

Hitsugaya sighed, tracing the denim of his jeans. "They do realize that it has more blood than kissing?"

"I don't think they care, actually," Ichigo smirked. "So…"

He swooped behind the white-haired boy, nibbling at the shell of his ear. "…did you finish rereading the script before you fell asleep?"

Hitsugaya mirrored the quirk of his mouth. "I just started," he said, tilting his head up to meet Ichigo's lips. "And it doesn't look like I'll finish anytime soon."

.:Like the pages of a book, we have a beginning, middle, and end.:.

.:But a book can always be reread, and the adventure is reborn again.:.

Owari.

A/N: I hope this turned out well, and they weren't too OOC. I've only written one other BLEACH fanfiction, so I'm afraid I haven't quite gotten used to these characters yet. Merry Christmas, everyone, and concrit is certainly welcomed.