Title: Blood and ice
Rating: G, humour?
Pairing / characters: Hitsugaya Toushirou
Word count: 357 words
Warnings: Spoilers for the arrancar arc?
Summary: Hitsugaya's thoughts as he goes down in a rain of blood and ice
A/N: More angst-like stuff with humour thrown in. Damn it.
Hitsugaya Toushirou was a shinigami.
A captain.
A genius.
That being said, it was hardly amusing to find himself dispensed to the living world to deal with the arrancar threat. Granted, his lieutenant certainly found it funny, but Hitsugaya had long learned that Matsumoto found most situations amusing – particularly when they involved her diminutive, white haired captain.
(Hitsugaya was only thankful that size was no indication of true power – Aizen was a perfect example of that.)
The assignment – while not without its snags; namely his platoon – was laughably simple. Go to the living world, aid Kurosaki Ichigo in defending Karakura and destroy the arrancar… but even that had presented more problems than it was worth. Being mistaken for a high-schooler was painfully embarrassing, being mistaken for an elementary student, utterly humiliating. Kurosaki Karin was cute in her own way, and soccer was definitely something worth looking into, but his frustration with his platoon's childishness was something else entirely.
(the fools couldn't even stay quiet long enough to converse with their swords; how any of them had managed to attain shikai was something of a mystery.)
Despite that, his little team soon proved themselves useful – the more Menos Grandes they tackled, the sharper their skills became. Their power increased, but so did their injuries. Hitsugaya wasn't sure if he was more frustrated with their antics, or himself for not being able to protect them.
And yet, somehow, despite their injuries, their jokes and tasteless commentaries remained. Yumichika still wore that stupid grin on his face even after he was gravely injured… and Hitsugaya had once thought decades spent in Soul Society would have been enough to breed out total stupidity.
Perhaps it was that grin that caused his reaction. Perhaps it was because Yumichika found everything, even death, funny. Perhaps it was just because he'd grown used to having them around that made him attack the arrancar so furiously.
Now, falling to earth in slow motion, Matsumoto's terrified scream ringing in his ears, his haori soaked in blood and ice, Hitsugaya had the notion that this was one situation they probably would not find the slightest bit amusing.
