A cascade of crimson erupted from the sky. A small, insignificant figure plummeted from the air… crashing down, down, down…

The beautifully crafted ice shards once resembling wings cracked and shattered into a million tiny pieces, littering the ground with melting flakes and blood.

Blood.

Hitsugaya knew he was dying. His body was shutting down, his once treasured bankai fading into a reminiscent ghost of the past. With each painful thump of his heart, he slipped away farther and farther away, to the deadly point of no return. Even though it was excruciatingly painful, he swept his gaze across the horizon, searching for the one thing that was causing his death.

The arrancar dropped to the floor with a loud thud. She was breathing heavily. Weak, she rigidly rotated her head to face Hitsugaya. Her dark face observed him with cold superiority as a single eye fell from its socket and rolled onto the floor with a bundle of loosely connected nerves and scarlet.

"This… is a draw," she rasped in shallow, labored gasps. Then her figure disintegrated into a fine black dust, churning and blustering away with the fierce winter gale.

Hitsugaya knew his time was coming soon. He observed the sky with a casual manner, despite his grave state. He waited for the blow of death to come. He would miss Matsumoto… and Momo… and Granny… Suddenly, his breath caught in his throat. He raked his lungs for air, but there was none left. Sandpaper was rubbing against his throat. He couldn't breathe. Black spots danced in front of his vision. He heard faint cackles, tuning in like a radio, then vanishing at the next moment. Death was coming. Perhaps he was hallucinating, but he thought he saw the silent, deadly gleam of a steady blade.

A figure was standing above him. Hitsugaya could make out a wicked smile and a bone mask. Its face flashed on and off, but he caught the light reflecting off sharp cerulean hair.

"My, my. What do we have here?" drawled a cruel voice.

He looked up to see a figure with crossed arms before his breath gave way, and Death opened his arms as he escaped into a temporary oblivion.

- A few hours later…

"He's in a critical condition."

"Probably won't live, huh?"

"Got to give it a try. Lord Aizen will be pissed."

At the sound of Aizen, Hitsugaya shot up from the white linen cot he was lying in. Pain immediately erupted from his left shoulder and right collarbone. He tried to move his mouth, but something uncomfortable was pressing against his jaw. Where was he?

Then everything rushed back to him- Harribel, the deathly match, dying…

Wait. He wasn't dead!

"Kid, sit down!" someone hissed.

Hitsugaya glanced up. It was an arrancar. He had strong, muscled brown arms and a weary stare. A mask reached from his collarbone to his right lip. He glanced around him furtively. He was inside an infirmary. Arrancars bustled about, shuffling files and wielding deadly-looking needles. Aizen! Aizen was holding him captive. He reached for Hyourinmaru, but his hand closed around a silky material. The silver blade was gone. Right. Aizen wouldn't leave him with a deadly weapon.

"Let me go!" he hissed. Pain exploded in his chest. He coughed. Scarlet drops peppered the white hospital scrub he was dressed in. Wait… was this a hospital scrub?

He fingered the soft cotton material. It looked exactly like the uniforms the espadas wore.

Suddenly, a gruesome thought writhed through his mind. They couldn't have… they wouldn't… would they? He did feel terribly hungry.

"Kid, sit down!" A strong, tanned arm pushed him onto a fluffy pillow. He slowly moved his pale hand to his chest, sickening dread dripping from his mind.

His hand went through, the white linen ballooning around his fingers.

Mechanically, he moved his hand down to his waist, where he immediately felt a peculiar tingling sensation. He peeled back the cloth carefully and froze. He saw the beginnings of a black tattoo. Emblazoned on his thin hip was the beginning of a number three.

The arrancar in front of him gave a grisly grin, his mask stretching up with his ghastly facial expression. "So you finally figured out, eh?"

Hitsugaya couldn't speak. His mouth tasted like pennies. How… how could they…

He turned to the bedside mirror lying beside his cot.

A loud scream exploded from his lips.

Feeling faint, his head dropped onto the pillow with a thud as the blackness swallowed him up, leaving nothing but trepidation.

Okay! That concludes the first chapter. I'm really sorry, I know it's super short, but I wanted to indulge in the ending. I hope you enjoyed it!

xoxo,

kookiefrivolity~

PS PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE REVIEW okay. Thanks.