Welcome to my new story!

I've had this idea in mind for a while and now that I've finished To Be With You, I thought that I might as well write it!

Let me know what you think!

~H-Mira

Chapter 1:

She couldn't believe her eyes. One minute Hinamori Momo was reading the final words her captain had left for her, and the next she was in complete shock as the words on the parchment paper changed before her eyes, leaving a hidden message in their wake. As she strive to read the new message through tear stricken eyes, she suddenly felt her grief being rapidily replaced by shock as the message sunk in.

There was just no way. It had to be some kind of mistake. There was no way that what this letter was saying was true. It just couldn't be…

But, as she continued to read the letter, Hinamori came to realise that what it was saying had to be true. There was no mistaking it: this was her recently deceased captain's handwriting after all. And she knew that there was no way in the world he would ever lie to her, especially in his final words.

Knowing that something had to be done, she wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes as she stood up. Filled with a newfound determination to avenge her beloved captain's killer, she began to recite a kido spell under her breath and prepared herself for the blast she knew was soon to follow.

.

.

.

Soon, she found herself facing down the alleyway that hide her captain's assailant. Taking a deep breath, she then leapt forward as she prepared herself to confront her captain's killer and her beloved childhood friend, Hitsugaya Toshiro.

"Hinamori… What are you doing here?" he asked her in shock as she stood between him and the captain of squad three.

"Finally, I found you…" she responded, desperately trying to prevent the sob in her throat from escaping. "And now to avenge Captain Aizen's death…"

"Hinamori, wait! You're not strong enough to-" Hitsugaya began, but was soon rendered speechless as Hinamori withdrew her sword and pointed it at his throat, not Ichimaru's. "Hina...mori… W-What are you…"

"I told you… I'm here to avenge Captain Aizen's death…" she replied coldly, although she felt her insides start to burn. "And that means killing his murderer… Killing you, Hitsugaya-kun."

Before he could muster a response, Hinamori charged at him. It was only due to his years of training that he managed to dodge the attack on reflect, because otherwise his brain was in too much confusion to function. Just what was she saying? What was she… Why was she…

It didn't take long for Hinamori to recover from the momentum of her swing and charge at Hitsugaya again. This time, however, he was ready and was easily able to dodge her attacks. In fact, it was so easy that he had to wonder if she was even trying to hurt him all. After all, she hadn't even bothered to release her shikai, which was practically suicide against someone who could use Bankai if they needed.

"I.. I… can't… I can't do it…" Hinamori muttered as she stopped mid-assault. Then, she lifted her tear stained face to her childhood friend. "I can't hurt you, Hitsugaya-kun… Even though Captain Aizen said… Even though he told me in his letter that you… Oh, I just don't know what to do anymore, Shiro-chan…"

Without warning, Hitsugaya disappeared from her sight. Before Hinamori even had a chance to process this, she felt his presence suddenly appear right beside her.

"I see… So it was hidden in that bastard's letter, huh… I knew I should I have trusted my gut and burned the damn thing." a voice said at her side, so cold and heartless that Hinamori barely registered it as belonging to her childhood friend. "And to think that he dragged you into this… If I could, I'd kill that bastard all over again for the pain he put you through."

"Hitsugaya-" she began, but was soon cut off by a gasp as she felt a sudden wave of drowsiness take hold of her. Recognizing the sensation as a sleeping kido, she felt all the strength being sapped from her and would have collapsed on the spot had Hitsugaya caught her.

"It's alright, Hinamori…" she heard him say in a soothing voice. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nobody ever hurts you…"

"Now, Ichimaru, where were we…" and then Hinamori's world faded to black.

.

.

.

When she next awoke, Hinamori noticed that she was surrounded by white, unfamiliar walls. As she sat up and looked around, she realised that she was alone in a room that was barren except for the futon she was sitting on.

It was only when she tried to leave and realised that there was a barrier blocking her path that she figured out where she was. Her knees went weak and wave of nausea came over her stomach. She was in Hitsugaya Toshiro's captain's quarters.

The sudden recognition of where she was hit her like a tidal wave. She had to get out. There were too many questions that needed answering. And she refused to be helpless.

And so, she blasted the barrier with a kido spell and ran as fast she could. Once out, she felt several spiritual pressures intensify and suddenly fizzle out on Sokyoku Hill. Recognizing one of the dominant spiritual pressure as belonging to her childhood friend, she sprinted there as fast as her legs would carry her, praying that she made it there before it was too late.

It was only as she got closer and closer to Sokyoku Hill that she realised just how much spiritual pressure Hitsugaya was letting out. The sheer magnitude of it would have otherwise forced her to collapse had it not been for her strong determination to reach him. She had no idea he was that powerful… It was terrifying.

Once she reached the top and could see him, she collapsed to her knees. And not only because she could no longer rely on her determination to withstand his spiritual pressure, but also because of the sight that lay before her eyes. There, stood Hitsugaya with his hand choking the life out of Kuchiki Rukia, a mass of bloody bodies surrounding him. Most of them appeared to still be breathing, but she knew that if they didn't receive medical attention soon...

"Oh, Hinamori, you made it." he suddenly exclaimed, his hand still squeezing the young kuchiki's throat. "You got here a little earlier than I was expecting. Had I known you'd get here now, I would have let up on my spiritual pressure. Sorry about that."

"L-Let me… go…" Rukia gasped as she desperately tried to claw Hitsugaya's hand away from her throat. "Let… me-"

"Shut. Up." he growled in response as he shoved his other hand through her chest. And he then withdrew his hand almost as quickly as it went in, a small glass sphere now in his blood covered hand. Taking a look to expect that the sphere was indeed the object he was searching for, he threw away Rukia's now unconscious body and began to advance towards Hinamori.

Hinamori desperately tried to speak as he walked towards her, but no words could escape her lips. Not only was his spiritual pressure soul crushing, but the scene that was playing out in front of her was just too much for her mind to process. She had no idea that her childhood friend could act this way. That he could be so… cold.

"Here, is this better?" Hitsugaya asked her after suppressing his spiritual pressure and extending out a hand to help her back up. "I really didn't meant to make you go through that. But, the fact that you could not only withstand, but also make your way up here despite my spiritual pressure means that you'll have no trouble fitting in where we're going. I gotta say, that's a relief."

"W-We? We're… going?" Hinamori stuttered in response, her voice starting to return to her.

"Of course, we." he answered, helping her stand up again. "There's no way I would ever leave you here with these traitors, after all."

Before she could even ask what he meant by traitors, a sudden flash of light came directly at them. She didn't even have a chance to blink before Hitsugaya effortlessly blocked Soi Fon attack.

"You'll have to do better than that." Hitsugaya stated as he pushed the squad two captain back. "Try a weak attempt like that again and you'll lose your head."

"Why you little…" Soi Fon growled as she charged at Hitsugaya again, only to have her attacks easily blocked once again. Hinamori could barely believe it, the capable captain Soi Fon was reduced to a weakling in her childhood friend's presence.

"Psst, Hinamori!" she heard a voice she recognized as Kira calling from behind her, motioning her over to him. "Quick! While he's too busy to notice!"

Hinamori, so overwhelmed by what was taking place around her, couldn't bring herself to walk towards the squad three lieutenant. Noticing that she wasn't walking towards him, Kira assumed that she couldn't hear him and decided to bring her to safety himself.

Unfortunately for Kira, Hitsugaya noticed him charge towards Hinamori out of the corner of his eye. As such, he quickly knocked Soi Fon unconscious and launched a kido spell after Kira.

Fearing that the spell would kill her academy classmate, Hinamori didn't hesitate to run and push Kira out of the way, the spell missing them both by mere centimeters. Hitsugaya, noticing just how close it had come to hitting her, started to run to where Hinamori and Kira were standing.

Except, before he could reach her, a large yellow beam came down from the sky and engulfed him in its light.

"NO!" Hitsugaya cursed as he banged his fist against the solid beam. "CURSE YOU! I swear, if it's the last thing I do, I'll take her back. I won't ever let you hurt her, you hear me!? And I will kill anyone and anything that gets in my way!"

And with that, he vanished into the hollow-made whole in the sky.

Leaving Hinamori all alone, surrounded by the shattered pieces of her life as she knew it.