Full summary

"Let's play a game, Shiro-chan, it would be so fun." "Why are you doing this? Why won't you leave me alone?" "Because that is the game." The unnaturally cold chill ran down his spine as the creepy smile crept onto her angelic, child-like face – the face "Let's play a game, Shiro-chan, it would be so fun." "Why are you doing this? Why won't you leave me alone?" "Because that is the game." The unnaturally cold chill ran down his spine as the creepy smile crept onto her angelic, child-like face – the face of the devil, come to torment him in this never-ending sick, twisted game.

So, this is the first chapter of Musei Tsuuro (which means 'Silent Corridors' in Japanese), and I didn't know what genre to put it in, so I put it in horror, though it will be more of a psychological thriller, rather than a horror. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy ^^

I do not in any way own Bleach - if only... Tite Kubo does. This disclaimer will only be posted once and will last the entire story, because I can assure you that I will not, between now and the end, buy the rights to Bleach ^^

Chapter 1

Everything was quiet and peaceful, as the occupants of Seireitei had yet to awaken and face the chilly, winter day. Taking this period of time before the city woke up Hitsugaya Toushirou – captain of the tenth division – was inside his office dutifully working away on the stack of papers which had come in during the night. His goal was to finish up and leave his office before anybody could come visit him, namely his lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku; the woman made it her job to come in around midday every day but Hitsugaya knew she would make an exception today. So, getting into a rhythm, he steadily worked through the white sheets, time just flying by as he concentrated.

Pick up a piece of paper, fill it out, move it aside. Pick up a piece of paper, fill it out, move it aside. Pick up a piece of paper, fill it out, move it aside.

As the pile got smaller and smaller the light outside got brighter and brighter as the sun rose higher in the sky, bringing with it a new day. He could already start to hear the noises of day-to-day activities outside the four walls he sat in and his speed increased. Matsumoto could arrive any minute now, and he did not want to be there when she did get there. Finally he was done after only a scant few hours – it must have been some kind of record! However, he didn't have any time to stop and admire his great achievement because he was on a time limit. Standing up he walked as calmly as he could towards the door. Only a few more steps to go – he was going to make it!

Unfortunately he spoke too soon as the door flung wide open and a blur hurtled in and grabbed him into a big hug; all the air was squeezed out of him and he was suffocating as his lieutenant attempted to kill him while he could only flail about uselessly and try to push her away. Damn, she has motivation today so her hugging strength has increased! He heard a small laugh somewhere in the vicinity of the door, and he couldn't help but cry out 'hallelujah!' in his mind to that small voice which sounded like his saviour.

"Matsumoto-san he can't breathe!" Suddenly Hitsugaya felt air rush into his lungs as he was released from Matsumoto's crushing hug.

"Sorry Taicho! I just got so excited – it being your birthday and all!" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. He hated his birthdays yet everybody always seemed intent on forcing him to celebrate them. Shinigami lived a very long time so what was the point in remembering every time he was one year older – wouldn't it make more sense to celebrate every ten years or something like that?

"Happy birthday Toushirou-kun." He sighed as the small shinigami came closer and gave him a much gentler hug which he grudgingly accepted. He figured that if he didn't it would only be worse for him in the long run. After Hinamori had moved away she reached down behind her and picked up a present that he hadn't even noticed was there. The present was wrapped in baby blue coloured wrapping paper with the words 'Birthday Boy' written all over it, and he felt his eyebrows skyrocket before plunging back down into his permanent frown. He wasn't a child so why did they always insist on the childish wrapping papers? Both lieutenants looked at him expectantly and he sighed again before unwrapping whatever was inside. Inside was... watermelon? Did she run out of ideas or something?

"Isn't it a great present Hitsugaya-kun? I was thinking to myself what would shir- I mean Hitsugaya-kun want for his birthday and then I walked past a stall that was selling fresh watermelons and a light bulb went off! You don't get nearly enough of your favourite treat so why not buy some for you?" He saw that she looked extremely pleased with her purchase and so he forced a small smile that she accepted.

"Hinamori, I don't know what to say; thank you... Oh, and it's Hitsugaya Taicho." Hinamori beamed brightly when she heard him thank her, while at the same time mentally patting herself on the back. After placing the watermelon safely on his desk Hitsugaya turned to his lieutenant to see what she got him. Knowing her the way he did it would be something so completely ridiculous that he would have to question whether she did in fact have any brains – something he found himself having to do regularly.

"Taicho, I have a feeling that you're going to love this present!" Matsumoto tapped the side of her nose to indicate just how she knew that and Hitsugaya had to refrain from rolling his eyes while accepting her present wrapped in... pink wrapping paper? Just from that he could tell he wouldn't like it. Reluctantly he opened it and immediately the vein in his forehead started to twitch as he closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. Matsumoto smiled sheepishly at him and Hinamori looked on with worried eyes, wondering just what it was the lieutenant had given her friend.

"Well Taicho, me and Momo-chan need to get something to eat, so you can tell me about my great present later. Gotta go!" Practically dragging the smaller female along behind her, Matsumoto ran out of the office as her captain once more looked at the present. It was a stack of unfinished paperwork – her unfinished paperwork – with a small note on top that read 'It's just what you've always wanted, ne, Taicho?" Just rereading the note he knew he couldn't keep it in, no matter how much he tried.

"MATSUMOTO!" If his division hadn't been awake before then they definitely were now. He sighed as he dropped the work on her desk knowing that it wouldn't matter whose desk it went on because it would all eventually end up in his completed pile. He was just about to leave his office to hunt down his lieutenant and slowly murder her... er, actually to go for a walk to stretch his stiff muscles, when a small hell butterfly floated in through his window to land delicately on the tip of his finger.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, there has been reports of increased hollow activity in Karakura Town-" When was there not? He thought to himself.

"And so it has been decided that a small team of shinigami led by you will go to the Town and assist with the removal of the hollow. You will leave in one hour, and a team has already been prepared for you." The butterfly was just about to leave when it paused, realising that there was more to the message.

"Oh, and Hitsugaya Taicho, happy birthday." With that the insect flew away out the window and Hitsugaya stood there frowning. It was bad enough that people he knew wished him happy birthday, but for people he didn't know? It was even worse. At least he had a mission to do this birthday, which meant he wouldn't be dragged to a birthday party – not like last year... He shuddered at the memories that he had tried to suppress, and with good reason. It had been... a disaster in the best way to put it.

Shaking his head as though to get rid himself of all the bad memories, he walked out of the office to start to head towards the Senkaimon. The message had said one hour, but he had a feeling it would take that long just to get there – and by no fault of his own.

He was halfway across his division – a lot further than he thought he would be – when he was stopped by Ukitake walking towards him with a smile on his face and determination in his eyes. Hitsugaya thought about trying to outrun him – he figured he could probably make it to the entrance to the division before Ukitake caught him – but he knew it wouldn't be worth it. The man was like a dog with a bone when he wanted something. When he was close enough to talk he smiled pleasantly.

"Happy Birthday Toushirou! How does it feel to be growing up?" That comment started his eye twitching again, but he knew he could never lose his temper with the sickly man – he was just too nice, if not slightly annoying at times.

"It feels the same."

"Oh, well you must not have gotten your presents then, because I can assure you that you'd feel a lot different if you'd have gotten them. I think... yes I do... Here's my present for you now!" The man withdrew a large, bulky present from within the sleeve of his shinigami uniform – how had it stayed up there? – and gave it to the younger captain. He was dreading opening it because he already knew what it would be, but one look at the expectant smile on Ukitake's face had Hitsugaya opening the present to reveal a mountain of candy – as many types as you could think of.

"Th-thanks."

"You're welcome Toushirou, and if you want any more you can always drop by my office! Oh, is that the time? Well, I better be off, have fun." Ukitake placed one finger on his chin as he looked at Toushirou, seemingly deep in thought before a smile cracked away the thoughtful look as remembrance passed across his face.

"I think Matsumoto-san is organising a birthday party later today, so don't be late!" With that he walked away, humming a little tune to himself, leaving the poor boy with so much candy that he couldn't even carry it all. Thankfully that problem was solved in a few minutes when a hyperactive, pink haired solution ran by.

Yachiru was perfect to give the candy to when Matsumoto wasn't around, and luck was with him because she saw him at the same time he saw her. Her mouth watered when she saw the mountain of heaven sitting on the ground just waiting for her greedy hands to take it. Slinking over, Hitsugaya could see the want in her eyes.

"Snowy! That's a lot of candy you have there..." It was surprising that she didn't just take handfuls of the stuff and run – that's what she would normally do. But then again, it wasn't a normal day today so it wasn't as surprising as it should have been.

"Would you like some Yachiru?" The last thing Seireitei needed was a hyper Yachiru on a sugar high, but the last thing Hitsugaya needed was all this candy – and plus, he was going on a mission so he wouldn't have to suffer the consequences of his actions. Yachiru's eyes grew as wide as saucers at his offer, and her head bobbed up and down really quickly, her pink hair flying wildly about. She instantly dived on the pile and before he could even blink she had grabbed up the entire pile and was running away with her precious gift.

"Thanks Snowy!" He could only watch in amazement as not a single candy fell from the pile – he was so surprised he didn't even correct the incorrect name. With a slight shake of his head he started walking again to the Senkaimon, hoping for no more interruptions on his journey.

By the time he reached the gate – just on time – he had accumulated a wealth of... junk. There was no better word for it because that's what it was – junk. Why did people think he needed such useless things that if he did need he would be perfectly capable of buying it himself?

"Taichooo!" Oh God, please tell me she's not coming.

"Matsumoto." He turned around to face her, the temperature dropping slightly – he hadn't forgotten about her thoughtful gift. Her smile faltered ever so slightly, and she kept an arms length of distance between them, the mischievous glint in her eye telling him she wasn't really scared of him. He sighed softly – he would never win with this woman.

"What do you want Matsumoto? I'm about to leave."

"I was just saying bye Taicho, don't be so mean!" he raised his eyebrow at that, taking in the pout on her face.

"Fine! There's this sale on in Karakura Mall, and I figured if I can't go to it, you could pick me up some things." She looked at him with wide, pleading, puppy dog eyes.

"No Matsumoto, you spend enough of our division's money on useless items as it is – I won't have you wasting money when you're not even there."

"Pleeaassee Taichoooo?"

"No, and that's final." Shoving all his junk... gifts into her arms he stepped up to the gate which had opened when he was talking to his lieutenant.

"Behave while I'm gone, and do something with those things – I don't care what. And Matsumoto, do. Your. Paperwork." With that he left through the gate before he could hear about how mean he was being – though he knew that just because he couldn't hear her didn't mean she wasn't saying anything.

Stepping out of the gate onto just air Hitsugaya surveyed his surroundings with a small frown. Nothing seemed amiss, but he knew that he wouldn't have been sent unless there was a good reason – meaning he would just have to wait for something to be picked up on his senses. The rest of the team that had come with him fanned out around him to take watch so that there would be no gaps and the small captain couldn't help but be impressed with their initiative.

It hadn't been long since they arrived when Hitsugaya picked up an extremely large reiatsu heading straight for them. All his muscles tensed as he waited, but as it got closer he released the grip on his zanpakuto and relaxed back into his state of semi-tenseness that he always had on a mission.

"Kurosaki." He greeted the boy whom had dropped out of shunpo in front of him, hating the enormous height difference between them meaning that he needed to look up in order to see the boy's features clearly – to get around this he just didn't look at the boy, instead looking out in front of him.

"Yo Toushirou. What'cha doing here in Karakura Town?" Hitsugaya sighed in frustration at the stupid berry.

"Baka, it's Hitsugaya Taicho to you, and I'm here because there's been an increase in hollow activity; not that you would have been able to tell with your incredible lack of skill when it comes to sensing reiatsu." Hitsugaya was not in the mood to talk to the orange-headed boy, and hopefully he would realise that by the snappish tones the small captain used. However, intelligence was not one of Ichigo's strong points.

"You know Toushirou-"

"Hitsugaya Taicho."

"-You really shouldn't be so snappish, and if you always frown like that you'll get massive wrinkles." This only served to make his frown deepen.

"Was there something you wanted Kurosaki?" Ichigo moved to stand next to Hitsugaya and leant backwards in the air, bringing his hands up behind his head in a casual pose, his own permanent scowl in place. And he lectures me on facial expressions?

"Nah, I was just curious as to what you were doing. Though, you don't need to be here, I've got everything covered – like usual."

"There's going to be a war soon Kurosaki; any increase in reiatsu in Karakura Town – no matter how insignificant it may be – could potentially be the start of the war, and so whether you have 'everything covered' or not means very little in Seireitei." Ichigo let out a soft sigh, his features softening slightly as he looked at the tense captain out of the corner of his eye.

"You know Toushirou; you should lighten up a little. Sure there's this war on the horizon, and Aizen will probably stop at nothing to win, but there's no point worrying so much about it; he'll come when he comes and the only thing we can do is train to be strong enough to beat him when he does eventually arrive." Hitsugaya felt like snorting at the teen's words. Just in those few optimistic words he showed the young captain his lack of experience and age.

"It's Hitsugaya Taicho. Kurosaki, you're right in that we all need to train to become stronger – that much is a given – but we can't just act like nothing is wrong. Aizen is smart – far smarter than either you or I, I'm sure – which means we must always be on guard, we must always be ready for anything, we-"

Both their heads snapped around to look in the direction behind them; if even Kurosaki had felt it then it meant that it was huge! A reiatsu signature had just popped up out of seemingly nowhere, and it was travelling at a breakneck speed toward Hitsugaya, his team, and the substitute shinigami. Within the blink of an eye both boys had drawn their swords from their backs and turned around to face whatever was coming head on. The captain noticed that his team had also done the same; not even breaking formation. Toushirou frowned as he concentrated on the energy, and his eyes widened as he realised what felt wrong with it – it wasn't one being, but instead it was multiple hollows – the amount possibly in the hundreds.

Suddenly they were upon them and Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel how small his team seemed now compared to the multitudes of hollows swarming around them and overwhelming them with sheer numbers alone. As his blade easily sliced cleanly through hollow after hollow, the prodigy's mind noticed that even though there were a lot of them they weren't overly strong. And while he and Ichigo were both strong and standing next to each other, he wasn't so arrogant as to believe that they had been what attracted the hollows to them – he did have his seal on for one thing, meaning his power was lowered.

He didn't know how long the fighting had gone on for, or how much longer he could go on for; his stamina was excellent, as was expected of a captain, but he didn't remember the last time he had fought for such a long time and his muscles were definitely keeping him aware of that fact. With a swish of his blade another hollow cut cleanly in two, and Hitsugaya pushed himself away from the area where all the other shinigami were fighting, to stand not too far away. Surprisingly none of the hollows noticed his absence, and so nothing came after him. Frowning slightly, he wondered as to the reasons behind this. It was almost as though the vast number of hollows were trying to hide something... Without even turning around Toushirou addressed the person he knew would be standing behind him.

"How long are you going to just stand there?"

"Ah, so the little captain did know I was there! I was beginning to wonder." Hitsugaya slowly turned around until he was facing the thing that was able to pass through undetected due to the reiatsu of the hollows. It was oddly human-like in appearance, with roughly the same type of build as a slim, yet still muscular, male around the mid-20's age group. It wore a tattered white cloth around its middle, exposing its sculpted chest, and in the place just below its ribcage there was a large hole – big enough for somebody to fit their hand through.

The strange, unusual shape of its head was what threw Hitsugaya; it was like a normal head on the bottom part of its face, until it reached just above eye level and then it started to form two large horn-like protrusions out the top of its head – almost as though the arrancar was in its released state already. However, he was getting this niggling feeling that this thing wasn't an arrancar – he didn't even want to think about it, because if it wasn't an arrancar then what was it? As they stared at each other the things mouth started to curve upwards into an evil smirk, its eyes glistening with malice.

"I was hoping the orange-haired shinigami would find me first – he seems to be the stronger out of you two – but it would seem luck is not on my side today. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with killing you." Two teal eyes narrowed in suppressed anger at its words – there was no way that stupid excuse for a shinigami was stronger than him, an experienced captain!

"You are right in that you have no luck on your side, but not in the way you think. I am Hitsugaya Toushirou, captain of the 10th division, and I doubt you will be the one doing any killing today."

The thing smirked again, as though it was thinking of some private joke that he was not aware of. Suddenly its smirk turned into a genuine, large grin which revealed all its incredibly pointy teeth – and the small captain had no doubts that they would be very sharp. For some reason the smile was even worse than the smirk, but he no idea why.

"Is that true taicho?" The mocking tone served to anger Hitsugaya more, but he didn't lose his temper – though the air surrounding them seemed to drop a few degrees. Because it was in winter the air was already a frigid temperature, with the thick, fluffy snow covering the ground a testament to that fact.

"Well, since you were so kind as to introduce yourself, it would only be fair of me to do the same – don't you agree? I'm Anatano Unmei, one of the very, very few Vasto Lorde. Good bye taicho." Hitsugaya felt his eyes widen when the thing introduced itself, and he only had enough time to bring his sword up in front of him to block the deadly blow coming towards his chest. The power was incredible and he was thrown backwards into the building ten metres behind him, cracking the bricks and making a very large dent. The thing threw back its head and let out a loud cackling laugh.

"Maybe I underestimated you little taicho; maybe you are worth a bit of a play before I dispose of you." Suddenly it was in front of him and grabbing the front of his uniform, hauling him to his feet. He hadn't even seen the hollow move it had been that fast! He had never seen a Vasto Lorde before, and he had hoped he would never see one – if even 10 of them stormed Seireitei the shinigami would be doomed, so that pretty much told everything there was to tell of his chances. Getting out of this train of thought he concentrated on the battle – if it could be called that.

Moving Hyourinmaru in a practiced arc he attempted to ram it through the abdomen of his opponent, but before it came even close he felt his blade being parried and then a thin, metallic blade sliding easily in between two of the bones in his ribcage. A metallic taste tainted his mouth and he knew it to be blood, but when had the thing moved? He was vaguely aware of the fact that he was now lying on the snow, his blood staining the white colour to a vibrant red. He could feel, apart from the stab in his chest, a wound in his abdomen which had painfully pierced through his kidney. It was just too fast for him. He saw two feet walk into his vision and he rolled painfully onto his stomach to push himself to his feet. He was a captain damnit! And he would not go down without a fight.

"Soten ni... zase, Hyou-Hourinmaru!" He managed to get out the release phrase of his zanpakuto, and a magnificent dragon of ice came bearing out of the end of the sword, smashing right into the hollow pushing it backwards a few feet. The elation the small captain felt was soon dashed when he watched in shock as the hollow raised its hands and grabbed the ice dragon before crushing it into a million pieces of ice. The power level between the two of them seemed almost as great as the difference in power between the captain commander and an academy student.

He heard more laughter and he was once more flying through the air, landing on the snow once more. How could he fight something that moved too fast for him to keep track of its movements? He tried to push himself up, but apparently that last hit had done more damage than he had thought, and he fell back onto the snow as the cold wetness seeped through his clothes and chilled his skin. He felt a clawed foot press onto his back, between the shoulder blades, and push just enough to restrict his breathing.

"What's wrong little taicho? Shouldn't you be getting up to fight me? You are a captain after all – I would have thought a captain would have been made of tougher stuff than this. You really are-" He removed his foot from Hitsugaya's back and drew the captain up so that they were eye to eye. "Pathetic." Toushirou landed on the snow, unable to feel the newest injury just inflicted, but knowing it was there.

What would all the other captains think when they found out that he was beaten so easily? I guess I will be late to that party Ukitake-san. He felt his eyelids becoming heavy, and unable to keep them up any longer Hitsugaya allowed them to droop shut, blocking his view of the world – though he couldn't see much, just a multitude of white. As he lay there losing his grip on the world, all the background sounds faded into nothingness, leaving him feeling as though somebody had placed very good earmuffs on his head.

Suddenly, he felt odd, as though his muscles once more had strength – not much, but enough to look up. And so that's exactly what he did. Looking up and opening his bleary eyes he was accosted by the blinding whiteness, but for some reason it felt different than before – more familiar and comforting. With a small groan the small captain picked himself up off the ground with a lot more ease than he thought possible with his wounds, but looking down he was shocked to see that they weren't there anymore. Looking around surprised, his strength returning with every passing second, he attempted to work out just what was happening.

A familiar roar in the distance, coming ever closer, finally clued him into where he was. Just as this realisation hit him the great ice dragon Hyourinmaru landed gracefully in front of him, confirming his suspicions – he was in his inner world.

"Hyourinmaru, what am I doing here? I should be out there fighting!" A snort came from the dragon sending icy gales towards Hitsugaya.

"Fighting? Is that what you're calling it? I brought you in here to save you – you were no match for a vasto lorde." A small frown marred the boy's features as he thought over his partner's words.

"What do you mean 'were'? I'm not dead yet – I still have a chance!" The great dragon reared up onto its hind legs, spreading its wings to their full extension, and he had to admit that it was impressive; though he didn't feel at all intimidated which he knew had been the aim of it.

"Foolish child-" Said child snorted at the word usage. "I never picked you as so arrogant as to believe you actually stood a chance against that thing! Now, I don't intend to let you die; so as we speak I'm temporarily healing the wounds on your physical body, so that when you wake up you will be able to fight the vasto lorde."

"What difference will it make if I die now or later? You just said that I'm no match for it!"

"That is true little one; while you are no match for it with my powers it is more than enough to fight it with your own powers." The sharp retort died in his throat as the captain turned these words over in his mind. They made no sense at all – he didn't understand them.

"What are you talking about? My powers are your powers, and your powers are my powers; we are separate, yet the same."

"That is a good answer my master, but this time I am not speaking metaphorically, nor do I desire an answer from you; I am speaking quite literally; once you sever all bonds you can realise your own potential, and only then will we truly be one. So now go and fight." Before he could say anything else in further protest, Hitsugaya felt the familiar sensation that came with being pushed out of his inner world. When he opened his eyes again it was to see the snow which, in comparison to his inner world, seemed nowhere near as clean or pure.

It was as though no time had passed while he had been in his inner world – though he knew at least some time had passed. The hollow was still making its way painstakingly slowly towards him, but the difference was that he felt completely revitalised and whole. With little effort he pulled himself up to his unimpressive height of 4 foot 4, but with an icy aura making up for his lack of height by surrounding the area in an icy mist. He noticed the surprised look on the hollow's face, because he had been sure the captain was almost dead, but it soon turned into a face cracking grin when he realised play time wasn't over yet.

"My, my, you are the surprising one aren't you?" However, Hitsugaya was no longer listening, and instead concentrating on the multitude of snow around him. What he was about to do was completely illegal, but he figured that it was justified as a small pale hand rose to his chest and seemed to grip at nothing as it pulled away. However, it hadn't been nothing, and the raising power testified to that as the captain finished pulling away the seal on his chest. It should have been an impossible feat, but he was a genius after all and had found a small weakness in it.

Snow. This was his element, he would be damned if he lost on his own playing field. With that thought in mind he started raise his reiatsu up and the snow was swirling in a flurry of activity around him, obscuring visibility. This didn't bother him as he projected his senses, relying on them solely to be his eyes. A small flicker in his 'vision' caught his attention and he brought his blade up to block the attack heading for his leg. Pushing away, he jumped back a few feet, only to block again when he landed on the soft ground.

Using only his senses he was able to track all of the vasto lorde's movements, being unencumbered by the fact that he couldn't see how fast it was travelling. Again and again metal rang on metal with the sounds muffled by the snow and the wind howling. To combat Toushirou's growing reiatsu the hollow had also raised its power, and so the game of who could go higher had started while they continued to dance their deadly dance with the swords. Hitsugaya could feel the cold, the snow, the wind, and the ice all around him, giving him power. Why hadn't he noticed it before? He couldn't dwell on the fact that he had been blind, but after talking with his zanpakuto the shroud had been lifted.

With a swift stab of his sword he felt contact with skin, and he yanked his blade away roughly, a spray of crimson the only colour in the black and white world. He raised his sword gracefully up to the sky, black clouds gathering with the apex the tip of the sword, as his reiatsu rose exponentially – higher than it had ever been before.

"Soten ni zase, Hyourinmaru!" Thunder rumbled overhead as the ice dragon started to form from the tip, all the moisture in the air clumping together to form a dragon by far bigger than ever. He was being given strength by the weather, weather that he himself was creating with his power alone, and he felt invigorated. With a graceful downwards arc of his sword, the dragon came crashing down towards the surprised vasto lorde, who looked as though it was having trouble keeping its feet.

It was only then, as ice cascaded onto the ground and the hollow was driven further downwards by the relentless attack that Hitsugaya noticed that he couldn't feel the vasto lorde's reiatsu, and hadn't been able to for some time as it had been smothered by his own overwhelming reiatsu. Shunpo-ing down after the attack withdrew he saw the crippled body of his opponent that hadn't been fast enough to dodge Hyourinmaru. The hollow was alive, but only just, and so he sealed his shikai and rammed his blade through the hollow's heart, purifying the creature that could only look up at him with incredible loathing and hate. As the body dematerialised into numerous spirit particles the captain allowed his spirit power to return back to normal, having to work slightly harder to control it without the seal.

The snow settled all around him and it was at that point that he remembered Kurosaki and the rest of his team fighting the other hollows. But when he looked they were nowhere to be seen. Throwing his senses out to find them he found a small flicker of the impressive reiatsu of the substitute shinigami and without hesitating he made his way over, taking note of how much extra snow there was covering the ground from when he had started fighting.

It turned out that during his fight he must have accidently buried the other shinigami in a layer of snow, and so he had to work and dig out the blue, frozen people. Kurosaki looked the best out of them, but even he was turning blue around the edges.

"M-m-man Toushirou, you s-sure are stronger th-th-than I thought." The teen's teeth chattered wildly as he attempted to speak, and because it was his fault for their state, the captain didn't correct his title and instead did the job of taking them all back to Urahara's shop one by one to get them healed and warmed up.

When it was done he sat on the ground surrounded by blanket clad people in a too hot room, though he didn't complain. He was feeling bone weary and tired and only wanted to sleep; it didn't help that he was starting to feel the pain of his injuries again, which meant Hyourinmaru's temporary healing was wearing off. Urahara sat across for him staring at him from under the brim of his hat, a fan perched in front of the bottom of his face making it impossible to tell what the man was thinking just off his facial expression.

"Eh, Hitsugaya Taicho, that was quite a mess you made back there, and poor little me will have to play cleanup behind you. Though, that was an impressive power you had – been holding back on us all these years, ne?" Toushirou sighed at Urahara's words; he seriously had no idea what the man was talking about – sure he broke the seal, but the strange man would have already known how much power the small captain would have without the seal.

The rest of the time passed uneventfully until it was eventually time to return back to Soul Society and as Hitsugaya walked through the gate after receiving a reluctant hug from Kurosaki – who felt guilty for not buying him a present – he decided to push the events of the day from his mind. Urahara watched him leave, his fan still covering his face.

"I have a feeling the next couple of weeks will be very interesting for you Hitsugaya Taicho." The words were spoken to the empty room, and the person they were directed at was already long gone.

So what did you all think of the first chapter? I would love to hear your thoughts, so please review XD