DISCLAIMER: I own the two nameless, faceless arrancar. Nothing else.
Author's Note: A big THANK YOU to all who read the last chapter! 2 alerts, 3 reviews, 4 favourites... wow, I really didn't expect that from such a short story. You guys rock :P So this episode is dedicated to all of you, especially to those who reviewed! (*nudge* *wink* *nudge* *wink* *wink*)
2nd Author's Note: This story could be alternately titled Poor Hitsugaya: The Terror Of - oh, never mind. Won't tell you, or it'd spoil the story. You'll just have to read on to find out then... *evil cackle*
Tōshirō glared at the two arrancar that stood before him, zanpakutous drawn.
He cursed his luck bitterly.
They were right at the centre of some town in the Real World. Which meant that there were people constantly walking by, oblivious to the fight that was going on in their midst.
Again, the taichō wondered why they had chosen to attack him here, of all places. Why couldn't they have come after him when he was at the outskirts of the town? Or, at the very least, yesterday, when he had been in Karakura Town to see Urahara?
Oh, no, Tōshirō thought to himself, scanning his surroundings again. They would have to choose the most inconvenient place to attack in.
He knew full well that Hyōrinmaru, given the chance, could easily destroy the pair of arrancar within the blink of an eye. But he was reluctant to use his shikai, considering where they were and all. Using it, even under the power limiter and with extremely tight control on Tōshirō's part, would definitely mean freezing anything within a metre of where he stood. Or even further.
So he had been fighting with Hyōrinmaru in its sealed state. Considering that there were two arrancar fighting only one person, namely Hitsugaya Tōshirō, the fact that he had only sustained two cuts – one on each shoulder, and not deep ones at that – while both of them were sweating, heavily so, spoke volumes about their abilities.
"Or, in this case, lack thereof," Tōshirō muttered to himself.
The arrancar to his left sniggered. "What's that you said? I didn't catch it." He cocked his head to the side, as if sizing his opponent up. "Giving up already? Are you sure you're a taichō? You stole some captain's haori, didn't you, eh, shorty?"
A sudden roaring in Tōshirō's ears covered the arrancar's hysterical laughter.
Unfortunately (for him), the arrancar failed to notice the green eyes that narrowed in a manner that would have prompted almost all of the Gotei 13 to beg for mercy before running away as far as they could get.
He. Called. Me.
The owner of the glare ground his teeth, gripping his zanpakutō with all the strength in his ten fingers.
SHORTY.
A turquoise aura burst to life around the infruriated taichō, becoming brighter with every passing second. The arrancar's laughter stopped abruptly.
"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyorinma – achoo!"
Tōshirō sneezed.
The reiatsu, which had been steadily building up around him for the last five minutes, shot out towards the two arrancar.
By the time Tōshirō managed to curb his sneezing, ice surrounded him. Everything between him and the pair of arrancar was covered with a thick layer of ice that nearly came up to his knees.
The arrancar didn't even have a hope of breaking free.
As Tōshirō took the memory replacer out of his pocket, he wondered, very briefly, how he was going to explain this to Yamamoto-sotaichō, Soifon-taichō, and Unohana-taichō.
It was times like this when Tōshirō was really glad to be the head of his division.
Otherwise, he would have four people to report to instead.
Tōshirō shuddered at the mere thought of trying to do that.
THREE DAYS LATER...
Fourth Division. Argh.
If there was a place that the taichō of the Tenth Division detested more, he couldn't think of it.
There were many things he disliked about the place, since being there meant he was a patient, which entailed having to stay still, and not being able to do anything at all. In addition, he always ended up bargaining with Unohana-taichō while worrying about how the division was faring under his fukutaichō. Also, it prevented him from training with his zanpakutō, an arrangement which both Tōshirō and Hyōrinmaru detested, though for different reasons.
But most of all, Tōshirō hated the annoyingly white ceiling.
As far as he was concerned, the ceiling, which he now glared at, was unique to the Fourth Division headquarters. In fact, Tōshirō suspected that it was meant to completely bore patients out of their minds, thus ensuring that they would be more susceptible to whatever treatment was administered on them.
That was the reason why it – the ceiling, that is – was covered in a layer of ice that glittered in the sunlight that filtered in through the window. One had to admit that it did look nicer than the sterile white, which, somehow, managed to be whiter than Tōshirō's already pale hair.
At least, that was what he told himself.
The truth, however much Tōshirō wanted to deny it, was that the ice had formed quite unintentionally. Of course, the truth was also why Unohana-taichō had insisted on keeping him here even after his wounds had healed.
I knew it. I shouldn't have told Unohana-taichō about my cold. Damn it.
The taichō of the Fourth Division had looked at Tōshirō very seriously as he finally, and almost unwillingly, explained why everything within a ten-mile radius of where he had been was covered in a thick layer of ice. She had then proceeded, to Matsumoto's amusement and Tōshirō's everlasting horror, to dump him in this room so that he could "recover", as she had put it.
He had been here ever since.
Actually, now that Tōshirō thought about it, ten miles was quite a long distance, especially since it had been accidental, and he was only using shikai with a power limiter on him. He wondered how the effect would have differed if he hadn't sneezed. Would it have been worse?
You're just trying to – achoo! – distract yourself, and you know it.
Hyōrinmaru's words, though punctuated with a sneeze or two, were nothing but the plain truth.
But Tōshirō ignored him. After all, he had been in here for three whole days. I do have the right to complain, he thought darkly.
Again ignoring the ice dragon, who now alternated between laughing and sneezing, Tōshirō forced his mind onto other things. Like how ironic it was that he, the wielder of an ice-element zanpakutou, and the strongest one in Soul Society at that, was suffering from the cold.
Hyōrinmaru nodded miserably, prompting another sneeze.
Tōshirō sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Outside the door, two people were having a conversation.
"You know what?" began the taller of the two. "If he knows that you had cold medication all along, he's really going to kill you, Unohana-taichō."
Unohana smiled. "He won't, don't worry. It's for his own good, after all. He's been working far too hard. Besides, I can always say that I only found it now," she added, her smile growing wider. "He's too afraid of the Fourth Division and all it represents to argue with me."
Beside her, Matsumoto suppressed a shudder. The seemingly gentle taichō could be really scary at times.
"True," she muttered in reply.
The pair stood outside in silence for quite some time, observing the room.
Condensation had been forming on the outside of the door for two days. Matsumoto thought that she could make out some small icicles too. It probably meant that the temperature in the room was far from normal room temperature and closer to that of the…
Wherever it was that those white furry bears lived, Matsumoto decided.
She turned back to the person beside her.
"How long are you going to keep him in there?"
The taichō of the Fourth Division only smiled as she walked away.
As she disappeared from view, Matsumoto took one last look at the door to her taichō's room, then hurried back to start on the paperwork that was piled up on her desk.
She didn't feel like being the object of his ire when he escaped his forced holiday.
If he ever did, that is.
END
3rd Author's Note: Hope you liked it :) Again, I repeat: poor, poor Hitsugaya. Alas, but he is just such a fun character to torture. Being too likable does have its downsides, I guess.
4th (and last) Author's Note: Okay, you know what I am going to say... Review, please, people! I already have two more ideas for this series on my "to-write list". All I need is encouragement! Thanks! Suggestions are always welcome!
(In a not-quite-related note: I'm planning to write a "full version" of the first story in this series. Something along the lines of "April Fool's Day in Soul Society". I actually came up with most of the pranks for each division already. So, if written, it will consist of at least thirteen chapters, one for each division. Tell me what you guys think of this idea! Ideas for more pranks also VERY welcome [since I'm not much of a prankster myself O.O]!)
