Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach, not even the kind designed to keep whites white
Chapter Three - The Way Things Were
"Oi Toushirou!"
Hitsugaya groaned under his breath as the obnoxious sound of Ichigo Kurosaki's voice woke him from a sound sleep. He, Ichigo and Rukia had spent most of the night battling various Hollow and Arrancar and he was in no way ready to get up. Mumbling incoherent curses to the Substitute Shinigami, the young captain rolled over on the cot where he was sleeping and pulled the blanket up over his head.
"Don't ignore me you little. . ." Narrowing his eyes Ichigo strode over to the roll away bed that his dad had once again supplied to their strange houseguest, grabbed the blanket that was covering the young captain, and pulled fiercely.
"Hey!" Hitsugaya exclaimed as he sat up and grabbed for the blanket that Ichigo was now holding over his head.
An annoying smirk plastered on his face, Ichigo eyed the young captain and continued to hold the blanket up out of his reach. "You have to get up and get ready for school."
"Like hell I do!" Hitsugaya snapped, fixing an icy gaze on the orange haired menace. "Your dad knows who and what I am so there's absolutely no way in hell that I'm going to go through that again."
"You have to," Ichigo growled, aiming a furious kick at the legs of the cot. Ichigo smirked in satisfaction as he watched the legs of the flimsy bed buckle however the grin quickly fell from his face as Hitsugaya leapt light from the bed mere seconds before it collapsed in a heap.
"What the hell is your problem Kurosaki?!" Hitsugaya demanded, staring at Ichigo through narrowed eyes.
Ichigo shivered slightly as he felt the room's temperature drop a couple of dozen degrees. "My dad may know that we're both freaks but my sisters don't."
That comment served to relieve some of Hitsugaya's anger over the situation and the room's temperature rose accordingly. Muttering more curses under his breath Hitsugaya got up and quickly dressed in the school uniform that had once again been provided for him.
Once the white-haired captain was dressed Ichigo opened his mouth to tell his guest to cheer up however before the words could escape his lips Rukia came in through the open window and interrupted the fight before it had the chance to break out.
"Good morn. . ." Rukia's cheery voice faltered as she entered the room and realized that she could actually see her breath. Her gaze swept back and forth from Ichigo to Hitsugaya and her expression said plain as words, "What exactly happened here?"
"Hey Rukia," Ichigo called out, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the room.
"Hey," Rukia said. "Did I interrupt something?"
"No," Ichigo said, shaking his head and offering Rukia a smile. "Toushirou and I were just talking about school."
The reaction to that comment was immediate and fierce. Hitsugaya whirled around and seized Ichigo by the collar of his shirt. "Captain Hitsugaya," the young prodigy snarled, glaring at Ichigo and looking for all the world as though he'd like nothing better than to strangle the roommate that had been forced upon him.
"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo said with a shrug, turning away from the irate captain and pulling his shirt free from Hitsugaya's grasp. "I'll try to keep that in mind. Now come on or else we'll be late for school."
Eyes narrowed in disgust Hitsugaya never the less followed Ichigo and Rukia, who both opted to depart the clinic through the open window of Ichigo's bedroom. Landing lightly on the ground Hitsugaya followed Ichigo and Rukia until they were out of sight of the clinic however when they came to a crossroads Hitsugaya chose the path opposite to the one that his two companions were taking.
"And what exactly do you think you're doing?" Ichigo called out as soon as he noticed that Hitsugaya was no longer following them.
"Skipping class," Hitsugaya replied without a moment's hesitation.
"Why you little. . ." Ichigo turned and took a couple of steps toward the Captain of Squad Ten however he froze dead in his tracks as he felt a tremendous reiatsu radiating from some distance away. "What the hell is that?" he asked, his gaze shifting back and forth between Rukia and Hitsugaya.
"Bad," Hitsugaya replied, pulling a small device resembling a PEZ dispenser from the front pocket of his shirt.
"That's what I thought," Ichigo said, his hand closing around the badge that hung from his belt.
"Not here you idiot," Rukia said, grabbing his hand and preventing him from using the Substitute Shinigami badge that Ukitake had given him so that he could assume his Shinigami form even when he didn't have Kon. "You can't just leave your body lying in the street. Remember what happened the last time?"
Ichigo shuddered at the memory and released his grip on the badge. "You're right Rukia. I'll wait."
"Let's go," Hitsugaya said, turning in the direction that the reiatsu was radiating from.
Both Ichigo and Rukia nodded and together the trio dashed off in pursuit of the unknown. They traveled together, as quickly as was possible owing to the fact that Ichigo couldn't assume his Shinigami form yet, and when they arrived at a clearing in the center of a large grove of trees their eyes widened in surprise. Standing in the center of the clearing was a huge man wearing half of a Hollow mask. The man wasn't wearing a shirt and Hitsugaya could plainly see the number ten that was tattooed on his bicep. The young captain growled low in his throat; this was definitely not good.
"Arrancar," Ichigo muttered as he used his badge to assume his Shinigami form.
"Not just an Arrancar," Hitsugaya said as he quickly pulled Hyourinmaru from the sheath that he wore secured across his back. "This one is an Espada, one of Aizen's personal army."
"You're kidding right?" Ichigo said, turning to face the young captain.
Hitsugaya didn't respond to the question verbally, he merely turned and gazed over at Ichigo.
"Right," Ichigo said, grabbing the hilt of Zangetsu and drawing the sword. "I forgot you don't have a sense of humor."
Hitsugaya chose to ignore this comment and instead focused on the big, burly Espada that was standing a mere few yards away from them. The huge man turned his gaze on the three new arrivals and sneered in their direction.
"I can't believe Lord Aizen thinks the three of you are a threat," the Espada said, obviously not impressed with the threat that Ichigo and his companions posed. "I'll prove to him how useful I can be."
"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo snarled, holding Zangetsu out in front of him and fixing the Espada with a look of utmost loathing.
"My name is Yami," the big man snarled. "But you won't have to remember it because you'll be dead long before you have time to forget."
"Feh," Ichigo said as he raised his blade.
"Oh here we go," Rukia said, rolling her eyes and drawing her own sword.
Hitsugaya had fought a former Espada during his visit to Hueco Mundo and he knew that the fight he and the others were facing would not be an easy one for them to win however he was convinced that their combined powers should be more than enough to beat one Arrancar, even an Espada.
Ichigo held up his zanpaktou and Hitsugaya and Rukia quickly mirrored this action.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo swung the blade of Zangetsu, releasing his trademark attack however the huge Arrancar unleashed an energy attack of his own. This huge ball of light knocked Ichigo's attack out of the way as though it were nothing and flew straight toward the shocked Substitute Shinigami.
"What the. . ."
"Reign over the frosted, frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!" Leaping forward Hitsugaya quickly swung the blade of his own zanpaktou and used the large ice dragon to deflect the cero before the attack struck Ichigo.
"Thanks Toushirou," Ichigo said, recovering from his shock and once again raising Zangetsu.
Hitsugaya muttered curses under his breath at the use of his first name however now was not the time to have that particular fight. Making a mental note to knock Ichigo senseless when the battle was over Hitsugaya prepared for another attack.
"Dance Sode no Shiraiyuki! First dance, White Moon!"
Yami stumbled back as he was faced with yet another attack comprised of ice. This battle was not going at all the way he'd envisioned and his eyes narrowed as he gazed over at the three Shinigami brats. There was simply no way that they should be a match for him, even if there were three of them.
"He doesn't look happy," Ichigo commented as he once again raised Zangetsu.
"You have that effect on people Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya snapped as he leapt into the air and pointed the tip of Hyourinmaru's blade toward the ground. The young captain stabbed the tip of his zanpaktou into the ground and then watched as shards of ice shot up from the ground and flew toward the Espada. Unfortunately, at the last possible second, an energy burst came as though from nowhere and knocked Hitsugaya's attack to the side, away from it's intended target.
"Enough!" a cold voice called out, halting the battle with that single word. The voice was not high in volume and yet it carried enough force to stop them all in their tracks.
"Ulquiorra!" Yami exclaimed as his gaze fell upon a figure emerging from the icy mist that had been caused by Hitsugaya's attack.
"Yami," the new arrival said, focusing his stoic gaze on the large Espada and completely ignoring the three Shinigami. "You were supposed to report your findings back to Lord Aizen. Why have you been delayed?"
"I can beat them," Yami insisted, his gaze shifting from Ulquiorra and returning to the three Shinigami who were standing only a few feet away.
Ulquiorra shook his head, his face showing absolutely no emotion. "No. Those were not the orders issued to you by Lord Aizen. You were supposed to assess any threats here and then report back immediately."
"But. . ." Yami began however he was interrupted by Ichigo. "I don't know why you came here but you're in league with that bastard Aizen so there's no way I'm going to allow you to leave here alive." This said the Substitute Shinigami quickly raised his zanpaktou and swung it. "Getsuga Tenshou!"
His face remaining completely devoid of emotion Ulquiorra countered Ichigo's attack with ease. Then a huge hole appeared out of nowhere, through which the two Arrancar stepped. The hole closed immediately and they disappeared.
"Dammit!" Ichigo swore as he watched the two of them disappear.
Also annoyed at the situation but not feeling the need to be quite so vocal about it Hitsugaya sheathed his sword and turned away from the battle ground.
"This is the way things were the last time you were here," Ichigo said, turning his attention to the young, white-haired captain. "Where ever you go, trouble always seems to follow."
Hitsugaya shrugged his shoulders, unable to deny the fact that there was definitely some truth to those words.
"Come on," Rukia said to her two companions as she returned to her gigai. "We should probably go."
"Alright," Ichigo said as he walked over to his body, which he had discarded on the ground when he'd used his badge to assume his Shinigami form. "But after the morning that we just had I think I'm gonna take a page out of Toushirou's book and skip class today."
"Captain Hitsugaya!"
Ichigo merely laughed and continued on his way.
TBC. . .
A/N- And so ends another chapter. Do any of you guys like this fic? Just curious. I promise things will pick up, what with the fact that they have to fight a war so just be patient. Until the next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.
