Yay, another chapter XD I've actually had this to post for a little while, but every time I went to put it up my internet stopped working :S Lucky it's working now :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it makes my day to read them XD
Chapter 4
Waking up the next morning, Hitsugaya saw that, while it was still dark, overcast and cold, it was no longer raining – which wasn't necessarily a good thing. He really liked the rain and so enjoyed it when it happened, which wasn't nearly that often in Seireitei. With a small sigh he left his bed and followed the same routine that he did every single morning – it really was becoming quite redundant.
So much so that he didn't even need to think about what to do and his muscles did it for him. Since waking up all he could focus on was his visit from Hinamori the previous day; he just hoped that she wasn't stupid enough to go through with her plan while he was away in Rukongai. Though, the pained, hurt look she had given him continued to pull at his heart strings and he almost felt as though he was the bad guy and not Aizen.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose and trying to fight off the growing headache he started to walk towards the door, zanpakuto strapped securely on his back. Because it was still too dark inside the house to see anything, he painfully walked into the frame of the door. Rubbing his knee, which had made first contact with the wood, he took a few steps backwards, when he felt the familiar weight of his zanpakuto not on his back. I must have left it back in my room, he thought to himself, though he could have sworn it had been on his back – but the evidence was there showing that it was, in fact, not on his back.
As he walked back the way he came, he had to sort of grope through the darkness lest he walk into something else. When he got to the door to his room he opened it and jumped backwards in alarm, his heart pounding a million miles per second in his ribcage, his hand clutching behind his head at empty air where his sword should be. Shinigami weren't meant to get scared or startled by things like this, but he couldn't help it. Standing in the doorway on the opposite side of the recently opened door was Clara, standing and looking at him with her odd eyes. He hadn't been expecting to see her – especially not in the room he had only just been in – and seeing her in an unexpected place, as well as the fact that she was overall just plain creepy, had made his heart race a lot faster than he was willing to admit.
"Morning Shiro-chan, are you ready to play with me?" She cocked her head to the side as she smiled serenely at him; a look much more fitting to her face – it would have made her look normal had it not been for the eyes. Once his breathing had returned to normal he was able to glare icily at her.
"It's Hitsugaya-Taicho, and no, I am not ready to play with you because I have work to do. How did you even get into my house?"
"Why do you insist on being called Hitsugaya-Taicho so much? Little children should have a name which fits their age. You said you would play with me, but I didn't have time yesterday – but I do now! And as to how I got in here? I came in through the door; I walked straight past you, how did you not notice me?"
He opened his mouth in indignation when she called him a 'little child' – who did she think she was? She was both younger and shorter than him, so she had absolutely no right to say that. Though he frowned deeply when she said that she had walked straight past him – that was impossible! Not necessarily. The small, niggling voice at the back of his mind reminded him of how he thought Hyourinmaru had been on his back when it hadn't been, so maybe, just maybe, this annoying girl had walked past him.
"Ok, well, I don't care how you got in here but you need to leave right now." He made his voice commanding, and he felt his cold reiatsu surround him, giving him strength. He saw her frown deeply before she walked over to him and grabbed both his wrists, pulling him down so that his face was at her level, and their noses were almost touching.
Being this close he could smell a strange smell, though it was like he was smelling it from a great distance, and so wasn't able to place it – though it wasn't like anything he had ever smelt before.
"You will play with me little taicho because you told me yesterday that you would. Almost nothing ever happens during patrol duty, so it'll be fine. Please?" Her eyes softened to look into his with an almost puppy dog type look, though it sent shivers racing down his spine. He nodded slowly, just to try and get those eyes to look away from him.
"Fine, I'll play with you." She smirked before letting her icy hands release his wrists. He had a bad feeling about whatever would happen as he slowly followed to the kitchen.
"Let's play hide-and-go-seek around the house! You count first." Before he could reject her childish idea she was gone, running to find a hiding place while he counted. He couldn't believe that he had allowed himself to be dragged into this. At least it was confined to the house so the residents wouldn't see him playing – what would they think if they saw a captain lowering himself to play hide-and-go-seek?
With a sigh he counted to twenty before going to search for the annoying girl. He searched for ages, looking high and low, but not finding a single trace of her – as though she had vanished into thin air. He had his head in the small cupboard, looking to see if she was at the back of it, when he felt an icy unnatural coldness seeping into his skin and the accompanying voice.
"You're really bad at this game; maybe I should go first." Her appearance startled him and he jerked upwards, hitting his head on the top of the cupboard, before pulling it out to glare at her.
"You go and hide and I'll count." And so the day wore on with them playing the game a ridiculous amount of times. Each time it was Hitsugaya's turn to find the girl he never could find her and she eventually came to him – usually startling him in the process. It was really starting to wear on his nerves.
At the moment he was searching through the house for Clara, and he surprisingly found her standing in the middle of the lounge room, motionless. He frowned and started to walk closer to see around the lounge. When he was around that obstacle he saw that she was actually kneeling down, and was at the same height that she had been while standing up. What? It wasn't possible for her to have grown so tall in such a short time.
"Shiro-chan, I've had fun playing this childish game with you, just so that you could act your age, but it isn't the game I want to play with you." His frown deepened as he took in her words. What did she mean it wasn't the game she wanted to play? She picked it – and he sure as hell didn't want to play it! Suddenly it registered that her voice was different; older, more mature – which went with the fact that she was a whole lot taller as well.
What was going on? She turned around to face him and he felt his eyes go indescribably large, and his heart jump to his throat, beating furiously in fear. Her brown hair, previously in pigtails, hung limp on the sides of her head, framing her slightly grayish face, the flesh rotting in places. The smell was almost unbearable, and he now recognised it to be that of death and decay. However, that wasn't the most horrific part of her appearance, not by far. Before he had hated looking into her black hole eyes, but now he would give anything to see them again.
Where her eyes used to be were empty, bloodied sockets, completely devoid of eyes. Thick trails of crusted blood trailed down her face like tears, ending at her jawline. She raised a rotting hand, where bone could be seen in places, and he saw the flash of light glinting off the dagger.
"You have such pretty eyes Shiro-chan; if only I had eyes like yours... If only I had your eyes." Quicker than what should have been possible Hitsugaya found himself flat on his back, the horrific monster on top of him, pinning his arms beside him. He couldn't breathe, both from the smell, and from shock and fear, and his lungs were starting to burn with the lack of oxygen. His breathing was incredibly shallow, and as the knife came towards his face Clara slowly dragged it along his arm, drawing blood, until it reached its destination.
Never had he been more terrified in his life, but he needed to do something, anything! As soon as this thought crossed his mind he started to wriggle frantically, trying to break free. However, she was stronger than she looked, and held him firm and still. With the knife resting lightly on his face, he could see the fresh blood on the blade, but he could also see that under that was a layer of crusted blood – his arm would get infected for sure.
"S-stop it!" She smirked down at him before lowering her mouth to his ear.
"Don't stop struggling; I want you hear you scream for me to stop, scream for me to spare your life. I want to hear those delicious cries of fright as I slowly, ever so slowly, gouge out those gorgeous eyes with my knife. Wouldn't that be great Shiro-chan? Isn't this a great game?"
"Y-you're sick!" Never had he felt so powerless or so young – what was wrong with this... this thing! She laughed in his face, her foul, deadened breath blowing across his face and spreading its unnatural icy aura. He knew he should raise his reiatsu; if he could do that than he would be able to beat this sick monster, but for some reason nothing would obey him. He could feel the hysteria rising as he struggled harder, kicking out uselessly, and it was starting to overtake him, until all he could think were the frantic thoughts.
The knife was right below his eye and he was dimly aware of somebody screaming out in fear, pain, and terror, forming incomprehensible words as the light trail of blood flowed down his cheek before the knife raised poised over his left eye, waiting to plunge downwards.
Suddenly it stopped; everything stopped and Clara rolled off him, laughing in mirth.
"You should have seen your face! You didn't really think I would do it Shiro-chan, ne?" Toushirou didn't answer as he laid still, his breathing erratic and irregular, pushing out of his sore and dry throat. He could feel dull pain in his arm and face where the blade moved and cut through the skin, and he didn't even bother to wipe away the sticky moistness rolling down his skin – a mixture of blood and sweat.
"Aw, poor little Shiro-chan! Aren't you meant to be a big bad captain who isn't afraid of anything?" She had a point – captains weren't meant to feel this fear welling up in his chest and threatening to suffocate him. However, never before had he been faced with a situation like this before and so didn't know any other way to react.
Her face appeared in his vision once more, her empty sockets connecting with his eyes, and he tried to look away from the mentally scarring image, but strong, rotted fingers grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.
"I loved that game, didn't you Shiro-chan? We should play it again sometime; though I must warn you that if you react as great as that again I may not be able to stop myself from carving you up." His eyes widened even more and she openly smirked in his face and then laughed again, al his nerves tingling in pain from the sound.
"Ah Shiro-chan, you're so messed up in the head! I think it's time for you to wake up now."
"W-what?" She stood up and walked towards the door, turning around when her hand was on the handle.
"I said I think it's time for you to wake up now."
Toushirou bolted upright in his warm, cosy bed in his room. Outside the rain still howled violently like it had been when he first went to sleep, and grabbing his clock from beside his bed he saw the numbers reading 12:09, four minutes after he had went to bed. He couldn't believe it – that hadn't all been in his head had it? If so then dream Clara was right, he was messed up in the head. Shaking his head slightly to try and get rid of the images from his horrific dream, he tried to laugh it off.
It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream.
He repeated this like a mantra inside his head, trying to convince himself. But it had seemed so real! Looking down at his arm he saw that it was unblemished with no cut along it, and feeling his face he found that it was in the same uncut state. Standing up out of bed on his unsteady legs, he moved to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. His throat was dry, so he had probably been screaming in his sleep; this thought brought a small, embarrassed blush to his cheeks as he was thankful that nobody else had seen his childish moment of weakness. Only children had nightmares, and he was not a child, so he would not recognise his dream as a nightmare.
The walk to the kitchen was dark and long, and his only comfort was the raging wind outside which made it so that things weren't completely quiet. Also, the rain was soothing and helped to soothe his frazzled nerves. If only there were lights in the house, and then everything would be perfect! When he reached the kitchen he didn't know why – it was like a weird compulsion – but he turned towards the lounge room, at the same times as a bolt of lightning struck near his house. Briefly the room was completely illuminated in blinding light, but in that time he saw the same demonic monster with no eyes from his dream and his breathing stopped. When the room was darkened once more he continued to stare, but he could make no shapes out in the darkness.
Calm, be calm – she wasn't actually there, it was just residual images from the nigh- dream. He turned around and walked straight into someone. His first reaction was to scream and push away from them – it was Clara! Who else would it be? His mind started to turn to mush as the fear overtook his senses. Why me? That question ran quickly through his mind as the person took a step closer until they were close enough that he could make out their features.
"Toushirou, are you ok – you look like you've seen a ghost." Ukitake stood in front of him, a worried and concerned look on his kind face as he looked down at the boy.
"U-Ukitake-san! What are you d-doing here?" The embarrassing stutter found its way into his speech, but at the moment he couldn't care.
"I came to check up on you; the Sou-Taicho was worried when Momo came back to Seireitei crying after she had visited you earlier, and so I was sent to make sure things were ok. I'm sorry if I scared you; it's just so dark in here that I couldn't see where I was going and didn't see you until you literally ran into me." He chuckled lightly at that.
"So how have you been Toushirou?"
"I've been fine; nothing out of the ordinary has happened, though I can't wait to return to Seireitei – Matsumoto probably can't even open the office door anymore with the amount of paperwork she's left for me to do." Ukitake laughed at his weak attempt at humour before reaching into his sleeves. Hitsugaya cringed slightly at what he knew the man was going to pull out – some things never changed. He could also feel his confidence raising and his fear dissipate.
Ukitakte's hand removed from his sleeve, but while Hitsugaya had been expecting unwanted candy, what was drawn was utterly unexpected. In the man's hand was a dagger which looked oddly familiar and it took him precious seconds to recognise why – it was Clara's dagger! His eyes narrowed in suspicion and alarm as he watched the captain cautiously.
"Ukitakte-san, what's with the dagger?"
"I don't know what you mean Toushirou." His pleasant smile stayed on his face, but an odd glinting in his eyes told him that something was wrong; the glinting as well, though, was very familiar – it was the same as what he'd seen in Matsumoto's eyes and Momo's eyes when they had both visited him, what did that mean?
"What I mean is, why do you have it? Actually, the better question is where did you get it?" On a closer inspection of the blade he could also see fresh blood on it, though his skin wasn't cut.
"I've always had it Shiro-chan, it does belong to me after all. As to why I have it? Well, I thought maybe we could play another game." The voice was Ukitake's, the face was Ukitake's, but the words most definitely were not. Toushirou took a few steps backwards, but his legs hit the edge of a chair, forcing them to bend so that he fell into the chair.
Ukitake walked closer and put a hand on the edge of the chair, leaning down slightly. Malice passed through his eyes briefly before he smiled his trademark smile.
"What's wrong Shiro-chan? I'm not going to hurt you." Toushirou looked up at the man that he trusted and respected so much wielding a bloody dagger with a strange, indescribable look on his face. In his opinion this was even worse than his dream about Clara – if it even was a dream. But it had to be right? How else could his skin have healed? Also, in his dream it showed most of the day, but when he had woken up it had only been four minutes after he had gone to bed – which one was real, now or then? What if he was just dreaming now?
Before he knew what was happening the dagger was embedded in his flesh under his ribcage, thankfully missing anything vital. Toushirou's eyes widened as he looked down at the hilt and then up at the sadistic smile which was so out of place on the kind face. He felt his shirt start to stick to his skin as it became wet with his blood and his hands gripped the handle to pull it out. However, as he started to pull it free he felt larger hands place themselves atop his own, keeping the dagger in position; then the hands gripped his in a vice grip, forcing him to turn the blade around 360 degrees while still inside of him.
The pain was unimaginable as he felt the skin tear and muscles clench around the obtrusive blade before they too were torn by the sharp edge.
"U-Ukitake-san?" Blood started to bubble from his lips and silent tears ran down his face as the blade inched further upwards through his body, guided by the gentle and soft hands of the man he thought of as the closest thing he had ever had to a father. He felt his vision giving out, and the last thing he saw before the pain became too much for him was Ukitake standing over him with the same smile he wore when he was giving him candy...
Toushirou groaned as he rolled over in his bed, the bright sunlight filtering through his curtains to bathe the room in a soft, warm glow. He felt like he could sleep forever, his mind bone tired even if his body felt revitalised and ready to go. He had to patrol but he didn't feel like getting up. He stayed under the covers for as long as he could before finally deciding to get a move on with what he was meant to be doing. He briefly looked over towards the automatic calendar beside his bed as he got up, but froze as a frown covered his face.
What? The calendar read '4 January' which wasn't possible! Yesterday had only been the 30th of December, so how was it already the 4th? He stood up straight and an odd pain blossomed on his arm, and looking down he saw a thin, pale line extending from above his elbow to just below his shoulder. He frowned and looked up briefly to look around him to find an unknown assailant; even though he knew that the wound was days old. But as he looked back down to it to inspect it his frown deepened with an underlying shock to his face – the cut was gone!
The pain that he had felt not two seconds ago was also gone. What is going on here? Walking swiftly towards the kitchen he grabbed a bottle of water – subconsciously scratching his arm – turning towards the lounge room as he drank, deep in thought. However, when he faced the lounge room he paused, bottle between his lips as images from the previous night – or from whenever it was – came back to him. Ukitake-san... Had that really happened or had it been another nightmare? He didn't know, but there was no stab wound in his abdomen so he could only assume that he had dreamt it.
As he stood there looking like an idiot, a small black butterfly flew over to him, landing delicately on the tip of his finger that he held out upon seeing the insect.
"Hitsugaya Taicho, clean-up in Karakura Town has finished, and after two weeks of patrol duty you are being relieved; return to Seireitei immediately." Thank god! Hopefully this meant that all the crazy dreams would stop – it must have been something in the water here. Leaving the house he jumped into a shunpo and moved quickly towards the walls of Seireitei and entering through the gate, making a direct beeline to his office – how he had missed it!
When he walked in he saw his lazy lieutenant snoring on the couch but he only slightly frowned; he had missed the routine of his day too much to get upset at her. Silently walking over to his desk he sat down and picked up his neglected brush to start the paperwork.
He worked for hours until his lieutenant eventually woke up, blinking owlishly in front of her before she got her bearings. With a sigh she stood up and turned around, only to stop upon seeing her beloved taicho in front of her working on the paperwork she had kindly left for him.
"Taicho?" She frowned, as though deciding whether or not this was one of her drunken hallucinations or if it was actually real, before coming to the conclusion that he was in fact in front of her. Hitsugaya had stood up to greet her, as is proper of a captain, when Matsumoto bowled him over, grabbing him close for a bone-crushing hug.
"M-Matsumoto!" With a small chuckle she released the small male, smiling at him.
"Taicho, you're back – I missed you while you were gone! I'm so glad you're back... We should celebrate! With sake!" Hitsugaya sighed, but then remembered something.
"Oi, Matsumoto, thank you for visiting me while I was in Rukongai – though if you ever do that again I will personally freeze you." He never wanted to be subjected to that kind of practical joke ever again. He could almost hear her response now. 'But Taiichhoo! You should have seen your face! You're no fun.'
However, the woman didn't react as he had expected – which was unusual. Instead of something along the lines of what he had thought, she instead frowned deeply, and air of seriousness and confusion coming across her face.
"What are you talking about Taicho? I didn't come visit you while you were on patrol; as part of your punishment the Sou-Taicho banned anyone from being able to see you because you weren't allowed to have visitors."
"What?" He lapsed into thought – what she said couldn't be true! He'd been visited by Matsumoto, Momo and... Ukitake – though that last one could have been a dream.
"Taicho, are you ok?" Matsumoto looked at him in concern and he schooled his features to look indifferent.
"I'm fine Matsumoto – but I see that you haven't done any paperwork since I left." She raised a hand to her head and scratched it sheepishly, and while he looked stern on the outside Hitsugaya was internally patting himself on the back for a skilful change of topic.
"Well, you see, I was going to do it – honestly – but then I realised that being cooped up in an office all day would not be good for my skin... so I went to the hot springs instead!" He raised a hand and placed it on his forehead, an irritated sigh coming from his mouth.
"Matsumoto." The lowly spoken word was all that she needed to know that she should be taking her leave before he yelled at her.
"It's good that you're back Taicho, but I've got... an important thing to do now – only lieutenants allowed. Gotta go!" With that the infuriating woman ran out of the room.
"MATSUMOTO!" It felt like things had finally returned to normal.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of filling out papers that should have been done days ago, with the occasional tea break. With a small sigh of satisfaction Hitsugaya sat back in his chair after reading through the umpteenth report that he needed to sign, feeling a large urge to leave the stuffy room for a quick walk.
Walking through the halls of his division he felt glad to be back; back home where he belonged. His pace was leisurely and unhurried as he strolled through the corridors, taking in the sights that he had so missed – though would never admit to missing. Whenever he walked past one of his division members they would stop and greet him to welcome him back.
Arriving to the fountain in the courtyard – his favourite place to sit and relax – he marvelled at the pure, clear water that sprayed forth, glad that it still was water that came from his beautiful fountain. One time Matsumoto and some of her drinking buddies had decided it would be funny to replace the water with sake... it hadn't turned out well for any of them.
Feeling content he sat on the edge, some droplets of icy water occasionally hitting him; it was a pleasant and calming experience that he rarely indulged in. Though it would have been better if he didn't have to constantly scratch at an annoying itch on his neck.
"Shiro-chan..." The eyes that had drifted shut snapped open and his eyes darted about the surprisingly empty courtyard. He would know that voice anywhere; he just couldn't believe that it had followed him back to Seireitei, unless... unless this was another dream and he was still in Rukongai – not in Seireitei – and he would wake up any moment. What if all of it has been a dream? That would explain me being able to beat a Vasto Lorde...
He didn't want to dwell on that last thought in fear of it meaning he was crazy, but there was no denying the fact that he wasn't sure what had been dream and what had been real so far, so there was nothing stopping this pleasant home-coming from being a dream.
"I went to play with you but I couldn't find you... why did you leave me?" He felt shudders travel along his spine at the word 'play', a word that used to be so innocent but now was filled with pain, suffering and fear.
"Didn't you like our games?" He felt rather than saw the smaller body sit down next to him. So she doesn't look like that older monster? That's a relief. He could deal with creepy looking children with weird eyes but he could not ever – never again – deal with creepy adults with no eyes.
"What do you want with me?" His words pushed passed his teeth in a hiss, and he heard Clara's tinkling laugh.
"You're so funny Shiro-chan, I already told you – I want to play with you."
"You don't play, those are not games; why are you tormenting me like this?" Silence lasted between the two for a few moments while Hitsugaya waited for the answer that she didn't seem willing to give.
"I'm not tormenting you Shiro-chan, I'm punishing you because that's what happens to little children when they've been bad – they get punished." Her voice had changed; developed a more mature, icy quality to it. With great hesitance Hitsugaya turned his head to look at her. Punished? He didn't understand, and he was about to say as much when he saw her, and what he saw took his breath away. Her head was down but he could clearly see her skin; skin that was grayish and rotting with little bits already starting to peel.
He couldn't breathe as she slowly raised her face to look at him. God, please don't let her look like that again! She faced him completely and his eyes went wide – it was even worse than last time! Clara, in her little child's body, had flaking and rotting skin – much like she did when he saw her in his lounge room – and instead of her black hole eyes the sockets were empty and he could see that whoever had removed her eyes had not been gentle in any way.
"It hurts so much Shiro-chan; make the pain go away." Her voice cracked in suppressed sadness and agony, and if he hadn't been so scared Hitsugaya might have felt sympathy for her – it did look extremely painful. He couldn't respond, his tongue wouldn't move to form words.
"Don't you care? Please Shiro-chan..." A noise drew his attention away from her for two seconds, and when he looked back she was gone, almost like she'd never been there at all. He took in a shaky breath into his burning lungs, and his skin felt clammy and unnaturally cold.
"Toushirou, I heard you were told to come back! Sorry I couldn't welcome you back sooner but I only just found out- Are you ok? You look a little pale." Toushirou's head snapped around so fast that he was almost afraid of whiplash. Standing a few feet away was Ukitake, Kyouraku just behind him – though he didn't take note of the strangely clad man, but instead focusing his eyes on the sickly captain, trying to will his eyes to return to normal, as well as his breathing and heart rate. It's Ukitake – Ukitake that you've known for years. It was just a dream – he didn't really stab you. It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream-
"Toushirou?"
"Ukitake-san, Kyouraku-san, it's good to be back." His voice had started to take on a strained pitch to it, and he could see that both captains had noticed it as well. Why can't I control myself? Ukitake walked forward a few steps, his kind smile in place.
"It's good that you're glad to be home, and guess what I have!" He started to reach into his sleeve and images flowed into Toushirou's mind. Ukitake reaching into his robe and pulling out a dagger. Ukitake walking towards him. Ukitake with the same kind smile and malice in his eyes.
Ukitake standing over him. Ukitake plunging the dagger into his stomach. Ukitake forcing his hands to move the dagger up slowly towards his heart, intent on killing him. Without thinking Toushirou took a few steps away from the bewildered captain before quickly shunpoing away, leaving Ukitake and Kyouraku standing there in confusion as Ukitake withdrew his hand, a bag of candy in it.
Toushirou moved to put as much distance between him and Ukitake as he could; he couldn't believe his own reaction as an embarrassed flush adorned his cheeks – it had just been a dream, albeit a dream that felt incredibly real, but a dream none the less. Stopping in front of a building near the walls of Seireitei, Toushirou sought to catch his breath.
Why did he react that way? A dull pain started to bloom behind his eyes to signify the start of yet another headache; they had become so frequent lately. Reaching up to rub at his eyes he sighed softly before straightening up fully, ignoring the incessant pounding on his skull. He decided that he should just head back to his division now – hopefully not running into any unwanted people – and find something to work on that would eat up the spare time on his hands.
It was so hot within Seireitei, unlike that weather he had been experiencing in Rukongai, and so he found himself constantly picking at his clothes as he walked to prevent them from sticking to him; he hated the dreaded heat so much! Scuffling footsteps were heard behind him, but far away, and he payed them no heed as he walked casually, yet with an air of formality, back to his division.
He couldn't believe how far he had gotten in his moment of childish fear. Scuffle, scuffle. The sounds of slightly muffled footsteps were irregular and infrequent, but they also seemed to be getting closer. Stopping, Hitsugaya turned around, but saw no one there, though now that he thought about it the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up and he got the feeling that he was being watched.
"Who's there? Show yourself." Everything remained still and unmoving and the lack of sound was deafening on his eardrums. Taking a deep breath Toushirou forced his legs to start walking again – hopefully he'd arrive at his division soon. More scuffling footsteps sounded to the side of him and he looked around, but nothing was there. He could hear his own heartbeat in his chest, pounding a steady rhythm against his ribcage, with the pace slowly increasing.
Crash! Hitsugaya whirled around to face the direction of the noise, his hand instantly reaching to his back and drawing Hyourinmaru. He stood still, the only sound was his breathing; his eyes quickly scanned the area, but couldn't come up with a source for the noise. Why am I so jumpy? It was just a noise – it probably wasn't even from something close to me. With a sigh of frustration the small captain slid the sword back into its sheath and turned around right as something tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped nearly a mile in the air and almost lost his balance as he turned around.
"You shouldn't be so jumpy Shiro-chan, it's just me." Clara stood with her hands folded in front of her, the picture of innocence, as her dreadful eyes which resemble black-holes looked through his body to his very core.
"You're such a fraidy-cat Shiro-chan. I thought captains were meant to be braver than this." She chuckled lightly.
"I think you hurt Ukitake's feelings – did you see the pained look on his face when you ran away from him? Priceless!" She giggled at this, and Toushirou looked at her in disgust – what kind of a person was she that she would take such joy out of other peoples' suffering?
"What do you want from me?" The words hissed out through his teeth as he glared at her with as much contempt as he could muster.
"You said that you would play with me Shiro-chan."
"I did – I played hide-and-go-seek. Now why won't you just leave me alone?" Clara's laugh started out light, gradually getting heavier until she was in near hysterics. After a moment of laughing she looked him dead in the eye, black looking through teal. Her tone of voice as she answered was reminiscent of an adult talking to a particularly slow child.
"Oh Shiro-chan, because this is the game. Watching you jump, run, squirm, yell, scream in surprise, confusion and fright... that's the game that we're playing, and it won't ever end. Isn't that fun Shiro-chan?" Toushirou's eyes widened as he thought of what she was saying. She's... never leaving me... alone? That thought was horrifying, and he knew he didn't succeed in keeping his thoughts off his face when she laughed again in pure delight.
"Well, I've got to go right now Shiro-chan, but I will be back – I promise! But when will I be back? That's the question you need to constantly ask yourself – be on guard at all times..." Her form seemed to waver and then fade out of view, until Hitsugaya was left standing by himself in a cold sweat.
"Hitsugaya-kun!" Toushirou whirled around instantly at the sound of his child-hood friend, still reeling in his memories of only moments earlier with Clara. He never wanted to see her ever again.
"H-Hinamori, baka! It's Hitsugaya-Taicho!" Momo rolled her eyes playfully before looking at him carefully.
"Are you alright? You look really pale – and are you sweating?" Her face morphed into a concerned frown as she placed her hand on his forehead. He jumped and pulled away from her touch, which didn't escape her notice, but she didn't comment on that.
"You're burning up! I think you should go see Unohana-Taicho; you might be coming down with something. Maybe some sort of bug that you might have picked up in Rukongai." Toushirou nodded numbly, but he had no intention of seeing the kind, motherly captain. He couldn't look directly at Hinamori, the memory of the time she visited in Rukongai still very fresh in his mind.
'"I need to be with Aizen-Taicho! Ichimaru, he's the evil one; he's controlling Aizen-Taicho! If I can get into Hueco Mundo then I could convince him that Ichimaru's evil, and bring him back to Seireitei." Hitsugaya stood up as well, anger burning deep in his teal eyes.
"Wake up Hinamori! Aizen is evil – he's the master mind behind everything. Do you think he even cares about you Hinamori? He told me that he only picked you as his lieutenant because you admired him so much and he could make you follow him blindly!" The sound of skin hitting skin was loud in the room, and Hitsugaya felt his cheek smart where the girl had slapped him.
"How dare you talk so badly of Aizen-Taicho; he's a better man than you could ever be Hitsugaya-Taicho!" She practically spat out his title before marching towards the door and flinging it wide open, allowing the wind to blow inside, and the rain to wet the ground even more than it already was.
"You don't want me to go rescue Aizen-Taicho because you're jealous that I like him more than you. Well, Hitsugaya, you wake up – stop being so selfish!" She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her, leaving Hitsugaya to stand there watching after her wide-eyed. He wasn't jealous of Aizen, was he?'
"I'm fine Hinamori, was there something you wanted?" An air of iciness slipped into his voice as he talked – unintentionally, but Hinamori had heard it, and the hurt look that crossed her face made him feel incredibly guilty.
"N-no, I just wanted to say hello because you've returned from Ru-Rukongai. I'm sorry." She sounded close to tears and Hitsugaya softened his features.
"Don't say sorry, you did nothing wrong. I just... I was just remembering what you told me in Rukongai when you visited. I'm sorry if I sounded cold." He knew it was risky bringing up this subject, but he felt it needed to be out in the open. However, Hinamori reacted very similar to how Matsumoto did when he had thanked her for visiting; with confusion.
"What are you talking about Hitsugaya-kun? I didn't visit you in Rukongai – nobody was allowed to as part of your punishment."
"Oh yeah, w-wrong time." Hinamori frowned.
"I really thing you should see Unohana-Taicho; it isn't like you to get mixed up like that."
"Maybe I will... It's good to see you again Hinamori." She smiled sweetly at him as he started to walk away, but as soon as his back was turned away, her smile slipped off her face to give way for concerned worry.
A strong reiatsu suddenly flared up and both Hinamori and Hitsugaya paused to look in its direction.
"Hitsugaya-kun!"
"I know." The two of them shunpoed towards the source, and when they got there they saw that there was a massive hollow in the centre of a court yard, and a few low seated shinigami were trying, and unsuccessfully, fighting the hollow. In a swift motion Hyourinmaru was drawn from his sheath with a small 'shick' sound and Hitsugaya charged in, raising his reiatsu to signal to the other shinigami to move out of the way, which they complied with.
He brought his sword down, cutting one arm cleanly off just as the other came swinging around, aiming towards his exposed lower back. With skilful contortions he was able to twist out of the way to dodge the attack and then spin his body back around to align head on with the hollow before swinging his sword in a graceful arc across the hollow's torso, blood spraying everywhere.
The hollow pulled away from the sharp blade, a pained howl tearing from its mouths. Suddenly it disappeared and Toushirou's eyes widened as he tried to sense where it had gone, but failing to do so.
"We arrived finally! Now this party can really start!"
"Yay Ken-chan!" The voices seemed to come from behind him before he heard it to his side, and turning around he saw Kenpachi near his side, with Yachiru skipping away to find somewhere to sit and watch. At the same time behind him the hollow reappeared, and without hesitating he leapt forward and slashed at the hollow. Surprisingly it had gotten better at blocking and so brought up its arm with ease. The sound of metal on metal rang through the court yard. Wait, what?
He didn't have any time to think about whatever it was that had registered in his mind that seemed off because the hollow had taken up the offensive and was attacking him with brute strength, and all he could do was block as his arms resisted the strain. Pushing away from the hollow he unleashed his reiatsu in a concentrated burst, sending the hollow flying backwards until it regained its feet.
"Hitsugaya-kun, what are you doing?"
"Move out of the way kid, you're in the way!"
"Why is Snowy doing that?" The shouts directed his way fell on deaf ears – he didn't have the time to decipher them because this hollow was turning out to be a lot stronger than he had initially thought.
"You're stronger than I thought you'd be kid! Well, if this is what you want to do, who am I to change your mind?"
Toushirou ran towards the hollow head-on, until the last possible moment when he shunpoed to the side in a feint attack and swiftly changing directions to attack the vulnerable, unprotected side. A sword came up just in time to block his attack before the arm pulled away in pain.
"Hitsugaya-kun, stop it!" Why would Hinamori want him to stop attacking the hollow? Ignoring her he continued with his fight, his breathing became more laboured with every attack. How had it gotten so strong so quickly? Or worse, if it had always been this strong how had he not sensed it?
With an animalistic roar Kenpachi leapt forward and stabbed his sword forward through the opponent and at the same time the hand of the hollow pierced through Hitsugaya's abdomen, blood gurgling up to his lips as a result of the attack. Damn it... Hitsugaya was about to pull away from the hand of the hollow when he heard laughter next to him. When he turned he saw Clara – she came back a lot sooner than he thought she would.
"Shiro-chan, what are you doing?"
"Hitsugaya-kun, what are you doing?"
"Damn it! What does it look like I'm doing?" He ignored Hinamori as he concentrated on the small girl next to him.
"To me it looks like you're fighting your fellow captain." His eyes widened.
"W-what? Are you blind?"
"Maybe I am." She smiled creepily as her eyes – those incredibly dark orbs that looked through you rather than at you – began to melt in their sockets, running down her face and staining her skin red... for blood. He couldn't move as he watched her just smile at him as though she wasn't in pain at all.
"But then again, maybe I won't be if I had some eyes. Some beautiful, teal-coloured eyes... But not yet... not yet." She reached out a hand and touched his skin, the icy feeling spreading across his skin making him feel numb and desensitized to everything. The world started spinning and blackness ate at the corners of his vision.
The last thing he remembered was looking forward to see Kenpachi, a crazed grin on his face, standing a few centimetres away as he, the great Hitsugaya Toushirou, child prodigy, stood impaled on the eleventh division's captain's sword. And then the world went black.
Well, I hoped everyone liked it XD I'm not too sure about this story, so if you liked it leave a review - it'll give me motivation to keep writing XD Though, still leave a review if you don't like it, and just say why - all reviews are welcome XD