A/N: Well, this was, again, really fun to write. Enjoy!
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Chapter 4: Their Names Are Karasu,
Hitsugaya flopped down wearily into his seat in the Tenth Division office, giving a heavy sigh. Matsumoto Rangiku raised her head, a blank look on her face. She was lounging lazily on the couch, reading a fashion magazine from the real world and munching on rice crackers. There was a hefty-looking bag set beside her.
"Taichou~, you look so tired!"
He snorted and pretended to be working hard on his paperwork, shuffling busily through the piles.
Rangiku was silent for a second before a smile stretched wide across her face. "Oh, Taichou, I'm going to be leaving for a trip with Gin-chan in a few hours. I won't be back in a few days. I worked extra hard on my paperwork today, so you won't have as much to do while I'm away!" She sounded extremely happy, and Hitsugaya thought for a moment how carefree and irresponsible his lieutenant could be. He had half the mind to tell her off for not letting him know sooner, but couldn't find the energy for it, and gave up after opening his mouth a few times.
Instead, he just muttered a faint "have fun" and dipped his head low towards his paperwork.
Rangiku hummed to herself and languidly flipped the pages of the magazine.
-
"So?"
"So, what?"
"Aren't you gonna ask him?"
"I- Well-"
"We're getting close."
"-I don't know-"
"We're getting really close."
"-I'm not sure... He might-"
"Rukia, we're here."
"...Darn."
"Okay, geez, Rukia! What're you afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid, Ichigo! I'm just not sure if I really should-"
"WIMP!"
"Hey! Shut up!"
"Look, he's not gonna go all 'chire' on you, 'kay? Just go and tell him. You want to become a seated officer, right?"
"Well... yes..."
"Then go!" Ichigo firmly shoved her down the path towards Sixth Division, making her stagger and yelp out a complaint.
Then she stopped and looked up at the dark imposing mansion of Kuchiki Byakuya. Clenching her little hands into fists, she stiffly and nervously marched forward. She could feel the eyes of Ichigo on her; she imagined them, warm like autumn's leaves, and that made her feel a little better.
-
"I'm leaving now, Taichou! I'll miss you!~"
Hitsugaya sighed and grunted a goodbye, his desk still covered with paperwork that was both due and overdue. Stupid Matsumoto. She had barely done anything.
His mind was heavy like lead. The characters on the papers swam before his eyes, and he closed them, trying to halt all the impeding thoughts.
Thoughts of ice, and cold things, and cold hands, and white fingers, and white clothes, and bird masks, and plains of ice, and-
He let out a cry, and the thoughts scattered. There, it had happened again.
He thumped at the desk in frustration and stood up. He was simply unable to do anymore paperwork now; he needed fresh air to clear his head. Yes, that was it. Some fresh air and a walk outside. Maybe another patrol...
Resolute, he stepped outside his office, and walked quietly down the halls, not at all expecting the dark-brown-haired girl to come running up to him again.
"Oh, Shiro-chan!" cried Momo. "What good timing!"
"Hinamori," murmured Hitsugaya, "what is it now?"
"I got some free time, and I was wondering if you'd like to go on a patrol together, since there's been quite a lot of hollows lately in some places," she announced joyfully. "See, I even brought dinner." She held up a large cloth-wrapped basket.
Indeed, what good timing. A patrol together, and a picnic...
Why not?
He nodded dumbly, forcing a small smile. It would be good to have company.
Momo smiled, eyes squeezing up happily. She took his limp hand and led him out of the building, and then out towards the Western Gate.
She knew that it was probably the safest direction.
-
Rukia looked up, gulping slightly at the stern figure of her brother-in-law. She was kneeling respectfully on the tatami floor, hands folded slightly over her legs.
Byakuya said nothing and simply stared at her for a moment. Sweat caused her hands to become slippery as she fought to stay calm.
"What brings you here, Rukia?" asked Byakuya quietly.
"Nii-sama..."
Rukia abruptly bent over, bowing low with her head nearly touching the floor, her hands flat and her elbows out.
"Please, Nii-sama, I wish to become a seated officer!"
His eyes narrowed. "It is far too dangerous. I have told you before."
"But... Nii-sama-"
"If that is all, you are dismissed, Rukia."
"Nii-sama!"
Her shout caused him to pause and turn around. Slate grey met violet. Her eyes were livid, angry and frustrated and shimmering with pain.
"I am tired, Nii-sama! I am tired of you deciding all that I can do and what I cannot do. I want to become a seated officer! You say it is too dangerous? Who was it that fought in the Winter War? Who was it that was nearly killed, more than once? I cannot become a seated officer, because it is too dangerous?! I am not a seated officer and already I have been in so much danger! I wish for this, Nii-sama! I am strong enough! Surely you know!"
She took a deep, stuttering breath, ashamed of her loud outburst. Her eyes welled up with tears and she closed them tightly, dreading if they spilled forth.
"I am not a weak child anymore, Nii-sama," she whispered, and held her breath for Byakuya's reply.
There was a long silence. Rukia kept her head down, afraid to look at the expression on his face.
"Rukia..."
She trembled like a wilting flower.
"...if this is really what you wish..."
Her eyes brightened with hope.
"...then you may apply for a seat."
Rukia tried to comprehend the meaning of these words for a few seconds before it finally hit her that he had actually given her permission.
This realization struck her with so much happiness that new tears welled up, ones of joy and gratitude, and she bowed even lower, sputtering strings of thanks and appreciation. Then she leapt up, bowed again, and dashed out the door, eager to return to Ichigo.
Ichigo was quite bewildered, seeing Rukia run towards him at full speed with tears running down her cheeks. At first he thought that it had gone badly and that she was crying from rejection, but then he saw the wide smile on her face, and heard her blurry cries of elation.
"Ichigo! Ichigo! I'm a- I can- He allowed- Ichigo!"
The small shinigami ran circles around him, laughing and crying at the same time. Finally she stopped, facing him, eyes glittering and wet. She tugged on his sleeve and grinned, words unable to pass her lips anymore.
He grinned back. "See, I told you he'd allow it," he teased, and she laughed.
"So what're you gonna do now?"
"I have to ask Ukitake-taichou now, and he can decide whether I am strong enough and which seat I can get... But I think I will do that later," said Rukia, beaming.
"So...?"
"Let's go on a patrol, Ichigo. I need to clear my head a little bit of all this jumbled up happiness," she giggled, and nearly hopped and skipped her way towards the Eastern Gate.
-
Karasu's head snapped up, his eyes like blood that glowed and smoldered. He stood, and his claws grew as long as daggers, shining when the winter light hit the serrated edges.
Behind him stood tall Fukurou, and beside her, little Suzume, craning its head to the sky.
The owl-masked woman lifted her beautiful white sickle from her shoulder, twisting it to watch it cut the mist with its razor edge.
"He has stepped," she whispered, her breath keening through the frosted air. "At last, he has stepped from the fake, dead stone." She paused. "What... what is this other presence? It is closer than the boy..."
The child hopped up onto an ice-covered branch, and stood half-crouched, tasting the air. "Another," it sang at last, and Karasu's eyes burned.
"I feel it," he growled. "There is another."
"Indeed," sighed Fukurou. Her white fingers twiddled and scuttled excitedly.
"They will like our plain of ice," sneered the raven. He was breathing heavily with anticipation, thrilled at the appearance of another. His iced talons grew even longer still, and they clacked and chittered against each other, quivering rhythmically.
"Will you take the boy?" asked Fukurou.
Karasu laughed, the sound ripping through the trees. "Yes, I will. And will you take the girl?"
Another gentle coo escaped from the pale, placid mask. "Yes. Suzume, come."
The Frost People separated ways, gone in a moment, and all that was left to suggest they had been there was the white, iced forest and the cold, cold wind.
-
Momo couldn't help but be worried from the way Shiro-chan was acting. He was still so sad-looking, and distracted all the time, as if there was something preoccupying his mind. It must be about those three funny people he met, she thought, and tried to act her usual cheerful self around him.
She still could not get him to smile. It had been like this, all day.
And she was still worried, no matter what.
They traveled in silence through the hills, alert for the presence of hollows or anything else. Momo had tried numerous times to start a conversation, to no avail.
She suddenly realized how empty he felt. Like a shell.
It made her shudder.
Hitsugaya finally noticed this, and he blinked a couple times, trying to rid his mind yet again of cold white things. He tilted his head slightly and asked, "Are you cold, Hinamori?"
She started, and then giggled nervously. "Nuh-uh, not at all. I'm fine!"
He gave a nod, and faced forward again. Momo saw the cloud pass over his turquoise eyes and darken them once more.
They were both traveling sluggishly through the air, flying on the spirit particles over the rolling hills of the East. Their robes fluttered softly, and Momo imagined themselves as looking like black butterflies from below, two gliding shadows in the sky. She glanced down, wanting to confirm how high up they were, and saw the white speck.
That's funny, she thought. Why's there a bit of snow in just one place?...
Then the bit of snow moved.
She squinted her eyes, unable to make it out. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, or some kind of white animal.
The white speck disappeared. Confused, she looked this way and that, and saw it reappear, ahead of them now.
Then she felt the reiatsu. All this time, she had thought it was simply Shiro-chan's, since it was cold and kind of unwelcoming, but now she realized how cruel it was. How powerful, and heartless.
Shiro-chan was never heartless.
She said to Hitsugaya, "There's something weird down there!"
He looked down, and his eyes widened. A gasp flung itself out of his mouth, and he began to fall, his control of the spirit particles lost. Momo shouted in alarm and dove to catch him, managing to grasp a hand right before they hit the ground.
"What's wrong, Shiro-chan?!" she cried, tugging on his arms. He was trembling and shaking all over, struggling to stand up. He croaked something inaudible, and Momo leaned in close, straining to hear his words.
"Run... Hina... mori..."
And then Karasu was there. His laugh shattered through the air as the merciless claws clacked over to Hitsugaya's head, seeking the white hair to catch hold of.
Then Hyourinmaru was out, the steel fighting against the talons in a loud clash. Momo had already drawn Tobiume, but was still too shocked to do anything against the scary masked man all in white. She stared at how the grass beneath the man's clawed feet withered and died, laced with frost.
Hitsugaya fought to keep his blade up, and fought against the cold that was creeping up through his arms and legs. He roared and let Hyourinmaru fly, the dragon exploding out in a massive burst of shining ice and reiatsu.
Karasu put out a hand. The claws had gone, all at once, and the plain bony fingers pressed against the full body and force of Hyourinmaru.
Hyourinmaru screamed.
Alarm shot through Hitsugaya. He watched, transfixed, as his precious Zanpakutou and companion writhed and twisted, screaming in agony and loss. He leapt back, trying to draw the dragon away, trying to save it from its pain, and called its name to bring it back into the steel.
The man snickered. Though Hitsugaya was now quite a distance away, Karasu then was suddenly, simply, ridiculously there; not there for a moment, and all of a sudden, just there. The red eyes glowed intensely, filled with callous delight. His masked head dipped low to the boy's height, the cruel point of the beak nearly grazing Hitsugaya's nose. The man laughed a laugh that hacked its way to his ears.
Momo tensed and prepared to leap at the unguarded back of the medium-sized man, mouth opening to declare her sword's name.
Time slowed. The same white hand that had tortured Hyourinmaru now was on Hitsugaya's forehead. His beautiful turquoise eyes flickered towards Momo, wide with fear-
-she began to run towards them, blade raised high-
And they were gone.
She gasped and staggered, tumbling to a halt. She spun around, frantically searching for any trace of Shiro-chan or the weird man's reiatsu, and found none.
None at all.
Momo screamed Hitsugaya Toushirou's name, fell to her knees, and cried.
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A/N: Poor Momo.... :( .... Reviews are always always welcome!
Hmm... Maybe I should draw my three villains, since I'm in love with them.