A/N: Sorry for the terrible attempt at a fight scene, but I'm still getting the hang of action stories :). Please bear with for now. :)
"They're here"
Sure enough, three monsters were barreling down the street towards Toshiro and Karin.
Toshiro whipped out his mod soul candy. After he gulped one down hastily and separated himself from his gigai, he half turned his head to look at the pair.
"Get back"
Of course Karin immediately began to protest, "But-"
"Kurosaki, I mean it!"
"Toshiro, I-"
"Get her out of here," He ordered, switching his focus to the mod soul that was more likely to listen to him.
"Yes, master!"
He allowed himself to watch the strange pair bolt down the street and turn into a small alley before turning back to the oncoming threats. The vibrations from each footstep was like thunder rumbling throughout his body.
Toshiro waited until they were directly in front of him, then at the last second before he was about to be crushed underfoot, he jumped and slashed off an arm. The hollow roared and swiped at him, but he caught it with his bare hand and brought Hyourinmaru up to slice the mask off completely.
'So far, so easy,' he thought with grim satisfaction, 'I just hope they're all this simple-minded...' Toshiro knew he would have no such luck, though.
As the first hollow disintegrated, the second lunged for the annoying figure interrupting their snack. Each one of its fingers had a tiny blade running parallel to the skin. They all connected to a larger blade which was embedded into the forearm. One of these blades caught Toshiro on his right leg as he dodged, though he avoided the worst.
Toshiro landed on the hollows shoulder. He ran the length to its neck then jumped and made to slash through the mask, however, at the last moment the hollows other hand came up and caught the small shinigami. Large spikes that protruded from the hollows palm speared into Toshiro's right shoulder and dragged themselves across his torso. He begged himself not to cry out at he felt a few ribs crack and his right shoulder dislocate.
As giant hand tightened its hold, the razor-sharp claws dug into his chest. Toshiro had no option, but to let Hyourinmaru fall from his useless arm. At the angle he was suspended at, gravity was working on his side. The blade fell for a few heartbeats before Toshiro's left hand darted out and snatched the hilt.
"Reign over the frosted heavens...Hyourinmaru!"
The crescent shaped blade sprung forward, and wrapped around the hollows unguarded arm. Just before the limb shattered, Toshiro set both his feet against the ice, leaning more on his uninjured left leg. A nanosecond before there was nothing but ice shards floating in place of a deadly arm, he pushed himself through the air towards the hollows mask.
Hyourinmaru descended upon the doomed creature's face, mid roar. It began dissolving and Toshiro started free falling to the ground at break neck speed. Twisting in mid air, he curved his body and landed smoothly, however as he made to step forward, the momentum carried him into a roll. His injured leg screamed in protest as his weight fell on it when he straightened. As he repressed a cry of pain, he looked up and felt his blood freeze.
'Shit!'
The one remaining hollow was bearing down on Karin and his gigai with alarming speed. 'Will shunpo be fast enough?' He asked himself, 'It will have to be.' He could already see the monstrosity forming a cero.
Without a second thought, Toshiro was between Karin and the deadly red light; his sword raised.
"Ban-" He didn't have time to finish.
The cero hit with enough force to push Toshiro back a few meters towards Karin. Hyourinmaru was raised and effectively splitting the powerful blast, however he didn't know how long he could hold out.
The pressure was incredible and Toshiro began to fear that he would fail. He glanced back for a moment and took in a thousand details at once. Karin was half standing against the wall behind them, supported only by his mod soul. Her expression was filled with pure terror and she had multiple small cuts on her face and arms from flying debris. The cero cast a freakish red glow on her face and he could see himself reflected in her eyes; a half-destroyed shinigami that looked like he was fresh out of elementary school. He must've been half, if not the entire reason for the look of fear. Toshiro stood as the only divider between Karin and a painful, violent death. He gritted his teeth and turned his head back, fierce determination written all over his face.
Slowly, Toshiro closed his eyes.
"Bankai!"
Icy wings flashed into substance and a claw of frost attached itself to his arms and feet. The hollow seemed to sense a difference in reiatsu and the cero abruptly cut off. Toshiro's eyes snapped open, "Thousand Year Ice Prison!"
There was silence as the echoes of the menos gradually faded out. The sky slowly returned to the calm, deep blue it had been before the attack. Toshiro felt a wave of suppressed pain hit him a hundred times more painfully than the initial blows. His facial expression gave nothing away, however, and his posture did not change, save the slightest tense.
"Toshiro?"
Still, he didn't move.
"Toshiro, are you okay?"
Another wave of pain raked through him. His resolve to not betray weakness wavered as his leg gave out and his arm dangled uselessly.
"Karin..."
He heard her scramble forward, in haste to make it to his side.
"Karin...get..."
"Toshiro!"
His other leg gave way. Now he was kneeling on the ground, head rolled back and tipped to the side; watching as Karin stumbled towards him. His breath was becoming harder to pull in and his eyes were swimming in and out of focus.
Briefly, he touched the gash across his chest. His fingers were sticky with blood and as he stared, he could just make out the green tinged edges of skin.
'Poison...' Toshiro thought in despair.
The street was at an odd angle, now. Karin was running sideways and the sky seemed to be on it's side as well. He felt his wings shatter around him. The ice pillars also cracked and rained glittering fragments of ice. Karin was falling at his side now, her momentum carrying her forward and her knees scraped along the rough pavement, tearing rips in her thin shorts.
"Toshiro!"
Her voice was getting fainter; her face growing blurry.
"Karin...get...your brother..."
Toshiro caught one last glimpse of the sky and ice falling like sparkling rain. Each piece that landed on him tore a tiny cut in his already wounded skin, however he still marveled at the beauty...
'It's raining silver...'
"Toshiro!"
Karin's voice was so far away now...
Then the world turned black...
A/N Sorry for the cliffy...but I'm at loss for how to continue, so don't expect an update for a while.
Update #1: Yes, Toshiro does seem to get a little beaten up in this chapter; perhaps a little more so than expected of 3 hollows, however, since creating arrancar wouldn't quite seem believable (Remember how nothing had been happening for ages) and therefore espada were waaaaay out of the question. Now, if you could please just imagine that I managed to include the fact that the three were either Adjucha or extremely small Vasto Lorde, that would be greatly appreciated :) If not then let's just say I used an... artistic writer's license? Thankyou for the faves and please review if you've picked up on something else you don't get or I haven't explained properly. :)