The Orphan

Chapter 10: An Unexpected Event

"Where is everyone?" Ichigo said, looking around. Toshiro stopped and also looked around. The others should be here to help them.

"I dunno." Toshiro said.

"Maybe they ditched us." Ichigo said. Toshiro shrugged and continued to head for the warehouse. Ichigo caught up to him. They went up the stairs...around 2 corners...up some more stairs and stopped. 4 guards were in front of them.

"I was beginning to wonder where the guards were." Ichigo said.

"Intruders!" One yelled and the four of them charged. Ichigo and Toshiro looked at eachother and shrugged. Ichigo took down 2 of them easily. Toshiro took down one and went after the other one. A pain shot up in his stomach. He fliched and collapsed to the ground. The guard grabbed his sword and plunged it down.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo yelled and got infront of him. He grabbed the sword and yanked it forward, the sword hitting the guard in the temple and knocking him out cold. He threw the sword to the ground and bent down beside Toshiro, who was knocked out.

"Toshiro? Toshiro, wake up!" Ichigo yelled.

Orihime and Momo continued to dash through the hallway, sometimes hitting deadends. They went down a floor and ran as fast as they could. They ran around a corner and went down some more stairs. They ran into some guards, who charged at them. Momo used some kaido to knock them out. They ran past them. Momo looked down a hallway as she passed it. She stopped running and looked into the hallway. It was empty. But she swore someone was there. She shrugged and continued running.

"Toshiro! Ugh, great. He's out cold." Ichigo said. He puts Toshiro on his back and continued running down the hallway. He rounded a corner and stopped automatically, too fast that he alsmot lost his balance. 20 guards were standing there, blocking the hallway. They saw Ichigo and charged. Ichigo sets Toshiro down and grabbed his zanpackuto.

"Getsuga Tensho!" He yelled and blasted them all away. He sighed and puts his zanpackuto back onto his back. He turned arond and a sword came into his face, catching him completely off guard. It was guard. He looked tough. Ichigo glared at him and the guard smiled.

"I see you're a soul reaper. How fun." The guard said and plunged at him. Ichigo leaned back and dodged it. He grabbed his zanpackuto and they began sword fighting.

"Oh, this is so much fun!" The guard yelled while wickedly smiling. Ichigo flew backwards. He heard a groan and his eyes widened. Toshiro sturred and woke up. Toshiro was behind the guard, who turned around and looked at him.

"Oh, who's this?" The guard said, aiming the sword at Toshiro. Toshiro looked at him.

"Get away from him." Ichigo warned gripped his zanpackuto.

"And what if I don't, soul reaper?" The guard said, smiling as he traced the tip of the sword around Toshiro's jaw line. Toshiro quickly grabbed his sword and knocked the sword out of the guards' hand. It fell to the ground with a loud 'clang'.

"Oh, bummer." The guard said.

"Getsugaaaa," Ichigo said, raising his sword, his voice becoming the hollow voice. The guard looked up. Toshiro puts a forcefield around himself. "TENSHO!" He yelled, yanking his sword down. A black blast outlined with red came slashing at the guard, who stood there, watching it with wide eyes as it got closer.

"We're on the 9th level. I can sense Ichigo's spiritual pressure on the 5th level! We have to hurry!" Orihime said.

"Why can't I feel Toshiro's?" Momo said.

"I don't know. But we're gonna find out in a few minutes!" Orihime said as they entered the 8th floor.

The guard simply dodges the blast. It went over Toshiro's forcefield and collided with with wall, making a loud 'boom', and making dust fly everywhere, and making a large hole in the wall. The guard looked down.

"Hm. We're on the 5th floor. I never noticed that." He said.

"Stop focusing on how high we are and focus on your enemy!" Ichigo yelled, his hollow mask appearing. "BANKAI!" He yelled and went into bankai form.

"Toshiro! See if you can find Orihime and Rukia!" Ichigo yelled.

"But Ichigo-"

"NOW!"

Toshiro lets the forefield drop. He struggled to stand and ran down the hallway.

"Hey! Who said you can leave?" The guard said, going to go after him. Ichigo flashstepped in front of him.

"And who said you can go afther him?" Ichigo said.

Toshiro continued to run down the hallway while covering his wound with one hand. He rounded the corner and stopped. A man stood there, wearing a long black cape with the hood up over their head. Toshiro grabbed his zanpackuto and drew it out of its case.

"Oh, now, I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man said. Toshiro furrowed his eyebrows. The man reached up and puts his hood down. Toshiro's eyes widened then squinted.

"Aizen." He growled. Aizen smiled and held out his arms.

"That doesn't sound like a warm welcome." He said.

"That's because it isn't!" Toshiro yelled. He flinched as another hit of pain came through his body. Aizen's smile widened.

"I see you're hurt. Lemme see." He said, coming toward him.

"G-Get away from me." Toshiro said, backing up. Aizen grinned and used flashstep and appeared in front of Toshiro, catching him off guard. Time slowed as Aizen had his hand on Toshiro's left shoulder while his lips were at Toshiro's ear. The black cape he wore was flowing behind him. Toshiro's eyes widened. Aizen grabbed Toshiro's sword and threw it to the ground with a loud 'clang'. He grabbed his own sword and stabbed Toshiro where his wound was. He flinched as Aizen threw him to the ground. Toshiro rolled over and coughed out blood.

"ICHIGOO!" He yelled.

"ICHIGOO!" Echoed the buidling as someone familiar screamed Ichigo's name. Orihime and Momo ran faster down the hall and entered the 6th floor.

"That was Toshiro's voice!" Momo yelled.

"He's in danger. I sense Aizen's spiritual pressure. We have to get to Toshiro now!" Orihime yelled and they ran as fast as they could to get to the floor beneath them.

"Fuck! Toshiro's in trouble!" Ichigo thought.

"Looks like your little friend shouldn't of ran off by himself." The guard. Ichigo yelled, full of anger.

"GETSUGA TENCHO!" He yelled and slashed at the guard.

"Another? Oh, you know how those attacks are getting quiet boring." The guard said and went to dodge. But slammed into a wall. He noticed he was a corner. A dead end. He started to panick. He turned around and could only scream as he got hit by Ichigo's blast. Ichigo stood there for a few seconds, trying to catch his breath. The mask on his face disappeared. He heard another scream and turned.

"Toshiro." He said and ran.

Aizen slammed his foot onto Toshiro's stomach where his wound was, making Toshiro let out another scream. Aizen grinned.

"You know, it didn't have to end this way. You could of joined me. And you still can." Aizen said. Toshiro opened an eye.

"Never." He said.

"Fine. Be that way." Aizen said and slammed his foot on Toshiro's stomach again. Toshiro rolled over and coughed out blood. He looked up and saw his sword. If only he could reach it. All of a sudden, there was a loud 'BAM!'. Toshiro looked up and saw Aizen collapse to the ground. He looked up.

"What the hell?" He said.

Orihime and Momo finally get to the 5th floor. They looked around. Ichigo ran past them and didn't even notice them.

"Ichigo!" Orihime said. Ichigo turned.

"Orihime! Momo!" He said and ran to them. Orihime and Ichigo shared a tight embrace.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine. But we need to get to Toshiro right away. I heard this loud 'bang'." Ichigo said, puzzled. Orihime lets go of him.

"Let's go." Momo said. They both nodded and ran down the hallway. They rounded the corner and never expected THIS to happen. Aizen was knocked out, on the ground. Someone was standing there, back at them, with a frying pan held over his head. Toshiro was on the ground, covering his stomach while shockingly looking at the man in front of him.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Orihime, Momo, and Ichigo all yelled at the same time. The man turned and smiled politely at them.

"Oh, hey guys." He said.

"HANATARO?" The 3 of them yelled again. Hanataro smiled and chuckled.

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Turns out frying pans are a weapon 0.0...who knew, right? This SHINING moment was dedicated to one of my reviewers, nypsy. ^^ Hanataro does get some love and a shining moment! REVIEW! arigato