CHAPTER 10: GOODBYES AND GREETING THE TRAGEDY

It was the night before Tayomi left and Hitsugaya had decided to spend one last day with her. She had bid farewell to everyone she knew, except for him. He patiently waited for her under the tree and spotted a tiny figure walking towards him. It was obvious that she was still a bit upset, dragging her feet as she walked and a forced smile on her face. Tayomi was leaving early in the morning the next day and this would be their last night together. He walked forward nervously, before hugging her tight. Tayomi rested her head on his shoulder. They both knew that the promise that they made on the night of their graduation still stood and they would never let each other go, they would never forget each other.

That promise comforted Tayomi a little, but its effect was temporary. For months, maybe even years, she was not going to see him. She looked up into his eyes and he gazed back into hers. Hitsugaya patted her head, feeling as sad as she was inside. They were going to be separated for a long time and he hoped she could be strong. She could crumble easily and that worried him greatly. They sat under the tree and looked up at the stars together for the last time. The stars seemed to understand their situation and all came out to dance in the night sky. Tayomi sighed with a hint of content in her voice and they officially renewed their promise again. They promised to await her return and never forget each other. Soon, it was getting very late and Hitsugaya stood up, about to leave. Just then, Tayomi pulled on his arm and looked at him with puppy eyes.

"Don't go…" She spoke meekly.

Hitsugaya stared at her for a moment, before sitting back down and kissing her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. Tayomi closed her eyes, letting the silence of the night and his breathing sing her to sleep. He looked at Tayomi and put his arm around her, before resting his head on top of hers and falling asleep as well. The two of them fell asleep together under the tree, through the night.

When Hitsugaya awoke, he realised that Tayomi was gone. The sun was shining brightly in his face, signifying that Tayomi had left for the Human World. He sighed and walked back to his Division's barracks, realising that each day would never be good without her around and began to miss her. He tried to comfort himself, telling himself it was for the best and tried to be happy for her. Checking his communicator, he saw a new message that Tayomi had sent him a few minutes ago.

"Remember your promise! Work hard and achieve Bankai! Maybe by the time I'm back, you'd be wearing the Captain's haori… Bye bye Susu-chan, I love you!"

Tayomi gathered with eleven other people in the Human World. After passing through the Senkai gate, they had finally arrived in the world of the living. Everything was so different from Soul Society. The atmosphere seemed much more vibrant as the streets were crowded with all sorts of people. Shops were found on every corner of the street and everyone was smiling happily. She smiled at Kiseida, excited about the new experience she was going to have. The group split up, analysing each part of the town and looking out for hollows at the same time. There were sightings of hollows often in this town and it was part of the program, aiming to strengthen them. Tayomi and Kiseida hopped from tower to tower, surveying the area. So far, there had been no hollows in sight. An hour later, the group gathered on the roof and decided to set up their camp here. The sky was getting dark and the sun was setting. The group quickly set up their camp, had their dinner and sent their reports to Soul Society, before turning in.

The night was peaceful with only crickets chirping, but Tayomi remained awake. As the memories in Soul Society flashed through her mind, Hitsugaya's face somehow surfaced and she started to miss him. All of a sudden, her ears picked up footsteps coming towards them. She got up, clutching her Zanpakutou, wondering what it was. Just as she stepped out of the tent, a katana flashed in front of her, barely missing her head by a few centimetres. She looked to her right and saw a group of people, all dressed in black, wearing the same uniform as Soul Society's Secret Mobile Corps. Her eyes shot wide open and she screamed.

"Everyone… WAKE UP!"

She heard her group shuffle and get up, wondering what was going on. The attackers ripped open the tent and she saw the rest of her group members grab their Zanpakutous, preparing for battle. One of the attackers lunged at her and Tayomi quickly defended herself, their blades causing a loud crash. She could not believe she was dealing with someone from the Secret Mobile Corps. They were fast and relied mainly on their fists, so Tayomi knew instantly that if she were to use Kidou, she stood a high chance of being killed. She instantly decided against using Kidou, unless absolutely necessary and she was able to buy time. Her attacker immediately kept his Zanpakutou and charged forward towards her, pressing his palm against her Zanpakutou with brute force. Tayomi's expression turned very serious. What is happening right now? And this guy… He's really strong! I have to be careful…

"Ikimaku, Inazuma Kaze!"

She released Inazuma Kaze immediately, fighting her opponent full out at her full strength. After a few tries, she managed to land a hit on her attacker's arm, but he was not ready to give up. Catching her off-guard, he struck a blow against her chest, sending her flying backwards and crashing into a wall. Tayomi's body ached all over and she could feel blood trickling down the side of her face. In a flash, her opponent struck her in the stomach, causing her to spit out blood in his face instantly. She could feel her innards being crushed and her body was in a bad state. Moving was going to be difficult, but she had to do it. She stuffed her palm in her attacker's chest, using Hadou 31, Shakkaho, against him. Her attacker was sent flying backwards and Tayomi used that time to get up and survey the area. She turned right and left wildly, watching her comrades die right before her eyes. Only three out of her eleven group members were still alive. She could see Kiseida struggling with her opponent and Tayomi needed to finish her opponent off quickly. Waving her Zanpakutou sideways, she sent a lightning arrow flying at him. The arrow moved at the speed of lightning, nicely hitting her opponent's chest, ultimately killing him off. There were still ten attackers left. Tayomi panicked and tried to calm herself down. Struggling with her injuries, she fought off as many as she could, alongside Kiseida. Kiseida had released her Zanpakutou as well, sending a wave of fire towards the attackers.

Only two of their attackers were caught in the blaze and burned to death. They had eight more to go. Nodding at each other, they decided to take on four each, having complete faith in each other. Tayomi knew what Kiseida was capable of and trusted her, promising they would both stay alive. Tayomi ran off to another dilapidated building and fought the attackers there, sending lightning darts rapidly at them. She only managed to hit one of them and wished she had her Bankai. Tayomi and Hitsugaya had been training for about thirty years now. She was not sure about his progress, but she knew that she was very close to achieving Bankai. The three attackers dashed towards her, kicking her in the head and she was knocked backwards, against a sharp metal pole which stabbed through her shoulder. Tayomi screamed in pain, gripping her shoulder as blood rushed out of her wound. She had had enough. Sending more lightning arrows at them to buy time, she raised her arm and fired Hadou 63, Soren Sokatsui, taking out two of her attackers. Looking at her last opponent, she caught her breath and decided to speak.

"You… Who sent all of you?" Tayomi asked, trying to gasp for breath.

"AS."

"I know you dragged your butts here to get us…I'm asking you now and you'd better answer me. WHO SENT YOU?"

"A.S."

"Forget it. Die. NOW."

Using the last of her energy, she fired Hadou 63, Raikoho, at her attacker, finishing him off. With the little energy she had left, she dashed towards Kiseida. Kiseida had finished her fight as well, but was badly injured, just like her. She smiled at Tayomi, before passing out.

"KISEIDA! KISEIDA!"

Tayomi felt her knees buckle and fell to the ground. She looked at Kiseida, who lay opposite her. She turned her head and looked at the mass of bodies around her, belonging to the attackers and her comrades. Besides Kiseida and her, everyone had been brutally slaughtered. It was no different from a massacre. Clenching her fists, she was determined to find out who had done it. Taking out her communicator, she tried to contact Soul Society, but was put on hold. Looking around, she saw her dead comrades with their communicators in their hands. The connection line was jammed and her communicator was directed to their voicemail. Tayomi switched 'video mode' on and tried to speak.

"Someone…attacked us… Help…"

She gasped for breath and felt her blood pouring out onto the ground, before finally closing her eyes and losing consciousness.

Hinamori dragged Hitsugaya to the 12th Division's barracks frantically, tears welling up in her eyes. He spotted Kira, Renji and Captain Ukitake there, looking all dumbstruck and ready to crumble. Kira looked at Hitsugaya with a solemn expression.

"Hitsugaya-kun, I think you should see this for yourself…"

Hitsugaya's eyes grew wide, his heart beating wildly. A member of the 12th Division, Akon, played back the ten videos they had received, which jammed up their connection line all at once. The first nine videos were all the same, showing the surroundings of their camp, completely destroyed and everyone lying on the floor in a pool of blood. His eyes grew wide with shock. Why were they showing him this? What was happening? Why was everyone… dead? Akon paused the playback right before the last video, looking at the five of them. Renji put his arm around Hitsugaya, telling him to be prepared for what he was about to see. Hitsugaya held his breath, as Akon played the final video.

"Someone… attacked us… Help…"

It was Tayomi. Half her face was stained with blood and her shoulder had blood pouring out of it. She was gasping for breath desperately and struggling to speak. Her eyes were devoid of the life and vigour it usually had. After she spoke, her head fell to the ground and she closed her eyes, losing consciousness. After a few seconds of seeing her lie on the ground, bleeding profusely, the video stopped and the screen blurred out. Hinamori, Renji, Kira and Captain Ukitake all looked at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya could not believe his eyes. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, ready to overflow and fall down his cheeks. He dropped to his knees and screamed, his heart burning with pain. Why didn't I selfishly hold her back? If I had done that, this would never have happened…

"Shiro-chan, I know this hurts…" Hinamori said, crying as well. "But it's likely that Yomi-chan is dead…"

"I'd hate to believe it as well… But she's right…" Kira sighed, tears trickling down his face as well. "Captain-commander Yanamoto is greatly pained by this matter and has assumed that they are all dead… We are to believe that everyone in that group died…"

"Believe what you want…" Hitsugaya shivered, as his tears hit the ground. "She's not dead. I know she isn't."

"Hitsugaya-kun…" Renji put his arm on Hitsugaya's shoulder and Captain Ukitake did the same.

"I don't care. I know she's not dead. She promised me…" Hitsugaya sobbed. "She promised me that no matter how long it took, how hard things got, she'd come back to me. Tayomi won't break her promises… I know she'll keep fighting to live."

Captain Ukitake looked at Hitsugaya, his eyes full of sorrow upon losing the young girl he treated as his daughter.

"I don't care how long it takes…" Hitsugaya spoke. "I don't care what they think… I don't care what you think… Tayomi isn't dead… I don't give a damn about what you all say… Tayomi will come back to me one day… She'll run towards me with that beautiful smile of hers and let me hold her tight… She'll come back… And I'll be waiting for her…"

Hitsugaya got up and wiped away his tears. Her last words to him rang in his ears. Remember your promise! Work hard and achieve Bankai! Maybe by the time I'm back, you'd be wearing the Captain's haori… Bye bye Susu-chan, I love you! Bankai… He would achieve Bankai and make sure he had done so by the time she returned. Gripping his Zanpakutou, he headed back to his office immediately. As he walked, his mind filled with thoughts of her and the memories they had together, from the first time they met to the last time they kissed.

Tayomi… I love you too… You'd better return quickly and see me and my Bankai. I'll be waiting for you, always…

Author's Note:

This chapter was really painful to write... I nearly cried just writing it and could feel my tears about to come out and spill over T.T Probably one of the saddest chapters I've ever written in the "Frostbitten Lightning" Saga... Even the sad ones in "Bleach: School Days & Frostbitten Lightning" wasn't that bad.
So that was the main conflict... Just what exactly happened to Tayomi? And what's Hitsugaya going to do? Find out in the next chapter :) Please keep reviewing! Thanks! ^.^ (I have less smileys in this A/N because I'm all emotional after writing this chapter...Sorry...)