Yay! Chapter 10's up! I want to thank knowledgeandimagination and HibarixZhen for their reviews and comments! Thank you very much. So, this chapter's for the both of you. Hope you enjoy it. ^_^
Chapter 10- Momo's Patience, Kusaka's World & Companions
"What nonesense are you talking about?"
All of them looked at the source of the voice then knelt down when they saw the Sou-taichou with Sasakibe approaching. Behind the mask, Momo was frowning while Toushirou was just looking at him with his usual expression, a frown. Kusaka was chuckling but not saying anything. Then, he felt that the two Arrancars, Ying and Yang were finally able to go to Soul Society and were kneeling beside him.
"You heard them, didn't you, Yamamoto-sou-taichou? Hitsugaya-taichou's innocent. He wasn't the one who stole the King's Seal." Momo said as she stood beside Toushirou. Momo felt her anger boiling inside of her while looking at Yamamoto. He was the man who passed down the order to kill her best friend and childhood friend without even searching for the truth. It was unforgivable. It was much more unforgivable than when her bastard of a Captain betrayed her.
'Hinamori-san, please watch your language.' Tobiume commented in Momo's thoughts.
'Sorry. It's just that... Hitsugaya-kun didn't do anything wrong but the Sou-taichou still wanted to execute him.'
'I know. I understand how you're feeling. We're here now. You won't leave Hitsugaya-san, right?'
'No way in my life that I'll leave Shirou-chan again.'
'Alright.'
"Who are you?" The Captain Commander asked.
"I can't tell you yet. The one you should execute is Kusaka Soujirou and not Hitsugaya-taichou. He didn't do anything wrong. He only wanted to retrieve-"
"Shut your mouth, Shinigami. Hitsugaya Toushirou is a traitor who left his responsibility to the Gotei 13. He must be executed." Yamamoto said firmly.
"Did you ever investigated a crime before you pointed who the real suspect is as well as the victim? I guess not. Last year, you also ordered the execution of Kuchiki Rukia-san because of lending her Shinigami powers to Kurosaki Ichigo-san. She only did that as a part of the Gotei 13 whose mission is to protect the humans and souls in the Gensei. You didn't even ask what her reason was and immediately passed down the order of execution." Momo stated.
At this, Toushirou looked at her. Never had he seen Momo very angry at someone before. Except for when he was trying to fight while wounded two days ago but most of all, he never expected her to talk back to someone especially Yamamoto.
"Hinamori-kun..." Kira whispered while looking at Momo.
"That's her? Kira, Hinamori's a brunette, not a blonde." Hisagi said.
"I'm sure it's Hinamori-kun. She's the one who's overprotective of Hitsugaya-taichou if he's involved into something."
"Kira..." Hisagi felt a little sad for Kira since he knows that his friend loves Momo but it's one-sided because everyone knows that Momo and Toushirou have feelings for each other.
"Don't you talk back to the Captain Commander!" Soi Fon shouted at Momo who didn't even flinch.
"Why, Soi Fon-taichou? Did you not ever wonder as to why Shihouin Yorouichi-san was not able to return as the 2nd Squad Captain as well as the Commander of the Secret Mobile Corps.? True, she left because her freedom was limited but why was she unable to regain her position years before you became the 2nd Squad Captain?" Momo said even though she didn't know the answer, she had a hunch that the Sou-taichou might have had something to do with it.
"Th-That's..."
"This time, you, Yamamoto-sou-taichou, wanted to execute Hitsugaya-taichou after jumping to conclusions without investigating. Before Hitsugaya-taichou became a Shinigami as well as the 10th Squad Captain, you never knew anything about his life. Not his skills, abilities, hardships and the burden he carried because of that man." Momo said while pointing to the dragon form of Kusaka.
"SHUT UP!" Yamamoto unsheathed his Ryuujin Jakka and swung it towards Momo. From its tip, scorching fire was emitted. Momo unsheathed her sword but before she was able to counter it, Toushirou already froze it with his Hyourinmaru. Surely, no one saw that coming because it was known in all of Soul Society that nothing and no one can freeze or stop Ryuujin Jakka's flame since it is the most powerful zanpakutou in history. Ichigo and Rukia then decided to join them and stood beside Momo and Toushirou.
"What's the meaning of this, Substitute Shinigami?" Soi Fon said.
"We're on Toushirou's side because he's the right one. You should all be fighting that man and not Toushirou! Haven't you all realized that from the very beginning, he was on your side with or without his position as a Captain of the Gotei 13! Just like what this blond Shinigami said, Toushirou didn't do anything wrong! From the start, he wanted to retrieve that freaking King's Seal for you guys and what were you planning to do! You wanted to execute him for crying out loud!" Ichigo shouted.
"Taichou..." Rangiku looked at Toushirou who looked at her as if saying not to say anything at all and to not call him captain anymore.
"I can't do that, Taichou..." Rangiku said in a whisper.
"Don't worry about Whitey, Ran-chi. He's going to be alright." Yachiru said while looking at Toushirou's group with a big smile on her face.
"Kusajishi-fuku-taichou..."
"He's not alone in this one. You're here for him, that blonde, Ichi and Ru-Ru. Besides, Ken-chan, Baldy, Yumi and I are here for him too." Yachiru said and Rangiku nodded.
"Enough! You're all talking nonesense!" Kusaka roared. Ice daggers appeared from his wings and were directed at the group of Shinigami in front of him.
"YOU SHUT UP! GETSUGA TENSHOU!" Ichigo unleashed his Getsuga and hit Kusaka's right wing. The wing shattered as well as the ice daggers. Then, it grew back and Kusaka raised his claw, making the black ball grow. The pillars of Momo's kidou began shaking then suddenly, they all felt the reiatsu that the King's Seal within Kusaka emitted.
The pillars cracked and were destroyed by the power of the seal and the ice dragon that Toushirou used earlier shattered. Then, they were all engulfed by the dark ball except for Yamamoto, Sasakibe, Kyouraku, Nanao, Ukitake, Unohana, Isane Mayuri and Nemu who were able to distance themselves.
Byakuya was with Renji as well as the other 6th Squad Shinigami ran to the dark ball. This became the cue for the rest of the shinigami to proceed with their attack. Kusaka made ice formations that looked like frozen tree branches that were scattering everywhere.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Byakuya commanded his zanpakutou which turned into thousands of sakura petals. The petals dove towards Kusaka but were deflected by the ice.
"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji's blade grew in length and went straight for Kusaka but he gripped the blade and swung it downwards making Renji hit the floor.
Soi Fon and Komamura's group as well as some of the 13th Squad Shinigami decided to attack but Kusaka growled and a yellow light appeared.
"Beat it!" He said and the light gave him the ability to shatter the ice branches he made. Soi Fon and Komamura's joint group were thrown backwards from the impact while Toushirou and the rest of the gang fell to the ground and some of the ice debris covered them. Ichigo pushed the ice on his back after shielding Rukia.
"You okay?" Rukia asked.
"Yeah. Where's Toushirou?" Ichigo looked around and saw the ice on their left move. Rangiku shielded Toushirou who was shielding Momo or the blond Shinigami underneath him. Toushirou and Momo looked at Rangiku who was smiling at them.
"Matsumoto..."
"I'm fine. It's the Vice Captain's job to watch their captain's back. Besides, in this condition, I just can't let the two of you get hurt, right Momo-chan?" Rangiku winked before pushing the ice off and helping the two stand up.
"You knew... it was me?" Momo asked.
"Of course. No one can do what you did earlier. If my memory serves me right, you only do that when Taichou's included, right?"
"Rangiku-san..."
"Oh, your mask has a crack on it."
Momo took her mask off and dropped it on the floor. She looked at Rangiku then at Toushirou before smiling.
"What happened to you, Momo-chan? Why'd you become a blue-eyed blonde? What's with your voice?" Rangiku asked.
"That's because-"
Not far from them, Ikkaku and Yumichika appeared from the corner alley. Ichigo and Rukia also approached them but Ichigo was looking at Momo with doubt and curiosity.
"Hitsugaya-taichou, Matsumoto." Ikkaku greeted them.
"Madarame, Ayasegawa." Toushirou said while looking at the two.
"My, my. Who's that beautiful person beside you, Hitsugaya-taichou? Your girlfriend?" Yumichika teased.
"You know, she looks a lot like Hinamori. Are you her twin or something?" Ichigo said.
"Yumichika-san, I'm not Hitsugaya-kun's girlfriend. Kurosaki-san, I'm not her twin."
Outside the dark ball, Mayuri and the others watched it grow.
"Th-This is... What on earth is going on?" Isane said while standing next to Unohana.
"Has he released all of the King's Seal's power?" Nemu asked.
"Incorrect. The King's Seal is going berserk." Mayuri answred.
"What did you say?" Ukitake exclaimed.
"See? Its reiatsu is rapidly growing stronger and larger. At this rate, it's going to competely cover Seireitei and obliterate everything."
"Obliterate? Sure, it's an impressive reiatsu, but that's a bit much." Kyouraku said.
"The King's Seal is an otherworldy weapon that can fully manipulate time, space and matter in an area. In other words, in a limited area, the wielder becomes a god. Elimination and rebirth are trivial." Mayuri explained.
This made Kyouraku look at him while Isane gasped.
"But since Kusaka has yet to master his sword's bankai, reigning it in to do that is impossible."
"We're in the most dangerous state imaginable." Yamamoto spoke up as he took a couple of steps forward while looking at the dark ball.
"Hitsugaya-kun?" Yumichika repeated.
"Isn't Hinamori the only person calling Hitsugaya-taichou Hitsugaya-kun?" Ikkaku said.
"I think she's the only person who's allowed to do so... Then... that means..." Ichigo said as he looked at Momo with wide-eyes.
Momo took her necklace off as well as the accessory on Tobiume's hilt. Her hair returned to being black while her eyes returned to being brown. Tobiume also went back to her normal appearance.
-"AH! Hinamori!"-
-"Hinamori-fuku-taichou!"-
"Hai."
"No way! You're the blond Shinigami everybody was talking about!" Ikkaku said.
"Hai. I asked someone to help me change my appearance to help Hitsugaya-kun."
"Y-You're... his childhood friend? You're the Shinigami from before?" Ichigo asked.
"Kurosaki-san, I'm sorry for putting you to sleep last time." Momo apologized and Ichigo shook his head.
"That's alright but man, this is really a surprise. I didn't know that you could do something as risky as this."
"Anything for Hitsugaya-kun." Momo answered with a smile.
"Taichou, you should wear this." Rangiku showed Toushirou the neatly folded haori on her hands. Toushirou looked at the haori on her hands before lowering his gaze to the floor.
Ichigo stepped up and whacked Toushirou on the head. Rangiku and Momo gasped while Ikkaku and Yumichika went wide-eyed. Toushirou placed his hand on his head then glared at Ichigo.
"You bastard, why the heck did you do that!"
"BAKA! Even up to this time you're still planning on fighting alone! Don't you know that there are people here who wanted to take a share of the burden you're carrying! As your friends, we have the right to share your pain with you! We have the right to worry about you! Why do you have to do everything alone! Who told you that you can leave us worrying about you like that! Why the heck did you make Rangiku-san and Hinamori worry about you so much when you could've explained everything to them- to us, what you were going through instead of leaving us like that! We know you're strong but that doesn't mean that you can do everything alone! You need the help of your friends when you have problems!" Ichigo shouted as memories of his sulking moments as a kid returned to him. He understand Toushirou's pain because he suffered the same and made his family suffer too.
Toushirou sighed before kicking Ichigo on the shin.
"Itte!" Ichigo jumped around while holding the leg that Toushirou kicked. Rukia, Rangiku, Momo, Ikkaku and Yumichika all laughed at him.
"You didn't have to hit me on the head if you were planning on explaining everything, baka." Toushirou took the haori from Rangiku and wore it. Then, he used his green sash to tie Hyourinmaru on his back.
"I guess... you all won't be going back even if I tell you to do so, huh?" Toushirou said as he looked at them.
"Of course we won't. No matter how much you push us away, we'll still stay with you. Even if you cut all your ties with us for hundreds of times, you can't make us go away." Momo answered with a smile.
"I figured as much. Matsumoto..."
"Yes?"
"Watch my back."
"Yes, sir."
"Let's go. I'm getting tired of watching those Menos Grande walking around like drunkards here in Seireitei."
-"Okay."-
Then, as if on cue, the Hollows screeched. They fired Cero to different places and three almost hit Toushirou's group but he and Ichigo were able to nullify it with their own moves.
"They're too freaking many! How the hell are we going to go to where that idiot is!" Ichigo shouted. Just then, Renji appeared after using Shunpo.
"Renji, what's wrong?" Rukia asked.
"Like you don't know. Take a look around you. Ichigo's eyes widened when he saw what was in front of them. It was a castle with Kusaka on top of it.
"This must be Kusaka's castle. It looks like we're trapped inside its spirit walls."
"What should we do?"
"Like I know."
"Ichigo!" Yorouichi and Soi Fon appeared after using the swirling bandages.
"Yorouichi-san!" Ichigo, Rukia and Renji approached them.
"Every second counts." The woman said.
"The Sou-taichou is preventing this dimension from expanding ay further. We've been ordered to kill Kusaka while he's doing that."
"Oh, so now he's against Kusaka. What a joy." Ichigo said sarcastically.
"Ichigo..." Rukia said.
"It's not the time for that." Yorouichi said.
"Alright, alright. How are we going to kill that damn doppleganger?"
"We're going to use our feet to climb up there. And then we'll break the center tower. So, let's do it now while he can't move."
"Okay!"
The Hollows screeched again and Yorouichi and Soi Fon looked at them.
"Don't worry about them! Leave this to us!" Yorouichi said before jumping. Soi Fon followed her after throwing her haori.
"Yorouichi-san!"
"Soi Fon, let's go!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
-"Shunkou!"- The said together and the white light of the move appeared on them. Yorouichi used her legs to kill the Hollows off while Soi Fon used her whilrwind to shred the others.
"We head for the top!" Ichigo said.
"Yeah!" Renji seconded.
"Split up into two groups." Toushirou commanded while running.
"Right. Let's go, Renji, Rukia!" Ichigo said.
"Yeah!"
The three of them separated themselves from Toushirou's group.
"I'm with you two again?" Rangiku whined.
"Shut it." Ikkaku said.