Wow, chapter 10! For me, since this is my first story with multiple chapters, this is a pretty cool accomplishment! I'd like to thank everyone who's supported me up to this point. Jeez, I sound like some 50 year old writer…

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, I'd push Ganju out a window. Just because. Damn, I'm running out of disclaimers…

Water.

That's the first thing Hinamori noticed as she stood in the strange new world. She was standing in a small pool of water; or rather, a large pool, seeing as it seemed to go on forever. Not that she could really see anything. Darkness was all around her; she could only tell that the water was there as it was licking at her ankles.

She couldn't remember anything of the journey there. It seemed as though one minute she was sitting in the basement of Urahara's shop, and the next she was here. Wherever 'Here' was. She could only assume that she was somewhere in the Realm of Darkness, but, seeing as she had never seen it before, she couldn't be entirely sure. What if the ritual had gone wrong? She pushed the thought out of her mind, rationalizing that she had to be in the realm, since she didn't know where else she could be.

In any case, if she was going to do anything, she needed to be able to see, and therefore needed some sort of light. She muttered a kidou spell under her breath, creating a small ball of flame that floated an inch above her palm. With it, she looked at her surroundings, and gasped.

What she was standing in was not water. No, water was not the bright red color of this liquid. She was standing in a giant pool of blood. She had to will herself not to throw up on the spot. She took a deep breath and reminded herself why she was there. As she held up her makeshift light to look around again, she saw something other than the river of blood she stood in: a little ways away, there was land.

Hinamori breathed a sigh of relief and ran to it, glad to finally get out of the red pool. As she climbed onto the island, she noticed that it was surprisingly normal: It was covered in green grass with blackish-purple flowers. The green contrasted greatly with the red she had just left; she looked down to find her shoes covered with blood, as well as part of her ankles. She shivered, wanting desperately to run home and take a nice, hot bath. Her will to rescue her friend was stronger, however, and she trudged on.

She saw no other signs of life – erm, death – aside from the flowers and grass. That raised a new question: were the plants really alive, or only spirits of plants that had died? Did plants even have spirits? All this strange world seemed to be giving her were more questions. But why did she see no other spirits of the dead? The place was frightening quiet. She firmly grasped Tobiume, her Zanpakuto, with one hand, half expecting something to jump out of nowhere and attack her. Not that there was anywhere to jump out of. Aside from the various flowers, the island was bare. No trees, no rocks, nothing that could serve as a hiding place. So where the hell was everyone?

She stopped suddenly as a fierce pain roared through her head, causing her to fall down on one knee. Her face twisted in pain, pain unlike anything she had ever felt before. It felt as though someone was taking a knife and probing around inside her head with it. She clutched it tightly with both hands, releasing her death-hold on Tobiume. The pain only seemed to increase, to the point that she even thought of reaching down to her Zanpakuto…

Get a hold of yourself, Momo! A sharp voice echoed in her head. Hinamori's head jerked up at the sound of her name. "T-Tobiume?" Hinamori whispered. Although she had yet to achieve Bankai, she could still talk with her Zanpakuto if needed. Hearing Tobiume's harsh voice helped her to come to her senses, and she somehow managed to overcome the pain and stand back up. Almost instantly, her head felt back to normal. She let her hands drop back to her sides, one of them resting gently on her Zanpakuto. "Thanks, Tobiume," she whispered, and kept moving.

"Hinamori," said a voice behind her. She slowly turned around and gasped at the figure that had spoken. It was Hitsugaya.

"Shirou-chan!" she cried, turning fully around so that she was facing him. Tears began to fill her eyes as she stared at the person she had lost not long ago, resisting the urge to run over and hug him. Everything Urahara had said left her mind at that point, and had her brain been fully functioning, she would have wondered just wherehe had come from. After all, it seemed as though he had materialized out of thin air. However, the only thing her mind could process was the fact that Hitsugaya was standing right in front of her.

Hitsugaya smiled at her. "I've missed you, Hinamori." At hearing her name again, Hinamori's tears spilled over. One thing she was able to notice about him was that he didn't have Hyourinmaru at his side. "Shirou-chan, where's your Zanpakuto?" she asked.

"Silly Hinamori, I don't need my Zanpakuto here," Hitsugaya said with a chuckle. "I'm glad you came here, Hinamori. Would you like to stay here with me? It's great. We wouldn't have to fight anymore. We could be together forever." He stepped forward, his hand outstretched as if he wished to take hers. Hinamori tentatively reached a hand out, then pulled it back. "You're not Shirou-chan," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Hitsugaya slowly drew his hand back to his side. "What are you talking about, Momo?" he asked, a confused expression on his face.

Hinamori's tears dried as she looked him straight in the eye. "The Shirou-chan I know would never ask me to stay in a place like this," she said, her voice becoming louder with each word. Everything Urahara had said before her departure also came back to her. "If you were the real Shirou-chan, you wouldn't remember anything because of Kazumi's spell. Also," she added with a sad smile, "you haven't scolded me for calling you Shirou-chan. That's a dead giveaway."

The fake Hitsugaya laughed. "My, my, what a smart little girl you are," he said, while before her eyes he began to transform. His brilliant green eyes turned to an icy blue; his hair changed from white to black, turning straight and doubling in length until it went down to the middle of his back. He also grew about a foot and a half, causing his clothes, which were now black instead of white, to grow as well. When he was done, a whole new person stood in front of the small vice-captain; or rather, stood above her, seeing as he now stood almost a full foot taller than her.

"Kazumi," she whispered, clutching Tobiume tightly in her hand. Her eyes narrowed. "What have you done with Shirou-chan!" she yelled, suddenly gaining more courage. She was seconds away from releasing her Zanpakuto, and would have done so had she not needed information on Hitsugaya's whereabouts.

"Ah, you mean that cute little captain from Soul Society that arrived here not long ago, right?" Kazumi said, his grin never leaving his face. "He could have been standing right in front of you, had you not been so intent on taking him back with you and taken my offer to stay here. You Shinigami are so stubborn." He shook his head slightly, as if he truly was upset with Hinamori's resistance to stay in his world.

"I won't ask you again. Where is he!" Hinamori shouted, her voice echoing throughout the surrounding darkness. Then something dawned on her. "Wait, how did you know I was looking for Shirou-chan?"

Kazumi chuckled again. "My dear, nothing goes on in this realm that I don't know about. I rule this world and everything in it. That is, everything dead. You, who are still living, have the power to resist me. But I have the ability to see into your mind and find the one thing that is your weakness. In this case, you're beloved Shirou-chan." He said Hitsugaya's name like he was taunting her.

"But how-?" Hinamori started, then remembered the intense pain she had felt in her head earlier. She sent him a sharp look. "That pain from earlier. It was you, wasn't it?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Score one for the little lady," Kazumi said, his grin widening. "Yes, that was me. You see, I don't really like to fight, so I try to use more…civil ways to get my guests to stay here." In a flash, he was standing right behind her; he had moved so fast that her eyes had lost sight of him. He reached his hand out and placed it under her chin, turning her head and forcing her to look at him. Hinamori briefly noticed how cold his skin felt, as if it were an ice cube instead of his flesh.

He forced her head up, so that she was looking directly into his eyes. Before she could look away, their icy blue was replaced with a fiery red, as if they were glowing, and she couldn't move. It was like she had been paralyzed; her right hand, which was resting on Tobiume's hilt, couldn't move to pull the Zanpakuto out. In a word, she was trapped, frozen on the spot and open to anything the evil lord might throw at her.

"How does it feel, my dear?" Kazumi asked, leaning down and whispering in her ear. "To have come all this way only to die by my hands before even seeing your precious Shirou-chan?" He flicked out his tongue and gently licked her ear, causing Hinamori to shudder. "My, you taste good," he continued. "Do you remember the blood that you were standing in when you arrived? That's the blood of anyone who was foolish enough to enter my realm uninvited. It's beautiful, isn't it?" He lifted his head a few inches and gazed out into the distance lovingly. "And soon, yours will be there as well." He reached into a pocket of his black cloak, drew out a small sword, and placed it at her neck.

Hinamori squeezed her eyes shut. Shirou-chan…Did I really come all this way for nothing? More tears filled her eyes, and she began crying again. It seemed like that was all she had been doing lately. Crying. I'm still weak, aren't I? I can't even rescue you, even though I'm so close…Shirou-chan, where are you? You're here somewhere in this evil place, aren't you? You're here, waiting for me…Her eyes snapped open. Yes, he was waiting for her, and she wasn't about to give up now. Not after she had come so far. Shirou-chan, wait for me a little bit longer! I'm coming!

Kazumi lifted the sword into the air, bringing it down for the finishing blow.

Seconds later, blood spattered to the ground.

This is probably my favorite chapter thus far. This is turning out to be a lot darker than I originally intended. But it sure has come a long way, hasn't it? Unfortunately, it will come to an end in the next couple of chapters. When this one is done, I may start another Bleach fanfic featuring a very strange couple. What is it, you ask? You'll just have to wait and see!

Now, go ahead and press the pretty blue button. It'll make me very happy.