Oh boy, it's been a while. BLAME SCHOOL, NOT ME!!!!
*cough* okay, that was uncalled for. Thank you for all those who reviewed last time, and all those who still find it in them to be able to wait to read this. I hope that this chapter won't be boring…I really tried, but am still recovering from a writers block (again, blame school for sticking so much stuff about history and math for me to think about and ruining my creative spirit!)
My creative spirit: you're just making excuses
Hehe, well, those Chinese dramas of all the celestials have certainly given me ideas. It's so dramatic, and the fight scenes are so epic, with all the flaring, uh…spirit powers, I guess and swords. Reminds me of Bleach a lot. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 13
Twelfth division was usually a fairly active and busy place. Rarely was one seen in the halls not doing something scientific or researching and examining data.
It was also not uncommon for the members to suddenly shout out when they've found something. If it was something more interesting than the repetitive paperwork that was known to all officers, most would, if they were able to, leave their own experiments just to snag a small break and all examine the data together.
On this day however, there was something more interesting than Zaraki Kenpachi having gone loose and caused uproar in some part of Seireitei, or Kurotsuchi-taichou inventing soul-candy that weren't corny.
"Hey guys, look at this!" Tsubokura Rin's voice ran out. His eyes were wide and glued to his screen.
Other shinigami rushed over to see what was happening. "What is it Rin?" some others that couldn't see shouted.
"I don't know. There is data of a strong reiatsu signature, but it's not shinigami. It's a hollow's."
There were gasps of shock and outrage. Rin's eyes narrowed, examining some more data. Then he leapt up. "No, not one. Many! There's also data that earlier today, a garganta was opened in the outer area of west Rukongai, district one, Junrian! The area is swarming with hollows…"
Someone swore. "I'll contact another division. I don't think our captain is in the mood to help right now. We need to get some shinigami out there!"
"There are shinigami there," Rin said thoughtfully. "Traces of it, at least."
*
Awkward silence filled the small room. Toushirou knelt on his mat, elbows propping up his face as he leant on the low table, staring through the open door at the sunny outdoors. Momo sat beside him, her usual cheery smile plastered all over her face. Her two friends sat opposite them, Ayumi fidgeting with her kimono, and Tatsukichi keeping his eyes on the two shinigami.
"Uh, so how's life as an shinigami?" Ayumi ventured. Momo's face lit up. "It's really exciting! You get to go on all sorts of missions, and see all sorts of things you never see. And we've seen the human world too!"
"Really? What's that like?" Tatsukichi asked, interested.
"Not very different from Soul Society, except that they seem in some ways more advanced, and in other ways, not. They have odd traditions too, for example, I heard that some sort of holiday called Valentine's Day passed and that's when girls give boys chocolates. Weird, huh?"
Toushirou looked away, feeling a little embarrassed. Momo had hunted him down on this "Valentine's Day" to give him a box of chocolates…in front of Matsumoto and her drinking buddies, who just happened to be sprawled drunk all over his office. He blushed to remember the comments that had followed.
"Really?" Ayumi said, looking intrigued. At that moment, Momo and Toushirou's granny came back, carrying a pot of tea. "Momo-chan, would you mind bringing over some fruit while I get some cups?" she said. Momo leapt up and nodded, dashing off. Granny left as well.
Toushirou now sat it awkward silence with Momo's other friends. They were all avoiding each other's eyes. Then, tentatively, Tatsukichi cleared his throat and said, "Uh…look, Hitsugaya, I…I'm…I just wanted to say that…I'm sorry for the way we've treated you in the past," he trailed off, and Toushirou blinked, turning his piercing turquoise gaze to the older boy. Tatsukichi flinched at his gaze, but forced himself to hold on to the icy gaze (and he should be proud, for though he doesn't know it, there are few brave enough to do it). "You once saved Ayumi's life…thanks," he finished awkwardly.
Ayumi also looked at Toushirou gratefully. Toushirou's eyes looked into the distance as he remembered that day, just before he'd graduated the academy, he'd come back to visit his grandmother, and hollows attacked. But the day had always been ingrained into his mind as the day he'd achieved shikai (Heavenly Blade, part 3). He'd forgotten that he'd saved Ayumi from a certain death. "Hn, there's no need to thank me. It's not like I was going to just let her die," he said nonchalantly. "Besides, I was training to be a shinigami, wasn't I? Shinigami make sure that hollows don't devour other souls as one of their duties."
The two looked at each other, and then smiled slightly. This was the first time that they'd ever really talked. Ayumi and Tatsukichi seemed to be beginning to see that Toushirou was really just a normal (ahem, as normal as he can be) person, who just looked different, and maybe acted differently. Well, almost. They can't deny he had an odd cold aura, and radiated strange power, though they didn't know what it was. But now, they were beginning to let go of long nurtured fears and try to see him in a new light.
"So, what's being a captain like?"
"Well-"
He broke off, his senses alert. He had been sure for a moment he'd imagined it. The other two seemed to sense that something was wrong and fell silent in confusion. Confusion turned slowly to fear as the silenced dragged on, and they hardly dared to breathe. Their fear increased as they all distinctively heard a faraway feral growl, and saw Toushirou's face darken.
"What's…" Ayumi began, but before she could finish the question, Toushirou suddenly vanished, to appear behind them, blocking the entrance to the house. "Hadou 31 Shakkahou!" he said sharply. A blast of red flame burst from his outstretched palms, shooting out, neatly making contact with a large, grotesque creature that appeared just before the boy had spoke. There was a terrible, guttural cry, and the hollow's body disintegrated.
Ayumi screamed, and Tatsukichi gasped. The force of the kidou exploding upon the monster sent their hair blowing from their roots. "It's those things!" Ayumi said, trembling.
Toushirou wasted no time. He dashed to the side, swiping up his zanpakutou from the doorstep and, after a quick scan of the area and sensing Momo's position, shouting, "Hinamori! There are two more over where you are!"
"I know, I'm taking care of it!" Momo's voice issued from above them, meaning she was on the roof. There were two more cries, and Momo suddenly appeared in front of the house. "There are more coming!"
Toushirou narrowed his eyes. "I'm aware of it. I thought I sensed hollow reiatsu. They're near the area we trained in earlier today, so they haven't come here, yet. I'm contacting Seireitei now. Protect the house!"
"Got it!" Momo said. Yet even as she spoke, the house shook, and more hollows arrived.
Toushirou cursed under his breath. "Thank god I have my communicator."
As Momo dashed out to battle, he reached inside his robes and pulled out his communicator, a small set of delicate headphones (like the one Matsumoto had in the bount arc). He put it to his ear, and at the same time, he held out a finger and concentrated. After a moment, a small black hell butterfly appeared and touched his finger lightly. Ayumi and Tatsukichi stared at it blankly, as did Granny, who had come to investigate the commotion. "Aren't you going to help her?" Ayumi said, still shaking.
"Hinamori's strong. She's already captain-level, but she hasn't taken an exam yet. You don't need to worry." His next words were directed at the butterfly. "This is Hitsugaya Toushirou, captain of the tenth division. I'm reporting from Junrian. Many hollows have shown up without warning."
The butterfly took flight through the open door. Toushirou dashed out, absentmindly slaying a few hollows coming toward the house as he waited. A few minutes later, another butterfly returned, hovering close to him, and his communicator buzzed.
"Captain!"a voice issued from the communicator loudly. "Thank god you're there! This is Akon. The twelfth division has already noted this. Can you take care of the problem yourself?"
"I can," Toushirou said calmly, "but it will be dangerous," he added, remembering his still-not-the-best control. The citizens of Rukongai should be spared of unseasonable chills.
"I understand," the voice inside the communicator said, a hint of amused understanding coloring the voice. "We will send reinforcements."
"Good," Toushirou said. "Can you tell me the cause of the hollow's appearance?" he said, speaking quickly now as more and more hollows appeared outside the house."
"A garganta opened earlier today in Junrian. Rin, what are the stats?"
Another voice called out, shouting across a distance, "I've located where the garganta was opened, but that doesn't matter, as the hollows have diffused. Many of them are menos, mostly gillians, but a few adjuchas," he added grimly. Toushirou hissed. This didn't look good. "Also, there are traces of something else. It feels like espadas…but at the same time, not. It's very blurry data. They're concealing their reiatsu well, whoever they are."
"Espada?" Toushirou said, alarmed.
"I'm not sure. Like I said, they're concealing their presence well. We'll inform you if there is anything else."
"Isshin-san said that Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia are in Rukongai, maybe you should contact them," Akon took over again. "Reinforcements should be coming. Is there anything else you need, Hitsugaya-taichou?"
"No, that is all. Inform me if there is anything else," he stuffed the communicator back into his kimono and waved the butterfly off. "Stay back," he added to the dumfounded Ayumi and Tatsukichi, and his granny, who were all staring at him with a sort of awe and confusion from his conversation. He shunpoed further out and, just as a hollow tried to sneak up from behind Momo, he sliced through it cleanly, and before the hollow had finished its scream, Toushirou cut down a few more. "I'll take over. Momo, Kuchiki and Kurosaki are somewhere around here. Contact them and-"
"No need, Hitsugaya-taichou," a serious voice sounded, and suddenly, two more figures joined the battle, Rukia and Ichigo. "We headed here as soon as we sensed them," Ichigo said, grinning. "Fancy seeing you here, Toushirou."
"Quit calling me that, Kurosaki," Toushirou snapped, but he didn't press it further. He turned instead to face the hollows as more came streaming toward them. "Time to end this."
*
"But I wanna go!" the loud strawberry-blond woman complained for the hundredth time.
"Eh, but Ran-chan, ya need to watch your squad," Ichimaru (I've taken to calling him that instead, as seeing Gin on the page reminds me of alcohol) said.
"So, I'll be of help! The squad can take care of themselves, and I haven't gone on missions with you since, well, since ever. Let me come!"
Ichimaru sighed. "Okay, Ran-chan, though I dunno if your captain will be happy to see ya lazin' off again!" Ichimaru's grin widened. "Now, we need one more person. Who…"
"I'll accompany you, Ichimaru-taichou," a soft voice spoke. Both Matsumoto and Ichimaru turned in shock too see someone they didn't expect. Matsumoto blinked for a moment. "Kuchiki? But you're…oh right! You're her sister!"
Hisana bowed her head. "It would be an honor to accompany the lieutenant and captain."
"Kuchiki Hisana?" Ichimaru said, scratching his head. "Kuchiki-taichou's actually gonna let ya come?"
"Well, not really," Hisana smiled, laughing slightly. "But I convinced him to let me come if-"
"If I accompany her," a deep grave voice said as Byakuya suddenly shunpoed to there little group. Matsumoto yelped slightly at his sudden appearance, but Ichimaru wasn't flustered. "Kuchiki-taichou, what a surprise. But I'm sure that your wife can take care of herself, ya know!"
"There are more than just ordinary hollows out there, Ichimaru. With two espada, and more adjuchas, another captain's assistance should be welcomed."
Ichimaru stretched. "Whatever. We already have chibi-taichou, and Hinamori-kun out there, but if ya wanna come along, I'm not gonna stop ya. As long as the soutaichou allows it!"
"The soutaichou allowed it, even if he was not happy," Hisana said, smiling still.
"Then let's go!" Matsumoto said impatiently. "It's been so boring around here lately. I could really use the exercise."
*
"Shinigami are coming," a voice said. There was a flash of white from between the leaves of a tall tree. A nearby, lumbering hollow paused, and stared rather stupidly at the leaves where it had obviously seen the flash, but it was too late.
"Too slow," a low voice said, and the next moment, the hollow was sliced in two. The assailant landed lightly on the forest floor. The cool light flashed off his pale skin and emerald eyes.
"Come out. We might as well expose ourselves," he said calmly. There was another flash of color among the leaves, and then a young woman touched the ground lightly, flicking back her turquoise hair. A pout was upon her lips. "But it's funner to hide in the trees."
"'Funner' is not a word," the male said, turning away. With ease, he slew another hollow charging toward him.
"Since when did you care about proper language?"
*
"They're moving toward the marketplace," Momo shouted, landing beside her comrades. She tilted her body and fired a shot of kidou behind her as she spoke. The kidou struck a hollow squarely in the mask.
"Let's move then!" Toushirou ordered. "Kurosaki, Kuchiki, take care of the stragglers here and join us!"
"What?" Ichigo shouted, snapping his head back toward Toushirou. "How come we're stuck with cleaning up after you guys?"
"It's your fault for coming here later," Toushirou replied coolly. "Besides, the shinigami will be heading toward the highest concentration of hollows, and I should be there to meet them."
Ichigo opened his mouth to argue, but Rukia beat him to it. "We understand, Hitsugaya-taichou. We'll be there in a moment."
Toushirou nodded to the dark-haired shinigami. He looked for a moment at his granny and Momo's friends, all of whom were peaking out from the house just inside it. Ayumi was trembling slightly in fear, and Tatsukichi kept a protective stance over her. Their granny, however, was calm. The lines on her face showed worry, but a sort of pride seemed to radiate from her at seeing her two "grandchildren" fighting the hollows and the skills they've achieved.
"Kurosaki, one more thing. Make sure that no one is hurt, understand?" Toushirou said, turning his infamous glare on the orange-haired boy. The boy nodded and rolled his eyes, though he knew he'd best take the boy's words seriously.
Without another word, Toushirou vanished from where he was in a flash of shunpo. Momo followed less than half a second after.
Ichigo and Rukia continued to fight the hollows. Ichigo had long since grown bored of fighting weaklings. Still, he kept on high alert, and quickly shunpoed forward to take out a hollow just before it attacked the house. "Are you people okay there?" he called to the three people inside it. They nodded, and he shunpoed away, wondering why Toushirou had been at the house.
As he shunpoed away, however, he suddenly became aware of another reiatsu. His eyes widened as a hollow he was about to kill was suddenly cleaved in half before his eyes.
"Do not just stand there gaping like an idiot all day, Kurosaki," a deep, authoritative voice spoke. Through the hollow's disintegrating body, Ichigo saw a very familiar silhouette.
"Byakuya?" he said in surprise.
"It is Kuchiki-taichou to you, Kurosaki," the man replied with a stab of annoyance.
"Nii-sama!" Rukia called out. "What are you doing here?"
"Hitsugaya-taichou called for reinforcements. They've gone to meet him, while we stayed back in case some hollows were thinking of invading the Seireitei."
"We?" Ichigo asked, confused. "Who's "we"?"
"Us," a quiet voice said, and as Ichigo looked to his right, he saw a hollow that was bearing down on him, and that he hadn't noticed, loose its arm to a black figure. The hollow roared, and swatted its other arm at its assailant as though she was a fly, but the woman twisted her body and blocked the attack with her zanpakutou. Letting go of her grip with one hand, she raised her hand and called out, "Hadou 4, Byakurai!"
White lightening shot from her finger and sliced cleanly into the hollow's mask. The hollow staggered back, mask shattering as it went. Within moments, its body was disintegrating. The woman landed and smiled a sweet smile at them. "Hello, Kurosaki-san, Rukia."
"Nee-sama!" Rukia exclaimed in surprise. It occurred to her that she'd never seen her sister in combat.
"Rukia, it seems that we can fight together for the first time."
Rukia grinned. "Well then, let's go and beat up these guys' sorry a-"
"Rukia," Byakuya interjected. "Language."
"Forgive me, Nii-sama."
Byakuya sighed, almost lazily turning away when he suddenly froze. He realized that in their moment of dawdling, other hollows must have sensed their presence.
The ground shook, and the taint of hollows settled like a heavy cloud in on the area. The ordinary souls in the area all moaned with discomfort. Byakuya narrowed his eyes, but otherwise did not shift, not even when several black figures suddenly landed among them. He only calmly raised his blade and prepared for battle.
His companions, however, did not have the same self-restraint that he possessed. Ichigo swore loudly under his breath. "Damn it! Menos Grande!"
*
The first thought the young prodigy had was that the marketplace hadn't changed much over the years. The stalls were the same. Heck, he swore that it was even the same people doing business.
Leaping lightly over the roofs of the stalls, he nimbly chased down another hollow. The hollow ran for a moment, before turning. It snarled at him, and charged. Toushirou waited calmly, and at the last second, just as the hollow was about to strike, stabbed at it. With the velocity of the hollow's charge at him for force, he barely needed any strength to kill it. he turned, slaying a few more hollows, near the ground while Momo leapt over him to take care of the ones in the air.
After a few minutes, the amount of hollows began to decline, and he leapt back from the fray and onto a nearby rooftop. Calmly, he turned his head, assessing the situation.
"Hitsugaya-kun," Momo said, appearing beside him, her eyes were not focused on him, but rather on the area around them. "They seemed to have stopped moving this way."
"I know. There seems to be no more wandering ones. They're either here, or at the house."
There was a sudden shriek. Both shinigami turned to see a man backing away into his stall. A lizard-like hollow was crouched on his counter, it's many long limbs wrapped around the posts that kept the stall up. Green saliva dripped from its viper like teeth. The man's eyes were wild with fear. He picked up a vegetable knife, and pointed it at the hollow. The hollow lashed out and knocked the weapon away with ease.
Toushirou saw the hollow move forward. His own body moved with it, but far surpassing it in speed. Before the creature could take a swipe at the man, he landed upon it's back, the force of his fall driving his zanpakutou into the hollow's back. The hollow shrieked and reared back, trying to throw him off, but he kicked off its shoulder blades, somersaulting in the air and slashing his sword across the hollow's mask. He landed lightly upon the counter just as the hollow disintegrated from behind him.
"Are you all right?" he asked the poor Rukongai man coolly. The man, however, did not reply, and was instead staring at him with a mixture of awe and fear on his face. Toushirou was used to this, but somehow, he found himself staring at the man, an old memory tugging at the back of his mind. His eyes flickered from him to his slightly ruined stall. A familiar sign fluttered in the wind. It was half ripped, but he could still see the word "sweets" written on it.
At once, he realized who the man was. But before he could even think to act on that thought, a loud and annoyingly familiar voice pierced his thoughts. "Taichou!"
He turned his head, sighing as his lieutenant rushed at him, enveloping him in a hug. "Taichou! You're okay!"
"Of course I'd be okay, Matsumoto. I fought Aizen and survived. I'm not going to get hurt from a few hollows."
Matsumoto laughed. "I know, but I still worry. So I came to make sure you were okay."
"That's a lie," Toushirou said coldly. "You came here after hiding the stack of paperwork under the couch and tried to find a new place to hide the sake, which is in the stuffing of the couch, am I right?"
Matsumoto's mouth fell open. "How did you know?"
Toushirou smirked. "I didn't. You told me. I just found that the sofa had a few rather intriguing bumps if odd places. I can't believe you'd actually pick such a horrible place. What if someone bounced on the sofa and shattered the bottle? The smell will never come out!"
"Who'd do that?" Matsumoto retorted, trying to regain her dignity. Toushirou rolled his eyes. "Maybe yourself."
Momo shunpoed up to the two bickering tenth division shinigami. "Uh, Hitsugaya-kun, there are still hollows running around.'
Toushirou snapped back into his serious mode. "I understand. Matsumoto, is there anyone else here?"
Matsumoto grew serious as well. "All three Kuchikis and Kurosaki. Gin was with me, but he wanted to check something out."
Toushirou narrowed his eyes. "Alone?"
Matsumoto seemed just to realize the suspicions behind this. Her eyes widened. "I…I didn't think…"
Toushirou frowned. "I can't see what he could be up to. I'll trust him this once though, to prove himself. If he returns, then I may trust him more. If he betrays us, however, Matsumoto, I apologize in advance if I lose control."
Matsumoto shook her head. "No, if he betrays us, I'll be the one to kill him, so don't worry, captain."
Toushirou and Momo exchanged looks. They knew they were both wondering the same thing, whether or not Matsumoto would actually be able to try to kill Ichimaru, but Toushirou didn't press it. He turned instead back to the man who had been about to be attacked. His eyes narrowed slightly as they focused on the man's rather unremarkable face, which was plastered with shock. "You…you…" he stuttered. Matsumoto popped around Toushirou to stare at the man. "Uh, taichou, does he know you?"
Toushirou sighed. "Remember the day we met?"
Matsumoto nodded. "Yeah, I had to stand up for you and yell at that shopkeeper to stop bullying you."
"What?" Momo said sharply. "A shopkeeper-"
"It's nothing, Hinamori," Toushirou said. "It's all in the past, and I don't think I'll have trouble with him again. Wouldn't you agree?" he added, turning back to the Rukongai man.
The man nodded vigorously in agreement with Toushirou's words.
Matsumoto let out a laugh. "Ha! You mean that this was the guy I yelled at? Well, well, still doing your business? I hope you aren't bullying little kids anymore!"
"Uh, miss…" the man said, nervousness making him avert her gaze. They fell upon Momo's, who was looking at him intently. He never knew the sweet girl to be able to gaze with such intensity.
"Matsumoto, leave the man be," Toushirou ordered.
"But taichou! It's not fair. He's looking at you with more fear than he ever looked at me!"
Toushirou glared at Matsumoto. "That's because I'm a captain. Now, go and make sure no hollows escape and maybe I'll think about letting you off just this once for paperwork," he said. Matsumoto stood straight. "Yes sir!" she saluted him, and overly extravagant display of obedience. She shunpoed off without another word.
Toushirou leapt lightly from the counter. "Stay in there and don't leave if you want to live," he said to the sweets seller.
He didn't look at him, and nodding to Hinamori, readied himself to leave, when a voice called out, "Wait!"
The two turned. The man stood up awkwardly. "Uh, look kid, I'm…"
"I don't want to here what you have to say. It's unnecessary," Toushirou said, turning away again. "What happened in the past is the past. My previous life here matters little now."
"But-"
Toushirou leapt up, and caught an incoming hollow directly on its mask. He let out a spurt of reiatsu, and water bloomed from the tip and froze the hollow. The hollow shattered, and Toushirou landed. "I told you. I don't need to hear what you have to say. Whether you want to sneer at me, or apologize, I don't care."
He gave the man one last piercing look, before taking Momo's arm and dragging her away. The two vanished in a flash of shunpo.
The man stared at the spot they had vacated. He sighed, and let the tension go from his muscles. "Well, I guess I'm already not in a captain's good books. Congrats though, I guess, for making it to captain."
*
Ichimaru stopped as his sandaled foot accidentally tread upon a twig. In the silence of the forest around him, the sound echoed through the trees.
"Ichimaru Gin," an emotionless voice said. From the trees came a white blur and a moment later, a young man stood before the other. A breeze ruffled his ebony locks, and his emerald irises bore intensely into Ichimaru's face, though the rest of his face remained emotionless.
Ichimaru's eyes widened. "Ara ara, this is a surprise. I thought it might be one of ya, but…what happened to ya?"
There was another flash of white, and suddenly, another person appeared. Her long wavy turquoise coloured hair settled about her well-endowed form, and her gray-brown eyes gazed at Ichimaru in scrutiny. "They didn't kill you?" she asked, cocking her head.
"Wow, ya too? What happened?"
"Well explain fully when we see your shinigami friends. We shouldn't linger here alone for too long, or they'll suspect us," the male said.
"Well, in honor of our old ties, tell me at least why all these hollows are here?"
"They came through while we opened the garganta," the female said, sighing.
"And just why were ya tryin' to get to Soul Society?" Ichimaru asked curiously. His hands twitched to his zanpakutou in an unspoken threat that if the two were a threat, he would kill them right then at there.
"You do not have to worry about us, Ichimaru. We came to take the soutaichou up on his offer. If you don't trust us, we'll walk in front of you to Seireitei."
Ichimaru grinned. "No need. If ya are a danger, better deal with you now. Chibi-taichou and Kuchiki-taichou are nearby. Those two are two of the most distrustin' captains we've got, so if they trust ya, then I'll have no worries. But I won't say no to ya walkin' in front of me."
"They trust you? After everything?" the female spoke, getting ready to leave.
"I don't think so yet, but maybe this will improve their trust of me. Let's go!"
*
Toushirou stopped his shunpo quite suddenly. Momo skidded to a halt beside him. "Something wrong, Hitsugaya-kun?"
He didn't answer right away, searching with his senses. "There aren't any hollows at the market."
Momo nodded. "That means the rest are at the house."
"Hmm, Kurosaki has no control of his reiatsu. He's likely the one attracting all the hollows back there. For once his lack of control is helpful," Toushirou scanned the area, looking between the cracks between houses and ignoring the citizen's confused looks.
Momo was quiet for a second as they began to run again. Then, quietly, she asked, "Shirou-chan, why did you ever tell me?"
Toushirou frowned slightly and turned to her. "Tell you what?"
"That the villagers bullied you. I mean, I noticed that they didn't seem to like you, but…how could I have been so stupid to notice that they mistreated you?"
Toushirou stopped for a second. Momo stopped too, and turned her eyes on him. They looked tormented. "I wanted you to be safe and happy back then, and I missed even that?"
Toushirou sighed, and took her hand. "It's not your fault, Momo. It was just the way I looked and acted. They feared me, and rightly so, seeing how dangerous I am to them. The fact that you still treated me so warmly was enough though."
"But I could have…"
"You couldn't have done anything. You can't change their beliefs. It's fine. I was the one who didn't tell you, because I didn't want you to be burdened. Stop being so depressed. We have hollows to take care of."
Momo didn't move. "Then promise me something. Tell me next time when something is bothering you."
Toushirou sighed exasperatedly, but Momo looked determined. "Please, Shirou-chan?"
"Fine, but only if I find it worth your knowledge."
"Aww, that's no good! You'd never tell me anything then!"
"It's that or no promise."
Momo laughed. "You're so stubborn. You hate to be the one losing an argument. Fine then, I'll agree. But don't be surprised if I use other means to find out!"
Laughing, she now tugged on his arm and pulled him forward toward the house. Toushirou smiled slightly.
Seeing the house come up in front of them, they ran faster than before, and within a moment, they were among their fellow shinigami. They paused to assess the situation. Tall, black-cloaked forms of gillians towered over them, staring down blankly at them. Several normal hollows also surrounded them, but they seemed almost inconsequential next to the dozens of tall menos.
"Kurosaki, when did they get here?" he asked Ichigo, the closest person. Ichigo grinned. "You have good timing. They just got here a few minutes ago."
"Hitsugaya-taichou," Byakuya acknowledged. "It's good to see you here. We can finish this quickly."
"Kuchiki-taichou. I did not expect you to be here," Toushirou said. Byakuya's face didn't change, and, without turning, he sliced through a hollow coming up to him from the side. "I wanted to observe how my fifth seat fights," he said. Toushirou smiled inwardly. He knew the real meaning beneath the words. Byakuya wanted to make sure that Hisana would be unhurt.
There was a pulse of reiatsu from beside Toushirou. He bunched his muscles and pushed off the ground, gazing down calculatingly at the hollow that stood where he had only moments before, a large fist in the ground. The hollow looked up, its eyes like burning infernos beneath its black and white mask. It had a humanoid shape, but with sharp spikes coming from its elbows and forearm. Its fingers were tipped with sharp, glinting claws. The rest of its body was covered with white bone armor, and decorated with sharp blades of bone. In that moment that the captain and hollow regarded each other, Toushirou knew that this was no ordinary hollow, and that the hollow seemed determined to kill him.
"You!" it hissed, straightening. Its eyes burned with intelligence. "It's all your fault!"
Toushirou twisted his body to land a few paces away. He stood, knees bent, ready to leap if the hollow should attack. But the hollow didn't. It had more to say.
"Aizen-sama was going to grant me more power. He was going to make me into an arrancar, and you killed him!" it snarled.
The other shinigami paused in their fights to stare.
"That's not true," Ichigo spoke, stepping forward. "We all pitched in and killed him. Don't let Toushirou take all the credit!"
The hollow sneered. "I don't care who else was responsible. I was there when it happened. All you pathetic shinigami were about to get your bodies crushed by Aizen-sama when he stepped it!" it jabbed a finger at Toushirou.
By this time, other nearby souls, despite cowering, were all peeking their heads out to listen. They had likely never heard a hollow speak before, and were naturally curious. Also, talk of the war intrigued them, for they had all only heard rumors.
Toushirou stepped forward. "You're right, I take the credit for being the one to ruin Aizen's plans back then. But you fighting here will do you no good."
"Do I look like I give a damn?" the hollow said. Its eyes turned to look at every soul in the area, and suddenly, a gluttonous gleam came into its orange-red eyes. "There are souls here, so many souls…and other weak hollows. I'm hungry. Very hungry."
"How sick," Rukia muttered, disgusted by the implications. The hollow grinned at her. "Shinigami can't understand a hollow's hunger."
It turned back to the young prodigy. "You want to stop me, I assume?"
Toushirou narrowed his eyes. "I'd thought that adjuchas would be more intelligent than this," he said. "You think to challenge us, when everyone here is a high-seat officer?"
"Don't feel so confident," the hollow roared. "Just because you are supposedly a Heavenly Guardian, you think you're powerful enough to step over all of us? Well I'll show you!"
It leapt toward the small captain. There were gasps from all sides, but Toushirou remained calm. He raised his zanpakutou and easily blocked the claw that tried to pierce him. He pushed off, the using the hollow's push as energy to leap back. His feet hit a nearby wall, and he shot forward again, slashing at the hollow.
"Taichou!" a voice called out. Matsumoto suddenly arrived on the scene just as Toushirou exchanged another blow with the hollow. The boy paused for a second. "Matsumoto, can you and the others take care of the rest of the hollows here!"
"Yes sir!" Matsumoto said. She raised her own zanpakutou. "Unare, Haineko!"
Her zanpakutou broke up into its ash state. She raised the remaining hilt, allowing the invisible ash to surround the nearby menos before slicing down. Where the ash had touched the menos, deep gashes suddenly sliced open.
Rukia also leapt forward. "Mae, Sode no Shirayuki."
There were gasps from the villagers at the zanpakutou releases, but for Rukia's release, there were also excited murmurs at its beauty. Rukia seemed not to hear them, though a small smile touched the corner of her lips as she curved her zanpakutou down so that the ribbon trailing it arced around her, forming the shape of a full moon. She paused for a moment, gathering her reiatsu and assessing the situation, before focusing on a nearby menos. "Some no Mai, Tsukishiro!"
For a moment, a white circle appeared at the feet of the hollow. It stared at it stupidly, letting out a confused growl as ice started to build up onto its large feet. A moment later, however, a huge column of ice rose up, encasing the hollow in ice for a moment, before shattering, the hollow's body freezing and shattering with it.
"Nice, Kuchiki" Matsumoto remarked. She frowned as she took down another hollow. But as she did, two more menos closed around her. Raising her zanpakutou, she got ready to fight it, when a voice interrupted. "I'll take them, Rangiku-san!"
There was a flash of black. Momo suddenly appeared above one of the menos. Her foot touched the hollow's cone shaped nose on its mask, before pushing off, leaping higher. She turned, and as if in slow motion, brought her sword slashing down. The blade of it glowed red, and mid motion, it morphed into its three-pronged shikai so that when Momo finished the downward motion, her zanpakutou was in full shikai and released too large balls of pinkish red condensed reiatsu with fire flaring off of it.
One hit each respective hollow. They paused, masks cracking, and then shattering. They let out a growl, disintegrating.
"Wow," Matsumoto said. "Hina-chan's really gotten strong while we weren't looking."
Rukia nodded. "Do you think she can be a captain then?"
Matsumoto nodded. "As long as she believes she can, and with taichou there to support her, I'm sure that it wouldn't be a problem."
Her eyes turned toward her captain. He looked quite calm, albeit wearing his trademark scowl, as the adjuchas struck at him. "Fight back, little captain!"
Toushirou blocked the claw easily, and slashed at the hollow's throat. The hollow leaned back to avoid the blade, and backed away a few paces. "Tell me, how did you get here?"
The adjuchas laughed. "What do you care of it?"
"Did you open the garganta?"
The adjuchas was still chortling. "No. Blame it on those two you call your friends. Stupid disgraces for hollows."
"What?" Ichigo said. Something clicked in his mind. "You mean…"
"Yeah, those two that used to call themselves espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer and Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. They opened the gate to come here."
Toushirou paused, looking to his friends to see their reactions. They held varying states of thoughtfulness. Toushirou lowered his zanpakutou. "Why did they come?"
"Do I look like I know?" the adjuchas said lazily. "I just used this opportunity to come here and find a meal."
The captain frowned at the hollow's words, but otherwise ignored it. He turned away. "Ichimaru has likely gone to meet them. I can feel his reiatsu not too far away. I should go see-"
He was cut off as he felt a pressure in the air. He managed to move at the last second, just before the adjuchas clawed at him again. "You're not going anywhere, little captain. I said before, it's your fault that I couldn't become and arrancar, and I'm here to make you pay."
"Tch," Toushirou glared at the hollow, annoyed. "Do you really want to force me to kill you?"
"You think you can kill me?" it snarled. "I'll show you! Cero!"
Toushirou, seeing the danger, leapt to avoid the blast. Raising a hand, he pointed it at the hollow. "Hadou 4, Byakurai!"
The hollow swerved to dodge the white lightning, and the blast hit a menos that lingered behind it, causing the menos to disintegrate. "Stop using those shinigami tricks! You mock me by not showing your true power! If you have any power, release that zanpakutou of yours, so I can see first hand myself just how powerful the power that killed Aizen-sama was!"
Toushirou didn't move. His eyes flickered to the people nearby. They were dangerously close. He didn't know if he'd have the control. He cursed the fact they were in such a populated place. If they had been in the open, he could have defeated the adjuchas a long time ago.
"What's the matter? Too scared? Was the battle just a fluke then?"
Toushirou turned his glaze back onto the hollow. "I don't really have time to play with you, but since you obviously don't want to let me go, and you would just devour the villagers if I let you go, then I have no choice but to kill you."
"Now we're talking," the adjuchas said, smirking. Cackling. But it faltered and frowned as cold reiatsu suddenly swept toward him. "Hinamori, make sure the villagers won't be hurt."
"They won't be," the girl replied. "Please be careful and control it though."
The boy gave her a nod, before raising his zanpakutou. "Soten ni Zase," he said calmly, frowning. Cold reiatsu erupted from the boy, leaking in all directions. Ice spread from his feet, and frost began to creep up the surrounding trees and houses. The normal citizens shivered.
"Tatsukichi-kun…" Ayumi said through chattering teeth. "This cold…"
"I noticed. It's just like the cold we felt during the war." Could it be? he thought, the cold that we felt when the hollows were pushed back and all, that was Hitsugaya?
"Hyourinmaru!"
The dragon burst from the tip of his zanpakutou, twisting through the air and charging right at the adjuchas. The adjuchas raised an arm to block it. The force from it sent him skidding backward into a nearby ditch. The dragon flew up into the air, flying a hundred meters per second, before turning sharply and flying back down. The height and gravity caused the dragon's descend to be many times faster than its ascend. The adjuchas didn't even have time to cry out before the dragon snapped it's jaws at it, sending its body of water and ice shower over it and cold of a thousand winters through his veins.
The citizens of Rukongai gasped in awe. They were all huddled together, shivering violently from the cold, and unable to move through the pressure. Several had fainted away, while others could barely remain conscious. But all recognized this power as the power they had felt just before all the hollows were defeated during the war. At last, they realized that the cold power that had perhaps saved their lives had come from the very jinx of the village that they all feared to be a demon, but at the moment, with reiatsu shimmering around his form, and an unearthly light in his eyes, he seemed more like a Heavenly Guardian.
Toushirou didn't move as he watched the ice shatter, the hollow along with it. Then he turned toward his companions. "I'm not fit to fight here. I will go find Ichimaru and the two espada. Can you take care of things here, Kuchiki-taichou?"
The sixth division captain stepped forward. "Of course."
Ichigo, however, ran up to the boy. "I'll come with you. I know Ulquiorra and Nel better than you, so I can talk to them."
Toushirou nodded. Matsumoto stepped forward as well. "Me too. I want to be there to see what Gin, I mean Ichimaru-taichou, is up to."
The boy considered this for a moment. "Are you sure?"
His lieutenant nodded. "Yes, taichou."
"Then we'll leave you to it, Hinamori, Kuchiki-taichou, fifth seat Kuchiki and Kuchiki Rukia," he said, feeling a little awkward as to how to address all the Kuchiki's.
"Just call us by our first names!" Rukia called out, noticing the captain's uncertainty. Hisana laughed.
Toushirou shunpoed over the icy ground. He ignored the villager's awed looks. Ichigo and Matsumoto were close on his heel. They quickly cleared the habited parts of Junrian and into the wide fields and meadows. They leapt as a wide river came into view. Toushirou had leapt too early, and had to push off the reishi on the surface of the water. The second leap sent him straight into the forest beside the river.
For a moment, he stood alone, feeling for reiatsu.
"Ara, I could feel your reiatsu from all the way back there," a sly voice said. Toushirou's head snapped toward the voice, and right into the grinning face of Ichimaru Gin. "Did ya get into a fight?"
"Yes. Weren't you part of the reinforcements, Ichimaru?" Toushirou narrowed his eyes suspiciously, just as his other two companions found him.
Ichimaru walked forward. "Ya don't really need me for that. I came here to greet a couple o' friends that finally decided to show up, ain't that right?"
The shinigami's eyes widened as with a rustle, two more fingers emerged from deeper in the forest. There was something dramatically different about them, but there was no mistaking their appearance. Ichigo would have recognized the emerald eyes and emotionless look of the male, and the playful, turquoise haired female anywhere.
"Ulquiorra! Nel! What the hell happened to you guys?!"
*
Byakuya frowned as he sliced through the remaining hollows. There were few left. He had easily taken care of another adjuchas that had been hiding. All that remained were the menos.
Rukia frowned with exhaustion. They had been fighting for some time now, and she was beginning to tire.
Momo was engaged in combat with another adjuchas. Byakuya determined that none were left.
There was a small cry. Byakuya turned to see Hisana frown as she clutched at her arm. A light gash was bleeding on her forearm. "Hisana!"
"I'm alright, Byakuya-sama. This hollow was more powerful than I thought."
Byakuya frowned, regretting letting Hisana come. She wasn't powerful enough to deal with menos yet. He stepped forward, ready to slice the hollow down.
"Wait, Byakuya-sama," a voice suddenly called out. Byakuya turned sharply to see Hisana. She was smiling slightly, her zanpakutou drawn. Her arm was no longer bleeding, and wrapped neatly with a piece of torn cloth. "Being in the fourth division for so long has its merits. Let me take care of this."
Byakuya's eyes widened. "Hisana…"
"I assure you, I am powerful enough. I was just caught off guard."
The young woman strode past him. Hollows immediately converged around her, Byakuya's hands twitched to his zanpakutou, a wave of unease and need to protect Hisana washed over him. But before he could move, a sudden sharp breeze made him stop. The breeze seemed to be emanating from Hisana's body. She raised her zanpakutou, holding the sword delicately by the tip of the hilt. The blade gleamed in the sunlight. Silver reiatsu began to flow from it.
"Utae"
The blade seemed to turn into liquid silver, morphing and changing as Hisana called upon its name.
"Meikin no Ginkaze."
Finally done! Sorry again for taking so long.
Hisana's zanpakutou- Sing, Silver Wind of Songbirds. Tee hee, you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out what it does though. I thought of this like half a year ago, and I've been waiting for ages to use it. It's not that special, but…oh well. I liked it. I don't speak Japanese though, so if the name is odd, well, please bear with it. Not all of Tite Kubo's names make perfect grammatical sense, do they?
Ulquiorra's name was a problem. It's spelled Schiffer, Shiffer, or Cifer. Same with Nel's. It's also spelled Neliel tu Odershvank. Does anyone know the official spelling? Or does no one care? Well, I guess you're all more interested to see what's so off about their appearance. It's not actually that special. ^_^;;; You'll see.
Please, please review! Really, it gives me heart that people actually care to read this story. Thank you for reading!