Through It All
"It's so good to see you again!" exclaimed a happy girl.
"Hey Hinamori." Hitsugaya said standing in a room before a gigantic projector screen.
"How are you doing now?" Hinamori asked through the screen.
"I'm fine. How about you?" Hitsugaya became a little more serious.
"I'm great! I've never felt this good in such a long time. …Look, I just want to say sorry about the last time we talked to each other. I know that it's not easy to forgive Aizen-sama, but I was wrong to yell at you."
"It's okay."
"Ne, how long do you think it will take until Aizen-sama is free?" she asked with a curious expression.
"Free? What do you mean?"
"Well, I believe that he's been captured. Aizen-sama wouldn't hurt anyone. He's such a great person. I don't understand why nobody believes me when I say that he doesn't do –
"Hinamori, Aizen did do all of those things –
"No he didn't! Shiro-chan! Don't tell me that you too believe that it was his fault! He didn't do anything wrong! It's all Gin's fault! He took Aizen-sama away from us and he manipulated him! Why don't you understand –
"No Hinamori, it's you that doesn't understand –
"I can't believe you! You of all people! I believed that you would understand me! Who are you going to listen to, me or these other people?!"
"Hinamori –
"No! You don't get it! I thought we were best friends, but I guess I was wrong. You don't care, you just want to capture Aizen-sama and kill him so that you will be praised and people won't call you a little kid anymore. I can't believe you would do something like that! –
"Hinamori! You shouldn't be talking like that! You know I wouldn't do that –
"But you are going to –
"No! Hinamori you and I have been together for years and you'd rather believe him! You didn't even see what he's been doing –
"What and you have?!"
"Hinamori –
"I guess this is it. Obviously, it looks like I can't trust you. It's been decided. You don't care about this and all you want is to kill Aizen-sama. If you're his enemy, then you are my enemy. From this day on, you and I are no longer friends. I don't even know you and I don't want to know you! I've had enough of you."
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"It's over Hitsugaya! TAICHOU."
Hinamori glares at Hitsugaya then walks away from the screen not looking back at him again.
"What are you doing here?" Hitsugaya asked. Walking away from Karin's grasps. Hinamori glared at Hitsugaya and walked to Aizen holding his arm.
"Aizen-sama are you alright?" she asked worriedly. Aizen smiles at her and then smirks sadistically at both Hitsugaya and Karin.
"I won't forgive you for attacking Aizen-sama," Hinamori looks at Aizen and he nods. "I don't know who you are but you have no right in hurting Aizen-sama. Prepare to die!"
Hinamori pulls out her Zanpakuto and strikes at Karin. Karin vanished from everyone's eyes. Nobody knew where she was. Suddenly there was a clang of swords echoing throughout the room. Everyone turned their heads and saw Karin fighting Aizen.
Karin honestly didn't care who this girl was, but she couldn't afford to waste time and energy on her. She knew she had to defeat Aizen even if it meant dying. She carefully looked around and saw that nobody was in condition at all to fight and defeat Aizen. Only she had enough energy left to fight him. Plus, earlier she saw the way Hitsugaya looked at Hinamori. It was obvious that Hitsugaya wanted to deal with her rather than Aizen even though he wanted to be the one to take his life.
"Aizen-sama! Argh!" Hitsugaya swung his Zanpakuto at Hinamori stopping her from taking a step further towards Aizen and Karin. Hitsugaya wanted nothing more than to talk to her but it was clear that she didn't care that he was there and that he was trying to stop her. Hinamori released her Zanpakuto's true form and attacked Hitsugaya.
From afar, Ichigo and the others were staring at the other four shinigamis fighting each other. They were half-confused and half not.
"We … have to help them." Inoue said panting from all the power that she drained from herself healing the others' injuries.
"No…. we can't. If we do, we'll only be in the way. Besides, this is their fight. We don't have a right to interfere." Ishida said.
With each minute, Karin tried to find Aizen's weakness. She was growing more tired with each move she made. It didn't seem like it was affecting him at all. If it did, he hid it very well. On the other hand, Aizen was exhausted, but he couldn't show it because if he did she would easily finish him off. He noticed that she was frustrated and on the verge of losing concentration. If he can keep it up a little more she would crack and then he could make his move. However, he was also on the verge of cracking like her. He was very annoyed at how difficult she was making it for him.
Karin went on defensive and tried to figure out where to strike at Aizen. She finally saw and opening and went for it. Her Zanpakuto cut off his haori but missed his skin by less than a centimeter. Karin cursed as Aizen stopped attacking her.
Karin became confused and wondered why he suddenly stopped fighting back. She knew that she was open and he could have just attacked her. Suddenly she realized that he was using kido (dark magic) and aimed it at both Hitsugaya and Hinamori.
"Toshiro!" Karin ran with quick speed to try to push him out of the way before Aizen could harm the both of them. Karin had barely made it, but she was able to push him away as the area that Hinamori and him were just fighting on exploded.
"Karin!" yelled a frightened Ichigo. Ichigo got up and ran but Renji pulled him back. Ichigo glared at Renji but he noticed that Renji was staring at Karin. Karin and Hitsugaya didn't get hurt and Ichigo released a breath he had held.
"Hinamori!" Hitsugaya pushed himself off Karin roughly and ran towards Hinamori. Karin held onto his arm and pulled him away.
"What the hell are you doing! Hinamori is still –
Karin slapped Hitsugaya to help him come back to his senses. Boy it worked. Hitsugaya stood before Karin holding his right cheek as he turned to where Hinamori was and saw that she manage to escape the explosion in time.
Aizen frowned and grabbed Hinamori. He tightly gripped his hand around Hinamori's wrist and tightened it. Hinamori whimpered and turned her head to Aizen.
"A .. Aizen-sama?" she asked confusedly. Aizen said nothing as he continued to tighten his grip on her wrist. Hinamori started whimpering more which turned into wailing uncontrollably.
"Aizen-sama, what are you doing?" she asked in between breaths. Hitsugaya pulled out his Zanpakuto and went for Aizen. Aizen deflected his attack with his own Zanpakuto. Hitsugaya kept attacking Aizen. Aizen didn't budge from his position as Hitsugaya's blows to him were weakening.
"Aizen-sama, what are you ah!!" a cracking sound came from her wrist. She screamed in pain and Hitsugaya stopped attacking Aizen. Aizen threw Hitsugaya off and Hitsugaya went crashing to the floor. Karin's blood boiled and she suddenly appeared in front of Aizen choking him once again.
"How could you? How could you go and destroy that girl? Why are you lying to her?! Why are you trying to hurt her so badly! What did she do to you! She didn't do anything! And yet you are hurting her! I won't forgive you! You deserve to die! Die!!!!!!" Karin's anger rose as the room became hotter. Her fire dragon growled as it encircled around Aizen refusing to let him escape from it's master's grasps.
"Aizen-sama doesn't lie!" Hinamori jumped up and thrust her Zanpakuto towards Karin. Hitsugaya threw her off. He finally decided to fight against Hinamori no matter what. He couldn't get through to her anymore and so he gave up. Instead, he wanted to protect Karin.
"Kurosaki, kill him now before it's too late!" Hitsugaya yelled at the top of his lungs. Karin nodded and went ahead to kill him but Hinamori somehow got away from Hitsugaya and stood in front of Aizen before Karin could go ahead and kill him.
Karin almost pierced her Zanpakuto through Hinamori if she hadn't stopped. "I don't understand. Why doesn't anyone believe me? Aizen-sama …Aizen-sama is innocent. He didn't do anything wrong." Tears poured out of Hinamori as she continued.
"Aizen-sama is a good person. He wouldn't do anything wrong. He –
"Hinamori!" Hitsugaya screamed. Everything went slow motion as Hinamori slowly fell towards the floor. Hitsugaya ran to catch her and Karin's eyes widen. Aizen smirked as he pulled his Zanpakuto from Hinamori's body.
Hitsugaya and Karin ran to Hinamori's side as Karin made her fire dragon wrap itself securely around Aizen to keep him from escaping. Hitsugaya's eyes began to glisten with unshed tears as Hinamori laid on the floor.
"Why? Aizen-sama?" she asked.
"Pathetic girl. I only used you to get to what I wanted. You are not of any importance to me. I never cared about you and never will."
Hinamori stared in disbelief; she didn't want to believe it. She would never believe it but it had come out of his mouth. She stared at him and realized that it was true. None of it was a lie. Tears leaked out of her eyes the more she thought about it the more she hated herself. She ruined her friendship with Hitsugaya because of her affections for her ex-Taichou.
She swatted Hitsugaya's hands off her and struggled to get up. As soon as she was up, she walked towards Aizen. She gripped Aizen's haori despite the fire dragon burning her.
"It's not true! Aizen-sama please tell me it's not true." She locked her eyes with Aizen who stared at her for a few seconds then plunged his Zanpakuto that he was holding into her chest. Hinamori made a gagging noise before screaming her guts out.
Everyone watched in anguish as Hinamori slipped from Aizen's Zanpakuto to the floor once again. Hitsugaya ran to Hinamori and hugged her to him. Tears threaten to fall from his eyes. Hinamori stared up at Hitsugaya and smiled.
"Ne, Shiro-chan. I'm so sorry I never listened to you."
"Don't be." Hitsugaya's voice shook.
"I'm sorry I let him get in between us."
"It's okay."
"Ne, Shiro-chan, could you …. ever forgive me?"
"Don't worry about it. You don't have to apologize."
"Really? I'm glad. Thank you for being my best friend." Hinamori's eyes began to close as she smiled at Hitsugaya. "Arigato …….Shiro-chan."
Those were her last words before she drifted into an eternal sleep. Hitsugaya stared at her lifeless body waiting for her to wake up but nothing happened. Karin placed her hand on Hitsugaya. At that moment, Hitsugaya awoke to reality.
From a distance, Aizen began to laugh. "Worthless." He spat. Hitsugaya shook with rage. He picked up his Zanpakuto and shoved Karin's hand away from him. His reiatsu increased rapidly, full of fury.
Karin's red eyes stared at Hinamori's body. She brushed a strand of hair from Hinamori's face.
Hinamori, please rest in peace. I ask you right now, please let me take care of Toshiro.
Karin stood straight ready to defeat Aizen. She glanced around and saw that Hitsugaya was on a rampage, slaughtering Aizen. However, even though Aizen was taking all the hits, he wasn't dying or seem to be in pain. Aizen just let Hitsugaya cut through him, destroying him and throwing him around as if he was a rag doll.
Hitsugaya went for another blow but Aizen cut him off and sent him flying towards a wall.
"Toshiro!" Karin yelled. Karin saw that nothing was happening. Hitsugaya remained on the floor. He looked helpless and blood was pouring out of him. Karin's heart beated quickly.
I have to do something. I have no choice. If I don't use my bankai all the way, everyone will get killed. I have to use it!
Karin didn't bother to wait anymore. She knew what she had to do. She had to take control of her bankai and use it to it's full extent. She didn't care if she died. As long as Aizen doesn't hurt anyone else she didn't care.
"You leave me no choice." Karin began to release all her reiatsu into her Zanpakuto. Soon the room grew darker and the room grew hotter.
Ichigo and the others stared around themselves and saw the room becoming pitch black. Fire burst out from the ground as Karin and Aizen were standing on a pedestal. Hitsugaya opened his eyes and saw fire everywhere. He shifted his position and saw Karin lift her Zanpakuto and call the fire dragon to her.
The dragon flew from Aizen and hovered above her.
"You will pay for what you did to everyone." Karin said demonically. Karin guided her hand towards Aizen's chest and her fire dragon turned slightly transparent as it flew towards Aizen. The dragon flew right through Aizen and pushed his soul slightly out of his body.
Aizen's eyes widen as he saw his soul floating slightly in front of him. Karin appeared before him and put her hand on his soul's forehead. She marked another dragon on him just like the mark she put on Aizen's forehead from before. The mark glowed bright red and everything became quiet.
In a blink of an eye images were passing through the walls. The images replaying over and over were Aizen's fears. Ichigo and the others saw Aizen's fear as if it were really happening. They weren't sure if it was a dream or not but pretty soon everyone snapped back to reality and saw Karin staring at Aizen daring him to do something. Karin's lips parted and she started to speak.
"Beneath the moon of a grand tower," the room changed and now everyone was on the roof of the tower. The moon shining above their heads.
"You will meet the night of your demise." Karin pulled Aizen's soul, making it almost out of his body but still in it.
"You stole a life and will pay the consequence," she turned his head and forced him to look at Hinamori's lifeless body.
"Sword in hand," Karin held her white and red Zanpakuto tightly. Without any warning or hesitation, she plunged her Zanpakuto through Aizen's soul and through his physical body.
"Pierce through your soul and darkness befalls on you until you fall to the depths of hell."
Aizen let a piercing scream echo through out the roof. Inoue began to cry as Ishida embraced her. Renji wanted to look away from Aizen but he couldn't make himself look away. Ichigo and Rukia held onto each other watching in fear. Chad stared and felt his heart beat heavily and tried to keep watching.
Hitsugaya watched Karin pull her Zanpakuto and everything became black around Aizen. Aizen clutched his heart and watched his soul become wrapped around Karin's fire dragon. A hole was created beneath his feet and his soul was pulled through the hole. Fire shot out of the hole before closing.
The roof began to change once again. The moon, the room, the hole and dragon vanished into thin air as the room returned to its normal form. Aizen now lay on the floor, stone cold. He wasn't breathing anymore. The mark on his forehead vanished leaving a scar.
Karin sealed her Zanpakuto and walked towards the others. Hitsugaya stood before her and saw her crimson eyes slowly fade and turn into it's normal soft grey again.
"I told you I would defeat him." Karin displayed a goofy grin then passed out into Hitsugaya's arms. Hitsugaya held her to him and smiled.
Baka. You nearly got yourself killed out there. I would never forgive myself if you had died.
Two Months Later
"You know, I just realized something," Karin said as she laid a bouquet of flowers before a gravestone.
"What?" Hitsugaya asked as he took off the dead flowers that used to sit beside the gravestone.
"My bankai, it can take people's lives in an instant." Karin's eyes became dark and Hitsugaya knew she wasn't used to her bankai. He knew a week after the Winter War Karin sealed her Zanpakuto with five seals and two chains. He knew that after taking full control of her bankai, she was afraid to use it again. To her, her bankai was scary. It had a link to hell and it was dark. She felt a great fear that she might lose control of herself, succumb to the darkness of her bankai, and use it to murder innocent people.
"I just realized that, my bankai can take peoples lives but give life at the same time." Hitsugaya looked at her strangely, as she continued. "For every light there is dark. For every dark, there is light……I know it may sound weird but, I believe that my bankai can give life as well."
"What do you plan to do now?" he asked.
"I think that I will release the seals on my Zanpakuto. I think I am ready to hold it once again." Karin kneeled down and said,
"Toshiro, she's happy now. I know she is."
"Yeah she is. Isn't she." Karin stood up and stared at the name on the grave.
In memory of Momo Hinamori. May her soul rest in peace.
hints - Karin didn't think her bankai would have anything to do with pulling people's souls and sending them to hell.
I apologize if the winter war was kinda boring and confusing.
no this is not a hitsu x Hina fanfic although i apologize if i made them seem like the main couple.
for those who didn't understand how karin's bankai works, she just releases her bankai and a fire dragon comes out. What ever she wants it to do it follows her command. her dragon's purpose is to pull a person's soul and either give it to a person to live or take it to hell. but before she does that, for those whose souls go to hell weakened first to make it easier for their soul to leave their body. she tortures her enemies by showing their fears to them and making it seem like it is really happening.
one other hint - in the series karin is able to have dreams about people before they die. in this story she saw a repeated dream about Aizen before he dies. because of her dreams she doesn't tell anyone and it scares her. to release the fear, instead of looking for help she tries to keep it inside her and ends up releasing her fear by almost using bankai during battle or when she is afraid. (for example her battle with byakuya and the hospital scene with Hitsugaya.)