A/N Hey guys... I'm back. ;-; And I'm updating only after getting one review. ;-; I feel deeply saddened. Sometimes I feel like the chapters are getting a bit haywire, if you know what I mean. Is that why so little people review? ;-; Or is the story not good enough? ;-; Do tell me... I want to improve!

Well, that aside, let's continue. Frozen Tears: Centuries of Hate is back with another chapter! In the previous chappie, we had, err, quite a bit of a predicament. Hitsugaya keeps getting weird nightmares, Isshin is now worrying over Karin's love life and an argument stirs up between our icy prince and orange strawberry... Not to mention the appearance of another Unknown which Hitsugaya so coincidentally finds... AGAIN. What will this string of events lead up to? Find out in this chapter of Frozen Tears: Centuries of Hate! Happy reading everyone! :')

Thanks to:

yashiro-san

For being such an awesome supporter up till now. I believe you have reviewed every single chapter in this fanfic, and for that I am immensely grateful. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Kubo Tite owns it all.

Hitsugaya froze in his spot, unable to tear his eyes away from the Unknown's lethal poison yellow gaze. It bore right into his soul, piercing sharply and painfully in. The creature hissed, a hungry gleam in it's eyes.

The ice captain felt exposed. Dangerously exposed. Those yellow pupils made him feel as if he was being touched in the wrong places. It crawled all over his body, looking him over; examining him, watching his every move. Never had Hitsugaya felt that way before.

Then it lunged at him.

And he screamed.

He heard stunned gasps all around him, and shrieks of terror. Sounds of wrestling rang in his ears, beating into his eardrums like the banging of a gong. He felt claws on his shoulders, serrated edges digging into his flesh and cutting into the half-healed wound.

It hurt like the depths of f*cking Hell.

Thick warm liquid began oozing out of the new gashes inflicted, spreading across his arms. It stuck to his yukata like that of a magnet. He felt the claws slash across his stomach, and he coughed out red liquid. Then someone, or something, grabbed him by the back of his collar, dragging him back from the chaos.

He heard the snapping of boards, and suddenly something flew into his eyes. Howling in pain, he clutched at his face, feeling more warm liquid trickling down his cheek. Audible shouts echoed around him, ringing in a sickening tune through his head.

The only thing he saw was red, the edges of his vision rimmed with darkness. A sudden reiatsu of red-black descended, powerful and overwhelming. It crushed him, worsening the pain that was zapping through his body.

A roar came, one filled with anger and hate. He felt a strong gust of wind blow against his face, stinging his wounded eyes.

Hitsugaya also felt hands hold onto him, wrapping around his body. His head was buried into something warm and soft, soothing the agony in his eyes. It felt familiar, the warmth. A hand tightly gripped his arm, squeezing it reassuringly.

He could hear the rapid beating of a heart.

Ba-dump.

He could hear a voice.

Ba-dump.

It whispered softly into his ear, drowning out all the other sounds of chaos around him.

Ba-dump.

"Sleep well, Toushiro,"

Whose voice was it? It was so familiar. He could hear the worry, the kindness, and... the love in it.

A name surfaced in his mind. A name he found beautiful. But before he could process it, a thick fog of dizziness came upon him. The red in his vision dimmed down, giving way to more black. He tried to fight back, tried to stay conscious for a bit longer.

But he couldn't. His body grew slack, limp in the arms of someone. Darkness engulfed him, swamping him in its grip of cold. It wasn't a physical cold. It was an internal cold, a hollow feeling throbbing in his chest.

It was chilling, unlike anything he had felt before.

The wounded captain whimpered softly in his half-conscious state, and a hand caressed his cheek in response. It was warm. A relieving warmth.

It filled the freezing void inside him, even if it was just a little. He relaxed slightly, and he felt the same hand run through his white hair, patting his head lightly. "Don't worry," the voice told him again, loud enough for him to hear through his fuzzy senses.

"You're safe now,"

Hitsugaya finally recognised whose voice it was. He let out a soft sigh. Although he wanted to see her face, he decided to follow what she said to him, about sleeping. Closing his sore, hurting eyes, he relented to his aching body's screaming demands for rest, and let the darkness take him, noting to himself to remember to thank her later, for comforting him.

He was indeed lucky to have Kurosaki Karin as a friend.

Karin clutched Hitsugaya's slack body close to her. The ice captain had finally drifted off to what seemed like a very deep sleep. She glanced at his pale face, watching as the blood which trickled down from his closed eyes dried up.

The Unknown had shown unbelievably powerful and terrifying skills, so much so that Ichigo had to release some of his reiatsu. Some. But it was crushing enough to make everyone except the Unknown itself fall to their knees.

To be honest, Karin had no idea how the Unknown even appeared. She had been watching Hitsugaya as he headed for the window, when he suddenly perked up and began looking around, as if searching for something. Right after that, he opened the window and looked out.

That was when he froze for a few moments, before the Unknown burst in and collided into him from through the open window.

Chaos erupted then. The Unknown had tackled the ice captain to the ground and wounded him, reopening the half-healed wounds that were on his body before and inflicting new ones on his shoulders and stomach. The other Shinigami around then sprung into action, coming out from their gigai and attacking the black beast.

Isshin had managed to grab Hitsugaya's collar and drag him towards her before joining the turmoil himself, ordering her to keep the wounded ice captain safe from harm. The Unknown had slipped around the group of Shinigami, its poisonous gaze constantly on Hitsugaya's body, which indicated it wanted to get to him.

Then Renji had body-slammed into it, crashing through the wooden walls and doors. Some of the wood splinters had flown into Hitsugaya's wild, yet dazed eyes, injuring them. Karin had watched the fighting as it raged on outside, with the Shinigami having to release their Zanpakutous.

Matsumoto and Hinamori decided to distract the Unknown, while Renji, Rukia and Urahara performed a synched attack to trap it, leaving Ichigo and Isshin to finish it off. Eventually, the father and son managed to deal serious damage to the Unknown, cutting off an arm. However, it managed to escape before more damage could be inflicted, slipping into the shadows.

Karin saw her brother approaching her, a worried frown on his face.

"Are you alright Karin?" He asked, crouching down in front of her. Karin blinked, nodding. It was strange seeing her brother in a Shinigami's Shihakusho again. It had been a long time since he last came out of the gigai Mayuri had made for him, as his reiatsu was far too tremendous to allow him to live in the real world.

Luckily, the scientist had added some extra features, which included giving Ichigo an extra reiatsu preventing shield around him if he ever comes out of the gigai for at least thirty minutes. It was pretty handy, but the downside was that the time limit of the gigai would decrease a few days, and the repairs would take longer.

"I'm fine. The injured one here is Toushiro," she replied, glancing down at the slumbering ice captain in her arms. There were large red patches all over his yukata, the biggest one of all on his stomach. The cloth was ripped in several places, revealing rather bloody wounds on the tanned flesh.

Ichigo followed her gaze, then noticed the dried streaks of blood on his cheeks, trailing down from his eyes. "Hang on don't tell me..." he trailed off, brown pupils widening with shock. Karin nodded, sighing.

"When Renji-san slammed into the Unknown and the walls broke down, some of the splinters got into his eyes," she explained. Ichigo scowled, getting up. He headed towards the other Shinigami, who were examining the limb which had been detached from the Unknown while waiting for Ichigo to tell them if Hitsugaya and Karin were alright.

"Oi Renji! Because of you and your body-slamming, Toushiro's eyes got wounded!" The Substitute immediately burst out once he reached his friends.

"Hah?! How is that my fault?!" The redhead protested, confused.

"The wood splinters from the walls you broke down got into his eyes you dumbass! Now he's got more wounds needed to be treated!" Ichigo snapped, waving his Zangetsus in the air.

"Well, he should've avoided the splinters then! I've done nothing wrong!" Renji spluttered, completely bewildered.

"Are you saying that Taicho is slow? The reason why he couldn't avoid the splinters is because he got wounded beforehand, you stupid pineapple!" Matsumoto berated, smacking Renji's head.

"That's right! Abarai-kun should've slammed the Unknown into another wall further away from Shiro-chan!" Hinamori joined in.

"B-but still-!" The befuddled 6th Division Vice-Captain stuttered, backing away slightly. Rukia kicked him in the back, knocking him to the ground. "OW!"

"You fool! Stop protesting and learn from your mistakes! And Ichigo! Get back into your gigai, pronto! You're going to crush everyone with your reiatsu if you stay out any longer!" The petite raven-haired Shinigami snapped, glancing to and fro the two males.

"I was going to say that," Isshin chuckled, heartily patting Rukia on the back. Rukia snickered.

"Oh! Oh yeah! Where's my gigai?" Ichigo began blundering around, searching for the body of his gigai.

"It's over there Ichi-nii," Karin directed from inside the wrecked shop of Urahara's, pointing to the pile of gigais which had been stacked up together by Ururu and Jinta while the Shinigami had been fighting.

"Thanks," the orange-haired Kurosaki rushed to the pile, digging around for his own body quickly before the shield wore off.

"Oh? What happened here?" Came a voice, and everyone turned to see Hirako standing upside down in the sky, near the Shinigami group.

"Hirako Taicho!" Hinamori cried out, running towards her captain.

"Yo Momo," the Vizard greeted warmly, before tipping himself back upright and landing lightly on the ground. "So? What happened? I came over as fast as I could cause I sensed Ichigo's reiatsu spike," he said, jerking his chin towards the said Substitute, who had finally found his gigai and was entering it.

"Come in and we'll talk it out, Hirako Taicho," Urahara said, gesturing to the inside of the half-destroyed shop. He tipped his hat down, shadowing his face further. "And I suspect the rest will be coming over soon,"

True to Urahara's words, the other Shinigami came. Yoruichi came first, followed by Hisagi and Kira. Ikkaku and Yumichika entered a few moments after, and Kazuko rushed in lastly, panting hard. "I... Felt Ichigo's reiatsu... Came as soon as possible..." he gasped out, wheezing. Then he froze when he saw the torn down walls of the shop, which Tessai and Jinta were busy trying to repair. And his jaws dropped when he spotted Hitsugaya lying on a clean futon, shirtless and bandaged up.

There were bandages all over his chest and shoulders, wrapped tightly around his build. There was a faint outline of his abs, as well as some bloodied spots on the starch new bandages. Even his eyes were covered up with the white material.

Matsumoto came in right after Kazuko entered, Inoue in her arms. The healer instantly saw Hitsugaya and went over, kneeling down and casting her healing barrier over his body. After a few moments, she began to bite her lip. "The wounds are taking much longer to heal this time," she said quietly.

"Just what happened?!" Kazuko demanded, flustered. Ichigo patted his back to calm him down.

"Easy Kazuko-san. We'll explain it now," he said, and thus the story was told. The newcomers were shocked to hear that Hitsugaya had somewhat 'found' another Unknown once again. They were even more shocked when they heard Renji was the cause of Hitsugaya's eye injuries.

"I'm telling you, I didn't know! I thought he could dodge, if necessary! I'm sorry ok?!" The red pineapple immediately protested, looking rather annoyed. Laughter came from the Shinigami at Renji's stubbornness about being innocent.

Kazuko paled when he heard about the extent of the damage inflicted on his captain. "T-that severe...?" He mumbled, almost absently.

"That severe," Urahara confirmed. The poor fourth-seat glanced back at Hitsugaya, who was still being healed by Inoue, forlornly.

"Don't worry, Kazuko. Orihime will take care of him," Matsumoto comforted her fellow Division member.

"Hang on. The thing I don't understand is the fact that Hitsugaya Taicho found himself another Unknown again," Hirako suddenly said aloud. Everyone turned to look at him.

"That's right!" Karin gasped. "When our soccer match ended and we were about to head home, Toushiro suddenly began glancing around like he did just now, then told us to wait for him before heading off somewhere. Of course, we followed him but found him getting attacked instead,"

"It couldn't just be a coincidence," Kira mumbled.

"It is very likely now that Hitsugaya Taicho has something to do with the appearance of the Unknowns," Hisagi agreed.

"Maybe he's got an Unknown tracking device with him?" Ikkaku suggested.

"That shouldn't be possible. Kurotsuchi Taicho didn't give him anything. He was just tasked to investigate about the matter," Kazuko snapped, going to the defense of his Captain. Matsumoto and Hinamori nodded their heads in agreement.

"So how does he keep finding the Unknowns while we can't?" Yumichika questioned. That silenced everyone.

They sat quietly for a long moment, pondering about different possibilities. And it was then they heard a soft groan coming from Hitsugaya. "Toushiro-kun?" Inoue gasped, startled. The ice captain's eyes had been covered, so the Shinigami, along with Karin, couldn't tell whether he was already awake.

Hitsugaya twitched, then he paused for a while, before he suddenly heaved himself into seating position. Inoue cried out when her barrier shattered. "Toushiro-kun, please! You're not healed enough yet to be getting up!" The orange-haired healer pleaded, tugging at the captain's arm gently.

"Inoue... Orihime...?" Hitsugaya whispered instead, cocking his head towards her direction. Inoue nodded firmly, then proceeded to push him back onto the futon.

"Please lie back down Toushiro-kun. I need to resume healing you," she said, a rather commanding tone to her voice. Hitsugaya merely relaxed on the futon, letting the healer continue her work. A short, unconfortable silence passed.

"I can sense that the rest of you here want to ask me something," he suddenly said out loud, clearly talking about the Shinigami who were also there. Ichigo cleared his throat.

"You got that right... So help us out in solving this thing by not acting like a grump," he told the ice captain.

"Alright. I'm only answering three questions though. I'm feeling a bit tired," the white-haired Captain replied, not even reacting to the small insult Ichigo inserted into his speech. The Substitute was surprised, but decided to focus on the task ahead.

"First question. How is it that you keep finding Unknowns, when we can't? There was that first incident, and now this," he said. The other Shinigami leaned forward, anticipating the ice captain's answer.

"... That's a bit tough," Hitsugaya muttered. He went quiet for a second, before opening his mouth again. "The first time, I thought a Hollow appeared. I sensed its reiatsu at the area where the Unknown was. I went there to exterminate it, only to realise that there was no Hollow and only an Unknown." He admitted finally.

"So it can-?!" Ichigo began.

"Only three questions," Hitsugaya warned, raising his head towards the Shinigami's direction. Ichigo clamped shut. "Now... About this time... When I went over to the window I heard some strange scratching, so I tried to find out the cause of the sound. Then I decided to open the window since the noise seemed to be coming from outside, and found the Unknown staring at me from below," he continued, as if the interruption hadn't occurred at all.

"Does that answer your question?" He asked, sitting back up again. Obviously he found talking to them while lying down uncomfortable. Inoue sighed and resumed healing him, surrounding her barrier around him so that it adjusted to the new position. Ichigo gave a grunt of satisfaction.

"Pretty much,"

"Second question then. Does Shiro-chan prefer to be around me, or Karin-san?" Hinamori suddenly blurted out. Everyone stared at her. Even Hitsugaya, although without his eyes, glanced at her direction.

"... What sort of a question is that?" The ice captain snapped, a scowl on his face. He seemed extremely pissed.

"Well, Shiro-chan's spending more time with her rather than with me nowadays... So I wondered if you still liked being with me," the 5th Division Vice-Captain explained, wringing her hands together. Hitsugaya paused at that, the scowl on his face disappearing. His lips pressed into a thin line as he looked away, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"That's an even tougher question... I'll have to think about it for awhile..." he muttered. Hinamori gritted her teeth, then lowered her head. Karin could see her murmuring swears and a ton of questions.

"While I think, ask me your last question." Hitsugaya said, looking back up. No one answered him, giving each other a sideway glance.

No one knew what to ask.

But Karin did.

"Say Toushiro... Something's been bugging me for a while... I've been curious," she spoke up. Hitsugaya cocked his head at her, waiting for her to continue. "Those nightmares you've been having. Can you... can you tell us what they were about?"

At that the unusually calm ice captain froze, his shoulders tensing. A hiss escaped his lips and he looked away again, hunching forwards. Karin saw him bite down on his lip and chew on it, as if in deep thought. The other Shinigami were looking interested, Hinamori and Isshin in particular.

"I... I can't," he finally breathed out, slumping. The captain shook his head, clutching it. "I... just can't. I'm sorry. Maybe... Maybe next time, when I feel like it,"

"But you said you'd answer our questions Taicho!" Matsumoto protested, gaping at her captain.

"Not this one. I'm not answering this one," he snapped frostily, growling. The strawberry blond flinched and hung her head.

"What's so secretive about your nightmares anyway?" Ichigo demanded.

"I'm going to sleep. I'm tired," Hitsugaya said, ignoring him. The ice captain lowered himself back onto his futon, pulling the covers over him. "And to answer Hinamori's last question," he paused, glancing at the Shinigami group.

Hinamori eagerly leaned closer, a look of hope in her brown eyes. Even Karin found herself anticipating his answer.

"I think I prefer hanging out with Karin," And with that he lay back on the futon, his back turned to them, leaving the Shinigami gaping at him, Isshin smiling, and Karin blushing madly.

Hitsugaya stayed awake until the Shinigami all left for their respective sleeping areas, and he was left alone in the darkness of his room. He strained his ears, checking to see if there were anymore people walking around, and hearing no footsteps, slowly sat up. A sickening pain stung his stomach, and he cringed, clutching his side.

It was hard enough trying to hide the fact that he was in pain from the others when he was speaking to them.

He drew in a shuddery breath, feeling the sweat trickle down his face.

"Those nightmares you've been having. Can you... can you tell us what they were about?"

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get Karin's echoing voice out of his head. He couldn't let them know.

About what he saw in those nightmares of his.

The horrors.

The pain.

And the blood.

They'd think he was going crazy or something. Perhaps traumatic dreams from the Thousand Year War, they'd say.

No.

His nightmares weren't from trauma. He knew that very well. Not from the experience of being zombified by a Sternritter either.

It was something else.

Something bigger, and more menacing than the Quincy.

It was a threatening enemy. The Unknowns were being pulled around and controlled like puppets in the hands of a skilled puppeteer. There was someone else behind the scenes, no doubt.

Hitsugaya had a feeling that the master of the Unknowns was connected to him. It was a feeling in his gut.

And his gut feeling never lied.

A/N So we're done! Hope you liked this one. The Unknown deals more damage to poor Hitsugaya... Well you get the thing right? It seems that he is also starting to be more comfortable around Karin, preferring her to Hinamori, his childhood friend. The Shinigami learn something new about the Unknowns, while Hitsugaya himself is uneasy about them. He has a gut feeling... But just what were his nightmares about? All will be revealed soon enough!

I will be updating weekly from now on since I'm pretty busy, but more reviews will motivate me to write faster! :3 So do review! See you later everyone!