I had a dream about Aizen last night. Gin too. But Gin was being all evil and Aizen was talking about how he would make the world a better place... and they had a housekeeper with sharp nails.... And then I woke up, and then fell asleep again.... then I dreamed about spiders. First there was one and I killed it... then there was another... I killed that one too, and then this other one came, but it had these huge pincers and it was sucking my blood.... last night... was not a good night.... I hate spiders...
Aizen stared at the slip of paper he held in front of him, the new information spinning through his head. The results. This was perfect. Everything was lining up perfectly.
The ex-captain had no idea how he had overlooked such a thing. But even though he had been careless, everything was working out in his favor.
Hitsugaya was in his hands. Completely under his control. Aizen could already taste victory.
He had prepared himself to wait months and months releasing the seal on the Hogyoku, but now there was no need. Aizen felt a smile begin to creep across his face, his victory easing any fragments of doubt he had ever had.
Momo was kneeling by the side of the couch, resting her head by his hand as she stared sorrowfully at Toshiro's sleeping face. Since Rangiku had left, she barely moved at all, just kept staring, lost in her thoughts.
She was selfish. Everything that had happened as because of her existence, and if she wasn't so weak, then Toshiro would never have had to go through this. But it did happen. Of course then she had to be so stupid. She told Toshiro she hated him for killing Rangiku, and that tore his heart to pieces. Momo hadn't meant it. She could never hate Toshiro. If she ever thought she did, it only took a few minutes for her to realize once again how much she meant to him, and then she couldn't help but feel closer.
Her brown eyes widened a little as her friend stirred in his sleep. Part of her hoped he was about to wake up, but part dreaded seeing his eyes again. His teal eyes, the eyes that once held so much emotion underneath an icy gaze, the type of emotion that you could only see if you stared into them. But now this eyes were glazed over. Empty. Devoid of any hope or feelings. Momo feared that she would never hear his voice, yelling at her to be careful, or to stop treating him like a child. That was Toshiro. He always seemed so grumpy, but was really caring for his friends, and would do anything to protect them.
His hand twitched slightly, and his head turned to the side. Momo sat up slowly and brushed a strand of silver hair out of his eyes. As she pulled her hand away, his eyes opened slowly and found hers in an instant.
"Lil Shiro?" She whispered softly.
Please say it... Momo found herself thinking, Please say it... tell me not to call you that... Please...
His gaze turned away. He stared at the ceiling emptily, ignoring her presence. Defeated, Momo lowered her head into the couch cushion, feeling tears well in her eyes. She never though she'd miss him scolding her.
She stared at the blackness behind her closed eyes, knowing how pointless it was to try to do anything. She couldn't help him. She was useless, always had been useless, and always will be useless. There was nothing for her... nothing...
STOP IT!! Her own voice screamed through her head. She was doing it again. Thinking about herself. Momo chided herself. Old habits really do die hard.
The small lieutenant was brought out of her thoughts when she felt something brush past a bruise on her forehead.
"Did they hurt you?"
Momo looked up in surprise. The words Toshiro spoken proved that he was concerned, but his voice still sounded hollow, and his eyes were the same. He wouldn't let the emotion through, but he must need to reassure himself.
The bruise was actually just from when she had slipped and hit her head a little while ago, and was barely what anyone could call painful, much less needing concern.
"No..." She shook her head "No I'm fine... they didn't touch me."
He turned away again, his conscience settled.
Momo started to feel tears again. He was the exact opposite of her. He never, ever cared about himself, or the condition he was in. To him, it was only her. How she was doing, if she was okay... that was all that matter to Toshiro.
The door opened.
Momo wasn't expecting it, and jumped at the sudden noise. Getting over the surprise, she stood and turned to see who it was.
She fell back in shock as Aizen himself strode into the chamber.
"Ai- .. Aize... no... what're you..."
The man's smile was as evil as ever as the boy on the couch sat up, facing Aizen. The Espada Grimmjow entered behind Aizen, his hands in his pockets.
"Hitsugaya, come." Aizen commanded.
Toshiro, somewhat shakily, came to his feet and began to walk to the man he called him. However, as he reached the edge of the sofa, his legs gave out on him and fell to his knees.
"Grimmjow..."
The Espada understood immediately. He stepped in front of Aizen and grabbed the boy's arm. Yanking Toshiro upwards, Grimmjow sneered at the weakened shinigami, taking delight as the boy winced in pain.
"Stop it!" Momo screamed. "He's too weak! You can't take him out to the Soul Society now! Sto-"
She cut off mid-sentence, staring widely at the calm eyes of Aizen. The man smiled softly and spoke. "Fear not. I won't be sending to the Soul Society anymore.
No..."
Aizen grinned even wider. "No... He has a much greater purpose now."
"A.... Greater purpose....?" Momo stumbled over her words, not understanding what Aizen spoke of.
"Yes." The man began to turn to leave the room. "Also, I will be separating you two from now on. I can't risk him regaining his emotions."
The girl's eyes widened. "Separate us!? No! You can't-"
Aizen stopped, interrupting her. "I believe I have control over what I can or cannot do. You, pathetic shinigami, have absolutely no say in the matter."
Without another word, Aizen left the room, closing the door softly behind him, leaving Momo wide-eyed and hopeless.
Toshiro stumbled slightly as Grimmjow pushed against his back, thrusting him into the throne chamber.
"Thank you, Grimmjow, you may go now."
The Espada glared at Toshiro, but backed away as ordered, sneering as Aizen closed the door.
"Now then, Hitsugaya."
Aizen strode to the middle of the dim room. As he reached his hand out to the side of him, a thin pillar appeared, and the very top spun off. A small sphere was floating in place, shadowy material spinning inside it.
"Come forward."
Toshiro obeyed silently, advancing until Aizen was satisfied. The boy gazed blankly at the Hogyoku as Aizen with drew a long zanpaktou from his robes. Hyourinmaru's purple sheath seemed to almost glow from the Zanpaktou's rage of being handled by Aizen.
The lord of Hueco Mundo held the weapon out to Hitsugaya and the boy took it, showing no signs of recognition of the blade in his hands.
"Now, cut the Hogyoku."
Toshiro didn't find himself caring why Aizen wanted this. His body was shaking very slightly from the effort of standing, but he unsheathed the zanpaktou in his hands, and brought it in front of him.
Aizen's eyes glinted in anticipation as the boy raised the sword and thrust it down.
A rush of blue reiatsu flooded from Hyourinmaru as the blade came in contact with the Hogyoku. Toshiro's glassy eyes widened a little as the powers collided. Aizen stepped back when shots of blue and black energy flew wildly through the air, engulfing Toshiro and everything around it in bright light.
Even Aizen had to hold his arm in front of his eyes as the the light intensified. When in dimmed after a few moments, Aizen stood up straight and took in the surroundings.
The Hogyoku was the same, not even a scratch on it, and the particles inside continued at their regular pace. Toshiro had been thrown across the room, and was crumpled against the wall, breathing heavily and trembling uncontrollably.
Aizen sighed at the disappointment, but he knew not to be surprised. He walked over to where the silver-haired shinigami had collapsed and gazed down at him, his eyes glistening with superiority.
"I should've known"
Toshiro struggled for breath, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Your body is still recovering from what Grimmjow did to you, and won't be able to break the Hogyoku until it is fully healed."
The ex-captain sighed once more and turned as Gin entered the room.
"What's happened? I heard an explosion, are 'ya okay"
"I'm fine." Aizen walked to his throne and sat upon it. "But you have perfect timing. Take Hitsugaya to one of the lower prison chambers. He will not be staying be staying with Hinamori any longer."
Gin scanned the room until he sighted Toshiro against the wall, still breathing unevenly.
"And why is that?" He asked, his smiled crooked
Leaning his chin against his hand, Aizen sighed and replied. "I don't want him to get his emotions back, and if he stays with Hinamori he may. If I'm going to use the power of his soul to break open the Hogyoku, I don't want any emotion to leak inside."
Gin cocked his head thoughtfully. "Makes sense, I guess."
By the time Ichimaru set Toshiro down in the cell, the shinigami had begun to breathe easier. The new place Ichimaru was told to bring him to was much like the one he was held in in the Soul Society but by no means as comfortable as the one Momo was in. Aizen wasn't taking any risks with securing him anymore.
Thick bars separated the hard stone room. On one side it was bare, with the exception of heavy shackles that where hammered into the wall. On the other side was the door to leave the room, and a medium sized window, also barred.
As Ichimaru dutifully tightened the chains onto Toshiro wrists, he avoided the boy's eyes and stared out the window. He knew the window was only put there to taunt the prisoner, showing the endless spans of hueco mundo, and the freedom it could bring. When he finished fastening the metal, Gin took a small canteen from his robes and brought it forward to Hitsugaya.
The boy pushed away, eying the container with caution.
"Relax, this time it's only water." Gin said. Caving in to his exhaustion, Toshiro allowed the cold liquid to flow down his throat.
When Ichimaru finally stood up and started to leave, Toshiro was laying on the floor, slowly falling asleep.
I think I'm gonna a picture of that... It would be cool... I'll try...
I get lasagna for dinner! Hooray!! I would be much happier, but I'm actually really sick right now and my head hurts like hell... So I'm gonna go nap now and PLEASE REVIEW ME!!!