Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach nor any of the characters within… this being said, all OCs are mine.

Chapter Twenty-One - Déjà Vu

Ice seemed to erupt from the hilt of Shiro's sword, wrapping it's way up his arm at the same instance that huge wings of ice grew from his back. By the glint it was obvious that it was ice but the color was all wrong, black where it should have been white or a transparent blue. Cold and calculating eyes surveyed the scene as Shiro was held a few feet off the ground by his wings. Power seemed to swirl around the young prodigy, sending a chill through everyone in close proximity to his location.

Even Kasumi wasn't immune.

Solara actually took a step back as she felt the tremendous reiatsu that rose to swirl around the white haired Shinigami captain. It was rare to feel such power in someone from the Soul Society, even if he was one of the highest ranked among them, and she was somewhat surprised.

Turning steely blue eyes in the direction of the assembled Fraccion, who had been brought to a halt by the unexpected surge in reiatsu, Shiro held up his sword. With one sweeping blow the youth brought an end to all of them, the dragon of ice that erupted from the tip of the blade jet black and sparing none in it's path.

All Solara could do was look on in horror as her subordinates fell at the hands of the young white haired Shinigami, frozen to the spot as she watched them die. This was the last thing that she had expected when she had sought permission to face him… had wanted only to prove herself to Lord Heikichi.

As the last of the Fraccion fell to his blade, Shiro turned his steely blue eyes toward the Espada girl. He spoke not a single word as he raised his blade, preparing to attack.

"Toushirou," Kasumi called out, her blue eyes focused on the face of her best friend. She knew what had happened, having witnessed it several years ago back when she and Shiro were younger and still among the living. He had lost himself once more to the memories and power that coursed through his veins… the knowledge that his siblings were here in Hueco Mundo had pushed him over the brink.

And now she wasn't sure if there was any way to pull him back.

The last time this had happened the white haired youth had nearly decimated both Soul Society and the world of the living, fought in a battle against his own father and nearly killed his mother before he had finally snapped out of it. And the events of that day had haunted Shiro ever since, not something that Kasumi wished to see repeated.

"Please Toushirou…"

It was as though Shiro hadn't even heard the words spoken to him by his best friend, he simply continued to glare at Solara. There were so many different emotions swirling in his icy blue eyes and it was obvious what his intent was.

He intended for the Espada to fall.

"I must admit that I didn't expect this," Solara said, reaching down to draw the sword that she wore at her side. Drawing the blade she held it out, parallel to the ground as she gazed at the Shinigami boy. "You're stronger than I thought… but still no match for me."

Shiro didn't indulge in the trash talk that Solara seemed intent upon instigating, staring for a moment before using his flash-step to attack the girl. She barely had time to raise her blade before he was upon her, the sound of steel clashing against steel ringing out in the still air.

Kasumi gazed on in horror as she witnessed the battle between Shiro and the Espada girl unfolding before her. It brought back memories of another battle and she clenched her hands together, wanting to interfere but knowing that doing so would be ill advised. It was dangerous since Shiro wasn't himself at the moment so the young Quincy Shinigami decided that she would wait for the opportune moment to try and talk some sense into her best friend.

As Solara blocked the first blow Shiro jumped back and, not giving her even an instant to regain her composure, he leapt forward again. Placing a tremendous amount of force behind this second blow Shiro almost succeeded in knocking Solara's sword from her hand. The Espada girl had to tighten her grip around the hilt of her sword in order to keep it from flying from her hand. This caused her to lose her balance slightly and she had to take a couple of hasty steps back to keep from falling on her ass.

Solara snarled as she recovered, initiating an attack of her own. She was one of the Espada… one of Lord Heikichi's strongest soldiers… so there was absolutely no way that she was going to lose to the likes of this Shinigami brat. That would be a disgrace that she simply couldn't tolerate, even for the few seconds that would precede her death should she fail in this battle. This thought serving to steel her resolve Solara leapt forward, swinging her own blade with a renewed vigor.

"You're going to die," she snarled.

Shiro merely smirked.

"Nii-san!" the voices of the twins called out in unison as they watched the battle from the screen in Heikichi's throne room. Their constantly changing power levels seeming to even out as they gazed on, confused by this change in their brother. The twins had seen the Bankai transformation before but it was different this time… more powerful and with a more lethal air about it.

Plus there was the cold look in his eyes.

This person fighting wasn't the brother that they had always known and Kaien and Masaki were concerned and a little scared. Hands still clasped together the twins gazed on, seeming to have completely forgotten Heikichi's presence. There power levels hadn't decreased but had merely seemed to have stabilized as they held hands and gazed at the screen, all other thoughts banished as they gazed on in expectation of what was to come.

Their thoughts were focused solely on their brother.

Solara's breath was coming fast and heavy, her strength exhausted from the effort of attempting to fend off Shiro's attacks while launching counterattacks of her own. Her annoyance level had grown exponentially since this battle had begun and, jumping back several feet, she gazed at the white haired captain through narrowed eyes. "I didn't want to resort to this," she said, her voice laced with anger as she held out her blade. "But you've left me no choice… I'm going to have to release my blade."

Kasumi's blue eyes widened as she heard this, though Shiro gave no reaction to the news. Both young Shinigami had learned at the Academy that the blades carried by hollow who were of Espada level were very similar in nature to the Zanpaktou carried by the Shinigami. They too had a second form, which increased the power level of the Espada, and it appeared as though they were about to find out exactly how true that lesson had been.

"This doesn't look good," she muttered, her hand tightening around her bow as she gazed on.

A/N - End of another chapter and Shiro made short work of Solara's minions, now it's on to the Espada herself. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter, til next time I'm out.