Vietvn: WOWW...took me a while to get this up. Srry bout the long delay cuz of the holiday break but I mite not update AGAIN for a long while cuz of exams...again srry

Chapter Twenty-One: Black and Blue Dragons

It's been days since Reimei was brought to Urahara's shop to rest by Ichigo. The shop inhabitants did a pretty good job at hiding Reimei from Ikkaku, Yumichika, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto. Though its been days, Reimei was still recovering from her wounds and had not woken up from her deep slumber yet.

Yoruichi, who had so casually stumbled into the sleeping girl's room one day, was surprised to see Reimei there and immediately confronted Ichigo and Uruhara while they were having tea.

" Where'd you find her?! " she demanded, her cat eyes glaring daggers at the two men. Uruhara smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

" Guess we're getting sloppy at hiding her... " he muttered to Ichigo.

" It's your fault. "

" I asked you a question; where did you find her? " asked the black cat again. Ichigo sighed, the only reason why he was bothering to visit the shop daily was to watch if any other 'unwanted' shinigamis would stop by. That would mean that they might accidentally discover their little secret. And plus, he wanted to make sure Reimei recovered all right.

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo answered Yoruichi, " I found her in the forest where we first met the Arrancers. I think it was her zanpakuto that lead me to her. Its been days since I brought her to Uruhara's shop and since then, we've been hiding her from Ikakku, Yumichika, Toushiro and Rangiku-san. "

Yoruichi nodded in thought, taking all of this in.

" I see, Soul Society doesn't know about this either I hope? "

" No, they don't know. " replied Uruhara. The small cat nodded again and sighed.

" Well who else knows? "

" Only the people within these four walls. " replied Uruhara cheerfully.

" Good, we'll just keep it that way then. " Yoruichi concluded. Ichigo sighed at how calmly Yoruichi took it or maybe he was just overestimating everyone's reactions because Hitsugaya has yet to find out. The orange hair shinigami shuddered, when that day comes he'll be sure to get out of the shop before the child prodigy hunts him down.

With Hitsugaya

Hitsugaya had just finished training Matsumoto, Ikkaku and Yumichika. It was tiring and annoying, and yet he was surprised that he can last for at least three days now. Three days of training those loud idiots and yet not much progress. He let out a long sigh as he strolled down the streets of Karakura town. People were bustling about busily, trying to get where they needed to be. All Hitsugaya wanted to be was somewhere quiet.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked towards the park. Along the way, he let his mind wander into thought. But that soon lead to him thinking of what happened yesterday when he spoke to Hinamori for the first time in a while. It made him furrow his eyebrows, a small frown visible on his features.

Flashback

" You're.."

Standing where the Sou-taicho used to be, was Momo Hinamori. Hitsugaya's eyes widened a bit as he slowly turned around to face her. The timid girl glanced down at her feet, not knowing what to say after what she had done to him.

" Hitsugaya-kun.. " she began quietly. A relieved look was visible in the young captain's eyes as he spoke to his childhood friend.

" So you've woken up, Hinamori? "

Hinamori nodded, still not looking directly at Hitsugaya.

" Are you sure you're well enough to be walking around? "

The fifth division lieutenant glanced up a bit wearily but still flashed a reassuring smile to Hitsugaya, " I'm all better now. " Though Hitsugaya smiled a bit at her reply, he wasn't too convinced by the dark bags that remain under her eyes but he wasn't going to argue with her, at least she was here in the first place.

Hinamori seemed to have caught on with his unconvinced look so she glanced down sadly at her feet again before speaking quietly, " I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Hitsugaya-kun. I doubted you...And I attacked you. I don't know what was wrong with me. Really, I.."

She was cut short when Hitsugaya stopped her with his own reply, " You idiot, I don't care about that anymore. And if I don't care then you shouldn't either. "

Hinamori was taken by surprise by Hitsugaya. She didn't think he'll shake it off that easily but was glad that he had at least forgiven her.

" Hurry up and get back to bed and get rid of those panda eyes. " Relief washed over the lieutenant as tears began to form in her eyes. She was glad that everything was alright between him and her. Hinamori was sure that he would never talk to her again. Glancing down, she wiped away the tears before they spilled down her cheeks.

" Thank you, Hitsugaya-kun. "

Hitsugaya smiled a bit before scoffing, " Besides, you still look like a kid. If you wanna grow up, you need to get more sleep. Take a look at Matsumoto. You'll need sleep for ten years straight if you wanna catch up to her. "

Hinamori eyes snapped open at his comment and stared a bit in disbelief before pouting, " Sh-Shut up! Rangiku-san is an exception! Besides, you're not in the position to lecture people about growing, Hitsugaya-kun! "

" Hinamori! " The said lieutenant stopped her spazzing with a slight scowl on her face.

" I'm tired of repeating myself. I'm not Hitsugaya-kun, I'm Hitsugaya-taicho. " Hitsugaya said while smirking. Hinamori's face softened a bit, it was just like old times when he would always tell her that he was a captain. For that, she was grateful.

" Yeah, you're right. " She smiled softly down at her hands that were folded in front of her. A moment of silence washed over the two but Hinamori couldn't stop herself from asking something that was bothering her now that she realized it.

" Hey, is it okay if I ask you something, Hitsugaya-kun? "

" What is it? "

The atmosphere immediately changed from an easy going one to a tensed one. Hitsugaya sensed it and was almost dreading what was going to happen.

" You're going to fight against Aizen-taicho, aren't you? Are you going to kill...Aizen-taicho? " He knew it was coming yet he couldn't stop the hate that resurfaced within him for the man who betrayed Soul Society. The white haired captain clenched his hand into a fist, his childhood friend was still going on about her ex-captain. It seemed like she couldn't get over the fact that he had almost killed her. Hitsugaya wanted to scowl her for still having faith in a traitor like Aizen. But what she said next made his eyes widen in shock and disbelief.

" Please...Please save Aizen-taicho. " The timid girl was beginning to shake as she held her arms around herself as if trying to reassure her conscience, " I know what Aizen-taicho is doing is really bad. But, I'm sure he has a really good reason for doing it! " Hitsugaya clenched his fist even harder, his knuckles turning white as he tried to restrain himself.

" That's right! Ichimaru-taicho is forcing him to do it! Or even Reimei-san! " Hitsugaya's eyes immediately narrowed into an intense glare at Hinamori's fake hope and lame excuses.

" She's always been spying on Aizen-taicho as if to.. " Just when Hitsugaya's anger was going to overwhelm him, the Sou-taicho stepped in suddenly, a hand held over Hinamori's face as her widened eyes slowly became dull and she fell unconscious, only to be caught by the Sou-taicho's lieutenant.

" My apologies, I respected her wishes to talk to you and allowed it, but apparently it was too soon. " Sou-taicho said. Hitsugaya glanced at Hinamori's unconscious form before looking back at the captain-commander and bowing lowly.

" No, thank you very much. I'll take my leave. " With that, the connection was broken into static. Silence erupted in the room as Hitsugaya stood, taking in what had just happened. Hinamori's words still echoed in his mind and it angered him to the very core.

" Aizen..." He clenched his fist.

End of Flashback

Hitsugaya sighed, trying to relieve his anger in some way but the feeling didn't go away. He glanced up and found that he was in the clearing where a large crater was. As soon as Hitsugaya stepped into the clearing, a dark reiatsu erupted within the area. It pushed down on his shoulders so much that he was about to collapse on his knees until he caught himself.

' What the hell is this?! ' He clenched his teeth as he tried to stand back up straight. Looking around, he could not locate the source. Hitsugaya's aqua green eyes surveyed the area carefully until he spotted a pair of red, glowing eyes staring back at him within the depths of the forest. His eyes widened in surprise and was almost stricken with fear before he regained his composure. Taking out a gikon pill, he popped it into his mouth and exited his gigai.

Hitsugaya drew out his sword and held it firmly in front of him. He glared at the red eyes, watching if it was going to make a move. Slowly, black mist swirled out of the clearing and a creature emerged. Taking a step back, Hitsugaya kept a steady eye on it until it completely took on its full form. It surprised the young captain that it was a black dragon.

" Well, well, well, if it isn't Jyuubantai-taicho, Hitsugaya Toushiro-kun... " It chuckled lowly. Hitsugaya eyes widened in shock, he was actually surprised that it knew him. Hitsugaya remained silent but the black dragon watched him with amused eyes.

" What? Never seen a black dragon before? You should, considering I'm always around you with a certain person... " Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes, what was he talking about? This was the first time that he had ever seen the dragon and yet its talking as if he'd seen it plenty of times. The dragon let out a deep laugh.

" Confused are we? How can you forget your dearly beloved so easily? That is, if you really love her.. "

" ...Reimei..." was the only name Hitsugaya could utter in a whisper automatically. The dragon grinned, showing its fangs.

" I see you haven't forgotten her completely. My poor mistress...tsk tsk tsk, always getting into trouble I tell ya.. "

" What happened to her?! If you're her zanpakuto, then what are you doing here by yourself?! " Hitsugaya demanded as he had enough confidence to speak to the massive creature towering over him. He noticed that the atmosphere had darken and it looked like he was trapped in a dark realm with the beast.

" Touchy now? That's not very nice to snap at a dragon...I'll tell you where she is but you'll have to beat it outta me. " Hitsugaya glared at the dragon while gripping his zanpakuto. The dragon was probably the only thing that'll give him answers to his mistress's whereabouts in the human world. But to earn it by defeating something as large as a skyscraper?

' No, I have to beat him. It's the only way I'll know where she is, after all this time. '

" What are you waiting for? Come at me. " The dragon grinned, baring its fangs at the young captain menacingly. Without hesitation, Hitsugaya lunged forward and called out his own dragon.

" Soten ni zase! Hyourinmaru! " The massive ice dragon spilled out of the tip of Hitsugaya's blade. It swirled upwards, meeting its opponent's red eyes with its own with a single roar. Tsukuyomi growled back and darted forward in attempt to crush the ice dragon with its massive teeth.

Hitsugaya maneuvered out of the way as did his dragon. The captain sent Hyourinmaru back to Tsukuyomi and it crashed directly behind the black dragon, ice freezing over him. Roaring in anger, Tsukuyomi broke free of the ice encasing on his back and turned towards Hitsugaya, ready to strike. The battle continued furiously as both opponents went at each other's necks. Within those intense moments, Hitsugaya had managed to become badly wounded by the massive black dragon. Only a few times had he managed to catch him off guard when he was in bankai but they weren't enough to stop Tsukuyomi. Panting, Hitsugaya stuck his zanpakuto into the ground to keep his aching body up. A trail of blood ran down the side of his forehead and a large gash streaked across his chest, the blood still flowing freely. He glared up at the dragon who had managed to put him in this fatal position as his ice wings broke around him.

Tsukuyomi, in turn, only huffed and lowered his head down to ground level. Hitsugaya clenched his teeth, trying to force his mind to work fast and avoid whatever the dragon was about to try. But what surprised him was that the dragon didn't do anything, only merely staring at him with its red eyes.

" You put up a good fight kid, I'm surprised you lasted THAT long. "

" And..how long would that be? " questioned Hitsugaya,trying to steady his breathing.

" About six hours and a half straight " Replied Tsukuyomi. Hitsugaya's eyes widened, he hadn't realized he was fighting that long. The dragon chuckled at his shocked expression but then stopped as he looked dead serious at the young captain.

" I'll stop for now anyways, at least now I know Reimei isn't going head over heels for a weak guy. "

" Where is she? " breathed out Hitsugaya.

" If you can stay conscious enough to reach me, I'll take you to her. " Hitsugaya growled lowly in frustration. He could hardly move as it is. But if the dragon was serious about taking him to Reimei, then he was willing to do it or at least die trying for all he cared. With a final nod to the dragon, it disappeared in a massive swirl of black mist. Though it was gone, Hitsugaya could still feel his presence except it was coming from a different direction. Hitsugaya glanced around, trying to locate its general direction. Once he found it, he used the last remains of his strength to shunpoe to it.

Placed on the ground in front of him, was the black sword of Tsukuyomi. Breathing heavily, he knelt down to it and grazed his fingers over the sheath and within a second, he found himself kneeling on cold, solid concrete. Glancing up wearily, he could make out Uruhara's shop from his blurred vision before collapsing completely, both his and Tsukuyomi's zanpakuto crashing loudly beside him before he let himself sink into darkness.

Uh oh... Hitsugaya's gonna find outt:O R&R plz :)