To be honest, I'm rather scared to update this chapter since I ended last one with such big cliff-hanger everyone just… got pissed off at me, and now, I'm not sure how happy you guys will be with what happens… /sweat/ But the show must go on, eh?
Anyway, SPOILER WARNING: If you had not read/watched the part about Aizen explaining something about hougyoku in Las Noches, Hueco Mundo (not at Sougyouku in Soul Society), there's a spoiler about it. In anime, it's episode 138. Also, I kinda tweaked the ability for Aizen's zanpaktou and the condition for complete hypnosis.
Anyway, so here it is. This was going to be a VERY long chapter but some got moved to next chapter… You will know what's moved to next chapter when you finish reading this one… Well, I hope you enjoy… and please RxR without urgh… killing me, if it's possible…?!
Empathy by HeukYa Ch.21
Aizen was prattling on about some theories he had on Hitsugaya's condition but Ichigo wasn't listening as he discreetly tried to test the strength of the restrains (and if Ichigo had been listening, he would have realised they were all wrong and would have hada great time snickering at the bastard in front of him). The bakudou placed on him seemed to be quite strong but he wasn't too worried. He had once broken free of bakudou 99 upon his return as shinigami. Asudden strong explosion of his reiatsu would probably set him free of these lightning rods. That jerk was seriously underestimating him and when the time came, he would dearly pay for it.
"And you, Kurosaki-kun. I have been watching you as well."
Ichigo's mind reeled back into the reality when Aizen's attention turned to him. Then with a snap, a big screen appeared on which something was playing; Ichigo soon recognised it as his fight with that espada with tentacles. What was his name again? Something starting with L. He was never good with names and that bastard certainly didn't worth his memory and effort. Ichigo snickered.
"I guess I should feel damn lucky that the sad king of sad Hueco Mundo graced me with his attention."
Aizen did not falter at Ichigo's cynical remark as he simply continued to smile gently.
"You would make a very strong espada, probably number two or one even."
"Ha, because I will just say yes and become your dog."
This time, Ichigo would have bet his life -which was now dangerously hanging in line- that Aizen's smile changed into a lopsided snicker. Not a good sign. Ichigo scowled.
"Yes, you will. After you watch how the praised prodigy of Gotei 13 becomes one of us. I may not have a detailed theory but I have enough proof to assure me that our young taichou cannot keep up against our presence. Do not forget, we are currently in the middle of Las Noches, home to espadas and arrancars, not to mention hollows that roam the desert of Hueco Mundo."
"……………"
"Whatever the process is, it will be very interesting to observe."
"You sound like that freak taichou in Soul Society."
"Oh, don't compare me to Kurotsuchi taichou. He would be so angry that someone dared to compare anyone to his level of obnoxiousness."
Ichigo just snorted. In his mind, that experiment-obsessed captain who, truth be spoken, freaked out Ichigo more than Zaraki Kenpachi, could be a REAL good friend with this jerk.
"When our genius taichou becomes our nakama (AN: teammate/friends/colleagues), I'll gather all espadas to watch you, the hidden card of Soul Society, turning into an arrancar. Hitsugaya-kun's awakening as an espada would have been entertaining too but this is a new phenomenon to me as well, so I wanted some private observation. Nevertheless it will be most entertaining to see the looks on my ex-colleagues when they see you two, the tendo and the powerful ryoka at my sides, listening to my orders."
Ichigo glared at Aizen after aquick glance at Toshiro lying motionless. If he didn't know better, he would have said that Hitsugaya was just sleeping rather peacefully. Aizen's brown eyes followed Ichigo's gaze then he stood in front of the bound shinigami, blocking Hitsugaya out of Ichigo's view.
"You and Hitsugaya-kun… you two are more than just nakamas, aren't you? The interaction between you two… Who would have thought the irritable prodigy would fall for such a brash ryoka."
Ichigo glared at Aizen inresponse to the words, looking straight into those menacing brown eyes, his gaze never faltering.
"None of your business, jerk."
"Watch your mouth."
Aizen only chuckled a little but Ulquoirra, who would have no such nonsense from a mere human towards his master, moved his zanpaktou an inch closer to the white-haired boy's neck and Ichigo instantly quietened down. Aizen turned his back on Ichigo as he walked up to the metal bed where Hitsugaya was laid down.
"Ulquoirra, it's okay. You can leave now."
Ulquoirra's green eyes darted between his master and the orange-haired boy but as usual, he followed his master's order without any question.
"Hai, Aizen-sama."
Once Ulquoirra took his leave, it left just Aizen, Hitsugaya, Ichigo and two other arrancars who seemed to be some weakling, probably lab workers. Aizen gazed down at the comatose captain and Ichigo's body shook of rage when Aizen's hand ran down the side of the small face. But when he heard Aizen's muttering, Ichigo had to gulp, his body stiffening.
"Hmm… it seems there is no further change. I was sure that once he has fallen, hollowfication would start without much delay due to the synchronisation."
Ichigo stayed silent, keeping vigil eyes on Aizen and his surroundings. Synchronisation was one way of putting it and frankly, Ichigo wasn't feeling like explaining all the details either. However the situation was turning from worse to worst by every second.
"I guess I should have expected it not to go so smoothly… It is the tendo boy that we are talking about here after all..."
"…………"
"Perhaps it's time for a little… push."
"What are you going to do?! Leave him alone!!"
Ichigo's eyes widened as he watched Aizen pull out a small glass box with adark purple ball inside from his sleeve. Ichigo quickly looked around the room again and tried to sense reiatsus outside as he frantically searched for a way to stop Aizen without having the whole ofLas Noches attacking him. He had to buy some more time, he had to stop Aizen from using that blasted thing on his beloved frosty captain no matter what. Just alittle more time, that would be enough for him, for them.
But would they have that little bitmore time? Ichigo could surely break out from the bakudou even now but the sudden burst would surely attract other hordes of arrancars and even to himself, ten espadas and Aizen (and perhaps few more arrancars) didn't exactly make good party guests.
"Kurosaki-kun, I'm sure you remember what this is since I had pulled it out of Kuchiki Rukia in front of your eyes."
"Hougyouku…"
Ichigo was relieved a little now. Aizen seemed to be in one of his lecturing moods; that guy was surprisingly -and annoyingly, although it was coming handy at this moment- talkative. Now Ichigo just had to keep the guy talking until it was the time he was waiting for.
"I thought it was still sealed?"
"Yes, but it can wake up to its full potential when it merges with someone who has reaitsu twice the captain class."
Ichigo looked at Aizen with stunned eyes at the news; Urahara had never mentioned anything like that about the hougyouku.
"…What?"
Aizen's smirk only grew at the obvious bewilderment.
"I doubt even Urahara Kisuke, knew about this since he sealed it as soon as he created it. It is of course, only temporary, but it had been more than enough. And with its complete waking now near, the power of hougyouku is… !!"
"!!"
A victorious smile cracked on Ichigo's face as weighing reiatsus that not a single soul in Hueco Mundo could have missed filled the air. Aizen's gaze sharply turned to Ichigo as he realised to whom these reiatsus belonged; he had thought about various consequences that could follow after kidnapping these two shinigamis but he had never thought this particular situation was a realistic one. Ichigo smirked as he drew his reiatsu up.
Finally, time to make their move.
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It was a scene no one would ever forget; waves and waves of black started to fill up the harsh, bleak desert of Hueco Mundo as they marched on against the gusty winds towards the only visible single architecture. At the front were the captains and vice-captains of Gotei 13, leading their divisions to the final showdown as every single one of the most powerful military force in Soul Society gathered in one place for the first time in its history.
Matsumoto stood at the front of the tenth division, her silvery eyes fixed on the traitor's fortress. Somewhere in there was her captain and now they were here. She put a hand in her shihakshou and confirmed that the letter was safely stowed away. It was due to the letter that they stood now here.
Matsumoto had thought she knew her captain quite well but if he came up with such aplan and actually went through with it, perhaps there was a wild streak in him that no one ever knew. It was simple and could turn out to be brilliant, but there were so many things that could have gone wrong. Her captain really did drop a bomb on her this time.
Of course, she would have to get back at him for giving her a near heart attack; she had enough black mail material for that. She smiled a little with determination in her eyes as she remembered the emergency meeting they had back in Soul Society.
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"Rukia,
I know at least you will find this letter even if no one else does. If you are reading this, that means we've been taken by Aizen, but don't worry, it's all a plan."
A round of murmurs broke out; Soifon seemed to be trying hard to stop rolling her eyes but Zaraki was looking much happier than before, Yachiru bouncing up and down on his shoulder. Matsumoto continued on.
"There's a reason why Aizen has taken interest in us. Remember when we came across hollows on New Year and Toshiro had fainted? His empathy was really strong at the time and it had let the hollow's taint in his mind, but don't worry, nothing happened thanks to Hyourinmaru protecting him. He had just gone blank to focus all the energy on protection of his soul."
Not even Unohana had expected this and soft gasps could be heard from various shinigamis. They had never heard that a soul could fall to the taint in such way but then there had never been an empathic shinigami previously in their times to begin with.
"Anyway, asimilar thing happened to amuch lesser degree when that damn espada with tentacles paid us avisit. Don't ask me how but Toshiro was apparently already convinced after the first battle that Aizen would find out about the fight one way or the other and his unusual condition. Something to do with Aizen being Aizen. He thought that bloody pain in the ass would sooner or later come to understand that Toshiro identifies with the arrancars at some bizarre level. Aizen would definitely want to play around with something like that especially when it's so easy to get his hands on Toshiro while he's weakened. That's where he came up with a plan."
By now, there were many questioning looks on most of the shinigamis that had gathered there.
"Rangiku-san, we're sorry but we lied to you about Toshiro's recovery. After the first attack, we found a way to speed up his recovery and well, he actually had recovered fully by the time we had thesecond espada attack and his empathy had disappeared some time ago. From that point on, it had been an act the whole time, because according to Toshiro, Aizen would have sent someone to watch us during fights to confirm his theory before taking us. I guess if you are reading this, he has been right all along."
Everyone either nodded or scoffed lightly, shaking their heads. Hitsugaya Toshiro's sharp eyes and analytical mind were well-known, which he was proving yet again, and frankly, Kurosaki Ichigo was very lucky that it was the tendo captain he was charged with; that substitute shinigami may be strong but he just didn't have the brain for anything else apart from going straightforward.
"When you told us the war time is near, we knew Aizen would make his move soon. It'll be to take us, not to fight, so Toshiro thinks we'll be reasonably safe. I surely hope so, anyway. If all goes well, then once we are taken, we'll be in Hueco Mundo, bang in the middle of Aizen's base, most likely with Aizen right next to us."
Now everyone was starting to see just what the plan was and what it also meant; the start of the war they had all been preparing.
"This is the important part. Please get this to Soul Society ASAP and come to Hueco Mundo, since we are not exactly planning to herd off all the arrancars and Aizen on our own. With so many taichous and fukutaichous, we, or at least Toshiro, should be able to feel your reiatsus when you guys arrive and you will know location of Aizen's base thanks to my non-existent control over my reaitsu, as Toshiro puts it so nicely."
Afew of the vice-captains (like Abarai Renji and Kira Izuru) scoffed at the last line. Ichigo's constantly leaking reiatsu was well known between those who had met him. Matsumoto secretly wondered if her captain had actually read this letter; Ichigo had called him Toshiro no less than nine times already and by the sound of it, they knew it was going to be read to everyone else in Gotei 13.
"We'll break out from the inside when it's time, but you need to move fast. There's only so much time we can keep up our pretence before that jerk realises we've been faking it. It depends but Toshiro thinks we are most likely not to have much time, which means we probably won't.
I'm sorry we kept you out of this, Rangiku-san, but Toshiro was adamant that we should not risk any leak when we don't know who else Aizen had planted in Sereitei. Something about it all being surprise attack aimed at the top guy.
By the way, I'm sure you've guessed it by now but for the first time, this wild plan did not come from me. I don't like it much either but Toshiro just got stubborn when he got the plan in his head and I couldn't budge his mind whatsoever. Don't worry, I'll protect him no matter what, but I think we would both appreciate it if you move in fast.
Kurosaki Ichigo."
Matsumoto realised Ichigo had missed out the part about him being a vaizard, which would explain why Aizen would want to take him as well as her captain. She smiled inwardly; if he did, that would expose that Hitsugaya and Matsumoto had known but did not report. Anyway, Gotei 13 was unlikely to inquest into this any further when her captain held such an obvious reason.
Silence settled in as everyone thought about the letter again but before long, Yamamoto brought everyone's attention back to himself as he cleared his throat loudly.
"This is a rather reckless plan but none the less, very effective especially at this time when we have all been ready to strike. Every taichou is to go back to their divisions and get the members ready to leave for Hueco Mundo straight away."
Then the chotaichou's stern gaze swept across the room, meeting every single shinigami's eyes.
"This is one war that we cannot afford to lose and now that we have two of our most powerful shinigamis in the enemy's territory, ready to strike at the head, we have an unexpected advantage on our side. Remember that the prime targets are the traitors and the espadas."
"Hai!"
"Yare yare, the tensai (AN: genius, little different from tendo in details) boy has surely come up with something big this time, hasn't he?"
Kyouraku spoke to no one in particular as he lifted off his hat a little. Ukitake was the one to reply, as usual, a small somewhat exasperated smile on his face.
"We should have known Hitsugaya taichou would not sit and wait so quietly."
Zaraki just snorted.
"Che, that prick, running off to fight the strong one on his own."
Yamamoto stopped any possible talk or bantering as he gave out hislast orders.
"Soifon taichou, the Onmitsukidou will stay to protect Soul Society as we have discussed however leave them in Oomaeda fukutaichou's hand and lead the second division in the war. We would need another taichou to fill in Hitsugaya taichou's place."
"But Hitsugaya taichou is…"
"Hopefully we will be there in time but we cannot be sure whether they will be able to join us in the frontline."
Everyone grimaced a little; it was true that Hitsugaya and Kurosaki were in much bigger danger for their lives as they were facing their strongest enemy in the middle of the hostile territory.
"Hai."
"And Kuchiki taichou, I place you in charge of rescue of Kurosaki Ichigo and Hitsugaya taichou. Your priority should be your division but they are two very talented shinigamis and it would be great loss to Soul Society if we were to lose them."
Kuchiki Byakuya seemed to want to say something but in the end, just sounded his affirmation. Renji thought what a weird thing fate was; Byakuya had nearly killed Ichigo who then came to Soul Society to save his sister, which at the end, saved the noble from his mental torment. Now, Kuchiki Byakuya was to rescue the brash substitute shinigami who still did not sit so well with the stoic captain. The history between the two would be one of the oddest Renji had seen.
"We will leave for Hueco Mundo as soon as possible. Gather your men."
"HAI!"
With another look at the shinigamis gathered in front of him, Yamamoto spoke solemnly.
"I wish good luck, everyone."
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Oh, one Kurosaki Ichigo was really enjoying his time right now as he watched the brown brows furrow in aslight frown. Their plan had been more than just shaky but it had worked out well in the end (he was sure Toshiro had given much more thought to the plan than he actually mentioned).
Before Ichigo bolted out to face Yami, Toshiro had stopped him for afew seconds and told him to put his hollow's power on show as much as he could before disposing of the espada. Then when the white-haired boy came out trembling in the middle of the fight, Ichigo was genuinely surprised; he had thought the prodigy had sufficiently recovered after their many nights that Hitsugaya stayed out of his gigai. He then got completely perplexed when the boy proceeded to get up, looking just fine, after the espada was gone.
'What the hell's going on?'
'We need to talk.'
'Talk about what?'
'Aizen, you boke.'
Ichigo ignored the last word, his puzzlement getting better of him.
'I don't get it.'
'I have a plan.'
When Ichigo first heard of it, he flat out refused to agree to it. He didn't care if the frosty captain had recovered fully or not or if the empathy had disappeared. This was Aizen Sousuke they were talking about, the guy who almost killed Hitsugaya in one swing, and Toshiro was saying they would be right next to him on their own when the war broke out.
'I can't do it. It's too dangerous, Toshiro.'
'Trust me. This is going to work brilliantly if we can just get it right. Aizen would not suspect another war to break out from within his territory nor for him to be targeted directly.'
'Probably because it doesn't matter? Toshiro, we are throwing ourselves in middle of ten espadas, not to mention three ex-captains and who knows how many arrancars there will be.'
Toshiro looked at Ichigo with raised eyebrow then smirked.
'Never took you to be someone who worries over that kind of things.'
Ichigo scowled.
'I do when my boyfriend is being suicidal.'
'Aizen will have to send out espadas to deal with Gotei 13. It's the fact that there's a surprise attack from within their own walls which will throw them off, not to mention two captain-class shinigamis on their so-called master, and when we get rid of Aizen right at the beginning, it will turn the tables around drastically. Another thing, it's two ex-captains, not three.'
Ichigo blinked.
'Why?'
A dainty hand running through his spiked hair, Hitsugaya looked like he could not believe he was saying these words as he started explaining.
'When Kuchiki taichou came, the information given only to taichous was that Ichimaru was in fact a spy placed by Central 46 Chambers. The reason they had planted Ichimaru was not appreciated though; apparently they wanted to keep a close eye on the most powerful military force in Soul Society. Ukitake and Kyouraku had been searching all of old Central 46 documents when they came across that information.'
'And how can we be sure that the fox-face is still with us?'
'They say that the Royal Special Task Force took over that particular business straight after Central 46 was found annihilated. They have been in contact with Ichimaru since then.'
Ichigo wasn't sure how to react to that news and it seemed neither did Toshiro, who had harboured such hatred to the sneaky ex-captain even before the whole betrayal took place.
'Why didn't the Central 46 do anything if they knew about it?'
'Because at first, they thought Aizen would fail in his search then they thought there was still some chance that Aizen would be stopped without blowing Ichimaru's cover. They seemed to have thought it was more important to keep an eye on Gotei 13 than having two worlds threatened. Then there was you.'
Ichigo blinked.
'Me?'
'Yes. You were abig enough threat for Aizen to force him into searching some other way to get hougyouku because he thought you would be able to stop the execution. I think Ichimaru was hoping somehow you would be able to stop him. He let you go pass him at Sougyouku, didn't he?'
Now that Ichigo thought about it, he remembered Ichimaru telling Aizen that he didn't think Ichigo wouldn't be much of a problem so he let him go pass to stop Aizen from killing Renji. But Ichimaru had actually wanted him to stop Aizen? It was getting too confusing now for Ichigo's poor brain which was going into frantic overworked mode.
'They left a lot of things to chance.'
'It was stupid old guys making stupid decision.'
Ichigo snickered at Toshiro's usual description for just about anything.
'So we have a moto-taichou(AN: ex-captain) on our side. Still, we'll have our hands full.'
'Gotei 13 will be on full attack, it will be anearlier start to the war than they had expected but I seriously doubt Yamamoto chotaichou will ignore this chance especially when they are all ready anyway. I'm not saying we'll break out when we are surrounded. Once the attack starts, Aizen won't have choice but to focus on the war.'
'You sure?'
Hitsugaya smirked when Ichigo asked with a raised eyebrow, not looking too sure about it. After all, Ichigo knew very well about how inefficient Gotei 13 can be from his own experience and the Bounto incident.
'You don't know it, Kurosaki, but Aizen knows the true strength of Gotei 13 when all 13 divisions are working together. That's partly why back in Soul Society, he needed all the diversion he could create. Most of his force will have to fight the Gotei 13, I'm reasonably sure only Ichimaru and Tousen will be at his side which means it will be three verses two.'
Ichigo still did not like the sound of it, it sounded even more dangerous than going into Las Noches head-on; his usual approach. Then Toshiro continued on.
'And you and your friends are theonly ones who have not yet seen Aizen's Kyouka Suigetsu's awakening, which means you are not under his hypnosis yet. He will have you under it pretty soon but at least we'll have some time to ourselves before he pulls damn trick on you as well.'
'Which won't be long.'
'If he remembers you are not under his hypnosis.'
'He would remember it though, wouldn't he.'
It wasn't a question. Hitsugaya sighed.
'Yes.'
'So most likely, that's not going to be a score for us.'
'Probably.'
Ichigo thought of how he should word the next line without offending the prodigy captain but as usual, failed miserably. Subtlety just did not exist in his dictionary.
'……I don't want to put you through that kind of danger.'
Toshiro frowned although he wasn't surprised Ichigo was not fond of his plan. After all, he himself wasn't so keen on it either and would have had it in some other way if he could.
'Kurosaki, I'm a taichou of Gotei 13 in case you have forgotten. I am not weak.'
Ichigo pulled his small yet powerful lover into his arms and buried his nose in the snowy hair, drinking in Toshiro's scent.
'Not saying you are, but a boyfriend is allowed to worry, aren't I?'
Toshiro smiled a little at how Kurosaki just sounded rather childish. Snuggling into the hug, he pressed his ear against the broad, firm chest of his 'boyfriend'. He could hear the regular beating of Ichigo's heart and he felt calm waves flowing through him as he continued to focus on that sound of life.
'This is a war, Kurosaki. This will give us amuch better winning chance than anything else. We cannot leave everything to Ichimaru.'
'…………'
'And we won't die. Neither of us will. I will have you and you will have me.'
Ichigo already knew Toshiro's mind was set on it, he just didn't want to say the unavoidable answer that both of them knew was coming. Ichigo kissed the white mob as he sighed.
'I've influenced you too much. You've become too reckless.'
Toshiro smirked and pushed himself away from Ichigo, crossing his arms across chest.
'No, I just seek the best plan and best plans sometimes get wild especially in situations like this.'
'Okay, but promise me one thing.'
'What?'
'Don't you ever get out of my sight once the fight breaks out. Especially when we fight against Aizen.'
This time, Hitsugaya smiled. Ichigo could be a real dumbass sometimes.
'Same goes to you, boke.'
There was nothing Ichigo could say to that so he just silenced the boy, claiming the warm pink petals with his own lips.
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Even Ichigo could sense it, there was no mistake in them. The Gotei 13 was here and the pressure they brought with their arrival was actually amazing. Ichigo secretly thanked his lucky stars that he was taken as a mere intruder when he first went to Soul Society, rather than with such hatred as Gotei 13 now expressed towards their traitors.
He soon cursed though, what had taken those dorks so long? He was sure his letter would be found quickly; they would have to be freaking dumbasses if Soul Society did not find the situation weird, how fast espadas returned or that Hitsugaya was not picking up the usual check-up call. Probably they went through their usual, useless procedures, taking all the time in the world. However all was good that now they were here; Ichigo had to tweak few facts for his boyfriend's sake (like the real reason Toshiro had gone blank on New Year; it would cause uproar if they ever found Hitsugaya actually came very close to hollowfication) but the letter should have delivered everything they needed to know.
Aizen merely widened his eyes a little as he started to understand the situation; how unresponsive he was reminded Ichigo of Kuchiki Byakuya in a way but it didn't matter. Hueco Mundo was on full-out attack by Gotei 13. Then Ulquoirra reappeared with the new face espada who had come with him to Ichigo's place in his tow.
"Aizen-sama. It's…"
"I know. Ulquoirra, take the espada and greet the taichous of Gotei 13. Have No.11 to No.30 to deal with the fukutaichous and all others for the rest of shinigamis. Tell espadas to spread out once engaged in battle, taichous can be very destructive when they work together."
"Aizen-sama, what about…"
Ulquoirra's eyes darted from Aizen to Ichigo then back to his master.
"Leave them with me. It seems Soul Society has brought over their full force, we will have to give them proper welcoming to Hueco Mundo. Do not let a single intruder into Las Noches, I will come out when I am finished here to show them our welcoming gifts."
"Hai."
When Ulquoirra left, Aizen turned around and looked at Ichigo. There was a short staring contest between them as Ichigo's reiatsu started to flare up. Aizen asked, looking completely undeterred at the enormous reiatsu.
"What are you going to do when you are bound like that?
Ichigo snickered, brown eyes glistening. He took a quick glance at the metal bed behind Aizen
"Oh, don't worry about me, because…"
"He's not alone."
Aizen's eyes travelled down to his chest where a zanpaktou had speared him through from his back. The frosty bite seeping in from the wound clearly told who the wielder was. Ichigo's reiatsu shot up at that moment and with crunching sound, the six bars shattered, freeing one angry substitute shinigami. Aizen watched as Ichigo threateningly pointed his Zangetsu at him then looked over his shoulder at Hitsugaya.
"Hitsugaya-kun. This is a surprise."
Hitsugaya frowned at Aizen's gentle voice that did not match his injury or the situation. Then suddenly, the image of Aizen pierced by Hitsugaya disappeared. Two pairs of eyes with equal surprise met in the air but before Hitsugaya could even look around, Ichigo grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, bracing him.
"I guess two is better than one."
Hitsugaya turned around in Ichigo's arm; if Ichigo had been late just a millisecond, he would have been slashed by Aizen.
"…Why am I under illusion as well, I've never seen you awakening your zanpaktou!"
"Simple illusion does not require the awakening to be seen. It is the complete control over your senses that it does. And now, I do have both of you under complete hypnosis."
"What?"
"Ulquoirra who had been with us previously in this room had been illusion. You were present when the illusion 'left' and my zanpaktou return. You 'saw' Kyouka Suigetsu awakening. I had originally done it so that I would have little fun with you, Kurosaki Ichigo, but it seems it brought me more benefits."
Ichigo and Hitsugaya glanced at each other. They hadn't expected to remain free of hypnosis for long but it was still a blow that Ichigo was under the effect as well so early into the fight. However they didn't have time to linger on it. They quickly parted, taking their stance, and two voices rang out.
"Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu!"
"Bankai! Dai Guren Hyourinmaru!"
The walls shattered and theceiling fell as result of the two reiatsus exploding. However when the dust from debris settled down, they were confronted by someone that they had not expected to see, one that Hitsugaya particularly did not want to see here, standing in front of Aizen with released zanpaktou glowing red. Ichigo's brown eyes quickly turned to his boyfriend, unsure of the situation and their next course of action at this sudden unanticipated turn, but the white-haired boy was standing there still, too shocked.
Hitsugaya stared at the shinigami with wide eyes and croaked.
"………Hinamori?"
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Omake
HeukYa: Urgh… Everyone's kinda busy, I tried to sneak Byakuya out, or even Renji, or just anyone but… /sobs/
(Out of nowhere)
Isshin: (Torpedoes into the scene) You are never alone, the lovely papa is here!!
HeukYa: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! ………Hold on, what the hell are you doing here?
Isshin: /cries/ My boy has all grown up!! Now he's in big battle with his lover!! Of course I should be here to watch!! Ah, Masaki, their love is so beauti… PWAK!
Karin: Sorry, I took my eyes off for a second and the crazy old man was gone. Oy, goat-face, we are going! (drags unconscious Isshin out)
HeukYa: ………… (sweat drop) Urgh… Yeah… Um, so as I was saying, everyone's busy. You do want to know how everyone does, right? Right? RIGHT?! PWAK!!
Karin: You! Stop losing it as well or I'm putting you in a locked room with the goat-face!!
HeukYa: KKKKKKKKYYYYYYYAAAAAHHHHHHH!! No!! No!! I'll behave!!
PS. Urgh… I thought I just should mention this. If you read through again, you'll realise that from the second attack on, I don't use expressions such as emotions flowing through Hitsugaya. When Hitsugaya talks about Ichigo's feelings, they have had somewhat obvious physical signs or situation. It had been subtle change which I think no one noticed from what I can gather based on reviews. Anyway, so that was that. Please RxR!