A/N: And - GO! Romance has been established. Now onto Part 2! Enter the Royal Family!
I'm sorry for this being a little late, though. The most recent chapter was a bear to write. Aizen's so hard to get right, dammit! He's probably going to end up a little OOC... :(
Also, just so I can get a sense of who you think has Hitsugaya's diagram/how well am I doing misleading you, please answer the poll on my profile page! Thank you!
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Go..." Hitsugaya whispered into the quiet of her office, her voice almost silent. A flicker of orange power crackled in the air in front of her. "Akaen, go. While I'm at the ceremony welcoming the royals."
There was no response, but the flare of orange power vanished into nothingness, and Toushiro knew her message had gone through. Slowly, trying to hide her nerves, she wiped her sweaty hands on the legs of her hakama. Today was the day, and she'd make the first move. There was no better time to ward the royals away from Seireitei than to let the man they'd psychologically destroyed loose for a short period of time. Of course, if all went according to plan, then Akaen, Kotabiki, and one other Kenmeinarei spirit would escort Aizen into Rukongai - busting through the sekisekki wall in the process - before disappearing into the Kenmeinarei dimension. She, like the other captains, would attempt to give chase, and only non-life-threatening injuries would be dealt. Akaen and Kotabiki were powerful enough where such a tactic would be simple for them to pull off. Aizen, however, was the wild card. If he screwed up, the entire operation could go to hell exceedingly quickly.
Toushiro stood up, setting a last file in her outbox, ready for one of her Fourth Seats, the newly married one, to file it in the Tenth Division's somewhat-extensive archives. Then she straightened her bow on her back, shifting the angle at which Hyourinmaru was pinned to her back by her obi. Then her lips pursed in a scowl and she strode confidently out of her office, her steps quick and purposeful, her haori billowing about her like a cloud. Her subordinates saluted as she passed through her division, with a few notable noble exceptions. She glared at these few, then nodded at their supervising officers with a disdainful toss of her head and left them to their punishment.
She walked silently out of the Tenth Division, a characteristic blankness enclosing her emotions, and made her way towards the First Division, where the royals and their guards would be staying during the duration of their time in Seireitei. It was also where they would be arriving.
She felt a familiar presence drift by her as she passed the Eighth Division, a sake-scented presence.
"Kyoraku." she greeted neutrally, not even turning her head to look at the flamboyant captain. Kyoraku tipped his straw sakkat jauntily and winked.
"Hello, little lady." he said cheerfully, then leapt back as a wave of ice shot from Hitsugaya's Zanpakutou.
"Don't call me little." she seethed, resheathing her Zanpakutou. Kyoraku bowed extravagantly.
"My apologies, Hitsugaya-chan." he said, his voice grandiose. "I must say, you're looking well considering the amount of alcohol I slipped everyone last night."
Toushiro rolled her eyes.
"You know, Matsumoto is my lieutenant." she reminded the lazy captain with a sigh. "I'm perfectly capable of holding my liquor. It helps to be able to freeze the alcohol molecules in my blood."
Kyoraku pouted.
"Aw, no fair." he complained, but then Komamura joined their small group, eyes somewhat bloodshot though he was functioning in a normal manner. The anthropomorphic captain growled down at Kyoraku.
"What in Soul Society possessed you to get everyone drunk last night?" the wolflike captain grumbled. "Poor Kurosaki-san is still underage in the human world, you realize that?"
Before Kyoraku could respond, Toushiro cut in.
"Kyoraku's a depraved old man." she sniped. "Don't tell me you weren't expecting him to try and corrupt my boyfriend at some point."
Komamura sighed, but his furry lips twitched into a smile.
"Alas, I cannot deny that." he said. Kyoraku groaned melodramatically.
"You two are bullying me~!" he complained. "Have you been taking lessons from Nanao-chan~?"
Komamura smiled again, but Toushiro just tossed her head in scorn.
"We don't need to take lessons to heckle you." she asserted, her voice saccharine. "Its innate for most people with common sense to know how to berate a nonsensical womanizer like you."
Kyoraku fell back in mock surprise, pretending to swoon.
"Ah, a grievous wound!" he gasped. "My pride shall never recover!"
"Somehow your pride has survived your lieutenant's beatings; I'm sure my opinion won't damage it any further." Hitsugaya retorted. Komamura and Kyoraku began to laugh, and Hitsugaya allowed a cool chuckle to slip as well.
"I suppose you're quite right, Hitsugaya-chan." Kyoraku said finally as they reached the gates of the First Division. "Nanao-chan's brutality is far beyond what yours could be."
They were allowed through the gates and shown into a large courtyard by a few unseated members of the First Division. Several of the captains were already there, though Zaraki, Muguruma and Hirako were noticeably absent as of yet. Yamamoto nodded to the three new arrivals as the found their places in the long single line spreading across the length of the courtyard. The three missing captains trickled in a few moments later, Zaraki being the last, as was usual. Then Yamamoto spoke, his voice gruff and stern.
"When the Royal Family arrives, I expect that all of you assume a supplicant's position." he said sternly, referring to the one-knee posture that lieutenants and lesser seated officers often adopted on the rare occasions that they were called to the captains' meetings. "You may only speak if spoken to first, and when speaking to them, use extremely polite language only. You can do nothing to retaliate against them, even if they insult you or hit you. Their word is law beyond any I can make. Do you understand?"
Surprisingly, everyone nodded. Even Zaraki looked like he understood the gravity of the situation - but then again, he didn't like fighting people who were always primly dressed, insufferable nobles. Unless they were Byakuya, but that was a strange rivalry from the beginning.
A glowing door suddenly materialized in the middle of the courtyard, ornate pillars marking either side of it. Yamamoto turned to face it, his mouth pressed into a thin line.
"They are here."
Immediately, all of the captains except the Soutaicho dropped to one knee, planting a fist on the ground, heads bowed in submission. Hitsugaya tried to relax her jaw, carefully cooling the anger boiling in her chest with cold reiatsu, and managed to do so just before the doors opened in a flash of weak grey light.
The Royal Guard stepped calmly out, followed by a family of four dressed in the most ridiculous and expensive garments which could possibly exist. All four of the richly-clad people carried Zanpakutou as their waists, even the younger son, who only appeared to be thirteen or fourteen years old physically. The father and elder son both had black hair and black eyes, but the father's skin was a warm tan. The mother, on the other hand, was a pale woman with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Both of her sons had inherited her skin tone. And the younger son had clear hazel eyes and plain brown hair which was a shade lighter than his mother's. It was also wavy.
Without warning, Hitsugaya realized exactly who she was looking at. The Royal Family...and Aizen's son. Her breath caught silently, and her gaze slid towards the Zanpakutou at his side. Kyoka Suigetsu, the hilt a watery, weakened green, glinted back at her, agony in the sealed blade.
Ichibei Hyousube stepped forward, his bulging eyes fixed on Yamamoto with blank focus.
"Yamamoto-soutaicho." he said solemnly. "It is my honor to present the Royal Family of Seireitei."
Immediately, Yamamoto bowed to the family of four, his expression utterly calm.
"It is the Gotei 13's great pleasure to receive the crown of Soul Society." he said, his language the stilted politeness required when speaking to dignified superiors. Ichibei nodded incrementally, clearly approving of the response, then stood aside as the King approached, the Queen and his two heirs following close behind him. The Royal Guard fell in position around the royals, completely ignoring the row of captains in favor of providing a firm defense for their charges. The royals didn't seem to notice, though the younger son did glance quickly up at Kirio, something like nervous worry and melancholy exasperation on his face.
"So you are the Captain-Commander?" the King asked, eyeing Yamamoto with something like mild disdain. Yamamoto didn't react, only bowing and confirming the statement politely. The Soul King ran a critical eye over the line of kneeling captains behind Yamamoto.
"And these are the captains of the Gotei 13." the King murmured quietly. "...I expected a more impressive group."
Hitsugaya could feel her ire spike, but she kept her temper under control. It wouldn't do to lose her cool in such a situation. But she could sense the annoyance of her colleagues rising dangerously close to detectable levels. Yamamoto sighed.
"I assure your Majesty that the capability of my captains is beyond that of their appearance." he said politely, accepting the slight without complaint. "All here have attained and mastered Bankai save one, whose reiatsu and swordwork alone places him at the fighting capability necessary for captains."
The King appeared to ignore the statement, instead turning to his wife and sons.
"I assume you wish to settle in before the search, Eiko?" the man said, his voice somewhat clipped. The blue-eyed queen nodded primly.
"Yes, my lord." she replied, then jerked her head around toward her children, regarding them coolly. "Yuuma, be sure that the spatial distortion is set up around your elder brother Katsuo's room this evening. We don't want anyone attacking the future king."
Yuuma's hazel gaze was pleading, but he bowed obediently. Hitsugaya watched him quietly, the winter-sky essence of her soul permeating the cold air that flowed effortlessly around the entirety of Seireitei. The melancholy in Prince Yuuma's breaths was tangible for her. Then the queen spoke again, her tone bland.
"Yamamoto-soutaicho, won't you introduce your captains?" she asked drolly, obviously only fractionally interested. Katsuo and Yuuma looked on in interest, however, and the King, seeing their sudden focus, sighed and allowed the pleasantries to take place. Yamamoto nodded wordlessly, and so Soifon raised her head slightly and introduced herself. They went down the line in this fashion, each captain reciting their name and rank politely. And then it was her turn. She looked up, her gaze inadvertently locking with Yuuma's.
"I am the Captain of the Tenth Division, Hitsugaya Toushiro. At your service." she said calmly. Both of the boys recoiled in shock, as did the parents. Crown Prince Katsuo gaped openly. Even the Royal Guard stared.
"Your name is Toushiro?" Katsuo spat. "You are a girl!"
Toushiro inwardly rolled her eyes, but kept her expression neutral.
"I am not female by choice, your Highness." she said, her tone flat though the words tried to catch in her throat. "There was an accident with a genderswapping medicine in the Research and Development division some months ago, and unfortunately I fell victim. The counter has not yet been created."
The royals relaxed considerably, reassured by the statement, and Hitsugaya felt her pride sting. She was transgender, dammit! She shouldn't have to pretend that she was the result of some mishap. But then their limited attention had shifted to Zaraki, and she was forgotten, left to stay silent with her thoughts. But the peace didn't last long.
BOOM.
A sudden explosion rocked the ground, sending everyone to their knees - if they weren't already. The earth rippled, a shockwave of power pulsing through the dirt and stone, and suddenly the alarm began to sound, the ominous clacking resounding throughout Seireitei. The Royal Guard formed a defensive perimeter around the Royal Family in seconds.
"Attention all shinigami! Muken has been breached! I repeat, Muken has been breached! Hostiles sighted!"
The captains, Hitsugaya included, all froze, lead flushing their veins. They knew the color was draining from their faces. Almost instantly, Yamamoto turned to Ichibei, his gruff old face frighteningly serious.
"We need to get into position." he said curtly - there was no time for politeness. Ichibei's eyes were wide in surprise. Nobody in living memory had ever broken out of Muken - the defenses were too perfect. So he glanced at his confused and annoyed king, as if asking permission, then nodded.
"Go, Yamamoto." he said. "The Royal Guard will defend the King and his family."
Yamamoto turned to his captains.
"Soifon-taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho, Kuchiki-taicho, and Hirako-taicho, go ahead - act under your own discretion to eliminate this threat. Unohana-taicho, prepare the Fourth for possible casualties. Muguruma-taicho, Otorobashi-taicho, Komamura-taicho and Zaraki-taicho, you are on standby for backup. Kyoraku-taicho, Ukitake-taicho, you are with me to secure the safety of the Royal Family and the individual divisions. Kurotsuchi-taicho, you are to analyze the breach and report as soon as you have discovered something."
As one, the twelve captains answered.
"Yes sir!"
Then they vanished in a flash of Shunpo, each to their respective locations.
Hitsugaya clenched her fists tightly as she, Soifon, Hirako, and Byakuya leapt through the First Division towards the smoking crevice in the earth where Muken had been ruptured. Fire blazed in wild, crackling infernos all around, and the earth was cracked in long fissures, causing some nearby buildings to sink haphazardly into the ground. Smoke billowed from the destroyed earth, but there was no trace of reiatsu.
But then the ground heaved again and exploded upwards, sending rock and fire eighty feet (23m) into the air. Hitsugaya dove out of the way as a large boulder fell towards her, crushing a nearby building, then coughed harshly as smoke puffed into her lungs. Behind her, she could hear Kuchiki and Hirako also coughing, and Soifon was somewhere off to her left. Her eyes were watering, but as she rushed through the smoke and ash-filled air, she suddenly came upon a gaping hole in the ground, ringed with calm fire.
Akaen and Kotabiki leapt out of this crevice, fire blazing along their arms and legs, thick coils of colored Deep-magic wound about their fists. Akaen's leathery wings were tipped with scarlet flame at the points, his muscular tail coiled about Aizen's waist. Hitsugaya froze at the sight of them, ignoring the third Kenmeinarei spirit as the grey and brown clad woman with earthy tattoos clambered out of the crack in the earth. Then she drew her sword, gaze flickering to Aizen's limp form carefully. The man appeared to be unconscious.
"Put Aizen Sousuke down and surrender yourselves!" she called coldly, well-aware that her voice would carry. She raised her reiatsu, a cold wind clearing the area of smoke to reveal a fairly small clearing ringed by cracked, scorched buildings in various states of collapse and several fallen shinigami being nursed by their fellows. The three Kenmeinarei spirits just gazed at her, Aizen still carried gently in Akaen's tail. Kuchiki-taicho, Soifon, and Hirako appeared behind her, Zanpakutou in their hands. Slowly, she drew Hyourinmaru.
"If you won't surrender...I'll have to eliminate you." she said, her voice low and deadly. She locked eyes with Akaen, emerald to ember-orange. Slowly, he set Aizen in Kotabiki's grasp, then put out the fiery magic on his hands before leaping forward. Hitsugaya barely managed to parry his punch with the flat of her sword, her reiatsu flaring sharply, the sealed majority blazing uselessly beneath her limiter. She struggled, sliding backward, Akaen's blow crumpling the buildings behind her, then bowed back, allowing her attacker to slide over her head. She knew that she was no match for the Kenmeinarei spirit while the vast majority of her powers were sealed, but she still had to act as if she was putting up a good fight.
"Reign over the Frosted Heavens! Hyourinmaru!"
She called out her Shikai in a shout, but was startled to find that the wings, armor, and crown of ice she'd become accustomed to weren't present. Her eyes widened in realization. The Lotus Seals restricted her power to its initial level. Her old, immature Shikai and Bankai were still intact!
The dragon of ice shot from the end of her sword with a roar, slamming into Akaen's torso, but then the Kenmeinarei spirit was gone in a flash of flame. Hitsugaya looked around, baffled by his disappearance, then hastily spun and ducked a clawed swipe from behind as Akaen leapt out of a nearby fire. For a moment she felt safe, but then something unyielding slammed into her side and the world blurred into a rush of color and smoke and fire as she was thrown by Akaen's tail.
She crashed through the wall of an unstable building and brought the roof down on her head as one of the walls was destroyed. Her back and side aching, she fled the building, Shunpoing out just in time to escape being buried in a section of the roof. Then she lunged, the keen crescent arc of her blade severing a lock of scarlet hair as Akaen spun over her controlled swing. He landed on his hands, and let a sweeping kick fly into Toushiro's side. She bounded over the freely swinging limb, spinning her hands expertly around the chain attaching her moon-blade to her sword and launched her Zanpakutou like a javelin at the fiery Kenmeinarei.
He caught her sword in midair, wrapping his fingers around it as if in the split second before he'd touched it the blade had become dull. Toushiro froze and Kuchiki, who had been assisting Soifon in her attack on the earthy Kenmeinarei spirit, half-turned just in time to see a sight oddly familiar to when Aizen had stopped Ichigo's Bankai.
Hyourinmaru's blade couldn't pierce Akaen's skin.
Toushiro was jerked forward with a merciless tug, her hands caught in the chain, and Akaen caught her sword arm deftly, dropping Hyorunmaru just long enough to wrap his other hand around the young captain's throat. Hitsugaya choked in surprise, green stare wide in horror and she lashed out, icy reiatsu whiplashing about the place in vicious winter storms. Akaen gazed at her sorrowfully, then sighed.
"I apologize, young shinigami girl." he said gently, the apology twofold considering he was her ally. "I am not your enemy."
Then he released his chokehold on Hitsugaya's neck, braced his forearm against the girl's elbow and jerked back on her wrist. There was a crack like a gunshot, and the bone splintered.
Hitsugaya cried out in pain as her sword arm broke, but that pain was short lived, because Akaen then slammed the heel of his hand into her ribcage. There was an audible 'snap' as several ribs cracked, the tell-tale 'whoosh' of breath leaving her lungs, and the world went patchy around her. She stumbled back, injured, and wavered for a moment before yanking Hyourinmaru back into her hands. Another wave of dragon-shaped ice blasted from the end of her blade towards Akaen, who dodged with inhuman grace and launched an answering surge of scarlet flame. Hitsugaya Shunpoed over the attack, her pupils dilated in pain, her breathing somewhat stilted because of her cracked ribs. The Wildfire dragon came down on her, wings and tail lashing, and without warning a pair of long, sharp knives appeared in his hands. His wrist blurred, and Hitsugaya felt wind whistle past her cheek, opening a thin slice of red as the knife flew past her head. Another knife materialized in Akaen's toffee hand.
"Hyourinmaru!" Toushiro yelled, once again forming the dragon of ice. The icy beast coiled protectively around her, blocking the knives thrown in her direction, and then lashed out with a spectacular tail whip which knocked the Kenmeinarei spirit back a pace when it hit. Ice clung to his tattooed toffee skin for a brief moment, but he shook himself and it shattered effortlessly. Hitsugaya affected surprise and slight concern, then raised her blade to the sky, her broken arm screaming in pain.
"Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru!" she shouted, her body temperature dropping sharply. Ice crept over her skin, the wings, tail, ice claws, and lotus-flower timer exploding in winter beauty behind her. Ice closed over her broken limb, setting it in a makeshift split so she could still wield her sword, and she winced as the break went numb. Unohana would kill her for that.
Her reiatsu shot up in glowing blue-white - behind her, she could feel Kuchiki-taicho's reiatsu doing the same, and she knew he was being pressured heavily, considering that Soifon and Hirako were already unconscious courtesy of Kotabiki and the earthy Kenmeinarei woman. The sky began to darken, clouds swirling over head gently, and she narrowed her eyes. Her control over Tenso Jurin was tenuous at best with this immature Bankai of hers. Akaen watched calmly for a long moment, his glowing orange eyes fixed on her face, the scarlet loincloth he wore flapping in the cold wind rippling from her in waves. She raised her sword and swung. Ice exploded from the tip of her blade.
"Hyoryu Senbi!" she shouted, the icicles spearing towards her opponent with terrible speed and force. The scarlet-haired dragon leapt into the air, and Toushiro let a feral smirk cross her face.
"Hyoryu Senbi! Zekku!" she shouted, slicing up with her blade. Crystallized water shot into the sky, splintering towards Akaen with alarming velocity. But Akaen narrowed his emberlike orange eyes, and as the ice sped towards him, breathed fire. The ice attack crumbled like a dried-out sandcastle, allowing the geyser of flame to gust towards the shinigami captain on the ground. Hitsugaya sprang into the sky, her wings of ice beating once, twice, and she soared into the clouds before diving back down towards Akaen, blade extended. She focused her reiatsu, a thin ring of mist spiraling from her blade, and flew through the hoop.
"Ryusenka!"
She could feel the incomplete power simmering on her skin, powerful yet immature, and she wondered briefly about how strong this infant Bankai had used to feel - now it was merely a Shikai compared to her full strength. Yet by shinigami standards it was immensely powerful.
Akaen made no move to run from her attack, only sighed and allowed her blade of ice to encase him completely in the unfolding lotus bloom of frozen reiatsu and water.
Hitsugaya landed on the ground, looking up at the great flower of ice with something like satisfaction. But then the ice shattered in a cloud of mist and Akaen stepped out, utterly unharmed. He sighed, eyes narrowing. And then he vanished.
Suddenly her skull split, a strong, sharp pain in the back of her head making fireworks explode over her vision, and her world blurred as the Kenmeinarei spirit's merciless blow sent her falling into the darkness. But she fought it just long enough to slam a breaking icy wing into Akaen's jaw and knock him off balance before toppling to the scorched ground, beaten, pain returning as the ice numbing her injuries melted. She knew he'd taken it easy on her.
Hitsugaya fought to focus her vision as it darkened and lightened and darkened again. She could see flickers of the almost-finished battle the Kenmeinarei were conducting above her, but her sense of time seemed to be skewed, and she couldn't tell how long it had been. Eventually, however, some sensations became very clear, including the feel of gentle hands on her, lifting her up. The fight must be over, then.
She stiffened then. No. She didn't need to be carried. She wasn't a baby or anything - she was a shinigami captain, and shinigami captains didn't admit to any injury, but ouch, she hurt all over, and breathing was hard. She sorta felt like she didn't like breathing because it was such a nuisance, but some nuisances were good nuisances, like Hinamori or Matsumoto.
"...rambling...you think...concussion?"
"...heart rate steady...showing...moderate shock..."
"...awake...Did...hear me, Hitsugaya-taicho? You...stay awake..."
The chatter of Fourth Division shinigami buzzed around her, and gradually she came to realize that she was lying on something cloth and stretchy. She couldn't move her right arm for some reason, and the limb felt stiff. The same was true of her torso, and her skull throbbed with blinding pain. She felt disoriented.
Head pounding, she tried to sit up, the colors of her surroundings blurring the shapes of her world, and the flashes of spinning light and color were kaleidoscopic. Hands pressed down on her shoulders, trying to get to her to lie back down, and the faces above her swam across her eyes. She felt the vaguest impressions of panic surface in her mind, but someone touched her ribcage and she fell back away from the hands, attempting to curl away from them. The hands clamped down on her, gently holding her in place, and she thrashed. Her chest screamed at her, the throbbing of her skull turning to a sledgehammer pulse on her brain.
"Cracked...is her skull..."
Suddenly she was lifted from the stretchy cloth thing she was lying on and moved to what seemed to be a firm cushiony thing. A flash of pale violet hair flickered above her, wide eyes gazing down at her, but then the world faded, and when it came back her sword arm was on fire. Something had sliced it apart, but the pounding of her skull was vicious. There was too much pressure on her brain.
"...Awake!...painkillers to Captain...surgically set the..."
"...keep...brainwaves...cracked skull..."
The noise and pain was too much for her to handle.
She passed out.
So, please vote on my poll! And please review and tell me what you think! Thank you!