Just to let everyone know now, this is a bit of a longer chapter...its almost as long if not possibly longer then the first. Just make sure you don't have anything to do right away. :) Anyway, on with the story...


Chapter 29:

-Later on that night-

'Just like with every other time I had searched the Fifth for any sort of clues, I turned up empty. But should I have even expected anything in the first place, despite having help from the Onmitsukido?' Toshiro thought as he walked along the path leading back to his own division.

'I would have preferred that Rangiku to stay and help me, instead of leaving half way through and saying that she was tired. I swear, I'll give her so much damn paperwork that she won't see the light of day for a month.' he continued, closing his eyes and crossing his arms in annoyance.

'But...even though she is a pain, I could never replace her. No matter how much I've contemplated doing it at times.' just as he finished this thought, he realized that he had walked past his own division and into the eleventh.

"I guess I really was thinking a little too much." he said out loud and turned himself around.

But as he did this, he saw a member of the eleventh running down the street that ran perpendicular with the one he was on; "Makizo Aramaki? What the hell has him in such a hurry?" he asked himself.

It was then that he noticed the girl he was carrying under his right arm, Toshiro narrowed his eyes and noticed the reddish color hair; "Its that ryoka girl. Has she really been captured by him?"

Toshiro then shunpoed on top of the roof of one of the buildings and began following them. They didn't go much farther before Makizo noticed his Lieutenant at the top of the steps he was about to go up; "MakiMaki, what are you carrying?" the little girl asked.

"That spirit energy...a ryoka?" she continued in a seemingly uncaring tone.

"Uh...well...There is...um, an explanation..." was the man's studdering response, before the pink haired girl stood up and spoke once more, but with more excitement this time; "It is a ryoka."

"Uh...actually...there are...um, circumstances behind this..." Makizo said, still studdering.

"Circumstances? Oh, what kind?" Yachiru asked with a questionable look; "Well...um..." he began, trying to think of something quickly.

But Toshiro spoke before he could; "Just take her to your division's barracks and tell Zaraki that she is not to be harmed in any way."

Aramaki looked up at him with wide eyes; "C-C-C-C-C-Captain Hitsugaya!" the man exclaimed before all but dropping the poor girl on the ground as he bowed down.

Yachiru looked up at him and smiled; "Yay Snowy-chan! Did you come to play?" she asked waving at him childishly.

"No, I didn't. Just take care of her will you." he said looking at Makizo with narrowed eyes; "Yes sir! I will not allow any harm to come of this young girl here!" was his response before he realized that Toshiro was already gone.

"Ohh, I wanna learn how to disappear like that!" Yachiru claimed pointing at the spot that the white haired captain had been seconds before.

-Tenth Division office-

Toshiro walked through the door, immediately noticed Rangiku sleeping on the sofa and groaned in annoyance; 'Hmm, I'll let her sleep...for now.' he thought sitting down at his desk and got to work on the short stack of papers.

Just as he began to finish up the last sheet, he heard a knock on the door; "Come in." he said as a split second later the door slid open, which revealed Soifon on one knee.

"I've come to report that we haven't found any evidence that would conclude that Ichimaru is the one that murdered Aizen. Also..." she began and waved a hand at the end to gesture someone else to come into the room; "I also had the Fifth Division's paperwork sent here...would you like if I helped you with it?"

"No, that's alright. Thank you Soifon. It seems that you still remember when I said to bring any and all paperwork from the Fifth here in case something happens to Hinamori or Aizen, twenty years ago." he said with a smirk as the squad member set a fairly large stack of papers on his desk and left with a bow.

Soifon blushed slightly and bowed her head; "O-Of course sir. I remember all of your commands." she said before blushing even deeper from her own words.

"May I be excused?" she asked, trying everything to avoid making eye contact; "You can do what you like." and with that, Soifon disappeared like her life depended on it.

After a few more hours of work...or sleep, Rangiku finally woke up and sat herself up on the couch; "You awake Rangiku?" Toshiro asked looking over at her.

She turned her head towards him; "Captain...what are you doing in my room?" she asked inquisitively.

"The administrative office is not your room, Rangiku." Toshiro said in annoyance, "Since your awake, go a head and take over. There's something I'd like to do before the end of the night." he said gathering the remaining paperwork into one small stack.

"Well why did you have to take over all of the Fifths business?" she asked getting up and walking over to the desk.

"Because I can, just finish the rest." he said closing his eyes and handing her the papers with a sigh, not surprised in the least that she had actually been awake and over heard the conversation with Soifon.

But when she noticed how small the amount was her eyes went slightly wide; "This is all that's left? There was so much..." she said glancing over at him, to which he grabbed his cup of tea with a frozen hand and brought it up to his lips.

"It doesn't matter how much or little there is, just finish them." he said, before he took a few sips of his tea.

"I...must have been asleep a long time." she said rather solemnly.

"It's fine...it must have been hard on you to see a classmate and a junior fight like that." he said looking away.

"Classmate..." she whispered, "Hey Captain, do you really think Gin...Captain Ichimaru did it?" she asked almost desperately.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on a random spot in the room but never answered before they heard a voice on the other side of the door; "Begging your pardon, it's Seventh Seat Takezoe, are Captain Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Matsumoto present?"

Toshiro turned to the door, "What is it? Open the door." he said slightly annoyed at the interruption.

"Yes sir!" Takezoe said as he slid the door open, "Pardon me, I have a report: Moments ago, urgent reports from various cell guards indicated that Lieutenants Abarai, Hinamori, and Kira have disappeared from their respective cells." he said, causing both of them to become slightly wide eyed.

Toshiro looked at Rangiku, "Lets go!" he said getting up form his chair and heading towards the door, he quickly turned to his Seventh Seat and said; "Your dismissed!" with a wave of his hand.

Takezoe bowed slightly lower, "Yes sir!" he said, getting up and waited for his commanding officers to leave before he head out himself.

-At Hinamori's prison cell-

"My deepest apologies! I heard Lieutenant Hinamori call me, but when I turned around my vision went blank and when I awoke I found this the way you see them now. I have absolutely no excuse!" the guard reported bowing low on the ground.

Both Toshiro and Rangiku looked at the man hard, "That's Hakufuku, alright." Toshiro speculated as he examined the cell.

"Hakufuku?" the guard asked lifting his head up in confusion.

"Hinamori is a master at Kido, if we seriously intended to shut her in, we would have sealed off her spirit energy." Toshiro said continuing to look at the empty cell.

"But we didn't because no one thought Hinamori would go this far." he finished as he brought his frozen thumb and pointer finger to his chin.

"Its not like she was going to be executed...so why?" Matsumoto asked trying to fathom what Momo could possibly be thinking.

"There's only one reason..." Toshiro said with a knowing yet icy look on his face; "Matsumoto!"

"Yes sir!" she responded looking at him with a hard gaze and ready to take orders.

"Go back without me, I'm going to save Hinamori." he said as his eyes became dangerously dark.

Rangiku was about to protest, but she just sighed and nodded at him; "Just be careful Captain." she said, Toshiro turned to her and with a small nod of assurance he shunpoed away.

-Kira's prison cell-

"It's this way!" the guard said as he lead Toshiro through the hallway, but as they neared Toshiro jogged up to the cell, and looked into it with suspicion. He noticed that the cell was opened from the outside and instantly knew what happened; 'Damn it...if Kira's on there side...' he thought as he turned around.

'How many others did they get?' Toshiro wondered as he took off at a run towards where he knew Ichimaru would eventually be.

-Sokyoku training ground hot spring-

"Hey, Yoruichi?" Ichigo began, as he sat in the steamy water with Yoruichi in her cat form next to him.

"What?" she asked in her deep cat voice; "I've been thinking, here reminds me of that place...that study room under the Urahara store." Ichigo finished, looking around once more.

"I imagine it would, that place was made to resemble here, after all." Yoruichi claimed closing her cat eyes; "It was?" the orange haired teen said now turning his head towards her.

"Yeah. Originally, Kisuke and I built this place covertly when we were children, as our secret playground." she continued; "Covertly? A big ass place like this covertly?" Ichigo commented with a laugh.

"Its an old story. When we were young, the six of us played here nearly every day. I joined in the Onmitsukido, while everyone else joined the Gotei 13...and it was here that I too learned Bankai." she finished, looking up at the ceiling of the cavern.

"Six? So it wasn't just you and Urahara? Who else was here?" Ichigo asked with slightly widened eyes.

"Well...it was me, Toshiro, Kisuke, Tessai, one called Sojiro and another called..." she began raising a furry brow.

Ichigo leaned in closer to her in anticipation; "...Um...what was his name again?" she questioned herself, which had caused Ichigo to slip and fall into the water.

"Jeez, can't even remember an old friends nam-wait a minute! You said that Toshiro was here?" he said as he sat himself back down, but fell right back over as he suddenly saw Yoruichi in her human form on the edge of the hot spring.

And the only thing Ichigo could hear from when he lifted his head out of the water, to when he got back in his seat once again was Yoruichi's laughter; "Great reaction no matter how many times I do it...but I think that Toshiro's are cuter." she said with a wide smile.

"W-What? You've done that to him?" Ichigo yelled in disbelief.

"Yep, and believe it or not...but his reactions were quite similar to yours." she commented, widening her smile.

"Whatever...just tell me, who the heck is that Toshiro guy and that old man?" Ichigo said looking away from her with a scowling look on his face.

"Toshiro became a Captain before any of us, Kisuke and I both. He was the very first in history to graduate the Shinigami academy in one year, master Shikai in five months and master Bankai in who knows how short of a time. I mean he helped me achieve it not two days after he became a Captain. And he's been a Commander of the Onmitsukido for as long as me, plus the whole time I was gone. So all in all, if there is one person that you could never compete with Ichigo...its him." Yoruichi said, a little too proudly.

Ichigo sank into the water grumbled to himself; "Alright I get the message; don't mess with your 'Icy' friend. And what about Urahara?"

Yoruichi chuckled and smirked; "Maybe I should have started with Kisuke...you might have felt a little better...a little." she said with a giggle.

-Third Division barracks-

"I knew I'd find the two of you together." Toshiro said as Ichimaru and Kira walked up towards him.

"Captain Hitsugaya..." Kira said wide eyed.

"I'm guessing that the reason why you let Kira out of his cell the way you did was so it would tell me that you did it. Am I right?" Toshiro asked glaring at them.

"Well well, aren't you puttin' a strange spin on things. And yes, I did do it on purpose so you'd know." Gin said smiling wide.

"I'm actually glad you did, otherwise Hinamori might have gotten here first." he said as he shifted his body to the side and clenched his fists. "So now I am going to arrest you before she gets here."

Suddenly, as if on cue, Hinamori landed just in between the two captains with her head pointed to the floor, Toshiro's eyes narrowed and he cursed himself inwardly; "Hinamori." he said through clenched teeth.

'Damn it, now I've gotta make sure she's not gonna get involved!' he thought cursing himself even further as he stared at her.

"Finally...I found you, so this is where you've been." Hinamori said seemingly far too calm considering the situation.

"Leave him to me Hinamori, just stand back." Toshiro said pointing an ice covered finger off to his right.

But then Hinamori unsheathed her sword and pointed it at him, "Hinamori?" he asked, now with slightly widened eyes.

"Captain Aizen's...murderer!" she claimed in anger, causing Toshiro's eyes to become even wider; "Why him? I know everything now...from this letter the Captain left me."

Toshiro kept on cursing himself over and over again as Hinamori read the letter to him, he could see just how utterly and completely fixed she was in everything Aizen left in the letter with just the look in her eyes; "Hina...mori." he barely got out before she suddenly raised her blade and swung down at him, but Toshiro easily moved out of the way and her sword crashed to the ground.

"Fool! Think about it! If he dies, he wants you to fight in his place? Do you think that any Captain would ever tell any of their subordinates to do that? Would any Captain go into a fight they knew they couldn't win all by themselves, or have their own lieutenant clean up their mess like a damn coward?" Toshiro yelled at her, actually breaking his composed look for the first time in a long time.

"But that's what the letter said! That was Captain Aizen's handwriting! I didn't want to believe if either! But that's what Captain Aizen said!" she yelled back, just before she ran right at him while swinging her sword madly, but Toshiro dodged each swing with ease.

Then she stopped, "I...I...don't...know what...to do anymore...Shiro-chan." she said as tears poured down her face and her hands began to shake.

"Hinamori." he repeated feeling a loss for words, just before she suddenly screamed and slammed her sword down sending a wave of spirit energy at him.

But Toshiro jumped up in the air. 'Damn it, its no good, she's so confused that she can't judge right from wrong anymore. It looks like Aizen got into her head even more then I thought, he's actually turned her against me! Shit, what am I going to do?' he thought angrily as he hung in mid air for a few moments.

He then looked over at Gin's smiling face, "I'm gonna make you pay...Ichimaru!" he yelled as he pushed his feet off the air and headed for Gin, but Hinamori suddenly came up in front of him with her sword ready to swing.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes one her; "Damn it." he whispered to himself, before sending a swift yet strong force of spirit energy at her, which caused her to lose consciousness instantly and land hard on the ground.

Toshiro landed right next to her; "Hinamori?" he yelled in an almost frantic voice and began checking her over to make sure she wasn't hurt; 'She's out cold, but alright.' he confirmed in his mind before standing back up.

"My oh my, that's awf'lly mean o' ya Cap'n Gaya. Y'ain't got ta hit her wit that icy spirit energy o' yours so hard, especially on a girl hurtin' so bad she done forgot 'erself." Gin said still smiling.

"Ichimaru...if I'm not mistaken, there is blood on Hinamori's hands." Toshiro said in an all to calm voice.

"Oh? What ever are you talkin' 'bout?" Ichimaru asked, but then Toshiro's body was engulfed in a bright blue light that lit up the area.

"I thought I told you...if you made Hinamori spill a drop of blood, I'd kill you." he said angrily, turning his body in to a fighting position and curling his icy hands to fists.

Ichimaru merely smiled even wider, showing almost all of his teeth in the process, "That ain't good." Gin said as he reached his hand over his sword; "If you plan on fightin' me in a place like this, I'll just have ta stop ya now won't I?" he claimed as his body was engulfed in a bright purple light.

"Captain Ichimaru..." Kira said with wide eyes and a shocked look to match.

"Stay back, Izuru. Ya don' wanna die yet, do ya?" Gin warned him but kept his eyes on Hitsugaya the whole time.

"Don't be stupid, staying back isn't good enough. You might as well just leave Soul Society Kira! That's the only way that you can be certain that I won't kill you unintentionally." Toshiro said still glaring at Ichimaru.

Suddenly Toshiro shunpoed right above Gin and slammed his fist down, but Gin jumped out of the way just in time to avoid it. Which made Toshiro's punch completely shatter the ground where he had just been and twenty feet in radius from that point. Then Toshiro leaped forward at him and once more swung his fist at the opposing man, but once more Gin moved out of the way in time to dodge the blow.

But then Toshiro used shunpo to get behind him and delivered a powerful elbow into Gin's back, which cause his normally closed eyes to snap open and become wide in shock and pain. Gin shunpoed away from him, but Toshiro was too fast for him and sent a round house kick to the side of Gin's head, which ripped a gash where his ice covered foot landed. Again and again, Gin attempted to shunpo out of Toshiro's reach to ready his own attack, but Toshiro always moved far faster then him and either kicked or punched him in various places, and caused the taller of the two to receive many cuts and bruises, while the shorter was being splattered with the others blood.

The amount of force Toshiro was putting out with each punch and kick felt like a shock wave to Kira, and was being pushed back slowly but steadily after each one; "D-Damn, how can anyone have such raw strength? He's hitting my Captain, yet it feels like I'm getting hit as well. just how strong is Captain Hitsugaya?" Izuru question to himself breathlessly.

Then Gin jumped up into the air to avoid yet another punch towards his stomach, and as he looked down on the other white haired captain, he formed a smug look on his face and pointed his sword at Toshiro; "Shoot to kill, Shinso." he said silently as his blade extended.

But Toshiro just slightly turned his body and avoided the blade with ease; "How pathetic." Toshiro whispered to himself and shunpoed right in front of Gin and sent a round house kick for Gin's mid section.

Gin was able to block it with his sword and push Toshiro's leg back, then just as Toshiro landed on the ground, Gin seemed to try and stab his foot, but as he leaped backward, Gin jerked his sword up from the ground, and made a bunch of wood splinters to go flying into Toshiro's face. Then Gin readied his sword for a killing blow; "I see an opening!" he said as he lunged his sword towards Toshiro's chest.

But then Hitsugaya suddenly appeared on top of Ichimaru's blade and slammed it into the ground, then he jumped up and landed a swift kick on the left side of Gin's head. Then, before Ichimaru could react, Toshiro twirled himself around and landed another kick to the other side of his head. As Gin was falling on his left side, Hitsugaya finished his combo off with a front flip, and landed a downward kick to Gin's neck, making him slam face down into the ground. Toshiro used the force of his own kick to leap back into the air and come down with a stomping kick aimed for Ichimaru's head.

Gin rolled out of the way and pushed himself up and once again readied his sword in front of him, and as Toshiro's foot made contact with the ground, which ended up shattering everything within a thirty foot radius, which was also only a foot short of both Ichimaru and Hinamori; "You really are as powerful as all those stories let on, eh Gaya." Gin said trying not to show any of the pain he was feeling for all of his wounds.

"But that's the Tenth Squad Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya fer ya!" he said smiling widely once again, despite having a long cut on his left cheek.

"Truly the incarnation of a heavenly guardian said to come along once every several centuries...too close, too close." he said shaking his head as if he was mad at his own carelessness.

Then the bright blue light suddenly erupted around Toshiro once again, "So your serious!" Gin said readying his sword, but winced from a large bruise forming on his right shoulder.

"Incredible...such spiritual force! At this rate...I won't even be able to breathe!" Izuru whispered silently as he struggled to speak at all.

"Trust me Ichimaru, if I was serious...you'd be dead by now. All of those hits are there for a specific reason, the cuts on your forearms are to limit your parrying ability, the bruise on your shoulders are to limit how high you can lift your sword to block. And the rest are there to keep your movements sluggish, I don't want you making a wrong move, then I might have to kill you sooner then I'd like." Toshiro said with a dark smirk on his face.

Gin felt a shiver run up his spine as he listened to Toshiro's words, but then he once again smiled painfully and pointed to the cut on his cheek; "And what was this one meant to do?" he asked.

Toshiro just smirked even wider as he closed his eyes, then as he opened them again, Ichimaru noticed that his eyes flickered a golden color before returning to normal; 'Just like a hollow.' he thought with a now serious expression.

"Just to make sure that I don't have to see that stupid smile of yours." Toshiro claimed hardening his gaze and suddenly leaped forward, and a split second later, Gin ran forward as well.

They clashed and ran past one another, but when they stopped and turned to face each other, Gin noticed that part of his sleeve was gone, and had four slightly shallow cuts on his arm. He also noticed that his sleeve was now in shreds within Toshiro's ice claws, which made Gin slowly frown even further at him, but then Toshiro disappeared and reappeared right in front of him with his leg swinging at his head. Gin managed to block it with his sword but then Toshiro twirled his whole body around and sent a kick to the other side of his head, which connected painfully on Gin's jaw and cut a long deep gash that made an upside down 'T' on Gin's face. Ichimaru was sent flying, but as he slid backward he tore off the rest of his sleeve and just as Toshiro came at him with a left hook, Gin threw it at his face.

Toshiro brushed the sleeve aside but was met by a barrage of swings and thrusts from Gin's sword, "How's it feel Captain...to be cornered?" Ichimaru said smugly as he continued his attack, which Toshiro was easily dodging.

Then, Toshiro grabbed the blade of Gin's sword, pushed it aside, leaped forward, and swung a fist at him. But Gin dodged out of the way and jumped back to his original position next to Kira, but staggered as he landed on the ground; "I see...I s'ppose I was still underestimatin' ya...Toshiro Hitsugaya. Guess that's why they say no use regrettin' yer mistakes." Ichimaru said slightly cringing.

Toshiro looked down and closed his eyes, "No, not yet." he said, causing Gin to frown even deeper; "Your real regret hasn't even begun yet." he said opening his now glowing eyes.

"I'm was merely warming up...but when the time comes, you can regret as much as you damn well please." Hitsugaya said in a growl as his spirit energy surrounded him once more, but this time it also stretched all the way up into the sky.

Gin's eyes opened slightly in surprise, while Kira looked at the two Captain's with fear. Then without warning, Toshiro grabbed Hyorinmaru, made the sheath disappear and held it off to the side, parallel with the ground. Then the sky turned dark in a split second and made both Gin and Kira look up to watch it in amazement, but then all turned cold as Toshiro called forth his zanpakuto..."Reign over the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru."

A giant dragon of ice and water suddenly appeared around Toshiro while making a loud 'roaring' noise; "A dragon of ice and water created from over flowing spirit energy...and...is even able to control the weather, its my first time seeing it. But this is it...Captain Hitsugaya's...the most powerful ice-snow zanpakuto in Soul Society! Hyorinmaru!" Kira said to himself in disbelief as he trembled and fell to his kneels as Toshiro's spiritual pressure finally became too much for him.

"Let's see if I've gotten rusty." then Toshiro merely turned his arm and pointed the tip of his sword at Gin and instantly, the ice dragon went flying towards its target.

Gin was able to leap out of the way in time but Kira was less successful, 'What a volume of water! What speed! I couldn't avoi-' but Kira's thoughts were cut short by him realizing that his body was beginning to freeze over.

As Izuru flew through the air he screamed from the cold and was send falling to the ground, which shattered only enough of the ice to keep his upper body unfrozen, then as Gin landed on the roof he saw Toshiro standing in the air just looking at him with narrowed eyes. Hitsugaya lazily pointed his sword at him once again and sent another ice dragon right at Gin, but the opposing captain had stuck out his sword in front of him and focused his spirit energy into the tip, causing the dragon to shatter on its contact.

And as the dragon finally disappeared Ichimaru slightly smiled at his success, but flinched from the two cuts on his face. He then began feeling slightly light headed and staggered around, he looked himself over in confusion, but realized just how much damage he had taken by looking at the amount of blood soaking through his clothes.

"Are you starting to feel it? You've pushed your body too far. If your not healed within the next ten minutes...you'll bleed to death." Toshiro said off to the side of him.

Gin turned his head towards the shorter man, opened his eyes, but narrowed them as he suddenly realized that his left arm was now numb and encased in ice. The chain that was attached to Toshiro's zanpakuto, was in his left hand and wrapped around Gin's arm; "Captain!" Izuru yelled from the ground below, while trying to break the ice encasing him from his waist down with his fists.

"Its over, Ichimaru. No one's coming to save you, and I'm gonna stay right here to watch you die." Hitsugaya said as his eyes once again flashed a golden color, but when Ichimaru's normally blue eyes turned red, he prepared himself for an attack.

"Shoot to kill, Shinso." Gin said and suddenly his zanpakuto went through his haori and extended out towards Toshiro's chest.

Toshiro easily dodged out of the way by just slightly moving his body off to the side and the blade went straight past him, "Your pathetic, even in defeat." Toshiro said with a slight shake of his head.

"Are you sure you want to dodge? That girls gonna die." Gin said smugly, ignoring his comment.

Toshiro's eyes went wide and lost their hollow-like feel, as he looked over to see Shinso heading straight at Momo. He shunpoed as fast as he could down to her but the blade was moving too fast, he then grabbed the blade itself and tried to stop it, but it just seemed to slowly slide right through his grip; "Damn it...Hinamori!" he yelled.

But just as he was just about to kick the blade to try and redirect it, the blade had suddenly stopped a few feet shy of Hinamori by Rangiku's Haineko. Seeing Rangiku made Gin frown and close his eyes once more, Kira looked up in surprise, and Toshiro held a look that displayed not only surprise but relief as well; "Matsumoto." he whispered to himself.

"My deepest apologies. I tried to return to the Squad building as you ordered, but sensing Hyorinmaru's spirit energy, I had to come back. Please withdraw your sword Captain Ichimaru!" she said firmly.

But Gin made no move; "If you do not withdraw, you will have both of us as your opponent!" she declared as her sword began to crack.

Gin's frown deepened but then his smile reappeared and he retracted his sword, turned around and began walking away, but still ready for the attack he was sure to come; "This fight is not over Ichimaru. It is only on hold." Toshiro said with a glare for the first part, and a glance at Rangiku for the second.

Gin stopped, looked at him over his shoulder with a fairly surprised look on his face that he actually was letting him go, then followed his gaze at his long time friend and nodded in understanding; "I wouldn' expect it ta be. And thanks." he said, with the last two words only being heard by Toshiro, before he disappeared.

Toshiro turned to where he knew Kira was, but found that he was gone; 'He must have use some kind of kido.' he thought, not really caring even in his mind. He then looked at Rangiku, whom was still staring at the spot that Gin had just been, "I'm sorry Rangiku." Toshiro whispered to her.

Rangiku snapped out of her daze and looked at him in confusion; "What do you mean? You don't have anything to be sorry for." she said with an attempting smile.

He lowered his eyes for a moment, "We better get her out of here." he said walking up to them and sheathed Hyorinmaru on his back; 'Maybe I should have just killed him on the spot instead of treating him like I do with every other person I kill...damn hollows.' he thought with a light growl.

Matsumoto nodded; "Should we take her to the Fourth? Or do you think it would be better to bring her to the Tenth?" she asked.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on Hinamori, "We'll let her rest up at the Tenth, then when she's well enough to walk again, we'll take to the Fourth." he said walking over and picking up his unconscious friend.

As Rangiku sheathed her sword Toshiro noticed that she was rubbing her wrists, and felt a pang of guilt, 'Damn you Ichimaru. I swear I'm gonna kill you without a second thought...just so long as Rangiku doesn't interrupt again.' he said in his mind, subconsciously baring his teeth.

"Don't worry...we'll get some bandages for your wrists." he said glancing over at her, to which she immediately stopped rubbing her wrists, smiled and giggled sheepishly.


Alright! Fight with Ichimaru! I thought it was okay...how about you guys? That is why it was so long, I didn't want to make this fight into two segments...its not very fair. And I just got done watching that part with Yachiru and Makizo so that's why I added that in...plus I wanted Toshiro to have at least a little more involvement in everything that's been happening around the Seireitei. Please remember to review. :)