A/N-I made a slight change to the end of the last chappie, but you can just read it here. By the way, um, if you have an account, could you maybe review please? I'm grateful to Hikari6007 and all, but it's kind of depressing to come back after so long and have only one person reviewing...

X

"Don't you think it's been enough of a break?"

"Damnit..."

"She's bound to have run away from the hospital by now."

"I don't want to die..."

"I suppose you're right, Kitsune."

"I don't want to die..."

"I suppose it is time to bring this to a close."

"I don't want to die!"

At first, the katana only made a dull thud as it hit the spot on the tan wall that seemed to have been dug out by a sword. Then, slowly, the wall began to crumble. The pieces broke off faster and faster, the wall disappearing into a bright, white light...

"I want to live!"

The gourd charm on Chitose's hilt shattered. It seemed to explode with a bright, white light. Blood splattered in every direction. Ayumu sunk to her knees. Silhouetted against the light were three demons. The body of the one in the middle seemed to have been ripped along her cheek, her torso, and her hands. Her skin seemed to be pealing off in those places, revealing something metallic and sharp underneath. The other two were Kagemi and Kitsune.

Hitsugaya knelt and caught Ayumu before she hit the ground. "How did you-" he began to ask, but suddenly his eyes narrowed on the middle demon. He knew the other two, but somehow... she must have had something to do with this. "You... who are you?"

"Who am I?" she said, speaking in a voice that was high and sharp, like a raptor's cry. "I suppose you could say I'm-" she raised a blade-like finger, ripping out from what looked like a torn flesh-colored glove, and pointed at Ayumu "-the one who killed that girl."

"You..." it was Kagemi that had spoken. She had her eyes glued to Ayumu, who lay limp in Hitsugaya's arms. "You said... you said that she wouldn't be hurt... you said we'd just fix her, and then she's be ok..."

"Oh? I suppose I did say something like that. Then, let me tell you a little secret... I lied." With that the demon made a motion similar to throwing something at Kagemi, and as she did five or so blades shot off her arm and straight through Kagemi, pinning her to the ground and suspending her a few feet in the air.

Hitsugaya, who had been trying desperately not to think about the limp form in his arms, was nonetheless surprised to feel her stir. "Don't... don't hurt Kagemi..." with what must have been her final bit of strength she lunged at the demon, drawing Chitose and slashing down to cut the demon in half.

"Still alive?" the demon asked. "Very well then, have your final attack. I owe it to you, for being such a courteous host. But I wouldn't use that sword girl, it's..." as Ayumu drew her sword, the blade began to sparkle strangely. By the time she had completed the motion of her slash, the blade had turned to dust and all that was left was a disintegrating hilt in her hands. The feather from the end, which had come off with the gourd, had long since shimmered out of existence. "...empty." Ayumu had nothing to do but kneel in front of the demon. "Let's try something," the demon said, and reached backwards as though to unsheathe a sword.

Instinctively, Hitsugaya drew Hyourinmaru and charged a few steps forward, but stopped when the demon addressed him. "Relax, boy, I can't make her any worse. If she's lucky she has a few hours of blinding pain left. And besides-" there was a clanking noise as she drew the sword. It seemed to come out of her back itself, ripping through her skin as it did. It was Chitose, blood spilling down the hilt from the hole where the gourd charm had once been. "-this probably won't do anything." She brought the blade down towards Ayumu, who could only narrow her eyes in anticipation, but the blade stopped just short of her face. "See? Still won't hurt it's old master. Oh well. Once I defeat her, Chitose will finally be all mine. But don't worry about that, boy, I've already arranged for it."

"Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyourinmaru!" in an explosion of ice and light Hitsugaya broke out of his numb, paralyzed state and charged the demon, slashing at her from the side. There was a blast of steam and ice and water. It blew away most of what was left of the demon's peeling skin, revealing a metallic body underneath that seemed to be made of blades as the haze cleared. But despite all of this, the drops of blood that fell to the ground were Hitsugaya's. His hands, still clutched around the hilt of his sword, were bleeding. The demon's arm, faced with the full force of his slash, had not budged.

"Hm," the demon let out a single syllable of laughter. "Hyourinmaru really is a beautiful sword. You're very lucky I never really cared for the elemental types, otherwise it'd be you lying there..." she commented. In spite of himself Hitsugaya could not help looking at Ayumu as she lay on the ground out of the corner of his eyes. "You can take her to the hospital, you know." As the demon paused Hitsugaya looked back up at her, shocked. "Don't worry, I don't mind. I get what I want and you get what's left. I can't get anything else from you, and really you can't get in my way, so you're free to do what you like. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and there's no point in lying to you anymore, but unfortunately we have some business to attend to. For now, I'll give you a clue, see if you can figure it out... let's see, I'll tell you my name." Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed. What could her name do? The demon had turned her back to him, and was now walking, slowly, away. "My name... is Haningyotsukai."

Hitsugaya's eyes opened wide. He knew the name... he had heard it somewhere, late in his lessons to become a shinigami...

"As you contemplate that, I really must be going." Haningyotsukai paused for a second. "Kitsune, make sure you take care of that," she said, motioning to Kagemi.

"Of course, did you think I'd really forget?" Kitsune said. Hitsugaya glanced at her, he had almost forgotten she was there.

"Fine then. Do whatever you want, but make sure whatever it is it kills a lot of shinigami. I have someone special to go see." with that she resumed walking, and after a few paces, vanished.

Hitsugaya turned to Kitsune, and took a defensive stance to protect Ayumu. Kitsune laughed. "As much as I'd like to rip your little spines out, kid, if she says leave you then I'll leave you. That arrogant little..." she swore rapidly under her breath a few times and took a vial of something red out of a fold in her dress. She threw it at Kagemi. The vial shattered. Kagemi's shadow darkened, then began to expand, first slowly and then gaining in speed. It consumed everything in it's path, moving outwards into a large circle with Kagemi at the center. Her eyes looked strangely hollow.

As much as he would love to stick around and find out what was going on (or better yet, stop it) Hitsugaya's first priority was taking care of Ayumu. He grabbed her by the wrist and flash stepped away.

O

Having sensed the strange spirit power released, Ichigo was out of his body and wandering the streets looking for the source when a strange figure approached him. Her clothes, and even her skin, appeared to be ripped in places, reveling a different, metallic body underneath. She took a step towards him. He gripped Zangetzu's hilt. "Who are you?"

"Haningyotsukai. I'd say it's a pleasure to finally meet you, but that's simply not true. I'm only interested in the one in your right hand."

"Z-Zangetzu?"

"Yes," she said. She raised an arm, metallic palm facing her. "A wonderful ability, Getsuga Tensho. Compressing your spirit force into an extension of the slash... I don't think you could possibly understand exactly how useful an ability like that could be. So many possible applications. And permanent release yet... do you know why a soul slayer is permanent release? It happens when a shinigami is incapable of compressing their spirit force into a sealed form. In Chitose's case, it's because it simply can't be done. That power would blow apart the sealed form in an instant. I'll have her soon. But in your case... you're just too weak. You have barely any control over your spirit force, other than Getsuga Tensho. Poor Zangetzu. Under appreciated and in the hands of someone who can barely even control his spirit force. You know, I can..." with a clinking noise, she extended her arm towards him. "...free you right now, if you like."

Without warning, Zangetzu threw itself off of Ichigo's back, unraveled its wrappings, and pointed itself at Haningyotsukai, so quickly that Ichigo almost lost his hold on the hilt. he spent an instant staring at his sword, then turned to her. "Heh, I guess that means no," he said.

She smiled slightly. "That has yet to work even once. Oh well. I guess it's back to the old fashioned way. Sorry, I'm going to kill you now."

Ichigo planted a hand on his shoulder. Blue spirit force blasted up from the ground below his feet. The wrapping from Zangetzu's hilt spiraled up his arm. "Is that so? Sorry, I don't think so. Bankai." There was a large amount of dust kicked up. The tattered edge of Ichigo's coat fluttered in the wind of his own spirit force. "Tensa Zangetzu."

Haningyotsukai was completely unfazed. She flipped her hand over, so that her palm now faced the ground. Suddenly a hailstorm of blades was coming at him. He managed to knock them all away, but... "That technique... that was Baishin's!"

"Yes, I suppose you did know it that way. By the way, thank you ever so much for killing him for me."

"You... what exactly are you?"

"I told you already... I'm Haningyotsukai." Ichigo narrowed his eyes, and deciding that he would get no answers from talking to her further, moved to charge. Yet, mid-step, he stopped. W-what? He tried to continue, but found that he could not make himself move. "Oh, you look surprised. Didn't you know? A soul slayer has the right to possess their shinigami at any time."

"Sorry, Ichigo," said an echoing voice behind him, and he felt a hand on his shoulder. "But this is... my fight."

Ichigo sighed, and closed his eyes. "Don't get me too beat up." When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing on the side of a building in his inner world, completely alone.

O

Hitsugaya landed on a nearby rooftop and looked back down on them. The slimy black creatures that she had used against Ayumu were clambering out of the vortex that was Kagemi's shadow en mass, hundreds spilling into the surrounding area. Kitsune jumped and landed several meters above them on an apparent invisible platform in the sky. She turned her head downward and breathed out a haze of red smoke-like creatures. As the two sets of creatures contacted each-other, each pair melded into a perfect replica of Kitsune.
"Dammit..." Hitsugaya swore under his breath. He shifted his gaze down to his friend and, trying desperately not to notice the blank look in her eyes or the coldness of her skin when he picked her up, lifted her up to flash step away. As he did so, however one of the replicas spotted him. It pointed at him, grinned, and within seconds it was on the roof top with them.

"Sit upon the frosted heavens, Hyourinmaru!" Dammit, I don't have time for this! I have to get Ayumu back to soul society, I have to warn everyone! He thought, setting Ayumu down and sending the ice dragon spiraling towards the copy. Suddenly he had an idea. Running his hand along the flat of the blade, he withdrew the gourd. As he had expected, the form of a boy of about nine with black spiked hair, red eyes, and pointed ears appeared before him. He was wearing a shinigami outfit. "Take care of this for me, ok?" Hitsugaya called over his shoulder, and sending a final blast of ice at the copy, lifted Ayumu and flash stepped away.

...

"...please don't." Apparently Hanataro hadn't had the guts to talk to Hitsugaya himself, so it was some lower fourth squad member who received his quiet rejection.

"S-sir-!" He seemed about to say something, then looked down. Even without facing him, Hitsugaya could tell that he was reconsidering what to say. Still, no matter what he said, Hitsugaya was sure it wouldn't be the right thing, a notion that was soon proved spectacularly. "Sir, there's noting we can do now. And frankly, from what you've said, we'll soon need the beds... I'm-I'm afraid we'll have to move her to the morgue!"

He noted the strangely subdued expression on Hitsugaya's face, despite the inhuman speed with which he had turned to face him. "Is she dead?" he asked quietly, in a flat tone sightly higher than the usual pitch of his voice. The healer swallowed, and hesitated for long enough to make it clear what he wanted to say. Suddenly, Hitsugaya was within a few feet of him, a much more determined expression on his face. "You're wrong," he said, even more quietly.

"e-Go ahead, move her.-e" Emma, who had been sitting in a chair in the corner, spoke for the first time. Hitsugaya looked at her, a combination of shock and anger on his face. Did she really think that her friend was dead? That someone like Ayumu was even capable of dying? Emma looked at him for a moment out of the corner of her eye, then said in a flat, defeated tone, "e-If she's still alive, it doesn't matter where they put her.-e" She clearly didn't put any credence into the argument herself, but it was enough to sedate Hitsugaya. He waved irritably to the healer, who quickly left. Hitsugaya turned back to the window.

There was a bang at the door of the waiting room, and the latest demon-turned-shinigami came rushing in and walking straight up to Hitsugaya. "Where's mommy?" He demanded.

"e-Who are you?-e" Emma asked.

"Akinori Katsutoshi. Where's mommy?" He said quickly. There was a moment of silence, in which everyone looked at the ground. He looked around at everyone. "Where's mommy?" he repeated again. "Where's my pretty mommy?" he continued to look around, taking a few steps in each direction. Slowly he lowered his eyes to match those of all around him, and stood still. "...Why do my mommies always have to die?" he asked quietly. Nobody said anything. There was an excruciating pause. "...was it my fault?" he asked. "It's usually my fault..."

Emma stood up abruptly. "e-It wasn't your fault,-e" she said. "e-...but I know whose it was.-e" And she was gone.