Sorry everyone, I keep miscalculating how far Toshiro's and Koga's fight is. But I'm pretty positive it should be either the next chapter or the one after that. But here is Soifon's fight to hold you over till then. And just to let you all know, I will have to switch over to Soifon's POV every once in a while so you can get the full effect of what's happening. Hope you all enjoy. ;)


Chapter 53:

-Later on that day in the Tenth Division's office-

Toshiro listened to a message, viva a hell butterfly from the Seventh Division, telling him that there was no sign of the Bounts anywhere. He merely dismissed the insect and looked to Rangiku, whom was listening to a message from the Ninth. She waved the bug away and sighed deeply; "So far, the only division that has seen anything is the Second, and they have yet to catch the one in their area." she said, taking up a bored expression.

The icy captain, sighed lightly as well, unable to hide the fact that he agreed with her; "Sorry to do this to you Rangiku, but I want you to stay here and keep monitoring the messages. I'm going to go to the Second and see if I can just get rid of that Bount once in for all."

Rangiku frowned and huffed at her captain; "Oh sure, you get to have all the fun...while I sit here at take calls like an office assistant." she pouted.

Toshiro smirked lightly in amusement; "Once this one is taken care of, I'll monitor the hell butterflies and you can go and defeat the first Bount you encounter. Sound fair?" he asked, changing to a fake annoyed tone.

The strawberry blonde appeared to be thinking over her options, despite having already made up her mind; "I suppose I can do that. But if you don't come back and let me take one of them down...you'll owe me a drink." she claimed, winking to him.

Toshiro raised a brow to her, then vanished in a shunpo, to which Rangiku sighed loudly; "Now I'm almost hoping he doesn't come back, just so we can go out and have a drink together...just me and him."

-Second Division-

Soifon and a few select members of the Onmitsukido were standing before half of the members from two of the four squads she sent out earlier. The petite woman had a seemingly permanent scowl on her face as she looked at everyone before her; "We're in a state of emergency. What are we going to do if the guards are incapable of working properly at a time like this?" she yelled out, making her displeasure of their performances apparent.

Just as she was thinking of more ways to get them motivated to get them to step up their investigation, one of the members behind her suddenly threw a blue object at her, which looked similar to the Bount's Bitto. But just before it was about to hit, she moved out of the way, unsheathed her zanpakuto and sliced it in half; "Who threw that?" she demanded in an icy tone.

One of the shinigami suddenly began half way growling, half way screaming as the men and woman around him restrained his limbs; "What's going on with this guy?" she asked herself, narrowing her eyes on the man.

But then, the man just went limp in the other members arms, causing many of them to stare at him in slight shock; "He's dead." one of them said as they felt no pulse from him.

Soifon narrowed her eyes further; 'What the hell is going on? Were one of the Bounts controlling him? But if that's the case, then why would they only control one person? They should know better then to try such tactics against a captain class.' she thought as she began sensing the area around her for any anomalies.

Though she could not feel any signs of odd spirit energies, she did feel a strong killing intent near by, but one of the Onmitsukido members suddenly screamed loudly, drew their sword and headed straight for her. Soifon merely lept into the air and spun a round house kick into the man's head, knocking him out instantly; "Who else here had contact with the Bounts?" she demanded, landing on the ground and glaring at each of her subordinates in suspicion.

"We fought against one in the Southern area." one spoke up, gesturing to their squadron.

"We fought one in the Western area as well." a second called out, pointing to themselves and the five other members next to him.

Soifon narrowed her eyes on them, watching each of the men and woman carefully; "For the protection of yourselves and the division..." she began, just before vanishing from sight.

The two groups that had spoken up had all suddenly fallen to the ground unconscious; "...you must be taken to the Fourth and sedated till we can remove the effects." she finished, sounding like an order to the other squad members.

The remaining Onmitsukido nodded their heads to her, picked up the unconscious men and woman, and shunpoed away; "Now I just need to find that Bount." she muttered, looking around with narrowed eyes.

"Start at the Sacrificial Watch Tower." someone muttered to the side, causing Soifon to turn sharply in that direction.

She was about to demand for the person to identify themselves, but she immediately recognized the familiar spirit energy; 'I let my guard down too much. He was able to come this close to me without me even being able to notice.' she thought, bowing down on her knees.

"Captain Hitsugaya, my apologies. I had no idea you would be coming back so soon." she said humbly, keeping her eyes fixed to the ground.

Toshiro simply waved her off; "I said there isn't any need for formalities, besides...the Bount is getting further away. Start your search at the tower and I'll meet you back here once your finished." he said to her as if it were an order.

"Yes, Captain Hitsugaya! I will defeat the Bount and return our men and woman to normal!" she exclaimed, look up to him with a determined yet submissive expression, to which he nodded to her and smirked lightly.

"I know you will. Good luck Soifon." Toshiro said, nodding to her once more before closing his eyes and crossing his arms as if in a meditating pose.

Soifon stood herself up, looked to the Sacrificial Towers off to her right side and began shunpoing in its direction; "I won't let you down Captain Hitsugaya." she said to herself in a motivated way as she went.

Toshiro cracked one of his eyes open as if making sure she was gone, then smirked lightly; "I know you won't Soifon." he muttered under his breath and shunpoed the same way the petite woman did.

'The best way to test her abilities is to pit her against one of the Bounts.' he thought as he followed his fellow commander.

Soifon arrived at the tower and immediately spotted the Bount Mabashi leaning against one of the walls, just watching as the shinigami down below attacked one another, due to his Doll. He smiled widely at the sight, not noticing Soifon's presence right away; "So your the one that was trying to control my subordinates." she said, glaring at the orange haired man.

Mabashi looked over at her, smirked widely, then pushed himself off the wall and began walking towards her; "Maybe I did...maybe I didn't." he said smugly, not even noticing Toshiro landing in a shunpo at the top of one of the high walls.

"Your going to pay for that." Soifon claimed, gripping her haori and shinigami kosode, then tearing it away from her body.

The smirking Bount only seemed to enhance his expression as she readied for battle; "Do you strip for all your opponents?" he laughed out, clearly not taking her seriously.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes on the man and clenched his fists; 'Tch, your such a typical man...you don't even deserve to look at her in that fashion.' he thought, growling in his throat.

Soifon suddenly returned his smirk and clenched her owns fists tightly together; "There are only two people in this or any world that I would ever strip for...and you are far from one of them."

Her response caused Toshiro's eyes to widen slightly in surprise; "W-What? Why the hell would she strip for anyone?" he asked silently to no one.

The very second her words had reached the Bounts ears, she was suddenly behind him and winding a punch toward his spinal cord. Mabashi was able to realize this just in time to turn his body slightly, but only enough to avoid being paralyzed by having his spin severed in half. He had still taken a powerful hit into his back, which had sent him flying toward the wall before him. Though he was able to flip himself around so he would land on it feet first, Soifon had shunpoed above him, delivered an elbow into his chest and flipped away in case of a counter attack.

Toshiro nodded his head and smirked lightly; 'Not bad Soifon. This fight will be over as quickly as I suspect it to be.' he thought, widening his smirk a bit.

Mabashi hit the ground with so much force that he lost his breath, then gasped for air as he painfully stood himself back up; "You bitch! I'll kill you for that!" he exclaimed angrily.

Soifon stood a few feet away from him and merely kept her eyes on him, not allowing anything to distract her. The orange haired man growled to her, then moved at a speed close to a shunpo and attempted to punch her, but she easily blocked the blow. He then flowed it up with a combination of three more punches and two round house kicks between. Yet Soifon was able to block all of them and even deliver a few knees into his stomach each time he kicked.

Just as Soifon sent a somewhat lazy palm toward her opponent, he spun his body around it and came up on her side. He then gathered much of his strength and sent a very powerful punch right into Soifon's stomach. But even though the blow had been taken directly, the raven haired woman was unhindered, then grabbed his wrist with one hand and his elbow with the other. She then stepped forward, bent Mabashi's arm behind his back, kicked one of his knees out and just as she let his arm go, she spun herself around and delivered a round house kick to the back of his head.

Mabashi's face slammed into the ground hard, but he was able to catch himself and flip his body back to a standing position. Soifon just stood there with a confident expression, but making sure not to let her guard down; "You bitch...I'll make you suffer. You're not leaving here alive! Do you hear me!" he yelled out.

Soifon merely narrowed her eyes further, seemingly to take on a similar icy expression as Toshiro's, which caused the Bount's eyes to become wide. He just stared at her, unable to move from his shock and building anger; "That look...it's the same look he gave me when he beat me. It's like they're looking down at a piece of dirt of their feet...hate that look. I'm going to kill you..." he began, whispering most of his words to himself.

He then began taking something from his pocket and glared at Soifon even more; "I'm going to kill you! And then that bastard Hitsugaya!" he finished in a scream as he jumped forward.

The petite woman readied herself for the attack, but as Mabashi came toward her, he suddenly became wide eyed, stopped himself in his tracks and looked up at the sky; "H-Hitsugaya..." he stuttered out as he finally realized said captain's presence.

Soifon's eyes became wide and she couldn't help but look up towards her self proclaimed commander; "C-Captain Hitsugaya...I thought you would meet me back there." she said, now feeling slightly nervous about being watched by him.

Toshiro sighed lightly as he nodded to her, but then he noticed Mabashi looking back to Soifon and readying something in his hand. He then narrowed his eyes on Soifon and pointed at her with an icy claw; "You're in the middle of a fight! This is not time to become distracted!" he yelled out to her as if she were one of his squad members.

The raven haired captain became wide eyed and looked back to her opponent as he came forward with a small blue object in his hand. Her eyes went even wider as she recognized the object; 'That was what they tried to poison me with before. This is smaller though...it could be a higher dose. I can't let him reach me.' she thought within the brief second it took her to dodge his first attack.

Soifon crouched down, laid her upper body on the ground, then lifted her lower body into the air and delivered a powerful kick into Mabashi's chest. She then pushed her whole body off the ground with her arms and sent a series of kicks into his chest, causing him to gasp for air. Then, just as she swung her body around to deliver a round house kick to his face, he grinned slightly to her and grabbed one of her ankles. He brought the poisonous object up with an even wider grin on his face, and due to her short legs and his long arms, he stabbed her in her hip with it.

Mabashi was just about to begin chuckling from his success, but then Soifon placed her free foot on his chest and pushed off so hard that he was forced to let go of her ankle and to go skidding across the ground. Soifon used the force to back flip herself into a fighting position, then jump forward and send a powerful palm to his face. Mabashi slammed into one of the walls, and imbedded himself into it just as Soifon landed back on the ground; "Sting all enemies to death..." Soifon called out unsheathing her Zanpakuto and narrowed her eyes on her opponent.

"Suzumebachi." she finished, causing her sword and right hand to glow a bright white, then as the light died down, it revealed the gauntlet on her arm and the stinger on her middle finger, with a small chain attaching the two.

Soifon winced as she took the poisonous object from her leg, but she immediately jumped forward and stabbed Mabashi in his chest. The orange haired man became wide eyed and stared down at the stinger in his chest; "I-Impossible...that was a more powerful poison...you should have been paralyzed in seconds. How can you be standing?" he asked as blood began to seep through the wound.

"Because...I will never be defeated when Captain Hitsugaya is watching me." she said, just before immediately applying the second sting.

"You lost the moment he commanded me to come fight you." she claimed in a light smirk as his face distorted into a horrified one and was reduced to dust.

Soifon staggered back a few steps and was about to fall, but she was caught by Toshiro as he shunpoed behind her; "You did well Soifon." he said, smirking lightly in a rather proud way.

"C-Captain Hitsugaya..." was all she could say before he picked her up bridal style and began walking the opposite direction of the Bount's dust covered clothes.

"Sorry about this Soifon...but if I don't do this, you won't make it to the Fourth. I also placed a sedative that should take effect soon." Toshiro said, which only made the small woman in his arms to stare at him confused.

He then, positioned one of his hands on her hip, making her blush deeply, but he suddenly stabbed one of his icy claws into her small wound, which caused her yelp and grip at his haori in pain. Toshiro surged his icy spirit energy into her wound, which had sent shivers through Soifon's body and grip at his uniform tighter. The white haired captain removed his claw, then repositioned his hand back to its original place and continued carrying her.

Soifon looked up at him, then to her hip and nodded; "You froze the poison so it couldn't flow through my blood stream. Thank you Captain Hitsugaya." she said in an admiring tone.

Toshiro looked down at her, smirked lightly and nodded; "No problem. I don't let people hurt my subordinates or friends." he claimed, without any hint of doubt in his words.

Soifon blushed deeply once more, looked away from him, then smiled lightly, closed her eyes and snuggled into Toshiro's arms. Her actions caused the white haired captain to raise a brow, but he just dismissed it and shunpoed them to the Fourth Division. On the way, Soifon had fallen unconscious from the sedative he used on her from the claw that froze the poison. He walked into one of the free rooms and set her on one of the many empty beds; "You'll probably have a lot more coming in." he said, seemingly to no one.

"I take it the Bount has been taken care of." Unohana's voice said in a knowing tone, to which Toshiro nodded; "How many are left?" she continued.

"Including Kariya, three." Hitsugaya stated simply, to which the raven haired healer nodded; "This battle won't last much longer. I will personally make sure of that." he claimed, then vanished in shunpo.

-Near the Ninth Division training area-

Toshiro shunpoed on the top of one of the many buildings, then stopped as he felt a spike in spirit energy; "Seems like Kurotsuchi found someone to take his anger out on. Too bad Yoshi won't stand a chance." he commented, looking in the direction of where the battle was about to begin.

He then began shunpoing once more toward his destination; "Jin should have gotten to the Twelfth by now, but he better not have caused too much damage. I still need supplies from there." he muttered to himself as he continued on.

As he reached the Twelfth, he immediately noticed that the entrance gates had been broken through and that much of the room inside had been mostly destroyed. Toshiro walked through the opening, looked around the wreckage around him, ignoring the fact that Jin was still standing right there. He then walked over to one of the fallen ceiling tiles, lifted it away easily and tossed it to the side, which revealed Nemu's slightly bloody form. The icy captain offered her his ice covered hand and nodded in reassurance; "C-Captain..Hitsugaya." she mumbled out before taking his hand.

Toshiro helped her back to her feet, and steadied her as she wobbled slightly, but she immediately snapped to a battle position when she saw Jin; "Watch out sir! That man is dangerous!" she exclaimed, placing herself before the white haired captain in a protecting manner.

To which he just placed an ice covered hand on her shoulder and nodded once more; "I know, but you don't have to worry about him...it's already being taken care of." he said calmly, making Nemu look back at him nod in agreement.

Jin raised a brow to his words, then narrowed his eyes as he began to question himself about what the white haired captain meant; "What are you talking about?" he asked, not realizing the two figures behind him.

"Finally found you, Kariya." Ichigo claimed as he and Chad walked closer to the white haired Bount; "This time...you're going down." he continued, as he glared daggers at him.

Toshiro merely nodded knowingly and looked to Nemu; "We'll let them handle this, right now I need something from your father. Would you mind helping me find it?" he asked.

Nemu blushed lightly and nodded; "Yes Captain Hitsugaya. Anything you need." she said, once again showing a level of emotion that seemed foreign on her normally emotionless face as they began walking away.

Jin raised a brow to Toshiro's leaving form, then just like before, he narrowed his eyes and wondered what the icy captain was thinking; "You don't have time to look away!" Ichigo exclaimed, jumping forward with Chad right beside him.


Alright, there's chapter 53. Holy hell...this is a long story already and I've only reach the 'almost' end of the Bount arc. Anyway, I hope to see everyone review...I've been getting fewer then normal lately and I really want to have more then six or seven. I know it's probably about average to have that many, but my aim is to have above average. ;) I hope you all help me.