We're getting closer to the end. Thanks for sticking around. See notes after the chapter.

5/24/20

Chapter 36: Inevitable

As expected, Kuchiki's security team had not been able to find out who had killed the animal in the guest house and left that message for Hitsugaya. They'd reviewed the security footage time and time again but it showed absolutely nothing. Whoever had gotten into the Kuchiki compound had done it in a way that triggered no alarms and left no witnesses. Hitsugaya had expected this outcome, but he was still alarmed that whoever had done it left no trace. How good were Seireitei's defenses if Aizen's people could come in and out of one of the most secure compounds in the city without notice?

Yamamoto-soutaichou had a similar reaction, according to what Kuchiki had told him, and had ordered all of his captains to be on alert. Every squad had been ordered to increase their drills and patrols, focusing on anything and everything that may seem suspicious. It was due to this increased security that Hitsugaya now found himself in the 10th division training area without Matsumoto.

Three squads from the tenth division had been deployed to investigate reports of strange Hollow sightings in the 45th district of Rukongai. A mundane mission under the best of circumstances, but Hitsugaya had gotten a bad feeling about it ever since Matsumoto had briefed him on it. This wasn't a mission that required the presence of the captain or vice-captain, but Matsumoto had decided to go with the squads, just in case.

Hitsugaya was, unfortunately, well acquainted with the 45th district, since he'd spent some time there while he'd been away from Seireitei. When he'd read the reports of these supposed "sightings", he'd noticed that the Hollows seemed to be strategic in their appearances. One appeared in the shopping district, one in the business district, and several in the residential districts. No souls had been harmed; the Hollows seemed to just appear long enough to be seen and then went away. Normal Hollows didn't operate like that. They acted purely on instinct, their main goal was to satisfy their urge for souls. They didn't strategize or plan their appearances like they seemed to be doing now. Hitsugaya had talked to Matsumoto about his suspicions and concerns before the squads had departed Seireitei. She, too, thought it was odd, bur orders were orders and she had to go.

Hitsugaya had suggested going with them, but Matsumoto had put her foot down. She argued that, even though he'd been training with Kyouraku for months, he wasn't ready to undertake a mission. He'd argued that he should go because the mission seemed odd. When she pointed out that his power was still very unstable and that he'd been out of active duty for years, he'd relented. He couldn't argue with that. Training and recovering control of his power was one thing; being on active duty, with the rules, responsibilities, and protocol that came with it was something else. He'd not been on active duty in many years and he couldn't take the risk that his lack of practice would get someone hurt. He'd agreed to stay behind, but that didn't mean that he couldn't worry about them.

The squads had been gone for two days already, but had been reporting in regularly. They hadn't found anything to be concerned about so far and the people they'd been talking to had been describing what seemed to be Hollow sightings. Nothing more, nothing less... so why was Hitsugaya on edge about the whole thing?

"You're late Hitsugaya-kun!"

The jibe came from one of the shinigami he'd been training for the past several weeks. He'd met her when her friend, Kumiko, had told her how well he'd helped her and her friend Hanan with kidou. Since then, he'd been meeting with Kumiko, Hanan, and this new shinigami, Mikiko, twice a week for help on whatever they were struggling with. They were now impatiently waiting for him at the training area behind the barracks.

"Sorry," he said, still distracted from his thoughts of the mission Matsumoto was on. "I was distracted."

"We can see that," she said, smiling. "Perhaps thinking of Matsumoto-fukutaichou?" she added with a slight smirk.

Hitsugaya shook his head. These ladies had gotten it into their heads that, since they'd seen him and Matsumoto together quite a bit, that he was trying to "court" the blonde woman. The thought was ridiculous, but he wasn't about to enlighten them on what his relationship with Matsumoto really was. Ignorance was bliss, as far as he was concerned, and the less these ladies knew about the mess his life had become, the better.

"I actually was thinking about Matsumoto-fukutaichou," Hitsugaya responded, "but only as it relates to the mission she's on," he added when smiles broke out on their faces. "There is nothing going on between us."

"We can help you, if you want!" Mikiko said, way too enthusiastic for Hitsugaya's taste. "We'll put in a good word for you with her. She's really nice!"

Hitsugaya put his hands up. "No matchmaking, please," he said, but had to admit that he was enjoying their good humor. "She's not my type."

"Of course not," Hanan added, a devious smile on her face. "You only spend half your time with her."

Kumiko came to stand next to her friends. "Maybe it's the other vice-captain, the lady from the 5th division, that is more his type," she said, elbowing her friend. "He spends a lot of time with her, too. He seems to like women in power."

Hitsugaya shook his head in mock exasperation. It was refreshing to be treated with such normalcy, for once. He liked training with these three because he genuinely liked them and they seemed to like him in return. There was no sense of obligation, duty, or fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time like he used to get from his subordinates. They joked around with him and he tried to relax a bit around them. He wasn't "Hitsugaya-taichou" to them, he was just "Hitsugaya-kun". They sometimes treated him like Hinamori used to, like an annoying little brother. It reminded him so much of his beloved sister that he let them get away with it once in a while.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou is like my sister; we grew up together," he replied but couldn't keep the humor out of his voice. "Now enough of this nonsense, let's get to work."

"Yes, sir!" they all said in unison, then burst out laughing. They did as he asked, though, and they separated into sparring groups. They'd warm up with the sparring and then proceed to more difficult things.

They'd been sparring for about fifteen minutes when he noticed it: a presence that shouldn't be there. It was dark, ominous, and immediately identifiable. He turned around, forgetting what he was doing for a moment, and only Mikiko's quick reflexes kept her from slashing his shoulder with her zanpakutou.

"What are you doing, Hitsugaya-kun? I almost hit you!"

He ignored her, reaching out with his senses instead to see where he was hiding. Hitsugaya cursed himself for having taken this long to notice him.

"I know you're here," Hitsugaya finally said, "show yourself!"

"Who are you talking to?" Kumiko asked. "There's no one else here."

Ichimaru Gin suddenly appeared behind Kumiko. His eyes were closed and his lips were stretched into that maniacal grin that Hitsugaya had always hated. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, little girl," he said and gripped her shoulder when she made a move to get away from him. "Why so quick to move away, when we were having such a nice chat?"

"Let her go!" Hitsugaya said. He raised Hyourinmaru, but knew that he really couldn't do anything without putting the women at risk.

"Now, now, little captain, you were always so quick to get worked up," Ichimaru said. "I'm not here to cause any trouble."

"Why are you here, then?" Hitsugaya asked.

"I have a message for you," Ichimaru said. He shoved Kumiko aside and came to stand directly in front of Hitsugaya. "While you're here playing school with these lovely ladies, three of the 10th division squads, and that pretty vice-captain that you're so fond of, are getting slaughtered, courtesy of Aizen-sama. I suggest that you get out there as quickly as you can. It's not good to keep Aizen-sama waiting."

With that, Ichimaru disappeared. The blood drained from Hitsugaya's face as he replayed Ichimaru's words in his mind. The traitor wasn't lying. He had no reason to.

"What was that about?" Hanan asked. "Is he serious? Was he talking about Aizen the traitor?"

"Yes, he's serious," Hitsugaya replied.

He shoved the panic and anger back into the dark corner of his mind where all unwanted emotions went and attempted to calm himself. "I have to go," he said. "Find the 3rd seat and tell him that he needs to get medical squads out to Rukongai to help those that are already there."

When the women didn't move, he raised his voice. "GO!"

They quickly packed their things and went in search for the 3rd seat, the worry and fear clear on their faces. They were young and probably hadn't seen combat yet. He'd apologize for his rudeness later, but right now he needed to get to Rukongai. He couldn't just go alone, though, not with the deal he'd made with Yamamoto. He was supposed to ask permission and get an escort before he left Seireitei, but he didn't have time for all of that. Instead, he made his way to the 13th division, where he hoped to find Ukitake quickly.

He found the white-haired captain easily enough. The man had just left the division with his two 3rd seats when Hitsugaya appeared in front of him.

"What's wrong," Ukitake asked as soon as he'd seen Hitsugaya.

"I just got a visit from Ichimaru. He said that Aizen had slaughtered the 10th division squads that were sent to Rukongai… and that he was waiting for me."

The 3rd seats gasped in surprise and Ukitake's eyes widened. "You're not planning on going, are you?" the captain asked.

"I don't have a choice, not with my people out there in danger. Matsumoto is out there, too."

Ukitake seemed to think for a moment. "Go. I'll gather reinforcements and will shortly follow. I'll also tell Yamamoto. Don't do anything stupid, Hitsugaya. Wait until we get there."

There was no way in hell Hitsugaya was going to wait for reinforcements, but he nodded his head in agreement anyway. He was sure that Ukitake knew that, too, so Hitsugaya was glad that the older man didn't call him on it. He gave Ukitake a small bow and then disappeared. He already had Hyourinmaru on his back so he didn't need to get anything else. He had a feeling that this was it: at the end of this confrontation, either he or Aizen would be alive, but not both.

It took what seemed like forever, but was really only a few hours using shunpo, to get to the 45th district. Once he got there, he couldn't sense the reiatsu of any shinigami. He couldn't even sense Matsumoto's reiatsu, and he was very familiar with it. He panicked all over again, thinking that he was too late and that everyone had already passed on. He looked around, barely realizing that he knew where he was. That bar he'd gotten the sword from was around the area. He hoped that no one that knew him back then would run into him now. He didn't have time for idiots.

He looked around, extending his senses as far as he could. He was so focused on his surroundings that he didn't notice the two people standing beside him until one of them threw a punch that sent Hitsugaya sprawling to the ground. He blinked for a moment where he fell, disoriented, and then raised his hand to his nose when he realized it was bleeding.

"I thought I told you never to come back here," a gruff, male voice said.

Hitsugaya looked up to see the man he'd last had a run in with at the bar glaring at him. The woman with him looked from one to the other in confusion.

"Did a group of shinigami come this way?" Hitsugaya asked the woman as he got to his feet.

She stared at him for a moment, before looking away.

"I'm talking to you," the man said and shoved Hitsugaya. "I thought I told you never to come back here."

Hitsugaya's panic turned to anger, and he drew Hyourinmaru. "Did a group of shinigami come through here?" he asked again, the tip of Hyourinmaru at the man's throat.

The woman nodded and pointed somewhere behind Hitsugaya. He sheathed his sword and left in that direction, barely noticing the man's tirade as he left. He had left the business district and was approaching the residential district when he started seeing the bodies strewn haphazardly in the street and at the front of people's homes. The shinigami rested where they'd been defeated, their swords by their sides. They weren't technically dead, because their bodies hadn't yet disappeared, but they weren't alive, either. It was as if they'd been suck in some sort of limbo.

He stopped by a couple of the fallen men and women, his anger turning into rage as he saw the horrific injuries these shinigami had been dealt. What had been done to them hadn't been meant to kill them; it had been meant to make them suffer for a long while. These were men and women he'd served with; people he'd taken care of and that had taken care of him. To know that they'd been attacked just to hurt Hitsugaya overwhelmed him with grief. He followed the trail of bodies towards the outskirts of the residential district. As houses became scarcer, do did the bodies. The majority of the squads had been killed when they'd first encountered Aizen, towards the center of the district. Instead of retreating, they'd continued forward for reasons Hitsugaya could not comprehend. Matsumoto wasn't stupid or arrogant. She wouldn't have led her soldiers on if she knew it was a losing battle. Unless…

He stopped when a piece of pink cloth fluttering in the wind caught his attention. The scarf had been tied to the branch of a tree, underneath which a shock of blonde hair focused Hitsugaya's attention once again. She was the last of the 10th division shinigami, probably the reason the squads kept on fighting. Aizen had taken Matsumoto and brought her here to be put on display for the remainder of the soldiers. She was tied to the tree, the ropes the only thing keeping her upright. Her uniform was covered in blood and blood had pooled at her feet, the bright red a stark contrast to the ash underneath.

"Matsumoto!" Hitsugaya shouted, his voice unnaturally loud in the carnage. "Hang on, help is on the way."

He cut the bindings and gently lay her on the ground. Her reiatsu was dangerously low and her body was cold to the touch. Her eyes blinked open, dull from pain and shock. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, a trail of blood escaped the corner of her mouth. He checked her body for injuries and saw many, but the deadliest of all was a slash to her stomach that had almost disemboweled her. He gathered what cloth he could from what was left of her uniform and held it to the wound.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault," he said.

He started to gather reiatsu for one of the few healing kidou that he knew when someone's shadow fell over him. Matsumoto's eyes widened in concern and Hitsugaya got to his feet and drew Hyourinmaru as quickly as he could. Aizen stood in front of him, arms crossed, and laughed.

"It's touching, really," the traitor said. "Your loyalty to these people is laughable. You should be worried about yourself, instead. I'm not letting you leave here alive."

Hitsugaya took a few steps away from Matsumoto, closer to where Aizen stood. The rage in his mind was boiling to the point that he was seeing black spots in his vision. Hyourinmaru's presence pulsed in his mind, and Hitsugaya knew that the dragon's feelings echoed his own. He was tired of being helpless against this man; he was tired of feeling useless and hopeless, but mostly tired of being afraid. There was a roar in his mind, and Hitsugaya wasn't sure if it was himself or Hyourinmaru that made that sound. He felt the ice creeping out from the hilt of the blade slowly, deliberately. He hadn't yet called on his shikai, but Hyourinmaru was ready and willing to fight with him, to the death if need be.

We are one, we will always be one, the dragon said. We are unbeatable. Believe.

"What's the matter, Toushirou," Aizen taunted. "If you stand there for too long, that lovely vice-captain of yours is going to die. You don't want that, do you?"

Hitsugaya's vision went white, and he moved. Everything stopped existing except himself and his movements. He vaguely heard Aizen's gasp of surprise, but continued on the attack. He heard Aizen draw his sword and felt it connect with Hyourinmaru. At that moment, it was as if he and Aizen existed in a plain all of their own. It was also as if some part of Hitsugaya was attuned to Aizen and his movements, because he sensed the man's motions with enough time to parry or move out of the way. Hitsugaya attacked, making contact more than he thought possible. Aizen tried, but Hitsugaya was ready. His skin tingled in whichever area Aizen seemed to want to attack, which made it easier for Hitsugaya to protect himself and block.

He finally drove Aizen away, and the man stopped, breathing heavily.

"How can this be?" he asked, his tone one of surprise and wonder. "How are you able to predict my movements?"

Hitsugaya shrugged. Aizen was bloody and his clothes were torn, while the only blood Hitsugaya had on him was from the punch that he'd been given.

"You made me," Hitsugaya replied. "Like it or not, your reiatsu is forever linked with mine. To tell you the truth, it disgusts me and I need to put an end to it."

Before Aizen could respond, Hitsugaya appeared inside the man's guard. Aizen's eyes widened, and it was the last expression he made before Hitsugaya cut off his head. The body stood for a moment as the head rolled a few meters and Hitsugaya looked down at the scene as if seeing it from outside his body.

Did we really just do this? Hitsugaya asked himself.

Before the dragon could respond, Hitsugaya remembered something.

"The Hougyoku!" both Hyourinmaru and Hitsugaya said at the same time.

Hitsugaya walked to Aizen's body, found the spot where he'd seen the Hougyoku and stabbed. He found resistance, but a burst of strength from Hyourinmaru gave him the ability to push through it until he'd sliced it in half. White light burst from it and something akin to an electric shock traveled from it, through Hyourinmaru, and into Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya screamed as it reached his fingertips, then became silenced as the pain overwhelmed him and it was all he could think of. The energy traveled up to his head and down his body to his feet, then along the ground where it covered everyone and everything it came to until it dissipated.

Hitsugaya was stuck in a torturous limbo of excruciating pain. He heard himself scream, but whether it was out loud or in his head he didn't know. Hyourinmaru roared in time with his screams until Hitsugaya thought he'd go deaf. When it was all over, Hitsugaya came back to himself. He opened his eyes, feeling woozy and weak. He was leaning on Hyourinmaru, using it as a cane. Something moved from his right and Hitsugaya thought that he saw Ichimaru standing there, that maddening grin on his face. He tried to pull Hyourinmaru from the ground to defend himself, but found that he had no strength. He fell to the ground, his last through was that it was a shame that he'd killed Aizen only to be killed by Ichimaru in return.

Matsumoto was acutely aware that she was dying. Seeing Hitsugaya's face when he'd seen the damage had only confirmed what she already felt. She wasn't dead yet, though; she was aware enough to hear the sounds of battle, then silence, then Hitsugaya's agonizing screams. Tears pooled in her eyes and fell down the sides of her face at the thought that all of this had been for nothing. She, her squads, and her captain were all going to die in vain at the hands of a mad man that could not be stopped. She felt like yelling in anger, frustration, and pain, but had the strength for nothing more than a few shallow breaths. She wished she'd died before the battle had started, so she wouldn't have had to witness Hitsugaya's death as well.

A rush of energy suddenly went through her, enveloping her in a cocoon of warmth. When the warmth faded, the pain was gone. She felt weak, but not debilitatingly so. She sat up, expecting the pain to return but was surprised when she felt nothing. She looked down at her bloodied stomach and saw undamaged skin where a ragged slash should have been. The blood was still there, on her skin and her clothes, but the wound had healed.

"What the…" she whispered. She lifted her sleeves and noticed that all of her other wounds were gone, too. "What happened?"

Movement to her left alerted her to company and she tensed. She reached out for her zanpakutou but realized she didn't need it when she recognized that it was her fellow soldiers waking up, similarly confused as to the state of their wounds.

"Matsumoto-fukutaichou, what happened?" the woman closest to her asked.

"I have no idea," she replied.

She got to her feet and looked around in the general direction where she thought Aizen and Hitsugaya had gone. The blood drained from her face when she saw the two of them lying on the ground ahead of her. Aizen on his back and Hitsugaya on his side facing Aizen. Aizen's body was glowing. As she got closer, Matsumoto realized that it wasn't glowing; it was decomposing into the spirit particles that had made it and slowly disappearing. Aizen was dead.

She rushed over to them, still weary and unable to believe that Aizen really was dead. Worry for Hitsugaya won out, however, and she rushed over to her fallen friend. She grabbed his shoulders and lay his head on her lap, gasping when she got a good look at his face. She stared for what seemed like an eternity, when someone stepped up to them.

"He did it."

Ukitake kneeled beside them both and took in the scene. He reached out to feel for a pulse on Hitsugaya's neck and, noticing what Matsumoto had also noticed, gasped in surprise.

"Do you see what I see?" Matsumoto asked. "Please tell me I'm not imagining it."

"I see it," Ukitake said. "Or, rather, I don't see it."

Matsumoto ran her hands down Hitsugaya's smooth cheeks, her tears leaving wet rivulets in the now smooth surface of his face.

"The scars, they're all gone."

She picked up Hitsugaya's arm to reveal the crooked and not quite healed wrist Hitsugaya had struggled with since the first incident with Aizen. A wrist that was now free of scars or imperfections.

"What happened?" Matsumoto asked.

Ukitake had gotten up to examine what was left of Aizen's body. It was mostly gone now, except for a black piece of something where Aizen's chest had been.

"Hitsugaya destroyed the Hougyoku," Ukitake said. "It must have healed him… healed all of you. It was never evil on its own. It was only used for evil in Aizen's hands."

They were interrupted by Isane, who had come with the medical squad that the 10th division's 3rd seat had called for. "Ukitake-taichou, all shinigami are accounted for and in good health," she said. "Despite what it looks like. How is Hitsugaya-san doing?"

Matsumoto looked back down at her young friend. "If he was healed, why is he unconscious? Shouldn't he be ok now?"

Ukitake sighed. "I don't know. The Hougyoku works in mysterious ways. Let's get him back to the 4th and figure it out there.

Whew! It's finally done.

This chapter took years to write. Actually, the Aizen/Hitsugaya confrontation took years to figure out… between my inability to write action scenes, my desire to not draw this out, and my desire to not screw up with canon too much (I failed, obviously), it just wasn't getting written. This seemed like a good way to bring it to an end. Apologies if some of you think it's too "easy" of an ending, but I really wanted to finish the story.

Speaking of which, we're almost done. A couple of more chapters left to go. Until next time.