I am once again sorry for the late update!
Thanks to homeschooling ,my grades are so bad that i'm actually thinknig about quitting school... so I had to concentrate on school these last few months. But thanks to the Easter Holiday, I finally had some time to write more!
As always I'm happy about every review, favorite or follow i get and I hope you have fun reading my crappy stories!
Matsumoto and Orihime stood behind a bush and Matsumoto did her best to hide both of their reiatsu.
"We should help, not wait here." Orihime said and looked up.
Yammy immediately attacked Hitsugaya while Abarai, Yumichika and Madarame were fighting the guy who introduced himself as Luppi Antenor.
Matsumoto put a hand on her shoulder. "And we will. Just not at the moment. Believe me, healers and backups are just as important, maybe even more because the people fighting put all of their trust in us." She explained and tried to cheer the girl up.
"Also…," Matsumoto hesitated.
"Also what, Rangiku-chan?" Orihime asked immediately.
Matsumoto bit her lip but decided that the girl had the right to know.
"When those four appeared, all of them immediately looked at you for a second and I, and it looks like my captain too, had the feeling that they were too interested in you. That could either mean they think you're a danger and want to kill you or that Aizen wants something from you. Either way, it would be better if you stayed out of their way for now." She said seriously.
Orihime found that hard to believe but Rangiku and Hitsugaya had a lot more experience with such things, so she didn't try to deny it. Denial won't get them anywhere. But it didn't make her feel less useless either.
Matsumoto could guess what she was thinking.
"But we can still hep! We can use magic spells to… blindfold them or stun them ore something!" she said.
"You're right! That is a perfect idea!" Orihime agreed, "but… do you remember which spell was which? To be honest I never thought they were so useful compared to what Kurosaki and the rest of you can do…" she admitted embarrassed.
Matsumoto scratched her head, "Uhh… well… if we are on the topic of honesty… I was thinking the same and thought in a fight they would be too slow to be of any use."
A depressed silence hung over them.
But then Matsumoto remembered something.
"Wait a second! My captain is always writing everything important down. And he gave me the list of spells I was supposed to learn. I have them in my backpack!"
Orihime beamed at her, "Thank god for your captain's neatness!"
Both of them got out their wands and looked up.
"Okay, captain told us that the most important thing is pronunciation and imagination. We have to think about what we want to do as well. Let's start with an easy one, 'Stupefy' it will stun them for some time." Matsumoto explained.
Orihime nodded and both took aim.
"Stupefy!" both of them cried out.
Up in the air, Yammy was hit in the back by something and to his confusion couldn't move for a few seconds until he let his reiatsu flow freely through his body. But these few seconds were enough for Hitsugaya to stab him three times.
Yammy was still shocked about what happened but since it felt a little like the time he lost his weapon he glared at Hitsugaya and with a roar attacked with renewed anger.
Orihime and Matsumoto looked at each other with surprise, then at their wand.
Orihime started smiling, "It worked! This is incredible! We can actually help more than I imagined!"
Matsumoto beamed right back. "Let's try another one! Here, look at this one, 'Relashio' it makes you let go of whatever you're holding. If we fire at the one with those weird eight arms he will have to let go of Yumichika!"
Orihime nodded and they took aim once more.
"Relashio!"
Up in the air, the Espada were getting more and more frustrated. Yammy would lose his sight at random moments or is unable to move. Luppi on the other hand couldn't get hold of the Shinigami even in his released form because every time he had one of them, something happened that made him let go of them.
This made them angrier each time it happened and because of their anger they didn't take the time to look around and see the red and blue light bolts hit them.
Toshiro smirked and felt proud of the two women. But for some reason both of them thought it was his fault that this happened which meant he had to fight against both Espada and even with Matsumoto and Orihime helping him it was really hard.
Even the third one who stared at birds most of the time joined in and fought against Abarai, Madarame and Ayasegawa.
Just as Toshiro thought he might actually be in trouble, Urahara showed up and slashed trough one of Luppi's arm.
"Wooah, sorry I'm a little late. Hitsugaya-kun, you shouldn't try to fight against two Espada at the same time you know." The man said with an easy going smile as if this was just a fight like any other.
Toshiro gave him an annoyed look. "It's not my fault that those two are angry at me. I didn't even do anything this time."
Urahara lifted an eyebrow, but then he saw Yammy freeze up for a moment and his eyes widened.
"It works so well you can fight against two Espada at the same time?" he asked Toshiro with a raised eyebrow. Toshiro smirked as answer.
Then the fight continued with Yammmy vs Urahara and Toshiro vs Luppi. It was easy enough to beat them after that.
But just as they were ready to relax, they felt a fifth reiatsu of an Espada coming from right behind Matsumoto and Orihime. Ulquiorra has joined the fight.
Toshiro gritted his teeth and called out, "Abarai! Take this one for me, I have to go!" then he immediately shunpoed to their side and stopped Ulquiorras's sword a second away from Matsumoto's chest.
Ulquiorra turned his attention to him. "You should have stayed away. Now I have to kill the two of you."
"Two of us? Not three? What do you want with Orihime-san?" he asked.
"None of your business trash. Now disappear or die."
Then he fought. Or at least tried to. Ulquiorra was on a completely different level that the other Espada. In less than a minute Toshiro had blood running from five different wounds and was starting to have trouble standing and breathing. As the Espada was about to finish it, Orihime spoke up.
"Wait! Don't hurt him. If you do, I will come with you." She offered desperately.
Ulquiorra hesitated and Toshiro shunpoed in front of Orihime. Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes but didn't follow.
"Are you crazy Orihime? Don't talk about sacrificing yourself for us if you know exactly that they will kill us later anyway. Stop being stupid. If you want to help, no matter what, do not go with them!" he growled at the girl.
Orihime looked close to tears and he did feel a little bad but he had to get it across to her that her decision to go with them would be disastrous. They looked at each other for a while but in the end Orihime nodded.
Toshiro sighed in relief.
Ulquiorra on the other hand frowned. The captain was willing to die to make sure the girl and woman was safe? Nothing like this would ever happen in Hueco mondo. And the girl was ready to do the same. How curious.
But mission was mission and if the girl won't join them on her own, he will have to take her with force. The Captain was at his end and the woman is nothing more than trash. It shouldn't be too hard.
Seeing Ulquiorra ready to fight again Toshiro panicked a little. He knew none of them were a match for him at the moment. His bankai was already used against the fight before this one and neither Orihime nor Matsumoto could fight an Espada. He could use magic… but they wanted to use it against Aizen. If he gave it away now it could cost him the surprise and maybe the decisive fight.
But on the other hand, if Ulquiorra wins now and takes Orihime, Kurosaki will do anything to get her back and take half of their forces with him. The best way would be to kill him, but he doubted the killing curse worked on people already dead. Running also won't be possible, the Espada is too fast. Damn it!
'Calm down master, have you thought about wandless magic? You did learn it after all for such moments.'
'…Oh. Yeah I… forgot…'
If he wasn't still dodging for his life and trying not to lose consciousness, he would hit himself.
Dodging another slash, he concentrated and mumbled, "Protego." The next hit from Ulquiorra got blocked from an invisible wall. Toshiro used this time to whisper, "Expilliarmus."
Ulquiorra lost his weapon looked sharply over at Toshiro.
"You did this against Yammy as well. How?" he asked emotionless.
Toshiro panted and gave him a glare. "There's no way I'm telling you."
"My mission here is to take Orihime Inoue to Aizen-sama but I am sure he would also like to know about this new development." He said to himself.
At this moment a senkaimon opened and Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki came through.
Seeing Hitsugaya's state, both of them immediately attacked Ulquirra. Without his weapon though, he was no match against two captain level Shinigami and decided to make a strategic retreat.
Kuchiki went to Toshiro the moment the Espada disappeared.
"Are you alright?" he asked and Toshiro could have sworn he sounded a tiny little worried. He wasn't sure whether to be flattered or annoyed. He went for indifferent.
"I am fine. It's Kurosaki and Kuchiki you should be worried about probably. And protecting Orihime, I don't know why but they are after her." He answered.
But instead of his expectations that Kuchiki would go to his sisters aid immediately, all the captain did was reassure him that Rukia could handle herself and that they had gotten help from a third party. Grimmjow had already retreated as well.
"The only one really hurt in this fight were you. And Kurosaki but that is not exactly news. It would be more surprising if he wasn't hurt." Kuchiki said in a dry tone.
Normally Toshiro would appreciate such humor but at the moment he was too angry with himself for getting beaten like this.
"What about Matsumoto, Abarai and the rest?" he asked. They were his responsibility after all.
"Like I said. Nothing more than minor injuries. Matsumoto didn't join the fight between you and the strongest Espada because she couldn't keep up with the speed. My sister was saved by the third party." He informed him. But seeing that it didn't lift Hitsugaya's spirit he guessed what the kids problem was, "It's thanks to you, you know. If you hadn't fought against both Yammy and the other one it would have looked bad for Abarai and the rest. Same with this last Espada. You protected both Orihime and Matsumoto."
Toshiro looked up at the older Captain and nodded. The man was right. He did his best and at the end of the day that's all they could do.
"Thanks," he smiled at Kuchiki.
Kuchiki nodded and helped him up. A moment later Orihime threw herself at him.
"Thank you Hitsugaya-kun. I was so worried about everyone but you were right. I would have only made things worse." She beamed at him and started healing his wounds.
Relieved that she wasn't mad at him he finally relaxed.
….
He must have fallen asleep from reiatsu overuse or his injuries cause when he woke up again he was in Urahara's shop. Was this place turning into their secret headquarters or something?
Hearing a discussion from the room next door he stood up and found that all of his injuries disappeared. Orhimie's abilities were really something else. No wonder Aizen was interested in her.
Opening the door he saw everyone sitting there, even some new guys he never saw before except Hirako from school.
"Did I miss something?" he asked to get their attention.
Urahara's eyes glinted with something mischievous which could either mean he's in a good mood or he was planning to screw with someone. He hoped for the former.
"Hitugaya-kun, how nice of you to join us. We were just talking about why Aizen was attacking so soon. Any ideas?" he asked with a too bright smile. Toshiro didn't trust it, even if the question was harmless.
"Well, from what I gathered in my fight against Ulquiorra, it was because Aizen wants to kidnap Orihime Inoue."
All eyes fell immediately on the girl. Didn't Matsumoto or Orihime tell them that? From the downward looks of both, no.
Urahara on the other hand was delighted, "Hah! I told you that would be it!"
"Why didn't you tell us Orihime?" Kurosaki asked the girl.
Said girl looked up stubbornly, "Because I don't want to become a burden."
Kurosaki looked like he wanted to say more but Hirako butted in.
"That's all nice and good Orihime, but if Aizen tries this again it would be a bigger burden if we didn't know what he was after."
Orihime nodded and looked down.
"That's fine and all but let's concentrate on Aizen's plan concerning the Hogyoku. We only two more days till November, when Aizen can start his invasion. What are we gonna do concerning that?" Captain Kuchiki cut them off before this turned into a teen drama.
Kenpachi growled, "What's there to do? We will train and then fight them when the traitor comes."
Urahara hummed, "I hate to admit it but I agree with Kenpachi. I believe part of the reason Aizen wanted Orihime was for Kurosaki and most of our strongest fighters to invade Hueco Mondo. That way we would have lost a lot of our strength. But thanks to Hitsugaya-kun that didn't happen and so all we practically have to do, is fight Aizen head on. We actually have a good chance. We have more people than Aizen does and magic seemed very effective against them. By the way, are there any spells or charms you believe would work against Aizen, Hitsugaya-kun? You do have the most experience on that field."
Everyone looked at him expectantly.
Toshiro sat up straight. "Yes, actually." This got many raised eyebrows and scoffs, especially from the vizards, "but, many won't hold for a long time and if I cast the spells, I can't be in a direct fight with him like with Ulqiourra. Aizen is too fast for that. But my best bet would be the protective enchantment, Protego Totalum. It's a giant shield that only has to be used once before the fight and it would protect the whole town for some time."
Kurosaki and the other Ryoka looked like they wanted to do it right now and the rest also looked like they thought it was a good idea.
Only Kenpachi and Madarame weren't happy with a protection charm.
"That's all good and nice but what about the fight? If we lose the charm it won't stop Aizen." Kenpachi grunted.
Hitsugaya nodded. "He's right. But as Matsumoto and Orihime have proven in our fight today, even easy spells such as stupefy can stun the opponent for a certain time. If we have all the seated officers, who normally wouldn't join the fight, take a wand and let them perform such easy spells. It would boost our chances a lot. Let the captains and lieutenants fight and the rest be backup. As for the fight against Aizen…" he hesitated. He wasn't sure if he was capable of performing that spell and didn't want to give them false hope.
Kuchiki put a hand on his shoulder, which got them many wide eyes. "If you have a plan please share it. We can still decide then whether it has merit or not."
Toshiro nodded. "I looked up a lot about illusions in hope of breaking one if Aizen traps us again. Sadly, I couldn't find anything. But I did find a spell on how to make an illusion. I thought it would be a good idea to try it. Aizen is arrogant when it comes to illusions so he won't suspect anything hopefully. I could trap him in one, but it has many risks. Firstly, I can only trap one person not all of them like Aizen can with us. Secondly, since Ichimaru and Tosen will be free, they can easily go to him and shake him out of it, so these two have to be busy when I do it. And the last thing is, I have to be near him, but won't be able to move or notice my surroundings anymore. So I would practically be staying in the middle of a battlefield where everyone can kill me without any chance to protect myself." He finished with a sigh. He thought about it many times but couldn't come up with a solution to the problem.
Looking at his friends, expecting them to look grim as well, he saw all of them staring at him with a hanging jaw or wide eyes. Even Urahara and Kuchiki had both eyebrows raised.
Urahara was the first to recover.
"Hitsugaya-kun, are you saying that you could beat Aizen at his own game?" he asked a little suspicious.
Toshiro narrowed his eyes. "Well yes, but like I said the risks-" he got cut off by the shopkeeper.
"The risks can easily be taken care of with bodyguards and two people fighting Ichimaru and Tosen. But what if you think you are holding Aizen in an illusion but in reality, it is Aizen holding you in an illusion?"
"Easy, the Ryoka haven't seen Aizen release his sword yet, so I wanted one of them to tell me whether it was me who acted weird or Aizen. I thought we were gonna use that strategy anyway. Someone has to tell us after all if we're in an illusion or not." Toshiro replied and cocked his head to the side. Wasn't that part of the plan?
This got another round of wide-eyed looks. Toshiro was starting to get annoyed by this, did he miss something or what?
Captain Kuchiki stoop up abruptly. "I will inform the captain-commander of this new strategy. I will also inform all the seated officers to get ready for the battle and to prepare the spells."
Abarai snorted, "Yeah, just remember to tell them not to use the blindfolding one on Tosen."
Everyone chuckled at the truth of it and then Kuchiki and Kenpachi left.
Urahara stood up as well. "Well everyone, guess that's it for today. Now disappear from my shop you lousy freeloaders." He said and kicked them out of the shop.
On the way back home to Orihime's apartment, Matsumoto filled the silence as usual.
"Using magic felt so good! The way those idiots always stumbled and froze because of us was so satisfying!"
Orihime nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I felt like I actually made a difference." She said in a soft tone.
Toshiro looked over at the girl. She was smiling like always but it was clear that something bothered her.
"You did make a difference." He told her, "Without the two of you I would have never survived the fight against two Arrancer. That we won today with no casualties is thanks to you guys to a big margin."
It had the desired effect and Orihime's smile turned more genuine. Sadly, it also had the effect of making Matsumoto happy and that means a death hug. He tried to struggle out of it but it was no use. Orihime was laughing at them.
When they arrived, Toshiro wished them a good night and went to the rooftop.
The next morning, he woke up with a blanket thrown over him. He smiled and took the blanket to give it back to Orihime.
"Hey, thanks for whoever gave me the blanket." He said as he walked in.
Then he saw them eating. As fast as he could he ran out again. Now way will he eat that… stuff again. How is it even possible to create such a poisonous food? And how can they digest it?!
Together they walked to school. When they arrived, everyone turned to them and got out of their way. From the day on that someone found out that he was living with the two hottest girls at school, he got a lot of angry and awe-filled looks. When the rumors started that he had even better grades than Ishida and had somehow become the captain of the Kendo club - he blamed Abarai and Madarame – he turned into something of a King of the school. He really didn't know how this always happened to him.
At their classroom they separated, Toshiro going to the advanced class. Before he arrived though, he was stopped by Ishida.
"Hey Hitsugaya, can we talk?"
Toshiro nodded and together they went away from the school. Their grades were good enough to skip and it's not like either of them needed school.
"What do you want? I thought you didn't talk with Shinigami?" Toshrio asked once they were far enough from any ears.
"I don't but my father doesn't know you're a Shinigami." Ishida replied, "But anyway, the reason I'm here is because of the fight yesterday. What happened? Is everyone alright?"
The boy actually seemed worried. Guess for all his talk about hating Shinigami, he still cared.
Tosiro sighed and told him about the fight.
"In the end, Kurosaki and I got hurt but Orihime healed us. No casualties and we managed to ruin their plan of kidnapping Orihime."
"Orihime? Why are they after her!?" his worry now as obvious as the sun.
"We have two theories. One, they want to take her for her power and two, they wanted to take her so that Kurosaki, you, Sado and other strong fighters go to Hueco Mondo to get her back while Aizen uses that distraction to invade."
Ishida nodded, "I see, thank you for protecting her."
Toshiro shook his head. "Except for Ulquiorra, the fourth Espada, she protected herself with magic."
Ishida raised an eyebrow, "Magic?"
"Yeah, magic. We have been working on it for two months now. Didn't Sado and Orihime tell you? I thought you still talked to them at least?"
Ishida got wide eyes. "No, they did not. But are you serious right now? Magic?!"
Toshiro rolled his eyes and got out his wand.
Pointing it at Ishida he said, "Episkey" and the wounds on Ishida's arm was healed immediately.
Stunt, Ishida looked at his arm, then at the wand and then at Toshiro, as if not believing what he just saw.
'We live in a world with hell and heaven not a minute away and they are surprised about magic?' thought Toshiro exasperated.
After a minute Ishida got back to his senses. "Is there any way I can learn that as well?"
Toshiro thought about it. "I think so, anyone with reiatsu can. But it won't help you for the fight in two days. You are one of our main fighters and only healers and low seated officers will use magic from the sideline. Well, and me in the fight against Aizen because I went and actually learned all about it at a school for a year."
Ishida looked determined, "I don't care if it's just a bit, but can you teach me the most important ones? I can think of a hundred ways to use this in a fight, even if I don't learn enough for the big fight."
Toshiro nodded. "Sure, don't see why not. I would have to go to Urahara's first though, to get your wand."
Ishida looked at him surprised, "You made a wand for me?"
"Urahara to be precise. But yes, it was part of my mission to teach all of you Ryoka some magic. In the end though, Kurosaki disappeared with the vizards, Sado is a physical fighter and stopped after a few lessons to get in more training with Urahara, you were ignoring us and Orihime didn't take it serious until yesterday because she couldn't see the value. That is also why they probably didn't tell you."
"I see. No matter, even if they had told me, I wouldn't have joined because I am not allowed to be near Urahara's shop. My father would kill me. Can we start right now? School is unimportant anyway if the town gets destroyed in two days."
Toshiro smirked. "Sure, I will get the wand and we will meet at Orihime's. But I do have one question, if you can't go near Urahara's shop, why would you let me teach you?"
Ishida shrugged, "Like I said before, my father doesn't know you are a Shinigami. And also, going from your age, you weren't even alive when the Quincy massacre happened. So I have no reason to hate you and I have learned from Kurosaki that not all Shinigami are evil."
Toshiro nodded disappeared to get the wand.
Ten minutes later they sat in Orihime's apartment.
"Ok, this is the scroll that I wrote only four months ago, when I came back from the school. Every person who learned magic from me has it. Because these spells are the most useful in a fight, so we will start with them. If you want to learn more later… I am not sure whether I can teach, since there will be a lot of paperwork and meetings after the war, if we even survive. But I will arrange something, if you want."
Ishida nodded and together they went to work.
The Quincy was by far his best student yet. The Shinigami were too arrogant and Orihime just couldn't remember the spells at the same speed as Ishida.
When afternoon came around, they were interrupted by the door opening.
"Are you sure they are alright? They didn't come back." Came the worried voice of Orihime.
Both of them were on instant alert. Did someone disappear?
"I am sure both of them are fine, they are responsible enough not to get into a fight." Matsumoto replied.
Ishida and Toshiro looked at each other, both thinking, 'I hope they are not talking about Kurosaki, that guy is anything but responsible.'
When the two women came inside, both Shinigami and Quincy stood ready to handle whatever happened now.
They didn't expect Orihime to look at them as if seeing a ghost or smile at them blindingly afterward.
"You're alright! Why didn't you tell us you were… doing whatever you were doing?"
Matsumoto chimed in, "Yeah captain, we were worried when you just disappeared. Thankfully one of your classmates saw you and told us when we asked around."
Toshiro face palmed. Of course. They just disappeared without a word! He would have been worried as well.
"Sorry, I… forgot." He answered honestly. Matsumoto started snickering.
Ishida was also embarrassed. "Yeah, I just wanted to ask what happened yesterday, but then he told me about magic and we got carried away."
At the word magic, Orihime's eyes lit up. "Can I join? I would like to learn more and be part of the team that fires spells at the Arrancer!"
"Sure thing. If I were you, I would skip school tomorrow as well and train with us." Toshiro answered.
"Yes!"
"Captain, can I also skip?"
"You will be one of the main fighters so it would be useless for you to train with us. But in the end, we won't come back after tomorrow so I don't care."
"YAY! Thank you. I'll go to Ikkaku and Yumichika then, see you later!"
The three of them continued training. At the end of the day, Orihime has got the most destructive spells down while Ishida ironically has concentrated mostly on defense spells. But after thinking about it, he had to admit it was smart. Ishida has a good offense but a really bad defense. Orihime on the other hand has a bad offense and a good defense. Both of them want to fill out their weaknesses.
The next day, none of the Shinigami or Ryoka even bothered with school and did their own training.
Toshiro as well, so he left a note for his two students what they should work on and a few more spells and went to Seireitei to find out if his plan got accepted and if yes, to work on the details with his fellow captains.
At the captain meeting he was greeted by Ukitake and Kyouraku.
"Shiro-chan! I heard about your fight with three Espada, are you alright?" Ukitae asked worried.
Toshiro rolled his eyes, "I'm fine, and stop calling me that! As I told you in my report, Matsumoto and Orihime had my back and my wounds were healed by the girl as well."
"That's news to me. What did Orihime and Rangiku do to have your back against three Espada?" Kyouraku asked with some surprised. Ukitake looked confused as well.
"Did the head-captain not tell you what happened?"
Both shook their heads. "He only told us there was a fight and that you fought against three Espada until Urahara showed up. and that Kurosaki fought with Kuchiki and an unknown ally against another Espada."
Toshiro narrowed his eyes. Should he tell them? Maybe the Yamamoto had a reason to keep it quiet?
At that moment Kuchiki joined them.
"Can I talk with Captain Hitsugaya for a moment?" he asked politely.
The other two nodded and left.
"It is good to see that you feel better Captain Hitsugaya," he started pleasantly, "but we didn't expect for you to come to today's meeting so we forgot to tell you about our plan. I'm sorry for that."
"It's fine, I came because I wanted to know whether my idea will be used or not. If yes, I need to prepare and I would like to go over the details as well with the other captains."
"Understandable. About the plan I mentioned before, it has to do with morale. Right now, everyone thinks you somehow managed to defeat three Espada with minimal help. We need people to keep believing that. It gives them hope."
"I… see. Fine. I don't like though. It looks down on Matsumoto's and Orihime's part in the fight."
"I know. And if you want you can always tell the truth later, but for now please go along with it."
Toshiro nodded and both took their places.
The meeting began.
"As you know, it is very likely that Aizen will attack tomorrow and it is time to make a final plan. One has already been forwarded to me."
Everyone except Kuchiki, Kenpachi and Toshiro looked surprised. So, they haven't even been informed of that? Just great, that means this will be a damn long meeting.
The captain-commander continued , "This plan came from Captain Hitsugaya, so I will let him explain in detail."
Toshiro nodded and stepped forward. He told them the same as everyone else in Urahara's shop. The goal, the risks and ways to decrease or go around the risks.
At the end, everyone looked at him weirdly again. He was starting to think the plan was so stupid and no one could believe he would even propose it out loud.
He didn't expect Kuchiki's response. "I agree and believe that it is definitely worth a try."
To his even bigger shock, Ukitake, Kyouraku, Unohana and Komamura agreed as well. Kenpachi and Soi-Fon didn't like it as much, because it involved less fighting and more trust in him than they liked but agreed as well. Only Kurotsuchi scowled at the idea.
"Are you saying we should put all our trust in the kid?!"
Toshiro bristled at the clear disrespect but before he could say something, Kuchiki cut in.
"Give us a better one right now then."
Kurotsuchi smiled, "Glad that you asked. I have tested the stone many times now and I was right, it makes us stronger and age slower. If all of us drink from it, it will be enough to beat Aizen!"
"Wait, so I'll age even slower?!" blurted Toshiro before he could stop himself. He looked down in mortification when the rest started laughing and chuckling.
"Yes," Kurotsuchi sneered, "but that's beside the point. The point is we don't need such a risky plan."
It was silent for a moment, everyone thinking about this new information.
"But," Kyouraku ended the silence, "wouldn't it be even better if we did both? First take the stone to make us stronger and then use Captain Hitsugaya's plan as well."
"Yes, that is how we will do it!" Yamamoto declared.
Toshiro's eyes widened. It was an idea that came to him after six night's without sleep in the room of requirements and was mostly a joke at the time. A wish to beat Aizen easily… he wasn't expecting it would be their strategy!
But he won't let them see his uncertainty. If he fails, there is still Kurosaki, Urahara and Yamamoto to finish Aizen.
"Alright then, let's talk about how to minimize the risks." Yamamoto commanded.
It was a long meeting but, in the end, Toshiro actually felt like they had a fighting chance. Komamura will fight Tosen and Kenpachi would take Gin, unless a stronger person shows up. In that case, Unohana has promised to join the fight.
The rest will take care of the Espada and Arrancer with the lower seats as magic backup.
Kuchiki offered to be Toshiro's bodyguard. Toshiro was glad about the choice, there was no captain he trusted more than Kuchiki as a bodyguard, except maybe Ukitake and Unohana.
With all of the preparations done, all that was left was training and waiting for Aizen's next move.
Thank you for reading!
Fair warning though, it's possible that updates will continue to slow down, since last year is my last year at scholl and that means studying, studying, studying...
I will not abandon this story though! And I already have plans for Harry Pooter year 4 and 5!