CHAPTER TWELVE: War of the Three Worlds
Thanks to all those who reviewed, you people are awesome!
Author's notes: Bear with me on this one: I'm not so experienced at writing fight scenes or war situations. XD
/… / In the past, memories
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Bleach, manga or anime.
PART TWELVE
Seireitai
Hinamori sat slumped against her bedroom wall, hugging her knees. She thought about the past events that happened with Hitsugaya and how stupid she was to break up with him, to let him leave thinking that she didn't want to be with him, perhaps even believe that she no longer loved him. Baka Shiro-chan, after all we've been through together and you still believe that. She thought sadly, drowning in the memories.
/ She leapt up onto the roof…and promptly landed on the object of her mission. "Hit...Hitsugaya kun!" She exclaimed/
/ "Why are we going to see the ryokas again? That's Renji's job."
"Because you're not well. You haven't fully recovered from the injuries…" he was cut off.
"Yes I am!" said Hinamori indignantly.
"No you're not, I heard you cough this morning."
"I choked on tea!"
"See."/
/ "You already have a scarf on. Do you really need two?"
"It's not for me, silly." She said adoringly as she wrapped the scarf around his neck
"I can handle the cold." He said as he tried to take it off.
"Hitsugaya Toshiro", she said sternly. He looked at her, and then took his hands off the scarf.
"…H…Hai" He replied. /
/ "What makes her so important that the entire Gotei-13 had to rush to her aid?"
"Just because you weren't there to save your girlfriend, lay off mine."
"Ptt…Rukia isn't Ichigo's girlfriend." Renji said defensively, and then the rest of the words dawned on him. He looked at them and said,
"You two are finally courting hey, about damn time as well. Congrats!"/
/ "I think we can do better than that." He said as he moved in towards her. Her heart beat faster as she closed her eyes in anticipation. It was a slight brush on the lips at first, Hinamori tingled from the sensation. They looked at each other for a second then closed their eyes again for a second kiss. This time it was deeper as their tongues touched. Hinamori subconsciously placed the back of her hand on his head to bring him closer/
/ "I got … scared."
"Scared, of what?"
"Of loosing you."
"Baka Hinamori" he scolded, "that would never happen."/
/ "I like you. A lot."/
/ "Promise me you'll never leave me then?"
"I promise."/
/ "Maybe we shouldn't be together anymore."/
/"I'm only a liability to you. I put you in too much danger too many times. You take chances to protect me all the time and that's …"
"I take chances to protect you because I love you." /
/ "You don't want to be with me then?"
"I don't want to be with you."
"So I guess this is it then." /
/ Hitsugaya, realising that he was still holding onto the piece of sushi, picked it up and smoothly placed it onto her plate/
/ He caught her wrist just as she was about to enter, causing her to turn back and look at him, confusion mixed with longing and hope on her face.
"I can't let you go…" He started, still holding on to her wrist.
She knew the moment he changed his mind.
"…without saying be careful." /
Clack, clack, clack. The sound of the emergency board being hit brought Hinamori out of her reverie. She looked towards the closed door, thinking for a moment. Then she stood up with determination, picked her soul slayer up and strapped it to her hip then walked out of the room.
Outside was chaotic. Shinigamis were running around frantically, orders were been shouted in multi-directions. Hinamori looked up and realised what all the mayhem was about. The sky had opened and hollows were flowing endlessly out of it.
Shiro-chan is up there Hinamori thought worriedly as she stared at the hole. Maybe I could get up there. With that in mind she started running towards the opening.
She came to as sudden halt as six hollows surrounded her. I don't have time for this! She thought as she took out her soul cutter.
"Tobiume" She called, "Hajike!" Pink energy balls fired relentlessly out of her soul cutter. She aimed furiously at the hollows around her until the only ones that remained were the ones in front of her. She looked at them for a moment, her gaze filled with hatred and anger. She held her sword loosely to one side, and then she charged at them.
The Living World
"I—Chi—Go!" yelled Isshin as he leapt high into the air towards his son. Ichigo, on the other hand, was looking bored and disgusted and ready to retaliate. However, Karin beat him to it as she leapt up in the air to meet her father with a hard spin kick, successfully kicking him away from her elder brother.
"Okaaaaaaasan! What shall I do with these disrespectful children?" Isshin cried out to the heavens, tears streaming down his face. "O why O why do they treat me li"
"Urusai na" commented Karin, looking unmoved by her dad's behaviour. Ichigo was looking a bit embarrassed at his dad's display in front of his subordinates. Isshin finally collected himself and looked around.
"Where's Kisuke?" He asked.
"He and Renji are at their designated post along with their respective divisions." Replied Ichigo, "this is our area."
Ichigo turned to his division. "You know what you have to do, go and patrol your areas. Remember not to trespass your areas, the other divisions has got it covered. But don't wait around like an idiot either for them to come, if there's one in front of you then kill it." He commanded. They affirmed his command and left, five shinigamis stayed with him.
A bloodcurdling scream came from the Kurosaki clinic. Everyone, except Ichigo, moved their heads in the direction of the house. A few moments later, Kon came running out of the house.
"Neeeeee-jannnn!" screeched the yellow plush toy, his little feet carrying him towards the little army of shinigamis … only to be kicked back by Ichigo.
"She's not here!" retorted Ichigo, eyebrows twitching. Then he realised something.
"Why are you not in my body?" he asked.
"Karin-chan and Otousan thought he was too annoying so they took it out." Said Yuzu. Ichigo nodded, understanding their decision completely.
"How can nee-chan not be with you? How come you haven't rescued her yet!" rambled Kon. Ichigo clenched his fist, shaking from anger.
"Shut up!" He yelled, squashing Kon onto the pavement continuously with his foot. He was a tad sensitive when it came to Rukia's abduction.
"Nii-san, what is that?" Asked Yuzu as she pointed to the sky. Ichigo turned his head to look at what she was pointing at and gasped.
"Yuzu, Karin, stay in the house and don't come out." He ordered his sisters, pushing them towards the house. He then turned to his group of death gods.
"Come with me!" He ordered, and then he took off towards the direction of the hollows, who were now flowing freely out of the hole in the sky.
"Wait Ichigo!" yelled Isshin, looking serious for once. "There is no way in hell that I'm going to let you fight that alone!" He exclaimed, pointing towards the hole.
The sky peeled away like a piece of loose material as a Menos Grandes slowly made its way out. Ichigo stared in horror as another one came out, followed by yet another one. Three Menos Grandes!
By the time that Ichigo and his group had reached one, the others had already dispersed.
"Damn it!" Ichigo swore. Actually, come to think of it, this is a good thing. We wouldn't have a good chance with three of these. "Don't worry about the others, Urahara and Renji are here." But still there was no time to waste.
His zanpakuto was already drawn. The Menos in front of him opened his mouth and let out a torrent of energy. Ichigo shielded himself with his sword held above him and then he released his own torrent of spiritual energy. His yellowish-orange torrent mixed with the Meno's orange-purple energy and for a while it was a battle of power. Eventually Ichigo's energy surpassed that of the Menos, and it hit it full force on it's mouth. The creature screeched in pain and started to attack blindly at Ichigo but by now Ichigo already had the upper hand.
"Getsugatensho, Zangetsu!" He commanded, the moment his shikai was released he swung his sword upwards, sending a torrent of energy along with it. The surge of energy sliced the Menos in half, causing it to dissipate into a million tiny pieces.
Isshin wiped some tears off his face. "That's my son" he said proudly. Then he burst out into tears. Ichigo looked at him dumb folded, his mouth slightly hanging open.
He spotted a Meno some hundred metres away from him and started to run towards it when he was stopped abruptly by a now serious Isshin.
"This is not what you have been ordered to do, Ichigo. Do what you have to do." Ichigo moved to protest but Isshin silenced him.
"I will take care of it, the others are here too. If you don't go now, it may be too late." He turned to face Ichigo and gave him a smug grin, "Besides, what kind of father would I be if I didn't help my son save my future daughter-in-law."
Ichigo was very grateful for his dad's help, but not enough to stop him from giving him a whack before he took off.
"Don't talk about that crap!" Ichigo yelled as he left. Isshin looked at his son go until he could no longer see him. He let out a sigh.
"Let's see how this goes down." Said Isshin as he observed the chaos around him. With that he took off towards the closest Menos.
The Land of the Hollows
"Damn it!" swore Hitsugaya as he dodged yet another attack from yet another hollow. How many are there? It seemed that no matter how many he sliced down the number of hollows just wasn't decreasing. He looked over to his right to see Byakuya eradicating one hollow after one hollow, using his shunpo to appear in front of a target in a flash then reappear again in front of his next target.
"Jinteki Syakusetsu, Suzumebachi!" yelled out Soi Fong, releasing her shikai. A moment later, it seemed as though the hollows around her were disappearing almost as fast as they were disappearing.
No choice, I have to release my shikai or else the hollows will just keep coming.
"Souten ni Zase, Hyourinmaru!" He called out. He moved his sword upwards in a motion similar to that of a whirlwind. The ice dragon swirled around him like a tornado, freezing hundreds of hollows who were caught in its sub-zero wrath, causing them to shatter into icy dust.
All around him, the shinigamis who had a shikai released them except for Kenpachi Zaraki, who seemed to be having way too much fun slicing up hollows.
After what seemed like an eternity, the number of hollows seemed to have died down. Hitsugaya turned to see Shunsui killing what occurred to be the last one. Everyone around him was exhausted, he could tell by the way they were panting. He looked around more thoroughly and observed that they had lost many fighters. It seemed like only half had survived this long. Another attack like that and only the captains and strongest fighters would survive.
"Menos Grande" whispered Matsumoto, looking around.
To everyone's horror, they were now surrounded by an army of Menos Grandes – literally encircled by them. There was about eight in the first circle, sixteen in the second followed by thirty two in the third and final circle.
The eight Menos in the first row opened their mouths and released their energy balls.
"MOVE BACK" commanded Hitsugaya to his division as he held his soul slayer up to deflect the energy surge. As he struggled against the torrent, he called on Hyourinmaru and released his shikai again. The blue dragon surged through the torrent and reached the Menos. The first circle is down He observed as he looked around. But there was no time to waste. The captains immediately called on their bankai right after the first circle was decimated and subsequently destroyed the second and third circle. Sweat dripped off their brows and the ache in their limbs intensified. But no one dropped their guard. Instead they waited for the dust of battle to settle down so they could see what was happening.
The dust settled and the remaining shinigamis fell into despair – the eradication of the three circles did not even make a dent in the army of Menos Grandes, there were thousands.
The energy balls came again and once again the captains and vice-captains tried to deflect them the best they could.
Hitsugaya heard Matsumoto cough and turned just in time to see her cough out some blood. His eyes widened and he moved to be in front of her.
"Are you okay, Matsumoto!" He asked.
"I'm fine, taichou." She answered weakly. Fighting an army of menos is too much for those under the captain class. Thought Hitsugaya dejectedly as he moved to block another energy ball.
Subordinates around them were dying – either from being hit by a blast or too spiritually weakened to fight any longer. It was a loosing fight.
"BANKAI: DIVINE INTERVENTION, SOUJINNMARU!"
The remaining survivors turned inwardly to see Fukushima Hoshiko and Shinzaburo Michio arise in the centre. Shinzaburo's flashing sword suddenly illuminated the entire space with a white blinding light. Suddenly chaos erupted as spirit balls were flying everywhere. No one single shinigami moved, the stood their and gasped. Shinzaburo had made the inner circle of Menos fight against each other. A roaring sound came above the Menos. The army of Vaizards had appeared at last.
Further along, somewhere in the far distance just past the Vaizard's radius, erupted a circle of sabre blue light enlarging from the same spot. The circles engulfed whatever was in its path, clearing the way to show Ishida and Ryuuken standing back to back. They drew their bows again, this time the blue light formed not an arrow, but more of a horizontal semi-circle.
We are saved! Thought many shinigamis. The captains, however, had other things on their minds. Fukushima is here, it is time to get the plan into action. They sank back down in the black floor of the forsaken land and let the darkness engulf them, knowing that it would take them where they are aiming for – Aizen. From there they would take their positions to form the pentagon of disillusionment.
The captains arose from the darkness into a bright light. It seemed as though the light only shone on them for all they could see was darkness around them.
Hitsugaya peered around. There was no one else here. This is strange, he thought.
A high pitched scream pierced through the silence. Hitsugaya turned to its direction abruptly, eyes widened. I know that voice. Hinamori! He started running as fast as he could towards it, worry becoming him. Please don't let anything happen to her he thought feverishly as he quickened his pace.
Hmm, this is strange. Thought Byakuya as he stood in front of a large gate. He pushed it open with ease and walked inside to find himself standing before a large palace. The halls within were luxuriously decorated – nothing that he, Kuchiki Byakuya, was not accustomed to of course.
A lit up room towards the end of the long hall way was all that stood out in the darkly lit hall. Byakuya moved towards it. As he approached it, he felt a familiar tinge tug at his heart. He thrust the door opened and his eyes widened.
There was a lot of blood on the floor. Byakuya just stood there, staring at the lifeless form on the floor that was once his sister, Rukia. Kneeling over her was a lady dressed in a pink kimono. She turned to face him. He stepped back one step, his usually composed self now in shock.
"Hisana?" He asked, voice just a whisper.
Ichigo was annoyed, no, he was more than annoyed – he was pissed off. How the hell was he suppose to be part of this pentagon thingy when he had no idea where he was? He couldn't even see anything.
He continued walking until he saw a small light in the darkness. He ran towards it, the light became larger and larger until he was finally engulfed by it.
He blinked his eyes a few times until he could see. His eyes widened, this is…this is the place where mum got killed so many years ago. Why am I here all of a sudden?
"Ichigo." Said a gentle voice behind him. No it couldn't be, she's dead. Ichigo turned around ever so slowly and gasped out loud. There, standing right before him, was his mother. He looked desperately behind her to see if the Grand Fisher was there but he wasn't.
"Okaa…san?" He whispered in disbelief.
END OF PART TWELVE
Next: Chapter 13 - Showdown: Total Disillusionment
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