The shinigami captains and lieutenants gaped at the small newcomer who held Rukia by his side.
"Toshiro!" Rukia said.
"Hi," Toshiro responded.
"Th-that was you?"
Toshiro smiled. "Sorry it took so long to get here. Never meant to cut it that close."
The captains continued to stare at Toshiro. "That little runt did all that?" Omaeda asked in disbelief.
Rukia steadied herself on her feet and glared at Toshiro. "I didn't ask you to rescue me."
"Well, I just did."
"Don't expect me to say thank you, cause I won't!"
Toshiro smiled. "That's ok. I didn't expect you to."
"So, what's the next step of your 'great' plan?" Rukia asked sarcastically. "Those are captains! We'll never get away!"
"We won't have to," Toshiro responded. "Looks like the captains aren't all on the same page regarding your execution. And besides … "
Toshiro tilted his head to motion behind them. "… I'm not the one you'll be getting away with."
Rukia looked, and her heart leapt as she saw a man with long, red hair fighting off the guards who would otherwise have been attacking them at that moment.
"Renji!" she shouted in joy. "You're alive!"
Renji finished off the last guard and approached them.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad to see you," Toshiro said.
"Likewise." Renji smiled. "Besides, I couldn't just rely on you to save Rukia, could I?"
Toshiro turned back to the captains and lieutenants in front of them. "Take her and go. Get as far away from here as you can."
Renji took Rukia in his arms. "I'll protect her with my life."
"I'll hold you to that," Toshiro said. "Now get out of here."
"Right." Renji began to run off, carrying Rukia with him.
As he ran off, one of the captains finally responded.
"Don't just stand there!" Soi Fon screamed at Omaeda. "All lieutenants, after them!"
Lieutenants Omaeda, Sasakibe, and Kotetsu drew their weapons and ran towards Toshiro.
Toshiro eyed them carefully as they approached and flexed his sword hand. To his surprise, the three lieutenants did not stop to fight him, but ran past him to chase after Renji and Rukia.
Toshiro rolled his eyes. He disappeared and then reappeared in front of the lieutenants.
This time, the lieutenants stopped for him.
"Get out of the way!" Omaeda yelled.
Toshiro held out his hand and gestured for Omaeda to come at him.
"Why you – "Omaeda said angrily.
Isane raised her blade. "Run, Itegumo!"
Sasakibe followed suit and also released his shikai. "Bite, Gonryomaru!"
They expected Toshiro to draw his sword in response to their releasing their swords, but he continued to stand there as if they were just putting on a show.
Omaeda had had enough. "Crush them, Gegetsubori!"
Unlike Isane and Sasakibe's zanpakutos, which changed seemingly very little when they were released, Omaeda's sword turned into a large spiked ball attached to a chain.
Omaeda attacked first, swinging the ball and chain at Toshiro, who stepped to the side to avoid the attack.
Toshrio reached out and grabbed the chain, yanking it from Omaedas grasp. He lifted it above his head and spun the spiked ball around, to the amazement of the lieutenants.
He threw the ball back at Omaeda. It struck the fat Shinigami in the stomach, knocking him out immediately.
Sasakibe attacked next, attempting to catch Toshiro off guard by striking from behind. Toshiro moved his head slightly to the side as the blade slipped past his ear and raised his arm up and back, striking Sasakibe in the midsection with the back of his elbow.
'It's not possible!" Isane thought as she watched her fellow lieutenants go down after just one blow. 'He's not even using his zanpakuto!'
Toshiro leapt at her, bringing his fist to bear on her face. She thought he was going to punch her, but at the last instant he stopped his fist and brought his middle finger and thumb together. Toshiro flicked his finger, knocking her out as well.
The lieutenants dealt with, Toshiro finally reached back and drew his sword. He spun around, blocking an attempt to decapitate him from Byakuya. The unconscious bodies of the lieutenants had not even hit the ground when their blades collided.
The two combatants glared at each other over their crossed blades.
"Renji, stop!" Rukia demanded as they continued to run. "We've got to go back and help Toshiro!"
"What part of running for our lives do you not understand?" Renji asked in exasperation.
His face and voice grew serious. "We've got to trust him."
"What?' Rukia asked.
"That boy … He's a prodigy. No. More than that. His zanpakuto is … different. You saw what it did to the sokyoku."
"I …"
"The best help we can be," Renji said gravely, "is to be as far away from that fight as possible."
Byakuya and Toshiro continued to hold their blades in place against each other.
"Why?" Byakuya asked.
"Hmm?" Toshiro responded.
"Why do you continue in this fruitless quest to save Rukia?"
Toshiro's eyes glowed blue in anger. A gale-force wind blew from behind him, forcing Byakuya back many paces.
Byakuya steadied himself when the wind subsided and looked at Toshiro, who continued to glare at him.
"How can you, her own brother, ask me something like that?"
"You risk your life again and again to save someone who will certainly die no matter what you do," Byakuya elaborated. "Why do you do this?"
"If I didn't do the right thing even when it was inconvenient," Toshiro explained, "I'd be betraying everything Rukia taught me."
"The right thing?" Byakuya scoffed. "You are a child. Are you so naïve as to believe you know right and wrong better than the rest of the world?"
"I know killing Rukia is wrong. I know executing someone for saving innocent lives is wrong."
"Hmph. Our laws are clearly beyond your comprehension, boy."
"That may be," Toshiro admitted. "I can't comprehend a system of laws that tells people to save laws and executes them for doing so. I can't comprehend a system of laws that has no concept of extenuating circumstances."
"I was beginning to think this Soul Society was rotten to the core," Toshiro continued. "Maybe Rukia was the only good person here."
"But then Hanataro joined us in trying to save her. And then Renji did as well. And now I saw two captains triying to stop the execution.
"They all know this is wrong!" Toshiro yelled. He pointed his blade at Byakuya. "It only seems to be you who sticks to this obsession with killing your own sister."
Byakuya scoffed. "A childish interpretation of what has transpired. Our laws are sacred, and the noble houses have a duty to uphold them. For if we do not, who will?"
Toshiro sighed. "I hoped I could reason with you, but it seems the only path forward is violence."
Byakuya took note of the stance Toshiro adopted. He noted the cold fury of the boy's eyes which stared into his own.
'He is not the same person he was that night in the world of the living,' Byakuya realized. 'That child could not even look Renji in the eye. He could not bring himself to kill under any circumstances. The person who stands before me now will kill me without hesitation if I allow him to.'
"That is the one thing we can agree on," Byakuya said. "I must kill you. Then I kill capture Rukia again, and this time I will execute her myself."
He raised his sword to his face.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura."
The blade of the sword disappeared as it divided into a thousand tiny blades. The swarm of blades moved faster than a human eye could see, but to Toshiro they seemed to move as slowly as cherry blossoms blowing in the wind.
As the blades approached, Toshiro scowled and swung his blade in a horizontal arc. A torrent of ice and water shot out of the tip of his blade, covering the thousand cherry blossoms.
The ice formed a wall between the combatants as it froze with Byakuya's shikai embedded in it.
Byakuya braced himself for Toshiro's attack now that he held nothing but a useless hilt in his hand, but Toshiro merely raised a finger.
"Hado number thirty one: Shakaho!"
A ball of red fire appeared at Toshiro's fingertip. He launched the fireball at the ice wall, causing it to explode.
Byakuya shielded his face from the steam and debris. When the explosion had subsided he saw that Toshiro had not moved.
"Why would you give up your advantage like that?" Byakuya demanded.
"Advantage?" Toshiro asked. "Are you so slow that you couldn't defend yourself in the time it would take me to go around or through that wall?"
"The last time we met I had one advantage, the fact that you didn't know what my zanpakuto's ability was. I had to give that advantage up to save Rukia. Of course, at the time I still didn't know about the true power of the captains.
"… Bankai," Byakuya said, completing the thought. "You want me to release my zanpakuto's second form."
"We won't get anywhere as long as we're both holding back," Toshiro explained. "If this feud is ever going to be resolved, we both have to use our true power."
Byakuya raised his sword, which had reformed after being freed from the ice.
"Very well."
He held the sword upside-down before – to Toshiro's shock – letting it go.
"Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
The sword disappeared into the ground at Byakuya's feet. Behind him appeared rows of blades, each twice as large as a man. Those blades then dissolved into a swirling mass of countless cherry blossoms.
Toshiro lowered his head slightly and chuckled.
"What are you smiling about?" Byakuya asked.
"Yoruichi was right. If I had continued to fight you on the bridge you'd have killed me for sure."
"You're impending death amuses you?"
Toshiro raised his head to look directly at Byakuya. He seemed almost giddy with anticipation.
"There's something you should know about me, Byakuya. I don't like being this powerful. It's a burden to have to be careful not to hurt those around me. And I absolutely hate fighting. Chopping people up, getting chopped up, that's not my idea of a good time.
Toshiro raised his sword to the side, his arm shaking in anticipation. "But this power I'm about to use, I'm actually really excited to test it out outdoors."
"And what power is that?" Byakuya asked.
Toshiro answered softly. "The only power that can counter a captain's Bankai."
The air around Toshiro began to glow as he gathered power.
Orihime, Uryu, Chad, and Ganju stopped running as they felt an enormous force suddenly emanate from their destination.
Dark clouds were gathering over Sokyoku Hill, accompanied by streaks of lightning and bursts of thunder.
"I guess we know where Toshiro is," Ganju said in a matter of fact manner. "That's the same thing we saw when he fought Zaraki."
"No," Uryu said gravely.
The others turned to him.
"This storm is much more intense than the last one. We're farther away, but this time I can feel a change in the atmospheric pressure.
"It's safe to say that the fight has started, and that he's fighting Byakuya Kuchiki."
Byakuya looked up at the stormy sky in trepidation and confusion.
'A Bankai? That's impossible,' he thought. 'It's a level only the most elite Shinigami are able to obtain. Even among the four great noble families who are blessed with greater reiatsu than others, only one child in several generations has the ability to reach that level, and even then only after many years of intense training. Those who have mastered Bankai have had their names etched into the history of the Soul Society. That is the Banakai.'
'So why him? He became a Shinigami just by absorbing Rukia's power. He's nothing more than a child, a human child. So how can he reach Bankai so easily, as if it were second nature to him? And how can he release such reiatsu?
'It's as if he's-'
Byakuya's thought was cut off as Toshiroraised his sword above his head and yelled.
"Bankai!"
Byakuya shielded his face again as numerous bolts of lightning struck the ground around Toshiro, enveloping him in smoke.
The dark clouds above them coalesced into a funnel around Toshiro. The funnel began to lower. When it reached the ground, a great wind burst forth, blowing away all the smoke that had obscured Toshiro from Byakuya's eyes.
Byakuya lowered his hand and observed the sight before him.
The ground around Toshiro was covered in a think layer of ice
The boy himself was adorned with ice, which flowed from his right arm to encompass much of his body. His right hand bore the form of a dragon's head which covered the hilt of his sword. The back of his left arm was covered in ice ending in a dragon's claw. His feet were similarly adorned with ice talons.
But it was the enormous wings which sprouted from his back and shoulders which were the most striking features of his transformation. Each wing was longer than Toshiro was tall, and he had an even longer tail.
Byakuya stared in wonder.
'A winged Bankai? Could it be –'
"Daiguren Hyorinmaru," Toshiro declared when the transformation was complete.
Regaining his composure, Byakuya sneered at the display. "That's it? That is not a Bankai. All you have done is cover yourself in ice."
Toshiro pointed his sword at Byakuya, who observed that its guard had gone from having four points to eight. "Care to test that theory?"
Byakuya willed his millions of cherry blossoms into action, bearing them down on the boy.
Toshiro leapt into the air to avoid the attack. He stopped fifteen meters in the air and dive-bombed Byakuya, who brought his flower pedal projectiles together to form a shield.
Byakuya expected Toshiro to crash head-first into his shield, but at the last moment the boy pulled up and soared back into the air.
'it's not possible,' Byakuya thought. Shinigami could not use spirit particles walk on air within the Seretei, keeping them on the ground. And yet somehow Toshiro was flying.
High in the air, Toshiro could not help but laugh for joy as he soared through the sky. Despite the life and death situation he found himself in, he was still a child, and learning to fly was a dream come true.
Byakuya sent his Bankai after Toshiro again and again, but each time the boy maneuvered out of harm's way with a roll, a banked turn, a spin, or a dive.
'Senbonzakura can't keep up,' Byakuya realized. Toshiro's newfound ability to fly allowed him to dodge in any direction.
Byakuya gritted his teeth and raised his arm. A new wave of tiny blades launched themselves at Toshiro, who had to come to a sudden and complete stop in midair to avoid the attack.
Toshiro barely avoided another attack from the side.
'His attacks just got so much faster!' he thought.
"By controlling Senbonzakura with my hands, its speed doubles," Byakuya said.
Toshiro continued to dodge, but he was now forced to move in a particular direction each time. Streams of the tiny blades flew over his head, forming a net.
Toshiro looked up at the net in panic as it closed in on him from all directions.
"Got you!" Byakuya yelled. He brought his palm down, bringing the full weight of his Bankai onto Toshiro.
The boy disappeared under the cloud of pink blades.
"A pity," Byakuya said as he continued the assault. "You showed enormous potential. But this was the only way this could end. Do not worry. I will not let Rukia see your bloodied corpse, whatever remains of it. That will be my final kindness to her before she dies."
Resting his hands at his sides, Byakuya finally ended his attack. As the flower pedals dissipated, he expected to see pieces of a body begin to fall from the sky.
"What the?"
But instead is saw a ball of ice floating in the same location Toshiro had been.
The front of the ball opened, revealing Toshiro inside, completely unharmed.
'He used his wings as a shield, and Senbonzakura's full might didn't leave even a scratch!" Byakuya thought.
Toshiro breathed a large sigh of relief. He looked down at Byakuya, his expression turning serious again.
"My turn."
Toshiro pointed his sword at Byakuya, and an enormous dragon flowed from the tip of the blade. This dragon was larger than the one that had held off the Sokyoku, and it had wings.
The ice dragon unleashed a loud roar as it bared down at Byakuya, who summoned his Bankai to shield himself.
The dragon collided with the wall of flower petal blades with such force that Byakua was forced to shield his eyes from the wind and steam that resulted from the collision.
Byakuya's shield held, but there was now so much steam in the air that he could not see more than a few feet in front of him. A lump formed in his throat as he sensed the boy appear directly behind him.
"Hyoryo Senbi."
Byakuya leapt away as a large crescent of spiky ice formed where he had just been standing. One spike pierced his hand as he leapt.
Ignoring the pain, Byakuya did not look at his hand as he landed, despite the pain he felt and the sound of the blood dripping onto the ground. Instead he glared at Toshiro, beginning to understand.
"I see. Your Bankai is indeed impressive. In fact, your blade may be the most powerful ice-type Zanpakuto in the Soul Society."
"Very well then. There's nothing left more me to do, BUT TO COMPLETELY CRUSH THAT POWER!" he yelled.
Toshiro assumed a battle stance as Byakuya began raising his reiatsu.
"Watch carefully, Toshiro Hitsugaya," Byakuya instructed as the battlefield became surrounded by pillars of pink flames. "What you see is what happens when I abandon all defense, and risk everything to kill my enemy."
Toshiro held his blade in front of his face. The flames generated an incredible amount of heat, causing him to sweat.
'So the real battle begins now,' he thought.
Toshiro took in a deep breath and exhaled, cooling himself. He saw his breath, and a small amount of steam rose from the blade of his zanpakuto.
The flames finally dissipated, leaving the combatants surrounded by a round wall of a thousand swords.
"This is the true form of Senbonzakura. Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
"Don't worry," Byakuya said, noting Toshiro's nervous expression. He stepped forward. "This is just your funeral procession. The thousand swords surrounding you will not attack you at once. So relax. This senkei is the form I show to only those special few enemies – "
He held out his bloodied hand and summoned one of the thousand swords into his grip.
" – who are truly deserving of my vow to kill them with my own hands. You are only the second to ever see it."
Toshiro said nothing. He merely glared at Byakuya.
"No final words?" Byakuya asked. "So be it."
Byakuya flashed stepped in front of Toshiro and swung his blade in a horizontal slash. The sword cut clean through Toshiro at the chest.
"What?"
Byakuya stepped back as the top part of Toshiro's body fell to the ground.
'That was too easy. He didn't make a move to defend himself.'
"Impressive. I'm glad I took that precaution."
Byakuya's eyes widened in shock as Toshiro appeared behind his now-headless body.
"What trickery is this?"
Toshiro tapped the top the fake body with his blade, causing it to shatter into tiny pieces of ice.
"An ice illusion," Byakuya observed.
"A special ice that can bend light to produce any image inside," Toshiro explained. "It can only fool an enemy once, but I think it served its purpose."
"Now that I've seen the destructive power of your senkei, I can't allow you to use it to hurt anyone else," Toshiro said.
He pointed his blade at Byakuya. "Earlier you asked me why I would destroy my own ice wall. While everything I told you was true, there was another reason."
"And what was that?" Byakuya asked.
"Ever since I got here, I've been increasing the water vapor in the air in preparation for this technique."
He turned his sword ninety degrees counter-clockwise.
"Senen Hyoro."
Orihime, Uryu, Chad, and Ganju had finally made it to the top of the Sokyoku Hill.
"We finally made it," Ganju said, breathing heavily. "But those powers, are we sure one of them is Toshiro?"
"I'm sure of it," Orihime said. "It may be much stronger now, but there's no mistaking Toshiro's spirit energy."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ganju asked.
"Toshiro's spirit has always felt cold, almost like his heart was made of ice." Orihime raised her hand to her chest. "I think that's why I, why everyone at school, has always been so afraid of him. Even before I learned to sense spirit energy, I could still feel that somehow."
"But something changed when he met Rukia," she continued. "She brought something out of him that was still cold, but more like an ice sculpture, or a snowman."
Uryu sighed in exasperation. "Those are two very different metaphors."
A great number of pillars of ice appeared far in front of them. The pillars circled the battlefield for several moments before coming together with a booming thud.
"What the heck is that?" Ganju asked.
"A barrier. Toshiro must have sensed us coming. He put it up to protect us," Uryu said.
"So what are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know," Uryu answered.
"You don't suppose Rukia's in there?" Orihime asked.
"No," Chad said. "It's strange. I've been trying to sense her since we reached the top, but I can't feel anything. Even with how overwhelming Toshiro and Byakuya's powers are, I'd be able to tell if Rukia was close."
"So she might be already dead," Ganju observed.
"No, she's alive," Uryu said. "If Toshiro was fighting to avenge her, he wouldn't have the presence of mind to sense us coming and take action to protect us. In fact, I doubt we'd survive being this close to the battle."
"So he already saved her?" Ganju asked. "Then why is he fighting at all?"
"To give her the chance to get away," Uryu answered, "and to prove one last point so we can all go home."
Byakuya and Toshiro stood in total darkness.
No light could enter the ice prison. But they could still sense each other.
"You could have trapped me alone in this icy tomb," Byakuya said. "Why would you imprison us both in here?"
"I needed to ensure that your senkei didn't harm any of my friends," Toshiro answered.
Byakuya felt the nearest edge of the ice wall.
'My thousand blades are stuck in the ice!'
Byakuya swung the one blade he had at the wall. He succeed in making a small crack, but it was nowhere near enough to break through the wall.
'This ice is at least as strong as his wings, maybe even stronger,' Byakuya realized, 'and it's many meters thick. I could probably break through if given enough time, but for now I'm trapped in here with him.'
He turned back to Toshiro. 'At least now I know this prison has the same dimensions as my senkei, so I know how much freedom of movement I have.'
Toshiro was also lost in thought, though not about the battle.
'That's all of them,' he thought. Orihime and Ganju are all right. Chad's seems to be back to full strength. That's good. But what's wrong with Uryu?'
He heard footsteps as Byakuya began to walk toward him to resume their fight. Neither fighter could see the other, so they were force to rely on their sense of sound and the feel of each other's reiatsu.
Byakuya flashed-stepped in front of Toshiro, bringing his blade down in a powerful blow which the boy barely blocked. The impact caused him to stagger back.
Toshiro had no time to recover as Byakuya struck again, swinging his sword with a speed and ferocity born of desperation. Each time their blades collided they created a shower of sparks that allowed the fighters to see each other for a brief moment.
In an attempt to buy himself some space, Toshiro lowered his left wing to block an attack from that side, but Byakuya's blade sliced off the tip of the wing and scored a direct hit on Toshiro's shoulder.
Toshiro managed to push Byakuya away with what remained of his wing, but he could feel that the damage was severe.
'Nothing to worry about,' he told himself. 'I went much longer without getting cut this time than I did in many of my battles with Ikkaku, Renji, or Kenpachi.'
But something was very wrong. His breath was becoming increasingly heavy, and he was seeing spots in front of his eyes despite there not being a source of light.
'It shouldn't be getting hard to breathe,' he wondered. 'There should be enough air in here for a few hours at worst.'
His chest hurt, and he began to cough. He collapsed to one knee and coughed up blood.
"That's it, then," Byakuya said. "You're dying."
Toshiro looked at him in confusion.
Byakuya's tone softened, as if he was regretful at the turn of events. "There is nothing to be ashamed of. You have defeated many high-level Shinigami and gone far beyond what anyone thought you were capable of. You have even survived slashes from the Senbonzakura."
Toshiro heard cracks forming in his wings, and knew that they were beginning to break apart.
"But in the end, you were not ready for Bankai," Byakuya said. "You could only sustain it for a short time before your body began to be overwhelmed by its power. You are only a human, after all, and a child at that. No matter how strong your spirit, your body has limits, and you have reached them."
He raised his sword above Toshiro's head. "This is the end, Toshiro Hitsugaya."
Toshiro closed his eyes in fear despite not being able to see Byakuya prepare the killing blow.
'No. if I die here, then he'll kill everyone else. And Rukia. He'll find her and Renji and kill them both. All my friends will die because of me!'
Byakuya brought his sword down.
There was a clink as it stuck ice.
"What?"
Byakuya could not see what had happened, but he knew that he had failed to kill the boy.
He stepped back, and another voice spoke out, a distorted voice he had never heard before.
"Toshiro, you're such an idiot. You didn't notice that your organs were being crushed by your own rising reiatsu?"
Whatever was speaking pointed Toshiro's sword at Byakuya.
"Let me show you how to use this Bankai effectively."
A blot of lightning shot out of the tip of the blade. Byakuya saw a brief flash of something horrifying before the attack struck him.
There was no chance to dodge, not even to react. It all happened too fast. In an instant he was burned all over his body.
Byakuya collapsed to one knee himself.
'Lightning. I should have expected it from a zanpakuto that seems to control the weather,' he thought.
He expected the creature to attack again, but instead it screamed.
"No! What are you doing? You'll win if you just leave it to me!"
There was a sound of ceramic shattering as the creature let out one final shriek of agony, and then silence.
Byakuya stared into the darkness for what seemed like an eternity before he began to hear the boy's breath again. He was clearly shaking from whatever he had just experienced.
But then, so was Byakuya.
"I'm gonna need a shrink when I get back home," Toshiro said, finally breaking the silence.
Byakuya rose. "I will not ask you what that was. I do not believe either of us has the strength left to continue this fight for much longer."
"We'll finish this with one final attack," he declared.
"One attack?" Toshiro asked.
"Yes. One attack to decide once and for all who is the victor in this battle between us."
Byakuya held his blade in front of him.
"Shukei, Hakuteiken."
Byakuya's sword began to glow white, illuminating the icy prison and allowing the combatants to see each other clearly for the first time since Toshiro had created it.
The glow spread behind Byakuya, almost taking the form of a bird.
Toshiro took the opportunity to look at each of his wings, which had reformed during the creature's rampage.
"I guess I've got one last technique left in me as well."
He gripped his sword in both hands.
"Ryuzenka!"
The two combatants, battered and weary after their long battle, launched themselves at each other one more time, each putting all of their power into one final attack.
A bright flash of light erupted from within the ice prison, nearly blinding the four standing at the other side of Sokyoku Hill.
The ground shook so strongly that it nearly knocked all of them over despite the distance they still were from the battle.
The pillars of ice which made up the ice prison cracked apart and toppled over, blown down by the tremendous force unleashed by the two attacks.
The two combatants each stood at opposite ends of the battlefield, facing away from each other.
Toshiro had a new gash from his chest up to his right shoulder. His sword shook unsteadily in his hand.
Byakuya had a gash in his side, but that was not what concerned him. He held up his sword, which was covered in a thick layer of ice.
Toshiro grinned and raised his left hand. He snapped his thumb and middle finger together.
At that moment, the ice shattered, and Byakuya's sword shattered into dozens of pieces along with it.
Byakuya watched as the pieces scatted in the wind.
"Boy."
Toshiro turned his head slightly to look at Byakuya, who was still facing away from him.
"No, Toshiro Hitsugaya, Shinigami. You have broken my blade. Do you plan to kill me now?"
"I don't want to kill you," Toshiro said. "I don't want to kill anyone. I just want to protect my friends, especially Rukia."
Now Byakuya turned to Toshiro. There was no hatred in the boy's eyes. The anger he had seen at the start of their battle was gone. His eyes were pleading for something.
Byakuya turned away. "You are the victor. I give you my word that I will pursue Rukia no more."
"In return, I ask that you extend that protection to the Soul Society."
"Huh?"
Toshiro reached out, but Byakuya had already flash-stepped away.
He sat down, allowing his wings to dissolve away.
"Well, what do you know? I do feel a lot less pressure without my Bankai."
He looked back at where Byakuya had stood. 'What did he mean by that?'
"Toshiro!"
Orihime, Chad, Uryu, and Ganju ran over to him.
"Everyone's here," he said. "We all made it. We did it."
"It would appear so," Uryu said. "I'd say the fact that any of us are still alive, let alone all of us, qualifies as a miracle."
Toshiro chuckled.
"You know, I think this is the first time I've seen you smile," Orihime said. "You're actually kind of cute when you laugh. Little kids should be smiling all the time anyway."
"If I wasn't in so much pain," Toshiro responded, "I'd be mad at you right now for calling me cute."
"Well, she's not wrong," Uryu said.
Chad put his hand on Uryu's shoulder. "There will be plenty of time to tease Toshiro later." He looked at Orihime. "For now let's focused on getting him somewhere where he can get him healed up."
Toshiro laid down on his back.
"And then let's go home."
AN: One thing that always bothered me in the show was how Hyorinmaru was stated to control the weather but almost nothing was done with that. So one of the first ideas I came up with when I first started thinking about this fic years ago was giving Hyorinmaru a lightning attack. Ice is responsible for lightning in a way, after all. The weather control aspect is something I plan on exploring more later down the road.
There were a few things I wanted to emphasize about Toshiro's character up to this point. One, of course, is that he fights smarter than Ichigo. Hence he tends to go longer into fights without getting hurt because he would not do things like try to fight a Bankai with only his shikai. Another was his fear of harming people with his own power. This fear was present in the original show and anime, but it seemed to be limited to his use of Hyoten Hyakaso, even though it started with him accidentally freezing his grandma. I thought an even younger version, just discovering his powers, would be terrified of what he could do. Lastly, this version is much younger than the canon version, so he's going to be different for that reason alone. He'll freeze in fright sometimes like against Kenpachi, and he'll be overexcited about discovering he can fly, and he can't intimidate people into not making fun of his height like the captain version. I hope these things got across.