A/N: Thank you all for reading this! Review Reponses at the end of the chapter now.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!
Thank you very much for so many reviews and favorites and follows! Thank you so much for waiting patiently. Sorry this chapter took so long to get out.
~22~22~22~22~
Bleach: The Other Side of Me
Arc 2: The Memory Rosary Arc
Chapter 22: The Return of the Great Ice Dragon
It was all and only darkness, but out of it appeared gray clouds and particles of ice showered down. Toushirou glanced up in time see a dragon fly down. But this wasn't just any dragon, Toushirou realized, but a dragon made entirely of ice. This dragon, which was quite large, landed right in front of him.
"Remember!" was all the dragon said.
Toushirou froze in surprise. Hasn't remembering all he had been trying to do ever since Ichigo found him that day long ago?
"Remember!" The dragon spoke again, this time straining his neck out, as if to reach Toushirou.
Toushirou, upon instinct, reached his hand out, to meet the dragon halfway.
"Remember!"
Toushirou slowly opened his eyes to someone shaking him. Glancing over at who it was, all he saw a blob of orange.
Wait!
Orange...there was only one person in this house who had orange hair.
"Ichigo..."
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" came Kon's voice. "Hope you slept we- OUCH!" Toushirou glanced over to see Kon, in stuffed animal form, lying face-down on his bedside table, a human hand holding him in place.
"Leave him alone, you idiot," Ichigo grumbled out. Turning back to his brother, the carrot-top continued, "Good morning, Toushirou."
"Morning," Toushirou rose from his bed, rubbing his tired eyes.
"Are you okay, Toushirou?" Toushirou glanced up at Ichigo in utter confusion, "Before Kon and I woke you up, you were unconsciously muttering the word 'remember' over and over."
"You have to remember!" said the dragon again, this time in Toushirou's mind, whose hands flew up to his head.
"You have a headache?" Ichigo asked him.
Toushirou shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Just got out of bed too fast." Here, he sent his brother a smile that he hoped the carrot-top would buy.
This must have been his lucky day, because Ichigo's response was, "Alright, if you say so. We should probably go down and get some breakfast before Dad eats it all."
"Alright."
But no matter what he tried, Toushirou just couldn't get the voice out of his head.
He had been trying to remember ever since he could remember. That might have sounded either really cheesy or really confusing, but it was true. The first day he could remember of being alive was the day he was found by Ichigo and Masaki. Ever since then, he made new memories, some bad and some good, and others being relaxing and others being stressful, but they were his memories.
But the memories before those never came back to him, no matter how hard he tried. Everytime he did, he would get a massive headache and then he would be forced to stop and call it quits for that whole next week because no matter how many asprins he would take, his head would always hurt to a certain extent were he couldn't even lie down in order to sleep it off. Anything he wanted to know from his life in the Soul Society had to be told to him, like the fact that Hinamori was actually his childhood friend and like a sister to him.
His nostalgia often came when someone named something very familiar from his past life. Whenever this happened, Toushirou always felt a little nauseous, even sometimes after the wave had disappeared.
Who could he blame for not remembering? He couldn't blame Ichigo. He was the one who always tried to help him. He couldn't blame Hinamori. She had nothing to do with this. He couldn't blame Kusaka. None of this was his fault. He couldn't blame them. He wouldn't.
Aizen...he had the zanpaktou that could create illusions. Using his zanpaktou, Aizen had fooled Central 46 into believing that he and Kusaka had the same zanpaktou. Hell, he even had Kusaka and Toushirou himself fooled. But along the way, while he was suffering in the World of the Living, Kurotsuchi had figured out that Kusaka's zanpaktou never was an ice-type, but rather a wind-type.
Aizen...that was who he could blame. There was the source of his troubles...
"Toushirou, watch out!"
"Huh?!"
SMACK!
Too late. The ball had already hit Toushirou square in the face. Toushirou silently groaned in pain, which only just added to his headache. He was lying on the ground now and he could hear his classmates, his other friends, racing towards him.
Once they were all around Toushirou, who was being helped into a sitting position by Ichigo and Chad, Tatsuki said, "Sorry about that. I kick way too hard, I know."
"No, no, it's not your fault, Tatsuki," Toushirou muttered, rubbing both of his temples, trying to edge away the pain that was normally called a headache.
He heard Keigo speak up next, "Then whose fault was it?"
"Mine," and they all looked at him surprised that he would say such a thing. "I was lost too deeply in thought. It was my fault for not paying attention."
"You'll be okay, right?" Chad asked, and Toushirou lightly nodded, not wanting to worsen his headache.
"I just need to straighten myself first," Toushirou replied, "but yes, I'll be okay."
Ichigo couldn't help but notice that Toushirou's voice had a different tone to it. Before, it sounded not bright, mind you, but certainly cheery in Toushirou's own way. It used to sound content. That's because Toushirou had gotten his life back and no one had to die because of it. People got hurt, yes, but they all recovered in due time.
That was not even 24 hours ago.
But now it sounded unbearably different. It seemed to suggest that Toushirou was tired, fatigued. It sounded like something was weighing him down. Not to mention, he sounded like he was a bit sad and worried about something. Something, Ichigo didn't know exactly what, but something was bothering his little brother.
Taking a good look at Chad, Uryuu, and Orihime, Ichigo knew he wasn't the only one who noticed this. But for Toushirou's sake, neither of them would say anything.
No one said a single word about it, not even when they were all walking home. They did talk to Toushirou, even if he was pretty silent, but they all took that as a normal sign. Toushirou was always quiet, not really getting into anyone's business, and getting really mad whenever someone dragged him into their mess.
They were down a path now, a secret path, because not only did Toushirou want to go down this path, the path that nobody went on, but everyone else did also. Since this was an abandoned walk-way, it was fairly empty and quiet, which was exactly what Toushirou wanted.
But he still couldn't get rid of that stupid headache. Ichgio guessed that that was probably why Toushirou chose this quiet path. The carrot-top could tell that the white-haired former Captain's head was probably hurting by the way he rubbed his temples all throughout the day.
But on the way home, about halfway there, Toushirou paused. The others would probably pass it off as a hallucination or as just a hoax, but he knew better. He could definately tell that it was real.
But where was it?
'Come on out, Hollow!' Toushirou shouted within his mind. A strange slithering sound brought the others to their senses. Something was here.
"Toushirou, there's something here, isn't there?" Ichigo said, just as Toushirou felt a sharp pain in his chest and feeling a small line of blood trickle down his chest.
"Give it to me...give it to me...the Hogyouku...GIVE IT TO ME!" was the last thing Toushirou heard before he blacked out.
~B~L~E~A~C~H~T~H~E~O~T~H~E~R~S~I~D~E~O~F~M~E~
When he finally came to, the sky above him was glowing orange. Was he in some sort of prison? He struggled to get up, but the pain in his chest was getting to be too much, but surprisingly, the pain was slowly disappearing.
"You shouldn't be up yet." Toushirou obeyed the voice and stopped struggling, but he slowly turned his head to the side. It was Orihime, healing him with her Shun Shun Rikka. He had never been under her healing barrier before, so at first, he had thought that it was a prison. But Orihime was there, Ichigo, Uryuu, and Chad standing a ways in the background, watching this take place very carefully.
Toushioru coughed a couple times before speaking. "What happened?"
"The hollow caught you buy surprise and knocked you out, but not before he managed to pierce your chest," Uryuu spoke up.
"It appears that Aizen really wants that Hogyouku," Chad said. "But don't worry, Toushirou. We made quick work of that hollow for you." Ichigo was unusually quiet, as if he was in deep thought.
Toushirou smiled gently, before it disappeared and he eased up considerably, closing his eyes, and letting Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka finish their handywork.
Why did he have to be so useless?
~B~L~E~A~C~H~T~H~E~O~T~H~E~R~S~I~D~E~O~F~M~E~
Closing up the store for the night, Urahara Kisuke didn't expect a visitor at this time of night. But he did get one.
Kisuke greeted his guest as he yawned, signalling that the guest should not have some at this late hour.
"Kurosaki Isshin," Kisuke said, slipping on a fake smile. "What can I help you with?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Oh?"
"It's about Toushirou?"
Urahara ushered Kurosaki in, not wanting to stand outside in the cold. "Come on in. There are things we can't discuss out here in the open." Serving them both to some hot tea, Urahara implored Isshin to continue.
"Tonight at dinner, one of my girls accidentally dropped a stack of plates when she tripped over one of the table legs. Toushirou caught her and all ten of those dishes and set things back the way they were as if nothing had happened."
Kisuke was suddenly very interesting. "I see. I thought I noticed something different about his behavior when he got backfrom the Soul Society last night. What else have you noticed?"
"His reiatsu keeps getting stronger and colder everytime he has a headache..."
"I have noticed that as well. He seems to be getting frequent headaches and evertime one strikes, his reiatsu spikes, and it's cold. I can feel it from my store."
"Did you sense that hollow this afternoon?" Isshin asked.
Urahara replied with, "Yes, I did. It seems that Aizen really wants that Hogyouku. And he'll go through any lengths to get it. But wait. Wasn't his zanpaktou an ice-type?"
"Yes, it was," Isshin replied, then he paused, eventually letting a smile appear across his face. "It seems that my adopted son, and former subordinate, is starting to get his Shinigami instincts back."
~22~22~22~22~
A/N: Review, please! Tell me how I did! X( Motivation block is killing me! T^T I hope you liked it! Review Responses:
Toshiro with love: Thank you very much. I'm so glad you liked it! And yes, here is the second arc right now.
violentyetawesome: I'm so glad about that. I try. :) And here is the new arc right now.
azure blue espeon: Awesome. Here is the new arc. And, oh, okay. That makes perfect sense. Thank you.
skylark dragonstar: Thank you for your compliments. They mean a lot. And here you are.
Dragon Silhouette: That was kinda the whole point of the trailer. Oh, well. I guess I'll have to try even harder. I have much to learn still, Master. Hope this chapter had more descriptions in it.
Espadakatsukruez XIII: Thank you! You'll have to keep reading to find out if he does or not.
toshirolovehim: It happens, and thank you very, very much.
Ermilius: Yay! You're back! Thank you, and it would be an honor if you would keep reading.
SilverFlameHaze: I could never forget Senna. She's actually my favorite movie character, besides Kusaka. And I'm sorry, but Senna didn't really appear in this chapter. This chapter was merely a set up for the next arc, for what is to come next. But don't worry, Senna will show up sometime in the next chapter.
Shiro Neko: I'm glad you liked it. I have to have some sort of happy ending for all of the stories I write. I don't know, I just feel like the story isn't complete without a happy moment in the end. I won't make endings completely happy, though, I mean, it is life, after all. Bad things are bound to happen. But, nevertheless, I am glad you liked it.