Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach nor any of it's characters.
Chapter Twelve - Hyourinmaru
After the incident at the Academy Toushirou wanted nothing more than to have some time to himself. There were several things that he wanted to think about and he didn't want anyone to bother him. With this thought in mind Toushirou walked quickly to the Squad One barracks. Slipping inside silently, making sure that he wasn't seen by anyone, the white haired youth made his way up to his room. Once there he quickly grabbed the sword that he had reluctantly left there that morning, securing the sheath across his back.
For some reason he just felt better when he had the sword with him. It wasn't something that he could explain or even attempt to put to words but the fact remained that the feeling was strong. He NEEDED to have the sword with him.
Once he'd retrieved the sword from his room Toushirou left the Squad One barracks, just as silently as he'd entered. Then, even though he was fairly certain that Ukitake wouldn't approve of the decision, the boy made his way to the barrier wall that separated the Seireitei from the Rukongai. Noting the Academy uniform the guard at the gate didn't give him any problems and Toushirou easily passed through to District One of the Rukongai.
"Stupid jerks," the boy muttered to himself as he walked along, thinking back to the boys from the Academy. "It isn't my fault that I'm so much different than everyone else. And it sure as hell isn't as though I asked for all of this to happen."
This caused his thoughts to once again shift to his rather strange arrival in the place called Soul Society. His time in the Academy had served to further drive home the point that he was tremendously different from other Shinigami. He had arrived in Soul Society with a zanpaktou, which to his knowledge had never happened before.
"So why me?" he mused as he walked along through District One.
The white haired youth quickly made his way through the small town that was located near the wall and was now making his way down a wooded trail. Walking through the shadows that were cast upon the ground by the trees that lined the path Toushirou remained lost in thought. There was something very strange going on with him and the boy decided that if he wanted to get to the bottom of things then he was going to have to take an active role in it.
Instead of leaving it to the Shinigami who had found him and taken him in.
The fact remained that the white haired prodigy was inherently grateful for the kindness that they had shown to him but he could no longer leave his fate in the hands of others.
"I will find out what's going on," he declared, a determined note in his voice. Clenching his hands into fists the boy's teal eyes were filled with the same determination.
At this point the boy's thoughts were interrupted by an enraged howl. Glancing around Toushirou found, much to his dismay, that he was now surrounded by Hollow. Glancing around the teal eyed youth quickly counted his enemies, finding himself greatly outnumbered. And, while his kidou skills had increased dramatically, he still didn't think that he would be able to destroy all of them on his own.
"And of course I didn't tell anyone where I was going," Toushirou muttered to himself, internally berating himself for having been so careless. "Stupid."
"Call out to me little one…"
Hearing the strange, and yet somehow familiar voice, Toushirou whirled around. Of course he wasn't really expecting to find anyone since it was almost as though the voice had echoed through his very mind.
But he didn't have enough to contemplate this strange occurrence as the group of Hollow suddenly lunged toward him. Raising both hands Toushirou shot a burst of Red Flame Cannon in their direction, managing to hit one of them. The Hollow that he had struck screamed and disintegrated but another rose in the ranks to take it's place.
Thinking quickly the next move that Toushirou decided to use was a kidou designed to spread and attack multiple enemies at once. Unfortunately this one was much more advanced that Red Flame Cannon and consequently more difficult to control. And, while he did manage to pull it off, it's affects were less than desirable. Only managing to take care of two of the Hollow; only one more than Red Flame Cannon.
Growling low in his throat the prodigy decided that a change in strategy was in order. Because he had to do something or else he wasn't going to survive this ill advised trip into the Rukongai.
Reaching back the white haired youth drew the sword that he wore secured across his back. Maybe he could use it to take care of more of the Hollow since with the kidou he only seemed to be able to take care of one of them at a time.
Leaping forward Toushirou swung the blade of the sword in the direction of a couple of the Hollow but they easily jumped out of the way. And merely laughed at the boy who was attempting to fight them.
"Damn," Toushirou swore. "This isn't going so well."
"Call out to me… I can help."
Toushirou opened his mouth to ask who exactly it was that he was supposed to call out to but at that moment the entire group of Hollow rushed him. Holding the handle of the sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white Toushirou swung the blade, at the same time screaming out, "SIT UPON THE FROZEN HEAVENS, HYOURINMARU!"
A light briefly enveloped the blade as the sword transformed. And at the same time a dragon that seemed to be comprised of ice and water erupted from the blade. The dragon quickly soared toward the Hollow, circling them briefly before destroying the entire group in one blow.
Toushirou's eyes widened as he witnessed this and he gazed down at the blade that he held in his hands. It looked slightly different than the sword that he was used to but the boy knew that this was due to the fact that he had invoked his zanpaktou's Shikai.
It's first stage release form.
"Well this was unexpected," he thought to himself, heaving a little sigh. It was the first bit of good luck that he'd had in… well in a long time.
"Good job little one…"
Toushirou once again heard the voice that was echoing in his head and this time he found himself transported to a strange plain of ice. And found himself face to face with a huge dragon.
"So you're Hyourinmaru," Toushirou said as he gazed up at the dragon, knowing that this was the embodiment of his zanpaktou.
The dragon inclined his head, gazing down at the boy who stood before him. "And you are the one destined to wield me, little one."
A/N - I am SO sorry for the extremely late update. Had to find some motivation and then life decided to conspire against me. Hope that you enjoyed.