Yes, after making the lot of you waiting so long, I have finally updated. I have been busy as of late, what with mid-years and projects galore, but that has calmed down a bit. I'm working on refining the style of my writing, so I'm trying to make it as perfect as I possibly can without forsaking good storytelling. I hope this chapter meets to your expectations. But first, I'll have to give out the thanks for reviews.

Special thanks to FuriousDeragonmaji, Poet Bucky, Arisuke, Shuki.., Hitsugayalover, JenovaJuice97, Sleeve of White Snow, TFKeyes, SilverWhiteDragon, Rasgara and Ashyx. The amount of reviews this turn was... disappointing to me, actually. Has my writing started to take a turn for the worse? Sigh, anyway, here are a bit of replies to some of the questions asked by a few reviewers.

FuriousDeragonmaji: You'll just have to wait and see...

And that's all. Please Enjoy the ninth chapter of Reincarnation of Ice!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, its timeline and its characters, however plot and OCs of this fanfic do belong to me.

Reincarnation of Ice

Chapter 9: Resurfacing Point

He was sitting on a porch outside a traditional Japanese house. Looking around, he could see the light shrubbery inside the lawn. The wall surrounding the house looked old, and the paint was scraped off in a couple of areas, revealing the red stone bricks beneath it. The sky above him was a calm azure blue, and the clouds dotting it were passing by lazily. Time seemed slow, and his head felt oddly hazy. He noticed that he wore a light cotton yukata that was patched in several places. It was sleeveless, like the ones he used to wear as a child whenever he went to his grandparents' place. Much to his chagrin, he seemed so much smaller than he was now. It all felt like a dream, of one of the moments in his childhood that he had forgotten maybe. The setting seemed unfamiliar, yet oddly familiar.

He heard a movement to his right, and turned his head to look in that direction. A girl that looked older than him, and unfortunately a few feet taller than him, moved to sit beside him. She carried a plate of fresh watermelons, cut into the shape of a triangle. Her black hair was tied into two pigtails, and her brown eyes turned to look at him. Her mouth formed into a smile, and she placed the plate of fruit between them. Her mouth move to form words, and in his half dazed state, he had to strain his ears to hear what she was saying.

"Ne, Shirou-chan, look. Obaa-chan cut them for us. And yes, they're from your patch. You take such good care of the watermelons that they grow so big."

He could feel his lips move to make an answer. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he could hear himself say. "And don't call me that, bed-wetter Momo." His voice sounded dim and fuzzy, like that of an old record from bygone days. His hand moved by its own to pick up a slice of the watermelon, and he bit down on the red flesh. The juice flowed into his mouth, sweet and rich. He could feel the seeds of the watermelon in his mouth, and expertly pushed them forward and spitted them out consecutively. He continued to bite at the watermelon greedily, swallowing the flesh and juice but being careful not to swallow the seeds, spitting them out afterwards. The girl did the same as well, though not at the same speed as he. They ate in peaceful silence, and he took the moment to analyze his thoughts.

He hadn't commanded or willed himself to speak or make a move for the watermelon, he had just done it, like something he was suppose to do. His mind felt strangely detached from his body, as if they weren't connected. Looking at the girl, he thought hard. She seemed familiar, too familiar. But he couldn't seem to place a name on her just yet. Thinking as hard as he could, he searched for one. He remembered that he had called her Momo just now. Then it came to him. Her name was Hinata Momo; or was it? Another name flashed through his head, a Hinamori Momo. But that wasn't correct either.

::Wake up::

Was he being paranoid or something? Both the names seemed to fit and yet they didn't match up. A person couldn't have more than one true name, so he must have messed up somewhere. Both the names felt oddly right though, but he was unable to understand why. The girl turned to look at him again, but he paid no attention to it. He was thinking too much.

The girl was talking, and from the movement of his lips he could tell that he was replying to whatever she said. But the scene was starting to change, turning distorted and hard to see. The sounds around him, the girl's voice and his, started fading as well. He could feel hints of frostbite tingling at his skin, and a cold gust blew pass him. The cold nipped at him, but not in a bad way. It was inviting, refreshing, welcoming. What is going on? His mind felt like it was slipping away, slipping into the darkness. Am I losing my mind?

::Wake up::

The scene before him changed altogether, and he found himself in a different place altogether. It was a vast land, filled with whites and blues. Snow fell from the heavens like the soft, gentle petals of the cherry blossoms. A small creek flowed in a sinuous line, like a lazy snake. He could hear light rumbling sounds, coming from the end of the creek. Mounds of beautifully shaped ice speckled the surrounding area, and in those ices there were pictures -moving pictures. Looking into one of them, he saw himself as a six-year-old, playing in the snow with his siblings. In the next one slightly downstream off the creek, he saw himself when he was five, this time sitting on the old sakura tree in his grandparents' backyard, watching the clouds roll by, looking for one in the shape of a watermelon.

He noted that these were memories, memories of his life from the time he had the ability to remember. Walking even more downstream, he saw that the creek eventually entered a large cave. The entrance to the cave however, was sealed off by a thick wall of ice. But the ice wall was cracked in certain places here and there, and through them he could peep at what was inside. Looking through one of the fissures, he could see many more mounds of ice, and at the mouth of the creek it flowed into a wide, clear blue lake. The lake water was dark, telling him of its deep bed. He swore he had sighted a long serpentine creature moving in it. The strangest thing however, was the biggest mound of ice located in the center of the lake, on a flat plane of frozen land. Squinting, he could see something encased within it. Looking harder, what he finally saw was... an exact mirror image of him.

What the...

::WAKE UP::

Toushirou sat up with a start, and almost fell off the bed in the process. Looking around he saw that he was in his own room. The grandfather clock downstairs chimed seven times, telling him that it was only seven in the morning. A bluish white light filled his room and created shadows in certain corners where the shelves in his room blocked it. His sheets were resting on the floor, more likely from his sudden jolting movement.

He could hear Shihou downstairs in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Looking out of the window that was situated beside his bed, he could see Hiro practicing his kata for kendo, with his father and mother watching over him. He could hear Hecate in her room -which was beside his- finishing her home more like, he guessed from the light pencil-scratching-paper sounds he could hear; he knew she hated having to do it last minute, and preferred to do the work first before enjoying the first day of winter break. That reminded him; he had an appointment with Hinata today, at the Hibiya Park.

The last remnants of sleep gone, he got up and made his way to the bathroom down the hallway. After cleaning up, he changed into a light blue collared shirt and a pair of navy green slacks and tousled his hair into its usual style before going downstairs for breakfast. The smell of miso and natto wafted from the living room, tantalizing his taste buds. Shihou's cooking was always good, no matter what method she used. After downing his breakfast, he turned to look at the clock in the hall. It read seven forty-five. Hinata had said to be there at eight sharp.

Knowing full well how long it took for him to get to Hibiya Park, he slipped on his winter jacket and shoes and wrapped his scarf around his neck before making his way out of the house. Hinata had chosen a spot that was actually quite close to their home, so he was going to walk there. As he walked, he let himself think, more so about the dream he had had last night.

That dream hadn't been very comforting. It couldn't have possibly been a premonition; he was always unable to see anything that was related to him directly, and that was definitely something of his own. The dream had been too real, too detailed for it to have been a normal dream. It wasn't exactly a memory as well, considering he had no recollection of it. In the dream he had most likely been about eight years old, so there was no possible way it was his. But then, he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling at the back of his mind that was telling him he hadn't been eight in that memory at all.

There was also a possibility that it could have been a fiction of his imagination. Sometimes when he was too stressed or excited before sleeping, he did tend to have horribly weird dreams, so that dream was most likely one of those. But something still didn't seem right to it. The dream had been somewhat chilling at the end, when he had seen the mirror image of himself encased in ice. It was like telling him that he was going to end up that way as well. Pushing back that thought, he finally decided that it was more likely because of the recent fiasco with Natsume that had done him in, that's all.

Soon, he reached the entrance to the park and went in. It was a nice park, with a few lakes and nice, well maintained greenery and paths. Looking around, he finally spotted Hinata beside one of the more main lakes. She was holding a paper bag, kneeling by the edge of the lake and feeding the ducks crowding around it. When she saw him, she stood up and turned to look at him. He noticed that she wore a light green colored dress under her knee-length jacket and red wool scarf and high white stockings with shoes. She smiled when he was close enough for him to see it. That smile reminded him vaguely of the one he had seen her direct to him in that strange dream. He brutally crushed the memory of it; he didn't need to think about it now.

"Hello, Shirou-chan," She said cheerily, her breath misting in the frigid air. "How's your leg? It doesn't hurt anymore does it?"

"Of course it doesn't, silly bed-wetter Momo," He replied shortly, moving to stand beside her as she continued to feed the ducks. He knew she was worried that what had happened recently had affected him badly, after all she was his best friend, but he didn't want to cause her to do so too much. He didn't like seeing her worried; it didn't suit her happy, bright nature. He took the bag from her and pulled out the contents -bread crumbs, he noticed- and threw them all into the pond. Hinata made no objection at all, and just watched the ducks. He remembered suddenly that she had made no objection when he had called her a bed-wetter. That's strange.

"Something's on your mind isn't it, bed-wetter Momo," he said, turning to look at her pointedly. She only smiled back at him and said, "Let's take a walk around the park."

He could see that her smile was strained at the edges, but made no mention of it when he followed her as she began to make her way down the path. Matching his stride with hers, they walked in a comfortable silence, each thinking their own thoughts. Toushirou looked at her from the corner of his eye. From the way her lips thinned into a tight smile, he could tell that she was worried or agitated about something. Her asking him to meet her here at this early of a time was most definitely suspicious, and she was also being extremely dodgy. A thought came to him, and he wondered whether or not she felt guilty over his encounter with Natsume, and was about to say something when she started speaking as well.

"Ne, Shirou-chan," she said, and he could hear a hint of worry in her voice. Something was definitely wrong. "Do you remember the question you asked me after you came back from the hospital from that hit-and-run accident? The one where you asked me if I remembered anything strange?"

Toushirou felt his heart stop for a moment. He had a sinking feeling that he knew what she was meaning, but keeping his voice neutral, he answered. "What about it?"

This time she turned to look at him straight in the eye. "It was true, wasn't it?" She started. "All the things that had happened that day; the monster, you bleeding and on the brink of death, Nagaya-san getting eaten by it, everything. It was all real wasn't it?'

Toushirou hesitated, wondering whether he should tell her, whether or not she would break down when she knew it was all real. But still, the way she looked at him, so desperately, made him reply, "Yes."

Hinata's eyes widened dramatically as the answer registered in her mind and she looked away. They had stopped moving altogether, standing right in the middle of the path. People milled past them, some jogging, some walking, and some making friendly conversation with the person standing beside them, but he paid no attention to them. What worried him now, was Hinata. He couldn't see her expression for a long time; her eyes were looking away from him.

Toushirou had had enough of her silence. Turning her around to face him, he looked at her sharply. "Look, if you don't like what I just said then forget about it. It's not something that is important for you to know. If it makes you feel any better, than just don't think about it. It doesn't matter, you hear."

Hinata looked surprised at that, but suddenly her eyes hardened with determination. She was about to say something, when a loud roar resonated through the park. He and Hinata both turned to look in the direction of Otomesando. A heavy reiatsu pressed against him, and the scent of a Hollow assaulted his senses. From the way the people by him walk past at the same pace they had done before, they hadn't heard it. That was reasonable. Not many people could see or hear a Hollow, let alone Shinigami. Hinata looked back at him, fear bright in her eyes.

Toushirou clicked his tongue. Of all the times for a Hollow to appear it had to be now. Matsumoto was away as well from what he remembered her telling him. Something about an errand back at Soul Society. Taking his hands off Hinata, he quickly pulled out the gikongon dispenser that Matsumoto had given him from his back pocket and swallowed one of the pills as it slipped out of the bottle through the dragon head. It reminded him of a candy bottle, but he had no choice in the matter. There was simply no time to think about face at the moment.

He could feel himself separate from his body, and at the next moment he stood beside it in Shinigami apparel. His sword was strapped to his back using a sash that Matsumoto had given him, due to the fact that it was unfortunately too long for him to put through his obi, otherwise it would always get in his way whenever he wanted to cross his arms. And he definitely did not want that to happen. Looking at Hinata, he could see her staring straight at him, her expression one of deep shock. He didn't have time to tell everything to her now. Turning to look at the gikon in his body, he commanded to it, "Take Hinamori back home, then come back here and wait for me by that tree over there, got it?"

The gikon just nodded.

Glancing at Hinata one more time, he used some of his reiatsu to send him leaping into the air. Using the wind as leverage, he leaped as far as he could onto the closest building. Through jumps and leaps that would have been impossible for a normal human to do, he made his way to the middle of the street where the Hollow was. As he moved to hide behind one on the roofs of one of the higher buildings surrounding it, he scanned the road for the Hollow. True enough it stood there, its garish body large and out of place. It was a huge one, with the standard four limbs and an additional two arms. It stood erect on both feet, and the mask hiding the shadows of its face was shaped into that of a bull's.

This one was going to be annoying, from what he could tell.

With a quick jump of the building, he used the movement to unsheathe the sword from its scabbard and a made downward diagonal swing at its mask. But the Hollow had anticipated the attack, and put up one of its hands to fend it off. The white bone covering it cracked slightly, but held against his sword. Toushirou used it to push off the Hollow, moving away from it and avoiding the hand that was about to strike him. Landing lightly on his feet and bending his knees to avoid breaking them, he held his sword in a ready stance.

"Ah, a little Shinigami this time," the Hollow suddenly said, its eyes glowing with a strange awareness. Toushirou couldn't help but bristle slightly at the comment. "Have you Shinigami decided to underestimate me? After I have already eaten two of your kind?"

Toushirou didn't reply, angling his sword instead and letting out a battle cry as he lunged forward. The Hollow moved to block the attack again, but he had been prepared for that, and landed on it instead and made a quick swing at the shoulder of the arm. It came off easily this time, and the Hollow howled in pain as blood gushed out of the wound. Moving quickly he dodged another attack made by the Hollow. He only touched the ground briefly before he lunged again, this time making a move to cut off the other arm. But before he could, something fast flew through the air, trying to pierce him. Making a soft noise of irritation he did a back flip to avoid it, but the limb followed him. Bringing up his sword in a fluid motion, he did his best to block it as it pushed him backwards. A tentacle, he saw, as he completed the flip and skidded backwards as he landed on the ground, heavily this time.

"So, little Shinigami," it said hissing, the saliva dripping from its mouth. "You had the power to back up the stance after all. I will enjoy killing and eating you!"

The tentacle that had attacked him coiled back towards the Hollow, and Toushirou could now see that it was connected to its back. More tentacles were sprouting out from it as well, its tips fine and razor sharp. He could see that this wasn't going to go as well as he planned. The Hollow was the one that made the first move this turn, its hands and tentacles out to catch him in its deadly grasp. Toushirou moved as swiftly as he could to block off all the attacks, but his training with Matsumoto hadn't included what to do when you had many versatile, projectile-like limbs flying at you in an attempt to butcher you.

Suddenly, one of the tentacles passed his guard, and flew straight at him, aiming at his heart. Everything seemed to move slowly then. He could feel himself trying to move out of harm's way, but in the back of his mind he knew he wouldn't be able to clear the attack. A new clarity filled his head, taking over his senses. His vision blurred quickly as he moved at an amazing speed. Soon, he had reappeared behind the Hollow, his sword swinging downward for the final blow. The Hollow didn't even see it coming as the sword cut clean through its body. An unearthly shriek pierced through the air, and Toushirou had to refrain from closing his ears.

As he crouched in the spot where the Hollow had once, the last of its particles disintegrating in the air, he could feel the clarity that had made him move at that speed disappear. Standing to full height, Toushirou frowned. What that had been about he wasn't sure, but it had definitely saved him from certain death. Still, it unsettled him that his body had moved by its own self. There were too many references to the dream of ice. Shaking his head, he couldn't help but feel that he was really getting overly superstitious.

He would have to sort this all out later, he thought as he sheathed his sword back into the scabbard, and walked back towards the direction of the park. His mind wandered back to Hinata, and the look she had given him before the Hollow had interrupted. Something told him that he was in for a whole pot hole of trouble.

He sighed wearily.

He was going to have to do a lot of explaining when he next met her.

Well, the chapter is shorter than the last, but I still hope that it would please the most of you. Please review, even if what you want to say is good or bad, just do so. It gives me the inspiration to go on. The next chapter will come up as fast as I can manage. If there are any dramatic errors in this chapter, it would be my fault, since I'm posting this before my betas reply. Until the next chapter, I bid you a good day!