DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH OR ITS CHARACTERS! I DO OWN TAKESHI HIKARI THOUGH(:

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"Now now, isn't that much better?" Ichigo asked.

"I guess so. Sorry, I'm so used to all the formalities. We were taught to be formal to whoever we were addressing," Hikari said with a dreamy look on her face.

"We?" Ichigo asked, surprised.

Still with the dreamy look, Hikari replied, "Hai, Megumi-chan & I. Otou-san & Okaa-san always taught us to be polite & respectful to each other & to others also."

"Megumi-chan?" she continued.

Then, clutching her hand over her heart in an agonizing manner, as if she had just been stabbed in the heart, she said "Megumi-chan! Why did you do this to me?"

As if she had heard a reply, Hikari replied "I'm sorry, Megumi-chan. I didn't mean it. Had i known earlier, I really would have stepped out off the way. Please don't do this to…"

"me…" she continued, struggling to breathe.

Hurt & anguish seemed to overtake Hikari, as she swayed dizzily, slowly sinking to the ground, with darkness filling her mind. Ichigo, shocked at what he had just witnessed, stood frozen to the ground. When he saw that Hikari was about to lose consciousness, he immediately snapped out of his trance. Before her body could reach the ground, even before Ichigo's hands could reach her, he saw a flash of white. Looking down at Hikari's body, he realized that her body was being gently laid down onto the floor by a pair of strong hands. Then he saw the shinigami outfit & the captain haori.

"TOUSHIRO!" he exclaimed.

"Kurosaki, it's Hitsugaya-taicho for you! & not Toushiro!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Ichigo brushes off Hitsugaya's correction, rolling his eyes.

"How did you reach here?" he asked.

"Shunpo?" Hitsugaya said, giving Ichigo the don't-ask-stupid-questions look.

Rolling his eyes yet again, Ichigo said "I meant, why are you here in the first place? How did you know that she was fainting??"

"I was sent here on a mission, to patrol Karakura High. & another stupid question you're asking! I'm a Taicho, Taicho of the 10th Division, to be exact. So of course I could sense her reiatsu fluctuating!" Hitsugaya said.

"What happened?" he asked.

Ichigo took a deep breath, let it out & sighed, "It's a long story. Let's lay her on the bed first, then come out & talk, okay?"

Hitsugaya then carried Hikari, in bridal style, to her bed & laid her down. Then he came out of the room, only to find Ichigo furiously pacing back & forth. Irritated, Hitsugaya became angrier by the minute, with Hyōrinmaru slowly, bit by bit, lowering the temperature.

"Eh, why does it suddenly feel so cold?" Ichigo thought aloud to himself, forgetting that the 10th Division Taicho was there.

Suddenly realizing who caused the sudden drop in temperature, Ichigo exclaimed "TOUSHIRO!"

As a vein popped out on his head, Hitsugaya growled in his dangerously low voice, "KUROSAKI! For the last time, it's Hitsugaya-taicho to you & not TOUSHIRO! & what's with the pacing up & down?! It's incredibly hard to follow you!"

Taking a deep breath to relax himself, he then said, "Okay Kurosaki, what's up? You'd better spill everything."

"Umm well, she…Never mind that, let's sit down first. Believe me, you'll need it," Ichigo said, stuttering on his words for the first time in front of the 10th Division Taicho, while gesturing towards the chair.

Looking into Ichigo's eyes & seeing that he was indeed very serious, Hitsugaya said, "Okay, spill."

After a few moments of silence from Ichigo, Hitsugaya began to lose his patience & said, "NOW!"

"Okay okay, relax… Umm well, the girl you saw just now…she's Takeshi Hikari. She has a very high spiritual reiatsu & umm, she has been attacked by hollows before because of her reiatsu i think."

"What?! She has been attacked by hollows before?! How come I don't know about this???"

"Hey Toushiro, relax! There's no need to be so uptight! Besides, Ukitake-taicho knows about this already."

"ICHIGO, FOR THE LAST TIME, THE NAME IS HITSUGAYA-TAICHO! How come you address Ukitake-taicho as a Taicho, but not me?! Why am I the last to hear about this?"

"Whatever," Ichigo said, rolling his eyes.

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Hikari's POV

Opening my eyes slightly, I could see the blinding light of the day filling the room.

"Ouch, why does my head hurt?" I said, wishing that the headache would just disappear.

"What happened to me? How come I can't remember anything? Argh, the stupid head hurts!"

"Hmmm, I think I should go & find Ichigo-kun."

Slowly, I got out of bed & was about to open the door to find Ichigo-kun when i heard two voices, one of which I could clearly distinguish as Ichigo-kun's. However, as hard as I tried, I could not figure out whom the other voice belonged to. It was definitely not Urahara-san, Jinta-kun, Ururu-san, Tessai-kun or Yoruichi-san. I then shifted myself to be able to listen to there conversation with ease. It so happened that I reached in time to hear Ichigo-kun telling the other person that I was reliving my last moment on Earth, just before I fainted.

"Oh man, not again! I think I just experienced those living nightmares, where Megumi-chan stabbed me, again just now! I usually get it at night when I'm asleep, but today, i think it happened again…this time, with Ichigo watching me instead! Omg, this feels so embarrassing! Oh no, I've got a lot of explaining to do huh?" I said, feeling utterly embarrassed that Ichigo-kun had witnessed me in my worst weakest moments.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXnote for those who are new to bleach: Hitsugaya's zanpakutō is Hyōrinmaru, the strongest of all ice element Zanpakutō in Soul Society. when sealed, Hyōrinmaru looks like a normal katana with the exception of the guard, which is in the shape of a four-pointed star. it is about 1.4 meters long, which is as tall as Hitsugaya himself, causing him to carry it on his back. its hilt is light blue & sheath dark blue. as his zanpakutō is of ice element, Hitsugaya can easily lower the temperature of his surroundings. that's the reason for the drop in temperature..(:

hmmm, so Hitsugaya has finally come into the story. look out for the next chap okay? Hitsugaya & my OC would be finally meeting!:D thanks to emm-chan, silver-resistance-rocks & anna chechi for the reviews! love you ppl loads & keep the reviews coming in alright? thanks!:D

hey ppl, i'm so sorry for the super super super late upload! so sorry for keeping you all waiting! i've been having exams, mid-years just ended yesterday & i'm free nowwww:D hahas yeah emm-chan, i've finally uploaded(: