My first chapter in my sequel to Dark Ice. Hidden Memories is finally here! So please enjoy reading it, and remember to review!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. If I did, many things would change…

Hidden Memories

Chapter 1: Perfecting the Bankai

By Shadow Typhoon

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The sky was clear and bright. The skies were slowly drifting across it, following the flow of the wind. The sakura tree was blossoming, sending hundreds and hundreds of pink flower petals into the wind, which carried them to faraway places. And right under it, at the root of the tree, the white haired prodigy, the tenth division captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro, was sitting and meditating.

Not just meditating, but speaking with Hyourinmaru in his mind. Hitsugaya might have achieved the Ice Flame bankai, but he had not yet perfected his normal bankai. It had been a half year since Aizen´s defeat, so he felt that it was needed. He couldn´t always rely on the Ice Flame bankai. So it had to be done. And with Hyourinmaru´s approval, he had tried to perfect the bankai. But it had not yet been done.

Hitsugaya was sitting in a lotus position in the middle of the plain of ice. Hyourinmaru was curled behind him, relaxing, with its head just beside him.

"It doesn´t work, Hyourinmaru", Hitsugaya said disappointed and angry, "I have been sitting here for 4 hours now"

"And here I thought that you had never-ending patience. I guess not" Hyourinmaru growled and snickered. As much as a dragon can snicker.

"Don´t make fun of me! Okay, I will try to relax. Care to give me some hints?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Maybe…if you say please" Hyourinmaru was still snickering.

Hitsugaya had to take a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. And here he had thought that he was immune for the playful dragon, since Ryushiro was residing in his mind as well. And he wasn´t the best companion for a prodigy, who hated mindless chat. But right now Ryushiro was sleeping, fortunately, so he wasn´t going to hear him make fun of him. Oh well, back to the former subject.

"Hyourinmaru, please help me?" Hitsugaya asked through gritted teeth. Oh well, now that his pride was flushed out into the toilet, it couldn´t get worse.

"Okay, okay. Hmm, how to start? Ah, I´ve got it. What is ice?"

"Ice is frozen water." It´s water in its solid state. Just like water is steam in its gaseous state."

"Correct, indeed"

"Hmmm…." Hitsugaya thought and thought. "A plain of ice... Ice being water… a plain of ice… ice being water… Ah, I got it!"

And just as he said that, his entire mindscape changed. Changed into a huge sea. Luckily for him, the spot where Hitsugaya was sitting, it remained as ice.

"So you finally understood it?" Hyourinmaru growled, pleased.

"Yes" Hitsugaya replied. "I entirely forgot that ice was made out of water. I had the ultimate control over the ice, but not the water. But now that I´ve understood it, I can control it"

"Well done, young one. But that surely took a lot of time" and yet again Hyourinmaru snickered.

"Fine, just laugh. It´s not like I can stop you, anyways."

There was a pregnant silence, before Hitsugaya spoke again.

"So, erm, is my mindscape going to be made out of water always?" Hitsugaya asked unsure.

The sea was filling his entire view, and he could see nothing but water.

"Of cause not. Just concentrate and everything will be, as it was before."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes and concentrated. And as he did that, the sea became a plain of ice again.

"Thanks" Hitsugaya said and stood up. "And now it's time for me to go back"

"Not exactly" Hyourinmaru said and rose.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked confused.

"It is finally the time for you to remember"

"Remember what?" Hitsugaya asked.

"You´ll see"

And with that, Hitsugaya mindscape changed again. Now he was standing in a dark corridor. There were many doors, all closed. It was very dark, since there were no lights.

"This is?"

"Your memories. Look ahead." Hyourinmaru had shrunk, so that he could fit into the corridor.

Hitsugaya looked ahead, and saw a big door at the end of the corridor. It was dark blue, with ice blue runes engraved. There were also silver linings along the edges.

"Open it and walk through"

"Why? What is it?"

"Those are the memories, which have been hidden. Before, you weren´t mature enough, but now the time is right. Open the door, and see your former life!"

"My former life, you say…" Hitsugaya muttered and walked forward. He turned the doorknob and opened the door. And then light blinded him.

"Taicho!!! Taicho??? Where are you" Matsumoto shouting while walking through the tenth division.

The Captain Commander, Yamamoto, had requested some paperwork done, and it hadn´t been finished yet. And since she herself was too lazy, she had to find her captain, so that he could make it. She found him under the sakura tree.

"Ah, there you are taicho! I´ve been looking everywhere for you"

She went over to him and shook him, as it seemed that he was dozing. As it didn´t help, she decided to slap him. This could be the only opportunity to slap him, so she wouldn´t want to miss it. She slapped him. It didn´t help. She slapped him even harder. It didn´t seem to help. She punched him hard. He didn´t wake up. Now Matsumoto finally understood that something was wrong.

Matsumoto frowned and placed her hand on Hitsugaya´s forehead. His temperature was normal, so he wasn´t having a fever. She lifted him up and carried him to the fourth division. She flash stepped as fast as she could and reached the division. She ran inside and bumped into Unohana.

"My, why are you in such a hurry?" she asked with a gentle voice.

"Something is wrong with taicho" Matsumoto replied and pointed at Hitsugaya´s sleeping figure.

"Come inside."

After waiting for about an hour, Unohana finally came out. Matsumoto stood and ran over to her.

"What is wrong with taicho? Is he okay?" Matsumoto asked worried.

"He is in a coma" Unohana answered with furrowed brows.

"Coma?" Matsumoto said with a weak voice.

"Yes, and it seems, that it was self inflicted."

"Self inflicted? But why would he do that?" Matsumoto asked worried.

"We don´t know. And we don´t know either, when he will wake up. It can be hours, days, months or even years. We´ll have to have patience."

Matsumoto nodded weakly and sat down again. Taicho, what have you done? She asked herself. Only time could answer her question.

TADAAA!!! That was my first chapter in Hidden Memories. It was surprisingly easy to write! And since I have holiday, you´ll see a lot more updates than usual. Oh, and if you were wondering, why Hinamori haven´t appeared yet, it´s because, that she will appear later.

I finished my exams and one of the top ones, so I´m so happy. Oh well, now I can finally relax, read and write fanfiction.

So, until we meet again, have sweet dreams

See Ya