And now it's time for another update by me, Shadow Typhoon. I know that I have been extremely lazy lately, but it´s finally here. Let me present...chapter 17!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, even though I gladly would. But I do own Ryushiro and the Ice Flame bankai...and stuff...you know....stuff...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Dark Ice

Chapter 17: Returning home

By Shadow Typhoon

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It was a bright clear day. A wind was blowing through his white hair, rustling it and making it even spikier. Hitsugaya sighed. It was a long time since he had seen Soul Society.

He was standing in Rukongai. Unconsciously he had opened the portal to his childhood home. He looked around himself. Nothing had changed much; a new family was now living in the place, where he had lived with Hinamori and his grandmother.

Hinamori...she still thought that Aizen was the good guy.

I hope she will see the truth soon; Hitsugaya thought and looked to the west.

Seireitei was huge, just like he remembered. He smirked. He couldn´t wait for them to hear his explanation. He wanted to hear them say that they forgave him, that they were sorry for thinking that he was a traitor. But first he had to find them.

So he began walking towards Seireitei. He didn´t shield his presence, showing everyone his location. After all, he had nothing to hide.

He walked for a while, then flash stepped the rest of the way. He reached Seireitei and got inside its boundaries without any problems. He was a genius after all. Then he walked towards his division, the tenth division. Suddenly Byakuya Kuchiki stood in front of him.

"What kind of business do you have here" Byakuya asked emotionless while looking Hitsugaya in the eyes.

"What kind of business...?" Hitsugaya started but trailed off.

Of cause! Now he remembered something he had forgotten in his plan. He had forgotten to tell Ukitake, that he was returning to Soul Society. Now they thought that he wanted to infiltrate Soul Society or something! Stupid him! How could he get out of this mess?

"I cannot let you pass" Byakuya said and unsheathed Senbonzakura. "Scatter, Senbonzakura"

Hitsugaya was immediately surrounded by flower petals. He raised Hyourinmaru and froze all the petals, effectively stopping the attack. Byakuya glared at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya just smirked.

"Taicho, I will help you!" Renji had just arrived, and was eager to join the fight.

"Howl, Zabimaru!"

Zabimaru flew towards Hitsugaya, but he gracefully dodged and spun his body in the air, so he was looking at Zabimaru. Then he slashed at it, cutting it into two pieces, which quickly dissolved. Renji stood with his mouth agape, he didn´t think that he would destroy Zabimaru that easily.

"Where the hell is Ukitake? I need his help if I want to survive this, soon all the other shinigami will arrive and I am already tired from my other fight with Aizen." Hitsugaya thought and gritted his teeth. This would be a long fight.

Hitsugaya kicked Renji in the stomach, causing him to slide and hit his head. Renji groaned and clutched his head. He would probably get a serious migraine after this.

Suddenly Kira appeared. He looked at the scene before him for a second and then attacked.

"Raise your head, Wabisuke"

Hyourinmaru and Wabisuke collided, creating a non existing sparks. Hitsugaya pushed Kira away, making him fly into the nearest wall. Hitsugaya breathed deeply, stumbled, but regained his balance. If he had to fight every vice captain of every division, he wouldn´t last long.

Byakuya was still standing, frowning. He saw how easily Hitsugaya had disarmed the two vice captains. Byakuya had to be more careful- otherwise he would end up like them. It wasn´t for nothing, that Hitsugaya was called a prodigy.

Byakuya dashed forward and swung Senbonzakura. Hitsugaya leaped out of the way, almost getting hit. He swore under his breath, cursing himself for not foreseeing the attack.

Hitsugaya hoped that the other shinigami wouldn´t come, he didn´t have the strength to fight them all, just after his fight with Aizen. Especially the other captains and vice captains mustn't come.

But of cause, it just had to happen. It was like fate was mocking him. None other than his own vice captain, Matsumoto, appeared. Also Soi Fong, Kyouraku, Zaraki and the fox faced captain Komamura appeared. And that was only the captains. Hisagi, Yachiru on Zaraki´s shoulder, Nanao and Isane appeared.

"Damn" Hitsugaya muttered under his breath. This just had to happen. He had no chance to defend himself, explain and tell the truth. He was going to be slaughtered, innocent as he was. Fate just hated him. And it became worse.

Unohana and Kurotshuchi arrived as well. The remaining vice-captains, Sasakibe, Oomaeda, Iba and Nemu had arrived as well. Now Hitsugaya knew that he had no chance. He didn´t know where Ukitake or the soutaicho where, but they were bound to arrive sooner or later. He just had to survive until then.

And if he had to survive, he had to use himself fully. This meant he had to use his Ice Flame Bankai. And as far as he knew, none of the shinigami, excluding Ichigo, didn´t know that he was a vizard. But that was going to change. He had to do it. To survive. He didn´t want to hurt his friends, but he had to defend himself.

"Kuro Hyourinhimaru" Hitsugaya roared.

The familiar rush of energy ran through his body. The wings of dark-blue ice sprouted out on his back. The familiar weight on his face appeared, covering the entire face in a hollow mask made out of ice, which you couldn´t see thought. The hollow mask was made out of dark and light shades of ice.

He lifted his left hand and looked at his arm. It was completely encased in black ice. He had long claws where his fingers should have been. He closed his hand and formed a fist. Now he could properly protect himself.

He looked up and stared into the eyes of his former comrades. They were all shocked, to put it lightly. No words could describe their expression. It was really comical, so much that Hitsugaya almost chuckled. With the emphasis on "almost". He had no time to have fun.

The inhabitants of Soul Society were still staring at him. Okay, this was not what they had expected. Hitsugaya was a vizard? Nope, this wasn´t what they had expected at all. It was probably Aizen´s doing.

Kyouraku looked at the young prodigy. He was Ukitake´s best friend, they had both been students under Yamamoto, and he was the one who understood Ukitake the best. He knew that Ukitake had been very fond of the young "Shiro-chan", and they both shared the Shiro in their names, and the white hair.

Kyouraku didn´t like what he saw. He had always thought that Hitsugaya had been pure. Hitsugaya had been one of the most loyal shinigami. He had been a prodigy shinigami, he had exceeded in everything. He had been the youngest shinigami to get the title of "captain". He had always had a strong discipline, forcing himself and his division through the worst crisis´.

And then he had betrayed Soul Society. He had joined Aizen, the enemy. He had done it for power, and had in the mean time thrown everything away which really mattered. And now he stood in front of Kyouraku. He had become a vizard, probably to become even stronger and gain even more power.

Kyouraku didn´t know why he had come here, without any company. Sure, Hitsugaya was strong, but he couldn´t defeat every shinigami captain and vice-captain.

He blinked; he had forgotten that he was still in a fight. As the first one to snap out of the daze, he leaped forward and attacked Hitsugaya with his twin-zanpukatou. Hitsugaya avoided the attack with jumping backwards. Hitsugaya jumped to the side, avoiding another series of swings.

The other shinigami also snapped out of their daze and attacked. Hitsugaya used his wings to cover himself. He gritted his teeth. His wings couldn´t hold up the attack for a long time, especially since it was so many shinigami who was attacking. Especially since it was captains and vice-captains who were attacking him.

Hitsugaya also knew that he wouldn´t stand a chance against their shikai and bankai, so he had to disarm them first. He knew that the ice flames would hurt them, so he decided to use his regular ice attacks. He swung his sword and encased the shinigami closest to him in ice. Unfortunately the ice wouldn´t hold forever.

Soi Fong suddenly appeared next to him and stung him in the side with her zanpukatou. The black mark appeared indicating, that if he was hit once more on the same spot, he would die immediately. Hitsugaya hissed, knowing what could possibly happen if he let his guard down again.

He didn´t have much time left. He would soon die if Ukitake or Yamamoto didn´t come. Where were they anyway? He shook his head, he didn´t have time to think anyway. For God´s sake, he was in the middle of a fight! He sighed. Not much longer anyway, he thought.

"Taicho, why are you doing this?" Matsumoto asked.

She stood right in front of Hitsugaya with her Haineko raised. She looked at him with sad eyes. Not just sad, but also angry.

"I..." Hitsugaya started, but stopped himself. What did he have to say? Nothing at all. He could tell the truth, but no one would believe him. Where was Ukitake when you needed him?

"I knew that you wouldn´t answer!" Matsumoto shouted, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "All the men I´ve ever cared for and looked up to, they have always betrayed me! I expected you to be different from Gin, but oh no, you just had to join Aizen as well! Why? Don´t answer me, I know the answer anyway!

With those words, Matsumoto jumped into the air and directed a hit on Hitsugaya. He was just looking at her with sad eyes as she came closer and closer. He made no attempt on blocking the attack. He deserved it anyway. Just as Haineko was to make contact with Hitsugaya head...

Clash! The sound of metal hitting metal resonated through the air. Matsumoto looked shocked at the one blocking her Haineko. Ukitake was standing in front of Hitsugaya, with his two zanpukatou twins blocking Haineko.

Ukitake pushed Matsumoto backwards. Matsumoto landed gracefully on her feet, but she was still looking shocked at Ukitake.

"I´m sorry for being late, Hitsugaya-taicho. I was in the living world when I got the call from Kyouraku. I came as fast as I could, and it wasn´t a second too late." Ukitake said apologising.

Hitsugaya didn´t have the power to keep his Ice Flame bankai up, and he didn´t really need, after all, he wasn´t in any real danger anymore, so he disintegrated his bankai.

Hitsugaya smirked. "I actually thought that you wouldn´t come. But why isn´t the soutaicho here then?"

Ukitake flashed a genuine smile at Hitsugaya. "Of cause I would come, what would you otherwise expect of me? As to your other question, I think that the soutaicho thought that this was another infiltration. At least that´s what I think"

"What´s going on here?" Kyouraku asked. He was very confused.

Both Hitsugaya and Ukitake sighed. It was going to be a long explanation. Ukitake straightened himself and looked into the eyes of his fellow comrades.

"For some months ago, the soutaicho called me in. He didn´t like that Aizen knew every step we took, so he wanted to know Aizen´s plan. So he decided to send a spy to join Aizen, and send important messages to us, whenever Aizen planned something dramatic."

"You don´t mean?..." Renji asked. He had come to his feat again, even though his head still hurt.

Ukitake nodded. "We sent Hitsugaya in to spy"

"But that means, that Hitsugaya was acting all along" Soi Fong stated with furrowed brows.

"It was pretty hard, especially in the start, but I somehow managed it" Hitsugaya said calmly

Matsumoto walked over to him and stared into Hitsugaya´s eyes. Hitsugaya gulped. Matsumoto seemed like a giant, hovering over him. Then she did the unthinkable. She slapped him on his cheek. Leaving a red mark in its aftermath. And then she did something which surprised Hitsugaya. She hugged him.

"...moto...can´t...breath....air..." Hitsugaya managed to say, his head caught between her breasts.

"Sorry taicho, I didn´t mean to suffocate you" Matsumoto said without sounding worried at all.

All the bystanders sweat dropped.

"Promise me you won´t do that again!" Matsumoto demanded.

"Okay" Hitsugaya said and lifted his hands, "I promise"

"Good" Matsumoto said and hugged him again. After a while, Hitsugaya managed to free himself.

Ukitake had seen Hitsugaya´s Ice Flame bankai, before it disintegrated itself. Ukitake had seen the ice hollow mask, and came to a conclusion.

"Oh, and Shiro-chan, when did you become a vizard?" Ukitake asked interested.

"It´s Hitsugaya-taicho and not Shiro-chan! And...well..." Hitsugaya started, but how could he explain it to them.

He couldn´t tell them that he had become a vizard the day after he had begun to spy on Aizen. It was like betraying their trust, that he hadn´t said it to Ukitake immediately. He didn´t know why he hadn´t told Ukitake, but he just hadn´t. So what did he have to say now?

"Well... yesterday Aizen wanted to see me...and then I was knocked unconscious...and then I woke up as a vizard." Hitsugaya fumbled with the words, hoping that the others wouldn´t notice.

Ukitake looked at him strangely, but then smiled.

"What did you then do? Weren´t you shocked?" he asked. He looked at Hitsugaya, trying to "read" his face expression.

"Well, I was most shocked when I meet my inner hollow"

"Inner hollow you say... just like the one Kurosaki has then" Komamura said.

Hitsugaya nodded. "You could say that. Well, I learned how to control my new bankai, and I came up with some new moves. And then I killed Tousen, Ichimaru and Aizen"

Silence. No one said anything. Everyone just stared at Hitsugaya. They thought that they wouldn´t be surprised again, and yet it happened again. After a pregnant silence, Ukitake spoke.

"You...killed Aizen"

Hitsugaya just nodded.

"You have a lot to explain..."

Hitsugaya just nodded again.

"But not now. Let us all rest." Ukitake said and sighed.

"And then we are going to have a big party, with loads of sake and..." Kyouraku spoke excited, but got smacked in his head by his vice-captain.

Hitsugaya chuckled and they all walked into the tenth division...

Hello, It´s Shadow Typhoon again.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don´t think the story has ended. The next chapter is the final chapter. There will be some explanation, and meeting Ichigo again. And Hitsugaya thinks about what had happened. It´s like an epilogue. But don´t worry, there´s a couple of sequels!

I really don´t have other things to say other than: REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! It makes me happy...

Until we meet again, have sweet dreams.

See ya