Cold Waters Run Deep Chapter 7: Scene 7, a bleach fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, end.

A.C.: I hate school. Try multiplying that by hmm... an unknown number 'x'. Ahh... I promised myself it wouldn't get this long. My eyes are burning now -dabs at them-

Warnings: possible spoilers, oocness, breach of grammar security rule number something, something, something, mature themes, implied rape, noncon and general BL-ness that you can ignore by skipping the italicized parts in the beginning.

::Your shinigami has been bothering mine of late... Shinsou::

The divine spear appeared in its humanoid form, a narrow faced man with a secretive smile. Hyourinmaru faced him, catfish-like whiskers twitching in annoyance as the other came near. Shinsou waved his hands nonchalantly as a blast of cold air greeted him. Briefly, he looked into the waters that Hyourinmaru had been using to scry his shinigami before smoothing the creases of his silver and red garb and replying,

::You know the rules; we're not allowed to talk about it.::

An unwritten rule, all those partnered up with shinigami would be unable to talk about their confidant's plans to another. Even if they did talk about it, they were forbidden from telling it to their partners through an ancient spell older than time itself; back when Ryuujin Jakka was no more than a fireling eating away at the earth's crust, Hyourinmaru no more than a droplet of rain joining the ocean in a never-ending cycle. But secrets as it seemed, were meant to be shared. There were shifty rumors all about but no one was coming out to say it just yet, only pointed fingers criss-crossed at each other when they gathered for brevity in the wrinkles of time.

Hyourinmaru had more than an inkling of what was going on and it was nothing particularly good. Shockingly crimson eyes glowed like angry twin suns as the pale dragon lifted himself out of the water, scales sparkling with pearl droplets as receding arches of ice appeared in succession behind him. The images in the water dissolved reflecting another; a man, a boy, something else altogether. The dragon blew softly on the water, watching quietly as the water turned to flakes of crystalline snow carried away by the breeze.

::Will you go to him Hyourinmaru?::

For the first time, the sly look had disappeared from the zanpakuto's face in favor of concern. Shinsou put a hand on the dragon's scaled side as if to stop the dragon from making a move. He added calmly::Even when Ryuujin Jakka has forbidden you from doing so?::

Hyourinmaru tossed his head, looking indulgingly at Shinsou. The dragon grew smaller and smaller under Shinsou's hand as the wind carved him a new form for his journey into the shinigami world.

::Will you tell him then, Shinsou?::

Shinsou bowed. That was one of the more admirable things about Shinsou; he knew his place and when to butt out.

::Of course not::

It was true that the boy was abnormally powerful, even without the presence of two powerful captains on each side of his division. But he couldn't figure out for the life of him why Aizen was so interested. He thought Hitsugaya made a nice plaything, but hardly someone to pick on without a good reason.

He bit into the mandarin orange, picking out the unsavory whitish peel-things with his fingers. Hitsugaya, he recalled slowly, the youngest shinigami to ever ascend to the rank of captaincy in the history of Gotei 13. And a really good lay, he added laughing to himself.

His thoughts began to stray as he began to observe his lieutenant from the corner of his eyes. Really, he and Rangiku were too similar at times. Likely, the 10th division was doing the same thing right now except in reverse. And there was nothing quite like Kira laden with paperwork glaring over the dwindling stacks while the pale haired captain folded a miniature hawk out of his documents.

Wisely, he left the room when the blonde began to shoot him evil glares. The doses were double than usual and it was all Gin could do to stop himself from sprinting out the door when the blue-eyed lieutenant making suspicious grinding noise that could have only come from a chainsaw.

He wandered through his division scaring the hell out of his underlings when he suddenly came up from behind them. He politely –gave them a creepy smile- turned down offers for walks (amongst other things) and began to look for a safe hiding place just in case Kira got angry enough to follow the trails of hysteric shinigami and come after him. You wouldn't think, he thought. The blonde looked so obedient and sweet, it turned out that he was a workaholic –which was fine with him really- and more than capable of handing a power tool... or two... too capable.

This was why he hid himself in the deepest crevice of the 3rd division's archive, a collection of books and files from god-knows-when. Clicking his tongue amusedly at the layer of dust covering the floor, he reminded himself to set Kira immediately to clean it after the day's paperwork was done. Though he didn't mean to, he couldn't help but reorganize the shelves himself inadvertently as he started to flip through the various books. Some were absolutely boring (what was the academy book doing in here?), while others were a bit more interesting (he pocketed 'karma sutra' for keepsakes) though he never lingered upon them for more than a second. He continued on like this until he came across a thick volume half-way hidden behind a stack of playboy magazines (now how did those get there?). It was a book on zanpakuto; even Shinsou was listed proudly under the letter 'sa'. Intrigued, he turned the aged yellow papers as he began to read a passage on how zanpakuto were formed blah, blah, and blah.

He spent a long time mulling over the article on Shinsou –which did not go unappreciated by the said zanpakuto- and grinned as he found himself listed as the current shinigami holding him. He had just gotten to the part of Ryuujin Jakka's attack power and was about to transition into his history when the door flew open to admit a heaving blonde. Admittedly, it didn't have the same effects as say... Rangiku, but it did entail in Gin slamming his head on the shelf and dropping what he had been reading.

Almost, but not quite ready for the chase of 'get-back-to-work-before-I-hurt-you', Gin was confused to find that Kira was almost crying at the sight of his captain amongst the tall shelves. The blue eyes that should have been burning red at the corners due to sudden flux in blood flow were streaming tears than murder. Gin rubbed his head, feeling the minor bump rise where he had hit it on the shelf.

"Ca... Captain..." Izuru stuttered, "You're cleaning! You're actually doing work!" the blonde felt like he should have yelled 'hallelujah' for the miracle he was witnessing. Instead, he gave off sporadic jerks as his mind confirmed that this was not a dream.

Gin frowned and looked around himself.

"Ara..."

Sure enough, the shelves were organized. There was still a substantial amount of dust but nothing a quick sweep couldn't fix.

"I... I..." Kira seemed to have been overcome with emotions. "I'll get tea!!"

Kira turned with tears flowing out of his eye and came face to face with a hell butterfly as it floated lazily in midair. The two shinigami instantly recognized it as one of 5th diversion's. Hinamori Momo, upon her initiation as a lieutenant, had declared it her patriotic duty to make things in the 5th diversion run smoothly as possible. She had painted a –wussy, Gin thought privately though it was more of Zaraki's vocabulary- rough heart at the right end of the secondary wings for all the hell butterflies employed in the 5th diversion. Though one wouldn't have noticed if one didn't know it was there in the first place, it made the black butterfly that much recognizable in the gloom of the dusty room.

The hell butterfly's broadcast was filled with static,

"You are needed Gin."

::...Gaya?::

Hitsugaya started when he heard the voice. Then realized it was not Ichimaru calling to him through the collar but the faint voice of his zanpakuto. Trying to hide the ecstatic look on his face as they quickly ran towards the Central 46 Chambers he mentally called out,

'Where the hell have you been you lazy lizard?'

There was a note of amusement and affection in Hyourinmaru's voice as the dragon's thoughts bubbled over his.

::It is of no importance::

'Whatever just keep your eyes open alright?'

He thought that they might have had to force their way in through the Central 46. They were surprised to find the place empty, not even a single guard posted outside the judgment halls.

"Captain Hitsugaya..." Matsumoto breathed as they neared the entrance. Her fingers were already straying towards Haineko, unnerved by the absolute silence of their surroundings.

"Shh..." Hitsugaya hushed as he reached out. Hyourinmaru stretched his neck forward in his mind's eye, also observing.

It was like exiting a dark tunnel and into the light. The stillness amplified nothingness into a screech, heartbeats in their ears pounding like a war drum. Rangiku recoiled at the scent of decaying flesh as Hitsugaya checked each and every one of the 46 council members. His hand brushed briefly against the stains of black blood, the latter crumbling as he rubbed his fingers together.

"The blood's dried up to the point it turned black and crumbles... so they weren't killed so recently then."

"Captain," Matsumoto had sided up to Hitsugaya, her hand delicately pressed against her lips as she looked around the spherical room with her wandering blue eyes. "Does that mean all the orders we've received were..."

::Fake:: Hyourinmaru echoed::But you already knew that did you not?::

"I thought you'd be here Hitsugaya-taichou." A flash of pale gold hair and blue eyes appeared at the entrance. Matsumoto looked up sharply,

"Kira...!"

"Did you..." Hitsugaya asked, "Do this?" Kira looked down guiltily and left. Before the blonde's foot had even cleared the doorway Hitsugaya began pursuit. "Let's go Matsumoto!"

::You shouldn't have let him go::

::Who am I to stop the mighty Hyourinmaru::

::Ryuujin Jakka will not be pleased::

::He's never pleased::

::True...::

::Chastity is good for him::

::But...:: a scandalous silence. ::Shinsou!!::

Kira knew that Captain Hitsugaya was not nearly fast enough to catch him. On the other hand Matsumoto was quite another story. Despite her looks, she was fast on her feet and should she hold him up, it would be the end of the line for him.

"Stop Kira!!"

He took another turn, taking them further and further away from the Central 46 Chambers as his captain had directed.

"Can you afford to chase me right now Captain?"

"The one who destroyed Central 46... Was it you?!"

"That is not important Captain; you should be... protecting Hinamori."

Hitsugaya's pace slipped before resuming the chase. Matsumoto was getting closer and closer, soon she would be able to over take them both and stall him while Hitsugaya caught up to them. The white haired captain did not inquire further and swiftly turned around as his lieutenant jumped over him with a questioning glance.

"Can I leave him to you?"

"Please do."

And the two top seats of 10th diversion parted ways.

"Shiro-chan!"

Hinamori was pressed up against Aizen, the man's arms held loosely around her shoulder as they made their way across the blood splattered floor of the 46 council. The brunette looked pleasantly surprised as the younger captain of Gotei 13 made his appearance.

"I apologize. Seems like Izuru wasn' able to buy much time."

A belittling sneer reached his ears as he looked up in shock.

"Aizen..." Hitsugaya made a slight chocking noise at the back of his throat. His eyes traveled frantically from Ichimaru's thin, foxy face to his childhood friend in a supposedly dead man's arms. "How can this be...? You're alive..." as if his words had been a physical blow, Hinamori cringed and wrapped her fingers tighter around the brunette captain's sleeves.

It was as if a light had been shed upon a dark room.

"You... all of us... you've been lying to all of us!" Hitsugaya pulled Hyourinmaru out of its sheath, the original metal restored to its shape. The ice coating the sword shattered against the force of his reiatsu and fell to the ground sounding like bells when they hit the black-flecked marble. Already the temperature was dropping at an impressive rate, their breaths visible as white clouds around their mouths and nostrils.

Before Aizen could even begin to justify himself to the incensed teen Hinamori burst out angrily,

"He hasn't been lying to us; it's just that none of us ever understood!" Hinamori immediately covered her face in horror at what she had said. Hitsugaya felt his grip tighten as a full smile bloomed on Aizen's face; Gin leered sideways as the teen began to tremble. "Shiro-chan..."

"It's Hitsugaya-taichou... Hinamori-fukutaichou." Hinamori let out a sharp whimper and buried her face in the white haori. Hitsugaya hissed, "Traitor Aizen, I will kill you..." Gin let out a small 'eek' and a mocking shiver. Aizen lowered his head until his mouth was by Hinamori's ear.

"You hear that Hinamori-kun, it's as I said. He truly wishes to kill me."

Hinamori shuddered and Hitsugaya watched afraid, knowing that Aizen had already turned her against him and could easily do it again.

"Captain Aizen?" Hinamori turned uncertainly towards her captain. Aizen smiled down on her reassuringly, almost paternally as he squeezed her shoulder. Hinamori's face broke out into a brilliant smile, radiating pure adoration as her hold on him tightened.

Aizen's hand lowered stroking her ebony hair, a finger pressing on the shallow impression at the base of her skull and knocking her out.

"An' ya told me I was goin' soft"

Ice wound up the pillars like ivy, the frost forming delicate blossoms that sparkled an ethereal white in the dim lighting of the council room.

::Calm Toushiro...::

"Ban... kai," the cold mist dispersed, revealing a set of frozen wings and a silver blade. The green scarf floated above the ice propelled by the cold air. The ends of the scarf looked like a secondary pair of wings as the tip of his icy tail danced over the frost riddled ground. "Daiguren Hyourinmaru." Hitsugaya's eyes darkened in rage as Aizen looked back amiably, a foot gently nudging the prone body of Hinamori away from the hems of his clothing. Ichimaru snickered in the background quietly to himself as his eyes fluttered open.

"So it's true then."

::Toushiro...::

"Die..."

The 10th division's captain offered no more words. He shot forward, Hyourinmaru aimed towards the same place he had seen the man bleeding from during his 'death'. Hyourinmaru hissed when he missed his prey by inches, his teeth closing over nothing but a few pale threads as they cut through Aizen's afterimage. Hitsugaya turned around in shock,

"You shouldn't say such harsh words," said the ex-captain calmly as he passed Hitsugaya heading down the stairs. "It makes you look weak." The ice cracked, cloven in two in Aizen's passing. A small rivulet of blood surfaced and froze when it touched the frozen appendage. Hitsugaya struggled to turn his head as his tongue lifted and rolled back into his mouth, smearing blood on to his lips as the fracture extended to his wings and the spine.

"I... impossible..." And the armor broke off cleanly, the wings hurling into the air in scraps of ice while his arm was torn open by its length. Hitsugaya fell to his knees, showered by his own blood when Gin stared to walk past him.

"Would you fix him up a bit Ichimaru? I think I stabbed him a little too deep and we really can't have him dying on us now." Aizen looked amused as he gave the white-haired captain one last backwards glance. Hitsugaya choked and spat out the blood in his mouth. He leaned on Hyourinmaru, about to stand up and turn when his feet slipped and he fell towards the cold, marble flooring.

The snow was falling, oh so softly falling.

He banged his head on the floor seeing black fires dance across his vision as his bankai melted away like fat from a burning pan. Hyourinmaru screamed in rage at Aizen's Kyouka Suigetsu as he faded from the material world once more, his roars suffocated by a bloody blizzard. Last of the dragon's head breaking away from his wrists, he reached out towards Aizen's retreating back.

But it was beautiful, oh so beautiful...

His hand fell limp. When his blood dyed the white ice in red, he saw the minute details of the frost blooming, wilting, melting. A thin sheet of snow covered his hand, begging for forgiveness as tiny crystals landed on his snowy lashes. Gin's feet seemed to take forever to come near, the forever he did not have. He no longer heard Hyourinmaru's voice; it was as if his head was being pried apart by a living wall of fire...

Daintily stepping over the glass-like ice, Gin single handedly plucked the younger out of his frozen tomb and pressed him against his chest. The shared heat wasn't too bad, abet one-sided with Hitsugaya's head cradled brokenly against the scentless cloth. How odd it was, seeing as how they lived in their uniforms. Shouldn't the deathly black kimono carry some type of bearer's identity? A hand groped at his neck –taking time to unravel the ruined cloth-, at his spine, at his front. The pain was rushing back in a crimson tide as the skin was forced to knit, bones realigning themselves unwillingly as Ichimaru did the most and the least as he possibly could to ensure the shorter captain's survival.

Hitsugaya blinked his temple against Ichimaru's bony collar as he felt his reiatsu rearranged at the hands of another. Pain did not register in his mind when he saw the lavender hair fall across his face, and his vision filled in red.

"Dun die yet 'Gaya, ya still have a world ta save that ya do."

And Hitsugaya blacked out

Hyourinmaru narrowed his eyes at the sight of Kyouga Suigetsu before he got up.

There were so many...

Not just the captain ranked nor the bankai ranked. Even the lesser, those whose partners were unable to call on were there to watch him at his weakest. Hyourinmaru growled when traces of flames circled around him, drawing everyone backwards.

There were protests amongst those who had turned up as Hyourinmaru was cowed against the ground. This was his realm and he its lord, Ryuujin Jakka had no rights to take over.

Hyourinmaru threw his body against the living wall of fire, clamping his jaws shut and internally screaming as Ryuujin Jakka's flames washed over him. Steam wafted off of his skin as he began to re-freeze from the skin towards the internal organs.

Contrary to popular belief, he was not made of pure ice. Though ice would have lasted longer against an opponent like Ryuujin Jakka, he preferred the mobility of his semi-liquid state. Refreshing himself upon the pools of water dotting the ground, Hyourinmaru let out a raucous cry when Ryuujin Jakka took on another form and pounced upon his back.

Ryuujin Jakka's jaws snapped down on Hyourinmaru's neck. As the fire and ice made contact, it made a fizzling noise that sounded more like a roar. Hyourinmaru's head disconnected from his body and fell to the ground as his now wax-like neck melted off into steam. Ryuujin Jakka's head turned into a smoky rendition of a bird's beak before the flames climbed up to renew it into bright points of blue and white fire.

Water surged from the leaking stub of Hyourinmaru's neck and a new head formed in a cloud of vapor as he tried to dodge Ryuujin Jakka's advances. The fires stepped over the fragments of the crushed head instantly turning into water as a throaty rumble reverberated through the air. The fire expanded then contracted like a thumping heart, growing larger and larger with each beat. Hyourinmaru recoiled and turned away, the scaly patterns over his body melting away as the heat stroked his ribcage almost lovingly all the while cornering him against a wall of fire.

'Hey leave him alone!' the man forced himself through the ranks of zanpakuto, 'you do that here and the kid will...!' Ryuujin Jakka's flaming appendage slammed down on where the shinigami had been just moments before. Sougyo no Kotowan stood protectively before the man as he glared at the raging fires.

::He has a valid point Ryuujin Jakka, should you continue the boy may die.::

He wished that he could interfere; they all wished that they could. But the truth was that Hyourinmaru had broken the laws and to have flaunted it so openly in Ryuujin Jakka's face was asking for death itself. Sougyo no Kotowan looked away, the shinigami was dumbstruck.

'You... you can't just give up like this... you... you have to stop this!'

::Kid, the only one who can stop this is Hyourinmaru::

Katen Kyoukotsu -or one of the identical two- put a hand on the man's shoulders to prevent him from interfering.

'He'll never do it...'

::No::

Hyourinmaru let out a low groan as he was forced to rematerialize before them, his strength all but spent as he bowed down before the towers of flame. Before the fires could speak the dragon spat out,

::I apologize...::

The fires retreated in surprise,

::But not to you... never to you...:: There was a fine tremor as his scales began to flake off in a trail of an incandescent rainbow. ::I apologize to others to have them witness this but I will not apologize for disobeying orders.:: the curve of the dragon's neck shuddered and drooped. ::It was his choice and he is my choice. We do not regret, I do not regret.::

There was no hesitation in the crimson eyes as Ryuujin Jakka shifted into the form of a dragon not unlike that of Hyourinmaru.

::Then I shall make you... regret::

He woke up into a world inverse from the familiar tundra of his past travels. He fell to his knees exhausted as the sun bore down on him mercilessly from the strangely open sky. Here, even the sky was red, the clouds a warm yellow and the earth crumbling away like dried flakes of blood beneath his hands. Not even a hint of moisture under the topmost layer of dirt. The earth was crazed and cracked, as if the snow and the water was a distant myth and that he did not belong.

::Call on me if you need me::

"Hyourinmaru!" the sealed form of the zanpakuto was at his back as always but nothing.

Not even the faint wisps of greetings or even disappointment.

Nothing.

Hitsugaya had lost track of time as he traveled further into the realm, their realm. The temperature had fallen somewhat and the clouds had grown darker overhead. Every now and then, a stagnant pool of silvery liquid and crystal reflected minute's moments of his life. He had to turn his face away when he saw the more recent ones. Then almost with a relieved sigh, it began to rain. The land drank up the water greedily, flooding the ground in red. The fissures filled up and the ground became soft enough to travel barefoot. The mud squished around his zori and he lifted his foot up, in the process catching the sight of an approaching man.

He didn't know why the man was there, perhaps a side effect of when Gin had tampered with his collar during his last moments of consciousness. He distantly recognized the other shinigami but didn't know the reasons why he had manifested in his world, hair plastered to his face as he grinned down broadly at him.

"Who are you?" The man was familiar beyond a scant glance as the photos of the past; rather young and confident. Hitsugaya slowly he began to remember exactly where he had seen the face before and realized this was the man who had been haunting his thoughts of late. "You are..." The man nodded, his grin growing just a bit wider but not enough to look like a certain sadistic ex-captain of the 3rd division. "Why are you here?" Hitsugaya asked softly, his hand already reaching back for Hyourinmaru. The man did the same, only his zanpakuto was on his waist.

"I'm here to help you train. I'm here to help you awaken Hyourinmaru."

"Ah Hitsugaya-kun, you're awake." Greeted Ukitake Jyuushiro as Hitsugaya's eyes adjusted to the light of the room. Hitsugaya blinked a few times, the dots on the otherwise sterile ceiling coming into view. His pupils focused contracting, then diluting as a hand rustled his hair fondly.

He remembered.

He promptly sat up –almost regretting his decision to do so when pain exploded behind his eyes- as Ukitake tried vainly to settle the young shinigami back down. He tried to get the words out, perhaps even 'Aizen' or 'Hinamori?'. His strength faded quickly as it had come, leaving him exhausted in the sickly captain's arms. Hitsugaya started to protest when the 13th division's captain laid him back down, tucking the covers up to the dusky chin before calling out for one of the 4th's medics. When he decided the shinigami weren't moving fast enough for his liking, Ukitake stood up and turned towards the door with every intention of bringing Captain Unohana into the room. A weak hand wrapped around his wrists, it was Hitsugaya.

The boy had thrown his other arm over his face to block out the light but when the long haired captain sat back down on the chair beside the bed Hitsugaya slowly uncovered his eyes. Green eyes peered up at him, an unknown want and a pleading look passing though them. Ukitake reached over, carefully unfolding the arm back down onto the boy's chest. Before either of them could speak, Hanatarou came in and announced that Unohana would be with them in a minute. Ukitake let out a small –he sounded relieved- sigh as he sank into his chair.

"I'm sorry about the scarf Ukitake-taichou."

Ukitake looked up in mild surprise and smiled warmly,

"It's alright Hitsugaya-kun. We'll just have to get you another one."

Hitsugaya snuck out of his room as soon as Ukitake had left it. Making sure to tail the older captain back to his division before getting up and trying to track down which one of the numerous wards held Hinamori there. Rangiku had yet to come to visit him –though according to Ukitake, she had practically camped out in his room before being forced to go and wash up- and he felt twinges of guilt beginning to form.

Hyourinmaru had pointed out through their fragile link that he should be resting –'like a good little child' he said- and not roving around the halls like some common messenger. But what if there had been more to what Aizen had done to her when he had knocked her out. What if she had been seriously injured? From what he had heard from gossiping medics behind his door, the current news in Seireitei was anything but good.

He bit his lips when he felt his stomach cramp. Brushing his neck in an unconscious manner he carried on as he felt the faint shadow of Hinamori's reiatsu unfold before him.

Hinamori's case had been pardoned as a case of shock, but she still had to remain in the fourth division's ward for further observations. He swallowed as he saw her sallow face, so bitter like a gnarled root of tree standing up against the elements. She had an expression of fury in her eyes, like those of a goddess who was stripped of her title but not her mind; it lifted some weight off of Hitsugaya's shoulders. So she wasn't broken then –he thought- but did not go any further into the room. Hinamori's reiatsu tingled just out of reach, humming in cadence with her frail heartbeat. She turned her head, catching the here-and-there flicker of his pallid form. Her eyes brightened when she met his and she beckoned him close.

He refused at first, not wanting to taint the fragile beauty she held, he didn't want to dirty her just like he dirtied himself. He didn't want to touch her –he can't- but he nodded mutely to her invitation, staking a claim on the furthest corner of the bed. They stayed in silence, in darkness. The moon shone brightly through the window, not a single cloud dots the sky as they sat together, apart. Until Hinamori broke the stillness with half-sang, half-croaked words.

"The moon is bright tonight." Her pale hands stretched towards Hitsugaya's duskier ones, groping in the moonlight for something to hold onto. Hitsugaya shied, making sure to fold the loose flap of his haori over his knees as to make sure Hinamori did not touch them. The brown-eyed girl gave up, her hands flat on the wrinkles of the bed sheets halfway between her body and Hitsugaya's legs. "It was brighter when he was there..." the white-haired captain remained quiet, "They all think he betrayed us Toushiro-kun..." the customary, 'it's Hitsugaya-taichou' didn't come and the girl turned towards her friend, eyes empty.

No not quite empty. There is devotion there, admiration that he cannot explain. The love for her once-captain holds to her mania and refused to go away. If he could have, he wished that he could cut away Aizen's identity with Hyourinmaru. If he could have, he would have sent the lying bastard to the nine hells to leave him in the frozen tundra till the brunette's skin peeled away with cold and stained the snow in red.

Hyourinmaru nudged his mind in approval, but he still wished to cut the session short. The dragon felt the girl's sickness, her madness. He did not want the young captain stained in poison that she secreted. The dragon closed his eyes and growled lowly as Hitsugaya's eyes met Hinamori's desperate ones.

"You don't think he left us... do you?" Hinamori pounced on him, her bandaged fingers taking his duskier hands into her own as she closed in. "do you Hitsugaya?!" the short captain slammed the back of his head against the wall, Hinamori halfway onto his lap as she not-so-gently brought their foreheads together.

"Hinamori!" the close proximity frightened him and with this fear, Hyourinmaru's eyes glowed as he watched the situation unfold.

::Toushiro... she cannot... she will not be saved...::

::Shut up!::

He struggled to maintain a mental barrier –he can't let the dragon see- as his childhood friend's hold grew tighter and tighter until the tip of his fingers began to turn purple from the lack of blood flow.

'DonttouchmeyoullgetdirtytoopleaseHinamoridonttouchmeyoudontknowwhatIvedoneforyouyoudprobablyhatemeforitdonttouchmeHinamoriyoullegretitpleasepleasepleaseletmegoyoucantdothisIwontletyou

rIdontwantyoutogetdirtypleaseHinamoridonttouchmeyoudontknowwhatIvedoneyoudontwanttoknowwhatIdidpleasejuststayaway...'

'Oy snap out of it!'

"Please," she cried out, tears already flowing down her chocolate eyes. "They took Tobiume away from me, you have to help him!" There was no need to ask who 'he' was. Hitsugaya steeled himself as he pushed her away. Hinamori looked stunned at the action.

"He's a traitor,"

"You don't know him!" and she redoubled her efforts until Hitsugaya fell off the bed panting on the floor. His shoulder stretched and he felt the wounds reopen as blood seeped through the bandaging. It reminded him of a certain captain's eyes before he left, as dark and painful as the face above him

"I... I know enough that I could have died out there."

Hinamori's reply was small, almost inaudible had he not been listening closely.

Her answer might as well have broken him.

"He didn't hurt me..."

He wanted to take her into his arms and shake her. Shake her free of the images of Aizen and remind her of the summer nights they had in Rukongai's districts, spitting watermelon seeds at one another.

"Please Shiro-chan!" Hitsugaya froze; "I don't know what to do anymore!" she climbed down from the bed clawing at his hands once more.

This time Hitsugaya had neither the strength nor the heart to stop her as her body pressed against his.

::How dare she...::

Hyourinmaru had roused himself from his frozen throne, fishbone like teeth glittering in the winter sun as he raised his head. But he already knew that he again would fail in the protection of the 10th division's captain.

Hitsugaya wasn't listening anymore...

Her hair had pulled free from its usual neat bun and fell like wet grass onto his face. Hitsugaya's breath hitched as he struggled to get away, his mind numbly grasping that his hysteric reaction was only making her more determined to persuade him. Her hair fell into his eyes and he realized how dark it was compared to his own. Her hair was black, too black, and her eyes weren't the right color but he realized with rising panic that her hair is darker than his own snow colored crown. He remembered the dead body of a woman, colorless and pale hair in his hands, a girl with a frightened face, the pain of his body being broken, the winter storm at its peak, a foxy sneer, the blood red eyes and the sickeningly warm but pale hands creeping over his shoulders and neck.

The ice dragon quickened in his mind, his crimson eyes –so unlike Gin's- flashing in anger. But he offered no more words for him to reply to. Hyourinmaru was angry, his rage overlapping his fear and drowning it like a tsunami. In his mind's eye he saw Hinamori broken and bleeding on an icy path, Momo carried away in Hyourinmaru's massive jaws, Momo by Aizen's side, Momo with her zanpakuto raised against him, Momo accusing him of murder, Momo laying underneath Aizen under the moonlight and she...

Hyourinmaru roared, the blade digging against his back threatening to tear out of its binding sheath. The dragon snapped at his back and it took everything for him to reseal the raging zanpakuto back into its sword-like form. The dragon was angry at Hitsugaya, at the older girl, and at himself for not being able to help. He lashed out against the mental barrier, taking grim pleasure in the hollow echo of Hitsugaya's pain.

When Hinamori touched his face her fingers trailing across his lids, Hitsugaya does the only thing he can, he screams

A.C.: Hitsu-torture. Gotta love them x3

About Hitsugaya's reiatsu-tracking senses... I figure that since Soifon's division is the head of the special forces (kind of), Mayuri's is a science department, and Kenpachi's is of fighting specialists, most other divisions must have some significance within the ranks of Gotei 13. So I gave his that ability -shrugs-

Gwad this was a long chapter, loved every minute of it though

Preview

's'ok, Hyou-chan is just a wee grumpy'

::He is no threat::

"I should have been there... where are you going this time Gin?"

"Matsumoto-san... can we talk?"

Clutched in Mayuri's hands was what looked like a black marble, or an eye dipped in black paint.

"I'm not a cruel man Hitsugaya-kun, just watching out for the good of seireitei."

"You..." Hitsugaya's voice was dry and hollow, seeming as if someone altogether was speaking through his mouth. "You would have an ex-captain take the blame for my death?