Disclaimer: I wouldn't be here if I did
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.
A.C.: Yeah I'm sorry, the update's late but I had finals and the monitor died and you know... things just piled on top of another.
And it's my birthday today but I'll be in school, taking miserable-excuses-at-filling-up-hours for classes and be stuck taking additional classes till ten... And get home at eleven...
What a lovely life I lead...
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SilverWhiteDragon- well update... late... umm you could say that at least I didn't abandon this thing altogether? –Is hopeful-
Altersuperego- -grumbles- you have no idea how long I've been waiting for someone to ask that... eh... you'll find out... soon enough.
Thank you GintaxAlvissForever, phppsmss, andrewhot, KageKokoro and kingleby for reviewing x3
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::Hyourinmaru is angry.::
"I do not see any problems with it."
::It is not safe for him to get angry.::
"And why not?"
::That is... difficult to explain::
Silence, and then
::He needs to awaken but he does not. He guards the boy as if it is something precious. He is forgetting the duty unto him and everyone else.::
"You are too old for such ponderings old friend."
::Not old! Not old that I have forgotten what must be done. Not old to forget that I will go on forever. But he acts as if he does not care. As if he is a child easy to replace!:: The draft of hot air cooled. ::What if...::
"If?"
Echoes bounce off.
Frustrating,
Infuriating,
::What if he is right?::
He cannot bear to say the word 'wrong'. That would mean that he was wrong and nothing could be more terrible than driving away his twin so carelessly.
The answering voice was raspy but quiet.
"Then we make it right."
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Three times he had gotten up in the night and squirmed out of Matsumato's warm embrace. Three times he had sprinted to the bathroom. Three times Matsumoto had followed, sleepy and bewildered, to see the white silhouette of her captain's head bobbing in and out of the flower-patterned toilet seat. Three times she had rubbed circles into his narrow back, unable to even dream of daring to turn on the light in fear of what she would find. She would have broken her shoulders and a thousand times more before she would have been able to gather enough courage to find the source of the spilt blood.
Dawn broke across the horizon in a haze of pink and fluorescent orange. It was not Matsumoto who stroked his spine now as he lay upon the cool tiles of the bathroom floor but Orihime. The ever optimistic girl who was trying to memorize the strange English words for a test they would have later that day. By the time Orihime had gotten up from her seat, it was morning. Hitsugaya had his head under the cold, jetting water of the bathtub and Matsumoto heating some of the foods she had purchased the night before.
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"Welcome home Grimmjow."
The pale blue haired arrancar scowled. All the menos-level arrancar he had dragged with him on his earthly excursion were dead. None of them were particularly valuable but they were -had been- the eldest and demanded respect. Beside him Tousen shifted and turned his vacant eyes –hidden by the shades- upon him.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" the man growled softly. Grimmjow shrugged.
"Nope."
"It's alright Tousen." Aizen soothed before a fight could break out. The dark-skinned shinigami swallowed a heaving gulp of air. Grimmjow smirked. "Now Ulquiorra, I believe you said you had something to show me?"
The green-eyed espada stepped out from the shadows bowing. The hems of his hakama skirting around his feet, Ulquiorra wedged his fingers into the left socket and pulled his eye out. The green-and-white eye collapsed beneath his grip and turned to dust. It began to loop around Aizen's head as the former captain closed his eyes.
"Interesting..." he said, few minutes into the arrancar's memory. "And what do you think of this Ulquiorra?"
"He is... dangerous. He drew me... to him."
"Well that's new," Grimmjow drawled sardonically, "The great Ulquiorra is acknowledging someone other than himself." Ulquiorra gave him a solemn look with his one remaining eye. Grimmjow crinkled his nose, mimicking a growl and silently laughed to himself when the other looked away.
Impatient, Tousen drew Suzumushi and held it out, blade forward, threateningly before Grimmjow. Grimmjow gave a snort of disbelief and spat sideways, an action that did not go unnoticed by the blind man. The chocolate fingers tightened around the woven hilt.
"Aizen-sama, I request the permission to execute this one."
Aizen opened his eyes, the burning hazel probing.
"Oh?"
"Hah, you go around spouting stuff about moral and justice bullshit and now you want to kill me just because you don't like me?"
"Moral justice is something that highly lack in. For justice without righteous moral is no different from senseless killings. However... murder in the name of moral justice is..." Tousen drew Suzumushi back to his side, almost as if he were going to sheath it. "Righteous." The man struck and cut Grimmjow's arm at the shoulders. As the sixth espada howled in surprise and pain, he burned the bloody limb with a kidou move.
"Shit, shit, shit!!" Grimmjow grasped the bleeding stub where his arm had once been. "You mother fucker I'll kill you!"
"Grimmjow."
Aizen's voice was more effective than any bucket of cold water that was ever invented. "If you assault Kaname here, then I'm afraid there is no way I can let you leave here alive."
Grimmjow's pupils widened before contracting. Spitting out a string of curses, he wisely walked away.
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Aizen was walking down the stairs to his chambers when he heard a familiar drawl.
"Playin' with your subordinates 'gain?"
"So you were listening, Gin."
The fox-faced man peeled himself off the wall.
"Tousen's gone all pissy again. Grimmy shouda known that he wouldn' like it..."
Aizen shrugged and instead of heading towards his rooms, he stood by the window, leaning out and taking in the breathless view of the desolate dunes of Hueco Mundos.
"Oh Gin?"
Gin stopped his chattering. "I need you to go check something out for me. Something very important..."
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Hitsugaya sat on the rooftops of the school building, concentrating over the small cell phone as he identified the attackers and skimmed through the reports. He pressed 'send' and was not surprised to feel twin blobs press against the back of his head. The hands came immediately after and covered his eyes.
Irritation
"Matsumoto... what are you doing?" the blonde lieutenant immediately danced out from behind her captain and peered into his face.
"Wow, I didn't even have to ask this time."
Hitsugaya grimaced and immediately squashed the urge to wrap his hand around his stomach. Unfortunately, Matsumoto had caught the slight twitch in his left hand. She tossed her hair over her shoulders before continuing.
"So... was it easy? Once your limit was lifted I mean."
Hitsugaya shrugged, silently contemplating her through the corner of his eyes.
"They were small fries," He dismissed finally, "only gillians."
"But the other two..."
"...The one with dark hair..."
The bell rang and Hitsugaya turned his cell phone off in reflex. Stretching his legs out, he jerked his head slightly towards the stairs.
"Come on, I don't want to be late like we were in the morning."
"But captain...! I told you, I had no idea how those hair straightners ended up on your dispenser!"
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Kuchiki Byakuya looked around to make sure that they were not being watched. He produced an envelope from inside his haori and dropped it at his feet. Yoruichi sniffed it carefully and determined that it was a stack of paperwork. She flipped it over and flattened her ears on top of her skull.
"What is this...?"
The Shihouin seal stood out from the cream paper, black and very obvious.
"Go." Byakuya commanded, disappearing into the woods. "And don't get caught."
Yoruichi picked up the thick package as best as she could in her mouth and sped away.
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"Where is shorty anyways?"
"Now Ikkaku, that's no way to address a captain..."
"Bah we're running late. Abarai and Rangiku have already gone ahead."
"You're just mad because Tanaka-san called you bald. Strange that Matsumoto-san did not wait for Hitsugaya-taichou though."
Ikkaku grumbled out few choice words better left out of print.
"You're just jealous because Matsumoto-san chose Renji over you."
"Che shut up Yumi; Abarai's got no backbone that's all."
Hitsugaya felt a migraine coming on. He wished that he could ignore the two and deny that he had ever come with them in the first place. Slapping his face, he unsheathed this sword and blocked the blow originally meant for his head. He looked up with a grunt, his arm heavy now that his assaulter had made use of it as a perch and froze in fear at what he found there.
Not silver, not dark, not black, no reds, yellow, blue...
...It still didn't stop him from panicking.
"Sit upon the frozen heavens Hyourinmaru!"
The ice dragon came out as quickly as it was bid snapping furiously at the blonde who had been squatting on top of its sealed form only moments before. Suddenly realizing that they were in a public place Hitsugaya hid his katana as best as he could and ran after the icy apparition and the blonde that it followed.
Yumichika and Ikkaku gave a chase soon after.
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"Feisty aren't you?"
Deeper and deeper he plunged into the smoke until it obscured his eyes and distorted his senses. He no longer had any idea who he was chasing nor for what purposes. He simply ran.
::But why?:: a quiet voice asked giving his mind a quiet poke. ::A chase is pointless unless there is an objective but there is none. Why do you run?::
He didn't know and at that point he didn't care about anything except the wind blowing past him as cars honked in unison creating a cacophony that tailed him through his run. He had not a care in the world now because he had left it all behind, behind, beyond the smoke, beyond reach.
::This is not freedom. You are not free.:: the voice said quietly. ::Come with me and we shall fly. Do not forget the promises you've made and the ones I've made onto you. Come, let us fly.::
Cold, wasn't that what others felt in the winter? The profoundness shocked him. And slowly the smoke receded.
The blonde was smiling cheerfully as he came too, baring teeth that reminded him too much of a certain defector now risen once more in his mind. Hyourinmaru's chains had wrapped around the young man's legs, holding him fast to the ground. The blonde didn't seem to mind at all as he threw off a cero blast from his hand. Hitsugaya spun in midair and landed a few meters away.
A vizard...
"What are you doing here vizard?"
"Think the question is what are you doin' here." Hitsugaya looked around and found himself in a ruined warehouse furnished with metal drums and container boxes. A few curious heads popped up from here and there –vizards, Hitsugaya hissed- and the boy prodigy realized that he was trapped. Kicking off the last of the remaining ice from his feet the blonde tilted his hat slightly in greetings. "Welcome to our humble abode, I'm Hirako Shinji chibi-shinigami-san." He deftly dodged a chunk of ice thrown at his face. "Ehh don't do that..."
::Toushiro,:: Hyourinmaru said dryly ::You might want to look up...::
"What?"
And consequently he didn't hear the next words,
"...but we'll use force anyways."
The webbing, carrying wooden boxes, promptly snapped and landed on Hitsugaya's head.
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Hitsugaya groaned wondering if it had been a bad idea to come to the human world. Mentally tallying off his injuries he tried to sit up and found that he couldn't. Shinji loomed over him, the light from the dirty windows reflecting off his creepy grin. Without thinking he instantly acted and the temperature plummeted. Whoever had been on him immediately jumped off with a squeal and Hitsugaya was able to sigh in relief at the pressure now gone from his stomach.
"Well, now we know why they keep you around." The blonde slapped the young captain lightly on the chin. "You make a helluva air conditioner."
Hitsugaya's eyes rolled. "What do you want?"
Shinji squatted poignantly by the captain's head, one hand tucked under his chin and other drumming his cheek as if he was seriously contemplating something.
"Well pretty girls would be nice but for now, just you."
"What about me?" Was it just him or was the entire room spinning. He was pretty sure the blonde didn't have two heads or three... "Stop multiplying dammit," and closed his eyes to escape the lunacy he had woken up to.
"Eh?"
"Think he's got concussion," a gray-haired teenager offered, "I mean he did get hit pretty hard on the head."
"Oh well, we'll fix him up later. Give me a hand with him will ya Lisa?" a girl in a sailor fuku hmphed before kneeling by Hitsugaya's body. She was beginning to open the buttons on his school shirt when the young captain's hand shot up to stop hers. With a sickeningly cheery grin, Shinji pried the boy's fingers off and stared into Hitsugaya's now open eyes. "Now, now, be a good boy..." Lisa threw a leg over him and began to undo the bandaging around his chest and stomach. They had uncovered the severely bruised skin when the warehouse door opened allowing the sun to flood into the crumbling space. Shinji hissed comically at the sudden explosion of light. Kurosaki Ichigo stood as a shadow, framed by sunlight with a dumbstruck look upon his face.
"Uhh..." he then backpedaled, nearly landing on his back, as he tried to focus his sight on anywhere but at the three on the ground before him. Blushing Ichigo opted to look away and began to speak rapidly, "Umm look. I don't want to know. Don't tell me because I really don't want to know. It looks like you guys are kind of busy so you know what? I'm going to come back later. Better yet, I won't come back. I think I can take care of this hollow thing by myself, and sorry for disturbing you." He bowed and turned to go back the way he had come from. Perhaps some classes and pop quiz in English would allow him to wash out the images burned on to his retinas.
Had Hitsugaya been coherent, he would have screamed 'traitor' and tried to find away a substitute shinigami could be tried as an officer for deserting his superior. But he, with the girl Lisa still straddling and feeling up his stomach, thought Ichigo probably had the right idea in getting out before his entire thought processing shut down. With Shinji gone to convince Ichigo that they weren't doing anything too explicit, Hitsugaya pushed the girl off of him with a scowl, his head feeling like it had been served up to Kurotsuchi Mayuri to dissect. Lisa huffed and stood up. A large man with pink hair asked him if he needed any healing, the white-haired captain refused and swung Hyourinmaru over his back. With the decisively snide snickers reverberating in his head, he exited the warehouse where he caught few tail ends of the conversations such as, 'perverts' and 'just Lisa'.
"If you're done, I'll be going now." Hitsugaya spoke up crankily; he gingerly fingered the top of his head and rubbed it the wrong way. He held his hand in front of his face and saw blood. Ichigo quickly left Shinji and stuck close to Hitsugaya's side.
"What was that all about?"
Hitsugaya simply snarled.
That night, contrary to the weather forecast's predictions, it had been the coldest of summer on record.
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::You look well.::
The air hummed with a strange sort of energy but it wasn't the hollow.
It was something much worse.
::But not awake.::
A soft cloud of ashes touched the icy barrier and seeped inside. Where the trail of smoke had gone, sparks of amber flame followed, licking at the protective ice eroding beneath the zanpakuto's touch.
Hyourinmaru curled his lips. With a burst of silver mist the other shinigami was at his side, staring nervously at the other zanpakuto's appearance.
::Will you not tell me why?::
::Typical of you:: Hyourinmaru rumbled vindictively ::attack first and ask questions later. Some things don't change and they never will.::
The fires retreated, almost thoughtfully.
::It did not have to be this way.::
::Of course not.::
::You've changed::
::I am ice, I am water, I was destined to change.::
"For the love of god Hyourinmaru, stop antagonizing him!"
As if noticing the man for the first time, the trail of fire burst and crackled into blue and white sparks. The man winced as drops of yellow and orange embers dropped through the ice.
::Why are you here shinigami?::
"Err..."
::You have no business within this child's mind, you are no longer belong... you are no longer needed.::
"Eh?"
::Ryuujin Jakka.:: Hyourinmaru breathed, the cold steam like breath rolling over the dark-haired death god. The crimson eyes had enlarged. They looked horrible, terrifying, and more alive than the ice dragon had ever permitted himself to feel. ::You...::
And it was the ripping gales of a storm Ryuujin Jakka fled from as the snow smothered the heat under its giant claws.
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The arrancar attacked them as soon as they approached the edges of downtown. A female arrancar, inexperienced, young and brash, drove her fist into the concrete pavement before jumping away, delighted at the broken crater that she had created. One of the older ones berated her, calmly sizing up its prey before launching an experimental cero blast at their feet.
Ichigo put a soul candy in his mouth and kicked his body away towards a presumably 'safe' direction. Hitsugaya slid Hyourinmaru against the neck of a blonde arrancar. The arrancar dodged and contorted his body into binding Hyourinmaru against his thighs. A quick burst of icy reiatsu changed all that and Ichigo threw himself into the battle, swiftly taking out the first arrancar who instigated the assault.
"Shoot to kill, Shinsou!"
"Kurosaki!"
With a grunt, the orange-haired death god swung his zanpakuto in front of himself in a defensive position. The divine spear slammed into the cleaver-like blade, piercing the black metal and creating a minute fissure upon its surface. Ichigo was pushed back, his feet skidding against the ground in a vain attempt of holding his ground. When the captain-level shikai withdrew, a crowd of arrancar floated down around the strawberry blonde, sneering.
"S' been a long time ' Gaya."
"Ichimaru... Gin."
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A.C.: ugh that was... really long. So give into the guilt and charity that's tugging at your soul and leave a review? x3