Chapter Sixteen: Showdown: Toushiro vs. Momo
Toushiro knew what he had to do, he had to kill his childhood friend in order to save the one he loved.
So, Toushiro raised his zanpakuto up into the air and shouted, "Reign over the frozen skies Hyourinmaru!"
Their two blasts of reiatsu clashed with each other, causing them both to fall backwards into a wall.
"Toushiro!" Rangiku screamed.
"It's alright Rangiku. I'll be fine", he said as he stood to his feet.
Momo was already up and on her feet, ready to fight but he noticed that she was bleeding from her forehead and thus her vision would be dulled in half.
Toushiro knew he could use this to his advantage.
Hyourinmaru . . .
Yes master?
I want you to aim for her left side. That's where she is the most weak.
Right master.
Toushiro lunged forward as Hyourinmaru slashed into her left side, drawing blood.
Momo didn't wince, didn't cry out, or even change her face to look like she was in pain. She simply grabbed the hilt of his zanpakuto and threw him to the side.
Toushiro didn't get it. It was a direct hit but she had just thrown him as if nothing happened.
Toushiro looked up at Aizen and saw that sinister grin on his face grow even wider.
It was as if Momo was a zombie and couldn't feel pain.
Toushiro looked back over at Momo and noticed that she began to wobble a bit as she tried to flash stepped over to him.
So she may be immune to feeling pain, but that doesn't mean she isn't unaffected by it he thought.
Toushiro raised Hyourinmaru and blocked Tobiume's assault, just barely above his snow white head.
"Momo, I don't want to have to do this, but if you refuse to come to your senses, then you leave me no choice but to destroy you", he shouted at her, hoping she would snap out of it, but she didn't.
Toushiro threw his leg forward, bringing Momo to her knees as he flash stepped away from her.
Momo got back up and charged straight for Toushiro, zanpakuto aimed and ready.
He dodged it but she managed to get in a hit, leaving a small cut on his left forearm.
"Momo, stop this. Do you really want to kill me?" he cried, still trying to reason with her.
(Sidebar: I don't know why he just doesn't kill her ass already and be done with it? But knowing Toushiro, he can't just kill his childhood friend without at least trying to save her)
Momo paused and withdrew her zanpakuto from his face.
He couldn't tell what she was thinking, considering her eyes still looked dead and dull, but then again, she was under Aizen's control thus losing her will to think all together.
"Momo . . ."
"Shutup!" she screamed. "I am so sick and tired of you and your antics to save me. Did you ever think that maybe I loved Aizen and that I wanted to be with him?" she cried.
"No I did not", he answered curtly.
"No, you didn't", she spat. "How could you possibly think that I could love a man who would fall prey to a whore", she laughed bitterly. "I mean, you are really pathetic Toushiro", she shook her head. "She's just using you to get to the top. She only cares about stealing your job and in the end, she will destroy you".
"And what do you think Aizen is doing?" Toushiro questioned her. "Do you honestly think Aizen will ever care about you the way you want him to? You're such a fool Momo. Why just a few minutes ago, Aizen was trying to rape Rangiku but you think he loves you? You're the one who's pathetic", he shouted.
"Shutup!"
"Aizen is only using you to do his dirty work for him—"
"Shutup!" she screamed again.
"Aizen doesn't care about you. If he did, he would have never tricked you into killing me the first time—"
"Shutup!"
"He would have been a man and killed me himself. But no, he tricked you because Aizen is just that sick to put two friends against each other—"
"I said shutup! You don't know Aizen—"
"Oh but I do. I know his type at least. Aizen will not stop until everyone is destroyed, until you are destroyed. Momo, Aizen could care less for you. If he did, he would have never let you get hurt. Look at you, you're bleeding and he's smiling at your pain. He's smiling at the fact you are about to die. Not even Gin is that cruel. And yet you think I am your enemy. Aizen doesn't love you Momo—"
"Deflect Tobiume!" she shrilled as she raised her zanpakuto up in the air and slashed it forward in his direction.
Toushiro did not move, seeing as her she attacked in blind rage and missed him by a mile.
"That was a lousy shot", Toushiro sighed tired and frustrated.
"Grrr", Momo growled as she charged for Toushiro, zanpakuto held high in the air and repeated, "Deflect Tobiume!"
Toushiro sighed seeing no way around this and lifted his zanpakuto and shouted, "Reign over the frosted frozen skies Hyourinmau!"
Toushiro blocked her attack by putting up an ice wall and shattering it into thousands of pieces, throwing them towards Momo.
Momo flew backwards as the shards of ice darted into her body.
After about a minute or two, she got up to her feet and charged for Toushiro again.
Her zanpakuto came above his head and slashed his shoulder. As soon as he felt contact, he grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground and kicked her zanpakuto out of her hand.
"Surrender", he said.
"Never", she kicked him in the shin and back flipped away from him.
"Fine, have it your way", he chased after her and slashed his zanpakuto at her feet, causing her to fall.
"Bastard", Momo spat as she jumped up and punched him in the face.
Toushiro could feel blood running his lips but he didn't feel any in his mouth. Then he figured that it was his nose that was bleeding and not his mouth. Toushiro was going to make her pay for that.
They had been friends for years, and not once had she ever laid a hand to hurt him but all because she was blind sided by Aizen, she would throw away all those years of friendship. And for what . . . a psychopathic monster?
Even though Toushiro was mad he would still fight fair. So, he discarded his zanpakuto, walked over to Momo and hit her square in the gut.
"You jerk", she croaked, coughing up blood. "Why you . . ."
"I tried to be nice. I tried to save your dumb ass but would you let me? No", he spat her. "Then you have the nerve to try and destroy what makes me happy by tearing a wedge between me and Rangiku. But no, you couldn't stop there. You had to make sure I suffered severely and then you decide to wreck my wedding. Then you kidnap my bride and feed him to that monster!" he shouted. "So, I'm done trying to save your ass. I intend to kick your ass to kingdom come if it means you will leave me the hell alone and stay the hell away from my Rangiku", he leered at her.
Momo didn't say anything for a while and he wondered if he had finally got through to her and would he have to beat some more sense into her skull.
"It's life to ruin, not mine. Go with that whore. See if I care", she muttered as she lifted herself off the ground and stood before him.
Then he saw it, tears. And not the tears of anger and frustration that she normally shed but the tears of betrayal, sadness and loneliness. Now he finally understood.
Momo felt abandoned by him and felt like he had betrayed her when he choose Rangiku over her. How could he not see it? Those were the exact same feelings he felt when she left him for Aizen.
"Listen Momo", he sighed. "I understand how you feel but that doesn't and isn't ever going to change the fact that I love Rangiku. I hope you can understand and be happy for me that I have truly found happiness. But if you intend to get in the way of that, I won't hesitate to stop you", he scorned the last part.
"Tch, you always did talk too much. Are we gonna fight or what?" she hissed.
"I guest we're gonna fight", he smirked, swigging his leg forward and knocking her down to the ground. "Come at me then", he wriggled his hand, signaling her to come at him.
Momo hopped up and swung her leg at his face, but he dodged and pushed her down, hard.
Momo rubbed her chest, then she materialized a gun in her hand and fired on the white haired captain.
Toushiro didn't know she could conjure up weapons from thin air but he had no intention of being killed by them.
He dodged her shot and lunged for his zanpakuto.
"I thought we weren't fighting with our weapons?" he questioned.
"I never agreed to that", Momo replied.
"I see", he lifted Hyourinmaru in the air and swung it toward her, firing a large blast of reiatsu at her.
Momo dodged it and fired another shot, skimming the tips of his hair above his head.
Toushiro could feel his eyebrow twitching at the fact that she had saved a few inches of his perfect white hair.
"You'll pay for that", he growled as he charged for her and pushed her back, crashing her into the wall of the arena.
Toushiro lifted his zanpakuto over his head and swung it down, turning everything into ice, then shattering it into a million pieces.
"Nice try you ass but I'm not dead yet", he heard her say as a giant blast of reiatsu came in his direction.
Toushiro managed to dodge it but barely. And he didn't leave the blast completely unscathed. The blast had hit his lower left leg and he fell to the ground, his leg bleeding profusely.
"Well, looks like I did cause a little damage", she smirked, standing from the ice rubble beneath her.
Toushiro ripped a piece of his sleeve and tied it tightly around his leg in order to stop the bleeding.
He tried to stand up but keep falling back down to the ground. She had really done a number on his leg, but she too was getting tired.
He noticed that she was bleeding from her forehead, both her arms, her side and her leg. With all the blood she was losing, she should be dead but Aizen probably took care of that factor.
Toushiro finally got to his feet and stayed on his feet this time.
He decided that play time was over and that it was time to end this.
"Bankai!" he shouted as ice wings formed over his shoulders and an ice tail flowed down his back.
Momo struck a defensive pose and conjured up a staff as Toushiro gathered his reiatsu.
"Goodbye Momo", he breathed before he delivered the final blow.
Hyourinmaru soared through the air and dove straight for Momo, crashing her deep into the side of the arena.
After the smoked cleared, Toushiro flew over to look upon her dead corpse.
There she was, lying in a pool of her own blood, dead.
He knew it had to be done but some part of him felt sad and angry, at himself for not being able to save his childhood friend. But when he turned and looked at Rangiku, he felt relieved. Relieved to know that she was safe and that no one could ever harm her again.
His bankai shattered as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body collapsed to the ground.
Aizen, being a man of his word, released Rangiku from her chains.
"Toushiro!" she cried as she leapt over the wall and ran towards her beloved. "Toushiro, can you hear me?" she sobbed as she dropped to her knees and cradled his body in her arms.
"Rangiku", he smiled weakly caressing her cheek. "Did I win?" he asked.
"Yes my love, you won", she replied.
"How sad", he sighed as tears began rolling down his cheeks.
Rangiku knew exactly how he felt and just held him closer to her, kissing his tears away.
Well, being the villain that he was, Aizen was not just going to let them live happily ever after, after they killed his servant and best friend.
So, he summoned up all his reiatsu and with one large swing of his zanpakuto, fired off the biggest attack of them all.
Rangiku knew it was too big and they could never get away from it in time. So, she just hugged Toushiro close to her, with all her might and with all her heart and cried.
Toushiro knew that this was the end but he wasn't sad. He was happy, that in the end, he saved the woman he loved and would not be dying alone but in her arms.
Just as the blast was about to engulf them, a arrancar appeared in front of them and cut the blast in two.
"Now, now Aizen", the arrancar drawled. "That was very nice or very fair".
Both Rangiku and Toushiro recognized that voice and thought, No, it couldn't be . . .
Well, I have to stop ya here. Can you guess who the arrancar is? Well, all will be revealed in the next chapter.
So, how did you like this one? I know a lot of you are glad Momo is dead. I know I am.
Sorry it took me so long to update. Mid terms really had me swamped and stressed out and then came writer's block and family drama. But everything is fine now and I should be able to update much more quickly this time. Please r&r. Bye Bye!