Hitsugaya and Hiromi arrived at the outskirts of Soul Society. So far there were no arrancar sightings.
"Do you see anything?" Hiromi asked.
"No," came Hitsugaya's terse reply. He squinted into the distance. Then his eyes widened. "I sense tremendous reiatsu in Junrinan. Let's go!"
"Yes, sir!"
Hitsugaya and Hiromi landed in Junrinan. There was no sight of the arrancar, but its path of destruction was clear. Bodies lay strewn around flickering fires of remnants of homes.
"This is terrible," griped Hiromi.
Hitsugaya checked the pulse of a man lying on the ground. He was still alive. He heard Hiromi gasp and his head snapped up. However, before he could react, he experienced a sharp pain in his side.
The arrancar withdrew his claw. "Well, slow reflexes for someone who calls himself a captain!" an annoyingly suave voice chided.
"Hitsugaya san, are you alright?" cried Hiromi. She dashed over to his side.
"I'm fine," Hitsugaya replied. He wiped away the shower of blood that blossomed from his white haori. Then he unsheathed Hyourinmaru. "You'll pay for this," he hissed furiously.
The arrancar cocked his head and Hitsugaya examined him for the first time. He was dressed in the traditional arrancar garb that Aizen had distributed. Long, tapering talons arched from his intentionally poised hand. His mauve hair slid down to his shoulders, cropped around his clean-shaven face. Dark purple tattoos slashed up his pale cheeks and ended beneath his piercing, well, violet eyes. His dark lips were turned up in a wicked grin. The arrancar moved his hand to the zanpakutou strapped to his hip.
"I am Arrancar Number 108, Shigeru Soketsu," the arrancar introduced. "Any last words before you die, young captain?"
"I should be the one asking you that!" Hitsugaya spat, and with that, he leapt into the air and swung Hyourinmaru down in a complete arc to the Shigeru Soketsu's head. The arrancar barely dodged his blow, and Hyourinmaru scraped some snow-white skin to the ground, marking a shallow wound.
"Tch," cursed Shigeru. He pulled out his wickedly sharp zanpakutou from its elaborate sheath and swung it somewhere behind him.
Hitsugaya heard a yelp. His eyes widened as the air behind the arrancar sparkled for a second to show the form of Hiromi, attempting to press the back of her katana against the arrancar's neck. Shigeru had hit her.
"Hiromi!" Hitsugaya cried. "Are you alright?"
Blood seeped out of her black robes and pattered onto the ground. She gritted her teeth. "I'm fine," she managed.
"Nice try, little girl, but I can sense your reiatsu," Shigeru tutted. "Better luck next time. Of course, there will be no next time…" The arrancar chuckled.
Hiromi swirled her gauze and vanished. Seconds later, a gash appeared on Shigeru's face.
"Aaaaaccckk!"
Hiromi drew her sword out of Shigeru's face. "That's what you get."
Shigeru clutched his head as blood spurted from between his hands. "You bitch!"
He was about to say something else, but it was too late. Hyourinmaru cleaved cleaned through his neck, leaving a severed stump that slumped to the floor.