Chapter 7. Replacement In Death

I do not own Bleach, Tite Kubo does.

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The disgusting brown-green eyes were filled with amusement as they met the flaming aqua ones.

Hitsugaya could still feel the ice creeping along his ankles and wrists, slowly forming claws at the end of each finger and toe. But this went un-noticed by the Arrancar standing over the body of a brown-haired girl.

"What sort of deal?" Hitsugaya spat, enraged. The smile remained on the false Shinigami's face as he replied.

"Oh, it's nothing much, just that you come with us, and she won't get hurt." He motioned to the girl at his feet, blood slowly spilling from places where the broken concrete wall had cut her flesh. Hitsugaya's eyes went round.

"Nani?"

The Arrancar did not move, he stood silently, waiting for the boy's reply.

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Hinamori attempted to lift her head from the ground, trying to see past the blood dripping down her face and over her eyes.

She had heard what had been said, and she was not going to let her best friend sacrifice himself, just so that her life might be spared. Very slowly, she pushed herself up from the ground, none of them had noticed, for all of the Arrancar had their eyes fixed on Hitsugaya, waiting for his answer.

Hinamori soundlessly stood to her feet, Hitsugaya's mouth dropped slightly when he noticed her, and his eyes shouted silently for her to stay put, and stay out of this. But she ignored his silent pleas and crept forward to stand inches away from the lead Arrancar.

Still, none of the others noticed.

She was going to sacrifice herself for him. But at the last second, Hitsugaya burst out.

"Hinamori, NO!"

At that very instant, the Arrancar spun around, but Hinamori was faster. With all of the strength left in her frail body, she landed a hard, and very direct blow on him. She punched his face in as hard as she could, than followed up with a forceful roundhouse kick.

As quickly as her bloody feet could allow her to, she dashed past Hitsugaya and grabbed his arm, pulling him the opposite way as the Arrancar realized what had happened. Their angry shouts and howls could be heard miles away, and Hinamori hoped that soon, very soon, someone else would come out to help them.

But before anything else could possibly occur, Hitsugaya felt Hinamori's grip on his arm vanish. The lead Arrancar had leapt after them, and he now pinned Hinamori against the wall again, his fingers firmly closed around her throat.

"Hinamori!!" Hitsugaya's worried and infuriated voice echoed throughout the empty streets.

"I've had quite enough of you girl!"

The Arrancar sneered, his teeth clenched. More blood fell from her body, as broken shards of concrete sliced her skin. He pushed her back into the wall further, tightening his grasp on her throat. The only thing that Hitsugaya could hear now, was the choking and panting of his friend as she struggled desperately to gasp in precious air. Her eyes closed and her hands quivered feebly as she tried to free herself.

But it was no use; Akuma did not intend to loosen his grip until he saw her dead.

Hitsugaya's fangs of icicles hardened and mist emitted from his mouth as his frosted breath growled from his throat. The icy claws on his hands and ankles formed firmly once again, and suddenly it was as of he had his Zanpakutou with him and he was using his BanKai. Two immense, ice blue wings crackled and unfolded from his back, pieces of ice flew off in all directions, and showered down on all of the Arrancar. Small pieces of ice came together to form larger ones, winding and twisting around each other to form a long, mighty tail. His once aqua eyes darkened a few shades until they were a dark, indescribable blue.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!" He roared.

His wings lifted him up from the ground as he soared through the cold air, aiming his claws at the Arrancar depriving his friend of life. But the other fourteen jumped in front of him to defend their leader.

Their mistake.

Hitsugaya whirled around and let his tail smash four of them into the wall, crushing their bones and causing them to fall lifelessly to the ground, spattered in blood. Hitsugaya landed on the ground, and folded his wings for the time being, his eyes daring the others to challenge him, the blood of their comrades dripping off of his tail. The eyes of all of the remaining Arrancar tripled in size.

"Nani?" The leader spoke aloud. "When did he get so much power?"

Fear filled the eyes of the remaining ten Arrancar that had been left to defend their leader. Hitsugaya turned on them, lashing out with his long, thick claws. Blood spluttered all over the ground as another Arrancar fell dead.

Then, they were upon him, trying to circle him and cut off his escape routes. But they failed to remember his wings.

Un-curling his powerful wings once more, Hitsugaya's mouth opened in a roar. He crashed his left wing into the wall on his left, and his right wing to the wall on his right. One Arrancar on either side of him fell. Once more, he thrust his claws forward striking another, all the while Akuma watched in fear, yet his hands un-consciously still kept their tight grip on the dying girl's throat.

Twisting around again, Hitsugaya managed to bring down another enemy, the remaining five being lucky enough to dodge; this time. Finally, Akuma snapped back into reality, and called out for his remaining forces to retreat.

"Withdraw! We shall take the girl instead! Open the portal, now!"

The five Arrancar stopped circling immediately and leapt onto the roofs where they hoped to open the portal back to Hueco Mundo. Hitsugaya almost went after them, but then saw his chance to get at the leader.

He flew forward and gaped his jaws in a furiously enraged roar. He reached out, aiming his claws at the Arrancar. But seconds too late, Hitsugaya's blow struck empty air, all six remaining Arrancar were disappearing into the portal. Hitsugaya's eyes flared as he saw Hinamori's limp form in the hands of the Arrancar.

"This girl shall be your replacement and take your death for you. You should be grateful, Hitsugaya taichou. Have Soul Society surrender the King's Key to us. If they refuse, then tell everyone that they can expect the same fate that your friend will receive. Farewell, for now, but know this, I will not easily forgive what you did to my fellow Arrancar. Let us see how you feel when you loose someone dear to you."

His final sneer evaporated into an eerie whisper, as the portal closed behind him. Then, only one furious echo exploded from Seireitei.

"HINAMORI!!!!!"

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A/N: Finally thr plot progresses! Oh and just so you all know, when Hitsugaya gains the wings, claws, tail and all that, it is basically his BanKai without his Zanpakutou.

Okay, just for those of you who did not know, I will explain the underlined words roundhouse kick. A roundhouse kick is just a kick where you turn your hips and kick on an angle. It is really powerful and since Hinamori did not have her Zanpakutou with her, I just threw in a little bit of Tae Kwon Do : )