Disclaimer- bleach is not mine
Author Notes- Thanks to all the people that gave me a review XD BTW Karel Ritza you are doing a fantastic job with your story, keep the good job!!! If you want to read another great story about hitsuxruki you need to read hers!!!
Meetings & Memories
Soul Society was covered in a thick blanket of snow. An orange haired boy and a red haired shinigami were trying there best to walk fast but there was too much snow. The cold wind was hitting there bodies, making them shiver. Renji sneezed. "I hate the snow" he said while rubbing his arms up and down trying to keep himself warm.
"I didn't know it snowed here," Ichigo said also rubbing his arms to keep warm. "It doesn't," Renji said "It only snows when Hitsugaya-taichou is angry. Last time it snowed was when some shinigamis were molesting Hinamori." Ichigo was about to ask who Hinamori but Renji beat him to it. "An ex-fukataicho he used to have a crush on. Anyway when he found out, those idiots were made into human popsicles" Renji said while laughing at the memory.
Ichigo couldn't blame Hitsugaya. He would have killed anyone who dared to touch Rukia. A proof to that were Keigo's constant visits to the nurse office, due to his attempts to hug the lovely 'Kuchiki-san'. "Where are we going?" Ichigo asked.
"We are meeting the others at Hitsugaya-taichou office to plan how to save Rukia," Renji explained. At the mention of Rukia name Ichigo became worried. He needed to save Rukia.
Ichigo and Renji stood in front of the door that leads to the office of the 10th division captain. Renji pushed the door open and entered the office, Ichigo following him. Inside the office Matsumoto was already sitting in the couch, beside her was Kira, Ikkaku was leaning against one of the walls and Hitsugaya was sitting behind his desk.
The first Ichigo noticed was that inside the office the air was even colder. And that Hitsugaya looked tense. "I'm sorry taichou for taking so long," Renji said bowing to the young captain.
Hitsugaya stared at Renji. He was starting to sweat due to the intensity of Hitsugaya's stare, when the young captain decided to speak. "Doesn't matter; just make sure to be on time tomorrow," he said. He stood up from in his place behind the desk, and stood were everybody could see him.
"Now that we are here, let's start," Hitsugaya said. They spent hours planning the best way to attack Aizen. Each of them memorized every detail until their heads were throbbing. Matsumoto convinced her taichou to give them a brake.
"We will be leaving tomorrow, early in the morning. I want you all to be there on time, we won't wait for anybody," Hitsugaya said crossing his arms in front of him. "Go and rest for the rest of the day. Save your strength for tomorrow, we will need all the possible strength to save Rukia. You are dismissed."
As everyone was leaving, Ichigo stayed in the office. He didn't know why but he could feel there was something wrong; the young captain was taking this mission too personal for his liking. Hitsugaya noticed that Ichigo stayed inside the office.
"Is something wrong?" Hitsugaya said while walking to his sit behind his desk. He waited for the response, but Ichigo stayed quiet. Hitsugaya rubbed his temples, and sighed. "If there is nothing wrong you should go and rest, you would need the energy if you want to save Rukia," Hitsugaya said. He was in an awful mood and just wanted to be alone. He needed time to think.
"I didn't know that you cared so much for Rukia. And also since when did you start calling her by her first name?" Ichigo asked. He didn't liked how Hitsugaya said her name.
Hitsugaya cursed in his mind. He wanted to maintain his relationship with Rukia private, at least until after she was saved. It wasn't like he was ashamed of being with her but he wasn't sure if they were even together. After all she was kidnapped before they could settle things up. But calling her by her first name was a give away.
"If I care for her or not is none of your business," Hitsugaya said, glaring at the boy that stood in front of him.
"We are talking about Rukia, of course it's my business!" Ichigo told Hitsugaya. Ichigo knew that Hitsugaya was hiding something, and he was more than sure that he wouldn't like it.
"I don't see why it would be of your business. You are not the only one that cares for her!" Hitsugaya knew that his anger was getting the best of him but he didn't care. The air in the office turned even colder.
"Don't forget that I was the one that saved her from execution! I don't remember you moving a finger to protect her!" Ichigo said slamming his hand at the desk. "Why the sudden change? I know that you are hiding something. If Rukia is hurt because of yo-" This time it was Hitsugaya the one who slammed his hand against the poor desk.
"I will NEVER hurt her!" Hitsugaya said.
"How could I be sure? The way you're acting towards her is completely different from the last time I was here! For all I know you could be working for Aizen!"
In a fragment of seconds Hitsugaya jumped the desk and with his zanpakutos threw a blow to the orange haired teenage. Ichigo took out zangetsu just in time to block the attack. But due to the power of the attack he was threw to one of the walls.
He moaned in pain. Ichigo tried to stand but stopped when he felt the tip of a sword at his neck. He looked up and saw Hitsugaya standing in front of him. They stayed in the same position for what seemed like hours. Finally one of them spoke.
"I will tell you this once, so you better remember it." Hitsugaya said locking gaze with Ichigo. "I will never work for Aizen. I hate him. My sword will be the one to take him to hell. If you ever suggest again that I work for him, I will not hesitate to eliminate you."
Ichigo couldn't take his eyes away from Hitsugaya. They were glued to those cold green pools. The last time he felt such a killing aura was when he fought Kenpachi.
The door of the office was suddenly opened. "There is a huge blizzard outside" Renji said coming inside the office. "Anyway, Ichigo, I forgot to tell you were you are staying…what is going on?" Renji said grabbing the hilt of his sword, just in case things got a little rough. He knew that if Hitsugaya didn't remove his sword, he would try to stop him.
Hitsugaya toke a deep breath to calm himself. He slowly put his sword away and took a step back, giving Ichigo space to move.
Ichigo was finally able to brake free from Hitsugaya intense stare. He stood up and walked to where Renji was standing. "Let's go," he said simply.
Renji wanted to protest but Hitsugaya gave him a look that said, "Don't ask questions and just go; that's an order!"
The white haired captain was laying on his futon. One arm was covering his face, the other was stretched beside him. His zanpakuto was resting against one of the walls of the big room. He had managed to control his anger and make the blizzard go away, but the cold atmosphere that was surrounding Soul Society was still there.
After Ichigo and Renji were gone, he went to his room. He knew that Renji would tell Matsumoto about his fight with Ichigo. He didn't want to deal with her in that moment. So he wrote her a quick note telling her that she was in charge of the squad for the rest of the day and that he didn't want to be disturbed.
He knew that he acted irrationally. But Ichigo words have angered him and his anger took the best of him. But he couldn't help it.
It was true that when Rukia was sentenced to death he hadn't cared. At that time he didn't knew her. He had only known her as Byakuya's little sister. But that was in the past. He now knew her and he would do anything for her. This time Ichigo wouldn't be the one to save her; it would be him.
He was so worried about Rukia. How could he have not sensed Aizen? If only have been there, he could have protected her. He knew of what Aizen was capable off, he had felt his strength. One of his hands traced the scar were Aizen have stabbed him.
When Unohona asked him if he wanted her to erase the scar he had said no. He didn't want the scar gone because it was a reminder of how weak he was. That scar reminded him of how he has failed to protect his most precious person.
But this time it will be different. This time he would not fail.
'I will save you Rukia,' was his last thought before drifting to sleep.
They were facing each other. Their zanpakutos had been released. Their muscles ached due to all the hard training. But they ignored the pain. They were more concentrated trying to find an openings in the other defense. Neither of them wanted to lose to the other.
Because both their zanpakutos were ice typed, the whole place was covered in snow and ice. Each time they breathed the cold air burned their longs, it was like fuel to their bodies. They stared a little bit longer at each other eyes. Bang! Their swords clashed.
They were pushing their swords against each other. They stayed at the same position for a couple of minutes. But for them it seemed like hours. They locked gazes. He like how her amethyst eyes showed excitement each time they fought each other. That showed him how much she enjoyed his company.
His face broke into a warm smile. That was enough to distract her. She lost her concentration and slipped. She grabbed his arm and brought him with her to the snow covered floor.
The snow prevented them from getting hurt. Hitsugaya managed to fall with his elbows, so he wouldn't crush Rukia. Her hands were grabbing the front of his clothes. He looked down at her. Her eyes were closed.
Her black hair was sprawled all aver the snow, and making a beautiful contrast with the white snow. She opened her eyes. His breath got caught in his throat. He knew that her eyes were beautiful, but now that he was so close they were breath taking. Snow started to fall from the sky,and some snowflakes kissed her cheeks.
His face moved closer to hers .His eyes moved down to her lips. Those rosy lips were to tempting. He could feel her hot breath on his face. A little closer and he would be able to kiss her!
His eyes moved away from her lips, back to her eyes. He could feel his eyelid heavy, not wanting to fight back the heaviness he closed his eyes. He was waiting to feel warm lips against his but what he received instead was snow smashed to his face.
He removed himself from top of her, and sat beside her. He cleaned his face. He heard giggling. He looked down at Rukia, who was still lied on the snow. She was the one giggling.
"Why did you do that?" he said trying to sound angry, that only made her giggle more. She stopped after a moment. She moved closer to him and sat beside him. "I'm sorry taichou. It's just that you were acting strange. Your face was flushed and your eyes were closed. I thought that you needed to refresh a little," she said, giving him a smile.
"So you were trying to refresh me, huh?" he said. One hand cupped her left cheek and bringing her face closer to his. "W-what are you d-doing?" she said, her face now red. "Are you sure that I'm the one needed to be refreshed and not you?" he said in a low voice. "I-I… " was her clever answer.
He gave her a smirk. She was now as red as a tomato. With his free hand he smashed a snowball at her face.
He was now grabbing his side in pain; not because of the training but because of how much he was laughing.
"Why did you do that?" laughed Rukia.
"I t-thought you needed t-to re-refresh" he managed to say between laughs. "This means war!" she said throwing another snowball at him. "If you want war, I will give you war!" he said while throwing a snowball himself.
They spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the snow.
He woke up disoriented. It took him some minutes to notice that he was still on his room. He pushed his upper body from the futon, and scratched his back of his neck. He looked at the clock that was at his left. He still had two hours before meeting with the others. He laid again on the futon and sighed.
Today they were going to go to Hueco Mundo to save Rukia. He still remembered his dream. It wasn't a dream; it was a memory, and it was his favorite memory. He looked again at the clock and decided it was better to get going.
He knew that for being able to rescue Rukia, he needed Ichigo. So he would swallow his pride and apologize. "The things I do for you Rukia," Hitsugaya said out loud, with a smile.
It didn't surprise him to find himself waiting alone. After all he had arrived half an hour earlier. He was nervous, but didn't show it. He closed his eyes and waited for the others. The young captain felt the presence of someone else; he didn't need to open his eyes to know who it was.
Ichigo walked to where Hitsugaya was and stood across from him. They stood in silence and neither of them wanted to talk. Hitsugaya decided it was time to break the ice.
"I will get straight to the point. What happened yesterday was my fault. I shouldn't have let my anger take the best of me. But if we want to save Rukia we need to work together. " Hitsugaya said. He waited for Ichigo to say something. Ichigo stayed quiet. 'Be patient, you are doing this for Rukia,' he thought making sure to keep his cool. "Aren't you going to say something?"
"Fine, I also apologize for the way I acted yesterday," Ichigo said not looking at Hitsugaya. "So this is a truce?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah, you can say so," Hitsugaya said. They stayed quiet for a moment. Each lost in their own mind.
"She made it stop right?" Ichigo asked. Hitsugaya arched a white eyebrow. "You know what I'm talking about. She was able to make the rain stop for you too."
Hitsugaya thought about what Ichigo told him. "Yes she did."
"She tends to do that," Ichigo told him, with a knowing smile.
The others arrived a couple of minutes later. "Now that we are all here I will open the door to Hueco Mundo. Once inside we are in Aizen's territory. Remember the plan and try not to get yourself killed," Hitsugaya said.
He turned around and opened the doors to Hueco Mundo. A dessert stood in front of them. Hitsugaya took a deep breath and took a step inside.
'I will save you Rukia. I will not lose you to Aizen.'
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