"Captain Hitsugaya!" Toshiro flinched when he heard the voice, but he could not run. He slumped to the ground leaving red steaks on the wall beside him. Rankiku knelt beside him. He was still cringing.
"What is it?'
"You're all compromised." he whispered. Nearly every inch of him was covered in blood. From what she could tell most were superficial cuts that simply stained his clothes but two or three were deep and causing him a lot of pain. "Get back."
"I know you don't remember me..."
"Its not that."
"Then what?"
"Ukitake, Kyoriku, Renji...they didn't know what they were doing...I couldn't fight back, I'd hurt them..."
"They did this to you?"
He nodded. "And others. Every time I lost one soul reaper, another one appeared. Aizen did it. And he'll do it to you. Get away."
"Not yet." She pulled off her pink scarf and tore it into strips. She bandaged his deepest cuts as best she could. "There. Now I'll go." She stood but as he watched her she froze. He thought Aizen's illusion had gotten to her but then he felt it too. A man with white hair and a broad smile appeared. But it wasn't the only presence he felt.
"Hyorinmaru!"
"Gin!"
They spoke the words in the same instance and each glanced at the other. Toshiro stood up and took a stance beside Rangiku.
"What are you doing?" Rangkiu asked the newcomer.
"Well I have a bit of a predicament." his smiled deepened. "Aizen told me I had to give this back to Zaraki." he lifted a jagged sword, "but he left it up to me to decide what ta do with this one." he then showed Hyorinmaru.
"Why?"
"Ain't it simple Rangiku? I give this back to Zaraki, he remembers everything and Aizen controls him. He has no bankai so he's just as dangerous without his zampakuto. Giving it back ta him will actually make him weaker. The problem is, do I give Toshiro his sword back and watch him fall prey ta th'illusion, or do I watch him get cut ta pieces by the people who have been calling him friend?"
"You bastard!" Rangiku cried, unsheathing her sword.
"Oh Rangiku, don't do that."
She braced herself. He disappeared before her and reappeared right next to her. She swung. In an instant he was gone and she realized her mistake. Haineko just barely missed Toshiro's neck, glancing off his collar bone instead. He stumbled back and she dropped her sword in horror. It had happened that fast and Aizen wasn't even in her field of vision. Her knees gave way.
"I"m sorry. I'm so sorry." she sobbed. Toshiro sat where he fell with a hand over his collar bone. His eyes were torn between the sobbing lieutenant the smiling man who held his sword.
"Don't take it so hard, Rangiku. Besides, I've just had a better thought. If I give Toshiro back his sword, he'll get to remember everything. Wouldn't it be wonderful ta see him remember what he did ta her?"
Toshiro still did not move. What had he done? Who had he killed?
"Have ya seen her yet?" He asked Toshiro.
"Who?"
"Why Momo, of course."
"Shut up!" Rangiku said, picking up her sword again and standing. "You bastard! You shut up and go to hell!" She charged forward with her blade but his words hissed out to her.
"How can you be sure? How can you ever be sure? What if its him?"
She froze just inches from the enemy. "You can never know Rangiku, so you can never win unless your willing ta risk his life, or the life of any other soul reaper. That's what Aizen did ta him ya know. He replayed it over and over and then, he would give him his blade and tell him ta kill him. And every time Hitsugaya threw the blade away and watched it over and over again, because he couldn't risk it."
Rangiku shook from head to toe in absolute rage. But her hand was stayed. She was defeated.
"Well, I must be going. If you survive you'd make an excellent member of our new order Rangiku. Good luck." Then he turned to Toshiro. "I've made up my mind. Enjoy." he tossed the blade and it skittered across the ground stopping just inches from the boy. The man disappeared. Toshiro stared at the sword.
"Don't." Rangiku's voice was void of emotion. Gin had crushed her.
"I thought you wanted your Captain Hitsugaya back."
"I can't help you. No one but Kenpachi can help you and if he takes his zampakuto then you really will be alone. Don't take the sword, or Aizen will have you."
He felt a burning desire in his hear to pick up the zampakuto. It had called to him for ten years and now it was inches from him. His hand was almost moving on its own, he had to snatch it back.
"You don't have much chance of winning but you'll have none if you pick it up, even with your captain powers. Don't do it."
"Take it." he said stiffly. "Take Hyorinmaru and keep him from me until its over. I will kill this bastard and set you all free. And then I will get my memories back."
"Thank you." she stooped and picked up Hyorinmaru. It pained him to see the sword being taken away from him. She paused. Carefully she undid the sheath at her waist. "As a guarantee that I will defend Hyorinmaru with my life." and she tied the sheath across Toshiro's back and slid Haineko in. He gripped the handle at his back, still warm from her hands.
"And may Hyorinmaru protect you with his life." he said nodding to his own zampakuto in her hands. "I will bring your sword back to you, stained with Aizen's blood."
She felt the ripple of wind and he was gone.
"Kenny watch out!"
Kenpachi dove at the last second, a huge crash behind him. He turned and emerging from the dust was a pale faced, smiling man with white hair.
"He's one of them. Gin Ichimaru," the girl whispered in his ear.
"Kenpachi, I've brought your sword."
He held out the jagged blade and Kenpachi felt a strange tinge. Yachiru gasped.
"But you can't Kenny. If you remember, Aizen will get you too."
"Silly girl, ya gave the game away." Ichimaru dove forward, wielding the jagged sword. Kenpachi raised his substitute katanta but in a flurry of pink Ichimaru stopped before he met the giant. Yachiru met the blade with her own small one. Even Gin's smile was not infallible in such a moment.
"And here I thought you were all cute and no bite?"
"Kenney, you can't fight him. If your blade touched this one, or if he cuts you with it your memories will come back and he'll have you."
"I can't let you fight him alone."
"You have to!"
There was more clashing of swords but Yachiru was fast. Ten years she'd fought by herself, with Ikaku as a master, and not many had experience fighting an opponent of her size. She easily unbalanced him and got a cut on one calf. Gin jumped back.
"Impressive. But it won't be enough." he disappeared again and reappeared just a foot from Zaraki, barely stopped in time by Yachiru. Her body shook from the blow of their blades meeting and she stumbled back into Zaraki.
"That's enough!" Zaraki jumped forward, Yachiru couldn't stop him. Gin swung down but Zaraki caught his wrist. The sword was dangerously close and he felt a sort of ringing in his heart, as if the weapon were actually calling to him.
"Oh Zaraki, all brawn and no brain." Gin said and he opened his hand so that the blade fell straight at Zaraki.
In a flash, it disappeared from view. Gin's smile faded. Toshiro appeared out of flash step, the jagged blade in his hand. Kenpachi smiled and drew back his sword. Gin tried to break lose but that iron grip was on him. He cried out a hado spell in the same instant that Kanpachi's blade struck. His blade bit deep into Gin's side the spell faltered but was still enough to knock the giant back. Ichimaru tried to flash step away but his strength failed and he ended up on his hands and knees a few feet away.
"You were smarter than I thought, Hitsugaya. I guess that's why they called ya the boy genius. After ten years, I didn't think you could turn your back on your zampakuto."
Toshiro said nothing, this was Zaraki's kill. Kanpchi regained his feet, the flesh on his chest was burnt but he ignored it, marching forward purposefully.
"I don't know who you are, but I'm sure I'll appreciate this all the more when I get my memories back." He raised his sword.
There was a streak of pink, Ichimaru cried out, slumped to earth and was dead. Zaraki still hadn't let his sword fall. Yachiru wiped the blood from her blade. Zaraki and Toshiro looked at her shocked.
"You don't remember so you wouldn't have appreciated it enough. I have been waiting ten years to do that."
Neither man spoke but they understood. She may not have been with them in the past ten years but she lived by the same code.
"Take this." Toshiro held out Zaraki's zampakuto to Yachiru. "Keep it safe for him." She took it but looked sternly at him.
"I'm coming with you."
"No. Aizen will trick you."
"He won't."
"That's what everyone thought, and then they did this to me."
Kenpachi made his way over to the boy.
"You going to be alright?"
"It looks worse than it is. But we have to end this, now."
"Where'd you get the sword?"
"From someone I used to know. She's keeping Hyorinmaru for me."
"Can you sense Aizen?"
"He's hiding, but I can sense where there is the most chaos."
"Then lets go."
"I'm coming." Yachiru said pushing herself between them.
"No. Toshiro is right, you'll be compromised." She did not argue against Kenpachi. "When this is all over, I'll take up that sword." he said and she smiled lovingly at him.
Toshiro couldn't imagine what the two had in common but their connection was deep, even if Kenpachi did not remember her. He thought of Rangiku. She was also very different from himself, but still, there was something about her...
"Kid, let's get going."
He snapped back to reality. The girl had stepped back, Kenpachi was waiting for him to lead the way. "Right, let's go."