Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach in any way! All copyrights go to Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: Gah, the new Bleach opening rocks! There are so many spoilers from the manga (which sort of sucks. Almost, no more surprises to shock me with. Aw...) and so much action in the opening! Awesome! I can't wait to continue watching the Winter War episodes. (Blastfulness, get to the Hitsugaya vs. Harribel fight already!) Anyway, enough with the side talk; thanks for being so patient with me especially my reviewers: Maya-chan2007, Pieps XD, MoonLightView, Tamashi Aisuto, Supreme cookieeater NANCY, AznInvasionGirl, KnowledgeandImagination, BLEACHISAWESOMEANDIMAWESOME XP, Neko-cheung, HeavensPhoenix561, Samantha, Kaye. Shirogane, icyangel27, i-is-animefreak, applestoapples, WhitePrincessOfHope, becomeafan, divprince. You're all great! Well, it's time for some more action in the story. Without any further delays, here is chapter twenty. Enjoy!

LEGEND

"Talking." "Thinking."

The Greatest Treasure

Chapter Twenty: Crossed Blades

Just as removed his sword from his flesh, Aizen released the captive princess and fell to the ground. Swiftly, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the body in case the General of the Royal Guard gets back up again. Standing face to face, the white haired thief embraced his love with open arms and asked, "Momo, are you alright?"

The peach girl looked into his emerald-teal eyes and gave him a faint smile. She missed him so much. For all this time, he has been alive and well. She is happy beyond comparison. Words cannot describe her sediments. All of a sudden, the princess slapped him on the cheek.

Placing his hand on the stung area, Hitsugaya turned to the serious faced Hinamori and complained, "Oi, what was that about?! Why did you slap me?"

She didn't answer him. She slapped him a second time, but on the other cheek instead.

"Momo!"

"Baka!" the princess exclaimed before she buried her face in his chest. Feeling the girl's body shiver, he looked down to feel and see her cry on his black kimono. "You kept your identity as the notorious thief a secret from me and kept me hanging in the balance, trying to figure out what the hell is going on around here. I-I thought you were dead..."

Toshiro let out a sigh and hugged her once more. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I-I didn't want you to get hurt," Hitsugaya explained. "Now, you don't have to worry about me being dead anymore. I'm here for you."

Wiping her tears with her sleeve, Momo looked up and smiled back. While the two lovers are sharing a loving kiss they desperately missed so much, Jidanbo looked over to the side and noticed that Aizen's body just twitched. Without any warning, he raised his axes into the air and slammed them down on the body, surprising the thief and the princess. As Hitsugaya held his love close to his body, they both watched the West Gatekeeper get stained in his own blood. They fell into shock as they watched Aizen send him to the ground with only one fierce swing of his sword.

"J-Jidanbo-san!" Momo exclaimed.

"H-He struck him down in one shot," Toshiro thought as he grind his teeth together. He took a better look at his stab wound. Evidently, some blood is dripping out of his flesh and staining his clothes. However, judging by the expression on his face, he looks unaffected by the attack. "He's not normal and his movements...it appears that he's trained to be like an assassin."

The tall brown haired general lowered his sword and turned to them. Showing a smile on his face, Aizen said, "Well, it seems like you're still alive Hitsugaya-kun..."

With both his hands clutched onto the hilt of his sword, the thief turned to the general with his eyes narrowed at him. "Aizen...I'm not letting you take the throne. It belongs to Momo."

"H-He wants the throne?" Hinamori asked with surprise. "He's the one who caused all that trouble for everyone?"

"Yes, he planned all this stuff to happen from the start," the notorious thief explained. "I'm also pretty certain that my involvement with you is part of his big scheme as well."

"That can't be..."

Aizen just grinned. "Congratulations Hitsugaya-kun, you get a prize for getting the answer correct. Guess what you're going to get?"

Toshiro replied, "A cut down by you? No thanks, I don't want the prize. As a matter of fact, you can have it back!"

Suddenly, the white haired thief charged at him which soon followed by the clashing of their swords.

Meanwhile, the battle between Ichimaru against Kira, Hisagi, and Matsumoto has been moved to the next room. The tall gray haired man grinned with amusement as he continuously clashed blades with each of his opponents. "Now when was the last time I crossed blades with each of you?" Gin asked.

Hisagi, who is fighting him head to head at the moment, kissed between his teeth. "Enough with the small talk Ichimaru," he said. "You're going down!"

Just as he tried to cut him from the side, Ichimaru easily avoided his move by side stepping and retaliate back by elbowing him on the back. Hisagi was pushed a few steps forward before he noticed that the captain has already have kicked him in the gut. He is sent flying back through the not so thick walls and into the throne room where he is joined up with Renji. "Hisagi-san!" Kira called out.

"Shuhei!" Matsumoto exclaimed.

The female swordsman and the pale blond haired knight turned to the Captain of the Royal Guard. Raising his sword out in front of him, he sang, "Here I come."

He rush up to the two allies and swung his sword towards them. With one glimpse at one another, they nodded with agreement. Izuru and Rangiku both dodged to opposite sides and dodged the single assault. Holding their grounds and staying on their toes, the two swordsmen wasted no time retaliating back. However, their attacks were blocked by Ichimaru's sword after he took a step back and held his weapon horizontally. The two sides were in a deadlock, trying to overpower one another. "My my, isn't this very interesting?" the gray haired captain asked. "With your combined strengths, you two managed to keep me in place."

"Gin, you have a lot of explaining to do," Matsumoto said.

He grinned. "Sorry Ran-chan, but the story I have is too long for me to explain. I'll get back to you on that at another time where we're not so busy fighting each other."

Drawing back his sword for a second, Kira changed the grip on the sword's hilt and swung it on the side. Noticing his movements, the gray haired Royal Guard member pushed his childhood friend off to the side. He quickly clashed blades with his subordinate's. An exchange of swings and dodges were done between the captain and Trio Knight as they fought. Neither of them sustained or have done any damage to one another.

"I'm so proud of you, Izuru. You've managed to polish up your skills quite nicely."

Kissing between his teeth, Kira took a large step back, creating some distance between him and his opponent. "I thought we would have a chance if we worked together, but it turns out that Ichimaru is only toying with us," he thought. "If we don't be careful, he's going to kill us in no time."

"Hn, it seems like you're in quite the pickle. You must be trying to figure out how to injure me, aren't you?"

"Damn it..."

Without any warning, Matsumoto charged from behind. She leaped into the air and raised her sword above her head. With a yell, she swung her sword down. However, Ichimaru half turned and did a small spin with his feet. Along the way, he grabbed the woman's wrist (which is in possession of her sword) and threw her off.

"Matsumoto-san!" Kira exclaimed.

There is no time to waste. Rangiku planted the palm of her hand on the cold flooring and did a one handed cartwheel. Once landing on her feet safely, she stopped herself from crashing into the nearby obstacles behind her. She raised her head and glanced at the older childhood friend. "You've got to do better than that if you intend to defeat me, Gin."

"Well, that's good to hear that you're still good to fight me," Ichimaru replied. "Now let's start round two, shall we?"

Meanwhile, in the throne room on the other side of the wall, the short haired teenager groaned for a bit as he slowly sat up from the ground. Placing a hand on the side of his forehead, he watched the red head deal with all the low leveled guards. "Oi Hisagi-san," Abarai said. "Now is not the time to be slacking off."

Upon hearing that comment, the short haired teenager implanted his sword on the ground. Using it as a support, he slowly got back on his feet. After taking a few breaths, Hisagi removed his sword from the ground, lifted it up in front, and got back into battle. Joining the battle with Renji, the two knights of the Royal Guard decided to work together and defeat their opponents. "Let's do this Abarai!"

"Yosh, let's beat the crap out of these people!" Renji exclaimed.

To start things off, the red headed knight charged into a crowd of Royal Guard members and started a brawl. The first opponent he went up against, he threw a fist at him which soon followed by a side kick. Once he was knocked away, the Trio Knight spun around and held his sword up to block against a few sword swings.

"You're too slow!"

Renji pushed them away and kicked the nearest person in the gut. As he winced in pain, the red head threw an uppercut, sending him flying back. Despite being the one at a disadvantage, he managed to handle them quite well.

"It's going to take great skills to outsmart and outrun me!"

In the meantime, Hisagi Shuhei withdrew his sword back into its sheath and got into a fighting pose. Holding up his fists at the guards, he patiently waited for one of them to make the first move. Upon hearing a fierce yell from one of them, the Trio Knight turned his attention to the charging guard. With perfect timing, the short dark haired teenager quickly charged at him. "Eat this!"

Surprised by his speed, he used this opportunity to go down to his knees and throw a low roundhouse kick. Anticipating his movements, the guard jumped in the air, dodging his attack. However, Hisagi already saw through his move. He planted his hands on the ground and lifted his feet off. Using them, he did an overhead kick which made contact with his stomach. The guard gasped, seeking for air as he was thrown back. After getting back on his feet, Shuhei said, "I'm not going to lose to you all."

As the two members of the Trio Knights are continuously knocking their opponents out with their kicks, punches, and swords, the palace grounds suddenly began to shake. They turned their heads to the side to see what exactly happened. An explosion took place causing smoke to fill the room.

Covering their mouths with their sleeves, Hisagi said, "Something is going on over there."

By the time the smoke cleared a bit, the two members of the Trio Knights saw Aizen clashing blades with Hitsugaya. Princess Hinamori is not too far away, witnessing the epic battle with her own eyes. "We better finish dealing with all these guards here," Renji suggested. "It's only a matter of time before the equilibrium over there breaks."

The older knight nodded with agreement. "Yeah, let's just hope luck is on our side."

Toshiro is on the offense. With every single movement, he continuously attempted to strike the general down with his long sword from different angles. However, Aizen managed to do small yet fast steps from side to side, avoiding every single swing. From time to time, blades would make contact with one another as eyes of the two dueling swordsmen still kept watch. "You're quite skilled Hitsugaya-kun. I commend you for that," Aizen said. "However, it's about time for me to get serious."

Upon hearing his comment, Hitsugaya just narrowed his eyes. He is high on alert for any sudden moves on him or the princess nearby. Aizen grinned and began striking back by using various swings from his sword. The thief calmly anticipated and dodged his moves. At one point, the general suddenly changed his tactics and began attacking him from below. Aisu no Ryu noticed and stepped back. Just as he did that, he slowly raised his head and noticed a fist flying towards his face. The white haired teenager first did a twist to dodge his assault and prepare for his next move: attack him from the side. However, he noticed a grin on Aizen's face.

After kissing between his teeth, he tried to move his head over to the side, but Aizen's sword made a slash cut across his cheek, followed by a kick in the stomach. Toshiro fell back onto the ground and rolled away as the general tried to stab him. Landing on his feet and using them as a booster, Hitsugaya charged at the tall shaggy brown haired Aizen, who defended by putting his sword between the thief's sword and his face. Both opponents are in a dead lock, trying to overcome the other with sheer power. However, the equilibrium soon broke.

Aizen parried Hitsugaya's attack and put the tip of his blade down so that it touches the ground. After dragging it for a while, he swung widely towards Toshiro's face. Even though he managed to dodge his attack, he wasn't prepared to defend against the broken debris. The thief winced as he instinctively closed his eyes to avoid having any pebbles in them. By the time he reopened them, Aizen has stepped on his foot. "Sh-Shit!"

He slashed across his body with his sword. Hitsugaya winced in pain as he clutched his chest with an arm and fell back. However, his reign of terror did not stop. Using this opportunity, Aizen threw a fist at his gut. Aisu no Ryu gasped, seeking for breath. Moments later, the white haired thief fell to the ground. "S-Shiro-chan!" Hinamori exclaimed.

Turning his body away from the unconscious body, Aizen advert his attention to the raven haired princess. Holding his blood-filled sword on the side, he began walking up to her. "Now...where were we?" the general asked. "Oh yes, I was supposed to get married you, Hinamori-hime."

But before the Royal Guard member could say anything, he heard a grunting noise from behind. He stopped and glanced back to see the white haired thief slowly getting back on his feet. A grin appeared on his face as he turned around to face him once more. "Stand up Hitsugaya-kun," he said. "So, that I can truly cut you down this time."

Hitsugaya glared at him, ignoring the new injury on his chest. "You talk too much, Aizen. Let's fight."

The brown haired general held his sword up and prepared for another round of battle. "Very well, whatever you say..."

Holding both hands on the hilt of his blade, Toshiro let out a fierce yell as he charged at Aizen. Just as he is about to strike him in the gut, his opponent swiftly moved to the side. Instead, he managed to elbow his stomach. As he gasped for air, Hitsugaya wasted no time bending down close to the ground and stuck out his leg. Hitting his shin against his ankles, he managed to trip him. However, Sosuke refused to go down.

Placing his left hand on the hard flooring and in his unstable sideways position, he swung his sword towards the thief. Anticipating his move, Hitsugaya leaped back and avoided the attack. Aizen's sword made contact with the floor. Using his toes as a booster, Toshiro charged at the general once more and swung his sword. All of a sudden, his attack was stopped. Aizen Sosuke, who is standing on one knee, has caught his sword with his bare hand. Aisu no Ryu kissed between his teeth with sudden frustration. "You lose again..."

Sensing danger, the young thief began moving to the side to avoid whatever the General of the Royal Guard has in store for him. However, he was too quick. He grabbed the front of Toshiro's kimono, got back on his two feet, and rammed him into a wall. While he is still trying to recover from the damage, Aizen did not hesitate to stab his sword into his lower right abdomen. With a painful gasp, Hitsugaya began to cough out some blood from his throat. The princess, who stood there with horror, suddenly called out his name. "Toshiro!"

After Aizen watched him lose consciousness, he forcefully withdrew his sword out. Hitsugaya let out a yell before the general dropped him onto the cold flooring below. Holding out his bloody sword out on the side, he turned around and started walking towards the Princess of Seireitei. "Finally, all the delays have been taken care of," Sosuke said.

Upon noticing, Momo took a few steps back. She attempted to runaway. However, she didn't want to leave Toshiro alone. She exclaimed, "No! I'm not going to get married to you!"

Just as he is about to stand face to face with her, Aizen felt something grab the back of his heel. He looked back and down to see the white haired teenager there. "I-I'm not done...Stay...away from...Momo," Hitsugaya said.

"Look at you Hitsugaya-kun," Aizen commented. "You are still trying to be a hero when there's nothing for you in return. There is no point risking for lif--"

"Shut...up Aizen," the thief cursed. "Risking my life for the princess means a lot to me. I'm willing to die for her any day under any circumstances, but what's the point of me telling you this? You have no heart."

A grin appeared on his face. "How touching your story that is. However, I feel insulted that you just called me a heartless person. For saying that, you get the pleasure of dieing under my foot."

Once his foot made contact with the thief's back, Hitsugaya let out a yell. Finding it amusing, Sosuke continued to apply more weight on his foot, wanting to hear the painful and loud noises he's making. "Toshiro!" Momo exclaimed. She looked up at the General of the Royal Guard. "Aizen, stop it! You're hurting him!"

Once he stopped moving under his foot, Aizen resumed his attention to the princess. "Now where were we? Oh yes, marriage ceremony must go on..."

When he made contact with her wrist, the young princess struggled to break free. "Let me go! I don't want this!"

Trapping her in his arms, he looked down at Momo and said, "It's too late; you're mine..."

References

Baka - Idiot/Stupid, Aisu no Ryu - Ice Dragon. Hitsugaya's codename as the notorious thief, Hime - Princess

Author's Note: Holy shat! Hitsugaya's hurt and Momo's in danger! (Oh the agony! Blast you Aizen Sosuke!) Who will save them? Well, you know the drill; please review and wait patiently for the next chapter! I'll be back again soon! Laterz!