Author's Note: So as you can see, we are already on Chapter 15. For those of you who have been reading my stories for a while, I guess you would have figured out by now that it will end at twenty. So that means we have only five chapters left until the super-epic ending! Yeah! Okay, maybe not super-epic, but you get the point. Anyway, reviews are loved and they're my only fuel to keep updating. Thanks!


Soul Society was currently in an uproar.

Since having received Hitsugaya's warning, the sotaichou had decided to take his word for it and had called a captains' meeting to alert all the high-ranking officers that Soul Society was now in a state of emergency and preparations had to be taken for Aizen's impending attack.

Now, troops were being mobilized, last-minute training was going on, and orders were being dispatched all over the place.

In short, it was organized chaos - if there was actually such a thing.

For the last few hours, Ichigo had been just sitting in the first division office, doing...well, nothing. He should have been preparing for the inevitable battle, but oddly, he felt as ready as he would ever be already. He knew what he had to do and he told himself that he, this time, would most definitely not fail. If he did, the consequences would be unspeakable.

He looked out the window, watching the sky. It was a shade of deep blue tinged slightly with a touch of orange, hinting that the sun would soon rise. According to Hitsugaya, Aizen would attack as soon as the sun rose.

And by the looks of it, there was little more than an hour left.

Ichigo rose from his seat, quietly exiting the office, Zangetsu over his shoulder. Outside, shinigami were running back and forth, making last-minute preparations. Most of the captains already seemed pretty much good to go.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

Hearing his name, the strawberry turned, not surprised to see Yamamoto behind him, fukutaichou at his side as usual.

"Yeah?"

The sotaichou gave Ichigo a very sage look. "I, as well as the rest of the Gotei 13, will be occupied enough with defending against Aizen and his Arrancar army. Thus, I trust that I would not be wrong to place the task of retrieving and protecting Hitsugaya-taichou in your hands."

Ichigo nodded.

"I won't disappoint you...or Toshiro himself, for that matter."

"Good," Yamamoto answered, "We are convening atop Sokyoku Hill. In a few moments, I expect Aizen and his men to arrive. You know what to do."

With another nod, the strawberry followed the old man towards the hill, wondering vaguely to himself why everything big in Soul Society happened to occur in that area. They reached their destination shortly, thanks to the use of shunpo.

When Ichigo, the sotaichou, and his fukutaichou reached the hill, most of the other divisions were already present and ready to fight.

As they looked to the horizon, the sun slowly, but surely, began to rise over the Seireitei, the rays of light casting long shadows across the surface of the earth. It was completely silent as all shinigami waited, hands ready to draw their weapons. Some of them looked determined, and some of the eleventh division members looked excited. But the most common emotion he saw was fear. Many of the shinigami were going to be torn to pieces today, and they were all aware of that fact.

Then, he felt it.

A crushing reiatsu. Or rather, what seemed like a whole army of many individual reiatsu.

Silhouetted against the rising sun, he could make out the form of a few figures in the distance. As the figures got closer, they seemed to multiply. A few turned into ten, ten turned into what looked to be at least a hundred, if not more.

The strawberry sucked in his breath. They were coming closer, closer, closer still...

He saw the bloodthirsty expressions of the Arrancar. He saw Tosen's stoic face. He saw Ichimaru's fox-like grin. He saw Aizen's triumphant smile.

And then he saw Hitsugaya's terrified eyes.

The time was here.

"This is madness," Yamamoto sighed with a shake of the head, "I never thought that one day, Soul Society might come to this state...on the brink of destruction with thousands of lives on the line. It seems that everything, as of now...is hanging on the edge."

Ichigo couldn't agree more.


Hitsugaya looked downwards.

Since having arrived in Soul Society, he had been made to follow Aizen as they stepped through the sky towards the Seireitei. It was embarassing, really. He was humiliated enough to be in the company of this traitor, but Aizen was pulling the boy along by a chain that had been fastened around the slender wrists. And he was so casual about it, as if he was merely walking a pet dog. Had he been expecting the young captain to try and bolt?

Before he knew it, they were standing over Sokyoku hill, and he felt as if a thousand eyes were glued on him.

But out of these thousands of faces, only one seemed to attract his gaze.

"Kurosaki..."

The strawberry was looking directly at him, and he was looking back with wide eyes. Hesitantly, Hitsugaya tore his gaze away, instead reverting it to the leader of this army from Hueco Mundo, Aizen. The man did not look happy.

"This is odd," Aizen said aloud, in a voice that sounded almost amused, however, "And here I thought I might have the element of surprise on my side to catch the fools in Soul Society off guard...but it appears they knew I was coming. They were prepared." He paused dramatically, looking down at Hitsugaya with a sickening smile. "I daresay a little rat let word about it slip. Do you know, Hitsugaya-kun, who that rat might be?"

Hitsugaya was silent.

The traitor's smile broadened.

"You told them, didn't you?" he asked, his voice deathly soft and sickeningly pleasant. "You warned them."

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a word, Aizen gave the chains he was leading Hitsugaya by a hard jerk, dragging him forward, and as the soul reapers below watched in mute horror, he gave Hitsugaya a swift, vicious slap across the face that seemed to echo through the whole Seireitei.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!"

Hitsugaya could hear some of his subordinates calling out to him. He could hear the enraged murmur of other captains, asking who the hell Aizen thought he was and why he thought he could do as he pleased.

But only one person took action.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a certain orange-haired individual, without waiting for an order to do so, grab Zangetsu and leap upwards towards them, pulling the zanpaku-to from his back.

"Kurosaki...!"

As if following him as their leader instead of the sotaichou, the other soul reapers soon followed suit, and without waiting for Aizen's approval, the Arrancar lunged forward to meet them in battle.

With a scoff, Aizen gave the chains another pull, freeing Hitsugaya before tossing them aside.

"You know what you need to do for me, Hitsugaya-kun," he smiled, "Release that power."

Hitsugaya looked at him briefly, about to refuse, when in a blur of orange and black, another figure came between them. It didn't take a genius to know that it could only be Ichigo, and indeed, the strawberry had not hesitated to swing his weapon instantly at Aizen.

Aizen was equally quick in terms of reaction. He, too, drew his sword, bringing it upwards and parrying the blow before it could make its mark.

"Fancy seeing you again, Ichigo-kun," Aizen chuckled.

"Bastard," Ichigo retorted, pulling Zangetsu back. "I made a promise," he stated stubbornly, "And that promise was to kill you and save Toshiro. I want to keep that promise, and I want to make it fast, so I'm just going to go all out."

"Kurosaki," Hitsugaya began, "Please, you can't fight him. He'll kill you, you should get somewhere safe..."

"Toshiro," Ichigo suddenly spoke, "Back in Hueco Mundo, you went off with Aizen and left me there."

"I was only trying to protect you," Hitsugaya protested, "I swear, it wasn't..."

"I know," Ichigo answered, "I know, and I'll thank you for that. But please, Toshiro...let me protect you this time."

"Kurosaki..."

Without another word, Ichigo cried out for his bankai, and with an explosion of spiritual pressure, he could now feel the power and determination flowing through his veins as Zangetsu slimmed in his hands. He brought another hand to his face, letting the hollow mask materialize.

There was no time to waste with the small details.

He was determined to go forward with full power and finish this once and for all.

After all, now, at this moment, when Hitsugaya needed him more than he ever had, everything was hanging on the edge.

And he'd be damned if he let it all fall.