A Bleach Fan Fiction.

Written by trekkiexb5.

Hitsugaya/K. Kurosaki friendship. Rated T for language.

DISCLAIMER: If Bleach was mine, I would own every Bleach toy ever created. As it is, I have Kiske, Ichigo and Renji. I need a Toushirou toy.

Zanpakuto voices

CHAPTER FOUR:

SHRINE FIGHT

In the gloom of the early evening, they came.

"Karin!" I hissed, shaking her shoulder. "Get up! We are going to be attacked. Pack up and it is imperative that you stay in this building."

She nodded, eyes wide. Grabbing Hyorinmaru, I peeked out between the wooden slats to see the Onmitsukido members shunpo'ing in, along with various squad members. Squad 3 Lieutenant Izuru Kira and Squad 9 Lieutenant Shuhei Hisagi. Great; two lieutenants that have something to prove. Damn! This could be a nasty fight.

I concentrated on my inner world for a moment. Hyorinmaru, I may need your strength. I realized I have not spoken to him in days.

Of course. The child should not be harmed. She is special to you. The old dragon rumbled. Glad he was paying attention to me when I wasn't. I am your soul. I know you well enough if you wanted my counsel, you would have asked. I gave him a silent thank you.

"Captain Hitsugaya," Hisagi shouted, disrupting my talk to my Zanpakuto. "This is an executive order: you must return to the Soul Society immediately!"

I looked at Karin one last time. "Remember. Stay here! No matter what happens, don't get involved!" She again nodded silently and ducked down behind some boxes.

With a deep breath, I opened the door. Mentally, I dug deep into my flagging reserves and stepped through the threshold and onto the porch.

I gave them my answer. "I have no intention of doing that!" With that statement, I drew my Zanpakuto and attacked Hisagi. I was fast enough to catch him mid-draw. Kira, as expected, attacked my Zanpakuto and pinned my blade against Hisagi. Standard maneuver, though by their expressions, they did not expect me to attack. A captain on the run and cornered, what did they expect?

Or was it the fact that I wasn't surprised by their maneuver. Zanjutsu is my best skill of the four, and while having less experience than both of them, I am very good at reading battle trends to form strategies. I knew their fighting styles and I knew how they were trained. In a normal swordfight, even two against one, I would win. With Zanpakutos, I would most decidingly win. I am a captain, after all.

"Don't do this," Kira implored. "You'll be accused of treason."

A little late for that, Kira. "Back off Izuru, you too Hisagi!"

"Sorry, but I have been given orders to take you into custody." Hisagi, always following orders. You would think that they would have learned about blind trust, blind loyalty. Still, I could not blame them. They have the best interests of the Soul Society and the Seireitei in mind.

Time to change tactics. Something that they would not expect. "Then you will die." I spat out. I easily broke out of their pincer of blades and traded blows with both.

Regardless that I knew I was faster, better, and stronger than them, I needed to end this battle quickly. My stamina has been heavily eroded and I will not last long. Also, I do not want to give them time to release Shikai, especially Kira's Wabisuke.

I flung Hisagi with a concentrated blast of reiatsu with my block and parry. I turned to concentrate on Kira and the other fools who thought they could challenge me.

"Bakudo 62! Hyapporankan!" Hisagi bellowed from on top of the orange coloured arch. Damn! A binding spell! While non lethal, the binding posts would adhere to anything made up with rierkoyu. Like me.

And Hisagi isn't a slouch in the kido department, either. I could not escape the three way fight with Kira and an idiot no seat quick enough. I tried to retreat back to the porch, but two caught my cloak and one pierced my shoulder.

I was pinned. I have to hurry. Pull them out and go straight to bankai. Ignore the pain. Thankfully, while they have marvelous adhesion properties, we were not in the Soul Society and the spell did not stick to the ground very well. So, though painful, I could pull them out.

Damn! They may not be offensive, they are sure are painful. It was horrid! I nearly blacked out. I can hear Kira and the squad members approaching…not going to make it…

"LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU BASTARDS!"

My watering eyes widened as Karin stepped out, dropped a reiatsu-filled soccer ball to the ground and kicked it straight into Kira's stomach. It sent the man back a couple of yards, clutching his belly.

"KARIN!" I screamed as I finally pulled the last post out and stood up. "GET BACK NOW!" Not even checking if she obeyed me, I unlocked my stored energy and shouted. " Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyorinmaru! Bankai!"

I directed all my spiritual energy forward as the icy draconic form was quickly created around me. My wings protecting Karin and the Shrine building, I sent Hyorinmaru towards the Shinigami. A coating of snow then ice. The element of surprise was in my favour and I subdued them all in one stroke.

"Karin! Grab the stuff and let's go!" I could feel Ichigo and the other humans moving in this direction. The adrenalin rush was wearing off; my bankai would not last much longer. I decided to use the remainder to put some distance between the shinigami, Ichigo's group and us.

"Way ahead of you!" She yelled as she approached me. Not taking the time to explain what was going on, I grabbed her with one arm and flew off.

I flew north as far as I could; finally landing a few minutes later on a multi-storied building in a middle of yet another abandoned industrial park. I quickly shattered my now crumbling bankai. I felt the weather change quickly. That little stunt at the shrine, even at 20% of my power, caused a localized rainstorm.

The rain started to pour as Karin jumped from my arms and ran to the roof door. She pulled on it futilely. "We need to get under cover, now, Toushirou!" She screamed, knocking me out of my daze.

I ran across the roof to her, and with the last ounce of strength, I pulled the heavy metal door open. She grabbed me by my cloak and pulled me in, slamming the door against the now driving rain. "Are you gunna do that shield kido or is it not worth it?" She asked, her hair dripping.

Again, prompting from her. I did the incantations quickly and slammed a shield on my spiritual pressure, though I was too weak to omit much. The efforts drained me of what little energy I had. I collapsed, shaking.

"Toushirou!" Karin gasped, running over to me. She touched my face. "My god, you are burning up!"

"I…I…am…oh…oh…okay, Karin." I shivered, my chattering teeth causing me to stutter. "W…we need to find someplace that is defensible."

She nodded, anxiety written on her face. She helped me up; I leaned on her and, my now sheathed, Zanpakuto as we worked our way slowly down the metal stairs.

We eventually found what was an office. It had a small window, dusty carpet, a metal desk, and filing cabinets. It even had its own bathroom. The building must have been abandoned recently, for the power was still functional.

She dumped her bags out quickly, grabbing one of the bags of clothes. "Put these on. They were Ichigo's when he was in middle school but, they are clean and dry." She picked up her flashlight. "I'm gunna look around a bit."

I numbly nodded. Dry clothes sounded really good right now. She shut the door behind her and left me alone. I quickly shredded my uniform and cloak, throwing them on the desk with an audible wet slap. Everything was huge, the boxers and sweatshirt hung to my knees and the sweatpants had to be folded in at the waist, lest they slip off.

After dressing, I pulled one of the blankets from the pile. With Hyorinmaru in hand, I went to the far corner and curled into a small shivering ball and promptly fell asleep.

"Toushirou…"

"Toushirou, wake up."

"WAKE UP!"

I shot up, grabbing the hilt of Hyorinmaru. I blearily looked into the face of a concerned Karin.

"I know you should sleep, but you need to eat and I want to change those bandages. I found a coffee maker, so we can have some hot food."

"Do you need help up?" She asked. I nodded slowly. She stood and held out her hand. Between the wall, my Zanpakuto and Karin, I managed to get up and sit at one of two wheeled desk chairs.

Karin must have found candles, for the desk held several votives, the flowery scent trying to compete with the musty scent of the room. She gestured grandly at the desk. "It is a gourmet feast of epic proportions! We have several flavours of ramen, cold bentos, hot instant tea, juice, water and some fruit! We even have six kinds of candy bars for dessert! Dig in!" She finished with a flourish.

Honestly, I could eat it all, and told her such. She laughed and filled the ramen cup I chose with hot water from a cracked glass coffee pot.

The food tasted like cardboard, but it was the best thing in the world right now. She sat across from me and attacked the shrimp ramen. We ate in silence. I managed to eat three ramen bowls, all the bento boxes and one candy bar as well as gulping down some tea and two bottles of juice. The food cleared the fuzz out of my head. "Where are my clothes?" I managed to ask between inhaling gulps of cold rice.

"Hanging in the next room. It stopped raining shortly after I left you. The wind is blowing something fierce. So I opened the window and hung them on an easel. Hopefully, they will be dry in the morning."

"Thank you."

"Hey no problem. Though I was confused about the loincloth. Has the Soul Society heard of boxers? I mean, I understand traditional garb, but even when I wear a kimono, I have bike shorts underneath."

I blushed. The idea of Karin handling my undergarments and then talking about them so blatantly was very embarrassing. Was there no dignity left in this world?

"Toushirou?" I looked up from my head bowing blush to a worried Karin. "Do you think they followed us?"

I closed my eyes and searched out. "No. They are leaving. I do not believe I killed anyone but I did hurt them," I answered, sighing. The 4th Division will have a lot of major frostbite cases on their hands, and maybe some broken bones and concussions. "They will not make the same mistake again. They will send captains after me next, and they will not ask me to surrender." Come on Kusaka! Show up and end this charade. I am running out of time.

"Oh, so they are tough, right?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm a captain! We were very lucky they sent two overzealous lieutenants this round. Next round would probably be Zaraki or Kuchiki. Both could kill me easily, especially in this condition." And they would probably be operating under execution orders. I decided not to tell her that.

Karin took a few more sips of her water. She sat it down, tucking her ebony hair behind her ears and wearing an expression I could not read. "I am glad you didn't get hurt or that you didn't kill anyone."

"So am I."

She suddenly grinned. "Your ice dragon was so cool! I mean figuratively, too! How could those guys stand a chance against that? I mean I took the one out with my soccer ball! That was so sweet! Your tricks about spiritual pressure worked and…"

"That was stupid!" I growled, suddenly angry. "That was very dangerous! They could…have… Oh no." A sudden sick realization hit me.

"What's wrong Toushirou?"

I stared at her concerned face. "I said your name. They KNOW your name, Karin!"

"So?" She didn't understand the implications.

I quickly reached across the desk for her hand. Candlelight flickered on her startled expression. She has violet eyes, a random thought flickered in my mind. And I may be responsible for those eyes dimming forever.

"Toushirou?" She was confused.

I mentally shook my head. "Karin. The Gotei 13 now knows that there is a human with me. They have a description and a name." Fear was adding a quiver to each word I spoke. "Rukia is probably in contact with her squadron. She KNOWS you. And she…Ichigo…"

Her eyes widened as the shock of realization crossed her features. "Ichigo is gunna be so pissed."

"And your brother is as strong as most captains."

Damn!

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

On the subject of Bakudo 62: I used the wiki to look it up and it really doesn't have a descriptor for the spell, outside it's a binding, rather than an offensive spell. I made my own rules up that it adheres to spirit particles.

Toushirou's bankai at the shrine. He never said bankai. So I slid it in where I thought it would work.

The Shrine fight in the movie was probably the best in the movie. It was drawn beautifully and executed gorgeously. I think this was the scene that sold the movie for me. I hope you enjoyed my version of it.