Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach in any way! All copyrights of this series goes to Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: Here's another early update from me! Yay! Thank you everyone for taking the time to reading the last chapter. Special thanks goes to my dear reviewers: HoneyFlower15, Epoch95, lil'sayuri-chan, icyangel27, maili-chan, k a y - t h i, MoonLightView, yumi-2121331, Ryu Eiyuu (x2), tanithhh, j cloud xD, serenity095, KnowledgeandImagination, Rikku Deathberry, Neko-cheung, monkeywinz, applestoapples, athfdrizzle, michiHitsugaya aka michi. hishiro, King of Heroes, Samantha, HyourinmaruIce, DestinedDuelist893 for your comments. They're greatly appreciated. Enough with me yapping about these things, it's time for you to read chapter twenty-two. I've definitely worked hard to make this chapter mind blowing as it could possibly be. Enjoy!

LEGEND

"Talking." "Thinking." Flash Back.

The Healing Heart

Part II - Hardships and Love

Chapter Twenty-Two: Rescue

"Damn that woman; she just had to pick today to kidnap Hinamori," Hitsugaya cursed in his thoughts. As he is trying to reach Seireitei Train Station by foot, the sky has already clouded, allowing the snowy precipitation to fall and get carried away by the gusty winds.

He took a peek at his cell phone (which is in his pants pocket) to check the time. He only has roughly ten minutes to reach his destination. He let out a short hiss, stuffed the electronic device back into his pocket, and continued running. Eventually, the station building came into view of his sights.

"I'm almost there."

After running inside the station, Toshiro bent over, placed his hands on his knees, and took a moment to catch his breath. During this time, he took a peek at his cell phone once more and checked the time.

"There's two minutes left to spare..."

Suddenly, the phone started ringing. The caller ID came up to Momo Hinamori. His eyes narrowed, having a good idea that Megumi is using his friend's phone to keep in contact with him. After pressing the talk button, Toshiro held it up to his ear and answered the call.

"Okay, I'm here just like you asked me to do. Where do I go next?"

"Board the west train and get off at Hokutan(1) Station. From there, transfer to bus two and get off at street six."

Hitsugaya then began looking around. In order for her to have perfect timing with the phone calls, she or her accomplice must be watching him from somewhere nearby. Unfortunately, because he's in a public place, the chances of spotting a suspicious person are slim. He let out a short hiss. "Fine, I'll be there. Let me hear Hinamori's voice so that I know she's alright."

"...You have thirty minutes to get there."

"Oi!"

The phone line was soon cut off. He pressed the end talk button and slammed the bottom of his fist against the thick pillar next to him.

"Damn it!"

Once again, he is left with no other choice, but to listen to the evil woman's instructions.

"Miyuki-chan! Miyuki-chan, doko ni iru no?"

Hearing his mother call out his sister's name, the four year old Hitsugaya rolled himself out of bed, stood up, and walked over to the door. Upon quietly opening it, he saw her shuffling back and forth, trying to find the six year old girl. She looked in the closet, she looked in the washroom, and she even looked in her room. However, her efforts were fruitless; Miyuki Hitsugaya is nowhere to be found. Placing a hand against the door sill, he said, "Okaa-san..."

In response, the woman of the house turned around to see her son standing there. "Oh Toshiro-chan, I'm sorry to wake you up from your nap."

He placed a finger over his closed eye and began rubbing it back and forth. "Who are you looking for?"

"I'm trying to look for your sister."

"Onee-chan?"

She nodded with agreement. "Why don't you go back in your room and try to get back to sleep, okay?"

Hitsugaya slowly gave her a nod, stepped back into his bedroom, and quietly closed the door. Standing there for a few moments, he listened to his mother's footsteps to walk away. When five minutes have passed by, he opened the door again and checked if the coast is clear. Doing his best not to make a sound, he went into the room next to him. After closing the door, he turned around to find his sister's room to be empty. Ironically, he's not too worried about that.

The four year old walked over to her bed and went down on his hands and knees only to find nothing there. Deciding to try again, he walked to the closet and opened it. He also found nothing there. Toshiro stood there and thought for a few more moments before retreating back to his room. Just as he passed by the closet, he heard a sound. Raising an eyebrow, the white haired boy slowly turned to it. Curious, he walked up to it, placed his hand on the handle, and opened it.

"Miyuki..."

He has caught the brown haired girl hiding in his closet, eating some cookies. She placed a finger between her lips. She said, "Shh, don't tell Okaa-san I'm here."

Hitsugaya let out a defeated sigh and a faint smile on his face. "Can I have one too?"

She made a funny face with her tongue. "As long as you don't tell her about the cookies, then sure you can have one."

With a happy smile, the younger brother sat next to his sister. Once he is handed a cookie, he started eating. All of a sudden, Miyuki let out a suppressed giggle. "Why are...you laughing?"

"Oh, I'm just thinking," she replied. "You make a good seeker against me."

Toshiro blinked. "Seeker?"

She nodded with agreement. "You're somehow always able to find me wherever I am."

"Is...that bad?"

Miyuki shook her head. "Nope, not at all! As a matter of fact, I don't have to worry about getting lost at all as long as you keep an eye on me."

"That's weird," he said. "Onee-chan is supposed to watch me; not the other way around."

She let out a laugh. "I suppose you're right about that..."

Hitsugaya opened his eyes to find himself in the train with a bunch of people around him. "I accidentally fell asleep..."

He raised his head to see that there are still three more stations left until the train arrives at Hokutan. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it out. Then, he began to fiddle with his fingers. Just like what his sister said in his dream, he has a tendency to find things (including people) when others weren't able to. Hopefully, he is able to find his way back to Momo before Megumi does anything to her.

Toshiro checked his cell phone watch. There are fifteen minutes left until the time expires. As he gripped onto the electronic device tightly into his fist, Hitsugaya bit the bottom of his lip. "Come on, hurry up and get there..."

It took five minutes before the train stopped at his station. Without any time to waste, he ran out the doors, through the crowd of people, and caught the second bus that was leaving for street six. After another eight minutes, Hitsugaya got off his stop. During this time, the winds have picked up and the snow has started falling heavily. With an arm raised over his forehead, he protected himself from being blinded by the cold precipitation. His silver cell phone started ringing.

Flipping it open, Toshiro pressed the talk button, held it up against his ear, and answered, "Okay, I'm here just like you said. Where are you?"

"By foot, go to the intersection of streets six and eleven," Megumi instructed. "You have five minutes."

"What, five minutes? You do understand I'm stuck in this dreadful weath-"

"Hurry or else you'll lose your precious friend..."

The phone line was quickly cut off. He let out a growl of frustration as he pressed the end button. If she was in front of him right now, he would waste no time throwing a punch at her face. However, there's no time to be thinking about it any further. For now, he has to put his full effort to getting to his destination on time. "I'm almost there..."

Megumi, who has been waiting at the meeting spot the whole time, has Momo trapped in her grasp with a pocket knife against the front of her throat."H-He won't come," Hinamori said while giving the woman an angry look. "He's not stupid."

She merely grinned back. "Of course I know he's not stupid; I know what kind of person he is after living with him for a few short years. He's the type of person who puts his friends ahead of his own safety and health. He will do anything to protect them from being lost. Besides, he knows very well what it feels like to lose someone important in his life."

"It's still a mean thing you're doing. What kind of mother does that to her son?"

An eye twitched. Before long, Momo's breathing circulation was soon blocked off by the pressing force from the older woman's arm. She let out a gasp, seeking for oxygen. With her chin over her shoulder, Megumi said in her ear, "Remember who has the upper hand here, Momo Hinamori. Good riddance that I chose you to lure him out. After closely watching you two live your respected lives together, I knew you are an important person to him."

"Let her go. She has nothing to do with this," said a voice.

The two females fixated their eyes to the white haired teenager who is standing a few meters apart, panting from all the running he has done. A grin appeared on the woman's face. She slightly loosened her grip on Hinamori, allowing her to catch her breath, but kept her knife in handy just in case she tried something funny. "After so long, you're finally here."

"Hitsu...gaya-kun..." Momo croaked.

"Hinamori..." he worryingly thought before resuming his attention to his foster parent. "Once again, I'm telling you this: let Hinamori go. Our business stays our business and nothing more."

They looked into each others eyes for a moment before Hashibara said, "Fine then, I'll let the girl go after you promise to come back to me like the good boy you are, Toshiro."

He didn't want to go back to that wretched woman. He wanted to continue roaming free in the place where he felt peace and content in his life. But regardless, for the raven haired girl that is standing right before him and that he cares so much about, he'll be glad to give it up for her safety. "Alright, you win," he said while putting both his hands up on the sides of his head. "I'll listen to whatever you say as long as you don't hurt Hinamori."

Megumi smiled. "Very well..."

With their eyes on one another, Hitsugaya took his first step closer to the woman. It soon followed by another one. After five steps, the woman became very content with the result of her plan.

"Now that's a good; I want you to come a little closer..."

As he is a mere few steps away from having his freedom sealed for good, Momo could only helplessly watch him. Tears started watering her eyes, depressed over the fact that she couldn't do anything to prevent this from happening. "Hitsugaya-kun..."

"Now, let her g-"

All of a sudden, Megumi pointed a silencer at the white haired teenager and pulled the trigger three times in a row.

Hinamori's eyes widened with shock and surprise. "SHIRO-CHAN!"

"Sh-Shit..." Toshiro cursed in his thoughts as he clutched his hand against his most serious bleeding injury that was inflicted on the left side of his chest. The other is on the right side of his lower abdomen while the last one is on his right shoulder. Soon, he started feeling light headed and dizzy. Upon losing his balance and having blurry vision, it didn't take long before he collapsed onto the thin layer of snow.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" Momo yelled out, now struggling to break free out of older woman's grasp. All she cared right now is to be at his side, making sure that he's still breathing. When she felt the force restricting her has finally let her go, Hinamori ran. Falling on her knees, she nudged the white haired teenager. "Hitsugaya-kun! HITSUGAYA-KUN, WAKE UP!"

Seeing that there is a response from his twitching hand, she carefully rested his head on her lap. Toshiro slowly opened his eyes to see her looking down on him. "Hi-Hina...mori..."

"Sh-Shiro-chan..." Tears flowed down the sides of her cheeks, horrified over the situation she has gotten him into. "I-I'm so sor-"

Without any warning, a hand grabbed her wrist. In response to the touch, Momo turned her head and let out a small gasp to see Megumi holding onto her. She began to retaliate, trying to break free. However, her strength is nothing compared to the older woman's.

"Let me go!" she exclaimed.

"Just to make sure he actually listens to me," Hashibara said, "I'm taking you with him."

"No!"

During this time, a black Honda Civic drove its way over to the teenagers and woman. Once the driver came out of the car, he broke the two friends apart by taking the injured teenager away from her.

"Hitsugaya-kun! Let him go!"

"There is no way I'm going to do that," Megumi said, slowly pulling her towards the car. "He has already given himself up."

"He needs help! He's hurt!"

The accomplice put the semi-conscious Hitsugaya in the back seat and waited for Hashibara to force Hinamori inside as well. "Toshiro is not weak; I know that much. He won't die that easily."

All of a sudden, she pointed her gun at the side of her forehead.

"Now, listen to what I have to say or else I'm going to eject this bullet through that fragile skull of yours."

Fearing for her life, Momo slowly nodded with agreement and followed her instructions. Once she is in the car, Megumi closed the back passenger seat door and went inside the car herself. She sat in the front passenger seat.

"Let's go before the police comes."

With that said, the driver started the car up, put it on drive, and put down the wheel brakes. After hitting the gas pedal, the tires let out a short screech before speedily driving away from the intersection. Megumi is happily drinking a bottle of alcohol to celebrate her joys, Hinamori is anxiously worried over the fact that: one, Hitsugaya is now breathing heavily because of blood loss, two, the driver is drinking and driving, three, they are driving way past the speed limit, and finally four, neither of them have their seat belts strapping onto them. They were unable to function like they're supposed to do.

Momo shifted seats so that she can be closer to him. With an arm over his shoulder, she pulled him close to her own. Toshiro slowly opened his eyes and turned his attention to the fearful girl. He wanted to say something comforting to her, but his mind isn't in the right place. Helplessly, he could only watch what is happening around him. "Hinamori..."

"I won't let you suffer on your own anymore. We're in this together..."

The sound of car horns are heard several times.

"Now I understand how much I feel about you." She whispered into his ear, "Hitsugaya-kun, no matter what happens to us from here on out...I-I just want to let you know that I lo-"

Suddenly, everything came and went like the speed of sound. As it is running past a stop traffic light, a van that was making a left turn on the other side of the road collided with the black car. Tires screeched, glass shattered, pieces of metal stuck out, and screams were heard.

"This feeling..."

When Toshiro slowly opened his eyes, but it didn't take long for them to quickly widen. Looking at the scenery around him, images of his past experience flashed in his thoughts; the wreckage and the bleeding dead bodies of the people he loved. Remembering about them totally reminded him of the raven haired girl. As he tried moving, a sharp pain struck in several places in his body. He closed his eyes and let out a painful hiss, knowing now that he's unable to move from where he is.

When he opened his eyes once more, he felt his heart skip a beat or two. It took a while for him to realize it. He found his friend lying on his body with her arms wrapped around the back of his neck. He looked down and slowly raised his hands out only to find out its covered with dripping blood.

"She...She protected...me and now...sh-she's..."

His body began to shake uncontrollably as it remembered the feeling.

"No...No, th-this can't be happening!"

Ignoring the pain that is crying out from his body, he suddenly wrapped his arms around hers and tightly hugged her.

"Please...Please Hinamori..."

He closed his eyes, and started saying the same pleading prayer over and over again. However, it doesn't seem like the deity from above is going to answer him soon. Her body is limb while the feeling of her breathing is quickly fading away.

"...Don't leave me."

Japanese Word Translations and References

Doko ni iru no - Where Are You, Onee-chan - Older Sister

(1) Fun fact: From the Bleach series, Hokutan is West Rukongai District 3. It is also the place where Kaien Shiba helped train Rukia Kuchiki to learn her shikai.

Author's Note: ToT Wah! I totally started crying while I was typing the end of this chapter! Gah, it's so emotional! (Yes, I'm sensitive when it comes to stuff like this.) Is Hinamori dead? OMG, you guys have to review in order find out what happens in the next chapter! I know you have something to say about it (and please don't shoot me down in the process or else I won't be able to update this story for you guys and gals to read)! Thanks!