XD Once more sorry for the wait! I'm getting there you guys! Almost finished and then you can have all the chapters you want! I'll try to be quicker, promise!! (I drew out this battle cause we all know Hitsugaya would never go down so easily as they made it look in the anime. Also I added some dialogue of my own but most of it is right from the subs). This chapter is dedicated to my friend 77TheSims377 who rants about HitsuHina with me all the time on YouTube! :3 Enjoy everyone!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach :,C Songfic song by 30 Seconds to Mars.
Chapter 21. I'll Attack.
Words cannot describe how fast Hitsugaya ran.
He knew that he must get back to Central 46; if what Izuru had said was true, she should still be there.
"Hinamori!" His face was twisted into a fierce snarl. You'd better be alright… He was not going to let his best friend get hurt, it would only tear him into pieces and her as well.
He ran and ran, thinking that the run back to Central 46 was much longer than the run from it. After chasing Izuru, he was starting to get tired, for now he was running at top speed, but he did not slow his pace. He kept going and going, ignoring the petty pain in his limbs. He had never hesitated to jump in to keep Hinamori out of danger before, and he was not going to be stopped now.
"…Shiro-chan, just promise you'll be right behind me all of the way."
"I Promise."
He was not going to break his promise that he would always be there for her. He was not about to break that promise; he would keep it from the beginning of his life to its end. No matter what.
Now, as he ran, he felt rage swell inside of him, an intense emotion that was not let out full force like this before. It was as if he had been bound and now he was free. Free to kill whoever was putting Hinamori in danger and putting this uncomfortable flittering in his stomach. Deep down something told him that something had happened to her, something bad. But how bad, he did not know. Nonetheless, no matter how inconvenient, if anything ever happened to her, he would let loose his wrath. He was like a wild beast that had been captured and held back, but now he had broken free and was able to do what he pleased.
And what he pleased to do was find Aizen's murderer and the person who was targeting Hinamori, and kill them.
I won't suffer, be broken
Get tired, or wasted
Surrender to nothing
I'll give up what I
Started
And stop this
From end to beginning
A new day is coming
And I am finally free
Hitsugaya ran through the Central 46's meeting room and finally came to a room that every Shinigami, except the members themselves, were not allowed to enter.
He had never been here before and he knew that he was not supposed to be, but something just drew his feet in this direction and led him that way. With his sharp ears, he heard footsteps up ahead, and rushed into a large room, the same one Ichimaru had led a lieutenant not too long ago. He panted as he looked up the small staircase that led to a platform and then another room. He saw two people but he could not believe his eyes.
"Howdy, Hitsugaya-kun." One man said casually.
"Aizen?!" Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he stared at the man who was supposed to be dead and the captain of Squad 3. "What the…" He could not believe that Aizen was still alive, which meant that his thoughts had been true. Aizen was not dead, and Hinamori was in danger. "Are you really Aizen?" He asked disbelievingly, his eyes flashing to Gin's face for a second before they returned back to the 5th division captain.
"Of course." He sounded somewhat impatient. "As you can see, I'm the real thing. Although," He said, turning to his left to face Ichimaru. "Your return was much earlier than expected, Hitsugaya taichou." He was smiling at the man beside him, but his voice was filled with obvious sarcasm and slight annoyance. It was a smile that silently shouted 'Why is he back so early, Gin?'.
"Sumimasen." Ichimaru replied coolly, in his serpent-like voice. "Seems like Izuru's diversion wasn't good 'nough." He did not sound sorry at all.
"What… What the Hell are the two of you talking about?!" Hitsugaya demanded. Fury rose inside of him now, for he had known that the two of them were up to no good. The panic was at its fullest as he thought about Hinamori. She had followed him into this place, but she had not followed him out.
" 'What are we talking about?' Just some strategy." Answered Aizen, turning back to face his uninvited guest. "Division of the enemy's forces is the first step of battle strategy, isn't it?" He asked smugly, a treacherous gleam in his eye.
"Enemy?!" Hitsugaya echoed. Suddenly everything snapped into place and he glanced around from right to left, the panic mixing with fear and dismay. "Where is Hinamori?!" He growled threateningly, glaring up at the two with all of the hatred in the universe.
"Well, where could she be…" There was a taunt in Aizen's voice and in his eyes there was the satisfaction of accomplishing something that amused him. He was gloating.
Three second ticked by before Hitsugaya's eyes tripled in size and he gasped with realization. He dashed up the stairs and flew in between the two in a move that was so quick it did not exist and he disappeared for a second in time. He rushed through the doorway behind them but then stopped dead.
He stared down in complete horror.
"Hina…mori…"
His mind denied what his eyes saw and feelings of indescribable loss, guilt, and shock. Her eyes were still open, but they were glazed over as if there was a dark curtain concealing them as she stared into something she could not see. Her mouth was parted in a silent gasp that would never be heard and a fresh trail of blood had found its way out of her body through her mouth. She was lying in a pool of her own blood that was fresh and just recently spilt.
Which meant that he had only missed preventing this by mere moments.
"Too bad. You found her." Hitsugaya could here the taunting smile in Aizen's voice. "Sumanai ne. I didn't mean to startle you." Hitsugaya was silent. "I suppose," Aizen went on, enjoying the game. "I should have at least ground her to dust so you wouldn't find her."
The 10th division captain was silent, still staring blankly down at his friend. Aizen's words infuriated him and he wanted to spin around and kill him then and there. But he could not take his eyes off of her. He clenched his fist so hard his skin made a squeezing sound. He was going to turn around and attack, but not yet. He still had a few more questions.
But when he had finished and gotten his answers, Hitsugaya only knew one thing; Aizen had better watch out and run.
Run away, run away
I'll attack
Run away, run away
Go chase yourself
Run away, run away
Now I'll attack
I'll attack, I'll attack
"Aizen…Ichimaru… Since when were you accomplices? Since before you faked your death?" He asked darkly.
"From the beginning, of course." Aizen answered, smiling in his victory. "Since I became taichou, I never once considered anyone but him my fukuutaichou."
"So then, up until now," the white-haired boy was trembling with rage. "Hinamori," he choked out her name. "Me, your subordinates, every other Shinigami, everyone…" The memories flashed through his head before the fury exploded as he whipped around. "You've been deceiving us all?!" He roared.
"I never intended to deceive." The other captain replied calmly. "It's just… that not one of you could comprehend… my true nature." He gave a wicked smile.
"Didn't comprehend…" The boy repeated. "Hinamori…Hinamori looked up to you, and joined the Gotei 13 just to be closer to you." He remembered when that one afternoon she came to him hugging a shihakushou and she had cheerily explained that she was now an official member of Aizen's squad. "She seriously worked herself to death so she could be useful to you…and finally became your fukuutaichou!" He remembered seeing her training and he had seen all the injures she had received from it.
"I know." Aisen sounded happy, like he was expecting praise. "There's no one so easy to control as someone who admires you. That's why I pressed to have her as my subordinate." Hitsugaya's aqua eyes widened at his words and his mouth fell open. He had wanted her as his subordinate so he could use her for his own plans, to turn her against me and try to make us kill each other. He was plotting all this from the start… "This is a good opportunity," the older man went on. "There's something you should remember, Hitsugaya-kun. Admiration is the emotion farthest from comprehension."
That was it.
Hitsugaya had his answers. Now it was time to avenge Hinamori.
The anger burst as he gripped his sword's hilt and drew the blade. A bright, shining blue-white light covered the room for an instant and fog erupted as the deceiving captains leapt back, smiling. It was all working out perfectly. Soon they would get rid of this nuisance as well.
"BanKai!" Hitsugaya growled. The fog immediately disappeared as chunks of ice formed two great wings and a long, deadly tail. "Daiguren Hyorinmaru!" An insanely powerful reiatsu pulsed from the ice. Suddenly the entire area was covered in purple-blue ice, daggers sticking out and pointed in all directions.
Hitsugaya raised his sword and pointed the tip of the blade at Aizen, the dragon's head moving with his arm. "Aizen." His voice was warped slightly, it rumbled as if the dragon itself had merged with the boy and he was using its voice to speak. "It may not be right now, and it may not be the next time we meet," he knew that Aizen could escape him, but he was going to do everything possible to prevent that. "But no matter how long it takes, no matter what you do or where you go, I promise you this, you will be stopped, and you won't get away with this."
He thought of Hinamori lying on the floor behind him. He remembered what they had been through together and suffered alone. He had admitted his feelings for her to himself a long time ago, but now that was all over. He had seen her wounds, he had seen the blood, he had seen that she had not been breathing, and he had seen the way her eyes stared blankly into the distance.
Everything they had, it was all over now.
And it was all because of him. He had been plotting this all along, but in one simple movement, the thrust of his sword, Aizen had taken away everything Hitsugaya lived for. Too fast, and too soon she had left him, and he would never forgive this man for that.
Now, Hitsugaya's anger swelled with a new rage. He knew the truth now; Aizen had everybody fooled. Now that Hinamori was dead, he realized just how much he needed her, and just how much he burned with hatred at simply thinking about Aizen. He was loosing his self control to fury and hatred. Now that Hinamori was gone, he could finally see just how badly he wanted to kill Aizen.
He flapped his mighty wings, and with a roar full of wrath, he charged forward.
I would have kept you forever
But we had to sever
It ended for both of us
Faster than a…
Kill off this thinking
It's starting to sink in
I'm losing control now
But without you I can finally see
Aizen was caught off guard by Hitsugaya's sheer, impossible speed.
He just barely managed to dodge at the last second by using shunpou. The sharp tip slashed the air where he had been standing less than a second before.
"Well, well," Aizen appeared behind his opponent, shaking his head from side to side mockingly. "It seems we've gone and mad him mad, Gin." He glanced at his true lieutenant.
"That ain't no good." Gin frowned for an instant. Then he reached for his sheath and gripped the hilt of his small, dagger-like sword, ready to attack when Aizen gave the order. But the brown haired man raised his hand, signaling for Ichimaru to keep his Zanpakutou in its sheath and stay where he was.
"No, Ichimaru, I'll handle this." He drew his own sword instead and turned to face Hitsugaya. The white haired boy contemplated whether he should attack the mastermind himself first, or first take care of his bothersome follower. But he did not even hesitate to think once the former Squad 5 captain had drawn his sword. He spun around to face him, stretching his long, frozen tail out to try and swipe at him. Aizen simply raised his sword and as the ice came flying at him, the blade sliced right through it. Hitsugaya gasped in disbelief, but quickly concentrated on gathering the moisture from the ice around him. Several blocks of it melted into water and reformed on the edge of his tail.
"Damn it!" The 10th Squad captain cursed. But he wasted little time in moving his large wings and he was floating in the air above them within seconds. Without hesitating, he plunged downward and folded his wings, diving like a falcon. He flew past Aizen at first; his plan was to make Aizen think that he was so enraged that he had lost all sense of coordination. However, he did purposely graze his wingtip against Aizen's shoulder as he brushed past him.
But his enemy only smirked and did not even turn around. Hitsugaya was utterly baffled to see that there was no blood, not even a tear in his haori. He growled in frustration and then flew at his adversary from behind. But the former captain disappeared in the blink of an eye, or faster. Hitsugaya unfurled his wings and beat them in long strokes to stop himself. He turned back around but Aizen was in front of him now, standing only about 5 feet away from Ichimaru.
"Come now, Hitsugaya-kun, you'll have to do much better than that if you hope to land a blow." He smiled tauntingly, daring Hitsugaya to come at him again. Gin's grin widened too, snorting a silent scoff at the young boy. Hitsugaya took their bait and threw himself forward at them, aiming mainly at Aizen. But both of the former captains dodged.
"Damn you bastards!" He snarled, shaking his head from side to side, searching for them. "Aizen! Stop running dammit! Come out and fight me!" He bellowed, his voice echoing and bouncing back at him from the walls. He would not be surprised if they could hear him shouting from the execution grounds, but he did not care. He would gladly welcome any help that was offered to him, yet he wanted to finished Aizen off himself. He told his enemies to stand and fight him, but again Hitsugaya found himself wishing that they would run.
He wanted some form of a fight at the very least.
Run away, run away
I'll attack
Run away, run away
Go chase yourself
Run away, run away
Now I'll attack
Ill attack, I'll attack
"Now, now, there's no need for such language." Aizen's voice was heard behind Hitsugaya, and he turned again to face him.
"Don't give me that!" Hitsugaya bawled, his eyes narrowing dangerously into slits. Then he charged forward again, his wings pounding against the cold air and his tail streaming out behind him. This time, the older Shinigami held his position and raised his sword. He expected Hitsugaya to attack head on, using his sword, but at the last second, the boy twisted around and let his powerful tail swish through the air. His rival disappeared again, using shunpou to re-appear in front of him.
But the white haired boy was just getting started, he was not tired or tiring anymore. He continued the twist he had started and sent his tail at Aizen again. This time however, the other captain raise his sword, intending to sever the weapon once again.
Hitsugaya smirked; he fell for it.
Once the ice and the blade connected, his foe smiled smugly. As it did before, the ice shattered and broke away, but then Hitsugaya aimed the small blades at Aizen. Yet the icicles whizzed past Aizen as if there were a barrier around him. "Impossible!" Hitsugaya shouted. Aizen just grinned.
"Much better, that was clever, but not clever enough." With that he had disappeared again.
"Aizen…" He spat the name as though it were a curse. "What happened, Aizen? What happened to the honest, respectful person we all used to know? All the promises you made and kept, all the things you did to help us…" He trailed off, biting his lip so it began to bleed.
"You foolish child, that person was nothing but an illusion." Aizen sneered, appearing to the right. "He never once existed. You were all just stupid enough to believe he did."
Once again, the boy remembered the past. "…just promise you'll be right behind me all of the way."
"I promise."
Back then, it was merely a small promise, but now it was something much more. In those two words, he had vowed to always be there for her, no matter what, and he had failed.
The unwavering rage returned, now he was furious at Aizen and himself, and he felt as though a demon had been released as he flew forward.
It was as if the gates of Hell had been raised to unleash some vast wrath.
Your promises
They look like lies
Your honesty's
Like a back that hides a knife
I promise you...
I promise you...
I am finally free
Aizen dodged again, and now Hitsugaya was getting agitated.
His wings were beginning to chip and his tail was thinning out. He melted the ice around the room into his frozen body, regenerating it.
When he spotted Aizen next he was standing closer to the small staircase that led to the room where Hinamori had been slain.
A new emotion overcame the aqua-eyed boy as he saw his opponent's position. A ferocious urge to protect flooded through him, even though it was too late to protect her now. Nonetheless, he did not want anyone, especially not Aizen even looking at her.
Again he threw himself forward and the techniques began to become repetitive. Each time Hitsugaya charged, Aizen would dodge and re-appear somewhere else and the process would replay like there was a rewind button. Each attack from the start of the fight was very swift and took only seconds.
Soon, Hitsugaya was getting fed up and exasperated even though his foe seemed calm and relaxed. Still, he found himself wanting the battle to go on. He liked it when Aizen ran and dodged, for then he got to experience the thrill of the chase. It was like a game of predator and prey.
But he did not want it to end too fast, after all he wanted to enjoy his victory.
Run away, run away
I'll attack
Run away, run away
Go chase yourself
Run away, run away
Now I'll attack
I'll attack I'll attack
I will attack
Hitsugaya stopped to catch his breath for a moment.
The next time he looked up though, he saw the 5th division's treacherous captain smiling past him in satisfaction. Warily, and keeping one eye on Aizen, Hitsugaya turned to look at what amused him so much.
His eyes widened as he realized that 5 of the 12 flower petals had dissolved and disappeared. He could always obtain more power from the waterways and sewers around Seireitei, but Hitsugaya only had one weakness; after the last petal was gone, it took a while to regenerate themselves and reform. During which time he would have only a fraction of his current power. He was so focused on the battle that he had not noticed them disintegrating.
"Damn it all!" Hitsugaya cursed, turning back to Aizen. The captain opposite him looked as though he were enjoying himself, and for a brief moment, anger washed over him again as he thought that Aizen was holding back on him.
Hitsugaya's mind suddenly recalled one time, long ago when they were still young, before they had encountered the Hollow and become Shinigami.
"Momo-chan?" Hitsugaya asked her, prodding her arm.
"Hai?" She replied, turning to him.
He remember the words his grandmother always told him.
"Do you love me?"
She blinked at him. "Of course I do Shiro-chan! You're my best friend! I promise I'll always love you!"
At the time they had been young and not fully understood the concepts of love. But now Hitsugaya found himself wishing that Hinamori would repeat those words to him again, and mean them. But he was asking too much; she was dead.
I promise I'll avenge you, Hinamori. I'll make things right again. I promise…
It seemed he had made those silent promises many times before, but he had to keep reminding himself to keep them.
Your promises
I promise you...
A/N: Wow! Good thing I revised that! Losta mistakes...
Next chapter, Breaking The Habit:
"Why Aizen?! Why her?!" He spat, enraged...
"Because, I had no more use for her..."
"You didn't have to kill her!"
"I suppose I didn't."
"THEN WHY DID YOU?!"
"Because I wanted to."
Please review!!