Chapter Eleven

When Yu first arrived at their new location, he quickly dropped Naori to the ground.

"Ugh!" Naori's loud grunts of pain and frustration rang throughout an empty, stone-floored training ground. She managed to twist her body forward and sat back up in a proper sitting position albeit her back was still hunched over from the spell on her arms.

"Don't move. Just wait for him to come here." Yu ignored her pain and struggles as he faced off towards his arriving opponent.

Naori glared and spat back, "I will kill you!"

He said nothing. Hitsugaya had already arrived to fight. They both sturdily stood in their stances, neither willing nor planning to move. Yu wanted to make sure this boy is destroyed beyond oblivion. Hitsugaya wanted this freak to be violently ripped to shreds. The ice prodigy glared at the boy with his weapon already poised to attack. His zanpakuto shone a magnificent white with a tint of blue. And clouds began to form over the skies ahead. The monster-driven boy held out his arms as a dangerous aura encompassed both limbs; the black energy snaking around his arms and fingers.

Finally, Hitsugaya made his first move. "Naori! Move!"

As if on cue, the chained arm girl sprung up to her knees and immediately back flipped to the farthest end of the stone floor.

Ominous clouds swirled madly around the area. Small hints of thunder and lightning erupted from above the dark blanket. At that point, knowing his power was charged up, Hitsugaya immediately jumped into the sky. "Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!" As he shouted out the command, a brilliant ice dragon flew out from the tip of his sword and traveled around in the sky. It pinpointed its target, Yu, and pummeled at him with full force.

But Yu immediately jumped back and swirled his black spiritual pressure, creating an effective shield. He smirked, as if he already won, "Is that all you got?"

"No." Hitsugaya boldly replied, not even peeved that such a powerful attack didn't work. He pointed up at the murky skies above. "That was not my strongest attack. My zanpakuto's most powerful technique is what's above you. My weapon is the strongest ice zanpakuto ever-to the point I can even change the weather. Everything those clouds cover is in my command. And this is only my shikai level."

"Let's see if you bite as hard as you bark!" Yu firmly shoved his palm into the ground, causing his black spiritual pressure to burrow underneath. It traveled at the speed of light, aiming to pierce Hitsugaya from underground.

Immediately, the captain effortlessly dodged and hovered in the air. "By the way", he said, "there's a reason I decided to summon a thunderstorm out of all storms."

Crack!

A bright flash of lightning shot through these clouds followed by thundering booms as loud as a drum on a stereo. One after another, white and blue lightning repetitively appeared, shooting through the skies and getting closer and closer to the arena. Naori sprinted on top of some rubble and waited for a bolt of lightning to strike her. And brilliantly, it did. She was illuminated in light as pure electricity shot straight through her body, reenergizing and rejuvenating any lost spiritual energy. She was a glowing goddess - no, a warrior of lightning. Immediately, her spells of chains disintegrated into merely particles of spiritual pressure. Her glowing blue hair flew around madly with sudden sizzles of electricity before settling back down into its normal position.

Naori quickly brandished out her zanpakuto. "Strike! Denbaku-to!" And everything around her exploded as she leaped into the air. She declared, "Surrender while you still can. It's two against one."

"No. It's still one-on-one." Hitsugaya interrupted. "It's part of Soul Society codes of conduct. Remember?"

"Then I get dibs on him! He stabbed me and took Masaki!"

"No. I get to fight him." Hitsugaya glared down coldly at him.

"Then what was the point of freeing me?"

"I only freed you so he won't use you as collateral."

Naori huffed, "Hey! This is not fair! And I won't let someone like him control me! I'm not that weak!"

"But when it's any form of kido, you are."

"Hey! I was injured! But I'm fine now." She retorted, "Besides, this guy's done nothing to you. What reason do you have to fight him?"

The captain silently whispered. "He took you away from me."

"Eh?"

Hitsugaya quickly rushed into battle, preferring not to explain anything to her. He'd rather not, not right now, not when they're in the middle of something important like apprehending an enemy/rival. He confidently appeared before the young boy and readied his weapon. Yu did the same. The black mass surrounding him began to circle around the boy, enough to create a small twister in the midst of this storm. Right before the first drop of rain hit the ground, both boys leaped into the air, ready to slice each other and kill. Hitsugaya swung his sword only to meet contact with a sharp black mass. He efficiently attacked and defended, stepping forth and stepping back, and kept his eye out for any other black spiritual pressure. Yu did the same. He launched every attack up his sleeve and created a shield for every one of the young captain's attacks. At one point, Yu moved his spiritual pressure to slam Hitsugaya with an uppercut punch.

Luckily, the captain dodged and he relocated into the air. "Hyourinmaru!" The captain shouted, swinging his sword down to produce another dragon.

"Did you honestly think your second best trick can work on me twice?" Yu's cackle sent chills through Naori's body. She helplessly watched the possessed demonic-looking boy create another shield to absorb the attack. But as he created the shield; Hitsugaya quickly flash-stepped to his side and slashed him on his side. Blood was dripping. Yu's hands quickly stained red. He glared at Hitsugaya with his eyes turning a scary red color.

Suddenly, his black manifested spiritual pressure formed into spikes, which were sharp enough to impale a tree...thoroughly. One after one, he launched these deadly spikes at the captain. But the captain only dodged by flash-stepping everywhere. He flash stepped to the arena's edges. He flashed stepped on top of rubble. He flash stepped inti the sky, which he wished he hadn't...

One spike suddenly whizzed by Naori. "Ah!" She shouted, a little startled, even though it was only a foot from her.

But that was enough for him to notice. "Naori!" Hitsugaya immediately turned back, which became his fatal flaw.

Stab!

Something stung in his chest, in his arm, and in his leg. He felt the skin grow hot and his clothes grow damp. He reached at his chest and felt something protrude out from his chest. When he removed his hand, he saw his entire palm covered in blood. When he looked down, not only did he see a black sharp object stuck in his thigh, but his blood was already creating a puddle on the ground.

"Strike, Denbaku-to!" Naori tearfully threw as many lightning bolts to get Yu away from her captain. She watched him take a hit in the shoulder, a hit in the stomach, and a hit in the head. She didn't care if he was fried to crisp by now. She quickly fled to her captain and helped ease him towards the ground. By then, the spikes had already disappeared into mist. "Captain! Captain Hitsugaya!" Naori cried, caressing his face as she started to heal up the damaged tissues. "Don't worry! I'll heal you up right now! Just stay-"

Stab!

Her golden eyes suddenly grew wide and her spiritual pressure faltered a little. Her lip was trembling and her fingers that rested against his cheek trembled as well. Shaking, she felt for her lower abdomen for a moment. It felt hot and wet. She immediately pulled her hand away. But it was no use. Hitsugaya had already seen it. He saw the blood dripping from her fingertips. He stabbed her too. And she was still trying to heal him...

Hitsugaya roughly pushed her away and struggled to stand.

Naori grew frantic. "Captain Hitsugaya! I'm not done healing you!"

"Naori!" He angrily yelled back, rendering her speechless. "I will protect you." He sprinted far away from her.

"Hitsugaya! Hitsu-kun! No!" Naori cried in tears and desperation.

The captain narrowed his eyes at Yu, now turning more and more into a demon. "You're no longer a spirit worth your place here and I'm not going to hesitate to hack you violently into pieces!" He angrily yelled the last part, "Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru!"

The air turned colder after he released his Bankai. Every rain drop turned into hail. Wings of pure ice sprouted upon his back and a tail trailed down his coat. The arm that was slashed was encased in ice and so were both of his legs. Three purple flowers floated behind him, only for one petal to be lost later. "Guncho Tsurara" He called and swung his sword again, creating similar spikes of ice. These shards all aimed towards Yu, ready to skewer through him like they did to him and Naori.

Yu easily dodged and attacked back by lashing out his black spiritual pressure. The whip-like black mass struck at Hitsugaya, only to be dodged by a flash step. The captain appeared behind Yu. He brought his sword diagonally onto the monster's back, creating a distinct red slash wound.

"Ugh!" Yu angrily directed his black mass behind him, only managing to nick the captain's white hair. But with his attacks going in one direction, he did not prepare in advance for defense. Suddenly, another lightning bolt struck at him. Standing before him, Naori had her sword directed straight at him to the point that he couldn't distinguish the point. Angrily, the blind boy whipped his black tentacle-like spiritual pressure at her. She didn't even seem afraid to move...for Hitsugaya had jumped right in front of her.

He channeled all his energy into his sword while gripping on with two hands and he released it all in one swing. A brilliant dragon of flowing ice raced towards Yu and winded around him, trapping him in an icy cage. Closer and closer, the long body of the dragon soon encased his body.

Naori flash stepped in front of Hitsugaya and stabbed her sword into the flowing ice. Quickly, she released a high voltage shock of electricity before yanking it out. Like always, travelling at the speed of light, her attack immediately began the minute she stuck her sword in.

"Aaaaggghhhhh!" Agonizing yells and screams came from the boy as he lit up like a firework. His skin turned blue and purple from the cold ice while other parts turned red from the amount of electricity that hit that area. Soon, the ice had frozen over completely on his lower body, leaving his upper body in numbing pain.

Naori saw his eyes roll back and his head flop unnaturally to the side of his shoulders. It was a miracle that guy was not dead! She took a quick sense and found none of that black spiritual pressure. It must have disappeared when he nodded off to unconsciousness or he used it all up in the battle.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted shards and shards of ice breaking and falling to the ground. "Captain Hitsugaya! Are you-" She stopped. He was only recalling back his bankai. His wings were only falling off. But along with that, his wounds from his torso and arm and leg re-opened and he collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Naori helped lay him on his back and she immediately started the healing procedure.

Fortunately, he never lost consciousness. He was well awake when Naori leaned over him, only mere centimeters away, and healed him. He did not have much energy left, so he just looked at her luckily unharmed face. She had this focused look in her eyes as if she was determined to do her best on such a mundane task. But then again, she was fixing up some organs that those spikes pierced so he couldn't complain. Gazing up to her eyes, they were still the same golden yellow. She was not shaken at all by this ordeal.

"Naori..."

"Yes Captain?" She didn't look. She was too busy with her job.

"Thank goodness you're alright."

Naori glanced at him and smiled back. "Same with you."

OoOoO

Together, the three shinigami faced their foe, which was now looming over them a couple feet tall. All of them were pretty unfazed. This guy was definitely no threat. Sure, he may have gobbled a couple hundred spirit's worth of spiritual energy, but that only made him a small fry compared to enemies they faced before. But he had collateral against them: Masaki Kurosaki. Ichigo was ready to Getsuga Tensho his ass, but he didn't want to hurt his daughter. The same went with the Kuchiki siblings. Neither wanted the monster to use Masaki as a human shield.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Byakuya withdrew his sword, letting it disintegrate into hundreds and hundreds of pink petals.

Rukia drew out her sword as well, making it transform into a brilliant white ornament. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki." The mother hastily bolted for her child. She easily slid underneath the monster and sprinted to pick up her daughter.

Swipe!

The monster hollow's tentacle stole a sleeping Masaki away from Rukia. It held the young girl up high, at a dangerous height and out of reach. It cackled in delight, laughing at Rukia's futility. "Did you really think I'll let you go that easily?"

Slash! Slash!

Masaki fell.

The monster hollow gazed at his severed tentacle in surprise. He saw nothing much then a few sparkling pink petals and the red blood dripping from the cut. He glanced at where the young toddler would have fell. She was not there. Instead, she was carried along by a light cloud of pink petals into the arms of her uncle. By the time his hands first touched her soft face, her wide brown eyes opened up.

"Uncle?"

"It's okay. You're in safe arms now." He held the girl tightly. "Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Got it!" Ichigo smirked and prepared his zanpakuto to strike.

"You're not getting away!" The monster twisted his body to get to Byakuya, but he found out he couldn't. His feet did not move. They stuck to the ground like glue. His sole was growing numb like frostbite was bound to happen. He growled when he saw his feet was encased in glittering ice and found the ice witch herself.

"First Dance," Rukia jumped. "Tsukishiro!"

"Agh!" The hollow couldn't even complete his agonizing scream because his mouth was frozen over.

Rukia quickly jumped away when Ichigo launched his attack,

"Getsuga Tensho!"

A large black strike headed towards the ice pillar, vertically. So much so, that it was enough to completely half this monster. Rukia watched as her pillar of ice be shredded into pieces and obliterated with her husband's attack. This thing was more than destroyed. She quickly landed beside her husband, smiling up at him.

Byakuya watched the couple from a distance, half grimacing and half thankful. For husband and wife, they made a really good team. And their daughter was safe. That's all that mattered to this family. The uncle glanced down at his niece safely in his arms. She did not look well. In fact, she was still scared as she pointed behind his shoulder.

She screamed, "Uncle Byakuya! Look out!"

He glanced from the corner of his eye. A black tentacle aimed right at him, and then suddenly shot forward to impale his shoulder.

"Nii-sama!"

"Byakuya!"

"Stop screaming from below me." Byakuya redirected his attention to the pair. "I'm not hurt."

Masaki's eyes grew wide and she scrambled up her uncle's shoulder. She peered over, noticing that the previous, menacing, blood-chilling tentacle was halted by a single pink petal. "Wow!" She whispered. But when she looked further down, she saw remnants of the monster hollow that kidnapped her. Was it a copy of it? Or did that thing escape from her mom's ice trap? Or did it regenerate? Masaki gripped harder onto her uncle's coat, feeling fear sweep over her like a ferocious wave.

Byakuya placed a reassuring hand on the young girl's head and gently pushed her back down away from such a hideous view. He could feel the young one shiver against his chest and whimper in fear. "Little one," he whispered, "Don't look."

Masaki's brown eyes widened. "Eh?" She couldn't look even if she tried. Byakuya covered the young one's eyes so she did not dare to attempt to look at the following onslaught.

Behind him, a huge flurry of pink petals exploded from behind him. Swirls of pink circled around him, all aiming towards the monster on his back. Before anything happened from that monster, Byakuya's petals already drove it and it's blood into the ground and buried it while he was at it. Finally, Byakuya slowly uncovered little Masaki's eyes and let the young one regain her breath. She looked so afraid, and yet, excited all at the same time.

"Uncle Byakuya?" She gazed up to her stoic uncle. "What happened?"

"I defeated that monster. You're safe." Byakuya said and he landed beside Masaki's parents.

Rukia ran up to Masaki and held gently onto her soft face. "Masaki? Are you okay? Did that scary monster hurt you in any way?"

Masaki shook her head. "No. I'm fine!"

"I am never letting you out of my sight ever again!" Rukia strictly warned, wagging her pointer finger at her daughter.

"Mommy!"

Byakuya glanced over at Ichigo and reported, "I don't sense that creature's spiritual pressure anymore. I can confirm that that thing is not present in this world."

"Probably in Hell." Ichigo mumbled.

Rukia hissed and kicked him in the shin. "Not in front of our baby!"

"Hey! She's in Soul Society! She might as well know what the opposite of this place is." Ichigo retorted back.

"She's five for crying out loud!"

Masaki and Byakuya patiently watched the two argue out in front of them. Byakuya was not fazed at all. He was just intently watching his brother-in-law to see if anything was ever going to happen. On the other hand, Masaki was merely staring into the space between her parents like she was just going to wait this one out.

"I couldn't check up on my sister while she was in the World of the Living. Do they always act like this?" Byakuya asked.

"Yep." Masaki confirmed, "I'm used to it though. Mommy and Daddy always make up in the end."

"Oh. I see…"

"Uncle Byakuya!" Masaki grew excited. "That was such an awesome move! Can I ever learn that?"

"Who knows? When you finish your training, we'll find out what your zanpakuto is like." Byakuya suddenly grew strict. This child had tendencies to get a little reckless whenever she witnessed something amazing or jaw dropping.

Masaki pouted, "Not that again!"

"Don't make such a face. I went through the same training when I was your age." Byakuya frowned, "In fact, because of your parents' insistence, your training is even less difficult than the standard training."

His little niece frowned back, "Are you all just going easy on me?"

"I didn't want to, but your parents' insisted."

"It's good to know my uncle believes in me." Masaki smiled, hugging closer to her uncle. But, in that moment, her eyes were casted down in a sense of guilt. "Uncle Byakuya, did you really think I could succeed my training and become a true Kuchiki?"

He mingled for a moment at that thought. "Yes."

"Really?" She grew quiet. "Umm…Uncle Byakuya…um… Sorry for being so mean to you during training…and thank you for protecting me all this time."

"You are forgiven. After all, you are just a child." He warmly replied, patting the young one on her head. "But, this time, listen to me and follow my training diligently."

"Okay Uncle Byakuya…" Masaki brightened up again after a thought. "Does that mean if I survive this training, I can be as awesome as you?"

"Maybe."

"Yes!" Masaki pumped her fist in the air. "I will definitely live up to my Kuchiki name!"

"Just as you should…" Byakuya tucked a stray bang of her orange hair, "the next heir of our clan."

Masaki cheered, "Yes! I will!"

Shinigami Cup!

"Lieutenant Matsumoto! All hollows are annihilated as of now." Renji reported through his butterfly.

"Really! Really!" Her loud and happy voice erupted through, blowing off poor Renji's eardrums. "Yes! Captain is so going to be busy with clean up! I can go back to drinking sake! I can finally get some beauty sleep!"

"Matsumoto?"

"I can get my nails done! I can get a nice spa treatment! My pores have been acting up recently!"

"Matsumoto…what are you doing right now?"

"Why, I'm getting a back massage!"

The thought of the 10th Division in shambles was getting closer.

I have updated! This story is finally going to finish unless you guys want more! So, yeah, the bad guys are defeated. Not like they stood a chance to begin with… And finally, Masaki and Byakuya have reconciled! Yay! Anyways, you all know what happened in the last chapter of "Child's Game". I wonder what flash-forward scene we're going to get? Read and review!