Disclaimer: I do not own DGM or Bleach

Chapter Thirty-Two – Memories and a Haunting Melody

"This isn't what I want!"

The words seemed to almost echo in the stillness.

"You killed them… you deserve every ounce of suffering that you've received and every bit that's still to come," Road's voice spoke up, sing songy and child-like but still managing to sound menacing. "They were family and you slaughtered them…"

"They were evil…" The voice that left Hitsugaya's lips was one that he didn't even recognize himself, it sounded so sinister even to his own ears. His eyes were narrowed as he looked around, not sure where he was but he was smart enough to figure out that he was trapped by the powers of one of the Noah. It was a familiar power and even though he was still far from certain just what was going on he still realized that the words he was speaking were the truth.

"You allied yourself with subhumans, that makes you no better than they are…" Road countered, still speaking to him in the same tone. If the truth were to be told she was actually saddened by the way that this had turned out, he had always been her favorite, but the betrayal that had been committed was not something that could be forgiven.

Even if she wanted to let bygones be bygones she knew that there was no way that Lord Millennium would go for something like that.

The grudge that he harbored was simply too deeply engrained.

"It is my duty to protect souls and to destroy Hollow," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice, a distinct undertone to his voice that made it seem as though he doubted his own words. Always before he had known exactly what his purpose was but now he was unsure and the flashes of memory that had been plaguing him, as well as the people that seemed familiar with him, were starting to make the white haired prodigy question himself.

Something that he had never done and that he definitely didn't like.

Cruel laughter followed this statement by the white haired youth.

"Your denial is so pathetic…Neah…"

It was as though a jolt of electricity was fired through his brain at the mention of that name, a gasp escaping Hitsugaya's lips even as his hands raised to grasp his white hair on either side of his head. Clutching at the spiked strands of white hair the Shinigami captain sank to his knees.

It had been so long since he'd heard that name.

And it evoked so many memories, painful memories and the ensuing emotions that threatened to consume him.

"Neah is dead!" the white haired captain snapped, all but hearing that cruel laughter echoing in his head along with that name. The name of someone that had died a long time ago and whose memory had been buried so deeply within his own mind that he had lost touch with himself.

In order to create a new identity, one that was devoid of this pain.

All dreams must come to an end however and the denial that the Musician had sought to live in was no exception, the walls that the youth had built around his mind crumbling. Bringing with it the memories of his own death at the hands of the Earl, after the slaughter of almost the entirety of the Noah Clan, and then the trip to Soul Society.

He had just shown up there, with no idea how it had happened but with a desire to make a new life for himself. No, more than that, with the desire to reinvent himself as someone that he was not loathe to look at in the mirror.

FLASHBACK

The fight with the Earl was still fresh in his mind and it was something that Neah was desperate to forget, wanting to leave behind the pain that he felt every time that his mind went back to his brother as well as to the person that he had damned with his memories and the horrible Fate that went along with them. Memories that he himself was now desperate to rid himself of.

All he wanted was to forget.

"I cannot deal with this…and I do not want to…" he muttered to himself, summoning up the powers that he still possessed despite his death. A blinding white light surrounded the Noah, a wind picking up and swirling around him as well. When the light dissipated the dark haired Noah was gone and in his place was a white haired child, laying still on the ground and with a sword on the ground beside him.

END FLASHBACK

The past that he had sought so hard to run away from had somehow still managed to find him and now the white haired youth was unsure of what to do. Part of him wanted to just give up, to submit her powers and just pray for a quick end. The larger and more stubborn part of him refused to just roll over and die like that.

He had always been a fighter and nothing about that had changed.

"You will not win… it is not going to happen…" Hitsugaya growled in a low voice, a voice that seemed to be a mix of the Shinigami's and the one that Road would remember from the prodigy's past. There was a musical, lilting quality to it, and as he spoke an eerie melody seemed to fill the air.

Causing Road to wonder if she had inadvertently helped him to once again grasp powers that he seemed to have forgotten that he possessed up to this point.

"Fighting is pointless, didn't you learn that last time?" Road asked him, her voice still containing that taunting quality but unlike before she sounded less sure of herself. Because she knew the powers that he had possessed and she had seen him fight since his return to this world. Even though she was sure of herself she wasn't a fool and she wasn't going to underestimate him.

Not a second time.

"I learned a lot of things the last time… that wasn't one of them," the white haired youth stated in a cold voice, his eyes flashing gold as he regained his determination. It was true that he was still reeling from these memories that Road was causing to assault his mind, memories that he had tried so hard to run from, but now he was done running.

It was time to face his past in order to ensure the future; not just his own but that of many, many others.

As the white haired prodigy spoke the music that had seemed to fill the air grew in intensity, causing the walls of this illusionary world to falter, cracks appearing all around them. It was clear that Road's power was wavering in the face of that which the boy wielded.

A power that was not yet even up to full strength.

"You aren't going to be able to win…those people that call themselves your friends are going to turn on you as soon as they learn the truth," Road said, trying a new angle in the hopes of salvaging this situation so that it didn't turn into a complete loss. "Especially Allen…"

As she left that statement hanging in the air Road smirked as she heard him gasp.

Clearly that statement had struck a nerve with him.

Hearing that name caused a stab of guilt that was akin to physical pain. It was true that he hadn't gotten along with the white haired Exorcist since Ukitake had given him the assignment of performing Konso but now his feelings toward the teen were laced with guilt and regret. Because he knew just how much he had cost the teen now and he also knew that Allen, even if he was inept and a bit of a naïve fool at times, was a genuinely good person.

Who had been damned to a fate that he didn't deserve.

It took him a few moments but he actually did manage to recover from that, his now malevolently glowing golden eyes seeming to almost snap fire. "I can fix it…" he said, his voice low but resolute.

Far from destroying him with this little illusion of hers Road had only served to make his path clear and to solidify his resolve to right what had been done wrong.

A/N: End of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought. Til next time~