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Chapter Thirteen - Espada

As Shiro clashed swords with the Arrancar his mind called back Hitsugaya's memories of fighting with the Espada during the Winter War. This one was perhaps not as strong as the number three that Hitsugaya had faced but he didn't seem to be that far off.

As it was this was proving to be one of the most difficult battles that Shiro had ever fought.

Jumping a couple of feet away from the Arrancar, the young captain pointed the tip of his blade toward the sky.

"Reign over the frosted, frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!"

The familiar dragon comprised of ice and water flew from the tip of his sword. The creature swirled around his master once and then flew toward the enemy. The dragon crashed into the Arrancar, exploding in a spray of ice and water.

Many inexperienced fighters would assume that the battle was over since the enemy was now encased in ice however Shiro knew better. He had both his own experience, as well as that of Hitsugaya, telling him that the fight was far from finished.

Mere seconds later the ice shattered and the Arrancar leapt forward, an angry expression appearing on his face. This was the first emotion that he had shown and Shiro decided to see if he could use the Arrancar's anger against it.

After all, it was always harder to concentrate on the battle when your emotions were threatening to overwhelm you. And anger was the worst of all emotions.

"I can tell what you're thinking child." The Arrancar focused narrowed eyes on the young captain as he spoke for the first time. "But you aren't going to win this battle."

"That's what you think," Shiro said, his blue-green eyes focused on his opponent. He was trying to gauge, by the Arrancar's movements, what his next move was going to be.

"Cocky little thing aren't you?" the Arrancar said, one eyebrow arched as he gazed at the young Shinigami. While it was true that the brat was fairly powerful, there was simply no way that his powers could rival that of the Arrancar.

After all, he was at the same level as the legendary Espada who had fought alongside Lord Aizen.

"Tch." Shiro refused to be baited by the comments of the Arrancar. He was very familiar with this technique, having practiced it on a number of his friends over the years. It would be really pathetic if he fell for it himself.

As she fought against the lower level Hollow all Kasumi could do was hope that her friend could manage to hold his own against his opponent. She could tell, by the reiatsu signal, that this was one of the strongest opponents that her friend had ever faced.

And that worried her somewhat.

It wasn't that she didn't have faith in his abilities, it was just that they had never been tested by an enemy of this caliber. "Please be okay Shiro-chan."

Using his flash-step Shiro appeared in front of the Arrancar, swinging his sword in the direction of his foe's head. Unfortunately the Arrancar managed to dodge the blow, although Shiro did see a couple of hairs fly off into the wind.

"Damn you boy!" the Arrancar roared, irritated beyond all reason by this brat. This fight should have been over by now and yet he hadn't even managed to land a single blow.

"Yea, yea," Shiro said, propping the blade of his sword on his shoulder and gazing at the Arrancar through cold eyes. A chill wind began to circulate as the young captain's reiatsu rose. "Let's just get on with this."

"Alright boy," the Arrancar snarled. "If you're in such a hurry to die then so be it."

Shiro sighed, irritated over this uncalled for banter, and rushed toward the Arrancar. He held the blade of Hyourinmaru pointed toward the Arrancar and, although the beast did manage to move, he felt the tip of the blade graze his opponent's flesh.

"Damn you!"

Completely unfazed by the sound of the Arrancar's screams, Shiro turned so that he was once again facing his opponent. This battle had been drawn out for long enough, as far as he was concerned, and the white haired youth held the blade of his sword up.

"Bankai. Daiguren, Hyourinmaru!"

The familiar white ice erupted from the hilt of his sword and engulfed his arm. And at the same time huge wings of ice grew from the boy's back, allowing him to fly through the air.

For his part all the Arrancar could do was stare as he watched the boy undergo this transformation. He hadn't expected for such a young Shinigami to display this level of power and despite himself the Arrancar felt a shiver run up his spine.

Perhaps this battle wouldn't be as easy to win as he had first thought.

But that didn't lessen his determination to fight. He would take the lifeless body of this brat of a captain to Lord Aizen and perhaps that would convince him to join their side and fight with them against Soul Society.

Now in his Bankai form Shiro once again launched himself toward the Arrancar, determined to end the battle once and for all.

By this time Kasumi had managed to destroy the Hollow that she had been fighting and was now able to focus all of her attention on Shiro. He had gotten serious, calling upon his Bankai, and she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from him.

"When exactly did he grow so handsome?" she found herself wondering.

Shiro was mere inches away from the Arrancar when he heard a voice call out, "Stop!"

Surprised by this unexpected command the young Captain of Squad Ten drew up short, his gaze searching for the person who had interrupted the battle. And in the split second that he took his eyes away from his opponent, the Arrancar disappeared.

Shiro swore in irritation as his gaze fell upon Heikichi. The older boy was dressed in black and carrying his zanpaktou.

And there was a strange look in his eyes as he gazed up at the spot where Shiro was hovering in the air.

Had he stopped the boy's fight with the Arrancar for a reason?

Shiro couldn't keep this thought from entering his mind as he gazed down at the boy whom he had gone to school with. Without the glasses and with his hair slicked back, he really did look eerily similar to Aizen.

But the young captain absolutely refused to let this sway his feelings about the boy. It wasn't fair to compare him to Aizen and Shiro refused to do that.

Heikichi would be either saved or damned by his own actions and not by those of someone else that had taken place before he was born.

No matter what he looked like Heikichi wasn't Aizen.

"Why did you do that?" Kasumi exclaimed, rushing over to the spot where Heikichi was standing with his zanpaktou drawn.

Instead of replying to this question Heikichi leapt into the air, swinging his sword in the direction of his friend. Shiro managed to dodge the attack and he whirled to face his former classmate, the tip of Hyourinmaru pointed toward the older boy.

"No," Kasumi gasped as she watched Shiro engaged in battle with a boy that they had once called friend. This couldn't be happening; she had been so certain that Heikichi was one of the good guys.

The sound of steel clashing against steel brought Kasumi's focus back to the two boys and she felt tears gather in her eyes. She knew how hard this was going to be for her poor little Shiro-chan.

And the worst part was that he was going to blame himself for it all.

"You have to get out of here Kurosaki," Heikichi snarled as he once again swung his blade in the direction of the younger boy.

"Like hell I will," Shiro said, blocking the blow with the blade of Hyourinmaru and then aiming a counter attack in Heikichi's direction. "I'm not going anywhere until you explain to me what the hell's going on."

Heikichi narrowed his eyes as he continued to fight the young prodigy that had been his classmate for several years. "This is much larger than you think Kurosaki."

Shiro merely growled as he pushed Heikichi back with Hyourinmaru.

At that moment a black hole seemed to open up in the sky. Halting their battle mid swing both Shiro and Heikichi turned their attention to this opening.

Yet another Arrancar stepped through this opening, her gaze going toward the two boys who were hovering in the sky. When her gaze fell upon Heikichi she bowed low and gazed at him reverently. "Lord Aizen, I've finally found you."

Shiro's eyes widened as he felt the surge of reiatsu caused by this new arrival. Her powers made a mockery of the Arrancar that he had just faced and he found himself vaguely recalling a similar reiatsu.

From Hitsugaya's past.

"Damn it," the white haired boy growled as he held up his sword.

A/N - hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.