Disclaimer: Still don't own Bleach nor any of the characters. The OCs however are mine

Chapter Twenty-Four – Confrontation

The way that Shiro cut through the guards that were coming at him as he made his way to the castle where Heikichi was holding his siblings made it appear almost as though the place was completely unguarded. And it may as well have been for all the success they had at stopping the forward progress of the white haired prodigy. If it had simply been the normal Shiro then they may have actually been able to have a margin of success with their onslaughts but since Heikichi had unknowingly unleashed the powers of Captain Hitsugaya that normally were dormant inside the reincarnated Shinigami he had in effect given his former friend an almost unbeatable weapon to use against him.

And use it he was.

The sound of metal clashing with metal and then the cries of the fallen could be heard as the teenaged Shinigami captain used Hyourinmaru to decimate the guards that were attempting to protect the palace of Las Noches.

There was a cold look in the eyes of the boy as he surveyed the bodies of the fallen and then turned his gaze toward the castle. The fact that he had traveled to Hueco Mundo in order to save his friend was completely forgotten at this point and Shiro was out for blood. It was one thing to threaten him and even the threat against Kasumi was something that he could have forgiven but to involve his siblings, who were mere children and while strong not capable of defending themselves was something that Shiro was not going to forgive so easily.

A fact that was made evident by the murderous light that seemed to shine in the boy's eyes.

"I'm coming for you…" he said in a tone of voice that sounded nothing like his usual self, the bloodstained tip of Hyourinmaru pointed to the ground as he walked. Entering the castle was far from a difficult task and while there were guards stationed on the inside as well it seemed that they were no more prepared for the white haired captain than their predecessors on the outside had been. While most were arrogant enough to think that a kid stood no chance against them they were dead wrong.

Heavy emphasis on the dead part.

Normally Shiro was far from cruel and he would have at least attempted to leave them alive if it were at all possible but now there were no such thoughts in his head. His only thought, and the force that was driving him on, was of his siblings.

And making sure that nothing happened to them.

Following behind her friend Kasumi was sort of shocked at the sight of the bodies that were littering the ground, black ice scattered among them and Shiro's reiatsu trail clearly evident. Not like there would have been any denying who it had been that had slaughtered the Hollow and Arrancar even without that evidence but it was made all the more eerie by the ice that was left behind.

"Shiro-chan…" Kasumi said, her voice holding a trace of fear as she surveyed the scene before using her flash-step and continuing on her way.

There would be time to bemoan what had happened to her friend later, once she had found him and made sure that he didn't do something that he was going to end up regretting later. Having seen Shiro the last time that this happened Kasumi knew that he had basically no inhibitions and if he had completely lost himself to the powers that coursed through his veins then there was no telling what he might do when he found Heikichi.

And there was no doubt in her mind that Shiro would find him.

Kasumi also couldn't help but think of how Kaien and Masaki were likely to react to the sight of their brother in this state. They were young and unlikely to understand, having not been around for the first time that this happened, which was likely a good thing given the outcome of that particular incident.

It would likely scare them and Kasumi knew that it would hurt Shiro to have his siblings be afraid of him.

Which only added fuel to the already blazing fire that she felt, that need to stop her friend before he was able to take action that he would regret. Not that Kasumi thought that he was in the wrong for going after Heikichi but she couldn't help but think that he was going to inevitably go about it in a way that Shiro under normal circumstances would not.

"Nii-san's different…" Maskai said as she again felt a surge of reiatsu as her brother fought. She knew that energy signal, there was no mistaking it, but at the same time it was different and that was serving to scare the little girl. Her large violet eyes shifted toward Heikichi and then to her brother as she tried to figure out what was going on.

Why Shiro's reiatsu felt so scary.

"What happened to him?" Kaien practically demanded as he turned piercing brown eyes to Heikichi. He knew this guy was his brother's friend but it seemed that he was responsible for this and it was pretty clear even to the small child that this wasn't a game anymore. If it had ever been one at all. "Is this your fault? Did you do this?"

His voice was demanding as he asked those questions.

Heikichi heard the words that were being spoken by the children but he wasn't really paying any attention to them. It wasn't that he really wanted to actively ignore the children, it was more that he was far too focused on what was happening inside Las Noches to spare the time to trouble himself with the children. This was something that he hadn't expected even knowing about those powers that Shiro had been able to call upon one other time.

He hadn't thought that the white haired captain would be able to do it again.

After all that had supposedly been caused by those dormant memories that belonged to his previous incarnation and the affect those had on his mind. So Heikichi hadn't had any cause to think that such a thing would happen again despite the circumstances surrounding his trip to Hueco Mundo.

Quite clearly he had been wrong with this assumption.

"HEY!" two little voices chimed in together, breaking through Heikichi's rather tumultuous thoughts and bringing his attention squarely back to the duo that was standing near him. Looking down he met two pairs of demanding eyes, one violet and one brown, as the twins stared back up at him.

"I don't know what happened…but this wasn't part of the plan," Heikichi told them honestly, a concerned look in his own eyes as he thought about how he was going to deal with this latest development.

Nothing came to mind.

There simply was no good way to deal with this and he knew that.

Heikichi knew what had transpired the last time that Shiro had taken on this form, knew that he had damn near bested his father and Ichigo's powers were so legendary that even Heikichi with his limited contact with Soul Society and its inhabitants had heard the stories.

And that left him admittedly concerned.

After laying waste to the group of guards that stood between him and his target Shiro used his might ice wings to propel himself forward, flash-stepping and making his way toward where he knew his siblings were. Perhaps he couldn't track Heikichi's reiatsu signal but that wasn't a problem since the man had decided to bring Kaien and Masaki into this.

Shiro had absolutely no issues with tracking them.

He had been doing it all their lives.

The fire that was snapping in the young captain's eyes seemed to increase the closer he got to his siblings, the aura of power that surrounded the youth rising to an insane level. His reiatsu was so strong at this point that it would suffocate normal Shinigami and leave them incapable of doing anything save for gasping for breath.

And he was out for blood.

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

His voice seemed almost to echo in the hallway as he used his shikai to obliterate the door, freezing the wood on contact and causing it to shatter into a million shards. Stepping into the room the white haired captain pointed the tip of his zanpaktou toward Heikichi, a malevolent look in his cold, icy blue eyes. "You made a mistake that's going to cost you dearly…" Shiro said in a low, dangerous voice, his gaze focused squarely on Heikichi.

Heikichi tried his best not to look intimidated as he looked upon his friend.

"That is a matter of opinion Kurosaki," the lord of Hueco Mundo said, trying to keep his voice calm and he actually did manage it. The amount of effort it took was nothing to sneeze at but the fact that he managed it spoke volumes for his level of emotional control.

As well as for his resolve.

Shiro could have countered that, and were he normal he would have, he would have argued the point with his former friend. But right now he was not in a state of mind where he was capable of attempting to rationalize things with anyone and most certainly not with the person that had taken his siblings.

Messing with his family had been a fatal mistake.

Without saying anything to counter the words that Heikichi had said Shiro simply raised the blade of his sword higher, pointing the tip directly between Heikichi's eyes.

It was meant as a warning.

Seeing it for what it was Heikichi drew his own sword, leaving the tip pointing toward the ground but he was preparing himself both mentally and physically for the onslaught that he knew was coming. And at the same time trying to figure out the best strategy for this, a calculating look appearing in his eyes.

Kaien and Masaki had both been excited by the arrival of their brother but they had stopped short of running over to him when they noticed the look that was in his eyes. Even at their young age the twins were perceptive enough, and knew their big brother well enough, to realize that something was not right with this situation.

And that scared them.

Still holding hands the twins ended up retreating behind the throne that Heikichi had been sitting on up until he took note of Shiro's transformation. Neither of them knew what was going on but they could tell that it was something bad and after everything that they had seen, heard and felt the twins were more than a little scared.

"Nii-san…" they said in unison, the fear audible in both small voices even as they blended together.

After giving his opponent only mere moments to prepare for his attack Shiro launched himself forward, swinging the blade of his sword and sending a barrage of black ice in Heikichi's direction. It was all that Aizen's reincarnation could do to block the attack and he ended up being knocked back several feet, the young man still standing but already able to sense that this battle was going to be anything save for balanced.

Shiro was currently so far out of his league that it wasn't even funny.

"Man if you were this powerful all the time you'd be scary Kurosaki," Heikichi said, chuckling as he said it though the noise was without any real amusement. It was more a dry laugh as he debated his options in the couple of minutes that he had before he was attacked again.

Clearly his opponent was giving no quarter.

"…he isn't playing around…" Heikichi muttered to himself as he used his own zanpaktou to counter the attacks that were being launched at him but each one was a little harder to deflect than the last. And he knew that it was only a matter of time before his luck ran out.

Drawing up short Kasumi gasped as she felt the tremendous surge in reiatsu, the girl able to pick up on Shiro's but there was also another, almost as familiar, energy signal. The one that belonged to Heikichi. That was all the proof that Kasumi needed to know that her friend had reached the castle and had located the young man that they had up until only a short time ago called friend.

"Shiro-chan…" she whispered as she felt the enormous reiatsu signal that was produced by her friend.

This was going to end badly, of that she had no doubt, and she hastened her own pace in the hopes of getting to the scene quick enough to stop this.

At least Shiro had cleared the way for her so she didn't really have to worry about fighting anyone, which meant that she could travel at a faster pace and thus make better time than Shiro himself had. Still clutching her own zanpaktou in her hand, just in case, Kasumi used her flash-step to make her way through the castle once she arrived and the sight of more bodies, while gruesome, didn't even slow her down this time.

She didn't have time to concern herself with what had been done.

She was more concerned with what was yet to happen.

It was easy to find where she needed to go and Kasumi gasped as she entered the room and saw the battle that was raging. For a moment all that she could do was stand there and stare as Shiro unleashed a barrage of attacks against Heikichi, the latter already covered in blood. And while Shiro hadn't been able to escape this battle unscathed himself his wounds were nothing in comparison to those that his opponent had suffered.

"Shiro!" Kasumi called out as she watched her childhood friend, and the guy that she now realized she loved, knock Heikichi to the ground.

It was clear that Heikichi was badly injured at this point but it was equally clear that Shiro didn't have any intentions of stopping despite the fact that his opponent was laying on the ground and showing no real signs of being able to get up. Heikichi gave it a couple of tries but he didn't get very far either time and yet Shiro continued his advance, the white haired captain's ice cold eyes focused on Heikichi as he walked forward, the tip of his sword held diagonal to the ground.

Thinking back to the last time that this had happened Kasumi racked her brain in an attempt to figure out how she was going to get Shiro to snap out of it.

Because the last time it had taken Shiro stabbing his mother to break the trance like state.

"TOUSHIROU!" Kasumi called out, noticing the way that the white haired teen looked at her but it didn't seem as though her voice resonated with him enough to break him out of it.

From the spot where they were hiding Kaien and Masaki heard Kasumi's voice and immediately the pair of little ones darted out and ran toward her. The twins attached themselves to each of her legs, looking up at her with matching pleading looks in their eyes.

"Kasumi-chan…" Masaki said softly.

The arrival of the twins immediately gave Kasumi an idea and she looked down at them while at the same time trying to keep track of what Shiro was doing. "Guys… we have to help Shiro-chan snap out of it… can you help me with that?" she asked, hoping that the three of them together would be able to break through the fog of his mind without anyone ending up hurt.

Or at least anyone else.

"Uh huh," Kaien said with a nod of his head while Masaki added, "We can do that."

"Good," Kasumi said, trying to keep her voice calm and level so that she didn't freak them out any more than they already were. "We're going to call his name at the count of three, all together…" she told them, hoping that would work.

Because she wasn't sure what else they could do if it didn't.

The twins nodded their heads to show that they understood the instructions, seemingly willing to go along with her plan and trusting that Kasumi knew what she was doing.

She really hoped that their faith was not misplaced.

"Okay one…two…three…"

"SHIRO-CHAN!"

The three voices seemed to blend together and even though Kaien and Masaki were still little the twins still managed to put a lot of force behind their voices.

The sound of his name, coming from three of the most important people in his life, actually did serve to snap Shiro out of it. Of course the fact that he hadn't been as deeply entranced as he was the first time also likely helped with that. Blinking his eyes a few times Shiro turned his gaze in the direction that the shout had came from and it was really the looks that he saw on their faces that fully snapped him out of it.

Feeling instantly weak Shiro looked down at Heikichi who was laying bloodied and beaten on the floor.

And despite everything that had happened the white haired captain actually felt a twinge of guilt for having done that to someone that he had called friend. The ice that had partially surrounded him burst in a spray of ice shards, Shiro lowering his zanpaktou and breathing heavily at this point. His own wounds, which he hadn't really noticed up to this point, started to throb in protest but he ignored them for the time being in favor of staring down at Heikichi.

"Why?" he asked as he gazed at Heikichi.

A/N: End of another chapter and now Shiro had rescued his siblings and is more or less back to normal. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and share your thoughts with me.