CHAPTER 31: THE DROWNING INAZUMA KAZE

The silver layer of her Zanpakutou's blade peeled off slowly, revealing a clear blue blade beneath it. The silver fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, as everyone stared at Tayomi's new blade. It was transparent, having a blue shade just like the sea. Water started to pour from her Zanpakutou, circling around her and creating a massive whirlpool. With such a great amount of water in the area, Hitsugaya's Bankai instantly regenerated and he managed to break free from Aizen's grasp. Aizen was completely stunned, having no idea of what was going on. In fact, no one knew what was happening. Tayomi had never mentioned the existence of such a power to anyone, not even Hitsugaya himself.

Once the waves died down, Tayomi emerged from underwater. Her eyes were still in its dark shade of blue and her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, using a dark blue ribbon. She glared at Aizen and Ichimaru for a moment, before finally opening her mouth to speak.

"I can't stand you both already." She said coldly and calmly. "I hate how every single time, the peace in this world has to be disrupted by you. People are merely trying to get by and live their lives, but for you, being Captains are far too little for your insatiable greed. No one has taken the seat in Heaven, there is no supreme God right now, ruling over us. It's obviously because there isn't a need to have one. We can take care of ourselves and drive our world into a better future. Even if we had to have a ruler reign over our world, it certainly wouldn't be you."

Tayomi gripped her Zanpakutou tightly.

"Ichimaru… Hitsugaya Taicho once told me that you described him as the heavenly guardian who appears every few centuries…" She had an evil grin on her face. "If that is true, then Aizen and you aren't in a very good position now, because in this period of time, there were actually two of them. Both of you knew that all along, so you tried to get rid of one of them decades ago… But you failed… And now that one is going to make you pay."

Hitsugaya stared at Tayomi with her eyes wide open. Did she refer to me as 'Hitsugaya Taicho'? Tayomi began to release her spirit force, as her reiatsu surrounded her completely, causing the sky to turn dark and lightning to streak across the sky, with no sign of stopping. Everyone gasped and looked up at the sky. It was rare to see a Captain completely release his or her reiatsu, but even rarer to see it begin to affect the immediate vicinity. By now, the whole area was struck by lightning and flooded with water. The water was cold as ice, reaching up to Tayomi's waist. Hitsugaya noticed that her hands had begun to bleed, her blood trailing down the area between her thumb and finger.

"Arashi ga hitobito aku ka ni koeta. Korera no tsumi ni kaminari ga gekika. To mizu wa sorera o subete yami no fuka-sa ni obore. Ropu.*"

Her Zanpakutou's blade transformed into a long whip, reinforced by water. Tayomi swung her arm, allowing the whip to fly towards Aizen and Ichimaru. They used their Zanpakutou to block her attack, struggling to keep the whip away from them. Tayomi's eyebrows were pointed downwards and her hands continued to bleed, dripping into the water and creating red-coloured ripples in the ice cold liquid. Ichimaru grinned as he attempted to keep her blade of water from touching him. Aizen showed a hint of shock, as he battled with the force of the water. All of a sudden, Tayomi appeared behind the both of them and slashed their backs. She descended back underwater, as Aizen and Ichimaru watched blood pour from their wounds. Hitsugaya had not spoken a single word, unaware of what she was doing. He had never seen that side of her before. Sure, he had seen her eyes turn purple, but never dark blue. It was almost frightening, as it made him feel as if he did not know her. But still, he loved her. He knew that it was still her. She jumped out from the water, rushing towards Ichimaru. A huge wave of water followed behind her, crashing into Ichimaru, attempting to suffocate him. Lightning from the sky struck, speeding towards Aizen. The whole atmosphere was stormy, dark and full of anger. Tayomi sunk back into the water. Now, most of her hand was stained with blood. Hitsugaya began to feel furious. He swore he would kill whoever tried to touch her. She was bleeding now and he was tempted to kill Aizen and Ichimaru for making her drip even a single drop of blood.

Tayomi jumped up from the water, behind Ichimaru. Her hand was fully covered in blood. All of a sudden, her eyes returned to its usual purplish-blue and the water vanished. The storm came to a stop and Tayomi's ribbon slipped off, as her long black hair fell back into its place. Ichimaru grinned, knowing that it was over for her.

"Ikorose, Shinso."

Ichimaru's blade began to glow and it extended rapidly, impaling Tayomi in the chest as she fell. Grinning, he looked at his opponent, stabbed in the chest and hanging on his blade. Hitsugaya screamed, as Ichimaru withdrew his blade and Tayomi fell to the ground, her blood gushing from her wounds. Hitsugaya unsheathed his Zanpakutou, all ready to kill Ichimaru, when Matsumoto held him back. Aizen and Ichimaru opened the Garganta and escaped. Before they left, Ichimaru turned behind and smiled.

"Take good care of ya lil' darlin', Hitsugaya-kun."

As the Garganta closed, Hitsugaya ran towards Tayomi and cradled her in his arms. Her chest continued to bleed profusely, as he held her close to his chest, trying to hold back his tears. He could no longer hold it back, as tears trickled down his face and he pressed his lips against her forehead. Orihime ran towards Tayomi and Hitsugaya backed away, as Orihime began treatment. He gazed at her, his heart burning with nothing but pain and hatred. He swore he would kill Aizen. He definitely would. Matsumoto looked at her Captain, before looking at her friend. Why did things have to turn out this way?

Hitsugaya sat in front of the screen, with the others behind him. He had informed Captain-commander Yamamoto of Aizen's actions, including details on how Tayomi was injured. Captain Ukitake and Captain Shunsui were present as well, listening to Hitsugaya as he told them the whole event's happenings. Ukitake sighed and decided to clear their doubts. He explained that Tayomi had a second Shikai all along and he was the only one who knew about it, since she had gotten it while she was training with him. Her second Shikai, known as the 'Drowning' form of Inazuma Kaze, was not related to hollows. It was merely a release of every single negative emotion in her soul. Tayomi was still unable to control it, just like how no one could ever control themselves when they were blinded by a certain emotion. It was because of her second Shikai, it was much more complicated for her to achieve her first Bankai, Inazuma Arashi. Whenever her Zanpakutou's spirit was in a bad mood, she could only work on the 'Drowning' Inazuma Kaze. Although it possessed a devastating destructive force, it was absolutely draining on the reiatsu. The blood on her hands served as a time limit, as once her hands were fully stained with her blood, the 'Drowning' Inazuma Kaze would deactivate itself immediately and she would be left with little energy to fight. That was why Tayomi tried to avoid using her second Shikai as far as possible, unless left without a choice. The 'Drowning' Inazuma Kaze lasted for approximately five minutes and she knew that trying to use it in battle was extremely risky. Hitsugaya sighed, knowing that she took that risk for his sake.

Tayomi opened her eyes and rustled from her sleep. The last thing she remembered was Ichimaru's blade going right through her chest. She awoke and saw Hitsugaya smiling at her, causing her to smile back. Secretly, she wondered if he was mad at her for keeping her true powers to herself. She hid her face in her bunny's fur, trying to bear with the pain that her injury gave her. There was no way she would allow herself to scream in pain in front of him and make him worry about her. Hitsugaya seemed to notice her troubled state of mind and kissed her gently on the lips, before holding her hand.

"Why did you hide it from me?" He whispered.

"I didn't mean to…" Tayomi sighed. "I just didn't think that there would come a time where I had to use it… I'm sorry…"

"There's no need to apologise." He smiled. "Are you hiding anything else from me?"

Tayomi looked away. She knew what he was referring to. Hitsugaya was smart enough to know that Aizen had told her something.

"Aizen…" Tayomi spoke hesitantly. "That time… At Hueco Mundo… He confessed…"

"WHAT?"

Hitsugaya shouted so loudly that Tayomi was taken aback. He tried to calm down, afraid to scare her. Tayomi tried to get up and did so with much effort, trying to ignore the sharp pain that she felt in her chest. She reached out her hands and hugged him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. He was agitated now and she knew that she had to calm him down, somehow. She ran her fingers through his hair, effectively making him calm down, as she felt his breath blow past her neck. Hitsugaya held her in his arms, wondering what he should say. He pondered for a moment, before deciding on his words.

"Sakuri?"

"Hm?"

"Don't keep anything else from me…" He sighed. "Don't."

Tayomi hesitated a little, but gave him her promise. She nodded slowly, tightening her grip around his neck. After a moment, she tried to get up from her bed, but he forced her back onto the bed.

"You're still injured." Hitsugaya sighed. "So don't think about getting up now."

"But I'm so bored…" Tayomi whined.

"Do you want me to create a barrier around you?" He replied, smirking.

"You know that won't work…" She giggled weakly. "I'll break it from the inside, so I'll get out anyway. I still want to get up though… I want to talk to someone."

Hitsugaya stubbornly refused, but gave in to her after much persuasion and tugging on his arm. She got up and pulled him towards the study, in front of the screen. The screen was switched on, with Hisagi, Ukitake and Hinamori standing there, asking after her. Hinamori bombarded her Captain with questions, worried about her injuries. Ukitake was worried as well, but it seemed that Hisagi was the most worried of them all. He continued to ask after her, making Hitsugaya feel a tinge of jealousy. Tayomi noticed that instantly and squeezed Hitsugaya's hand.

"Don't worry… Hina-chan, Juushi-kun, Shuu-kun…" Tayomi smiled. "I'll be fine, Susu-chan and the others will take care of me."

TRANSLATION:
*The storm transcends upon those who do evil. The lightning rages over those who sin. And the water drowns them all into the depths of darkness. Rope.

Author's Note:
Well, that's the mechanism of her Zanpakutou's secret feature explained :D And that makes her Zanpakutou TRIPLE ELEMENTAL XD
I'm having fun in school being a no-lifer lol, I've been studying hard. I'm having a biology test on friday OMG D: Not exactly very confident, but I've begun studying ever since Monday, on top of revising for the end of year exams. So I shall do my best to do well for this test and update as much as I can. Next week, I have two tests, so I'll see how updating goes... Because I end quite late everyday next week T.T
Next chapter, Tayomi asks Hitsugaya if he wants to start a family :D YES! But they aren't gonna do anything inappropriate and there won't be a mini Shiro-chan/Yomi-chan popping out of nowhere, don't worry XD It'll be cute though! Starting a family does not neccessarily mean getting a kid :D (To her, at least) I hope you all liked this chapter! Please review! Thanks! :D