CHAPTER 35: THE NEW ESPADA

Primera? Cuarto? Sexta? What the hell is going on?

Tayomi stared at both Ichigo and Hitsugaya in bewilderment. She was in a state of confusion. She did not remember any of them learning Spanish before. Yet, why had they said that? It was an assumption to say that they recognised the three mysterious figures, but she had no idea how to come up with a logical reason for their shock. Their jaws were hung agape and their eyes were shot wide open, as they stared at Aizen, Ichimaru and the three mysterious people that he was talking to.

There were two men and one woman. One of the men had shoulder-length, brown hair. He had been yawning throughout the entire conversation, as his eyelids appeared to be heavy and on the verge of closing any time. He looked significantly bored, as he stared at Aizen, clearly unfocused and lacking energy. He seemed as if he had just gotten out of bed, since he was dressed in a plain t-shirt and loose-fitting trousers. The other man wore a hood over his head, so his facial features were rather hard to recognise. However, he did have black hair, which stuck out from his hood. He also had green eyes and his complexion was unusually fair. In fact, his complexion was not normal at all. It was practically white, instead of the usual beige. He wore a black, long-sleeved shirt and black trousers. As for the woman, she had light blue hair and wore pale blue eyeliner. She had an evil grin on her face and the loudest, most maniacal laughter Tayomi had ever heard, as she laughed incessantly while Aizen spoke. She wore a denim mini skirt and a dark blue, sleeveless shirt which was skin tight. They looked so normal, yet so peculiar. Their appearance did not answer her question though, as she continued to wonder who they were. Primera? Cuarto? Sexta? Seriously, what is going on?

She gripped Hitsugaya's hand tightly, for fear that he would act on impulse and rush towards Aizen without thinking, like he usually did. Hitsugaya felt her fingers curl around his, as he watched her stare at Aizen and Ichimaru blankly.

"Susu-chan..." Tayomi muttered. "I'm confused... Who are they?"

"They're part of the Espada." Hitsugaya replied coldly. "The brown-haired one is Espada 1. I saw Captain Kyoraku fight him when we were at Fake Karakura Town."

"The one with the hood over his head... It's Ulquiorra. Espada 4. As for the woman... I don't know, but she kind of resembles Grimmjow, Espada 6. I fought them both..." Ichigo added.

"I thought you killed all of the members of the Espada?" Tayomi asked.

"We did..." Hitsugaya sighed. "That's precisely why we were shocked. They should be dead. We don't know what they're doing here and what they're doing alive."

Tayomi was confused. The Espada, for some reason, were alive. Even though it was just three of them, it was enough to alarm them. The Espada were a force to be reckoned with, as it had taken two Vizards and a Captain to bring down the top Espada, which she assumed was referred to as the 'Primera'. If they were to appear again, it would cause so much trouble. History would repeat itself. Every Shinigami in Soul Society would have every reason to panic. The Shinigami who defeated the Espada would have to perform an encore and repeat the process of finishing the Espada off all over again. And this time, they might not possess the same luck that they had when they fought the Espada. One little mistake could determine their fate and send them towards their doom. Since they had previously fought the Espada, it could also be assumed that they knew their opponents' style of fighting and attacks. The more you knew about your opponent, the easier it was to counter their attacks. The Espada would have known their attacks well enough by now, to be able to counter and avoid them. If her assumptions were true, then they would have a lot to handle. They would need to start preparing right away, as the Winter War could possibly take place again. The reappearance of the Espada would be enough to cause an emergency in Soul Society.

"In any case..." Tayomi ran her fingers through her hair. "We should report this to Yamamoto Sou-Taicho... And not make any further moves until he gives us the signal. And while he's at it, we should try and find out who those three people really are, because I don't believe that the Espada can come back to life after being killed. For now, we should probably go... I don't like this place."

Hitsugaya glanced at her, before letting go of her hand and putting his arm around her shoulder. Tayomi looked up at him, before using her hand to hold his hand, which was hanging over her shoulder. He pulled her close to him and kissed her forehead gently, hoping to calm her down. He was fully aware that she was confused, angry and uneasy all at the same time. They had to get out now. Contacting the other Shinigami via their phones, everyone headed towards the exit, towards home. At all costs, they had to get out of there safely. At all costs, he had to protect her. Squeezing her hand, they headed out of the area, walking towards home.

Once they entered the house, Tayomi and Hitsugaya went straight to the Study, followed by Matsumoto, Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Ichigo and Rukia. Ishida, Chad and Orihime had returned home and Tayomi had promised to update them on the situation. Tayomi threw herself on the floor, landing face-first in the soft carpet. Hitsugaya stared at her blankly, but decided to ignore her for a moment. She was just being her usual, dumb self. Smiling to himself, he set up a connection to Soul Society. Tayomi closed her eyes, exhausted by the day's work and drained of energy after entering the worst place she had ever been to in Karakura Town. Just then, Captain-commander Yamamoto's face appeared on the screen, with Captain Kyoraku and Captain Ukitake. Lieutenant Sakasibe stood in the background, where he usually stood. Hitsugaya nodded at them and Ukitake smiled at him. Yamamoto nodded and asked where Tayomi was. Hitsugaya sighed and looked at the ground, where Tayomi lay, fast asleep. Yamamoto blinked, demanding that Hitsugaya wake her up.

"Tayomi..." Hitsugaya shook her gently, feeling rather strange. For the very first time, he was the one waking her up, instead of her waking him up. "Wake up..."

"Huh... But I'm sleepy..."

"In case you haven't noticed... We're on the line. Now open your eyes."

Tayomi opened her eyes slowly and sat up. She scratched her head and got up onto her feet unsteadily. Ukitake sighed in content, as he watched the girl, whom he treated as his daughter, rub her eyes sleepily. It had been so many years since they met, but Tayomi had somehow managed to retain her adorable, innocent personality. She greeted everyone, before explaining everything to Yamamoto. She began explaining from the start, where they entered the place until the part where they spotted the Espada. Yamamoto nodded and told them to stay down, until further notice. Before the connection broke, Yamamoto added that someone requested to speak to them. Tayomi smiled, as Hinamori and Hisagi appeared on the screen. She had not seen her Lieutenant for ages and missed her dearly.

"HINA-CHAN!" Tayomi cried, jumping up and down excitedly. "SHUU-KUN!"

"Yomi-chan!" Hinamori beamed. "Shiro-chan!"

"Don't call me that, you stupid bed-wetter..." Hitsugaya grumbled. "And shouldn't you be addressing her as 'Tayomi Taicho'? "

"Heh heh..." Tayomi giggled. "I'm not as uptight as you, Hitsugaya Taicho!"

Hitsugaya ruffled her hair. He never admitted it, but he did not like it when she addressed him as 'Hitsugaya Taicho'. Whenever she did that, he felt distanced from her, unrelated and invisible in her eyes. He hated that feeling. If she ever addressed him as 'Hitsugaya Taicho', it could only mean that she was angry at him or she was joking. In any case, he refused to tell anyone about it, but he really liked it when she called him by his pet name.

"Tayomi-chan! How are you?" Hisagi asked. "How are things?"

"Good! I'm sleepy, but it's alright!" Tayomi smiled. "For the both of you, I'll just try and stay awake so I can speak to both of you! And tease Hitsugaya Taicho!"

"Sometimes, I really wonder why I like you so much..." Hitsugaya muttered under his breath.

"Hm... I wonder." Tayomi raised an eyebrow and smiled at him.

Hitsugaya lay on his bed, in his room with the lights switched off, as he stared up at the white ceiling. The lamp on his bedside table was switched on, bringing a little light into the room. He closed his eyes, clearing his mind of all thoughts. Suddenly, he felt his bed move and opened his eyes slowly. He instantly saw Tayomi smiling at him and smiled back. Somehow, she had managed to enter the room unnoticed and climbed onto his bed, on top of him. He pulled her down, letting her lie beside him, with her hand resting on his chest. Tayomi could feel his heart beating, as she lay beside him on his bed, with his face right beside hers. His left arm found its way under her neck, before it rested on her shoulder. With his left hand, he reached up to run his fingers through her hair.

"You want to ask me something, don't you?" Hitsugaya asked his girlfriend, who was grinning at him.

"Yeah..." Tayomi nodded eagerly. "I just realised that you've never told me why you..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Hitsugaya used his right hand to pinch her left cheek.

"I've wanted to do that for a really long time."

Tayomi giggled. "Well, you finally did it. Now answer me!"

Hitsugaya thought briefly before answering her. "You know, the first time I saw you, I was shocked that you actually talked to me. I used to think you were just weird... But after a while, I thought you were actually rather cute. Then, the feeling just came naturally. You know what I mean..."

Tayomi smiled and nodded. Hitsugaya gazed at her, waiting for her to tell him her reasons as well.

"I don't know..." Tayomi stroked his face. "I just felt that sort of attraction to you when I first saw you. I know it sounds stupid, alright. Even though you were really cold to me back in school, I managed to get you to warm up to me and that made me like you even more. I knew that there was a really sweet, kind boy inside of you."

"It sounds stupid, only because you are stupid." Hitsugaya smirked. "When you introduced yourself, I thought you were quite dumb and I wondered how you managed to even enter the Academy, let alone get into the Special Accelerated Program... You're like a really smart bimbo... I wouldn't mind having a Lieutenant like you."

"Aww..." Tayomi sighed. "You're saying that because you want to spend more time with me, don't you? And yes, I'm stupid and smart, I know!"

"I just feel as if time is always running out for both of us."

"Yeah..." Tayomi smiled. "Because we're both Captains, so we're constantly putting our lives at risk for the sake of others. But we promised each other, remember? No matter what happens, we're both going to fight to stay alive, so we can spend the rest of our lives together."

"I remember that, of course..." Hitsugaya twirled her hair around his finger. "I really want to spend every single second with you."

"Me too." Tayomi snuggled against his shoulder.

Hitsugaya lifted her chin up and kissed her on her lips. Tayomi blushed and snuggled against his chest, as he wrapped his arms around her. The two Captains fell asleep, side by side, satisfied with their life.

Author's Note:
Yayyyy :D So kawaii! XD
Well, we have no idea, who the New Espada are... Though I will say that the numbers have decreased (Aizen is so stuck-up!) Time to bring back our favourite Espada! ^.^
And did you all read the latest Bleach chapter? Aizen became a butterfly! :D Since the Hougyoku materialises one's desires, was Aizen's secret desire to become a pretty female butterfly? XD
Anyways, I hope you all liked this chapter! Stay tuned for chapter 36! Please review! Thanks! :D