CHAPTER 52: THE FIRST FALL

Kenpachi lunged at Geneva without holding back. His arms moved quickly, aiming to slash his opponent and fully expecting blood to splatter out in all directions. Geneva was slowing down in speed for some unknown reason and her reaction time had slowed down drastically. It was rather expected though, as she had taken a considerable amount of damage from her three opponents. Soi Fon decided to end things quickly and released her Bankai, determined to end this long battle. Shunsui got really serious for a moment, skilfully throwing his attacks at Geneva. Geneva was literally being pummelled by their overwhelming power and offensive attacks. She tried to fight back, but with her opponents at full strength and the three-versus-one situation clearly putting her at a disadvantage. It would be hard to gain a foothold in the battle again.

She deeply regretted not having made a steadfast decision to sacrifice one of her limbs to release more reiatsu. With her heart falling inside, she felt as if she had failed Aizen... He had given them that special ability after extensive research and extracting reiatsu from the hundreds of dead Arrancar that she and the rest of the New Espada had fought to the death with. She still remembered Aizen's precious words, word for word.

With this power from the hundreds of opponents you fought, I bestow upon you this special ability and absolute power with it. With a little sacrifice, you can gain so much power and laugh at the dumbstruck expression on your opponent's face before they die.

Shunsui and Kenpachi suddenly cleared the way for Soi Fon, who pointed her arm at Geneva, taking her aim. Geneva, empowered by her will to serve Aizen, bravely lunged forward at her opponents. Shunsui quickly knocked her backwards, just in time for Soi Fon to launch an offensive attack. As the giant yellow missile headed straight for Geneva, Shunsui jumped back and let the massive missile head straight for Geneva. A huge explosion, a bright light and a burning sensation overcame the area. When the dust cleared, Soi Fon deactivated her Bankai and stared down at Geneva. Geneva lay in her pool of blood, practically motionless and clearly near death. She blinked a few times as she thought about her cousin, Grimmjow.

"Get away from me!" He screamed at her, like he did everyday. "Get off my back! Aizen's calling me!"

"But..." Geneva pleaded with her stubborn cousin, tugging on the white sleeve of his new uniform. "What about the rest of us?"

"Oh you'll end up here somehow. If you've got power, Aizen will notice you for sure and bring you back to Las Noches."

"But..."

"For the last time, GO AWAY GENEVA!"

Grimmjow, with his nose in the air, snickered and turned to leave. He was going away. Away from their family, away from their friends... And most importantly, away from her. She never got the chance to tell him how she really felt about him. Looks like she never would, until she managed to get her power discovered by Aizen. Once she received news on Grimmjow's death and that he was killed by a Shinigami, she swore that she would power up and get into Las Noches for revenge. Every single one of her days were spent training herself and devouring other hollows... Everything she did was for him. It was revenge on Aizen. If Aizen had not appeared and taken Grimmjow away from her, he would not have been swept into battle and he would still be alive to return to her side. Even if he never came back to her, she would be glad enough to know that he was alive. With that ability Aizen gave her, she was hoping that it would make her even stronger and allow her to kill him, as easy as pie.

"Aizen..." Geneva gasped with her last few breaths. "Give him back to me... I want to kill you..."

Soi Fon raised her eyebrow, slightly taken aback by the New Espada's words. Even Shunsui looked a little shocked. They all had the impression that Aizen's New Espada were blindly following him, pledging their eternal faith to 'Aizen-sama'. To hear that coming out of one of the New Espada's mouth was just strange. They understood that in the original Espada, some of them wanted revenge on Aizen, like Barragan. But to see that even in the New Espada, it seemed like the New Espada took after their predecessors.

"Hey... You Shinigami..." Geneva took a deep breath, almost near death. "You'd... Better kill Aizen..."

"That's what we intend to do." Shunsui spoke solemnly.

Soi Fon sighed and shook her head as Geneva took her last breath, before finally falling into the arms of death and into her own pool of blood. Shunsui stared at her motionless body and his shoulder slumped. Kenpachi was the only one who was still smiling away and cackling, after defeating his opponent at last. The whole area was silent, except for Kenpachi's hysterical laughter.

Urahara waited around the area outside the Senzaikyu, near the stairs. He turned his head to his right, only to see Hiyori and Love running towards him. Once Hiyori saw him, she snarled and came running towards him, ready to kick him in the face. Without any hint of panic, Urahara stepped aside and laughed under his breath as Hiyori missed his face. Grumbling, she glared at her ex-Captain while Love shook his head.

"Where's that New Espada?" Hiyori shouted.

"How am I supposed to know?" Urahara replied, with a smile on his face. "I just got here a few minutes ago!"

"YOU MAGGOT..." Hiyori was all ready to aim another kick at Urahara's face when Love held her back.

"Hiyori... Don't do that. We have better things to do, like defeating that New Espada." Love nodded with a serious expression on his face. "Kisuke, I assume the New Espada hasn't appeared?"

Urahara nodded. Suddenly, a loud yawn was heard. The three of them turned behind to see a man with shoulder length, messy brown hair strolling towards them. He wore the New Espada uniform, but he did not act like one of them. In fact, he appeared more like a lazy Fraccion. Urahara raised his eyebrow. That's one of the New Espada? But then again... The Primera used to be Coyote Starrk and he was just like that as well... Casting aside his own thoughts about this New Espada, he focused his glare on him, watching as he approached them with slow steps. Love already had his hand gripped tightly around the hilt of his Zanpakutou, while Hiyori was all ready to charge at him. Just then, the New Espada looked up at them and let out another yawn, before strolling over to them.

"Why are you all looking at me with such an angry glare?" He yawned sleepily as he asked.

"WHY YOU..." Hiyori charged forward at him with her Zanpakutou, only to have it stopped by the New Espada who merely reached out a hand to grip the blade tightly.

"Could you at least introduce yourself to me?" His voice sounded serious all of a sudden.

"Urgh... WHY SHOULD I?" Hiyori continued to struggle and push her blade against the New Espada's neck, but he did not falter.

"The handsome owner of a candy shop, Kisuke Urahara." Urahara grinned cheekily.

"Stop it, Hiyori!" Love pulled Hiyori back before she did something reckless.

"LOVE!"

"Ah... I see... Your names are Hiyori and Love..." The New Espada nodded.

"Introduce yourself as well, New Espada." Love demanded.

"The Fourth New Espada, Wolffe Barrk..." He yawned. "Pleased to meet you."

Wolffe stared at the three Shinigami and Vizards who had their eyes glued onto him. Deciding to ignore their burning stares, Wolffe let out a yawn and decided to simply walk past them.

"WAIT! HOLD IT!" Hiyori had released her Zanpakutou and pointed it at Wolffe's neck, not allowing him to leave. "Even though I'm not related to those Shinigami... You aren't getting out of here so easily."

Wolffe turned to look at the three of them. He shook his head and yawned, before unsheathing his Zanpakutou and preparing for combat.

Suddenly, Tayomi felt someone grab her arm. She turned behind to see Hitsugaya staring at her. He nodded at Ichigo, trying to request that Ichigo hold Viquierra back for a while. Ichigo nodded, before charging towards Viquierra with a powerful attack at hand. Hitsugaya pulled her aside, behind a pillar, just before she could release her Bankai. After a moment of staring at her eyes, which were twinkling at him with life, he could not help but pull her close to him. He ran his fingers through her black hair. For the past hour, he thought that he would not be able to end the battle before she bled to death. Tayomi was a bit shocked, but she simply let out a small giggle, before wrapping her arms around his waist.

"You thought I would die... Didn't you?" She whispered into his ear.

Hitsugaya did not bother to speak. He nodded and hugged her even tighter. He was so afraid of losing her and for a moment, he thought that he would have lost her.

"Say something..." She shook her head and laughed. "I bet you thought I would..."

"I love you." He said it very quickly, but each word was said and pronounced so clearly that Tayomi knew what he said.

She had never seen him so shy before, but it was so adorable. Her face immediately turned into a bright shade of red. He's so cute...

"Me too." She buried her face in his shoulder and subconsciously shifted her arms higher up his body.

She ran her fingers through his hair, before blushing slightly and quickly kissing him on the cheek. For some reason, it felt as if they had just seen each other for the first time and had fallen in love with each other instantly. Hitsugaya blushed as well, before using his finger to tip her face upwards and slowly bring her face closer to his. Their noses were touching and Tayomi blushed. It had been really long since they last had a romantic moment like this. Battles and work had taken a lot of time away from them and each other.

"I love you more." He whispered.

Closing his eyes, he put both his hands around her cheeks and brought her face directly in front of his. Their lips touched for a second, before he tilted his head slightly to the right and his lips pressed onto hers. They drew back for a moment, before closing in again. Tayomi giggled, before burying her face in his shoulder again.

"See that?" He helped her adjust her pink headband. "I love you more. Don't argue with me on this."

"Hmph." She pouted. "We shouldn't be so mean and leave Ichigo there, should we?"

Hitsugaya nodded.

"Don't use your Bankai... Don't risk your life."

Tayomi nodded and squeezed his hand. They returned to the area to rejoin Ichigo, all ready for battle.

Author's Note:
I'm glad I managed to get in that fluff scene lol :D We've been missing out on serious fluff on the past few chapters!
So that's the end to Geneva, the 3rd New Espada T.T And Wolffe's battle has just started!
Next chapter, a new battle with the Fraccion will start XD So stay tuned!
Thanks for reading! Hope you all liked it :D Please review! Thank you ^.^