CHAPTER 56: THE FLOWER AND ONE THAT'S YET TO BLOOM

Ikkaku was hoping and praying that Grinkke's brute force would not cause his Zanpakutou to be smashed into pieces. Quickly withdrawing his blade and jumping upwards, he lunged towards his opponent at top speed, intending to use the blade of his spear to stab Grinkke. Ikkaku wondered why Grinkke had not even released his Ressureccion, after such a long battle. The battle had been going on and both parties were clearly tired. Yumichika seemed as if his fight was about to end as well. Yumichika and Vallencie were still tearing away at each other violently, while having a heated argument on who had better looks.

"Hey you..." Ikkaku smirked. "Why aren't you releasing your Ressureccion yet?"

Grinkke paused for a moment and a hint of uneasiness appeared on his face for the very first time. Ikkaku was a little taken aback by this. Grinkke was hiding something. He definitely was.

"Why should I release my Ressureccion and waste my power on you?" He snapped back quickly.

"Well, if you aren't going to go all out, I will." Ikkaku sounded completely serious all of a sudden. "The last time I fought for Soul Society, I held back and ended up losing the battle and letting everyone down. This time, it'll be different. I won't disappoint them. In the name of the 11th Division and Soul Society, you'll go down."

A fire suddenly burned in Ikkaku's eyes.

"BANKAI!"

A huge whirlwind appeared, enveloping Ikkaku in it as his Zanpakutou underwent a drastic transformation. Grinkke smirked, wondering what his opponent had in store for him. Ikkaku emerged from the whirlwind, grasping two giant blades resembling a metal spade and had an oversized metal axe-like blade strapped onto his back. Despite its huge size, Grinkke noticed that his opponent was not dragged down by its weight. Inside, he began to panic and wonder if his current strength was enough to bring down his opponent. Yumichika briefly looked away from his hideous opponent and noticed the fact that Grinkke actually looked worried about his battle. Since the battle started, Grinkke had always been filled with confidence in his victory. To see his confidence waiver all of a sudden was much too strange and much to suspiscious. Yumichika did not have time to think it through deeply, as Vallencie came flying towards him, face-first, attempting to slash him. A few strands of his lustrous black hair were cut off in the process, further angering Yumichika. It was definitely time to end it. But first, he had to make sure that he was in a place where he could not be seen. The wind that day was almost non-existent. There had not been a single gust of wind, or even the slightest breeze. It seemed that even the weather was working in his favour.

"Bakudo 21, Sekienton*!"

Investing all his effort into that single Bakudou, Yumichika hoped that the smoke created would hold up long enough for him to finish Vallencie off. That way, both Vallencie and Ikkaku would not be able to see his true Shikai.

"Sakikurue, Ru'iro Kujaku!**"

The blades of his Zanpakutou began to flare up, bursting into a multitude of colours and forming vines, with the same colours seen when light was reflected off a bubble. They stretched and extended themselves, rapidly reaching out for Vallencie. The vines snapped themselves into place, holding Vallencie firmly no matter how much he struggled. Vallencie was shocked. He could not break out of the vines and could only watch in horror, as buds began to form on the vines and he felt his own reiatsu leave his body. It was completely draining and he felt weaker by the second. He did not even have enough energy left in him to scream. Yumichika grinned at him, while heaving a sigh of relief. It seemed that the battle was finally over, as Vallencie took his last breath. He burst into a thousand flower petals just as the last of the red smoke dissipated. Wiping away the sweat on his forehead, Yumichika smiled to himself. Seems like my beauty outshined yours... He glanced at Ikkaku, who was already swinging the giant axe-like blade that was once strapped to his back. A strong gale was created by the spinning action of the blade, as the dragon crest engraved on the blade slowly turned crimson red.

The dragon was awakening.

Ikkaku quickly landed a few slashes on his stunned opponent. Grinkke was unable to understand the reasons for the sudden rise in Ikkaku's reiatsu and panicked, leaving himself completely open to attacks. Blood splattered in all directions as Grinkke put up a fierce struggle against his opponent. He watched in horror as the dragon crest gradually turned red. Before he knew it, the dragon crest was fully red and Ikkaku grinned. Using Shunpo, he charged towards Grinkke, hoping to settle things in one shot. Grinkke's eyes widened in horror, right before Ikkaku's sharp blade sliced into his soft flesh and he felt warm blood spill from his chest. He fell onto the ground and his chest heaved heavily, as he gasped for breath. Knowing very well that it would be his last few breaths, Ikkaku decided to ask his opponent a little question.

"So... Why didn't you release your Ressureccion?"

"Because I don't have one." Grinkke quickly spoke, before gulping down another breath of air. "The powers used for my Ressureccion were stripped from me and given to the New Espada, to heighten their powers and abilities. Well... It... Was... A worthy sacrifice... For... Aizen... Sama..."

With that, Grinkke slowly closed his eyelids and his whole body was motionless.

Ikkaku did not flinch. He had witnessed scenes of that sort much too often. Simply letting out a small sigh, he shook his head and turned to face Yumichika. Yumichika smiled and heaved a sigh of relief. At last, their battle was over and a gentle breeze blew past them. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders, but the entire conflict was far from being over. Only one of the New Espada had been defeated and the second New Espada had not made his appearance at all...

Hiyori stared at Wolffe for a moment, before charging towards him with her giant blade. Urahara simply stood down, avoiding every attack thrown at him and waiting for a good chance to strike his opponent hard. As for Love, he was exactly like Hiyori and gave his opponent all that he had, throwing almost every attack that he was familiar with at Wolffe. Wolffe continued to appear not the least impressed and yawned, while dodging the attacks to the best of his abilities and firing Ceros one after the other.

"Nake, Benihime!"

A blast of red energy was fired right behind Wolffe and it spread over a wide area, almost completely enveloping Wolffe in it. Wolffe made a quick attempt to escape, but still received a considerable amount of damage in the process. Looks like I'll have to watch out for that guy... He seems to be much more of a threat compared to the other two. Guess I'll have to see how drastically they change after they put on their hollow masks! At the exact same moment, Hiyori decided to put on her hollow mask. Her skeletal mask with red diamond marks and a sharp horn appeared on her face and she instantly released her Shikai. Love sighed. Hiyori was definitely eager to end the battle as quickly as possible. But he had to admit that he shared the same sentiments as well. Shrugging his shoulders, he gripped the hilt of his Zanpakutou tightly and put on his hollow mask as well. His hollow mask resembled a traditional Japanese Oni mask which hid most of his face, except for the fierceness and resolution burning in his eyes.

"Uchikudake, Tengumaru!"

His dense thin blade instantly transformed into a large black blade, with a round shape and sharp spikes covering it. The blade was so huge that it towered over Love himself, but he was able to withstand its increased weight and swung his blade around violently, but with precise aim and grace as well. Wolffe hid the fact that he was surprised, secretly impressed by Love's brute strength. Swinging Tengumaru upwards towards the sky, Wolffe watched as the blade burst into bright orange flames and Love pointed his blade at him. His heart started to palpitate at a faster rate, as a huge ball of fire was sent flying towards him at an incredibly high speed. Wolffe quickly dodged it, unaware that Urahara had something up his sleeve and was right behind him.

"Hisaobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi!***" Urahara spoke calmly and confidently.

Urahara created a red mesh net and threw it over Wolffe using the tip of his blade, successfully entangling and trapping Wolffe in it. Stabbing the net, red orbs began to appear and ignite itself, bursting into violent flames one after the other. Urahara smirked. Love and Hiyori were acting as recklessly as they usually did in battle, charging after the enemy and violently attacking Wolffe without thinking of the consequences or taking any possible precautions. Hiyori and Love watched closely as Wolffe took a huge blow from Urahara's attack, causing him to be severely injured. Hiyori had always questioned her ex-Captain, who appeared to be so laidback that at first glance, everyone would doubt his abilities as not only a Captain, but also a Shinigami. Love was still stunned, but he knew that that was made Urahara such an impressive Shinigami and made him one of the most talented (if not, the most talented) Shinigami Soul Society had seen in years. Having the ability to understand his opponent quickly and come up with a successful counterattack needed pure talent. Urahara walked up to Wolffe calmly, staring at his injured and bleeding opponent.

"Well, though I'm just the owner of a candy store, I should just tell you once again..." Urahara's light-hearted expression turned into a serious one all of a sudden. "Don't underestimate us Shinigami... And that goes for the Vizards too. Never underestimate them."

OMAKE: Hitsugaya's Birthday!

Well, today's our favourite child prodigy's birthday!
So here's a little omake segment.

Hitsugaya sat on the roof of his office at night, staring up at the bright, glowing moon. He hugged his knees, wondering where Tayomi had disappeared to for the entire afternoon. She'd usually tell him where she went if she intended to leave the office, even for a little while. Suddenly, he felt something grab his waist and he almost fell backwards.

"Susu-chan..." A very familiar voice whispered. "Happy birthday!"

Hitsugaya turned behind to see Tayomi smiling at him. Today's smile was surprisingly...cheeky.

"Thanks." He smiled back at her and turned away.

"Eh, don't I deserve something a little more?"

Hitsugaya kissed her on the forehead.

"YAY! Good boy. Now follow me!"

Tayomi dragged him all the way down into his own office in the 10th Division's headquarters. Hitsugaya nearly had a heart attack when he saw Matsumoto down there, waving wildly at him. Hinamori stood there, smiling at him. Ukitake was here as well, all ready to give him candy. Shaking his head, Hitsugaya could not help but smile. He squeezed Tayomi's hand tight and let her drag him towards them.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HITSUGAYA-KUN!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAICHO!" Matsumoto rushed forward to give him a tight hug.

Everyone else joined in the hug and Hitsugaya nearly got squeezed to death.

(Matsumoto: That's part one of Taicho's present! HEH HEH!)

Matsumoto brought out the ice cream cake with Hitsugaya's face on it. Hitsugaya raised his eyebrow. He had quite a clear idea whose idea it was and glanced at Tayomi, who was giggling away.

Ukitake thrust a whole hamper of candy to Hitsugaya.

Hinamori presented him a present from Matsumoto and her, and bugged him to open it. Hitsugaya sighed and opened the box, staring at its contents blankly. Inside the box lay a shiny pair of white handcuffs. He stared at it and the handcuffs stared back at him.

"What...is...this...for..?"

"Well, Rangiku-chan said you'd love it, so I decided to trust her!" Hinamori laughed.

"Stupid bed-wetter. Since when were her words trustworthy?" Hitsugaya snapped.

"Aww Taicho, no getting grumpy on your birthday!" Matsumoto scolded him, before running up to whisper into his ear. "You can use them against Yomi-chan when she misbehaves...Heh heh!"

"You pervert. As if I'd have much use for it."

Speaking of Tayomi... Where is she?

"And on behalf of Yomi-chan," Hinamori smiled. "I'll pass this to you!"

Hinamori handed him an ice-blue pen and a photo frame, containing the picture of her, him, Shikuri and Hitsumi.

"Anyway Taicho, your last present is in that box over there!" Matsumoto interrupted his train of thoughts and pointed at a huge box in the corner of the room. "Goodnight Taicho! Happy birthday! Hope you like my little present!"

Matsumoto, Hinamori and Ukitake left the room. Smiling to herself, Matsumoto locked the doors to her Captain's office from the outside and giggled to herself.

"So, what was inside that box?"

"Yeah, and where's Tayomi-chan?"

Matsumoto grinned. "You'll know tomorrow."

Hitsugaya stared at the large, strange box. It was tipped on its side and looked as if it was asking him to open it. Sighing, he opened the box and a body fell out of it, giving him his second heart attack for the day. He quickly carried the body to the sofa and brushed away the girl's long black hair.

"Tayomi? What the hell are you doing in there?"

Tayomi did not reply and her eyes were closed. Hitsugaya found a note in her hands and quickly read it.

"Hi Taicho! I assumed you've opened the box! I hope you like it! Tayomi-chan, all knocked out by a drop of super strong sake! I always see you staring at her whenever she sleeps so... Have fun watching her sleep at night!"

Hitsugaya clenched his fists tight and let out the loudest scream ever.

"MATSU...MATSU...MATSUMOTOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

TRANSLATION:

*Red Smoke Escape
**Split and deviate, Azure Peacock!
*** Fire-playing, Crimson Princess, Beaded Mesh

Author's Note:
YAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY HITSU-CHAN! :D
Tayomi wishes you the same thing and hopes you like the pen she gave you.
I'm quite sure staring at Tayomi's fun ^.^
Anyways so that's almost the end to Wolffe and the 2nd New Espada will appear in the next chapter! :D
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter XD Thanks for reading! Please review! :D