Bleach 1. Chapter 1

Full summary

**"Let's play a game, Shiro-chan, it would be so fun." "Why are you doing this? Why won't you leave me alone?" "Because that is the game." The unnaturally cold chill ran down his spine as the creepy smile crept onto her angelic, child-like face – the face "Let's play a game, Shiro-chan, it would be so fun." "Why are you doing this? Why won't you leave me alone?" "Because that is the game." The unnaturally cold chill ran down his spine as the creepy smile crept onto her angelic, child-like face – the face of the devil, come to torment him in this never-ending sick, twisted game.**

So, this is the first chapter of Musei Tsuuro (which means 'Silent Corridors' in Japanese), and I didn't know what genre to put it in, so I put it in horror, though it will be more of a psychological thriller, rather than a horror. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy ^^

I do not in any way own Bleach - if only... Tite Kubo does. This disclaimer will only be posted once and will last the entire story, because I can assure you that I will not, between now and the end, buy the rights to Bleach ^^

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Chapter 1

Everything was quiet and peaceful, as the occupants of Seireitei had yet to awaken and face the chilly, winter day. Taking this period of time before the city woke up Hitsugaya Toushirou – captain of the tenth division – was inside his office dutifully working away on the stack of papers which had come in during the night. His goal was to finish up and leave his office before anybody could come visit him, namely his lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku; the woman made it her job to come in around midday every day but Hitsugaya knew she would make an exception today. So, getting into a rhythm, he steadily worked through the white sheets, time just flying by as he concentrated.

Pick up a piece of paper, fill it out, move it aside. Pick up a piece of paper, fill it out, move it aside. Pick up a piece of paper, fill it out, move it aside.

As the pile got smaller and smaller the light outside got brighter and brighter as the sun rose higher in the sky, bringing with it a new day. He could already start to hear the noises of day-to-day activities outside the four walls he sat in and his speed increased. Matsumoto could arrive any minute now, and he did not want to be there when she did get there. Finally he was done after only a scant few hours – it must have been some kind of record! However, he didn't have any time to stop and admire his great achievement because he was on a time limit. Standing up he walked as calmly as he could towards the door. Only a few more steps to go – he was going to make it!

Unfortunately he spoke too soon as the door flung wide open and a blur hurtled in and grabbed him into a big hug; all the air was squeezed out of him and he was suffocating as his lieutenant attempted to kill him while he could only flail about uselessly and try to push her away. _Damn, she has motivation today so her hugging strength has increased! _He heard a small laugh somewhere in the vicinity of the door, and he couldn't help but cry out 'hallelujah!' in his mind to that small voice which sounded like his saviour.

"Matsumoto-san he can't breathe!" Suddenly Hitsugaya felt air rush into his lungs as he was released from Matsumoto's crushing hug.

"Sorry Taicho! I just got so excited – it being your birthday and all!" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. He hated his birthdays yet everybody always seemed intent on forcing him to celebrate them. Shinigami lived a _very_ long time so what was the point in remembering every time he was _one_ year older – wouldn't it make more sense to celebrate every ten years or something like that?

"Happy birthday Toushirou-kun." He sighed as the small shinigami came closer and gave him a much gentler hug which he grudgingly accepted. He figured that if he didn't it would only be worse for him in the long run. After Hinamori had moved away she reached down behind her and picked up a present that he hadn't even noticed was there. The present was wrapped in baby blue coloured wrapping paper with the words 'Birthday Boy' written all over it, and he felt his eyebrows skyrocket before plunging back down into his permanent frown. He wasn't a child so why did they always insist on the childish wrapping papers? Both lieutenants looked at him expectantly and he sighed again before unwrapping whatever was inside. Inside was... watermelon? Did she run out of ideas or something?

"Isn't it a great present Hitsugaya-kun? I was thinking to myself what would shir- I mean Hitsugaya-kun want for his birthday and then I walked past a stall that was selling fresh watermelons and a light bulb went off! You don't get nearly enough of your favourite treat so why not buy some for you?" He saw that she looked extremely pleased with her purchase and so he forced a small smile that she accepted.

"Hinamori, I don't know what to say; thank you... Oh, and it's Hitsugaya Taicho." Hinamori beamed brightly when she heard him thank her, while at the same time mentally patting herself on the back. After placing the watermelon safely on his desk Hitsugaya turned to his lieutenant to see what she got him. Knowing her the way he did it would be something so completely ridiculous that he would have to question whether she did in fact have any brains – something he found himself having to do regularly.

"Taicho, I have a feeling that you're going to love this present!" Matsumoto tapped the side of her nose to indicate just how she knew that and Hitsugaya had to refrain from rolling his eyes while accepting her present wrapped in... pink wrapping paper? Just from that he could tell he wouldn't like it. Reluctantly he opened it and immediately the vein in his forehead started to twitch as he closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. Matsumoto smiled sheepishly at him and Hinamori looked on with worried eyes, wondering just what it was the lieutenant had given her friend.

"Well Taicho, me and Momo-chan need to get something to eat, so you can tell me about my great present later. Gotta go!" Practically dragging the smaller female along behind her, Matsumoto ran out of the office as her captain once more looked at the present. It was a stack of unfinished paperwork – _her_ unfinished paperwork – with a small note on top that read 'It's just what you've always wanted, ne, Taicho?" Just rereading the note he knew he couldn't keep it in, no matter how much he tried.

"MATSUMOTO!" If his division hadn't been awake before then they definitely were now. He sighed as he dropped the work on her desk knowing that it wouldn't matter whose desk it went on because it would all eventually end up in his completed pile. He was just about to leave his office to hunt down his lieutenant and slowly murder her... er, actually to go for a walk to stretch his stiff muscles, when a small hell butterfly floated in through his window to land delicately on the tip of his finger.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, there has been reports of increased hollow activity in Karakura Town-" _When was there not?_ He thought to himself.

"And so it has been decided that a small team of shinigami led by you will go to the Town and assist with the removal of the hollow. You will leave in one hour, and a team has already been prepared for you." The butterfly was just about to leave when it paused, realising that there was more to the message.

"Oh, and Hitsugaya Taicho, happy birthday." With that the insect flew away out the window and Hitsugaya stood there frowning. It was bad enough that people he knew wished him happy birthday, but for people he didn't know? It was even worse. At least he had a mission to do this birthday, which meant he wouldn't be dragged to a birthday party – not like last year... He shuddered at the memories that he had tried to suppress, and with good reason. It had been... a disaster in the best way to put it.

Shaking his head as though to get rid himself of all the bad memories, he walked out of the office to start to head towards the Senkaimon. The message had said one hour, but he had a feeling it would take that long just to get there – and by no fault of his own.

He was halfway across his division – a lot further than he thought he would be – when he was stopped by Ukitake walking towards him with a smile on his face and determination in his eyes. Hitsugaya thought about trying to outrun him – he figured he could probably make it to the entrance to the division before Ukitake caught him – but he knew it wouldn't be worth it. The man was like a dog with a bone when he wanted something. When he was close enough to talk he smiled pleasantly.

"Happy Birthday Toushirou! How does it feel to be growing up?" That comment started his eye twitching again, but he knew he could never lose his temper with the sickly man – he was just too nice, if not slightly annoying at times.

"It feels the same."

"Oh, well you must not have gotten your presents then, because I can assure you that you'd feel a lot different if you'd have gotten them. I think... yes I do... Here's my present for you now!" The man withdrew a large, bulky present from within the sleeve of his shinigami uniform – how had it stayed up there? – and gave it to the younger captain. He was dreading opening it because he already knew what it would be, but one look at the expectant smile on Ukitake's face had Hitsugaya opening the present to reveal a mountain of candy – as many types as you could think of.

"Th-thanks."

"You're welcome Toushirou, and if you want any more you can always drop by my office! Oh, is that the time? Well, I better be off, have fun." Ukitake placed one finger on his chin as he looked at Toushirou, seemingly deep in thought before a smile cracked away the thoughtful look as remembrance passed across his face.

"I think Matsumoto-san is organising a birthday party later today, so don't be late!" With that he walked away, humming a little tune to himself, leaving the poor boy with so much candy that he couldn't even carry it all. Thankfully that problem was solved in a few minutes when a hyperactive, pink haired solution ran by.

Yachiru was perfect to give the candy to when Matsumoto wasn't around, and luck was with him because she saw him at the same time he saw her. Her mouth watered when she saw the mountain of heaven sitting on the ground just waiting for her greedy hands to take it. Slinking over, Hitsugaya could see the want in her eyes.

"Snowy! That's a lot of candy you have there..." It was surprising that she didn't just take handfuls of the stuff and run – that's what she would normally do. But then again, it wasn't a normal day today so it wasn't as surprising as it should have been.

"Would you like some Yachiru?" The last thing Seireitei needed was a hyper Yachiru on a sugar high, but the last thing Hitsugaya needed was all this candy – and plus, he was going on a mission so he wouldn't have to suffer the consequences of his actions. Yachiru's eyes grew as wide as saucers at his offer, and her head bobbed up and down really quickly, her pink hair flying wildly about. She instantly dived on the pile and before he could even blink she had grabbed up the entire pile and was running away with her precious gift.

"Thanks Snowy!" He could only watch in amazement as not a single candy fell from the pile – he was so surprised he didn't even correct the incorrect name. With a slight shake of his head he started walking again to the Senkaimon, hoping for no more interruptions on his journey.

By the time he reached the gate – just on time – he had accumulated a wealth of... junk. There was no better word for it because that's what it was – junk. Why did people think he needed such useless things that if he _did_ need he would be perfectly capable of buying it himself?

"Taichooo!" _Oh God, please tell me she's __**not**__ coming._

"Matsumoto." He turned around to face her, the temperature dropping slightly – he hadn't forgotten about her _thoughtful _gift. Her smile faltered ever so slightly, and she kept an arms length of distance between them, the mischievous glint in her eye telling him she wasn't really scared of him. He sighed softly – he would never win with this woman.

"What do you want Matsumoto? I'm about to leave."

"I was just saying bye Taicho, don't be so mean!" he raised his eyebrow at that, taking in the pout on her face.

"Fine! There's this sale on in Karakura Mall, and I figured if _I_ can't go to it, you could pick me up some things." She looked at him with wide, pleading, puppy dog eyes.

"No Matsumoto, you spend enough of our division's money on useless items as it is – I won't have you wasting money when you're not even there."

"Pleeaassee Taichoooo?"

"No, and that's final." Shoving all his junk... gifts into her arms he stepped up to the gate which had opened when he was talking to his lieutenant.

"Behave while I'm gone, and do something with those things – I don't care what. And Matsumoto, do. Your. Paperwork." With that he left through the gate before he could hear about how mean he was being – though he knew that just because he couldn't hear her didn't mean she wasn't saying anything.

Stepping out of the gate onto just air Hitsugaya surveyed his surroundings with a small frown. Nothing seemed amiss, but he knew that he wouldn't have been sent unless there was a good reason – meaning he would just have to wait for something to be picked up on his senses. The rest of the team that had come with him fanned out around him to take watch so that there would be no gaps and the small captain couldn't help but be impressed with their initiative.

It hadn't been long since they arrived when Hitsugaya picked up an extremely large reiatsu heading straight for them. All his muscles tensed as he waited, but as it got closer he released the grip on his zanpakuto and relaxed back into his state of semi-tenseness that he always had on a mission.

"Kurosaki." He greeted the boy whom had dropped out of shunpo in front of him, hating the enormous height difference between them meaning that he needed to look up in order to see the boy's features clearly – to get around this he just didn't look at the boy, instead looking out in front of him.

"Yo Toushirou. What'cha doing here in Karakura Town?" Hitsugaya sighed in frustration at the stupid berry.

"Baka, it's Hitsugaya Taicho to you, and I'm here because there's been an increase in hollow activity; not that you would have been able to tell with your incredible lack of skill when it comes to sensing reiatsu." Hitsugaya was not in the mood to talk to the orange-headed boy, and hopefully he would realise that by the snappish tones the small captain used. However, intelligence was not one of Ichigo's strong points.

"You know Toushirou-"

"Hitsugaya Taicho."

"-You really shouldn't be so snappish, and if you always frown like that you'll get massive wrinkles." This only served to make his frown deepen.

"Was there something you wanted Kurosaki?" Ichigo moved to stand next to Hitsugaya and leant backwards in the air, bringing his hands up behind his head in a casual pose, his own permanent scowl in place. _And he lectures me on facial expressions?_

"Nah, I was just curious as to what you were doing. Though, you don't need to be here, I've got everything covered – like usual."

"There's going to be a _war_ soon Kurosaki; any increase in reiatsu in Karakura Town – no matter how insignificant it may be – could potentially be the start of the war, and so whether you have 'everything covered' or not means very little in Seireitei." Ichigo let out a soft sigh, his features softening slightly as he looked at the tense captain out of the corner of his eye.

"You know Toushirou; you should lighten up a little. Sure there's this war on the horizon, and Aizen will probably stop at nothing to win, but there's no point worrying so much about it; he'll come when he comes and the only thing we can do is train to be strong enough to beat him when he does eventually arrive." Hitsugaya felt like snorting at the teen's words. Just in those few optimistic words he showed the young captain his lack of experience and age.

"It's Hitsugaya Taicho. Kurosaki, you're right in that we all need to train to become stronger – that much is a given – but we can't just act like nothing is wrong. Aizen is smart – far smarter than either you or I, I'm sure – which means we must always be on guard, we must always be ready for anything, we-"

Both their heads snapped around to look in the direction behind them; if even Kurosaki had felt it then it meant that it was huge! A reiatsu signature had just popped up out of seemingly nowhere, and it was travelling at a breakneck speed toward Hitsugaya, his team, and the substitute shinigami. Within the blink of an eye both boys had drawn their swords from their backs and turned around to face whatever was coming head on. The captain noticed that his team had also done the same; not even breaking formation. Toushirou frowned as he concentrated on the energy, and his eyes widened as he realised what felt wrong with it – it wasn't one being, but instead it was multiple hollows – the amount possibly in the hundreds.

Suddenly they were upon them and Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel how small his team seemed now compared to the multitudes of hollows swarming around them and overwhelming them with sheer numbers alone. As his blade easily sliced cleanly through hollow after hollow, the prodigy's mind noticed that even though there were a lot of them they weren't overly strong. And while he and Ichigo were both strong and standing next to each other, he wasn't so arrogant as to believe that they had been what attracted the hollows to them – he did have his seal on for one thing, meaning his power was lowered.

He didn't know how long the fighting had gone on for, or how much longer he could go on for; his stamina was excellent, as was expected of a captain, but he didn't remember the last time he had fought for such a long time and his muscles were definitely keeping him aware of that fact. With a swish of his blade another hollow cut cleanly in two, and Hitsugaya pushed himself away from the area where all the other shinigami were fighting, to stand not too far away. Surprisingly none of the hollows noticed his absence, and so nothing came after him. Frowning slightly, he wondered as to the reasons behind this. It was almost as though the vast number of hollows were trying to hide something... Without even turning around Toushirou addressed the person he knew would be standing behind him.

"How long are you going to just stand there?"

"Ah, so the little captain **did** know I was there! I was beginning to wonder." Hitsugaya slowly turned around until he was facing the thing that was able to pass through undetected due to the reiatsu of the hollows. It was oddly human-like in appearance, with roughly the same type of build as a slim, yet still muscular, male around the mid-20's age group. It wore a tattered white cloth around its middle, exposing its sculpted chest, and in the place just below its ribcage there was a large hole – big enough for somebody to fit their hand through.

The strange, unusual shape of its head was what threw Hitsugaya; it was like a normal head on the bottom part of its face, until it reached just above eye level and then it started to form two large horn-like protrusions out the top of its head – almost as though the arrancar was in its released state already. However, he was getting this niggling feeling that this thing wasn't an arrancar – he didn't even want to think about it, because if it wasn't an arrancar then what was it? As they stared at each other the things mouth started to curve upwards into an evil smirk, its eyes glistening with malice.

"I was hoping the orange-haired shinigami would find me first – he seems to be the stronger out of you two – but it would seem luck is not on my side today. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with killing you." Two teal eyes narrowed in suppressed anger at its words – there was no way that stupid excuse for a shinigami was stronger than him, an experienced captain!

"You are right in that you have no luck on your side, but not in the way you think. I am Hitsugaya Toushirou, captain of the 10th division, and I doubt you will be the one doing any killing today."

The thing smirked again, as though it was thinking of some private joke that he was not aware of. Suddenly its smirk turned into a genuine, large grin which revealed all its incredibly pointy teeth – and the small captain had no doubts that they would be very sharp. For some reason the smile was even worse than the smirk, but he no idea why.

"Is that true _taicho_?" The mocking tone served to anger Hitsugaya more, but he didn't lose his temper – though the air surrounding them seemed to drop a few degrees. Because it was in winter the air was already a frigid temperature, with the thick, fluffy snow covering the ground a testament to that fact.

"Well, since you were so _kind_ as to introduce yourself, it would only be fair of me to do the same – don't you agree? I'm Anatano Unmei, one of the very, very few Vasto Lorde. Good bye _taicho_." Hitsugaya felt his eyes widen when the thing introduced itself, and he only had enough time to bring his sword up in front of him to block the deadly blow coming towards his chest. The power was incredible and he was thrown backwards into the building ten metres behind him, cracking the bricks and making a very large dent. The thing threw back its head and let out a loud cackling laugh.

"Maybe I underestimated you little taicho; maybe you are worth a bit of a play before I dispose of you." Suddenly it was in front of him and grabbing the front of his uniform, hauling him to his feet. He hadn't even seen the hollow move it had been that fast! He had never seen a Vasto Lorde before, and he had hoped he would never see one – if even 10 of them stormed Seireitei the shinigami would be doomed, so that pretty much told everything there was to tell of his chances. Getting out of this train of thought he concentrated on the battle – if it could be called that.

Moving Hyourinmaru in a practiced arc he attempted to ram it through the abdomen of his opponent, but before it came even close he felt his blade being parried and then a thin, metallic blade sliding easily in between two of the bones in his ribcage. A metallic taste tainted his mouth and he knew it to be blood, but when had the thing moved? He was vaguely aware of the fact that he was now lying on the snow, his blood staining the white colour to a vibrant red. He could feel, apart from the stab in his chest, a wound in his abdomen which had painfully pierced through his kidney. It was just too fast for him. He saw two feet walk into his vision and he rolled painfully onto his stomach to push himself to his feet. He was a captain damnit! And he would not go down without a fight.

"Soten ni... zase, Hyou-Hourinmaru!" He managed to get out the release phrase of his zanpakuto, and a magnificent dragon of ice came bearing out of the end of the sword, smashing right into the hollow pushing it backwards a few feet. The elation the small captain felt was soon dashed when he watched in shock as the hollow raised its hands and grabbed the ice dragon before crushing it into a million pieces of ice. The power level between the two of them seemed almost as great as the difference in power between the captain commander and an academy student.

He heard more laughter and he was once more flying through the air, landing on the snow once more. How could he fight something that moved too fast for him to keep track of its movements? He tried to push himself up, but apparently that last hit had done more damage than he had thought, and he fell back onto the snow as the cold wetness seeped through his clothes and chilled his skin. He felt a clawed foot press onto his back, between the shoulder blades, and push just enough to restrict his breathing.

"What's wrong little taicho? Shouldn't you be getting up to fight me? You are a captain after all – I would have thought a captain would have been made of tougher stuff than this. You really are-" He removed his foot from Hitsugaya's back and drew the captain up so that they were eye to eye. "Pathetic." Toushirou landed on the snow, unable to feel the newest injury just inflicted, but knowing it was there.

What would all the other captains think when they found out that he was beaten so easily? _I guess I will be late to that party Ukitake-san_. He felt his eyelids becoming heavy, and unable to keep them up any longer Hitsugaya allowed them to droop shut, blocking his view of the world – though he couldn't see much, just a multitude of white. As he lay there losing his grip on the world, all the background sounds faded into nothingness, leaving him feeling as though somebody had placed very good earmuffs on his head.

Suddenly, he felt odd, as though his muscles once more had strength – not much, but enough to look up. And so that's exactly what he did. Looking up and opening his bleary eyes he was accosted by the blinding whiteness, but for some reason it felt different than before – more familiar and comforting. With a small groan the small captain picked himself up off the ground with a lot more ease than he thought possible with his wounds, but looking down he was shocked to see that they weren't there anymore. Looking around surprised, his strength returning with every passing second, he attempted to work out just what was happening.

A familiar roar in the distance, coming ever closer, finally clued him into where he was. Just as this realisation hit him the great ice dragon Hyourinmaru landed gracefully in front of him, confirming his suspicions – he was in his inner world.

"Hyourinmaru, what am I doing here? I should be out there fighting!" A snort came from the dragon sending icy gales towards Hitsugaya.

"Fighting? Is that what you're calling it? I brought you in here to save you – you were no match for a vasto lorde." A small frown marred the boy's features as he thought over his partner's words.

"What do you mean 'were'? I'm not dead yet – I still have a chance!" The great dragon reared up onto its hind legs, spreading its wings to their full extension, and he had to admit that it was impressive; though he didn't feel at all intimidated which he knew had been the aim of it.

"Foolish child-" Said child snorted at the word usage. "I never picked you as so arrogant as to believe you actually stood a chance against that thing! Now, I don't intend to let you die; so as we speak I'm temporarily healing the wounds on your physical body, so that when you wake up you will be able to fight the vasto lorde."

"What difference will it make if I die now or later? You just said that I'm no match for it!"

"That is true little one; while you are no match for it with my powers it is more than enough to fight it with your own powers." The sharp retort died in his throat as the captain turned these words over in his mind. They made no sense at all – he didn't understand them.

"What are you talking about? My powers are your powers, and your powers are my powers; we are separate, yet the same."

"That is a good answer my master, but this time I am not speaking metaphorically, nor do I desire an answer from you; I am speaking quite literally; once you sever all bonds you can realise your own potential, and only then will we truly be one. So now go and fight." Before he could say anything else in further protest, Hitsugaya felt the familiar sensation that came with being pushed out of his inner world. When he opened his eyes again it was to see the snow which, in comparison to his inner world, seemed nowhere near as clean or pure.

It was as though no time had passed while he had been in his inner world – though he knew at least some time had passed. The hollow was still making its way painstakingly slowly towards him, but the difference was that he felt completely revitalised and whole. With little effort he pulled himself up to his unimpressive height of 4 foot 4, but with an icy aura making up for his lack of height by surrounding the area in an icy mist. He noticed the surprised look on the hollow's face, because he had been sure the captain was almost dead, but it soon turned into a face cracking grin when he realised play time wasn't over yet.

"My, my, you are the surprising one aren't you?" However, Hitsugaya was no longer listening, and instead concentrating on the multitude of snow around him. What he was about to do was completely illegal, but he figured that it was justified as a small pale hand rose to his chest and seemed to grip at nothing as it pulled away. However, it hadn't been nothing, and the raising power testified to that as the captain finished pulling away the seal on his chest. It should have been an impossible feat, but he _was_ a genius after all and had found a small weakness in it.

Snow. This was _his_ element, he would be damned if he lost on his own playing field. With that thought in mind he started raise his reiatsu up and the snow was swirling in a flurry of activity around him, obscuring visibility. This didn't bother him as he projected his senses, relying on them solely to be his eyes. A small flicker in his 'vision' caught his attention and he brought his blade up to block the attack heading for his leg. Pushing away, he jumped back a few feet, only to block again when he landed on the soft ground.

Using only his senses he was able to track all of the vasto lorde's movements, being unencumbered by the fact that he couldn't see how fast it was travelling. Again and again metal rang on metal with the sounds muffled by the snow and the wind howling. To combat Toushirou's growing reiatsu the hollow had also raised its power, and so the game of who could go higher had started while they continued to dance their deadly dance with the swords. Hitsugaya could feel the cold, the snow, the wind, and the ice all around him, giving him power. Why hadn't he noticed it before? He couldn't dwell on the fact that he had been blind, but after talking with his zanpakuto the shroud had been lifted.

With a swift stab of his sword he felt contact with skin, and he yanked his blade away roughly, a spray of crimson the only colour in the black and white world. He raised his sword gracefully up to the sky, black clouds gathering with the apex the tip of the sword, as his reiatsu rose exponentially – higher than it had ever been before.

"Soten ni zase, Hyourinmaru!" Thunder rumbled overhead as the ice dragon started to form from the tip, all the moisture in the air clumping together to form a dragon by far bigger than ever. He was being given strength by the weather, weather that he himself was creating with his power alone, and he felt invigorated. With a graceful downwards arc of his sword, the dragon came crashing down towards the surprised vasto lorde, who looked as though it was having trouble keeping its feet.

It was only then, as ice cascaded onto the ground and the hollow was driven further downwards by the relentless attack that Hitsugaya noticed that he couldn't feel the vasto lorde's reiatsu, and hadn't been able to for some time as it had been smothered by his own overwhelming reiatsu. Shunpo-ing down after the attack withdrew he saw the crippled body of his opponent that hadn't been fast enough to dodge Hyourinmaru. The hollow was alive, but only just, and so he sealed his shikai and rammed his blade through the hollow's heart, purifying the creature that could only look up at him with incredible loathing and hate. As the body dematerialised into numerous spirit particles the captain allowed his spirit power to return back to normal, having to work slightly harder to control it without the seal.

The snow settled all around him and it was at that point that he remembered Kurosaki and the rest of his team fighting the other hollows. But when he looked they were nowhere to be seen. Throwing his senses out to find them he found a small flicker of the impressive reiatsu of the substitute shinigami and without hesitating he made his way over, taking note of how much extra snow there was covering the ground from when he had started fighting.

It turned out that during his fight he must have accidently buried the other shinigami in a layer of snow, and so he had to work and dig out the blue, frozen people. Kurosaki looked the best out of them, but even he was turning blue around the edges.

"M-m-man Toushirou, you s-sure are stronger th-th-than I thought." The teen's teeth chattered wildly as he attempted to speak, and because it was his fault for their state, the captain didn't correct his title and instead did the job of taking them all back to Urahara's shop one by one to get them healed and warmed up.

When it was done he sat on the ground surrounded by blanket clad people in a too hot room, though he didn't complain. He was feeling bone weary and tired and only wanted to sleep; it didn't help that he was starting to feel the pain of his injuries again, which meant Hyourinmaru's temporary healing was wearing off. Urahara sat across for him staring at him from under the brim of his hat, a fan perched in front of the bottom of his face making it impossible to tell what the man was thinking just off his facial expression.

"Eh, Hitsugaya Taicho, that was quite a mess you made back there, and poor little me will have to play cleanup behind you. Though, that was an impressive power you had – been holding back on us all these years, ne?" Toushirou sighed at Urahara's words; he seriously had no idea what the man was talking about – sure he broke the seal, but the strange man would have already known how much power the small captain would have without the seal.

The rest of the time passed uneventfully until it was eventually time to return back to Soul Society and as Hitsugaya walked through the gate after receiving a reluctant hug from Kurosaki – who felt guilty for not buying him a present – he decided to push the events of the day from his mind. Urahara watched him leave, his fan still covering his face.

"I have a feeling the next couple of weeks will be very interesting for you Hitsugaya Taicho." The words were spoken to the empty room, and the person they were directed at was already long gone.

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So what did you all think of the first chapter? I would love to hear your thoughts, so please review XD


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, thanks to all you guys who reviewed ^^ I wasn't really expecting any reviews yet since it was just the start of the story, so you guys made my day XD So thanks to Sapphire Insanity, cial12, Kuriseteina and Kitsura E. Anyway, this chapter is a lot shorter than the other one because it's just a sort of bridging chapter, and the story _really_ starts next chapter ^^

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Chapter 2

"I'm so bored!" The loud booming voice reverberated through the many hallways surrounding the room, filling the air with annoyance and anger. Everybody knew that as a result of this they would need to stay away from the room and their easily angered master. Inside the room the sole occupant paced agitatedly, grinding their feet into the ground with every turn, wearing small holes in the threadbare carpet, hinting that this wasn't the first time this had happened. With a vicious snarl he grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a small bedside table, and threw it with all his might at the unfortunate wall, creating a decent sized hole to the outside.

Through it he could see his kingdom spread out before him and hear the screams and wails of sinful souls in eternal torture. _Music to my ears_... However, not even his favourite sound could distract him from his ever growing boredom.

Much, much further down one of the endless hallways in a small room, three beings sat in front of a bank of monitors around a little table, which had been crammed into the tiny space, drinking a suspicious black sludge mixture. The mood was definitely better than outside the room as the three talked and joked about anything and everything; the job they were meant to be doing out of mind completely.

"And so I said back to that arrogant axeman 'If you had been so great in your previous life then why're you here shovelling muck?" The other two roared with laughter as their friend continued with the story which he had been telling for almost two hours.

"Ouch! What did he say back?"

"That's where it gets even more hilarious! He said-"

"-To get back to work." Three heads snapped around to the new presence that had poked their head into the room, unable to actually enter the small space. The mood sobered instantly for three seconds before the complaining started.

"Aw, but bosssss! Nothing has every happened – and I doubt anything will ever happen!" The other two nodded their heads in agreement, but kept their tongues – in a place like this if you didn't keep it securely in your mouth than there was a high chance of losing it.

"I don't care if you're bored, do your damn job! If something were to happen then it wouldn't be you who would be punished it would be me." An arm reached in and grabbed the being by its neck, pulling until all air was cut off. The two were almost nose-to-nose and the first cringed away slightly due to the bad breath.

"Do I make myself clear?" The menace was obvious; dripping off each word as it snapped from the disgusting tongue.

"Yes sir!" It was hard to get the words out, but he managed to forcefully, yet painfully, push them from his throat, which was then released and the being left to go about his other duties. As soon as the three were alone, one of the other two started to snigger which started a chain reaction until all three were once more hysterically laughing.

"Ah, you should have seen your face! Who the hell does he think he is anyway? 'If something were to happen then it wouldn't be you who would be punished it would be me' what the hell does he think's going to happen?"

"Yeah I know – it's not like there's even a being strong enough to threaten the existence of the demon lord. I doubt any of those stupid shinigami or demon wannabes could even force their way into Hell, let alone kill its ruler."

"I'm pretty sure those 'demon wannabes' prefer to be called hollows – you know, because of their hole!" Laughter once more ensued at the unimaginative name, and soon the three were once more continuing with their laughter, jokes and stories, forgetting about their designated jobs. For hours they continued, like they did every other day, and hours ticked by quickly. Soon the little calendar on the table clicked over, the only time telling device in the entire room. _20__th__ December_.

"You know mate, you should really ask that chick out – I've seen the way you guys eye each other up."

"No way! Like I would ever date a damned soul – unlike you I actually care about what others think of me; that would totally ruin my reputation. Imagine if something like that-" A sharp beep filled the room, loud and clear cutting off the rest of the sentence. That sound hadn't been heard for millennia, and the only time it had been heard was during their training day when the monitors were first put in and they needed to learn how to use them.

The three froze in place, terrified of looking at the screen, until the bravest of the three slowly swivelled around, his eyes taking in the fast writing, his face dropping a little more with every word. Suddenly he stood up, upsetting the table and pushing it into his friends as his tail made room for him. He reached over and tore out a print-out of the information and ran out of the room as fast as he possibly could, his friends looking after him wide-eyed.

He payed no mind to anybody else as he raced down the halls, pushing past anybody who got in his way, until he reached the room that held the agitated being, who hadn't been calmed down in the slightest. With only slight hesitation he knocked on the door and waited for the 'come in' before opening it at a polite and respectful speed – he really wanted to keep his head after all.

"What! This had better be good – can't you see I'm busy?" The harsh, gravelly tones wore harshly on the eardrums, but he ignored it as he approached his master.

"M-my Lord, a s-surge in power levels was just detected in a h-human town called K-Karakura Town."

"So? Ever since that arrogant shinigami defected to lead the wannabes in Hueco Mundo we've been getting surges all over the place, both in the human world and the hollow realm."

"I understand my Lord, but this power surge was high enough to be detected by the advanced machinery in Lab#281." The more powerful being stopped his persistent pacing and whirled around to face the lesser being. Snatching the piece of paper away he read it quickly, a frown coming to his face. With a violent snarl he ripped the piece of paper to shreds, his blood-red eyes flashing dangerously to show his anger.

Those words must be mistaken – it was impossible! His men had been keeping an eye on all the realms since the dawn of time, documenting each person's powers and progress to make sure no one could even possibly be near good enough to enter Hell without being sent there as one of the damned, let alone powerful enough for this level! Unless... A lower snarl from the back of his throat rumbled out of his mouth as he stalked closer to the cowering demon.

The only way this could have happened if people hadn't been doing their jobs; hadn't properly documented every person in the realms'. How many more people were this powerful? He grabbed the demon around the throat and lifted him into the air until only the tip of his tail grazed the ground.

"M-m-my L-Lor... Pl-pl-ease..." However, mercy was not a trait given to the Demon Lord, and with a quick flash his clawed fist had retracted only to come swiping forwards, the sharp claws raking through the tough flesh as though it were water. Still agitated and angry due to his boredom, he threw the dead demon through the hole in his wall as far as he could, satisfied that he could vent, if only a little bit, of his anger. Looking down at the confetti that had held the terrible news his eyes flashed before settling into deep thought.

A slow smirk started to replace the ever-present anger as ways to decrease his boredom filled his mind. It was impossible, yes, but maybe – just maybe – it was true, and if that was the case then a direct confrontation would be impossible; he would need to weaken the soul, break it and then destroy it. However, he wasn't the right person for the job, no, he knew someone who would be absolutely perfect – and she would love to do it, he knew.

Moving over to recline in the luxurious chair in the centre of the room – the only piece of furniture remaining untouched – he clicked the claws of his thumb and ring finger together, emitting a loud, obnoxious ring that echoed through his castle. Within moments the doors opened to allow the summoned person access to the room beyond, and the Demon Lord couldn't help but marvel at the site of her – the only damned soul to be allowed into his castle; his right-hand person.

"Clara, so good of you to join me; now correct me if I'm wrong, but you love children don't you Clara?" An evil grin came upon the soul's face at the mention of children – she loved children all right; loved to hear them scream in pain and curse her very existence before she ended their fragile little lives – but that was before she died; she hadn't come across one child in Hell yet. The other being in the chair continued to smirk at her reaction. _Just as I thought, perfect for this job_.

"Well, you see, we have this lonely little child who really needs a playmate – would you like to be his playmate Clara?"

"Playmate my Lord? I would be delighted to; we really can't have him feeling lonely, ne?"

"I had a feeling you would say that; listen closely..."

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Always love to hear from you, so review ^^


	3. Chapter 3

Now, it's time for the story to really begin ^^ And thanks to Sapphire Insanity for reviewing, you're amazing XD

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Chapter 3

Hitsugaya lounged backwards against the railing of the porch he stood in front of. After he had returned back from his mission in the Living World he had been dragged to a dreadful party straight after seeing Unohana – even worse than the previous year – and everybody had been invited. It hadn't been until the next day that he was even able to give in his report on what had happened in the Living World, though the Sou-Taicho had not been impressed – and neither had any of the other captains.

He had said he would let the matter of releasing his own seal pass because there was obviously need for it, but nobody believed him about the Vasto Lorde – if he had been them he wouldn't have believed it either considering how unrealistic it sounded – **one** captain beating a Vasto Lorde! Encountering a Vasto Lorde! However, the fact of the matter was that he had caused widespread damage to the area, hospitalised his entire team plus Kurosaki, inflicted injuries on numerous innocents with his reiatsu, and had buried the Town in thick layers of snow. To say he was being punished would be an understatement. At least it wasn't too bad – just patrol duty in Rukongai by himself for a few weeks, nothing he couldn't handle.

With a small sigh he pushed away from the railing, trying not to think about the mountains of paperwork awaiting his return – that was probably why this was his punishment because they knew he would either go insane thinking about it – or not thinking about it – or he would go insane, literally, when he saw what he needed to catch up on. So far everything seemed fine – no stray hollows, no residents trying to kill each other – and because of it, plus the lack of any real work, he was feeling quite bored.

Walking through the area he noticed that people tried not to look directly at him, though that itself wasn't uncommon – it actually even brought back painful memories from his time spent in Rukongai as a child – but it was the occasional stare that really got to him. It was a mixture of respect and fear, and he didn't know if he liked it or not; it showed to him that those around him knew that he could kill them on a whim if he so chose, and as a result were frightened by it. Looking at the lowering sun he decided to call it a day, and so changed directions to head towards the small house he was staying in.

Dinner was uneventful and silent, and after trying to figure out how to occupy his time afterwards, he decided to just turn in for the night to be ready for yet another day of patrol duty the next day. As he sunk into the sheets of his surprisingly comfortable bed, he realised that he actually was quite tired, and so found that sleep easily claimed him.

_Clash!_ Hitsugaya immediately bolted upright, his vision blurry from sleep, and he scanned the dark room, trying to detect anything out of the ordinary. Rubbing a hand across his face to dispel his weariness, he lightly left the warm confines of his bed to find out what had awoken him from his sleep. Judging by the lighting, or lack thereof, he concluded that it was at least midnight-one o'clock – or around that time.

After checking through all the rooms of his relatively small house and finding nothing amiss, Hitsugaya slowly walked back to his bedroom with a suspicious frown on his face. It was only at the doorway to his room that he finally felt something – though what it was he had no clue. It was a cold feeling that washed through his body, setting his nerves alight with a numbing coldness, the likes of which he had never felt and as such couldn't suppress the shiver which raced down his spine. Because cold was his element he rarely felt it as much as most people, but this type of cold was different, more... unnatural.

Muscles tensed in preparation, Hitsugaya tried to sense what was giving him this feeling, but he felt nothing, not even a small shred of reiatsu. It was quite unnerving, and after standing there with his hand on the door for ages he finally decided to go in, despite all his instincts screaming at him to find the source. At least now he was completely awake, and more alert than he had been. Stepping cautiously into the room, again, nothing was amiss and so he tried to shrug off the very strong feeling of being watched. He had already established that there was nothing there – he couldn't see, hear or sense anything – and so this feeling was obviously irrational.

Lying back down on the bed he tried to fall back asleep, but it wouldn't come because his mind was too awake, and his body hadn't yet relaxed. Everything was completely silent, like an oppressive blanket had been thrown over him. His own breathing, though soft, sounded thunderously loud to his own ears in comparison to the lack of noise around him. After almost an hour he felt his muscles slowly relax after such an uneventful period and he was finally able to succumb to the sleep that he so desired.

"Toushirou..." His eyes snapped open, goose bumps rising on his skin. The voice had been softly spoken, but it held that same unnatural iciness to it that set his nerves on edge, and he had been unable to tell the person's gender. He sat up and looked around the room that was still darkened, meaning not much time had passed since he had fallen asleep the second time.

"Who's there?" Nobody answered him, though he hadn't really expected them to. His eyes scanned the room, a deep frown on his face. If this was somebody's idea of a joke then they had another thing coming for them, because he would not forget this. Suddenly something frigidly icy touched his arm and he jumped into the air before whirling around on the bed, the sheets tangling all around him and restricting further movement. However, nothing was there, though he could still feel the bone-deep coldness in his skin on his arm.

This was getting a little weird, and so he decided to put an end to it by reaching out to his zanpakuto. As he leant over the side of the bed in order to reach the sword he once more felt the strangely disturbing icy feeling on his back, and before he knew it he was falling head first into the ground, unable to stop himself because of how tangled he was in the sheets. After finally getting out of the sheets he stood up, but stopped halfway between standing as the peals of laughter broke through the stifling silence. His eyes narrowed in confusion as he stood fully up to face the person with the laugh that sounded strangely like Matsumoto. Straining his eyes in the darkness he tried to make out the laughing person, but was unable to.

"You should have seen yourself Taicho! If only I had my camera with me." He spin around to face the voice which came from right behind him and was shocked to actually see Matsumoto standing there, drunken grin in place. Sighing irritably he walked away from her and started to sort out his sheets. He should have known it was her – who else would play such a ridiculous trick on him?

"What are you doing here Matsumoto? Shouldn't you be passed out in my office or in your own bed around this time?"

"Yeah, but you've been gone for a few days Taicho and I missed you!" Before he could stop her she had grabbed him for one of her bone-crushing hugs, and he could only flail about useless before managing to push her away. She was by far the most annoying woman he had ever met in his life!

"Go home Matsumoto, I need to sleep." She pouted but slowly started to walk towards the door.

"You're no fun Taicho, oh well, maybe later, ne?" She turned around on this last sentence, and he couldn't be sure, but for a split second it looked as though her eyes flashed and he could sense that same coldness from before, but it was gone so quick he figured he had just imagined it. After she was gone he sighed again before settling into the sheets and falling asleep.

The next morning the bright light filtered through the window, waking up the small captain. As he stayed still for a moment he realised that he had overslept, and then the events of the previous night came back to him. With a groan he silently cursed his lieutenant as he got ready for the new day.

For the rest of the day everything remained normal, and he was even able to occupy his time by stopping a brawl in the less wealthy part of the district. Throughout the day, though, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, but choose to ignore it. For the next couple of days everything remained fine, except on the ninth day of his patrol duty, the 30th of December, it poured with rain.

Standing outside in the rain was always a pleasant experience, because the cold drops of water helped to lower the temperature and to cool and relax him. He stood still with his feet a comfortable distance apart, his hands ready to grab his sword off his back if the need arose. That was how he stood most days, just waiting for something to happen. However, because of the rain nobody was outside, and so far he had detected no hollows. The wind whipped and tore at anything not secured down, the harsh drops of water pelting downwards like little bullets.

The vicious howling of the wind made it near impossible to hear any other sound; the rain had made his hair heavy and so he was constantly swiping at soaked strands that plastered to his face so that his sight wouldn't be obscured.

Hitsugaya stood motionless as loud thunder clapped over the sound of the wind, and occasionally bright bolts of lightning would appear, illuminating the dark scene briefly before settling back into the darkness. As he stood he suddenly started to feel extremely cold, and he knew it had nothing to do with the rain relentlessly lashing out at him. He had been able to convince himself that the unnerving feelings he had felt that strange night he had with Matsumoto had all been in his head, and he was helped with this by the fact that he didn't feel that coldness again.

But here it was now. He felt a headache blossom behind his eyes – something that had been happening frequently the last week or so since arriving in Rukongai – but now it was ten times worse, and he had a feeling that was due to this strange feeling. He wouldn't call it a reiatsu signature, because that wasn't what it was. It was more of an... aura. It seeped through every pore in his body, down to his very core, bringing with it depressing thoughts.

Why was he here in Rukongai? He had defeated the Vasto Lorde – even though it should have been an impossible feat – yet nobody had even believed that he had seen one. Why was he being punished for saving Karakura Town – and why would he lie about the strength of the hollow? Surely Kurotshuchi Taicho's machines in the 12th division had picked it up on its sensors? The way he saw it was that he was being punished for being too strong and destructive – but that's what they needed in the war against Aizen!

Ever since Aizen had left there had been undercurrents of unrest amongst the shinigami, as though they were all waiting for the next captain to just up and leave to join that traitor – they were probably trying to make sure he was obedient to them so that he wouldn't defect.

His thoughts wandered as he thought of that bastard that everybody had looked up to. When Hinamori had woken up she hadn't been the same, and he had Aizen to blame for that, and even though she seemed fine on the outside and went against what Aizen was doing, he knew that deep down she was messed up in the head and would revert back to her old ways if she actually saw him again. Her current, fragile emotional state was all his fault! If he had have been stronger, smarter, he would have figured it out!

But the truth was that he was weak, way too weak to fight Aizen, too weak to protect Momo, too weak to save her or anyone else from that monster.

Hitsugaya felt the dark thoughts clouding his mind, and it took him a good few minutes to resurface before he drowned in them. They were his thoughts; he knew that, but never before had he let them get so out of hand as to almost consume him – what was happening to him? His headache had increased some more and it was almost blinding, though the natural cold helped to alleviate some of his pain.

"Aww, poor wittle Shiro-chan; too weak to do anything." He couldn't move as the voice whispered in his ear, and he couldn't tell whether that was because he physically couldn't move or because his legs had suddenly turned to jelly at the sound of the chilling voice, and if he moved he would probably fall over. Cold air blew onto his neck and he shuddered, cold shivers constantly wracking his body.

He didn't know why this thing was having this much affect on him – he was a captain and should be above these emotions, such as irrational fear.

"Want to play a game with me Shiro-chan? I'm very bored." Suddenly the cold breath on his neck was gone and a light breeze, dissimilar to the howling wind raging around him, moved past his leg. When he looked in front of him he saw a small child who came up to his waist, with brown pigtails and a light pink yukata.

She didn't seem to be getting wet at all, the rain seemingly rolling off an invincible shield around her small frame. Her face was being angled downward so he couldn't see her eyes, but she lifted her head and smirked at him; it was an expression that didn't belong on such a young face. However, it was her eyes that got to him, as he locked his own ones with hers. They were so incredibly dark, like little black holes on her face which sucked in everything around them, and he felt himself unexplainably drawn to them.

Her features were soft, yet there was an underlying hardness to them, and the twisted smirk leant the beautiful face an evil air. She was looking at him expectantly, and after swallowing a few times to gain some moisture in his unnusually dry throat he was able to respond.

"Who are you?"

"What do you mean Shiro-chan?"

"What is your name and how do you know who I am?"

"My name is Clara, and you're a captain – everybody knows who you are. Do you want to play with me?" It was an innocent enough explanation, however she still wore her smirk, and her eyes shined brightly in mirth as though silently laughing at a private joke, and he got the sneaking suspicion that the joke was about him.

"I'm busy, go play with someone else."

"Aw, you're no fun Shiro-chan!"

"Stop calling me Shiro-chan, it's Hitsugaya-Taicho." She laughed sweetly.

"Of course, I'm sorry _Taicho_." She reached at a hand and clamped it around his wrist and his eyes widened at the feeling. Before the cold 'aura' had been distant, but now it felt as though it was being flooded into his veins through her hand, and he instantly had no doubts as to the source of it.

"I would really like to play with you – please say yes." His jaw locked as he looked at her staring at him with a strange glint in her eyes, different from the previous mirth. He knew the only way to get rid of her would be to agree, and he really did want to get rid of her all of a sudden.

"Fine, I'll play with you." Her smirk turned into a smile that didn't reach her eyes, though they clearly showed that she was extremely happy with his response.

"Good answer Shiro-chan, ja ne." With that she started to walk off until he couldn't see her anymore due to the weather. He stood there confused, wondering just what it was that had happened, but for once his brilliant mind failed to produce an answer. Shaking his head he forced the girl to the back of his mind so that he could continue on with his job, though every now and again her evil, smirking face would pop back into his mind.

Finally, after the long day, he dragged himself into his house, water dripping all over the floor as it rolled of his saturated form. He needed a nice long bath and dry clothes before he could do anything, but as he walked further into the room he got the familiar feeling of being watched, though this time he knew that somebody was there because as soon as he tensed he heard soft laughter that, to anybody else's ears would have sounded innocent, but to him sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"Welcome home Shiro-chan." He turned around, expecting to face the evil child from earlier that day, but when he saw who it was he felt a frown come across his features. _What the?_ In front of him sitting in a chair was none other than Hinamori – though he had been sure that she wasn't the one who had been laughing.

"I wanted to visit you but you weren't here, so I decided to just wait for you – I hope you don't mind Shiro-chan."

"It's Hitsugaya-Taicho." His usual reply didn't hold any of its usual force, instead coming out a lot weaker than he had intended as confusion slowly made its way through his mind. He watched as Hinamori looked at him in worry.

"Are you ok shi- Hitsugaya-kun? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine, I just have a bit of a headache." Hinamori laughed lightly, the sound coming out pure and sweet – just like Hinamori's voice.

"That's not unusual; I just hope you're resting well out here by yourself. The Sou-Taicho says that you can come home soon, but they haven't fully finished repairing Karakura Town, so not yet."

Hitsugaya sighed as he remembered why he was here, which led him to wonder why Hinamori was here.

"What are you doing here Hinamori?"

"I thought you might be lonely, and I remember when we grew up in Rukongai, so I just wanted to make sure that everything was going fine." His eyes softened as he sat down opposite her in another chair. He was touched by her concern – not that he would ever tell her that – and was grateful to have someone to talk to.

"Everything's been fine, though it has been slightly boring – it's at times like these that I wish I was in my office doing paperwork."

"Aw, you don't mean that! Nobody _wants_ to do paperwork." He smiled slightly, the smile he only ever gave to her; she was practically his sister, and they had always looked out for each other, and so his 'special' smile, though very small, was filled with his gratitude, respect and love; it was a smile that was given to no one else.

"I do, seriously! Nothing happens out here! But talking about paperwork, how has Matsumoto been doing with the paperwork in my absence?" A smile broke out onto the girls face before she got rid of it.

"Well... She's been going... ok, I guess." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ok, fine, I don't think I've seen her even enter the office since you've been gone." He sighed – he had expected as much, but had hoped for different. His lazy lieutenant had just made it so that he would be buried under paper by the time he was told to return.

"So... how have you been?" It was a risky topic to go on to, but he needed to know where her mind was at the moment. He saw a look of sadness pass her face briefly before she smiled half-heartedly. Indecision was written clearly on her face, as well, which told him that she was debating over something in her mind. Coming to an answer to whatever internal question she had, she lifted her head up to face him, though she didn't look him directly in the eye.

"I've been fine... Can I tell you something Shiro-chan?" His eyes narrowed slightly; this didn't sound like it would be good news – he didn't even correct the use of his name.

"Of course you can."

"Well... I was thinking... I know this will sound like treason but I swear it's not! But I was thinking that maybe I should join Aizen's side as, you know, a spy." She lowered her face, but he had still seen the hopeful gleam in her eyes – this wasn't to help the Soul Society, this was so she could be with her captain again! He couldn't believe what he was hearing – he had thought she had come further than this!

"What are you talking about Hinamori? Being a spy for Aizen? For one the Sou-Taicho would never allow that, and two, Aizen would be able to tell straight away if you were a spy... unless you weren't actually a spy." His eyes gazed into her hair penetratingly, unable to see her eyes.

"I knew you'd get angry if I told you! You just don't understand – you've never understood!" She leapt to her feet, upsetting the chair she had been sitting on.

"I need to be with Aizen-Taicho! Ichimaru, he's the evil one; he's controlling Aizen-Taicho! If I can get into Hueco Mundo then I could convince him that Ichimaru's evil, and bring him back to Seireitei." Hitsugaya stood up as well, anger burning deep in his teal eyes.

"Wake up Hinamori! Aizen is evil – he's the master mind behind everything. Do you think he even cares about you Hinamori? He told me that he only picked you as his lieutenant because you admired him so much and he could make you follow him blindly!" The sound of skin hitting skin was loud in the room, and Hitsugaya felt his cheek smart where the girl had slapped him.

"How dare you talk so badly of Aizen-Taicho; he's a better man than you could ever be Hitsugaya-_Taicho_!" She practically spat out his title before marching towards the door and flinging it wide open, allowing the wind to blow inside, and the rain to wet the ground even more than it already was.

"You don't want me to go rescue Aizen-Taicho because you're jealous that I like him more than you. Well, Hitsugaya, **you** wake up – stop being so selfish!" She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her, leaving Hitsugaya to stand there watching after her wide-eyed. He wasn't jealous of Aizen, was he?

With the whole mood of his evening brought down by Hinamori's visit, he went through the motions of eating, bathing, dressing and reading like a robot until he deemed it time to go to bed. He couldn't believe that she could even think that her plan would work – was she really that far gone? How had no one noticed? How had _he_ not noticed? With a sigh he tried to forget about it until the morning, otherwise he wouldn't get any sleep.

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I hope you liked this chapter, so tell me what you think - I don't care if it's a critique or not, I just love getting reviews XD Everyone who reviews will get a cookie ^^


	4. Chapter 4

Yay, another chapter XD I've actually had this to post for a little while, but every time I went to put it up my internet stopped working :S Lucky it's working now :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it makes my day to read them XD

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Chapter 4

_Waking up the next morning, Hitsugaya saw that, while it was still dark, overcast and cold, it was no longer raining – which wasn't necessarily a good thing. He really liked the rain and so enjoyed it when it happened, which wasn't nearly that often in Seireitei. With a small sigh he left his bed and followed the same routine that he did every single morning – it really was becoming quite redundant. _

_So much so that he didn't even need to think about what to do and his muscles did it for him. Since waking up all he could focus on was his visit from Hinamori the previous day; he just hoped that she wasn't stupid enough to go through with her plan while he was away in Rukongai. Though, the pained, hurt look she had given him continued to pull at his heart strings and he almost felt as though _he_ was the bad guy and not Aizen. _

_Rubbing the bridge of his nose and trying to fight off the growing headache he started to walk towards the door, zanpakuto strapped securely on his back. Because it was still too dark inside the house to see anything, he painfully walked into the frame of the door. Rubbing his knee, which had made first contact with the wood, he took a few steps backwards, when he felt the familiar weight of his zanpakuto not on his back. _I must have left it back in my room,_ he thought to himself, though he could have sworn it had been on his back – but the evidence was there showing that it was, in fact, not on his back. _

_As he walked back the way he came, he had to sort of grope through the darkness lest he walk into something else. When he got to the door to his room he opened it and jumped backwards in alarm, his heart pounding a million miles per second in his ribcage, his hand clutching behind his head at empty air where his sword should be. Shinigami weren't meant to get scared or startled by things like this, but he couldn't help it. Standing in the doorway on the opposite side of the recently opened door was Clara, standing and looking at him with her odd eyes. He hadn't been expecting to see her – especially not in the room he had only just been in – and seeing her in an unexpected place, as well as the fact that she was overall just plain creepy, had made his heart race a lot faster than he was willing to admit._

_"Morning Shiro-chan, are you ready to play with me?" She cocked her head to the side as she smiled serenely at him; a look much more fitting to her face – it would have made her look normal had it not been for the eyes. Once his breathing had returned to normal he was able to glare icily at her._

_"It's Hitsugaya-Taicho, and no, I am not ready to play with you because I have work to do. How did you even get into my house?"_

_"Why do you insist on being called Hitsugaya-Taicho so much? Little children should have a name which fits their age. You said you would play with me, but I didn't have time yesterday – but I do now! And as to how I got in here? I came in through the door; I walked straight past you, how did you not notice me?"_

_He opened his mouth in indignation when she called him a 'little child' – who did she think she was? She was both younger and shorter than him, so she had absolutely no right to say that. Though he frowned deeply when she said that she had walked straight past him – that was impossible! _Not necessarily_. The small, niggling voice at the back of his mind reminded him of how he thought Hyourinmaru had been on his back when it hadn't been, so maybe, just maybe, this annoying girl had walked past him._

_"Ok, well, I don't care how you got in here but you need to leave right now." He made his voice commanding, and he felt his cold reiatsu surround him, giving him strength. He saw her frown deeply before she walked over to him and grabbed both his wrists, pulling him down so that his face was at her level, and their noses were almost touching. _

_Being this close he could smell a strange smell, though it was like he was smelling it from a great distance, and so wasn't able to place it – though it wasn't like anything he had ever smelt before._

_"You will play with me little taicho because you told me yesterday that you would. Almost nothing ever happens during patrol duty, so it'll be fine. Please?" Her eyes softened to look into his with an almost puppy dog type look, though it sent shivers racing down his spine. He nodded slowly, just to try and get those eyes to look away from him._

_"Fine, I'll play with you." She smirked before letting her icy hands release his wrists. He had a bad feeling about whatever would happen as he slowly followed to the kitchen._

_"Let's play hide-and-go-seek around the house! You count first." Before he could reject her childish idea she was gone, running to find a hiding place while he counted. He couldn't believe that he had allowed himself to be dragged into this. At least it was confined to the house so the residents wouldn't see him playing – what would they think if they saw a captain lowering himself to play hide-and-go-seek? _

_With a sigh he counted to twenty before going to search for the annoying girl. He searched for ages, looking high and low, but not finding a single trace of her – as though she had vanished into thin air. He had his head in the small cupboard, looking to see if she was at the back of it, when he felt an icy unnatural coldness seeping into his skin and the accompanying voice._

_"You're really bad at this game; maybe I should go first." Her appearance startled him and he jerked upwards, hitting his head on the top of the cupboard, before pulling it out to glare at her._

_"You go and hide and I'll count." And so the day wore on with them playing the game a ridiculous amount of times. Each time it was Hitsugaya's turn to find the girl he never could find her and she eventually came to him – usually startling him in the process. It was really starting to wear on his nerves. _

_At the moment he was searching through the house for Clara, and he surprisingly found her standing in the middle of the lounge room, motionless. He frowned and started to walk closer to see around the lounge. When he was around that obstacle he saw that she was actually kneeling down, and was at the same height that she had been while standing up._ What?_ It wasn't possible for her to have grown so tall in such a short time._

_"Shiro-chan, I've had fun playing this childish game with you, just so that you could act your age, but it isn't the game I want to play with you." His frown deepened as he took in her words. What did she mean it wasn't the game she wanted to play? She picked it – and he sure as hell didn't want to play it! Suddenly it registered that her voice was different; older, more mature – which went with the fact that she was a whole lot taller as well. _

_What was going on? She turned around to face him and he felt his eyes go indescribably large, and his heart jump to his throat, beating furiously in fear. Her brown hair, previously in pigtails, hung limp on the sides of her head, framing her slightly grayish face, the flesh rotting in places. The smell was almost unbearable, and he now recognised it to be that of death and decay. However, that wasn't the most horrific part of her appearance, not by far. Before he had hated looking into her black hole eyes, but now he would give anything to see them again. _

_Where her eyes used to be were empty, bloodied sockets, completely devoid of eyes. Thick trails of crusted blood trailed down her face like tears, ending at her jawline. She raised a rotting hand, where bone could be seen in places, and he saw the flash of light glinting off the dagger._

_"You have such pretty eyes Shiro-chan; if only I had eyes like yours... If only I had your eyes." Quicker than what should have been possible Hitsugaya found himself flat on his back, the horrific monster on top of him, pinning his arms beside him. He couldn't breathe, both from the smell, and from shock and fear, and his lungs were starting to burn with the lack of oxygen. His breathing was incredibly shallow, and as the knife came towards his face Clara slowly dragged it along his arm, drawing blood, until it reached its destination. _

_Never had he been more terrified in his life, but he needed to do something, anything! As soon as this thought crossed his mind he started to wriggle frantically, trying to break free. However, she was stronger than she looked, and held him firm and still. With the knife resting lightly on his face, he could see the fresh blood on the blade, but he could also see that under that was a layer of crusted blood – his arm would get infected for sure._

_"S-stop it!" She smirked down at him before lowering her mouth to his ear._

_"Don't stop struggling; I want you hear you scream for me to stop, scream for me to spare your life. I want to hear those delicious cries of fright as I slowly, ever so slowly, gouge out those gorgeous eyes with my knife. Wouldn't that be great Shiro-chan? Isn't this a great game?"_

_"Y-you're sick!" Never had he felt so powerless or so young – what was wrong with this... this thing! She laughed in his face, her foul, deadened breath blowing across his face and spreading its unnatural icy aura. He knew he should raise his reiatsu; if he could do that than he would be able to beat this sick monster, but for some reason nothing would obey him. He could feel the hysteria rising as he struggled harder, kicking out uselessly, and it was starting to overtake him, until all he could think were the frantic thoughts. _

_The knife was right below his eye and he was dimly aware of somebody screaming out in fear, pain, and terror, forming incomprehensible words as the light trail of blood flowed down his cheek before the knife raised poised over his left eye, waiting to plunge downwards. _

_Suddenly it stopped; everything stopped and Clara rolled off him, laughing in mirth._

_"You should have seen your face! You didn't really think I would do it Shiro-chan, ne?" Toushirou didn't answer as he laid still, his breathing erratic and irregular, pushing out of his sore and dry throat. He could feel dull pain in his arm and face where the blade moved and cut through the skin, and he didn't even bother to wipe away the sticky moistness rolling down his skin – a mixture of blood and sweat._

_"Aw, poor little Shiro-chan! Aren't you meant to be a big bad captain who isn't afraid of anything?" She had a point – captains weren't meant to feel this fear welling up in his chest and threatening to suffocate him. However, never before had he been faced with a situation like this before and so didn't know any other way to react. _

_Her face appeared in his vision once more, her empty sockets connecting with his eyes, and he tried to look away from the mentally scarring image, but strong, rotted fingers grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her._

_"I loved that game, didn't you Shiro-chan? We should play it again sometime; though I must warn you that if you react as great as that again I may not be able to stop myself from carving you up." His eyes widened even more and she openly smirked in his face and then laughed again, al his nerves tingling in pain from the sound._

_"Ah Shiro-chan, you're so messed up in the head! I think it's time for you to wake up now."_

_"W-what?" She stood up and walked towards the door, turning around when her hand was on the handle._

_"I said I think it's time for you to wake up now."_

_Toushirou bolted upright in his warm, cosy bed in his room. Outside the rain still howled violently like it had been when he first went to sleep, and grabbing his clock from beside his bed he saw the numbers reading 12:09, four minutes after he had went to bed. He couldn't believe it – that hadn't all been in his head had it? If so then dream Clara was right, he was messed up in the head. Shaking his head slightly to try and get rid of the images from his horrific dream, he tried to laugh it off. _

It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream.

_He repeated this like a mantra inside his head, trying to convince himself. But it had seemed so real! Looking down at his arm he saw that it was unblemished with no cut along it, and feeling his face he found that it was in the same uncut state. Standing up out of bed on his unsteady legs, he moved to go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. His throat was dry, so he had probably been screaming in his sleep; this thought brought a small, embarrassed blush to his cheeks as he was thankful that nobody else had seen his childish moment of weakness. Only children had nightmares, and he was not a child, so he would not recognise his dream as a nightmare._

_The walk to the kitchen was dark and long, and his only comfort was the raging wind outside which made it so that things weren't completely quiet. Also, the rain was soothing and helped to soothe his frazzled nerves. If only there were lights in the house, and then everything would be perfect! When he reached the kitchen he didn't know why – it was like a weird compulsion – but he turned towards the lounge room, at the same times as a bolt of lightning struck near his house. Briefly the room was completely illuminated in blinding light, but in that time he saw the same demonic monster with no eyes from his dream and his breathing stopped. When the room was darkened once more he continued to stare, but he could make no shapes out in the darkness._

Calm, be calm – she wasn't actually there, it was just residual images from the nigh- dream._ He turned around and walked straight into someone. His first reaction was to scream and push away from them – it was Clara! Who else would it be? His mind started to turn to mush as the fear overtook his senses. _Why me?_ That question ran quickly through his mind as the person took a step closer until they were close enough that he could make out their features._

_"Toushirou, are you ok – you look like you've seen a ghost." Ukitake stood in front of him, a worried and concerned look on his kind face as he looked down at the boy._

_"U-Ukitake-san! What are you d-doing here?" The embarrassing stutter found its way into his speech, but at the moment he couldn't care._

_"I came to check up on you; the Sou-Taicho was worried when Momo came back to Seireitei crying after she had visited you earlier, and so I was sent to make sure things were ok. I'm sorry if I scared you; it's just so dark in here that I couldn't see where I was going and didn't see you until you literally ran into me." He chuckled lightly at that._

_"So how have you been Toushirou?"_

_"I've been fine; nothing out of the ordinary has happened, though I can't wait to return to Seireitei – Matsumoto probably can't even open the office door anymore with the amount of paperwork she's left for me to do." Ukitake laughed at his weak attempt at humour before reaching into his sleeves. Hitsugaya cringed slightly at what he knew the man was going to pull out – some things never changed. He could also feel his confidence raising and his fear dissipate. _

_Ukitakte's hand removed from his sleeve, but while Hitsugaya had been expecting unwanted candy, what was drawn was utterly unexpected. In the man's hand was a dagger which looked oddly familiar and it took him precious seconds to recognise why – it was Clara's dagger! His eyes narrowed in suspicion and alarm as he watched the captain cautiously._

_"Ukitakte-san, what's with the dagger?"_

_"I don't know what you mean Toushirou." His pleasant smile stayed on his face, but an odd glinting in his eyes told him that something was wrong; the glinting as well, though, was very familiar – it was the same as what he'd seen in Matsumoto's eyes and Momo's eyes when they had both visited him, what did that mean?_

_"What I mean is, why do you have it? Actually, the better question is where did you get it?" On a closer inspection of the blade he could also see fresh blood on it, though his skin wasn't cut._

_"I've always had it Shiro-chan, it does belong to me after all. As to why I have it? Well, I thought maybe we could play another game." The voice was Ukitake's, the face was Ukitake's, but the words most definitely were not. Toushirou took a few steps backwards, but his legs hit the edge of a chair, forcing them to bend so that he fell into the chair. _

_Ukitake walked closer and put a hand on the edge of the chair, leaning down slightly. Malice passed through his eyes briefly before he smiled his trademark smile._

_"What's wrong Shiro-chan? I'm not going to hurt you." Toushirou looked up at the man that he trusted and respected so much wielding a bloody dagger with a strange, indescribable look on his face. In his opinion this was even worse than his dream about Clara – if it even was a dream. But it had to be right? How else could his skin have healed? Also, in his dream it showed most of the day, but when he had woken up it had only been four minutes after he had gone to bed – which one was real, now or then? What if he was just dreaming now?_

_Before he knew what was happening the dagger was embedded in his flesh under his ribcage, thankfully missing anything vital. Toushirou's eyes widened as he looked down at the hilt and then up at the sadistic smile which was so out of place on the kind face. He felt his shirt start to stick to his skin as it became wet with his blood and his hands gripped the handle to pull it out. However, as he started to pull it free he felt larger hands place themselves atop his own, keeping the dagger in position; then the hands gripped his in a vice grip, forcing him to turn the blade around 360 degrees while still inside of him. _

_The pain was unimaginable as he felt the skin tear and muscles clench around the obtrusive blade before they too were torn by the sharp edge._

_"U-Ukitake-san?" Blood started to bubble from his lips and silent tears ran down his face as the blade inched further upwards through his body, guided by the gentle and soft hands of the man he thought of as the closest thing he had ever had to a father. He felt his vision giving out, and the last thing he saw before the pain became too much for him was Ukitake standing over him with the same smile he wore when he was giving him candy..._

Toushirou groaned as he rolled over in his bed, the bright sunlight filtering through his curtains to bathe the room in a soft, warm glow. He felt like he could sleep forever, his mind bone tired even if his body felt revitalised and ready to go. He had to patrol but he didn't feel like getting up. He stayed under the covers for as long as he could before finally deciding to get a move on with what he was meant to be doing. He briefly looked over towards the automatic calendar beside his bed as he got up, but froze as a frown covered his face.

_What?_ The calendar read '4 January' which wasn't possible! Yesterday had only been the 30th of December, so how was it already the 4th? He stood up straight and an odd pain blossomed on his arm, and looking down he saw a thin, pale line extending from above his elbow to just below his shoulder. He frowned and looked up briefly to look around him to find an unknown assailant; even though he knew that the wound was days old. But as he looked back down to it to inspect it his frown deepened with an underlying shock to his face – the cut was gone!

The pain that he had felt not two seconds ago was also gone. _What is going on here?_ Walking swiftly towards the kitchen he grabbed a bottle of water – subconsciously scratching his arm – turning towards the lounge room as he drank, deep in thought. However, when he faced the lounge room he paused, bottle between his lips as images from the previous night – or from whenever it was – came back to him. _Ukitake-san..._ Had that really happened or had it been another nightmare? He didn't know, but there was no stab wound in his abdomen so he could only assume that he had dreamt it.

As he stood there looking like an idiot, a small black butterfly flew over to him, landing delicately on the tip of his finger that he held out upon seeing the insect.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, clean-up in Karakura Town has finished, and after two weeks of patrol duty you are being relieved; return to Seireitei immediately." _Thank god!_ Hopefully this meant that all the crazy dreams would stop – it must have been something in the water here. Leaving the house he jumped into a shunpo and moved quickly towards the walls of Seireitei and entering through the gate, making a direct beeline to his office – how he had missed it!

When he walked in he saw his lazy lieutenant snoring on the couch but he only slightly frowned; he had missed the routine of his day too much to get upset at her. Silently walking over to his desk he sat down and picked up his neglected brush to start the paperwork.

He worked for hours until his lieutenant eventually woke up, blinking owlishly in front of her before she got her bearings. With a sigh she stood up and turned around, only to stop upon seeing her beloved taicho in front of her working on the paperwork she had kindly left for him.

"Taicho?" She frowned, as though deciding whether or not this was one of her drunken hallucinations or if it was actually real, before coming to the conclusion that he was in fact in front of her. Hitsugaya had stood up to greet her, as is proper of a captain, when Matsumoto bowled him over, grabbing him close for a bone-crushing hug.

"M-Matsumoto!" With a small chuckle she released the small male, smiling at him.

"Taicho, you're back – I missed you while you were gone! I'm so glad you're back... We should celebrate! With sake!" Hitsugaya sighed, but then remembered something.

"Oi, Matsumoto, thank you for visiting me while I was in Rukongai – though if you ever do that again I will personally freeze you." He never wanted to be subjected to that kind of practical joke ever again. He could almost hear her response now. '_But Taiichhoo! You should have seen your face! You're no fun.'_

However, the woman didn't react as he had expected – which was unusual. Instead of something along the lines of what he had thought, she instead frowned deeply, and air of seriousness and confusion coming across her face.

"What are you talking about Taicho? I didn't come visit you while you were on patrol; as part of your punishment the Sou-Taicho banned anyone from being able to see you because you weren't allowed to have visitors."

"What?" He lapsed into thought – what she said couldn't be true! He'd been visited by Matsumoto, Momo and... Ukitake – though that last one could have been a dream.

"Taicho, are you ok?" Matsumoto looked at him in concern and he schooled his features to look indifferent.

"I'm fine Matsumoto – but I see that you haven't done any paperwork since I left." She raised a hand to her head and scratched it sheepishly, and while he looked stern on the outside Hitsugaya was internally patting himself on the back for a skilful change of topic.

"Well, you see, I _was_ going to do it – honestly – but then I realised that being cooped up in an office all day would not be good for my skin... so I went to the hot springs instead!" He raised a hand and placed it on his forehead, an irritated sigh coming from his mouth.

"Matsumoto." The lowly spoken word was all that she needed to know that she should be taking her leave before he yelled at her.

"It's good that you're back Taicho, but I've got... an important thing to do now – only lieutenants allowed. Gotta go!" With that the infuriating woman ran out of the room.

"MATSUMOTO!" It felt like things had finally returned to normal.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of filling out papers that should have been done days ago, with the occasional tea break. With a small sigh of satisfaction Hitsugaya sat back in his chair after reading through the umpteenth report that he needed to sign, feeling a large urge to leave the stuffy room for a quick walk.

Walking through the halls of _his_ division he felt glad to be back; back home where he belonged. His pace was leisurely and unhurried as he strolled through the corridors, taking in the sights that he had so missed – though would never admit to missing. Whenever he walked past one of his division members they would stop and greet him to welcome him back.

Arriving to the fountain in the courtyard – his favourite place to sit and relax – he marvelled at the pure, clear water that sprayed forth, glad that it still was water that came from his beautiful fountain. One time Matsumoto and some of her drinking buddies had decided it would be funny to replace the water with sake... it hadn't turned out well for any of them.

Feeling content he sat on the edge, some droplets of icy water occasionally hitting him; it was a pleasant and calming experience that he rarely indulged in. Though it would have been better if he didn't have to constantly scratch at an annoying itch on his neck.

"Shiro-chan..." The eyes that had drifted shut snapped open and his eyes darted about the surprisingly empty courtyard. He would know that voice anywhere; he just couldn't believe that it had followed him back to Seireitei, unless... unless this was another dream and he was still in Rukongai – not in Seireitei – and he would wake up any moment. _What if all of it has been a dream? That would explain me being able to beat a Vasto Lorde..._

He didn't want to dwell on that last thought in fear of it meaning he was crazy, but there was no denying the fact that he wasn't sure what had been dream and what had been real so far, so there was nothing stopping this pleasant home-coming from being a dream.

"I went to play with you but I couldn't find you... why did you leave me?" He felt shudders travel along his spine at the word 'play', a word that used to be so innocent but now was filled with pain, suffering and fear.

"Didn't you like our games?" He felt rather than saw the smaller body sit down next to him. _So she doesn't look like that older monster? That's a relief._ He could deal with creepy looking children with weird eyes but he could not ever – never again – deal with creepy adults with no eyes.

"What do you want with me?" His words pushed passed his teeth in a hiss, and he heard Clara's tinkling laugh.

"You're so funny Shiro-chan, I already told you – I want to play with you."

"You don't _play_, those are not _games_; why are you tormenting me like this?" Silence lasted between the two for a few moments while Hitsugaya waited for the answer that she didn't seem willing to give.

"I'm not tormenting you Shiro-chan, I'm punishing you because that's what happens to little children when they've been bad – they get punished." Her voice had changed; developed a more mature, icy quality to it. With great hesitance Hitsugaya turned his head to look at her._ Punished?_ He didn't understand, and he was about to say as much when he saw her, and what he saw took his breath away. Her head was down but he could clearly see her skin; skin that was grayish and rotting with little bits already starting to peel.

He couldn't breathe as she slowly raised her face to look at him. _God, please don't let her look like that again!_ She faced him completely and his eyes went wide – it was even worse than last time! Clara, in her little child's body, had flaking and rotting skin – much like she did when he saw her in his lounge room – and instead of her black hole eyes the sockets were empty and he could see that whoever had removed her eyes had not been gentle in any way.

"It hurts so much Shiro-chan; make the pain go away." Her voice cracked in suppressed sadness and agony, and if he hadn't been so scared Hitsugaya might have felt sympathy for her – it did look extremely painful. He couldn't respond, his tongue wouldn't move to form words.

"Don't you care? Please Shiro-chan..." A noise drew his attention away from her for two seconds, and when he looked back she was gone, almost like she'd never been there at all. He took in a shaky breath into his burning lungs, and his skin felt clammy and unnaturally cold.

"Toushirou, I heard you were told to come back! Sorry I couldn't welcome you back sooner but I only just found out- Are you ok? You look a little pale." Toushirou's head snapped around so fast that he was almost afraid of whiplash. Standing a few feet away was Ukitake, Kyouraku just behind him – though he didn't take note of the strangely clad man, but instead focusing his eyes on the sickly captain, trying to will his eyes to return to normal, as well as his breathing and heart rate. _It's Ukitake – Ukitake that you've known for years. It was just a dream – he didn't really stab you. It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream-_

"Toushirou?"

"Ukitake-san, Kyouraku-san, it's good to be back." His voice had started to take on a strained pitch to it, and he could see that both captains had noticed it as well. _Why can't I control myself?_ Ukitake walked forward a few steps, his kind smile in place.

"It's good that you're glad to be home, and guess what I have!" He started to reach into his sleeve and images flowed into Toushirou's mind. Ukitake reaching into his robe and pulling out a dagger. Ukitake walking towards him. Ukitake with the same kind smile and malice in his eyes.

Ukitake standing over him. Ukitake plunging the dagger into his stomach. Ukitake forcing his hands to move the dagger up slowly towards his heart, intent on killing him. Without thinking Toushirou took a few steps away from the bewildered captain before quickly shunpoing away, leaving Ukitake and Kyouraku standing there in confusion as Ukitake withdrew his hand, a bag of candy in it.

Toushirou moved to put as much distance between him and Ukitake as he could; he couldn't believe his own reaction as an embarrassed flush adorned his cheeks – it had just been a dream, albeit a dream that felt incredibly real, but a dream none the less. Stopping in front of a building near the walls of Seireitei, Toushirou sought to catch his breath.

Why did he react that way? A dull pain started to bloom behind his eyes to signify the start of yet another headache; they had become so frequent lately. Reaching up to rub at his eyes he sighed softly before straightening up fully, ignoring the incessant pounding on his skull. He decided that he should just head back to his division now – hopefully not running into any unwanted people – and find something to work on that would eat up the spare time on his hands.

It was so hot within Seireitei, unlike that weather he had been experiencing in Rukongai, and so he found himself constantly picking at his clothes as he walked to prevent them from sticking to him; he hated the dreaded heat so much! Scuffling footsteps were heard behind him, but far away, and he payed them no heed as he walked casually, yet with an air of formality, back to his division.

He couldn't believe how far he had gotten in his moment of childish fear. _Scuffle, scuffle_. The sounds of slightly muffled footsteps were irregular and infrequent, but they also seemed to be getting closer. Stopping, Hitsugaya turned around, but saw no one there, though now that he thought about it the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up and he got the feeling that he was being watched.

"Who's there? Show yourself." Everything remained still and unmoving and the lack of sound was deafening on his eardrums. Taking a deep breath Toushirou forced his legs to start walking again – hopefully he'd arrive at his division soon. More scuffling footsteps sounded to the side of him and he looked around, but nothing was there. He could hear his own heartbeat in his chest, pounding a steady rhythm against his ribcage, with the pace slowly increasing.

_Crash!_ Hitsugaya whirled around to face the direction of the noise, his hand instantly reaching to his back and drawing Hyourinmaru. He stood still, the only sound was his breathing; his eyes quickly scanned the area, but couldn't come up with a source for the noise. _Why am I so jumpy? It was just a noise – it probably wasn't even from something close to me._ With a sigh of frustration the small captain slid the sword back into its sheath and turned around right as something tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped nearly a mile in the air and almost lost his balance as he turned around.

"You shouldn't be so jumpy Shiro-chan, it's just me." Clara stood with her hands folded in front of her, the picture of innocence, as her dreadful eyes which resemble black-holes looked through his body to his very core.

"You're such a fraidy-cat Shiro-chan. I thought captains were meant to be braver than this." She chuckled lightly.

"I think you hurt Ukitake's feelings – did you see the pained look on his face when you ran away from him? Priceless!" She giggled at this, and Toushirou looked at her in disgust – what kind of a person was she that she would take such joy out of other peoples' suffering?

"What do you want from me?" The words hissed out through his teeth as he glared at her with as much contempt as he could muster.

"You said that you would play with me Shiro-chan."

"I did – I played hide-and-go-seek. Now why won't you just leave me alone?" Clara's laugh started out light, gradually getting heavier until she was in near hysterics. After a moment of laughing she looked him dead in the eye, black looking through teal. Her tone of voice as she answered was reminiscent of an adult talking to a particularly slow child.

"Oh Shiro-chan, because _this_ is the game. Watching you jump, run, squirm, yell, scream in surprise, confusion and fright... that's the game that we're playing, and it won't ever end. Isn't that fun Shiro-chan?" Toushirou's eyes widened as he thought of what she was saying. _She's... never leaving me... alone?_ That thought was horrifying, and he knew he didn't succeed in keeping his thoughts off his face when she laughed again in pure delight.

"Well, I've got to go right now Shiro-chan, but I will be back – I promise! But when will I be back? That's the question you need to constantly ask yourself – be on guard at all times..." Her form seemed to waver and then fade out of view, until Hitsugaya was left standing by himself in a cold sweat.

_"Hitsugaya-kun!" Toushirou whirled around instantly at the sound of his child-hood friend, still reeling in his memories of only moments earlier with Clara. He never wanted to see her ever again._

_"H-Hinamori, baka! It's Hitsugaya-Taicho!" Momo rolled her eyes playfully before looking at him carefully._

_"Are you alright? You look really pale – and are you sweating?" Her face morphed into a concerned frown as she placed her hand on his forehead. He jumped and pulled away from her touch, which didn't escape her notice, but she didn't comment on that._

_"You're burning up! I think you should go see Unohana-Taicho; you might be coming down with something. Maybe some sort of bug that you might have picked up in Rukongai." Toushirou nodded numbly, but he had no intention of seeing the kind, motherly captain. He couldn't look directly at Hinamori, the memory of the time she visited in Rukongai still very fresh in his mind._

'"I need to be with Aizen-Taicho! Ichimaru, he's the evil one; he's controlling Aizen-Taicho! If I can get into Hueco Mundo then I could convince him that Ichimaru's evil, and bring him back to Seireitei." Hitsugaya stood up as well, anger burning deep in his teal eyes.

"Wake up Hinamori! Aizen is evil – he's the master mind behind everything. Do you think he even cares about you Hinamori? He told me that he only picked you as his lieutenant because you admired him so much and he could make you follow him blindly!" The sound of skin hitting skin was loud in the room, and Hitsugaya felt his cheek smart where the girl had slapped him.

"How dare you talk so badly of Aizen-Taicho; he's a better man than you could ever be Hitsugaya-Taicho!" She practically spat out his title before marching towards the door and flinging it wide open, allowing the wind to blow inside, and the rain to wet the ground even more than it already was.

"You don't want me to go rescue Aizen-Taicho because you're jealous that I like him more than you. Well, Hitsugaya, **you** wake up – stop being so selfish!" She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her, leaving Hitsugaya to stand there watching after her wide-eyed. He wasn't jealous of Aizen, was he?'

_"I'm fine Hinamori, was there something you wanted?" An air of iciness slipped into his voice as he talked – unintentionally, but Hinamori had heard it, and the hurt look that crossed her face made him feel incredibly guilty._

_"N-no, I just wanted to say hello because you've returned from Ru-Rukongai. I'm sorry." She sounded close to tears and Hitsugaya softened his features._

_"Don't say sorry, you did nothing wrong. I just... I was just remembering what you told me in Rukongai when you visited. I'm sorry if I sounded cold." He knew it was risky bringing up this subject, but he felt it needed to be out in the open. However, Hinamori reacted very similar to how Matsumoto did when he had thanked her for visiting; with confusion._

_"What are you talking about Hitsugaya-kun? I didn't visit you in Rukongai – nobody was allowed to as part of your punishment."_

_"Oh yeah, w-wrong time." Hinamori frowned._

_"I really thing you should see Unohana-Taicho; it isn't like you to get mixed up like that."_

_"Maybe I will... It's good to see you again Hinamori." She smiled sweetly at him as he started to walk away, but as soon as his back was turned away, her smile slipped off her face to give way for concerned worry._

_A strong reiatsu suddenly flared up and both Hinamori and Hitsugaya paused to look in its direction._

_"Hitsugaya-kun!"_

_"I know." The two of them shunpoed towards the source, and when they got there they saw that there was a massive hollow in the centre of a court yard, and a few low seated shinigami were trying, and unsuccessfully, fighting the hollow. In a swift motion Hyourinmaru was drawn from his sheath with a small _'shick_' sound and Hitsugaya charged in, raising his reiatsu to signal to the other shinigami to move out of the way, which they complied with. _

_He brought his sword down, cutting one arm cleanly off just as the other came swinging around, aiming towards his exposed lower back. With skilful contortions he was able to twist out of the way to dodge the attack and then spin his body back around to align head on with the hollow before swinging his sword in a graceful arc across the hollow's torso, blood spraying everywhere._

_The hollow pulled away from the sharp blade, a pained howl tearing from its mouths. Suddenly it disappeared and Toushirou's eyes widened as he tried to sense where it had gone, but failing to do so._

_"We arrived finally! Now this party can really start!"_

_"Yay Ken-chan!" The voices seemed to come from behind him before he heard it to his side, and turning around he saw Kenpachi near his side, with Yachiru skipping away to find somewhere to sit and watch. At the same time behind him the hollow reappeared, and without hesitating he leapt forward and slashed at the hollow. Surprisingly it had gotten better at blocking and so brought up its arm with ease. _The sound of metal on metal rang through the court yard_. _Wait, what?

_He didn't have any time to think about whatever it was that had registered in his mind that seemed off because the hollow had taken up the offensive and was attacking him with brute strength, and all he could do was block as his arms resisted the strain. Pushing away from the hollow he unleashed his reiatsu in a concentrated burst, sending the hollow flying backwards until it regained its feet._

"Hitsugaya-kun, what are you doing?"

_"Move out of the way kid, you're in the way!"_

"Why is Snowy doing that?"_ The shouts directed his way fell on deaf ears – he didn't have the time to decipher them because this hollow was turning out to be a lot stronger than he had initially thought._

"You're stronger than I thought you'd be kid! Well, if this is what you want to do, who am I to change your mind?"

_Toushirou ran towards the hollow head-on, until the last possible moment when he shunpoed to the side in a feint attack and swiftly changing directions to attack the vulnerable, unprotected side. _A sword came up just in time to block his attack_ before the arm pulled away in pain._

"Hitsugaya-kun, stop it!"_ Why would Hinamori want him to stop attacking the hollow? Ignoring her he continued with his fight, his breathing became more laboured with every attack. How had it gotten so strong so quickly? Or worse, if it had always been this strong how had he not sensed it?_

With an animalistic roar Kenpachi leapt forward and stabbed his sword forward through the opponent_ and at the same time the hand of the hollow pierced through Hitsugaya's abdomen, blood gurgling up to his lips as a result of the attack. _Damn it..._ Hitsugaya was about to pull away from the hand of the hollow when he heard laughter next to him. When he turned he saw Clara – she came back a lot sooner than he thought she would._

_"Shiro-chan, what are you doing?"_

"Hitsugaya-kun, what are you doing?"

"Damn it! What does it look like I'm doing?"_ He ignored Hinamori as he concentrated on the small girl next to him._

_"To me it looks like you're fighting your fellow captain." His eyes widened._

"W-what? Are you blind?"

_"Maybe I am." She smiled creepily as her eyes – those incredibly dark orbs that looked through you rather than at you – began to melt in their sockets, running down her face and staining her skin red... for blood. He couldn't move as he watched her just smile at him as though she wasn't in pain at all._

_"But then again, maybe I won't be if I had some eyes. Some beautiful, teal-coloured eyes... But not yet... not yet." She reached out a hand and touched his skin, the icy feeling spreading across his skin making him feel numb and desensitized to everything. The world started spinning and blackness ate at the corners of his vision. _

The last thing he remembered was looking forward to see Kenpachi, a crazed grin on his face, standing a few centimetres away as he, the great Hitsugaya Toushirou, child prodigy, stood impaled on the eleventh division's captain's sword. And then the world went black.

* * *

Well, I hoped everyone liked it XD I'm not too sure about this story, so if you liked it leave a review - it'll give me motivation to keep writing XD Though, still leave a review if you don't like it, and just say why - all reviews are welcome XD


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