Thawing Walls - Chapter 3
Title: Thawing Walls
Chapter: Three
Pairing: Hitsugaya Toushiro x Kurosaki Ichigo
Rating: M (T for the first half of the story)
Summary: Hitsugaya, stationed in a turbulent Karakura Town to investigate increased Menos activity, finds his defenses weakening thanks to an orange haired teen. As they both experience unexplainable phenomenon, they draw each other closer.
So, here’s an extra-long and eventful chapter to make up for the slower first two. Also, I made a slight adjustment to the original story. Ichigo is in his last year of High School, instead of his first. I mean, who actually sees him as a 15 year old? Also, when you see ABCDE in a sentence, then an Author’s Note will follow at the end of the chapter for explanation. Anything else you want explained? Let me know through a review or PM. In any case, I’d love to get feedback! Without more talking, I present you:
Thawing Walls - Chapter 3
Emerald like eyes stared dully at the space in front of him, not taking -and not even trying to take- in any information from his immediate surroundings. Two slender arms rested on the table he sat at, elbows on the table’s surface, a delicate chin resting on his small hands. His vision blurred every other second or so, not even trying to pay attention to the woman standing in front of him and all the others. She was desperately trying to keep everyone focused at her, and she failed. Miserably. When Hitsugaya paid attention to his surroundings, he noticed a soft snoring sound from not too far away. Frowning slightly he recognized the source to be none other than the troublesome and most of all loud human. While his own form was elegantly resting on his little desk and made it seem like he was actually paying attention, Kurosaki was ungracefully resting his head sideways on his desk, his lips slightly parted as he didn’t even fight the sleep that overtook him.
And as much as he disliked it, Hitsugaya couldn’t really blame him. For the past three weeks already, they’d been up most nights fighting Hollows, along with a few Gillians and an occasional Adjuchas -thankfully no Vasto Lordes most of the time-. And while it was regular and common exercise for the battle-worn captain’s soul, he could imagine it being tiring for a human, even if said human possessed an enormous amount of energy and skills to boot.
Not only Kurosaki was sleeping. Sado Yasutora, the powerful giant with physics unlike any other human, was dozing off and even Ishida Uryuu, the normally attentive and sharp Quincy teen was losing his focus every now and then. It only proved how absurd and frequent their battles were, despite their opponents being mere Hollows…
“Hitsugaya-kun, please continue where I left off and finish the problem,” a sharp voice suddenly seemed to echo through his mind. Pushing his chair back slightly he stood up, barely suppressing a yawn. He glanced at the board and noticed a rather simple math problem written all over it, already finished halfway. With a dull and bored tone he spoke up.
“Subtract five z from both equations, multiply the bottom one twice and add both equations together by substracting them along with their outcomes. The outcome is variable y equals six. Thus, x equals four and z equals five.”
Soft whispers could be heard as the small boy took his seat again. Choosing to ignore them, he continued his mindless gazing, just wishing the class would end already. It had only been a few weeks since he started to attend this school and at first he’d done his best to stay alert at all times, but the level of education soon proved to be way beneath the boy’s intellectual capabilities. His top grades were only matched by Ishida, the -former- number one of the class.
Hitsugaya soon fell back in his non-attentive state, staying alert just enough to notice any disturbances in the area, but relaxed enough to rest. He felt a comfortable warmth spread through his body as his eyes started to feel heavy. Seeing no harm in closing them for a brief moment, he slowly allowed his eyes to flutter closed, his breath already regulating in soft, slow ones.
Juubantai-taichou-han, wake up pleaseA, a sly voice suddenly seemed to whisper in his ear, sending violent shivers down his spine. A pair of sleep fogged eyes shot opened quickly as they scanned the area for any distinct reiatsu’s, his heart beating harshly in his chest as his head wildly moved from left to right to detect the possible intruder. He sincerely hoped he’d just imagined the sound of that person’s voice, one he wished he’d never have to hear again. When his sight finally focused in front of him, however, he noticed a startled teen standing before him.
“Oi, Toushiro… You okay?”
“K-Kurosaki…” Hitsugaya mumbled, confused and nervous at the same time. His turquoise eyes were hazed with clouds of confusion. Ichigo chuckled as he ran a hand through his messy orange mob of hair.
“Gee, you don’t have to jump like that, Toushiro. You must’ve been really fast asleep.”
Hitsugaya stood perplex, his mind oddly blank.
‘I…I was asleep?’
“Anyway, Toushiro, class has ended. Wanna walk home together? Your apartment is in the same direction as my house, right?”
Hitsugaya quickly hid his confusion behind his scowl, deciding to figure this out later. Right now, he just wanted to leave.
“No, thank you. I’m fine. In fact, I’ll be going now,” he mumbled with a deep frown, picking up his bag, putting away the books covering his desk and immediately making his way towards the door.
“W-Wait, Toushiro.” Hitsugaya halted and turned around, though a very dangerous expression on his face that spelt ‘back off’. But Ichigo ignored -or perhaps really didn’t notice- it as his usual goofy grin appeared on his face.
“Vacation’s coming up pretty soon and when it starts I’m having a little house-warming party at my soon-to-be apartment. It’s nothing much, just some movies and a few games or something. You wanna come?” Hitsugaya snorted.
“I don’t have time,” he answered as he turned around. However, it seemed like Ichigo wasn’t planning on giving up after one try.
“Wait, Toushiro. Gee, let me finish, will you? It’ll be fun, I’m sure. Chad, Inoue and Ishida are coming, though that four-eyed bastard might just ruin the mood. But never mind him, I know I don’t! And can’t Byakuya cover for you, just for one night?” Ichigo almost pleaded.
“Kurosaki, I’m not planning on burdening Kuchiki-taichou unnecessarily.” The faint smile on Ichigo’s face faded, now replaced with slight disappointment as he let his shoulders sag a little bit.
After a few seconds he seemed to recover from his disappointment.
“Just let me know if you change your mind, okay? The party’s in about two weeks and I’ll give you the address tomorrow, since I haven’t been able to memorize it precisely just yet,” he said while scratching the back of his head, an innocent smile now plastered on his face.
Hitsugaya merely shrugged and continued walking to the door, though he stopped again once he got there, this time remembering something.
“Kurosaki,” he said with a deep and irritated voice, “ you must call me Hitsugaya-taichou from now on.”
And with that said he finally left the room, leaving behind a shrugging Ichigo.
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A nearly inaudible groan escaped soft lips, tightly pressed into a fine line, as the captain of the tenth division allowed himself to fall on his bed, his head pressed into a fluffy pillow as he tried to clear his head. Fighting to control his breath, he attempted to relax the tense muscles in his neck that pressed a painful headache to the front of his head. Meanwhile, his thoughts were racing at an incredible speed, desperately trying to make sense out of the previous shocks his mind had taken.
Surely, it must’ve been a dream. There was now way it could’ve been him. It was simply impossible. But Hitsugaya knew what he had heard. That tone, that implied slyness, it could all belong to one person and one person only. A person who was supposed to be somewhere far away, hiding his hideous, traitorous face. So why? Was he really imagining things? Did the workload finally get the best of him? Why now? He wasn’t all that busy at the moment, only fending off some minor Hollows and a few Adjuchases or Gillians while he was at it, all the while staying at the top of his newly attended -and of course, troublesome and easy- class effortlessly. So… What was it then?
Juubantai-taichou-han, please don’t think too hard ‘bout it. Yer head’ll hurt, ya know.
Hitsugaya’s body shot up at the sound, his eyes widened in horror as he desperately tried to find the source of the voice. He tried his best to suppress the shivers that ran down his spine, but he couldn’t help it as he clenched the sheets beneath him.
Hitsugaya-taichou…
The boy groaned, trying to block out the source and remain calm. The voice seemed to echo through his head, feeling as if thin, sharp knives continuously stabbed the inside of his skull.
“Hitsugaya-taichou.”
‘Shut up’, he thought as he gritted his teeth.
He moaned slightly as he was determined to shut the voice out, not giving in to the chaos in his head.
“Hitsugaya-taichou.”
“Shut up!” Hitsugaya finally yelled, his eyes wide open, his lithe body trembling slightly as he breathed heavily.
“Hitsugaya-taichou!” A voice suddenly shouted, forcing the white haired boy’s attention on the man standing in the doorway. Hitsugaya breathed heavily as he saw Kuchiki waiting impatiently with an annoyed look on his voice.
“K-Kuchiki-taichou,” he muttered, for the first time in his life oddly relieved to see the stoic man. Said man only eyed him with a deadpan look, his dark gleaming eyes seemingly piercing through the smaller boy.
“Hitsugaya-taichou, once you have decided to focus on the tasks at hand you’ll notice a number of Menoses have appeared.”
The boy’s eyes closed as he tried to pick up the monsters’ reiatsu. It didn’t take long as the Menoses seemed to be in large numbers this time. Were there Vasto Lordes? He frowned deeply as he wondered. Why hadn’t he sensed this?
“Please take up your zanpaktou and aid in fending them off,” Kuchiki continued before he swiftly but elegantly turned around.
“I’ll be going ahead of you. Please do not make me wait,” With that, the man left. After a few seconds Hitsugaya heard a ‘thud’ as a gigai probably fell on the ground and after a while the other captain’s reiatsu faded slightly as he moved towards the chaos that was currently going on.
Hitsugaya slowly ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He really had to calm down. He just needed some rest.
Yes, that was probably it, Hitsugaya thought with a nod. He stiffly raised himself from his bed, shed off his gigai and sped off to follow the other captain’s reiatsu towards the waiting battlefield.
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“Ichigo! How dare you! Leaving me behind like that, don’t you have a heart?! She’s a spawn of evil, of evil I tell you!”
“Shut up,” Ichigo groaned as he entered his room, wishing the wild jumping, stuffed lion many mental curses as he sat down at his desk. However, said stuffed animal refused to give up as it jumped on the desk’s surface, standing in front of the orange topped boy before resuming its jumping and loud complaining.
“Her needles are lethal! Ichigo, they’re deadly! I’m telling you, that child is bent on world destruction purely through the use of… of…” The hyper-active mod-soul paused for a moment, not sure if it actually dared saying it.
“Pink! Yes, you hear that, Ichigo? Pink! The entire world, covered in pink! She’d do it! And she could!” Kon continued jumping up and down continuously, sending many accusations to Ichigo’s youngest sister, waving his arms wildly as he tried to keep his friend’s attention focused on him.
“Shut up, Kon! You’re annoying,” Ichigo yelled, swatting the small toy away with ease, hearing some wailing ‘Nee-sanB’ as it landed on the teen’s bed.
Sighing deeply, Ichigo opened the book on his desk as he attempted to study. The mock exam for the entrance exams were coming up and he needed to get a good score or the consequences weren’t going to be pretty. He didn’t want to think about spending even his precious week off in the confines of that dreaded school building while he could be outside, relishing in the steeply dropped temperature and the occasional snowing. The end of January was coming up soon, which meant one week of freedom… One week of doing nothing and a lot at the same time.
Ichigo quickly shook his head, trying to shake the distracting thoughts off so he could focus on his exams. With renewed motivation he stared at the information in front of him, trying to let it soak into his hyperactive brain. However, Ichigo being the person he is, soon had his mind wandering again to everything except for the boring, never-ending texts.
‘That Toushiro kid… He sure was acting strange… Almost… scared? …Nah, probably my imagination.’
Ichigo shook his head, not managing to figure it out. And he didn’t know much about the special shinigami kid-captain to begin with. Last time Toushiro visited and attended his class he had acted very distant, only talking or doing anything in particular if he had a very good reason to do so, and only if it was related to his mission in some way. He’d fought alongside the powerful boy once, when trying to fend off a creepy, feminine tentacle Arrancar. He couldn’t even remember his name. Though Ichigo did remember the impressive skills Toushiro had shown back then. He shuddered slightly.
‘Really don’t want him as my opponent on the battlefield… Oh, that’s right…’
Ichigo pulled out a piece of paper and quickly, as neat as possible, wrote an address on it. Folding the piece of paper, he put it aside, now determined to continue studying, thinking he’d daydreamed enough already. And he was about to start reading the next chapter in his book when a suffocating pressure fell on him, almost forcing the air out of his body. He heard something shatter downstairs and was about to check it out, but he realized only his father was at home. His sisters were safe and his father had probably broken something in a berserk rage. Again.
Quickly grabbing his shinigami badge without much more thought, he pressed it against his chest and let his physical body fall on the ground, leaving him clad in the traditional black kimono with his trusted, enormous Zangetsu on his back.
“Kon, watch my body,” Ichigo yelled though he didn’t even wait for an answer. He’d already opened his window, turned around quickly to grab the little piece of paper from his desk and within seconds he was making his way towards the center of the several powerful reiatsu.
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Hitsugaya scowled as he looked around him, observing the absurd number of Menos Grandes that had appeared this time. He was pretty sure he hadn’t fought this many opponents at once since the start of this mission. Two small hands gripped his zanpaktou tightly, two emerald orbs fixated at the enemies below and in front of him as his two feet seemed to settle on the non-existent platform in the skies. He threw a quick glance at Kuchiki, who had his usual expression as always, though a glint of battle-readiness could be seen. It appeared the reserved captain was as serious as he himself was. Which was good, he thought with a nod before turning his view at two unique enemies who stood quite some distance away, because this battle was pretty important from the looks of it. For even Arrancars to show up, probably from the Espada ranks, this must be something important in some way.
As much as Hitsugaya would have liked to just stand there and continue thinking, the mindless Adjuchases on the ground started to get rowdy and one of them already initiated an attack on Kuchiki, another one following suit, this time aiming at him. Dodging it with relative ease for now, Hitsugaya gritted his teeth as his frown deepened, the eyebrows angled even sharper than they already were.
‘Seriously, where the hell’s Matsumoto when I need her?’
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“UnareC, Hai Neko!” A strawberry-blond woman yelled desperately as her zanpaktou dissolved into ash, soon enveloping an Adjuchas who was positioned to attack her.
“Ban-kai!” A male yelled out with a deep voice, a redhead this time, smirking arrogantly as he propelled the giant snake-like skeleton into a huge Gillian in front of him. Said abomination screamed in terror for a second before vanishing into thin air. The man chuckled in feigned boredom as the snake wrapped it’s body loosely around him.
“Hihio Zabimaru,” he growled as he carefully picked his next opponent. There were so many to choose from.
Standing safely on the sidelines was a peculiar man, constantly waving, whistling, cheering and acting like a sixteen year old female cheerleader as his face was constantly hidden behind a fan.
“Ohhhh! Nice one, Matsumoto-san! Ara, Abarai-kun, watch out there. No no no no no, Abarai-kun, please focus on the enemies! Defend the precious shop of a fragile old man, will you?” He languidly waved his hand to divert the other’s attention.Abarai Renji scowled slightly before shrugging it off, deciding the man wasn’t worth his time at the moment and crushed another Adjuchas with his powerful snake’s skeleton.
“Yay!! Yes, Abarai-kun! That’s the way to do it! Ah, good one! Yes! Yes, nice one! Oh, Matsumoto-san, how elegant! Truly moving! Oh my, the next generation’s growing up so fast,” he wailed dramatically, a hand on his chest while the other covered his eyes elegantly.
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Ichigo felt his stomach twist slightly as he realized two reiatsu’s were growing rapidly, though this time belonging to shinigami, one of them most likely Toushiro. He gripped his already unwrapped Zangetsu tighter as he sped up, only occasionally placing his feet on the air to propel himself forward. A deep frown creased the orange topped forehead as Ichigo tried to find the source of those mingling reiatsu’s. Tracking said forces down had never been his forte.
Oddly enough, he felt his insides twitch from anticipation. Sure, he didn’t exactly enjoy fighting, but somewhere deep inside him he didn’t mind a good fight either. It hadn’t been that long ago since he learned to control his rather aggressive temper. And so, the corners of his mouth were curled up slightly in anticipation of a challenge.
After a while he finally felt himself approach the battle that was going on and he could faintly see icicles fall from the sky. Toushiro’s doing, no doubt.
Ichigo’s eyes widened in surprise as suddenly a Hollow jumped at him from below, barely managing to dodge. Halting his movement, Ichigo gripped his zanpaktou with both hands, growling deeply.
“I don’t have time for small fry.” He charged at the big yet weak monster in front of him. Within seconds he’d slashed the white mask on its face and the gigantic body soon dispersed in thin air. Placing Zangetsu on his back again Ichigo turned around and quickly continued towards the battle in front of him, eager and anxious to find out what the heck was going on.
One minute and two Hollows later he found himself facing what could easily be called ‘utter chaos’. He looked around and saw at least twenty Adjuchases crawling on the ground, four Vasto Lordes in the air and two stoic, white clad Arrancars witnessing it all from above. The reiatsu’s seemed to come from every possible direction and Ichigo swallowed thickly as he realized this wasn’t just a good fight. This was complete madness.
“Oi, don’t just stand there!” Ichigo looked around and soon saw none other than Toushiro, Hyourinmaru already released.
“R-Right,” he muttered as he tried to regain his senses. A few meters away he saw a cloud of pink shimmers tearing apart two Adjuchases.
‘Heh, so Byakuya’s fighting as well,’ Ichigo thought with a smirk, though he couldn’t linger on his thoughts much longer as had to evade a Vasto Lorde’s Cero fast.
“Damn it, I guess it can’t be helped,” he groaned as he sped down, deciding to take care of those Adjuchases first.
‘Che, how thoughtless,’ Hitsugaya thought as he followed the substitute shinigami, slashing an Adjuchas that was attempting to attack Ichigo from behind while he was at it.
The utter chaos continued on for quite some time, both sides taking considerable damage as the army of soul-thirsty monsters slowly fell in numbers. After 30 minutes of intense battle only 3 Vasto Lordes and the two Arrancars, who hadn’t interfered nor had they been targeted at all throughout the battle, simply observing, were left.
The three shinigami found themselves standing next to each other as they breathed heavily, trying to find the strength to finish the seemingly never-ending battle. Taking out just the Adjuchases was much more of a task than they’d thought and it seemed they were far from done, since the most powerful enemies were still unharmed and most likely full of energy.
Ichigo was the first one to take the initiative again, charging at one of the Vasto Lordes with a surprising amount of renewed strength. However, the Menos Grande dodged the thoughtless attack with disturbing ease, but had its leg soon frozen by the mighty ice dragon that had claimed the sky once again. Ichigo crashed on the ground, having not been able to stop his movement after his opponent had dodged him, and he stayed there for a while, trying to regain his breath that had run out. But taking some rest wasn’t meant to be as two Vasto Lordes came from both left and right, forcing Ichigo to jump up and get a better look at the battlefield. However, hovering over him in mid-air was the already waiting third Vasto Lorde which slammed its arm in Ichigo’s neck, thrusting him back into the ground again where the two Vasto Lordes on the ground came in for the second time. Thankfully, he was saved by the little captain again who completely froze one of the Vasto Lordes, the other quickly jumping out of the way. Said captain only sighed, being glad he had released his bankai in time.
One down, two to go.
Ichigo wanted to stand up again, but he felt the world swirl in front of his eyes, actually seeing pretty little stars as he was unable to focus his sight. He groaned as a mind-splitting headache throbbed through his head, making it almost unbearable to move or even see. Trying to clear his sight, he saw another white blur, a Vasto Lorde, heading for him and he silently cursed under his breath, knowing he couldn’t evade the incoming attack. However, two wings of massive ice appeared before him, stopping the Hollow’s attack and fending it off.
“Kurosaki! Get a grip on yourself!” Hitsugaya roared in frustration. He was having enough trouble fighting for himself and he couldn’t constantly watch the less experienced shinigami to prevent him from getting any fatal injuries.
“T-Toushiro…” He muttered faintly. Though when he looked into the other’s eyes, as good as he possibly could, he understood the meaning of the snowy haired boy’s words.
He had to take care of himself, or others would get hurt.
Ichigo gripped Zangetsu tighter and tried, to the best of his ability, to gather his remaining energy as he clenched his teeth. His patience limit had been reached and he decided this was no time to hold back. Positioning the handle of his zanpaktou in front of his chest he took a deep breath before yelling at the top of his lungs.
“Ban-kai!”
And within seconds a dark energy seemed to envelop the teen, covering him completely, the wind raging wildly around him as his reiatsu increased enormously. Suddenly, the black veil that covered Ichigo was gone, forcefully broken as he stood in his ragged black outfit, the sleek zanpaktou in his hand as he regained his serious, battle-ready look on his face.
“Tensa Zangetsu,” he mumbled slightly, only Toushiro hearing it, who was standing close to him. The white haired boy chuckled at the insane amount of reiatsu the substitute shinigami suddenly leaked, even for a bankai released state. But he couldn’t amuse himself any longer as the last two Vasto Lordes were already charging at them, both of them moving behind each other in a strict line. Hitsugaya briefly wondered what Kuchiki was doing if they were taking on the remaining Vasto Lordes and from the corner of his eyes he could see the stoic captain already engaging in battle with one of the Arrancars. The only thing that Hitsugaya could think was how typical that was for the older man, always taking on the big guys, leaving the ‘small fry’ to others. Hitsugaya felt a little disturbed though, seeing how one of the Arrancar remained impassive, never moving and always observing. But he couldn’t linger on those thoughts any longer as he barely managed to evade the two Vasto Lordes again that seemed determined to take him down first. With somewhat of a scowl he flew a bit higher, trying to oversee the chaotic situation they so desperately needed to control. Hitsugaya took a last look at the other captain’s fight and he was disturbed to see that it wasn’t going well for him. The bulky Arrancar he was fighting had an impressive reiatsu of his own, somehow completely overshadowing the reiatsu of the other Arrancar, this one having a rather lithe, fragile build. Was that guy really this good at hiding his reiatsu? Or was he just weak? Hitsugaya shook his head as he switched his gaze towards Kurosaki, who was currently the target of the relentless attacks of the two Vasto Lordes. Whenever Ichigo managed to escape from one corner to another, the other Vasto Lorde was already waiting, which Ichigo would barely manage to avoid by moving away, though the first Vasto Lorde would be waiting for him again.
The frosty captain frowned deeply as he witnessed the battle and decided to interrupt. Gripping Hyourinmaru tightly in his ice encased arm he flew downwards at a steep angle, ready to slash the one oblivious Vasto Lorde with its back turned to him, from above. He was only inches away from the Vasto Lorde’s head when its ally slammed itself in his side, making Hitsugaya fly quite some distance away before managing to steady himself again. He wanted to charge back in to take his revenge but his eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly noticed another, significantly weaker reiatsu very close by. Looking around, he suddenly noticed a shinigamiD -with a ridiculous afro hairstyle- attempting to attack one of the Vasto Lordes.
“You! Get out of here!” Hitsugaya screamed, trying to get the shinigami’s attention.
‘Who is that guy? A shinigami stationed in this area? Damn it, why does he show up now?’ Hitsugaya thought as he gritted his teeth. He quickly took off and approached the obviously weak shinigami as he noticed a Vasto Lorde was charging at the easily overpowered man. Hitsugaya roared in frustration as he reached out Hyourinmaru, hoping he’d get there in time.
And it was only a split-second on time that his zanpaktou deflected the Vasto Lorde’s attack. Breathing heavily, he took his stance in front of the shinigami, his back turned towards him, not wanting to look him in the face.
“You. What division are you?” He spat out with more frustration than intended. This, of course, scared the shinigami as he stuttered.
“S-Seventh division, sir. I-I’m sorry, s-sir.”
“Never mind that. Just get the hell out of-” Hitsugaya’s eyes widened as he suddenly felt a thin, sharp claw pierce his left shoulder from the back, blood slowly oozing out of the wound.
‘T-The third Vasto…Lorde? H-He was frozen……Right?’ Hitsugaya thought as he watched the eerily glowing claw come out of his shoulder.
“H-Hitsugaya-taichou!” The shinigami yelled as he tried to warn him for the incoming enemy but was far too late. Blood splashed out of the rather large wound as the Vasto Lorde withdrew his claw. Hitsugaya fell on his knees as he gripped his shoulder with his right hand, hoping to stop the strong flow of blood that gushed out. His zanpaktou fell on the ground before him. Hitsugaya’s vision blurred slightly as saw the Vasto Lorde appear before him and raise its claw for another attack but before he could react a black blur appeared before him, taking the blow in his place. Hitsugaya faintly recognized the orange mob contrasting heavily with the pitch black clothing. He stood up, shakily, grabbing Hyourinmaru desperately from the ground.
Ichigo quickly turned around and kneeled down to meet the boy’s pained eyes.
“Toushiro! Are you okay?” He yelled, worry obvious in his cracked voice and desperate expression.
“BakaE! Pay attention to the enemies!” Hitsugaya yelled fiercly, his pain numbing him slowly as he tried to remain alert.
Ichigo hesitated before nodding as he raised himself and turned around, gripping the black, sleek Zangetsu as he wore an extremely dangerous expression on his face.
“Get… the fuck… out of my town!” He yelled, his reiatsu exploding again as his coat started to sway wildly at the pressure he created. The three Vasto Lordes were standing together again, now all three of them having a foreboding glow surrounding their bodies. However, of course, Ichigo paid no attention as he was about to charge at them. But before he could reach the dreaded Menoses a white blur appeared between them, separating himself from the three Hollows.
The Arrancar that had appeared looked at Ichigo with a deadpan expression before turning his attention towards his own ally, who soon stood next to him. Ichigo’s lips tightened as he realized Byakuya had probably been defeated.
“Yami,” the smaller Arrancar said in a monotone voice, “take the Vasto Lordes back. Aizen-sama will be pleased.” The bulky enemy merely grunted as he seemed to slash through the sky, a tear of sorts appearing which showed a sad, black world behind it. Smirking from ear to ear the Arrancar commanded the Vasto Lordes’ withdrawal, waiting a second for the three Menos’ to enter through the portal before following them himself. The remaining Arrancar looked at Ichigo a bit longer before he also turned around.
“Kurosaki Ichigo, thank you for the amusing data,” he said with the same bored voice he’d used previously before also entering the portal and closing it behind him.
Ichigo itched to go after them but he realized that the boy behind him probably needed urgent attention. He turned around quickly to see he was resting limply on the floor, his eyes closed and a not so small pool of blood surrounding him.
“Toushiro!” He yelled as he went over to the boy, hoping he was alright. He tried gently shaking the boy, but there was no response or any other sign of acknowledgement as the wound only expelled more blood.
“Toushiro! Damn it, get a grip of yourself! Toushiro!” Ichigo yelled desperately, though he knew the boy probably couldn’t hear him right now.
“Kurosaki Ichigo! Be quiet!” Ichigo forcefully turned around to see Byakuya standing behind him, said man gripping his left side as he tried to remain standing. The captain’s usually perfect, clean outfit was smeared with blood, most of it probably his own, and his clothes were torn at practically every edge. But what disturbed Ichigo the most was a strange, foreign glint in the man’s usually impassive eyes. It was something he couldn’t really place… Though he could only describe it as ‘fear’. Fear and bewilderedness. However, his mind soon snapped back towards the boy lying next to him, who was turning paler by the second.
“Can’t you see Toushiro’s wounded, damn it?” He yelled at the man, his deep frown disturbing his delicate features.
“He only passed out. Probably from blood loss, though he has lost much more in battles fiercer than this” the stoic man answered in his usual calm voice as if he’d announced the most common thing in this world. However, this only agitated Ichigo even more.
“Damn it, it is because he has passed out that I’m worried. Ah, just shut the fuck up, you. He has to get to Inoue, now,” he yelled with a trembling voice. He gently picked up the limp boy from the ground and cringed at the amount of blood that kept on flowing from the wound. A small microphone fell to the ground, an ignored, cracked voice coming from the other end of the line.
“Sirs, the barrier is ready. Your seal can be releas-”
Wasting no more time, Ichigo turned around and shunpo-ed away as if it was his own life that depended on it, leaving behind a startled low level shinigami and an ever-impassive captain.
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Urahara Kisuke stood on the veranda of his shop, witnessing the destruction in front of his eyes. The man’s eyes couldn’t be seen because of the hat he wore and the rest of his face remained hidden behind his ever present fan. But an odd feeling of serenity and seriousness seemed to radiate from him as he eyed the two shinigami that laid sprawled out on the ground before him, both completely drained as they had barely managed to fend off the sudden and surprisingly large attack on the small shop.
“Tessai-san, please take those two inside and patch them up. Be urgent, please,” he said without moving a muscle. A deep grunt came from a large man, apparently an acknowledgement as he picked up the two wounded warriors, taking them inside the mysterious shop. Urahara remained completely still for a while longer as seemed lost in his deep, complex and disturbing thoughts. After a few minutes he finally turned around, his fan still in front of his face as he mumbled.
“They could’ve gone easier on the lawn.”
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Inoue’s eyes had widened in surprise as Ichigo suddenly stormed her apartment, carrying a bloodstained and heavily bleeding boy in his arms. Ichigo had only screamed some incomprehensible things at her but she knew what had to be done. The boy was soon laying in the middle of the living room, a glowing orange, transparent cocoon surrounding him as his wound closed painfully slow. Inoue’s usually carefree and bright face was darkened with worry and exhaustion as she fought to remain focused. She’d been going at it for half an hour already and the single wound was still not completely closed. She was starting to pant slightly as she kept on stretching her arms over the boy, trying to heal him as best as possible.
“Kurosaki-kun…” she silently mumbled, trying to keep herself focused on the task at hand. Ichigo was crouched next to her, watching both of them intensely.
“Inoue, is it working? Why is it taking so long? Please… Tell me he’s alright…” he muttered under his breath, a worried frown creasing his forehead, his usually sparkling brown eyes now dull with worry and sadness. Inoue sighed deeply as she kept on putting all her energy in healing the wounded boy in front of her.
“His wound… There’s an unusual energy lingering in it… I can’t reject it completely. It prevents the wound from closing, so I can’t heal him fully. At best…” she breathed deeply, “it’ll leave a scar on his shoulder. His shoulder itself should be fine but… This awful, evil feeling just won’t go away… It will take at least another half an hour,” she mumbled, only loud enough for Ichigo to barely hear her. The usually energetic boy frowned impossibly deeper at his friend’s words, wishing he could help in any way.
“Is there… Is there anything I can do?” But Inoue shook her head slightly.
“Just… Stay here, please,” she whispered, trying to keep hold back the tears that started to burn in her eyes. Ichigo smiled weakly and nodded, sitting next to the girl in a slightly more comfortable position, never letting both of his allies out of his sight.
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Unusual heavy rain clattered on the windows loudly, a seemingly never ending amount of water falling from the sky. The sun had began to set and streaks of orange, crimson and yellow filled the sky, faintly in the distance the dark-blue sky of the night already visible. Inside the small and cozy apartment the peace and quietness had finally returned after a full hour of intensive labor. A tired female was spread out on the couch, soundly asleep after using up nearly every amount of energy she had in her fragile body. In the bedroom connected to the living room was another one fast asleep, this time a small boy with unique white hair. His upper body had been disposed of its clothing and the sleeping form snuggled under the warm comforter to seek the warmth that it gave. The boy stirred only now and then, too drained to do anything except sleep.
The only resident awake in the apartment was an orange haired boy, wearing an expression far to grave for the settled down mood. Listening quietly to the rain outside, he sat at the table, one clenched hand resting on its surface while he simply stared at the space in front of him as the images of the previous battle flashed in front of his troubled mind. He wanted to forget it for now, but no matter what he tried, he found that he couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling it had given him. That glow surrounding the Menoses at the last moment, the unlikely withdrawal of their enemies while they were clearly winning, the near to impossible healable wound inflicted on the young, but strong captain… And not to forget the most unusual look in the always impassive and arrogant Byakuya’s eyes… It all pained the young teen’s head as he tried to figure out what exactly had happened, but he refused to give up. However, it showed all to clearly that thinking and figuring things out weren’t his best qualities and he soon found himself unable to continue any longer unless he wished for his already insistent headache to get even worse. What he wanted most right now was actually to sleep, but he felt heavily responsible for the two exhausted people that were already taking their much needed rest and he thought there needed to be at least one alert person around, especially after everything that had happened.
Sighing deeply, he raised himself from his chair and walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge and squinting his eyes at the harsh light, he looked around a bit, hoping to find something edible. Sure enough, there was plenty of food stored in the small space, but the almost disturbing amount of variety in ingredients was something he couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
Taking out some eggs, unions, mushrooms, vegetables and other basics he recognized, he placed it all on the counter as he began his search for rice. After a short while he found the all important ingredient stashed behind a lot of pots and pans, of which he took one to prepare all the food in. He wasn’t a master chef, not compared to his little sister, but she’d attempted more than once to teach him and apparently it proved to be useful in the current situation. It took the teen a while before he got everything set as he wanted it to but before long a pleasant scent started to spread through the cozy apartment.
After fifteen minutes or so Ichigo placed all the food on the table with a satisfied grin on his face. Yeah, it was looking good, if he could say so himself. He was about to check if his sleeping friends -Ichigo briefly wondered if he could call Hitsugaya his friend already, though getting through battles such as these surely formed a bond, even if you want it or not- but he halted quickly when he saw the small boy standing in the doorway of the bedroom, leaning against the wall as he rubbed his eyes slowly. Ichigo observed the boy carefully and he couldn’t help but frown slightly at the thin scar the boy now wore on his left shoulder. It was a whole 4 inches or so long, clearly visible. Despite that, Ichigo couldn’t help but chuckle as the boy’s hair hadn’t lost its gravity-defying abilities, though some spikes were angled differently, probably from sleeping.
“If you’re done looking, could you get me a shirt or something?” An annoyed voice said softly. It took a while before Ichigo registered the voice as that of Hitsugaya.
“A-ah, sorry. Your kimono was completely drenched in blood and I kinda ripped it off your body to check and your wound and so Inoue could heal you,” Ichigo said with a slight blush as he scratched the back of his head while smiling innocently.
“Whatever, just know it’s pretty cold like this.”
Ichigo grinned, relieved the boy was seemingly back to his normal self and decided to tease him a bit to lift the mood.
“Oh? The legendary, frosty captain doesn’t like the temperature? Hmmm, how unusual.” Hitsugaya merely snorted.
“Shut up.”
“Also,” Ichigo added with a hint of a smirk on his face, “that’s the third time already that I’ve saved your butt.” Hitsugaya only scowled deeply.
“Just shut up, will you?”
“Yeah yeah,” Ichigo said with a smile. It remained quiet for a little while as they both avoided each other’s gazes, not really sure what to say next. However, nothing much was left to be said as the third resident finally woke up.
“Ara, Toushiro-kun, how’s your wound doing?” Inoue asked sleepily as she rubbed her eyes before stretching with a small squealing sound. Hitsugaya decided to drop the correction of his name this time, seeing how that woman had just saved his life.
‘Though she better not get used to it,’ he added to his thoughts hastily.
“It’s okay, thank you. I guess this scar’s all that’s left,” he said, his eyes dulling slightly as he carefully traced the scar’s line with a fingertip.
“Ah, Toushiro-kun, you must be cold. I’m sorry about your kimono,” she said while laughing nervously. Hitsugaya blushed slightly.
“It’s okay, really.”
Inoue seemed to think deeply before a small lamp practically lit above her head as her face turned back towards her usual sparkling self.
“Um, Toushiro-kun, I still have some shirts left that belonged to my older brother. They are probably too big but it might be better than nothing, right?” Ichigo’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he remembered what had been left of Inoue’s brother at that time. Surely, it was a battle he would never forget, not even if he wanted to. Hitsugaya hesitated for a second but a shiver made him nod quickly.
“Thank you,” he replied politely.
And before long the three of them sat at the reasonably filled table (Hitsugaya indeed dressed in a shirt at least 5 sizes to big), all their stomachs growling loudly -Hitsugaya wouldn’t admit it though- from everything that had happened that day. They soon devoured all the food that was presented at the table and there was an oddly comfortable silence as they ate. For two of them, the scene was close to the actual family they’d never really had.
Author’s Notes:
A = “Juubantai-taichou-han” translates to “Mr. Captain of the Tenth Division”, though the Mr part is debatable, but is a translation of the suffix “-san”, spoken in dialect. For those who didn’t guess already, this is how Ichimaru Gin might address Toushiro.
B = “Nee-san” is how Kon refers to Rukia, whom he ‘adores’.
C =”Unare” is the release command for Matsumoto’s Shikai and translates to “Growl”.
D = This is the weak shinigami that seems to be permanently stationed in Karakura Town. He is unusually stupid and foolish. His name is Kurumadani Zennosuke.
E = ‘Baka’ and ‘Bakayaro’ translate to ‘Idiot, idiotic person”. Hitsugaya often refers to Ichigo like this.
In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:
"What!? 30!? That's impossible!" Several startled heads turned around to find the source of a very loud voice that echoed through the classroom. One student had jumped up at the first sight of his returned test. The previously occupied chair had fallen back from the sudden rise and connected with the floor with a loud sound, making the moment even more dramatic. The student’s eyes widened in surprise and a single finger was pointed accusingly at the glaring mark on his test.
And…
“Stop grinning like that,” a deep voice interrupted his thoughts.
“It makes you look even more stupid.”
Ichigo feigned hurt as he held his arms in front of his face, as if to shield himself from anymore insults, though it might also have been to hide the grin that only grew wider as he felt a weak spot in the boy’s impenetrable façade.
“How cruel.”
Chapter: Three
Pairing: Hitsugaya Toushiro x Kurosaki Ichigo
Rating: M (T for the first half of the story)
Summary: Hitsugaya, stationed in a turbulent Karakura Town to investigate increased Menos activity, finds his defenses weakening thanks to an orange haired teen. As they both experience unexplainable phenomenon, they draw each other closer.
So, here’s an extra-long and eventful chapter to make up for the slower first two. Also, I made a slight adjustment to the original story. Ichigo is in his last year of High School, instead of his first. I mean, who actually sees him as a 15 year old? Also, when you see ABCDE in a sentence, then an Author’s Note will follow at the end of the chapter for explanation. Anything else you want explained? Let me know through a review or PM. In any case, I’d love to get feedback! Without more talking, I present you:
Thawing Walls - Chapter 3
Emerald like eyes stared dully at the space in front of him, not taking -and not even trying to take- in any information from his immediate surroundings. Two slender arms rested on the table he sat at, elbows on the table’s surface, a delicate chin resting on his small hands. His vision blurred every other second or so, not even trying to pay attention to the woman standing in front of him and all the others. She was desperately trying to keep everyone focused at her, and she failed. Miserably. When Hitsugaya paid attention to his surroundings, he noticed a soft snoring sound from not too far away. Frowning slightly he recognized the source to be none other than the troublesome and most of all loud human. While his own form was elegantly resting on his little desk and made it seem like he was actually paying attention, Kurosaki was ungracefully resting his head sideways on his desk, his lips slightly parted as he didn’t even fight the sleep that overtook him.
And as much as he disliked it, Hitsugaya couldn’t really blame him. For the past three weeks already, they’d been up most nights fighting Hollows, along with a few Gillians and an occasional Adjuchas -thankfully no Vasto Lordes most of the time-. And while it was regular and common exercise for the battle-worn captain’s soul, he could imagine it being tiring for a human, even if said human possessed an enormous amount of energy and skills to boot.
Not only Kurosaki was sleeping. Sado Yasutora, the powerful giant with physics unlike any other human, was dozing off and even Ishida Uryuu, the normally attentive and sharp Quincy teen was losing his focus every now and then. It only proved how absurd and frequent their battles were, despite their opponents being mere Hollows…
“Hitsugaya-kun, please continue where I left off and finish the problem,” a sharp voice suddenly seemed to echo through his mind. Pushing his chair back slightly he stood up, barely suppressing a yawn. He glanced at the board and noticed a rather simple math problem written all over it, already finished halfway. With a dull and bored tone he spoke up.
“Subtract five z from both equations, multiply the bottom one twice and add both equations together by substracting them along with their outcomes. The outcome is variable y equals six. Thus, x equals four and z equals five.”
Soft whispers could be heard as the small boy took his seat again. Choosing to ignore them, he continued his mindless gazing, just wishing the class would end already. It had only been a few weeks since he started to attend this school and at first he’d done his best to stay alert at all times, but the level of education soon proved to be way beneath the boy’s intellectual capabilities. His top grades were only matched by Ishida, the -former- number one of the class.
Hitsugaya soon fell back in his non-attentive state, staying alert just enough to notice any disturbances in the area, but relaxed enough to rest. He felt a comfortable warmth spread through his body as his eyes started to feel heavy. Seeing no harm in closing them for a brief moment, he slowly allowed his eyes to flutter closed, his breath already regulating in soft, slow ones.
Juubantai-taichou-han, wake up pleaseA, a sly voice suddenly seemed to whisper in his ear, sending violent shivers down his spine. A pair of sleep fogged eyes shot opened quickly as they scanned the area for any distinct reiatsu’s, his heart beating harshly in his chest as his head wildly moved from left to right to detect the possible intruder. He sincerely hoped he’d just imagined the sound of that person’s voice, one he wished he’d never have to hear again. When his sight finally focused in front of him, however, he noticed a startled teen standing before him.
“Oi, Toushiro… You okay?”
“K-Kurosaki…” Hitsugaya mumbled, confused and nervous at the same time. His turquoise eyes were hazed with clouds of confusion. Ichigo chuckled as he ran a hand through his messy orange mob of hair.
“Gee, you don’t have to jump like that, Toushiro. You must’ve been really fast asleep.”
Hitsugaya stood perplex, his mind oddly blank.
‘I…I was asleep?’
“Anyway, Toushiro, class has ended. Wanna walk home together? Your apartment is in the same direction as my house, right?”
Hitsugaya quickly hid his confusion behind his scowl, deciding to figure this out later. Right now, he just wanted to leave.
“No, thank you. I’m fine. In fact, I’ll be going now,” he mumbled with a deep frown, picking up his bag, putting away the books covering his desk and immediately making his way towards the door.
“W-Wait, Toushiro.” Hitsugaya halted and turned around, though a very dangerous expression on his face that spelt ‘back off’. But Ichigo ignored -or perhaps really didn’t notice- it as his usual goofy grin appeared on his face.
“Vacation’s coming up pretty soon and when it starts I’m having a little house-warming party at my soon-to-be apartment. It’s nothing much, just some movies and a few games or something. You wanna come?” Hitsugaya snorted.
“I don’t have time,” he answered as he turned around. However, it seemed like Ichigo wasn’t planning on giving up after one try.
“Wait, Toushiro. Gee, let me finish, will you? It’ll be fun, I’m sure. Chad, Inoue and Ishida are coming, though that four-eyed bastard might just ruin the mood. But never mind him, I know I don’t! And can’t Byakuya cover for you, just for one night?” Ichigo almost pleaded.
“Kurosaki, I’m not planning on burdening Kuchiki-taichou unnecessarily.” The faint smile on Ichigo’s face faded, now replaced with slight disappointment as he let his shoulders sag a little bit.
After a few seconds he seemed to recover from his disappointment.
“Just let me know if you change your mind, okay? The party’s in about two weeks and I’ll give you the address tomorrow, since I haven’t been able to memorize it precisely just yet,” he said while scratching the back of his head, an innocent smile now plastered on his face.
Hitsugaya merely shrugged and continued walking to the door, though he stopped again once he got there, this time remembering something.
“Kurosaki,” he said with a deep and irritated voice, “ you must call me Hitsugaya-taichou from now on.”
And with that said he finally left the room, leaving behind a shrugging Ichigo.
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A nearly inaudible groan escaped soft lips, tightly pressed into a fine line, as the captain of the tenth division allowed himself to fall on his bed, his head pressed into a fluffy pillow as he tried to clear his head. Fighting to control his breath, he attempted to relax the tense muscles in his neck that pressed a painful headache to the front of his head. Meanwhile, his thoughts were racing at an incredible speed, desperately trying to make sense out of the previous shocks his mind had taken.
Surely, it must’ve been a dream. There was now way it could’ve been him. It was simply impossible. But Hitsugaya knew what he had heard. That tone, that implied slyness, it could all belong to one person and one person only. A person who was supposed to be somewhere far away, hiding his hideous, traitorous face. So why? Was he really imagining things? Did the workload finally get the best of him? Why now? He wasn’t all that busy at the moment, only fending off some minor Hollows and a few Adjuchases or Gillians while he was at it, all the while staying at the top of his newly attended -and of course, troublesome and easy- class effortlessly. So… What was it then?
Juubantai-taichou-han, please don’t think too hard ‘bout it. Yer head’ll hurt, ya know.
Hitsugaya’s body shot up at the sound, his eyes widened in horror as he desperately tried to find the source of the voice. He tried his best to suppress the shivers that ran down his spine, but he couldn’t help it as he clenched the sheets beneath him.
Hitsugaya-taichou…
The boy groaned, trying to block out the source and remain calm. The voice seemed to echo through his head, feeling as if thin, sharp knives continuously stabbed the inside of his skull.
“Hitsugaya-taichou.”
‘Shut up’, he thought as he gritted his teeth.
He moaned slightly as he was determined to shut the voice out, not giving in to the chaos in his head.
“Hitsugaya-taichou.”
“Shut up!” Hitsugaya finally yelled, his eyes wide open, his lithe body trembling slightly as he breathed heavily.
“Hitsugaya-taichou!” A voice suddenly shouted, forcing the white haired boy’s attention on the man standing in the doorway. Hitsugaya breathed heavily as he saw Kuchiki waiting impatiently with an annoyed look on his voice.
“K-Kuchiki-taichou,” he muttered, for the first time in his life oddly relieved to see the stoic man. Said man only eyed him with a deadpan look, his dark gleaming eyes seemingly piercing through the smaller boy.
“Hitsugaya-taichou, once you have decided to focus on the tasks at hand you’ll notice a number of Menoses have appeared.”
The boy’s eyes closed as he tried to pick up the monsters’ reiatsu. It didn’t take long as the Menoses seemed to be in large numbers this time. Were there Vasto Lordes? He frowned deeply as he wondered. Why hadn’t he sensed this?
“Please take up your zanpaktou and aid in fending them off,” Kuchiki continued before he swiftly but elegantly turned around.
“I’ll be going ahead of you. Please do not make me wait,” With that, the man left. After a few seconds Hitsugaya heard a ‘thud’ as a gigai probably fell on the ground and after a while the other captain’s reiatsu faded slightly as he moved towards the chaos that was currently going on.
Hitsugaya slowly ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He really had to calm down. He just needed some rest.
Yes, that was probably it, Hitsugaya thought with a nod. He stiffly raised himself from his bed, shed off his gigai and sped off to follow the other captain’s reiatsu towards the waiting battlefield.
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“Ichigo! How dare you! Leaving me behind like that, don’t you have a heart?! She’s a spawn of evil, of evil I tell you!”
“Shut up,” Ichigo groaned as he entered his room, wishing the wild jumping, stuffed lion many mental curses as he sat down at his desk. However, said stuffed animal refused to give up as it jumped on the desk’s surface, standing in front of the orange topped boy before resuming its jumping and loud complaining.
“Her needles are lethal! Ichigo, they’re deadly! I’m telling you, that child is bent on world destruction purely through the use of… of…” The hyper-active mod-soul paused for a moment, not sure if it actually dared saying it.
“Pink! Yes, you hear that, Ichigo? Pink! The entire world, covered in pink! She’d do it! And she could!” Kon continued jumping up and down continuously, sending many accusations to Ichigo’s youngest sister, waving his arms wildly as he tried to keep his friend’s attention focused on him.
“Shut up, Kon! You’re annoying,” Ichigo yelled, swatting the small toy away with ease, hearing some wailing ‘Nee-sanB’ as it landed on the teen’s bed.
Sighing deeply, Ichigo opened the book on his desk as he attempted to study. The mock exam for the entrance exams were coming up and he needed to get a good score or the consequences weren’t going to be pretty. He didn’t want to think about spending even his precious week off in the confines of that dreaded school building while he could be outside, relishing in the steeply dropped temperature and the occasional snowing. The end of January was coming up soon, which meant one week of freedom… One week of doing nothing and a lot at the same time.
Ichigo quickly shook his head, trying to shake the distracting thoughts off so he could focus on his exams. With renewed motivation he stared at the information in front of him, trying to let it soak into his hyperactive brain. However, Ichigo being the person he is, soon had his mind wandering again to everything except for the boring, never-ending texts.
‘That Toushiro kid… He sure was acting strange… Almost… scared? …Nah, probably my imagination.’
Ichigo shook his head, not managing to figure it out. And he didn’t know much about the special shinigami kid-captain to begin with. Last time Toushiro visited and attended his class he had acted very distant, only talking or doing anything in particular if he had a very good reason to do so, and only if it was related to his mission in some way. He’d fought alongside the powerful boy once, when trying to fend off a creepy, feminine tentacle Arrancar. He couldn’t even remember his name. Though Ichigo did remember the impressive skills Toushiro had shown back then. He shuddered slightly.
‘Really don’t want him as my opponent on the battlefield… Oh, that’s right…’
Ichigo pulled out a piece of paper and quickly, as neat as possible, wrote an address on it. Folding the piece of paper, he put it aside, now determined to continue studying, thinking he’d daydreamed enough already. And he was about to start reading the next chapter in his book when a suffocating pressure fell on him, almost forcing the air out of his body. He heard something shatter downstairs and was about to check it out, but he realized only his father was at home. His sisters were safe and his father had probably broken something in a berserk rage. Again.
Quickly grabbing his shinigami badge without much more thought, he pressed it against his chest and let his physical body fall on the ground, leaving him clad in the traditional black kimono with his trusted, enormous Zangetsu on his back.
“Kon, watch my body,” Ichigo yelled though he didn’t even wait for an answer. He’d already opened his window, turned around quickly to grab the little piece of paper from his desk and within seconds he was making his way towards the center of the several powerful reiatsu.
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Hitsugaya scowled as he looked around him, observing the absurd number of Menos Grandes that had appeared this time. He was pretty sure he hadn’t fought this many opponents at once since the start of this mission. Two small hands gripped his zanpaktou tightly, two emerald orbs fixated at the enemies below and in front of him as his two feet seemed to settle on the non-existent platform in the skies. He threw a quick glance at Kuchiki, who had his usual expression as always, though a glint of battle-readiness could be seen. It appeared the reserved captain was as serious as he himself was. Which was good, he thought with a nod before turning his view at two unique enemies who stood quite some distance away, because this battle was pretty important from the looks of it. For even Arrancars to show up, probably from the Espada ranks, this must be something important in some way.
As much as Hitsugaya would have liked to just stand there and continue thinking, the mindless Adjuchases on the ground started to get rowdy and one of them already initiated an attack on Kuchiki, another one following suit, this time aiming at him. Dodging it with relative ease for now, Hitsugaya gritted his teeth as his frown deepened, the eyebrows angled even sharper than they already were.
‘Seriously, where the hell’s Matsumoto when I need her?’
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“UnareC, Hai Neko!” A strawberry-blond woman yelled desperately as her zanpaktou dissolved into ash, soon enveloping an Adjuchas who was positioned to attack her.
“Ban-kai!” A male yelled out with a deep voice, a redhead this time, smirking arrogantly as he propelled the giant snake-like skeleton into a huge Gillian in front of him. Said abomination screamed in terror for a second before vanishing into thin air. The man chuckled in feigned boredom as the snake wrapped it’s body loosely around him.
“Hihio Zabimaru,” he growled as he carefully picked his next opponent. There were so many to choose from.
Standing safely on the sidelines was a peculiar man, constantly waving, whistling, cheering and acting like a sixteen year old female cheerleader as his face was constantly hidden behind a fan.
“Ohhhh! Nice one, Matsumoto-san! Ara, Abarai-kun, watch out there. No no no no no, Abarai-kun, please focus on the enemies! Defend the precious shop of a fragile old man, will you?” He languidly waved his hand to divert the other’s attention.Abarai Renji scowled slightly before shrugging it off, deciding the man wasn’t worth his time at the moment and crushed another Adjuchas with his powerful snake’s skeleton.
“Yay!! Yes, Abarai-kun! That’s the way to do it! Ah, good one! Yes! Yes, nice one! Oh, Matsumoto-san, how elegant! Truly moving! Oh my, the next generation’s growing up so fast,” he wailed dramatically, a hand on his chest while the other covered his eyes elegantly.
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Ichigo felt his stomach twist slightly as he realized two reiatsu’s were growing rapidly, though this time belonging to shinigami, one of them most likely Toushiro. He gripped his already unwrapped Zangetsu tighter as he sped up, only occasionally placing his feet on the air to propel himself forward. A deep frown creased the orange topped forehead as Ichigo tried to find the source of those mingling reiatsu’s. Tracking said forces down had never been his forte.
Oddly enough, he felt his insides twitch from anticipation. Sure, he didn’t exactly enjoy fighting, but somewhere deep inside him he didn’t mind a good fight either. It hadn’t been that long ago since he learned to control his rather aggressive temper. And so, the corners of his mouth were curled up slightly in anticipation of a challenge.
After a while he finally felt himself approach the battle that was going on and he could faintly see icicles fall from the sky. Toushiro’s doing, no doubt.
Ichigo’s eyes widened in surprise as suddenly a Hollow jumped at him from below, barely managing to dodge. Halting his movement, Ichigo gripped his zanpaktou with both hands, growling deeply.
“I don’t have time for small fry.” He charged at the big yet weak monster in front of him. Within seconds he’d slashed the white mask on its face and the gigantic body soon dispersed in thin air. Placing Zangetsu on his back again Ichigo turned around and quickly continued towards the battle in front of him, eager and anxious to find out what the heck was going on.
One minute and two Hollows later he found himself facing what could easily be called ‘utter chaos’. He looked around and saw at least twenty Adjuchases crawling on the ground, four Vasto Lordes in the air and two stoic, white clad Arrancars witnessing it all from above. The reiatsu’s seemed to come from every possible direction and Ichigo swallowed thickly as he realized this wasn’t just a good fight. This was complete madness.
“Oi, don’t just stand there!” Ichigo looked around and soon saw none other than Toushiro, Hyourinmaru already released.
“R-Right,” he muttered as he tried to regain his senses. A few meters away he saw a cloud of pink shimmers tearing apart two Adjuchases.
‘Heh, so Byakuya’s fighting as well,’ Ichigo thought with a smirk, though he couldn’t linger on his thoughts much longer as had to evade a Vasto Lorde’s Cero fast.
“Damn it, I guess it can’t be helped,” he groaned as he sped down, deciding to take care of those Adjuchases first.
‘Che, how thoughtless,’ Hitsugaya thought as he followed the substitute shinigami, slashing an Adjuchas that was attempting to attack Ichigo from behind while he was at it.
The utter chaos continued on for quite some time, both sides taking considerable damage as the army of soul-thirsty monsters slowly fell in numbers. After 30 minutes of intense battle only 3 Vasto Lordes and the two Arrancars, who hadn’t interfered nor had they been targeted at all throughout the battle, simply observing, were left.
The three shinigami found themselves standing next to each other as they breathed heavily, trying to find the strength to finish the seemingly never-ending battle. Taking out just the Adjuchases was much more of a task than they’d thought and it seemed they were far from done, since the most powerful enemies were still unharmed and most likely full of energy.
Ichigo was the first one to take the initiative again, charging at one of the Vasto Lordes with a surprising amount of renewed strength. However, the Menos Grande dodged the thoughtless attack with disturbing ease, but had its leg soon frozen by the mighty ice dragon that had claimed the sky once again. Ichigo crashed on the ground, having not been able to stop his movement after his opponent had dodged him, and he stayed there for a while, trying to regain his breath that had run out. But taking some rest wasn’t meant to be as two Vasto Lordes came from both left and right, forcing Ichigo to jump up and get a better look at the battlefield. However, hovering over him in mid-air was the already waiting third Vasto Lorde which slammed its arm in Ichigo’s neck, thrusting him back into the ground again where the two Vasto Lordes on the ground came in for the second time. Thankfully, he was saved by the little captain again who completely froze one of the Vasto Lordes, the other quickly jumping out of the way. Said captain only sighed, being glad he had released his bankai in time.
One down, two to go.
Ichigo wanted to stand up again, but he felt the world swirl in front of his eyes, actually seeing pretty little stars as he was unable to focus his sight. He groaned as a mind-splitting headache throbbed through his head, making it almost unbearable to move or even see. Trying to clear his sight, he saw another white blur, a Vasto Lorde, heading for him and he silently cursed under his breath, knowing he couldn’t evade the incoming attack. However, two wings of massive ice appeared before him, stopping the Hollow’s attack and fending it off.
“Kurosaki! Get a grip on yourself!” Hitsugaya roared in frustration. He was having enough trouble fighting for himself and he couldn’t constantly watch the less experienced shinigami to prevent him from getting any fatal injuries.
“T-Toushiro…” He muttered faintly. Though when he looked into the other’s eyes, as good as he possibly could, he understood the meaning of the snowy haired boy’s words.
He had to take care of himself, or others would get hurt.
Ichigo gripped Zangetsu tighter and tried, to the best of his ability, to gather his remaining energy as he clenched his teeth. His patience limit had been reached and he decided this was no time to hold back. Positioning the handle of his zanpaktou in front of his chest he took a deep breath before yelling at the top of his lungs.
“Ban-kai!”
And within seconds a dark energy seemed to envelop the teen, covering him completely, the wind raging wildly around him as his reiatsu increased enormously. Suddenly, the black veil that covered Ichigo was gone, forcefully broken as he stood in his ragged black outfit, the sleek zanpaktou in his hand as he regained his serious, battle-ready look on his face.
“Tensa Zangetsu,” he mumbled slightly, only Toushiro hearing it, who was standing close to him. The white haired boy chuckled at the insane amount of reiatsu the substitute shinigami suddenly leaked, even for a bankai released state. But he couldn’t amuse himself any longer as the last two Vasto Lordes were already charging at them, both of them moving behind each other in a strict line. Hitsugaya briefly wondered what Kuchiki was doing if they were taking on the remaining Vasto Lordes and from the corner of his eyes he could see the stoic captain already engaging in battle with one of the Arrancars. The only thing that Hitsugaya could think was how typical that was for the older man, always taking on the big guys, leaving the ‘small fry’ to others. Hitsugaya felt a little disturbed though, seeing how one of the Arrancar remained impassive, never moving and always observing. But he couldn’t linger on those thoughts any longer as he barely managed to evade the two Vasto Lordes again that seemed determined to take him down first. With somewhat of a scowl he flew a bit higher, trying to oversee the chaotic situation they so desperately needed to control. Hitsugaya took a last look at the other captain’s fight and he was disturbed to see that it wasn’t going well for him. The bulky Arrancar he was fighting had an impressive reiatsu of his own, somehow completely overshadowing the reiatsu of the other Arrancar, this one having a rather lithe, fragile build. Was that guy really this good at hiding his reiatsu? Or was he just weak? Hitsugaya shook his head as he switched his gaze towards Kurosaki, who was currently the target of the relentless attacks of the two Vasto Lordes. Whenever Ichigo managed to escape from one corner to another, the other Vasto Lorde was already waiting, which Ichigo would barely manage to avoid by moving away, though the first Vasto Lorde would be waiting for him again.
The frosty captain frowned deeply as he witnessed the battle and decided to interrupt. Gripping Hyourinmaru tightly in his ice encased arm he flew downwards at a steep angle, ready to slash the one oblivious Vasto Lorde with its back turned to him, from above. He was only inches away from the Vasto Lorde’s head when its ally slammed itself in his side, making Hitsugaya fly quite some distance away before managing to steady himself again. He wanted to charge back in to take his revenge but his eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly noticed another, significantly weaker reiatsu very close by. Looking around, he suddenly noticed a shinigamiD -with a ridiculous afro hairstyle- attempting to attack one of the Vasto Lordes.
“You! Get out of here!” Hitsugaya screamed, trying to get the shinigami’s attention.
‘Who is that guy? A shinigami stationed in this area? Damn it, why does he show up now?’ Hitsugaya thought as he gritted his teeth. He quickly took off and approached the obviously weak shinigami as he noticed a Vasto Lorde was charging at the easily overpowered man. Hitsugaya roared in frustration as he reached out Hyourinmaru, hoping he’d get there in time.
And it was only a split-second on time that his zanpaktou deflected the Vasto Lorde’s attack. Breathing heavily, he took his stance in front of the shinigami, his back turned towards him, not wanting to look him in the face.
“You. What division are you?” He spat out with more frustration than intended. This, of course, scared the shinigami as he stuttered.
“S-Seventh division, sir. I-I’m sorry, s-sir.”
“Never mind that. Just get the hell out of-” Hitsugaya’s eyes widened as he suddenly felt a thin, sharp claw pierce his left shoulder from the back, blood slowly oozing out of the wound.
‘T-The third Vasto…Lorde? H-He was frozen……Right?’ Hitsugaya thought as he watched the eerily glowing claw come out of his shoulder.
“H-Hitsugaya-taichou!” The shinigami yelled as he tried to warn him for the incoming enemy but was far too late. Blood splashed out of the rather large wound as the Vasto Lorde withdrew his claw. Hitsugaya fell on his knees as he gripped his shoulder with his right hand, hoping to stop the strong flow of blood that gushed out. His zanpaktou fell on the ground before him. Hitsugaya’s vision blurred slightly as saw the Vasto Lorde appear before him and raise its claw for another attack but before he could react a black blur appeared before him, taking the blow in his place. Hitsugaya faintly recognized the orange mob contrasting heavily with the pitch black clothing. He stood up, shakily, grabbing Hyourinmaru desperately from the ground.
Ichigo quickly turned around and kneeled down to meet the boy’s pained eyes.
“Toushiro! Are you okay?” He yelled, worry obvious in his cracked voice and desperate expression.
“BakaE! Pay attention to the enemies!” Hitsugaya yelled fiercly, his pain numbing him slowly as he tried to remain alert.
Ichigo hesitated before nodding as he raised himself and turned around, gripping the black, sleek Zangetsu as he wore an extremely dangerous expression on his face.
“Get… the fuck… out of my town!” He yelled, his reiatsu exploding again as his coat started to sway wildly at the pressure he created. The three Vasto Lordes were standing together again, now all three of them having a foreboding glow surrounding their bodies. However, of course, Ichigo paid no attention as he was about to charge at them. But before he could reach the dreaded Menoses a white blur appeared between them, separating himself from the three Hollows.
The Arrancar that had appeared looked at Ichigo with a deadpan expression before turning his attention towards his own ally, who soon stood next to him. Ichigo’s lips tightened as he realized Byakuya had probably been defeated.
“Yami,” the smaller Arrancar said in a monotone voice, “take the Vasto Lordes back. Aizen-sama will be pleased.” The bulky enemy merely grunted as he seemed to slash through the sky, a tear of sorts appearing which showed a sad, black world behind it. Smirking from ear to ear the Arrancar commanded the Vasto Lordes’ withdrawal, waiting a second for the three Menos’ to enter through the portal before following them himself. The remaining Arrancar looked at Ichigo a bit longer before he also turned around.
“Kurosaki Ichigo, thank you for the amusing data,” he said with the same bored voice he’d used previously before also entering the portal and closing it behind him.
Ichigo itched to go after them but he realized that the boy behind him probably needed urgent attention. He turned around quickly to see he was resting limply on the floor, his eyes closed and a not so small pool of blood surrounding him.
“Toushiro!” He yelled as he went over to the boy, hoping he was alright. He tried gently shaking the boy, but there was no response or any other sign of acknowledgement as the wound only expelled more blood.
“Toushiro! Damn it, get a grip of yourself! Toushiro!” Ichigo yelled desperately, though he knew the boy probably couldn’t hear him right now.
“Kurosaki Ichigo! Be quiet!” Ichigo forcefully turned around to see Byakuya standing behind him, said man gripping his left side as he tried to remain standing. The captain’s usually perfect, clean outfit was smeared with blood, most of it probably his own, and his clothes were torn at practically every edge. But what disturbed Ichigo the most was a strange, foreign glint in the man’s usually impassive eyes. It was something he couldn’t really place… Though he could only describe it as ‘fear’. Fear and bewilderedness. However, his mind soon snapped back towards the boy lying next to him, who was turning paler by the second.
“Can’t you see Toushiro’s wounded, damn it?” He yelled at the man, his deep frown disturbing his delicate features.
“He only passed out. Probably from blood loss, though he has lost much more in battles fiercer than this” the stoic man answered in his usual calm voice as if he’d announced the most common thing in this world. However, this only agitated Ichigo even more.
“Damn it, it is because he has passed out that I’m worried. Ah, just shut the fuck up, you. He has to get to Inoue, now,” he yelled with a trembling voice. He gently picked up the limp boy from the ground and cringed at the amount of blood that kept on flowing from the wound. A small microphone fell to the ground, an ignored, cracked voice coming from the other end of the line.
“Sirs, the barrier is ready. Your seal can be releas-”
Wasting no more time, Ichigo turned around and shunpo-ed away as if it was his own life that depended on it, leaving behind a startled low level shinigami and an ever-impassive captain.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Urahara Kisuke stood on the veranda of his shop, witnessing the destruction in front of his eyes. The man’s eyes couldn’t be seen because of the hat he wore and the rest of his face remained hidden behind his ever present fan. But an odd feeling of serenity and seriousness seemed to radiate from him as he eyed the two shinigami that laid sprawled out on the ground before him, both completely drained as they had barely managed to fend off the sudden and surprisingly large attack on the small shop.
“Tessai-san, please take those two inside and patch them up. Be urgent, please,” he said without moving a muscle. A deep grunt came from a large man, apparently an acknowledgement as he picked up the two wounded warriors, taking them inside the mysterious shop. Urahara remained completely still for a while longer as seemed lost in his deep, complex and disturbing thoughts. After a few minutes he finally turned around, his fan still in front of his face as he mumbled.
“They could’ve gone easier on the lawn.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Inoue’s eyes had widened in surprise as Ichigo suddenly stormed her apartment, carrying a bloodstained and heavily bleeding boy in his arms. Ichigo had only screamed some incomprehensible things at her but she knew what had to be done. The boy was soon laying in the middle of the living room, a glowing orange, transparent cocoon surrounding him as his wound closed painfully slow. Inoue’s usually carefree and bright face was darkened with worry and exhaustion as she fought to remain focused. She’d been going at it for half an hour already and the single wound was still not completely closed. She was starting to pant slightly as she kept on stretching her arms over the boy, trying to heal him as best as possible.
“Kurosaki-kun…” she silently mumbled, trying to keep herself focused on the task at hand. Ichigo was crouched next to her, watching both of them intensely.
“Inoue, is it working? Why is it taking so long? Please… Tell me he’s alright…” he muttered under his breath, a worried frown creasing his forehead, his usually sparkling brown eyes now dull with worry and sadness. Inoue sighed deeply as she kept on putting all her energy in healing the wounded boy in front of her.
“His wound… There’s an unusual energy lingering in it… I can’t reject it completely. It prevents the wound from closing, so I can’t heal him fully. At best…” she breathed deeply, “it’ll leave a scar on his shoulder. His shoulder itself should be fine but… This awful, evil feeling just won’t go away… It will take at least another half an hour,” she mumbled, only loud enough for Ichigo to barely hear her. The usually energetic boy frowned impossibly deeper at his friend’s words, wishing he could help in any way.
“Is there… Is there anything I can do?” But Inoue shook her head slightly.
“Just… Stay here, please,” she whispered, trying to keep hold back the tears that started to burn in her eyes. Ichigo smiled weakly and nodded, sitting next to the girl in a slightly more comfortable position, never letting both of his allies out of his sight.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Unusual heavy rain clattered on the windows loudly, a seemingly never ending amount of water falling from the sky. The sun had began to set and streaks of orange, crimson and yellow filled the sky, faintly in the distance the dark-blue sky of the night already visible. Inside the small and cozy apartment the peace and quietness had finally returned after a full hour of intensive labor. A tired female was spread out on the couch, soundly asleep after using up nearly every amount of energy she had in her fragile body. In the bedroom connected to the living room was another one fast asleep, this time a small boy with unique white hair. His upper body had been disposed of its clothing and the sleeping form snuggled under the warm comforter to seek the warmth that it gave. The boy stirred only now and then, too drained to do anything except sleep.
The only resident awake in the apartment was an orange haired boy, wearing an expression far to grave for the settled down mood. Listening quietly to the rain outside, he sat at the table, one clenched hand resting on its surface while he simply stared at the space in front of him as the images of the previous battle flashed in front of his troubled mind. He wanted to forget it for now, but no matter what he tried, he found that he couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling it had given him. That glow surrounding the Menoses at the last moment, the unlikely withdrawal of their enemies while they were clearly winning, the near to impossible healable wound inflicted on the young, but strong captain… And not to forget the most unusual look in the always impassive and arrogant Byakuya’s eyes… It all pained the young teen’s head as he tried to figure out what exactly had happened, but he refused to give up. However, it showed all to clearly that thinking and figuring things out weren’t his best qualities and he soon found himself unable to continue any longer unless he wished for his already insistent headache to get even worse. What he wanted most right now was actually to sleep, but he felt heavily responsible for the two exhausted people that were already taking their much needed rest and he thought there needed to be at least one alert person around, especially after everything that had happened.
Sighing deeply, he raised himself from his chair and walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge and squinting his eyes at the harsh light, he looked around a bit, hoping to find something edible. Sure enough, there was plenty of food stored in the small space, but the almost disturbing amount of variety in ingredients was something he couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
Taking out some eggs, unions, mushrooms, vegetables and other basics he recognized, he placed it all on the counter as he began his search for rice. After a short while he found the all important ingredient stashed behind a lot of pots and pans, of which he took one to prepare all the food in. He wasn’t a master chef, not compared to his little sister, but she’d attempted more than once to teach him and apparently it proved to be useful in the current situation. It took the teen a while before he got everything set as he wanted it to but before long a pleasant scent started to spread through the cozy apartment.
After fifteen minutes or so Ichigo placed all the food on the table with a satisfied grin on his face. Yeah, it was looking good, if he could say so himself. He was about to check if his sleeping friends -Ichigo briefly wondered if he could call Hitsugaya his friend already, though getting through battles such as these surely formed a bond, even if you want it or not- but he halted quickly when he saw the small boy standing in the doorway of the bedroom, leaning against the wall as he rubbed his eyes slowly. Ichigo observed the boy carefully and he couldn’t help but frown slightly at the thin scar the boy now wore on his left shoulder. It was a whole 4 inches or so long, clearly visible. Despite that, Ichigo couldn’t help but chuckle as the boy’s hair hadn’t lost its gravity-defying abilities, though some spikes were angled differently, probably from sleeping.
“If you’re done looking, could you get me a shirt or something?” An annoyed voice said softly. It took a while before Ichigo registered the voice as that of Hitsugaya.
“A-ah, sorry. Your kimono was completely drenched in blood and I kinda ripped it off your body to check and your wound and so Inoue could heal you,” Ichigo said with a slight blush as he scratched the back of his head while smiling innocently.
“Whatever, just know it’s pretty cold like this.”
Ichigo grinned, relieved the boy was seemingly back to his normal self and decided to tease him a bit to lift the mood.
“Oh? The legendary, frosty captain doesn’t like the temperature? Hmmm, how unusual.” Hitsugaya merely snorted.
“Shut up.”
“Also,” Ichigo added with a hint of a smirk on his face, “that’s the third time already that I’ve saved your butt.” Hitsugaya only scowled deeply.
“Just shut up, will you?”
“Yeah yeah,” Ichigo said with a smile. It remained quiet for a little while as they both avoided each other’s gazes, not really sure what to say next. However, nothing much was left to be said as the third resident finally woke up.
“Ara, Toushiro-kun, how’s your wound doing?” Inoue asked sleepily as she rubbed her eyes before stretching with a small squealing sound. Hitsugaya decided to drop the correction of his name this time, seeing how that woman had just saved his life.
‘Though she better not get used to it,’ he added to his thoughts hastily.
“It’s okay, thank you. I guess this scar’s all that’s left,” he said, his eyes dulling slightly as he carefully traced the scar’s line with a fingertip.
“Ah, Toushiro-kun, you must be cold. I’m sorry about your kimono,” she said while laughing nervously. Hitsugaya blushed slightly.
“It’s okay, really.”
Inoue seemed to think deeply before a small lamp practically lit above her head as her face turned back towards her usual sparkling self.
“Um, Toushiro-kun, I still have some shirts left that belonged to my older brother. They are probably too big but it might be better than nothing, right?” Ichigo’s eyebrows twitched slightly as he remembered what had been left of Inoue’s brother at that time. Surely, it was a battle he would never forget, not even if he wanted to. Hitsugaya hesitated for a second but a shiver made him nod quickly.
“Thank you,” he replied politely.
And before long the three of them sat at the reasonably filled table (Hitsugaya indeed dressed in a shirt at least 5 sizes to big), all their stomachs growling loudly -Hitsugaya wouldn’t admit it though- from everything that had happened that day. They soon devoured all the food that was presented at the table and there was an oddly comfortable silence as they ate. For two of them, the scene was close to the actual family they’d never really had.
Author’s Notes:
A = “Juubantai-taichou-han” translates to “Mr. Captain of the Tenth Division”, though the Mr part is debatable, but is a translation of the suffix “-san”, spoken in dialect. For those who didn’t guess already, this is how Ichimaru Gin might address Toushiro.
B = “Nee-san” is how Kon refers to Rukia, whom he ‘adores’.
C =”Unare” is the release command for Matsumoto’s Shikai and translates to “Growl”.
D = This is the weak shinigami that seems to be permanently stationed in Karakura Town. He is unusually stupid and foolish. His name is Kurumadani Zennosuke.
E = ‘Baka’ and ‘Bakayaro’ translate to ‘Idiot, idiotic person”. Hitsugaya often refers to Ichigo like this.
In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:
"What!? 30!? That's impossible!" Several startled heads turned around to find the source of a very loud voice that echoed through the classroom. One student had jumped up at the first sight of his returned test. The previously occupied chair had fallen back from the sudden rise and connected with the floor with a loud sound, making the moment even more dramatic. The student’s eyes widened in surprise and a single finger was pointed accusingly at the glaring mark on his test.
And…
“Stop grinning like that,” a deep voice interrupted his thoughts.
“It makes you look even more stupid.”
Ichigo feigned hurt as he held his arms in front of his face, as if to shield himself from anymore insults, though it might also have been to hide the grin that only grew wider as he felt a weak spot in the boy’s impenetrable façade.
“How cruel.”