Thawing Walls - Chapter 7
Title: Thawing Walls
Chapter: Seven
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.
Alright, this all I've written so far. Well actually, I have chapter 8 as good as finished but I try to at least stay ahead one chapter of what I'm posting =)
Thawing Walls - Chapter 7
“Hitsugaya-taichou. You need only know my first name, Auraldo. Forgive my discourtesy but seeing how you shall die within the next ten minutes, telling any more than that holds no meaning.”
Hitsugaya seemed unaffected by the announcement of his supposed death. Gripping Hyourinmaru, he spread his icy wings wide, creating harsh and cold winds around himself.
“We’ll see.”
His eyes moved towards his left because of an incoming black blur.
“Toushiro, let me help,” Ichigo mumbled, his eyes full of battle-readiness. Hitsugaya’s silence was approval enough.
“It seems like you have your own reinforcements. Wise. But futile nonetheless,” Auraldo stated as he drew his sword. “Aizen-sama wishes this to end quickly. Please do not hold back.”
Toushiro and Ichigo’s eyes widened at the following words.
“Resurreccion. Scream…”
An ear deafening explosive sound came from the Espada, shaking the very ground and shattering many windows of the houses below them. This caused sudden panic to the citizens on the ground who could not see the actual battle while the effects on their environment were as real as they could be.
“What the…” Ichigo muttered.
“Stay on your guard, Kurosaki.”
“R-Right.”
The Espada had grown quite larger though he had lost his hands, his arms now ending in blunt, round stumps with a flat side where his palms used to be. What had grown the most, proportionally, was his head. His bald head glimmered in the weakly shining sun. His lips were stitched together, effectively shutting his mouth and his previously small, marble sized eyes had become completely black and grown in size several times. His ears had disappeared, leaving the sides of his head perfectly flat.
From a distance, Renji and Matsumoto recovered from the earsplitting transformation that had taken place. After regaining their balance prepared for battle.
“I’ll help them out!” Renji growled and started to charge towards Ichigo and Hitsugaya.
“Watch out, Renji!” Matsumoto cried from behind, unleashing Haineko just in time to stop an Adjuchas who’d almost rammed into the redhead’s side.
“Woah!” Renji stammered in surprise, halting his movements. “Where the hell did that guy come from?!” Looking around, he saw several Menoses appearing from the Garganta* in the sky, the one the new Espada had come from. As quick as Renji could count, he now spotted at least seven or eight Adjuchases on his left and five on his right. “Damn it.” With a dissatisfied groan he launched Zabimaru into one of the Hollows but the target managed to evade his head-on attack.
“Let taicho and Ichigo handle the Espada, these Menoses will wreck the entire town if we don’t stop them fast!” Matsumoto yelled at him as she dodged two enemies charging at her from her front and back.
From the Garganta, more than ten massive, ugly masks belonging to Gillians appeared, announcing their arrival with terrifying screams. Matsumoto felt slight despair creep onto her. Both captains and Ichigo were busy with the Espadas and she and Renji had their hands full with the Adjuchases.
“Watch out!” A male voice yelled behind her. She turned around and saw an Adjuchas charging straight at her, taking advantage of Matsumoto’s awe at the Gillians’ appearance. She braced herself for impact but before the Hollow could touch her, a blue arrow of light pierced the back of its head and the creature dissolved quickly.
“Y-You…” Matsumoto mumbled as she recognized the two figures who now stood in front of her as Sado Yasutora and Ishida Uryu, friends of Ichigo.
“Matsumoto-san, leave the large ones to us,” Sado offered in his deep voice. Matsumoto gratefully accepted the extra fighting power.
Meanwhile, Byakuya and Ulquoirra resumed their fighting as well, continuously avoiding each other’s attacks, making it seem like the battle could go on forever. Every once in a while, Ulquoirra’s eyes seemed to briefly glance at his comrade, as if to check up on him.
Said comrade hadn’t made a single move after his Resurreccion had been unleashed. He only stood there in mid-air, seemingly just observing his two opponents. Hitsugaya swallowed thickly and suddenly charged at Auraldo, feinting an attack and swiftly flying to the left when he had been only a few inches away from the Espada. It was to observe how the enemy would react, but no reaction came. The Espada had just stood still as if he hadn’t even noticed his enemy. Hitsugaya frowned as he heard a high-pitched ringing start in his ears.
‘Strange…’ The boy bit his lip as tried to make sense of the situation. Before he could deduce anything, Ichigo also closed in on Auraldo, charging up a Getsuga Tensho and attempting to slash him with the wave of concentrated energy. This time Auraldo did move, at an astonishing speed.
‘Sonido*?’ Hitsugaya opened his mouth to say something to Ichigo and Auraldo seemed to notice this. His lips twitched and the leftmost stitch on his lips snapped, allowing him to open the corner of his mouth slightly. Immediately a painfully high pitched screech escaped, causing Ichigo and Hitsugaya to cringe. Whatever words Hitsugaya had spoken were drowned, not reaching Ichigo’s ears.
‘N-Not good,’ Ichigo thought to himself, unsure what he should do next. Unfortunately, Auraldo decided it was time for him to start moving on his own, closing the distance between him and Ichigo within a second and thrust the blunt end of his right arm in the other’s stomach. Ichigo’s eyes widened as saliva and a little blood escaped his mouth. With difficulty he retreated before the other could strike a second time, hunching forward as he tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. Hitsugaya took this chance to sneak up behind their enemy and slash his back but without even turning around Auraldo moved out of his way, forcing Hitsugaya to stop quickly before he’d crash into Ichigo.
‘How did he notice me from behind…’ The little captain frowned deeply, glancing at Ichigo from the corner of his eyes.
“You okay?”
Ichigo half-chuckled, running out of breath halfway through.
“Y-Yeah,” he mumbled before he straightened his body, ignoring the ache in his stomach. “He’s ridiculously fast.”
“And perceptive,” Hitsugaya added. He looked around and saw Byakuya, Renji and Matsumoto fighting their own battles, only now noticing the other two allies that had appeared, Ichigo’s classmates. All five seemed to be distracted by the high pitched sound resonating from Auraldo. “We need to somehow separate him from this place. He’s making it difficult for the others to keep on fighting.”
Ichigo looked around and indeed, it seemed like the others were getting slower because of the distracting noise.
“How?”
“Keep him busy for at least five minutes,” Hitsugaya whispered. Auraldo raised an eyebrow from a distance.
“I’ll try,” Ichigo groaned before gripping Zangetsu tightly, speeding off towards the Espada. Meanwhile, Hitsugaya took a deep breath as he held Hyourinmaru’s handle with both hands.
‘Ready for this?’ He murmured, addressing the mighty dragon he shared his soul with. It let out a soft growl in acknowledgement. Hitsugaya lowered himself and moved out of the Espada’s sight.
Trying to buy his friend the time he needed, Ichigo challenged Auraldo to a test of speed, seeing how it was one of his Bankai’s forte. The challenge was silently accepted and the two moved through the air as blurs of black and white, sometimes coming closer but never quite connecting. It seemed as though the diversion was working but after three minutes Auraldo had enough, stopping his movements. Ichigo quickly halted as well, eyeing his enemy suspiciously. He felt a slight shiver run down his back as a cool breeze swept by.
Auraldo closed his eyes and his lips twitched again. Ichigo desperately hoped it wasn’t what he was thinking but proved himself right when a second stitch on the other’s lips snapped, allowing them to part wider. Ichigo felt like his head would split open and it began to throb at the sound that followed. Trying to cover his ears and keep his eyes open, Ichigo could do nothing else. More windows shattered in the surrounding houses and buildings, causing cardrivers to lose their sight and crash into each other, loud claxons now adding to all the noise.
‘D-Damn… Isn’t he affected by this noise himself?...Hurry up, Toushiro’
Trying not to think too hard Ichigo closed in on Auraldo, hoping his advance would cause the other to stop his crushing waves of noise. It cost him nearly all of his willpower to keep his eyes open against the reflex to close them and almost blindly he swung his blade once he was close to the Espada. The attack was a clear miss but it had its desired effect as Auraldo closed his mouth. Unfortunately, even though the actual sounds were gone, they still seemed to echo heavily in Ichigo’s ears. A high pitch also rang. Ichigo breathed heavily as it felt like his own head had become an enemy on itself he had to keep under control.
Auraldo’s arm appeared out of nowhere and slammed harshly into Ichigo’s left side and a faint crushing sound could be heard. Ichigo’s senses had been too dulled to react to the attack. Auraldo’s other arm pulled back, ready to thrust into the other’s stomach for a second time but something seemed to distract him halfway through.
Without anyone noticing, the skies had been filled with dark, menacing clouds and a cold wind almost slashed on their skin as it swept by. From between two buildings, Hitsugaya appeared as he rose to the same level as them. His eyebrows almost connected in the frown he had, a sign of his immense concentration.
“Sennen Hyourou*,” he whispered and eight pillars of ice shot up from the ground and caught Auraldo and Ichigo in a circle. Both of them had wide eyes as they watched in awe at the amount of ice that had formed without their knowledge. Ichigo quickly fell back and left the circle as the pillars started to close in on the center of that circle: a bewildered Auraldo.
Said enemy tried to follow Ichigo in his escape but the pillars mirrored his exact movements to maintain the circle that constantly decreased in size. When Hitsugaya confirmed that Ichigo was safe, he swung Hyourinmaru counterclockwise. At that movement, the pillars crashed into Auraldo from all sides, encasing him completely in ice. That crushing sound felt like one of victory for Ichigo, who limped towards Hitsugaya.
“W-Wow, Toushiro, that’s incredi-” he coughed up some blood and cringed as he fell on one knee. His left side felt like it had been hugged by a bulldozer. Despite that, he chuckled between gasped breaths. “And not a moment too soon.”
The other’s emerald eyes gazed at Ichigo, checking if any of the wounds needed immediate attention. The teen’s left ribs were broken without a doubt. Hitsugaya bit his lower lip.
“Kurosaki, get Inoue-san to fix you up, leave this one to me.” Ichigo seemed surprised.
“He’s dead, right, that Espada?” He’d assumed no one could survive such a devastating attack from his captain friend.
“Far from it,” Hitsugaya answered as he motioned towards the mass of ice. Ichigo turned to look at their frozen enemy and at first there wasn’t anything that caught his attention. Until a large crack appeared in the ice and that’s when Ichigo saw numerous small ones forming as well.
“He’s... breaking free,” Ichigo mumbled in disappointment. Hitsugaya nodded.
‘I wasn’t done preparing yet… But if I hadn’t drawn the Espada’s attention right then…’ Hitsugaya’s gaze returned to Ichigo and he shook off the thoughts about how badly things could’ve ended for the other.
“I’ll move him somewhere with less people and as far away from the others and their battles as I can,” Hitsugaya stated as he temporarily sheathed Hyourinmaru while keeping his Bankai activated.
“In that case you can’t go alone, we’ll fight him together,” Ichigo answered firmly, not tolerating any objection. It was Hitsugaya’s turn to chuckle and he shook his head.
“Very well. Hurry, he could get out within a minute.” Both faces turned dead serious again.
“There’s a large river surrounded by a few miles of forest not too far north from here. It won’t be completely empty, but at least the others will be able to fight peacefully.”
“That’ll do,” Hitsugaya nodded and sped towards the encased Auraldo, pressing his right wing against the mass of ice and pushing it forward. Ichigo spat some saliva and blood to his side before following him.
Meanwhile Byakuya was still engaged in an endless battle with Ulquoirra, who had drawn his sword, a sign the man was at least somewhat serious. Both seemed determined to finish off the other gracefully, yet not able to easily do so.
Matsumoto and Renji desperately tried to keep control over the growing number of Adjuchases while Sado and Ishida slaughtered one Gillian after another.
“Sado-kun, on your right!” Ishida yelled at his giant friend to warn him of the colossal Gillian that tried to squash him under his feet. Ishida’s eyes widened as his friend disappeared beneath a gigantic white foot that stomped down.
“Sado-kun!”
Ishida was about to rush towards his location when the Gillian’s foot started to tremble and then slowly rise. Underneath, Sado’s figure appeared, the shield on his right arm held above him to prevent him from being crushed.
“B-Brazo Derecha de G-Gigante*.”
Then with a roar Sado thrust up his right arm and the Gillian’s foot along with it, causing the Menos to lose its balance. Sado took this chance to use his powerful left arm to finish of his opponent.
Ishida sighed as he realized he’d worried too much for his capable companion and decided to continue dealing with his targets.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
A few miles north of the battlefield Hitsugaya panted as he’d managed to push the large prison of ice to the middle of a river. Falling back to stand next to Ichigo, he snorted.
“We need a battle plan. And fast or we’re gonna be taking a whole lot more damage.”
Ichigo sighed in agreement.
“The noise this guy makes is absurd, I can’t believe he’s not affected by it himself.”
Yes, how is that possible? Hitsugaya asked himself, trying to figure out anything that could give them the edge in this battle. He then remembered seeing the Espada’s ears disappear after unleashing his Resureccion. Did that mean he couldn’t hear at all? Or in a way he didn’t need his ears while at the same time being immune for his own noise?
“Kurosaki, let’s stay defensive for now. I want to observe him some more.”
“Meaning,” Ichigo chuckled, “I get to distract him again while you sit back and relax? Ah man, why do I have to all the work?” Hitsugaya smirked.
“Just the brainless work.”
Ichigo wanted to retort but the sound of crushing ice caught their attention. Auraldo was free again and judging from his knitted eyebrows, he wasn’t very happy. He snapped the middle stitch on his mouth, enabling him to open his mouth halfway through. Like before, this unleashed a painful noise that almost paralyzed the two shinigami.
Hitsugaya inwardly groaned, but finally he noticed something. With each stitch that snapped, the noise from his mouth became lower pitched. Even though a high pitch seemed to ring in his head from time to time as well. That and Auraldo never seemed to look them in the eye.
Testing a theory, Hitsugaya lunged forward with Hyourinmaru pointed straight at the Espada. Halfway through the captain adjusted his course so he approached his enemy at an angle. Fixating his attention on Auraldo’s eyes, Hitsugaya swung his sword at a mediocre speed. The giant closed his mouth and, as expected, evaded Hitsugaya’s attack effortlessly.
But his large, black eyes hadn’t moved once.
“Geez Toushiro, my little sister could’ve dodged that!” Ichigo yelled at his companion. “This is how it’s done!” With a roar he charged for the umpteenth time that day at the large Espada. Auraldo moved to his right just when Ichigo closed in on him, evading the mindless slash and countering by smashing his left arm into Ichigo’s back. Before he could successfully execute that counter, though, Hitsugaya had sneaked up behind him silently, hoping to land a strike on the enemy’s neck. As though Auraldo had eyes in his back, however, he canceled his counterattack on Ichigo and instead ducked to escape Hitsugaya’s range.
Both shinigami took their distance again after all their failed attempts.
“I think I know what’s going on,” Hitsugaya mumbled in Ichigo’s direction. The substitute shinigami looked dumbfounded but moved in closer, eager to get some advice on how to end this tiresome battle.
Auraldo would not allow such communication though, as the fourth stitch on his mouth snapped, causing the all too familiar noise to fill the skies again, preventing Hitsugaya’s words from ever reaching Ichigo’s ears.
D-Damn it, Ichigo thought, I can’t hear a thing Toushiro’s saying.
Ichigo focused hard on the other’s moving lips, hoping to gain some kind of clue as to what he was trying to say.
Bag?... Bad… Bat?... Bat!
Ichigo’s eyes widened as realization hit him. This guy worked like a bat! Maybe the horrendous noise from his mouth was masking an incredibly high pitch that told Auraldo where they were without having to use his eyes. That would explain his ability to evade attacks completely outside of his sight… But how would knowing this help? They still weren’t able to change anything.
Hitsugaya noticed Ichigo’s realization of their enemy’s abilities yet they both failed to think of a workable plan to counter them. Well, he could of course…
Toushiro… Hyourinmaru’s deep voice boomed through Hitsugaya’s soul. You know that is dangerous. If not for yourself then surely for everyone around you.
Hitsugaya bit his lip, knowing his soulmate was right. But did they have any other option? He sure didn’t see one.
First of all, they had to shut up Auraldo. He seemed to reflexively close his mouth when being attacked, so that’s what he’d do first. Hitsugaya lunged at Auraldo with all his might and succeeded in startling the giant. That damned mouth was finally closed again. With his back towards Auraldo, Hitsugaya approached Ichigo.
“Shut up, listen,” Hitsugaya hastily muttered, knowing he didn’t have much time before Auraldo would intervene.
“I’ll create a fog around him. On my signal, attack him with all you have,” extra emphasis was put on those last three words. Ichigo nodded, not sure what good a fog would do for them but he had to believe in the brains of his friend right now.
Hitsugaya quickly separated himself from Ichigo to prevent Auraldo from believing he had to cut their communication short. The short captain bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
This plan wasn’t nearly as simple as it had seemed to Ichigo and required extraordinary capabilities on Hitsugaya’s part.
Help me with this, Hyourinmaru… You may have to hold me back…
It remained quiet for several seconds before the mighty dragon complied, his approving growl making Hitsugaya’s body tremble.
“Tensho Jurin*,” he muttered quietly. Hyourinmaru’s most basic power: To control the weather. This is accomplished by manipulating the water in the surround atmosphere. Hitsugaya very much preferred not to use this power in Bankai mode as it became very hard to control, thus making it a danger to his comrades in the direct vicinity. But he’d have to accomplish the best case scenario now, he just had to.
Swallowing thickly, Hitsugaya gathered water in the air surrounding them, the river below them an abundant source, heightening the humidity. Auraldo seemed suspicious of this development and approached Hitsugaya to stop him but Ichigo positioned himself between them, blocking access to his friend.
Hitsugaya’s forehead became creased from frowning as he tried to concentrate harder and deeper. It wasn’t just any fog he was creating. If Auraldo really did function like a bat, then he was sending out immensely high pitched sounds that would bounce against objects or people, return to Auraldo and the manner of how they returned would tell him about the arrangement of his surroundings. Those sounds are nothing more than movement of air. The fog Hitsugaya would create had to function like an airtight barrier surrounding Auraldo, enclosing his sounds around him, effectively turning him blind.
However, creating a fog that was so airtight requires absurd concentration. It would be tempting to just create a barrier of ice, but Ichigo had to be able to move through this barrier to reach and finally defeat Auraldo, thus requiring flexible control of the water droplets. This, however, provided Hitsugaya with two extra, severely straining tasks. First, he had to highly satiate the fog with his own reiatsu to mask Ichigo’s, or else Auraldo would still be able to sense him coming. Second, he had to take extreme care to control the fog, so as to not turn the water droplets into ice, freezing and most definitely killing Ichigo before he could even reach Auraldo.
They had to execute this with perfect timing or Auraldo would perhaps try to move through the fog himself. Hitsugaya would be able to freeze him like before, but unlike a frozen Ichigo, Auraldo could probably break the ice using the powerful vibrations of air from his noises. They had to land the final blow with Ichigo’s most powerful technique at the exact right time.
Thankful that Ichigo was once again distracting Auraldo, Hitsugaya closed his eyes as he pictured the formation of water droplets in his mind. He couldn’t let to many gaps fall in the barrier or Auraldo’s sounds would betray Ichigo’s location. His heart started thumping harshly in his chest and a drop of sweat fell from the left side of his face. By the time the drop of sweat had reach his chin, it froze into a tiny crystal of ice.
Damn it, too much…
Slightly easing up on the temperature, the little shinigami finally succeeded in making an airtight formation of water droplets with just the right temperature to prevent them from turning to ice. Taking a deep breath, Hitsugaya pointed Hyourinmaru at Auraldo, moving the fog to completely envelop their enemy. The Espada flinched, unsure what was happening.
Please give me your all, my dear friend, Hitsugaya begged his mighty zanpaktou. He could feel his request being fulfilled as Hyourinmaru’s power started to swell up in his body, fueling his reiatsu. Carefully he directed that reiatsu into the fog, spreading it evenly. Satisfied with the fog, it was time.
“NOW!” Hitsugaya roared at Ichigo, who nodded nervously.
The orange haired teen’s eyes turned determined in a second and he pulled out his Hollow mask, turning his eyes an eerie black and yellow. His own power exploded at unleashing this inner power and with boosted confidence Ichigo thrust himself into the fog, heading straight for the center where Auraldo would be waiting.
Hitsugaya nearly dropped to his knees as he tried to maintain his airtight barrier of droplets with his reiatsu evenly spread, while at the same time freeing a narrow path for Ichigo to move through.
“Almost,” the boy whimpered weakly.
In contrast, Ichigo roared in fury. After only three seconds he had reached the center and as a menacing black flurry he appeared above Auraldo. Said Espada finally noticed his enemy and was in the process of snapping the last stitch on his mouth but he was too late. Ichigo yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Getsuga Tensho!”
The mighty black wave of energy descended onto Auraldo, whose fully opened mouth now emitted a scream that would’ve almost made a tear in Ichigo’s eardrums. However, the scream died out fast as the Getsuga Tensho split the Espada in two, turning the frightening enemy into a lifeless mess of flesh and blood. The afterwave of the powerful attack smashed into the fog, blowing some of it away.
Panting harshly, Ichigo allowed his mask to dissolve on his face, watching the fog dissipate soon after. Immediately, his gaze connected with Hitsugaya, who’s knees finally did give out and fell to the ground.
“T-Toushiro,” Ichigo yelled at him, approaching his little friend as he worried for his safety.
“I-I’ll be… fine…” the boy said between gasps. Despite his utterly exhausted expression, the boy’s lips curved up. “We… did it…”
Ichigo’s eyes softened as he recognized Hitsugaya was alright. Placing a hand on the other’s right shoulder, he sighed in relief.
“We sure did.” Feeling as if every muscle lost its tension, Ichigo fell to the ground, landing on his back. He could only laugh weakly.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Byakuya had gained some minor cuts during his battle with Ulquiorra, who was still untouched. The lithe Espada was growing increasingly bored in his fight with the shinigami captain and his attention was finally piqued when Auraldo’s reiatsu completely disappeared.
“Failed, huh?” He muttered to himself. “Don’t try to entertain me any longer, shinigami captain. I’m done with you.”
With that sudden statement, Ulquoirra sheathed his sword and turned towards the Garganta. As soon as he’d entered, the tear started to close. Byakuya arrived a split-second after it had closed completely, as if the display of white sands and pitch-black skies had never been there. With a hint of frustration in his movements, Byakuya sheathed his zanpaktou.
With the Garganta closed, the endless supply of Hollows was cut off and before long Renji, Matsumoto, Ishida and Sado had finished all the small fry that had been left behind. Finished at last, they regrouped on the ground, everyone obviously out of breath after such an extended workout.
“Heeeeh, that was one hell of a brawl,” Renji groaned as he took a seat on the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Mou, you can say that again!” Matsumoto whined as sat down next to Renji, feeling sticky from sweat as well.
Ishida and even Sado complained as well as the joined the two shinigami on the ground, glad to take a rest. From a distance, Ishida noticed two figures approaching. They were unmistakably Ichigo and Hitsugaya, both still in their bankai forms.
“Damn it,” Hitsugaya cursed under his breath. He lowered his zanpaktou, allowing the ice encasing his arm and back to slowly dissipate before releasing his powerful technique.
A soft breeze rustled the boy’s pure white hair, a welcome caress after all the strain his body had been under. He sighed deeply as he looked at the stoic captain standing not too far from him, Hitsugaya noticed his fellow captain was not amused. It wasn’t often that Kuchiki Byakuya couldn’t finish what he’d started.
Letting out another deep breath, Hitsugaya slowly made his way towards the others on the ground, now completely sealing his bankai state as the ice on his body fell away. He looked around but couldn’t see very well as an orange blur quickly filled his vision. Already scowling slightly in advance, he eyed the teen as he halted, affectionate concern hidden in those chocolate brown eyes.
“Are you really not hurt badly, Toushiro?” Ichigo asked, his gentle voice causing a strange stirring in the small boy’s stomach. So, the boy averted his eyes and turned his head, answering quietly.
“I’m okay.”
Ichigo was about to ask him once more but another blur approached the two and within seconds the white-topped face was buried in a bust he’d hoped never to feel so close again.
“Taichoooouuu! I missed you so much!” The female voice pitched highly, which only irritated the little captain more.
“M-Matsu…moto…I…can’t…breathe,” the deep, muffled voice sounded before his two dainty hands found some grip on the supple body and managed to free his head from the deep Ravine of Death, as he had dubbed it mentally.
Hitsugaya panted heavier from the temporary air loss though soon recovered his posture and crossed his arms in front of his small chest. He felt like he shouldn’t show weakness.
“Oh, taichou… Don’t act so irritated! It’s all okay now. The battle’s over, and no one’s hurt bad! So? Did Ichigo attempt any heroic rescues while we were fighting Menoses?” his vice-captain asked, a slightly teasing tone in his voice as she poked her little captain. A huge grin appeared on the orange-topped face as a thumb was raised for extra confirmation.
“You bet!” Ichigo said excitedly. Hitsugaya blushed slightly as he averted his face once again in an attempt to hide it.
“Both of you, shut up,” he mumbled, a dangerous tone present in his low voice.
Meanwhile, Renji had met up with his captain and the redhead was very busy making sure his captain wasn’t hurt before asking any other questions.
“So… Since everyone’s okay and all…” Ichigo said, a childish glint returning in his eyes, “how about we have an after-party at my place! To celebrate our victory!”
Matsumoto immediately bounced around as her face lit up even more, already wildly chattering about the -absolutely- necessary amount of alcohol.
“This is no victory at all, you two,” Hitsugaya interrupted, making sure his vice-captain stopped jumping up and down before continuing.
“And there is absolutely not going be a party. Matsumoto, there is a report to write about the events that just took place. Soul Society has definitely picked up the Espada’s reiatsu and we’re under strict orders to brief them on everything that happens. And Ichigo, your exams are only two days away, remember?”
Two excited faces quickly died down as wide grins were replaced with sad pouts. However, the commanding scowl and deep frown remained as always on the frosty captain’s face.
“But Toushirooo,” Ichigo whined, “how in the world can we study after all this? Besides,” a satisfied and smug grin appeared on his face again, “I just saved your sorry ass for the… Heck, I’ve lost count already!”
The blush that had almost disappeared on the pale boy’s face returned slightly and it frustrated him to no end.
“Kurosaki, you’re the one who wants to get a good grade, right? Well, the exam’s in two days, leaving only today and tomorrow to study. Don’t waste half of your remaining time.”
Ichigo sighed in defeat as he slumped his shoulders, knowing his friend was right.
“Oh, don’t worry Ichigo, we’ll definitely hold another party sometime! I have all kinds of stories to tell about taichou! I’m sure you’ll like them!” Ichigo beamed up at the words of the strawberry-blonde woman and he nodded excitedly.
“Oh! Rangiku-san, you and Renji should come over on next week’s Friday evening! I’m holding a housewarming party at my place, also in celebration of getting a good grade, which I’ll surely get with Toushiro’s help-”
“You’ll have to do it alone and it’s Hitsu-”
“And you two should definitely come too! It’ll be fun!”
“Oho! That would be so great! And don’t worry, I’ll bring all the drinks we need!”
Meanwhile, forgotten and ignored, a white-haired boy sighed deeply as he didn’t even want to imagine the horror of that so-called party, now that the ‘I-drink-liquor-as-water’ beast had been released in his vice-captain…
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
-Later that evening-
Ichigo rubbed the back of his strained neck with an unsure look on his face as he stood in the doorway, his little tutor about to leave. Two empty pizza boxes were left forgotten on the dining table. While the two had studied they’d ordered food and ate while continuing their reading. It had become dark outside, the hour already nearing eleven o’clock. And so, Hitsugaya had announced it was time for him to leave, which placed them in their current situation.
Ichigo coughed lightly before looking at the white-haired boy, who didn’t seem to walk down the stairs, thus not officially taking his leave. Instead, the boy stood still just a few steps from his doorway removed and if Ichigo’s eyes weren’t failing him after the intense study session then he’d be sure he saw some discomfort and even a hint of anxiousness in the boy’s turquoise orbs. Ichigo rubbed his eyes as he suppressed a yawn, patiently waiting for the boy to do something, anything.
“Kurosaki…” Hitsugaya’s deep voice eventually sounded, echoing a little in the hallway. Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the pale face turned away from him and he could see one of the dainty hands clenched.
“Thank you…For supporting me today…” The boy’s eyes darted around, not sure what to focus on as he tried to clear his throat, feeling as if something was stuck in it. But he knew, and hated the fact for it, that it was just him being nervous. Hitsugaya Toushiro, nervous. He didn’t even want to admit it himself.
Hitsugaya stood still for a few more seconds but finally decided to really leave and he quickly approached the stairs, already stepping down the first three steps.
“You’re welcome, you know.”
He immediately halted as he heard the other’s voice, deepened with exhaustion though the honesty and gentleness was still obvious. From where he stood now he could only barely see the orange-topped face and he quickly glanced at it, a strange feeling in his stomach as he did so before resuming his descend on the stairs. But before he could reach the bottom he heard the loud, echoing voice again, now with a hint of amusement in it.
“I’ll save your butt whenever you want!”
‘And that,’ Hitsugaya thought, ‘is pushing your luck.’ A small smirk appeared on the boy’s face as he opened the door and gently closed it behind him. Breathing in the cold, brisk evening air he stood still for a few moments, trying to collect himself before walking home.
‘That stupid idiot,’ he thought as he shook his head. Though, with the corners of his mouth tugged up, he finally started walking, longing for his own bed.
Author’s Notes:
A Garganta is the tear in the sky through which it is possible to cross over to Hueco Mundo. Espada’s and Menoses often enter through them.
Sonido is the Hollow equivalent of Shunpo for shinigami. Both are techniques for high speed movement.
Sennen Hyourou translates to Thousand Years’ Ice Prison and is a powerful move of Hitsugaya that takes some time to charge.
Brazo Derecha de Gigante translates to Right Arm of the Giant. It is Sado’s right arm that turns black and purple and can be used for attacking but is ultimately destined to protect as it forms a shield on Sado’s arm in its final form.
Tensho Jurin translates to Subjugation of the Heavens, a fitting name for Hyourinmaru’s most basic power, the ability to control the heavens, or more specifically, the water in the atmosphere. Mostly used in his Shikai form, this ability can also be used in Bankai but becomes highly dangerous and difficult to control.
In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:
“Hey, Toushiro, if I pass this test… Will you-” Ichigo couldn’t finish his question as the teacher suddenly entered the room, inducing complete silence over all the students. Everyone hastily took their seats, not daring to speak a single word as the teacher looked at them with a stern, serious look.
And…
Shirosaki turned around, his back towards Ichigo as he started walking, bizarrely walking down the skyscraper’s walls as he slowly faded out of sight.
“Mark my words, King. The kid’s trouble, nothin’ less. Oh, and…”
The white figure stopped shortly.
“Beware of a coup d’état…” He added cynically before continuing to walk down, his white shoulders shaking with sick amusement.
Chapter: Seven
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.
Alright, this all I've written so far. Well actually, I have chapter 8 as good as finished but I try to at least stay ahead one chapter of what I'm posting =)
Thawing Walls - Chapter 7
“Hitsugaya-taichou. You need only know my first name, Auraldo. Forgive my discourtesy but seeing how you shall die within the next ten minutes, telling any more than that holds no meaning.”
Hitsugaya seemed unaffected by the announcement of his supposed death. Gripping Hyourinmaru, he spread his icy wings wide, creating harsh and cold winds around himself.
“We’ll see.”
His eyes moved towards his left because of an incoming black blur.
“Toushiro, let me help,” Ichigo mumbled, his eyes full of battle-readiness. Hitsugaya’s silence was approval enough.
“It seems like you have your own reinforcements. Wise. But futile nonetheless,” Auraldo stated as he drew his sword. “Aizen-sama wishes this to end quickly. Please do not hold back.”
Toushiro and Ichigo’s eyes widened at the following words.
“Resurreccion. Scream…”
An ear deafening explosive sound came from the Espada, shaking the very ground and shattering many windows of the houses below them. This caused sudden panic to the citizens on the ground who could not see the actual battle while the effects on their environment were as real as they could be.
“What the…” Ichigo muttered.
“Stay on your guard, Kurosaki.”
“R-Right.”
The Espada had grown quite larger though he had lost his hands, his arms now ending in blunt, round stumps with a flat side where his palms used to be. What had grown the most, proportionally, was his head. His bald head glimmered in the weakly shining sun. His lips were stitched together, effectively shutting his mouth and his previously small, marble sized eyes had become completely black and grown in size several times. His ears had disappeared, leaving the sides of his head perfectly flat.
From a distance, Renji and Matsumoto recovered from the earsplitting transformation that had taken place. After regaining their balance prepared for battle.
“I’ll help them out!” Renji growled and started to charge towards Ichigo and Hitsugaya.
“Watch out, Renji!” Matsumoto cried from behind, unleashing Haineko just in time to stop an Adjuchas who’d almost rammed into the redhead’s side.
“Woah!” Renji stammered in surprise, halting his movements. “Where the hell did that guy come from?!” Looking around, he saw several Menoses appearing from the Garganta* in the sky, the one the new Espada had come from. As quick as Renji could count, he now spotted at least seven or eight Adjuchases on his left and five on his right. “Damn it.” With a dissatisfied groan he launched Zabimaru into one of the Hollows but the target managed to evade his head-on attack.
“Let taicho and Ichigo handle the Espada, these Menoses will wreck the entire town if we don’t stop them fast!” Matsumoto yelled at him as she dodged two enemies charging at her from her front and back.
From the Garganta, more than ten massive, ugly masks belonging to Gillians appeared, announcing their arrival with terrifying screams. Matsumoto felt slight despair creep onto her. Both captains and Ichigo were busy with the Espadas and she and Renji had their hands full with the Adjuchases.
“Watch out!” A male voice yelled behind her. She turned around and saw an Adjuchas charging straight at her, taking advantage of Matsumoto’s awe at the Gillians’ appearance. She braced herself for impact but before the Hollow could touch her, a blue arrow of light pierced the back of its head and the creature dissolved quickly.
“Y-You…” Matsumoto mumbled as she recognized the two figures who now stood in front of her as Sado Yasutora and Ishida Uryu, friends of Ichigo.
“Matsumoto-san, leave the large ones to us,” Sado offered in his deep voice. Matsumoto gratefully accepted the extra fighting power.
Meanwhile, Byakuya and Ulquoirra resumed their fighting as well, continuously avoiding each other’s attacks, making it seem like the battle could go on forever. Every once in a while, Ulquoirra’s eyes seemed to briefly glance at his comrade, as if to check up on him.
Said comrade hadn’t made a single move after his Resurreccion had been unleashed. He only stood there in mid-air, seemingly just observing his two opponents. Hitsugaya swallowed thickly and suddenly charged at Auraldo, feinting an attack and swiftly flying to the left when he had been only a few inches away from the Espada. It was to observe how the enemy would react, but no reaction came. The Espada had just stood still as if he hadn’t even noticed his enemy. Hitsugaya frowned as he heard a high-pitched ringing start in his ears.
‘Strange…’ The boy bit his lip as tried to make sense of the situation. Before he could deduce anything, Ichigo also closed in on Auraldo, charging up a Getsuga Tensho and attempting to slash him with the wave of concentrated energy. This time Auraldo did move, at an astonishing speed.
‘Sonido*?’ Hitsugaya opened his mouth to say something to Ichigo and Auraldo seemed to notice this. His lips twitched and the leftmost stitch on his lips snapped, allowing him to open the corner of his mouth slightly. Immediately a painfully high pitched screech escaped, causing Ichigo and Hitsugaya to cringe. Whatever words Hitsugaya had spoken were drowned, not reaching Ichigo’s ears.
‘N-Not good,’ Ichigo thought to himself, unsure what he should do next. Unfortunately, Auraldo decided it was time for him to start moving on his own, closing the distance between him and Ichigo within a second and thrust the blunt end of his right arm in the other’s stomach. Ichigo’s eyes widened as saliva and a little blood escaped his mouth. With difficulty he retreated before the other could strike a second time, hunching forward as he tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. Hitsugaya took this chance to sneak up behind their enemy and slash his back but without even turning around Auraldo moved out of his way, forcing Hitsugaya to stop quickly before he’d crash into Ichigo.
‘How did he notice me from behind…’ The little captain frowned deeply, glancing at Ichigo from the corner of his eyes.
“You okay?”
Ichigo half-chuckled, running out of breath halfway through.
“Y-Yeah,” he mumbled before he straightened his body, ignoring the ache in his stomach. “He’s ridiculously fast.”
“And perceptive,” Hitsugaya added. He looked around and saw Byakuya, Renji and Matsumoto fighting their own battles, only now noticing the other two allies that had appeared, Ichigo’s classmates. All five seemed to be distracted by the high pitched sound resonating from Auraldo. “We need to somehow separate him from this place. He’s making it difficult for the others to keep on fighting.”
Ichigo looked around and indeed, it seemed like the others were getting slower because of the distracting noise.
“How?”
“Keep him busy for at least five minutes,” Hitsugaya whispered. Auraldo raised an eyebrow from a distance.
“I’ll try,” Ichigo groaned before gripping Zangetsu tightly, speeding off towards the Espada. Meanwhile, Hitsugaya took a deep breath as he held Hyourinmaru’s handle with both hands.
‘Ready for this?’ He murmured, addressing the mighty dragon he shared his soul with. It let out a soft growl in acknowledgement. Hitsugaya lowered himself and moved out of the Espada’s sight.
Trying to buy his friend the time he needed, Ichigo challenged Auraldo to a test of speed, seeing how it was one of his Bankai’s forte. The challenge was silently accepted and the two moved through the air as blurs of black and white, sometimes coming closer but never quite connecting. It seemed as though the diversion was working but after three minutes Auraldo had enough, stopping his movements. Ichigo quickly halted as well, eyeing his enemy suspiciously. He felt a slight shiver run down his back as a cool breeze swept by.
Auraldo closed his eyes and his lips twitched again. Ichigo desperately hoped it wasn’t what he was thinking but proved himself right when a second stitch on the other’s lips snapped, allowing them to part wider. Ichigo felt like his head would split open and it began to throb at the sound that followed. Trying to cover his ears and keep his eyes open, Ichigo could do nothing else. More windows shattered in the surrounding houses and buildings, causing cardrivers to lose their sight and crash into each other, loud claxons now adding to all the noise.
‘D-Damn… Isn’t he affected by this noise himself?...Hurry up, Toushiro’
Trying not to think too hard Ichigo closed in on Auraldo, hoping his advance would cause the other to stop his crushing waves of noise. It cost him nearly all of his willpower to keep his eyes open against the reflex to close them and almost blindly he swung his blade once he was close to the Espada. The attack was a clear miss but it had its desired effect as Auraldo closed his mouth. Unfortunately, even though the actual sounds were gone, they still seemed to echo heavily in Ichigo’s ears. A high pitch also rang. Ichigo breathed heavily as it felt like his own head had become an enemy on itself he had to keep under control.
Auraldo’s arm appeared out of nowhere and slammed harshly into Ichigo’s left side and a faint crushing sound could be heard. Ichigo’s senses had been too dulled to react to the attack. Auraldo’s other arm pulled back, ready to thrust into the other’s stomach for a second time but something seemed to distract him halfway through.
Without anyone noticing, the skies had been filled with dark, menacing clouds and a cold wind almost slashed on their skin as it swept by. From between two buildings, Hitsugaya appeared as he rose to the same level as them. His eyebrows almost connected in the frown he had, a sign of his immense concentration.
“Sennen Hyourou*,” he whispered and eight pillars of ice shot up from the ground and caught Auraldo and Ichigo in a circle. Both of them had wide eyes as they watched in awe at the amount of ice that had formed without their knowledge. Ichigo quickly fell back and left the circle as the pillars started to close in on the center of that circle: a bewildered Auraldo.
Said enemy tried to follow Ichigo in his escape but the pillars mirrored his exact movements to maintain the circle that constantly decreased in size. When Hitsugaya confirmed that Ichigo was safe, he swung Hyourinmaru counterclockwise. At that movement, the pillars crashed into Auraldo from all sides, encasing him completely in ice. That crushing sound felt like one of victory for Ichigo, who limped towards Hitsugaya.
“W-Wow, Toushiro, that’s incredi-” he coughed up some blood and cringed as he fell on one knee. His left side felt like it had been hugged by a bulldozer. Despite that, he chuckled between gasped breaths. “And not a moment too soon.”
The other’s emerald eyes gazed at Ichigo, checking if any of the wounds needed immediate attention. The teen’s left ribs were broken without a doubt. Hitsugaya bit his lower lip.
“Kurosaki, get Inoue-san to fix you up, leave this one to me.” Ichigo seemed surprised.
“He’s dead, right, that Espada?” He’d assumed no one could survive such a devastating attack from his captain friend.
“Far from it,” Hitsugaya answered as he motioned towards the mass of ice. Ichigo turned to look at their frozen enemy and at first there wasn’t anything that caught his attention. Until a large crack appeared in the ice and that’s when Ichigo saw numerous small ones forming as well.
“He’s... breaking free,” Ichigo mumbled in disappointment. Hitsugaya nodded.
‘I wasn’t done preparing yet… But if I hadn’t drawn the Espada’s attention right then…’ Hitsugaya’s gaze returned to Ichigo and he shook off the thoughts about how badly things could’ve ended for the other.
“I’ll move him somewhere with less people and as far away from the others and their battles as I can,” Hitsugaya stated as he temporarily sheathed Hyourinmaru while keeping his Bankai activated.
“In that case you can’t go alone, we’ll fight him together,” Ichigo answered firmly, not tolerating any objection. It was Hitsugaya’s turn to chuckle and he shook his head.
“Very well. Hurry, he could get out within a minute.” Both faces turned dead serious again.
“There’s a large river surrounded by a few miles of forest not too far north from here. It won’t be completely empty, but at least the others will be able to fight peacefully.”
“That’ll do,” Hitsugaya nodded and sped towards the encased Auraldo, pressing his right wing against the mass of ice and pushing it forward. Ichigo spat some saliva and blood to his side before following him.
Meanwhile Byakuya was still engaged in an endless battle with Ulquoirra, who had drawn his sword, a sign the man was at least somewhat serious. Both seemed determined to finish off the other gracefully, yet not able to easily do so.
Matsumoto and Renji desperately tried to keep control over the growing number of Adjuchases while Sado and Ishida slaughtered one Gillian after another.
“Sado-kun, on your right!” Ishida yelled at his giant friend to warn him of the colossal Gillian that tried to squash him under his feet. Ishida’s eyes widened as his friend disappeared beneath a gigantic white foot that stomped down.
“Sado-kun!”
Ishida was about to rush towards his location when the Gillian’s foot started to tremble and then slowly rise. Underneath, Sado’s figure appeared, the shield on his right arm held above him to prevent him from being crushed.
“B-Brazo Derecha de G-Gigante*.”
Then with a roar Sado thrust up his right arm and the Gillian’s foot along with it, causing the Menos to lose its balance. Sado took this chance to use his powerful left arm to finish of his opponent.
Ishida sighed as he realized he’d worried too much for his capable companion and decided to continue dealing with his targets.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
A few miles north of the battlefield Hitsugaya panted as he’d managed to push the large prison of ice to the middle of a river. Falling back to stand next to Ichigo, he snorted.
“We need a battle plan. And fast or we’re gonna be taking a whole lot more damage.”
Ichigo sighed in agreement.
“The noise this guy makes is absurd, I can’t believe he’s not affected by it himself.”
Yes, how is that possible? Hitsugaya asked himself, trying to figure out anything that could give them the edge in this battle. He then remembered seeing the Espada’s ears disappear after unleashing his Resureccion. Did that mean he couldn’t hear at all? Or in a way he didn’t need his ears while at the same time being immune for his own noise?
“Kurosaki, let’s stay defensive for now. I want to observe him some more.”
“Meaning,” Ichigo chuckled, “I get to distract him again while you sit back and relax? Ah man, why do I have to all the work?” Hitsugaya smirked.
“Just the brainless work.”
Ichigo wanted to retort but the sound of crushing ice caught their attention. Auraldo was free again and judging from his knitted eyebrows, he wasn’t very happy. He snapped the middle stitch on his mouth, enabling him to open his mouth halfway through. Like before, this unleashed a painful noise that almost paralyzed the two shinigami.
Hitsugaya inwardly groaned, but finally he noticed something. With each stitch that snapped, the noise from his mouth became lower pitched. Even though a high pitch seemed to ring in his head from time to time as well. That and Auraldo never seemed to look them in the eye.
Testing a theory, Hitsugaya lunged forward with Hyourinmaru pointed straight at the Espada. Halfway through the captain adjusted his course so he approached his enemy at an angle. Fixating his attention on Auraldo’s eyes, Hitsugaya swung his sword at a mediocre speed. The giant closed his mouth and, as expected, evaded Hitsugaya’s attack effortlessly.
But his large, black eyes hadn’t moved once.
“Geez Toushiro, my little sister could’ve dodged that!” Ichigo yelled at his companion. “This is how it’s done!” With a roar he charged for the umpteenth time that day at the large Espada. Auraldo moved to his right just when Ichigo closed in on him, evading the mindless slash and countering by smashing his left arm into Ichigo’s back. Before he could successfully execute that counter, though, Hitsugaya had sneaked up behind him silently, hoping to land a strike on the enemy’s neck. As though Auraldo had eyes in his back, however, he canceled his counterattack on Ichigo and instead ducked to escape Hitsugaya’s range.
Both shinigami took their distance again after all their failed attempts.
“I think I know what’s going on,” Hitsugaya mumbled in Ichigo’s direction. The substitute shinigami looked dumbfounded but moved in closer, eager to get some advice on how to end this tiresome battle.
Auraldo would not allow such communication though, as the fourth stitch on his mouth snapped, causing the all too familiar noise to fill the skies again, preventing Hitsugaya’s words from ever reaching Ichigo’s ears.
D-Damn it, Ichigo thought, I can’t hear a thing Toushiro’s saying.
Ichigo focused hard on the other’s moving lips, hoping to gain some kind of clue as to what he was trying to say.
Bag?... Bad… Bat?... Bat!
Ichigo’s eyes widened as realization hit him. This guy worked like a bat! Maybe the horrendous noise from his mouth was masking an incredibly high pitch that told Auraldo where they were without having to use his eyes. That would explain his ability to evade attacks completely outside of his sight… But how would knowing this help? They still weren’t able to change anything.
Hitsugaya noticed Ichigo’s realization of their enemy’s abilities yet they both failed to think of a workable plan to counter them. Well, he could of course…
Toushiro… Hyourinmaru’s deep voice boomed through Hitsugaya’s soul. You know that is dangerous. If not for yourself then surely for everyone around you.
Hitsugaya bit his lip, knowing his soulmate was right. But did they have any other option? He sure didn’t see one.
First of all, they had to shut up Auraldo. He seemed to reflexively close his mouth when being attacked, so that’s what he’d do first. Hitsugaya lunged at Auraldo with all his might and succeeded in startling the giant. That damned mouth was finally closed again. With his back towards Auraldo, Hitsugaya approached Ichigo.
“Shut up, listen,” Hitsugaya hastily muttered, knowing he didn’t have much time before Auraldo would intervene.
“I’ll create a fog around him. On my signal, attack him with all you have,” extra emphasis was put on those last three words. Ichigo nodded, not sure what good a fog would do for them but he had to believe in the brains of his friend right now.
Hitsugaya quickly separated himself from Ichigo to prevent Auraldo from believing he had to cut their communication short. The short captain bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
This plan wasn’t nearly as simple as it had seemed to Ichigo and required extraordinary capabilities on Hitsugaya’s part.
Help me with this, Hyourinmaru… You may have to hold me back…
It remained quiet for several seconds before the mighty dragon complied, his approving growl making Hitsugaya’s body tremble.
“Tensho Jurin*,” he muttered quietly. Hyourinmaru’s most basic power: To control the weather. This is accomplished by manipulating the water in the surround atmosphere. Hitsugaya very much preferred not to use this power in Bankai mode as it became very hard to control, thus making it a danger to his comrades in the direct vicinity. But he’d have to accomplish the best case scenario now, he just had to.
Swallowing thickly, Hitsugaya gathered water in the air surrounding them, the river below them an abundant source, heightening the humidity. Auraldo seemed suspicious of this development and approached Hitsugaya to stop him but Ichigo positioned himself between them, blocking access to his friend.
Hitsugaya’s forehead became creased from frowning as he tried to concentrate harder and deeper. It wasn’t just any fog he was creating. If Auraldo really did function like a bat, then he was sending out immensely high pitched sounds that would bounce against objects or people, return to Auraldo and the manner of how they returned would tell him about the arrangement of his surroundings. Those sounds are nothing more than movement of air. The fog Hitsugaya would create had to function like an airtight barrier surrounding Auraldo, enclosing his sounds around him, effectively turning him blind.
However, creating a fog that was so airtight requires absurd concentration. It would be tempting to just create a barrier of ice, but Ichigo had to be able to move through this barrier to reach and finally defeat Auraldo, thus requiring flexible control of the water droplets. This, however, provided Hitsugaya with two extra, severely straining tasks. First, he had to highly satiate the fog with his own reiatsu to mask Ichigo’s, or else Auraldo would still be able to sense him coming. Second, he had to take extreme care to control the fog, so as to not turn the water droplets into ice, freezing and most definitely killing Ichigo before he could even reach Auraldo.
They had to execute this with perfect timing or Auraldo would perhaps try to move through the fog himself. Hitsugaya would be able to freeze him like before, but unlike a frozen Ichigo, Auraldo could probably break the ice using the powerful vibrations of air from his noises. They had to land the final blow with Ichigo’s most powerful technique at the exact right time.
Thankful that Ichigo was once again distracting Auraldo, Hitsugaya closed his eyes as he pictured the formation of water droplets in his mind. He couldn’t let to many gaps fall in the barrier or Auraldo’s sounds would betray Ichigo’s location. His heart started thumping harshly in his chest and a drop of sweat fell from the left side of his face. By the time the drop of sweat had reach his chin, it froze into a tiny crystal of ice.
Damn it, too much…
Slightly easing up on the temperature, the little shinigami finally succeeded in making an airtight formation of water droplets with just the right temperature to prevent them from turning to ice. Taking a deep breath, Hitsugaya pointed Hyourinmaru at Auraldo, moving the fog to completely envelop their enemy. The Espada flinched, unsure what was happening.
Please give me your all, my dear friend, Hitsugaya begged his mighty zanpaktou. He could feel his request being fulfilled as Hyourinmaru’s power started to swell up in his body, fueling his reiatsu. Carefully he directed that reiatsu into the fog, spreading it evenly. Satisfied with the fog, it was time.
“NOW!” Hitsugaya roared at Ichigo, who nodded nervously.
The orange haired teen’s eyes turned determined in a second and he pulled out his Hollow mask, turning his eyes an eerie black and yellow. His own power exploded at unleashing this inner power and with boosted confidence Ichigo thrust himself into the fog, heading straight for the center where Auraldo would be waiting.
Hitsugaya nearly dropped to his knees as he tried to maintain his airtight barrier of droplets with his reiatsu evenly spread, while at the same time freeing a narrow path for Ichigo to move through.
“Almost,” the boy whimpered weakly.
In contrast, Ichigo roared in fury. After only three seconds he had reached the center and as a menacing black flurry he appeared above Auraldo. Said Espada finally noticed his enemy and was in the process of snapping the last stitch on his mouth but he was too late. Ichigo yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Getsuga Tensho!”
The mighty black wave of energy descended onto Auraldo, whose fully opened mouth now emitted a scream that would’ve almost made a tear in Ichigo’s eardrums. However, the scream died out fast as the Getsuga Tensho split the Espada in two, turning the frightening enemy into a lifeless mess of flesh and blood. The afterwave of the powerful attack smashed into the fog, blowing some of it away.
Panting harshly, Ichigo allowed his mask to dissolve on his face, watching the fog dissipate soon after. Immediately, his gaze connected with Hitsugaya, who’s knees finally did give out and fell to the ground.
“T-Toushiro,” Ichigo yelled at him, approaching his little friend as he worried for his safety.
“I-I’ll be… fine…” the boy said between gasps. Despite his utterly exhausted expression, the boy’s lips curved up. “We… did it…”
Ichigo’s eyes softened as he recognized Hitsugaya was alright. Placing a hand on the other’s right shoulder, he sighed in relief.
“We sure did.” Feeling as if every muscle lost its tension, Ichigo fell to the ground, landing on his back. He could only laugh weakly.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Byakuya had gained some minor cuts during his battle with Ulquiorra, who was still untouched. The lithe Espada was growing increasingly bored in his fight with the shinigami captain and his attention was finally piqued when Auraldo’s reiatsu completely disappeared.
“Failed, huh?” He muttered to himself. “Don’t try to entertain me any longer, shinigami captain. I’m done with you.”
With that sudden statement, Ulquoirra sheathed his sword and turned towards the Garganta. As soon as he’d entered, the tear started to close. Byakuya arrived a split-second after it had closed completely, as if the display of white sands and pitch-black skies had never been there. With a hint of frustration in his movements, Byakuya sheathed his zanpaktou.
With the Garganta closed, the endless supply of Hollows was cut off and before long Renji, Matsumoto, Ishida and Sado had finished all the small fry that had been left behind. Finished at last, they regrouped on the ground, everyone obviously out of breath after such an extended workout.
“Heeeeh, that was one hell of a brawl,” Renji groaned as he took a seat on the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Mou, you can say that again!” Matsumoto whined as sat down next to Renji, feeling sticky from sweat as well.
Ishida and even Sado complained as well as the joined the two shinigami on the ground, glad to take a rest. From a distance, Ishida noticed two figures approaching. They were unmistakably Ichigo and Hitsugaya, both still in their bankai forms.
“Damn it,” Hitsugaya cursed under his breath. He lowered his zanpaktou, allowing the ice encasing his arm and back to slowly dissipate before releasing his powerful technique.
A soft breeze rustled the boy’s pure white hair, a welcome caress after all the strain his body had been under. He sighed deeply as he looked at the stoic captain standing not too far from him, Hitsugaya noticed his fellow captain was not amused. It wasn’t often that Kuchiki Byakuya couldn’t finish what he’d started.
Letting out another deep breath, Hitsugaya slowly made his way towards the others on the ground, now completely sealing his bankai state as the ice on his body fell away. He looked around but couldn’t see very well as an orange blur quickly filled his vision. Already scowling slightly in advance, he eyed the teen as he halted, affectionate concern hidden in those chocolate brown eyes.
“Are you really not hurt badly, Toushiro?” Ichigo asked, his gentle voice causing a strange stirring in the small boy’s stomach. So, the boy averted his eyes and turned his head, answering quietly.
“I’m okay.”
Ichigo was about to ask him once more but another blur approached the two and within seconds the white-topped face was buried in a bust he’d hoped never to feel so close again.
“Taichoooouuu! I missed you so much!” The female voice pitched highly, which only irritated the little captain more.
“M-Matsu…moto…I…can’t…breathe,” the deep, muffled voice sounded before his two dainty hands found some grip on the supple body and managed to free his head from the deep Ravine of Death, as he had dubbed it mentally.
Hitsugaya panted heavier from the temporary air loss though soon recovered his posture and crossed his arms in front of his small chest. He felt like he shouldn’t show weakness.
“Oh, taichou… Don’t act so irritated! It’s all okay now. The battle’s over, and no one’s hurt bad! So? Did Ichigo attempt any heroic rescues while we were fighting Menoses?” his vice-captain asked, a slightly teasing tone in his voice as she poked her little captain. A huge grin appeared on the orange-topped face as a thumb was raised for extra confirmation.
“You bet!” Ichigo said excitedly. Hitsugaya blushed slightly as he averted his face once again in an attempt to hide it.
“Both of you, shut up,” he mumbled, a dangerous tone present in his low voice.
Meanwhile, Renji had met up with his captain and the redhead was very busy making sure his captain wasn’t hurt before asking any other questions.
“So… Since everyone’s okay and all…” Ichigo said, a childish glint returning in his eyes, “how about we have an after-party at my place! To celebrate our victory!”
Matsumoto immediately bounced around as her face lit up even more, already wildly chattering about the -absolutely- necessary amount of alcohol.
“This is no victory at all, you two,” Hitsugaya interrupted, making sure his vice-captain stopped jumping up and down before continuing.
“And there is absolutely not going be a party. Matsumoto, there is a report to write about the events that just took place. Soul Society has definitely picked up the Espada’s reiatsu and we’re under strict orders to brief them on everything that happens. And Ichigo, your exams are only two days away, remember?”
Two excited faces quickly died down as wide grins were replaced with sad pouts. However, the commanding scowl and deep frown remained as always on the frosty captain’s face.
“But Toushirooo,” Ichigo whined, “how in the world can we study after all this? Besides,” a satisfied and smug grin appeared on his face again, “I just saved your sorry ass for the… Heck, I’ve lost count already!”
The blush that had almost disappeared on the pale boy’s face returned slightly and it frustrated him to no end.
“Kurosaki, you’re the one who wants to get a good grade, right? Well, the exam’s in two days, leaving only today and tomorrow to study. Don’t waste half of your remaining time.”
Ichigo sighed in defeat as he slumped his shoulders, knowing his friend was right.
“Oh, don’t worry Ichigo, we’ll definitely hold another party sometime! I have all kinds of stories to tell about taichou! I’m sure you’ll like them!” Ichigo beamed up at the words of the strawberry-blonde woman and he nodded excitedly.
“Oh! Rangiku-san, you and Renji should come over on next week’s Friday evening! I’m holding a housewarming party at my place, also in celebration of getting a good grade, which I’ll surely get with Toushiro’s help-”
“You’ll have to do it alone and it’s Hitsu-”
“And you two should definitely come too! It’ll be fun!”
“Oho! That would be so great! And don’t worry, I’ll bring all the drinks we need!”
Meanwhile, forgotten and ignored, a white-haired boy sighed deeply as he didn’t even want to imagine the horror of that so-called party, now that the ‘I-drink-liquor-as-water’ beast had been released in his vice-captain…
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
-Later that evening-
Ichigo rubbed the back of his strained neck with an unsure look on his face as he stood in the doorway, his little tutor about to leave. Two empty pizza boxes were left forgotten on the dining table. While the two had studied they’d ordered food and ate while continuing their reading. It had become dark outside, the hour already nearing eleven o’clock. And so, Hitsugaya had announced it was time for him to leave, which placed them in their current situation.
Ichigo coughed lightly before looking at the white-haired boy, who didn’t seem to walk down the stairs, thus not officially taking his leave. Instead, the boy stood still just a few steps from his doorway removed and if Ichigo’s eyes weren’t failing him after the intense study session then he’d be sure he saw some discomfort and even a hint of anxiousness in the boy’s turquoise orbs. Ichigo rubbed his eyes as he suppressed a yawn, patiently waiting for the boy to do something, anything.
“Kurosaki…” Hitsugaya’s deep voice eventually sounded, echoing a little in the hallway. Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the pale face turned away from him and he could see one of the dainty hands clenched.
“Thank you…For supporting me today…” The boy’s eyes darted around, not sure what to focus on as he tried to clear his throat, feeling as if something was stuck in it. But he knew, and hated the fact for it, that it was just him being nervous. Hitsugaya Toushiro, nervous. He didn’t even want to admit it himself.
Hitsugaya stood still for a few more seconds but finally decided to really leave and he quickly approached the stairs, already stepping down the first three steps.
“You’re welcome, you know.”
He immediately halted as he heard the other’s voice, deepened with exhaustion though the honesty and gentleness was still obvious. From where he stood now he could only barely see the orange-topped face and he quickly glanced at it, a strange feeling in his stomach as he did so before resuming his descend on the stairs. But before he could reach the bottom he heard the loud, echoing voice again, now with a hint of amusement in it.
“I’ll save your butt whenever you want!”
‘And that,’ Hitsugaya thought, ‘is pushing your luck.’ A small smirk appeared on the boy’s face as he opened the door and gently closed it behind him. Breathing in the cold, brisk evening air he stood still for a few moments, trying to collect himself before walking home.
‘That stupid idiot,’ he thought as he shook his head. Though, with the corners of his mouth tugged up, he finally started walking, longing for his own bed.
Author’s Notes:
A Garganta is the tear in the sky through which it is possible to cross over to Hueco Mundo. Espada’s and Menoses often enter through them.
Sonido is the Hollow equivalent of Shunpo for shinigami. Both are techniques for high speed movement.
Sennen Hyourou translates to Thousand Years’ Ice Prison and is a powerful move of Hitsugaya that takes some time to charge.
Brazo Derecha de Gigante translates to Right Arm of the Giant. It is Sado’s right arm that turns black and purple and can be used for attacking but is ultimately destined to protect as it forms a shield on Sado’s arm in its final form.
Tensho Jurin translates to Subjugation of the Heavens, a fitting name for Hyourinmaru’s most basic power, the ability to control the heavens, or more specifically, the water in the atmosphere. Mostly used in his Shikai form, this ability can also be used in Bankai but becomes highly dangerous and difficult to control.
In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:
“Hey, Toushiro, if I pass this test… Will you-” Ichigo couldn’t finish his question as the teacher suddenly entered the room, inducing complete silence over all the students. Everyone hastily took their seats, not daring to speak a single word as the teacher looked at them with a stern, serious look.
And…
Shirosaki turned around, his back towards Ichigo as he started walking, bizarrely walking down the skyscraper’s walls as he slowly faded out of sight.
“Mark my words, King. The kid’s trouble, nothin’ less. Oh, and…”
The white figure stopped shortly.
“Beware of a coup d’état…” He added cynically before continuing to walk down, his white shoulders shaking with sick amusement.