"Morning!" A beaming smile appeared right in front of him. "Tōshirō!"
Startled awake, Tōshirō Hitsugaya stared blankly at Momo Hinamori, who was only inches from his face. A faint blush slowly crept across his cheeks. "You're way too close..."
"Here. Hurry up and eat. I don't want to be late on my very first day." Momo Hinamori set down the Onigiri and hurried off. "Remember to say hello to Tatsu and Aya-chan next door!"
Noticing the Shin'ō Academy uniform Momo Hinamori was wearing, Tōshirō Hitsugaya lowered his gaze.
Momo Hinamori was going to a school for Shinigami.
She wouldn't come running over every day like she used to...
"Hmph." Tōshirō Hitsugaya got to his feet. "What a hassle..."
As for Tatsu and Aya next door, Tōshirō Hitsugaya remembered them. Whenever they saw him, they would run away as though they had seen something terrifying.
It didn't matter.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya didn't care.
Not many people liked him, and he didn't need many people to.
As long as he could stay by Grandma's side, as long as he could still see...
...
"Well, I'm off! I'll come play with you again during winter break!" Momo Hinamori waved with a smile, leaving Tōshirō Hitsugaya watching her skip away.
Before he knew it, Momo Hinamori had already been attending the Shin'ō Academy for five years.
She came back here... less and less often.
Someday...
"Tōshirō..." Grandma looked at the dejected Tōshirō Hitsugaya. "You..."
"I'm going to buy some sweet natto!" Tōshirō Hitsugaya cut her off. "We ran out, didn't we? I'll go get some now."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya knew what Grandma wanted to say.
But he didn't want to hear her say it.
Grandma was getting thinner and thinner.
So thin that it was starting to frighten him.
He absolutely couldn't leave her now.
If he didn't take care of Grandma, then who would?
Tōshirō Hitsugaya knew what Grandma wanted to say.
But he was afraid to let her say it.
Momo Hinamori hardly ever came back anymore.
If Grandma told him to leave too...
Where was he supposed to go?
The shopkeeper took out some coins. "Here's your change. Three Kan."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya reached out for them, but the shopkeeper seemed unwilling to even touch him and placed the coins on the counter instead.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya paid no attention to the attitude. He picked up the money and was about to leave.
"Hey! What kind of way is that to give a customer his change?!" A figure knocked Tōshirō Hitsugaya into the counter as a short-haired blonde female Shinigami slammed a hand down on the table. "You think you can look down on him just because he's a kid? I had no idea this shop treated customers so rudely!"
The Shinigami grabbed Tōshirō Hitsugaya, who was crouched on the floor clutching his head. "How long are you going to cry? If you're a man, toughen up!"
"Whose fault do you think this is?!" The back of Tōshirō Hitsugaya's head was still throbbing. "And I'm not crying! Let go of me!"
The Shinigami looked into Tōshirō Hitsugaya's eyes, and a hint of surprise crossed her face.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya seized the chance to wrench himself free. Ignoring her calls, he sprinted all the way home.
That night, Tōshirō Hitsugaya had no idea how many times he had dreamed of this place before.
An endless ice plain.
Sharp pillars of ice rose everywhere, reflecting the colors of the sky and shimmering with an azure glow.
In that boundless world of white and blue, he stood completely alone.
He heard a voice.
And an echo.
It felt as though it would crush him...
As though it would engulf him completely.
It rumbled in his palms.
Like thunder.
ROAR—!
A sudden roar shook the heavens.
The sky, azure only moments before, was swallowed in an instant by heavy, leaden clouds.
Driven by the blizzard, snow poured from the thick clouds onto the silent ice plain below.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya crossed his arms in front of himself, shielding his face from the wind and snow.
Boom!
A gigantic ice dragon emerged from the storm. Its enormous body, formed entirely from crystal-clear ice, descended from above.
An invisible pressure spread outward. The ice covering the ground shattered, cracks radiating in every direction.
One of those cracks raced straight toward Tōshirō Hitsugaya.
His eyes widened. The ground suddenly gave way beneath his feet.
His body jerked, and he woke with a start.
"Hey!" A dazzling smile filled his vision.
"You're..." Tōshirō Hitsugaya stared blankly for a moment. Then, aided by the woman's conspicuous hair and the mole beside her mouth, he recognized the person he had met only once before. "You're... the one from earlier today..."
"Seal your Reiatsu... before you go to sleep." The Shinigami pointed beside him. "Your grandma looks cold."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya looked toward Grandma, who was shivering uncontrollably in her sleep. Then his gaze fell on the white frost spreading outward with him at its center.
"Kid, you should become a Shinigami," the Shinigami said seriously. "A child with power like yours has to learn how to control it. I'll teach you. If this keeps up, you'll end up killing your grandmother with your own hands."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya's pupils contracted sharply. "What did you say?!"
"You can hear a voice, can't you?" The Shinigami touched a fingertip to Tōshirō Hitsugaya's chest. "Find where that voice is coming from, and you'll have learned how to control your power. I'm only going to say this one more time. You..."
...
"I'm going to become a Shinigami."
The next day, Tōshirō Hitsugaya knelt before Grandma and bowed his head deeply, unable to look at her.
He had stayed by her side because he wanted to care for her as she grew weaker and weaker.
He had never imagined that she was growing weaker because of him.
"Is that so?" Grandma murmured. "That's wonderful."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya raised his head in confusion and saw the gentle smile on her face.
"You've been holding yourself back all this time, haven't you? You thought I would be lonely if you left me by myself. You were worried about me, so you kept holding yourself back." Grandma's aged hand gently stroked Tōshirō Hitsugaya's silver hair. "And that... is what hurts me most."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya lowered his head again, unwilling to let Grandma see his tears.
He didn't know whether it was because of his silver hair, his emerald-green eyes, or his aloof personality...
Everyone said he was like ice and kept their distance from him.
Grandma would never say anything like that.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya loved Grandma.
Wherever Grandma was, that was where he belonged.
And to protect the place where he belonged, he had to leave it.
He had to walk toward the ice plain.
"Shinigami, let's go."
"It's about time you called me something else, kid." The Shinigami planted her hands on her hips as she introduced herself, the pink scarf around her neck fluttering in the wind. "My name is Rangiku Matsumoto."
"My name is..."
Clang!
Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Zanpakutō collided with the Ice Dragon.
Amid the scattering shards of ice, he felt as though he had returned to that endless frozen plain. Staring at Hyōrinmaru, he shouted his name at the top of his lungs.
"Tōshirō Hitsugaya!"
Hyōrinmaru suddenly fell into a strange daze.
The boy before him seemed to overlap with another figure, one the same height, but far younger and more immature.
Back then...
Ice rapidly spread across Hyōrinmaru's body. Amid the snow filling the sky, he transformed into an enormous ice dragon and raised his head with a deafening roar.
Endless cold flooded outward, freezing even the ground beneath him.
Hyōrinmaru, now in the form of an ice dragon, landed on the ground.
The ice across the surface shattered, cracks spreading outward in a radial pattern.
One of those cracks raced straight toward Tōshirō Hitsugaya.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya did not move an inch.
"And you are my Zanpakutō, sitting upon the frozen heavens... Hyōrinmaru!"
The Zanpakutō in Tōshirō Hitsugaya's hand transformed.
Chains rattled one after another, and the crescent-shaped blade at the end of the extending chain gleamed with a cold light.
The ice dragon roared and charged.
Tōshirō Hitsugaya raised his Shikai-activated Zanpakutō.
"You don't want to lose the place where you belong, but you still have no choice but to leave."
Cold air flowed along the blade, taking the shape of a roaring ice dragon.
"But..." Tōshirō Hitsugaya thrust his blade forward as endless ice surged forth. "Leaving doesn't mean losing it."
Boom!
Two tremendous forces collided, sending fragments of ice flying as they reflected a brilliant crystalline light.
Amid that dazzling glow, the materialized Hyōrinmaru slowly descended to the ground with the unconscious Tōshirō Hitsugaya in his arms.
"Sleep..." The confusion was gone from Hyōrinmaru's eyes. "I'll still be there in your dreams this time."
...
"I'm telling you... isn't it about time you gave up?" The girl dressed in pink swished her cat tail. She had short, deep-red hair and a pair of cat ears. "Auntie?"
"Huh?" Veins bulged on Rangiku Matsumoto's forehead as she glared at her materialized Zanpakutō, Haineko. "I was just thinking it would be beneath me to go all out against a demon cat like you. But if you want to surrender, I suppose I can allow it."
"Huh?" Veins throbbed on Haineko's forehead. "Just what I'd expect from an old lady. You really do think far too highly of yourself!"
Rangiku Matsumoto's lips twitched. "You seem a little smarter now that you've materialized. Your IQ is almost catching up to a wild animal."
"Ah, yes. Being free really is wonderful." Haineko's lips twitched. She was clearly furious, yet still forced herself to smile. "Spending all day stuck to an old lady like you was making even me old and stuffy. How awful."
Rangiku Matsumoto ground her teeth.
She couldn't get angry.
If she got angry, she lost.
"You little..."
"Hm?" A glint flashed through Haineko's eyes, and her expression suddenly changed. "That's enough for today. We're leaving."
"You..." Rangiku Matsumoto froze. "We?"
Haineko snorted. "Consider yourselves lucky!"
Before Rangiku Matsumoto could question her further, Haineko dissolved into a cloud of ash and vanished into the distance.
What was that about...?
A burst of Reiatsu suddenly shot into the sky.
Rangiku Matsumoto instinctively turned toward it.
"That's... the Research and Development Institute?"
...
{Our goal is to bolster our own fighting force}
{So once we've rescued them}
{we need to leave immediately}
{Then we can plan our next move}
"Could you stop popping things up right in front of my face?" The purple-haired woman in a black kimono parted her purple lips. "I already have enough trouble seeing with one eye, and you keep blocking my view. I've already hidden them in the Shadow World. All we have to do now is leave."
The corners of the woman's lips curled upward.
"You keep getting in my way like this. You wouldn't happen to have some other motive, would you?"
{Pointless probing is a waste of time}
{You have doubts about me}
{For our cooperation to continue}
{And for my plan to proceed smoothly}
{I have to keep opening these windows to explain myself to you}
{Judging by the result}
{Katen Kyōkotsu}
{You're the one getting in the way}
"I'm Katen," Katen corrected her. "She's Kyōkotsu."
A slender figure emerged from Katen's shadow.
She had short purple hair, a neat red outfit, and a black mask covering her mouth, nose, and left eye.
{Just like the twins materialized from Sōgyo no Kotowari}
{Two separate individuals}
"That's exactly why I'm curious..." Kyōkotsu disappeared back into the shadows as Katen turned her gaze toward Bokukō. "Why are you in this state? Could it be... that you never completely separated from Muten Natsu?"
Bokukō stared blankly back at Katen, who was watching her intently. Her large eyes blinked several times.
A light screen appeared above Bokukō's head.
{So that's why you were suspicious}
{But besides the possibility you're thinking of}
{There is another explanation}
"Oh?" Katen looked intrigued. "Such as?"
{For example}
{Unlike the two of you}
{I'm not complete}
{That's why my materialized form looks like this}
Katen frowned slightly. "Not complete? How is that possible? You can already use Bankai, so how could you still be..."
{I told you we should leave immediately}
{Someone got too caught up in fighting}
{Trouble is here}
{Move faster}
Katen sensed the Reiatsu that had suddenly erupted.
"That's... Kenpachi Zaraki!"
Frenzied Reiatsu surged into the sky, shattering everything around it.
Walls and buildings collapsed one after another, carving out a straight path toward the enormous Hihiō Zabimaru.
"He's actually charging straight at us..." The baboon woman swung her staff, commanding the enormous skeletal snake to open its jaws. "Hikotsu Taihō!"
"You idiot!" Renji Abarai shouted in alarm. "Don't!"
"I'm doing it anyway!" the baboon woman shouted with a laugh.
She twisted her wrist.
The giant skeletal snake opened its jaws, and dazzling red light gathered inside them in an instant before erupting outward.
Jingle~
The clear sound of a bell rang out.
A huge hand reached forward to meet the crimson beam.
The terrifying force crashed against it with unrestrained fury, yet failed to move the hand even slightly.
Instead, its fingers slowly curled inward, forcibly compressing the beam until it shattered in the man's grip.
"Not a bad attack..." Kenpachi Zaraki's single eye opened wide. "Then let's get started!"
His jagged Zanpakutō came crashing down.
Violent Reiatsu bore straight toward them.
The baboon woman tried to command the massive skeletal snake to move in front of her, but it was already too late.
The terrifying blade pressure tore through her body and shattered the building behind her.
The massive skeletal snake and the baboon woman vanished together in the light.
An Asauchi, snapped cleanly in two, fell to the ground.
Renji Abarai's eyes trembled.
"I told you..."
"Huh? She's already gone?" Kenpachi Zaraki frowned, then raised his sword and pointed it toward Wabisuke and Tobiume.
"Next!"
***
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