Into the Sweet Darkness - Aizen Sousuke Love Story

Chapter 27 - Crushed Hope

Sana pov:

"Hinamori?" I mumbled still wondering who she was. She had turned up so suddenly and attacked Nnoitra just before he could hit Jushiro san with his Cero. I could tell that her attack wasn’t strong enough to actually do a lot of damage to an Arrancar, especially since Nnoitra was the 5th Espada. But I admired her courage to fight in this situation anyway.

I was so lost in wondering who she was that I had momentarily forgotten that we were still in the middle of a battle. I caught a sudden movement in my peripheral view and I gasped, putting up a barrier around Hinamori as well just before Nnoitra's blade made contact with her. "Stupid b****!" Nnoitra wasn't hurt at all but his clothes were slightly burnt. He pulled back his blade and glared at me. I gave him an equally hard stare and he tch’d.

"Hinamori, huh?" Sousuke san said with a hint of amuse. Hinamori seemed to stiffen when she heard him speak and she looked at him. "Aizen....taichou...." Her voice was weak and pleading and it made my stomach churn. I had a feeling that they had known each other for quite some time and the way she looked at him was so painful to see. Her eyes glazed over slightly and the hold on her Zanpakuto loosened. "Aizen taichou...." She called out again and took a few steps closer to him. "Pathetic." Sousuke san said and she flinched.

"Aizen!!!!" Toshiro kun snarled in rage as Sousuke san said that and jumped towards him. It was definitely an instinctive reaction to Sousuke san’s indifference towards Hinamori. Maybe as a fellow comrade he reacted angrily at him, but I could tell that Hinamori and Toshiro kun were probably closer than just normal comrades. The way Toshiro kun looked at Hinamori was like how someone would look at the person they wanted to protect no matter what. Whatever the reason, Toshiro kun was very angry and violent as he released his Bankai.

"Bankai! Daiguren Hyorinmaru!!" He released several ice dragons at Sousuke san and the air around us picked up like crazy. I squinted my eyes as I covered them partially with my arm to make sure nothing hit my face. Even from this distance, I could make out Sousuke san smirk and close his eyes calmly. He held out his hand as the dragons reached him and just as it touched his hand, it cracked and broke apart all the way till Toshiro kun.

In fact, if that was all, I wouldn't have been so startled. Just as the dragons broke and reached Toshiro kun, blood flew out from almost every part of his body. My eyes went wide and I screamed. "Toshiro kun!" "Shiro kun!" Me, Hinamori and Orihime ran to him as he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood. When we reached him, his eyes were already half lidded and the light was fading from them. "Toshiro kun! Hang on!" I called out to make sure he stayed awake. Orihime and I immediately started to heal him and Hinamori was crying while constantly calling out his name.

As we began to heal him, I started to hear the sirens that I hadn’t heard until now in different parts of the town. Ambulances and fire trucks were heading to the areas that had been destroyed by the Ceros. Smoke rose from different parts of the town and in the slight distance, I could even hear the wails of people. I looked up and the captains were fighting with the Arrancar again but with the protection of my barrier. But no one got even a single chance to go near Sousuke san and as they fought, more and more damage was inflicted on the town.

The sirens, the blood I was seeing on Toshiro kun was just too much. I began to tremble and my eyes were stinging. A few tears managed to slip and I bit my lip hard. I shut my eyes, forcing in as much reiatsu as I could to heal Toshiro kun instantly as the sirens made me go insane. The clangs if the swords, the grunts in pain, the panting....I couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it....please....STOP IT!" I yelled and all the fighting paused. I was breathing heavily and I opened my glassy eyes to look at Toshiro kun. He was completely healed but he was unconscious. "Please stop hurting innocent humans....they shouldn't be the victims of our fighting. I don't want any more people to suffer...." I stood up and looked at Sousuke san. He had a look of victory on his face, his confident smile and the smugness in his eyes. And yes, he had won. He knew my weakness. He knew that hurting these people would make me obey him. And his words were not empty threats. He had shown me how serious he was about this; not once but twice.