Bleach: The Captain Part Two & Three, Toshiro Hitsugaya x OC

Chapter 19: The man with pink hair

Somewhere behind me, someone screamed.

"Akira, get away from him!"

I pushed myself away from Yuki just as he swiped at me with a concealed knife. He was too quick, carving a long gash into the side of my arm before I could get out of his reach. Murray kicked my zanpakuto from his hand and away from us.

Shinji pushed me out of the way and I stumbled backwards, into the dirt. His face was set in a hard line.

Shinji? How did he find me here?

"What's going on?" I rubbed my head, feeling perplexed.

"That's not your brother, Captain." he responded, unsheathing his zanpakuto with a flourish.

The man I thought was my brother pulled the blade from his back and, with an amused look, jammed it into Murrays chest. With a flash of light, he was reverted back into a zanpakuto.

The man cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, testing his range of motion.

"That was the part where I was supposed to die at the hands of my zanpakuto, wasn't it?" he chuckled darkly.

"I had a feeling about him. Ever since you showed up at the warehouse Akira, he was watching you." Shinji interrupted.

"Who are you?" I quivered.

The image of Yuki faded, replaced by a translucent form of a man with tousled brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a smirk on his face.

"Aizen." I breathed. Another person walked in front of me, blocking my view. Kisuke tossed me a quick smile.

"You need to leave Akira. Shinji and I will take things from here." he said calmly, pulling his zanpakuto from the cane in his hands.

Another voice whispered next to my ear. "He's right, I'm getting you out of here. Now."

Toshiro.

With a sense of urgency, Toshiro grabbed me by the waist, pulling me away from the ensuing battle. He ran at breakneck speed with me in tow. We ran towards a single ladder that reached the roof of the underground arena. Urgently, his pushed me up the ladder, following quickly behind.

As I ascended, an incredible explosion rocked the earth, kicking up dirt and debris. I guarded my face from the invading dirt storm, choking on the thick air coating my airway. As the dust settled, I looked out onto the scene below.

A small shimmering barricade had been erected where we had just been. A rotund man with pink hair was chanting a kido, keeping up the barrier. The storm had settled inside the barricade exposing the faded apparition of Aizen locked in combat with Kisuke.

Panicking, I grabbed at the rungs of the ladder and started descending.

Toshiro grabbed my ankle to stop me from moving. "Listen to your brother, Akira. He told you to go. I'm not leaving here without you."

"But he's trapped in there!" I yelled, fighting the grip he had on my leg.

"He's got it under control, you need to trust him."

I forced myself to look away. Trust him. I scrambled up the ladder before I could find another reason to go back, Toshiro following immediately behind me.

I struggled with the latch on the floor door and banged it with my fist. It gave way under the constant abuse and swung upward and open. The cut on my arm made the going slick, but I managed to pull myself out and crawled to an open spot on the floor, sucking in the wonderfully clean air as I tried to regain control of my senses.

Toshiro closed the latch and laid himself down beside me, breathing heavily. He coughed a few times, wiping the dirt from his face as he looked over at me.

"Are you alright?" he managed.

I stared at the latch, feeling sick that I'd abandoned Kisuke to escape.

"I'm fine." I murmured. I lifted my one arm, remembering the laceration that was still oozing and held it to my robe to staunch it. Toshiro grabbed my arm and assessed the damage.

He pulled me to my feet and lead me down a corridor and into an empty room. I continued to stop the bleeding by holding my arm tightly against my robes. Toshiro rummaged through a closet, throwing things left and right until came out with an old bed linen. He tore a strip off it and bound it to my arm tightly, pinching my fingers until he was satisfied with his work.

I tested the feel of the makeshift bandage. "Thank--,"

He pushed me roughly against the wall and crushed his lips to mine, wrapping his arms protectively around me as he pulled me to him. Running my fingers up his back, I felt the hum he created in his throat at my touch. He pulled away for a moment, looking intently into my eyes.

"I thought I'd lost you again." he whispered.

"You didn't." I reminded him gently.

We held each, quiet in the moment, letting the time pass without conversation. It hurt me to know that my actions put me in such a vulnerable position. Do to my recklessness, I had hurt Toshiro and I would have given anything to change that.

He grabbed my hands and pulled me down to the floor with him. I leaned with my back against his chest, feeling warm in his arms.

Now that we were safe, questions starter to form in my head.

"How were you able to find me?" I asked quietly.

"Kisuke had put a tracer on your zanpakuto, that's how. Yoruichi found Kisuke after you were taken and brought him back here."

I scrunched my face. "A tracer, why would he do that?"

I felt Toshiro shrug. "Brotherly concern? He had a hard time honing in on your signal, which is how he determined where you were. I guess the signal doesn't work well down there."

"I can't even be mad that he did that. It saved my life."

We were quiet for a little while, watching the moonlight pass over the floor as it marked the passage of time.

"Aizen. . .he was so convincing. I really thought it was him." my voice cracked.

"That's not the first time he's done that, look at what happened to Momo," he reminded me.

"If I couldn't tell the difference between my brother and Aizen, she didn't have a chance. I feel bad for being so harsh to her about it when we first met." I sighed.

"Don't be. You were doing what you thought was right."

"I guess so."

He rested his chin on my head. "Do you want to get going? There really isn't anything we can do but wait."

"I can stay if you want to leave. I need to be here when Kisuke gets back, I have questions that need answering."

I made to get up and out of Toshiros way but he pulled me back into him, keeping his arms firmly around me.

"Then we'll wait." he said.

I settled into him once again.

"Then we'll wait." I agreed.